Novels online

My alter ego is becoming a big shot - Episode 60

#60

Before the storm (1)

a basement with no windows.

In the middle of a dark space without any light, there was a brazier made of stone..

“···It's time.”

A low voice rang out in the darkness where no sign of recognition was heard..

Soon, the person in charge quietly walked towards the brazier and stood at a distance, without making a single sound..

That moment.

Grumbling—

Purple flames suddenly shot out from the brazier as if they were reaching the ceiling, but then slowly shrunk to the size of a bonfire..

As a result, in the purple-tinged space, the shadows of five or six people surrounding the brazier suddenly appeared..

[Has everyone... gathered?.]

[Okay, except for the idiot who fell behind this time..]

Shadows talking to each other in low voices.

[What's so urgent? Let’s start by asking how each other is doing and then take it slow? Kikikick.]

[Please shut up. Before I rip my mouth off.]

“I guess everyone heard this news..”

Because so many people with strong personalities gathered together, the meeting did not proceed quickly..

Since this was not an event designed to build friendships, it was better to ignore unnecessary words and get straight to the point in order to move the story forward quickly..

[Ah, you heard it. It was so absurd that all I could do was laugh..]

[Heehee~ Me too. I never thought they would take the branches of the World Tree and search for them so ridiculously. giggle giggle.]

Finally, a regular meeting that runs properly.

They exchanged information they knew about past events..

“So, no one knows how the Church and the High Elves found and attacked Nurabe..”

[under! Couldn’t the World Tree have intervened? I guess that idiot didn't leash the sacrifice properly..]

[Hmm~ I don’t think that’s right? That old man even took the seal from me.?]

Again, many opinions were exchanged, but since nothing was certain, no conclusion was reached right away..

[Anyway... you need to be more careful.···.]

[Following Marcos, who was talking about monopolizing the fragments of the Immortal King, there was also Nurabe, who was hiding well. Isn't this too relaxing??]

“Speaking of the immortal king... The movements of the religious denomination are unusual these days..”

Exchange of information continues again.

[Descendants of that immortal king. Can't we use it??]

[Hehehe! Marcos, what should I do if it's already gone? If the intentions are right, holding hands isn't a bad idea.!]

A conversation between black shadows swaying in a purple space continued..

After a long period of opinions, rebuttals, alternatives, and agreements, etc.···.

“We decided to do that, so I guess there's nothing else on the agenda.?”

[Of course~ The empire is always peaceful..]

[Dongbu Island...no problem···.]

At the same time as the conclusion was reached, the regular meeting of the Yeokcheon Pledge ended..

***

“Jinso-ran, please handle these as before..”

Heinz came to Jin So-ran's office where he was doing various tasks and laid out a bunch of various items..

All expensive magic tools, including ones that allow you to use subspace..

After being embarrassed for a moment, she jumped up from her seat and her eyes lit up..

“Wow... Rod, where do you keep getting these things from??”

Although she had already seen it several times before, she looked at the items he presented with exclamation again..

Since only returnees could obtain magic tools, their supply was bound to be limited, so it was not possible to obtain them even if you had money..

“There is a way. What happened to the last time I told you to prepare??”

“Oh, pepper? First, I had people repackage and store everything..”

As expected, it was convenient to have someone to take care of..

All you have to do is give instructions and minor problems will be taken care of..

‘You can't sell plastic or vinyl-packed items as is, so although it's cumbersome, you need to go through it one more time. The effort is nothing compared to the benefits that can be gained by doing so..’

Pepper wasn't that expensive on Earth, but it was different on Outerica..

It is a high-end spice in its own way, and the margins are satisfactory due to the distance from the main production area..

It was perfect as a starting product for trade..

‘At first, I thought about selling artificial jewelry made on Earth..’

Artificial gemstones made with modern technology were difficult to distinguish by any means..

Rather, since it has a clean characteristic with less impurities, it could have been used as a selling point.···.

‘Since it was made on Earth, it is fatal that it cannot be used for magic..’

The reason why jewelry in Outerica was expensive was not simply for aesthetic reasons..

It has value as a material used in a variety of ways to assist with mysteries, such as in magic experiments, creating barriers, and making magic tools..

In such a situation, if you sell defective items that cannot be used in a mystery or jewelry that is simply pretty, you could get caught up in unnecessary trouble..

‘There is no need to take risks by attracting attention now that you are starting a business. Let's sell it at a premium later once it's established..’

Of course, it was a waste to sell off such a good business item..

Isn't the business of selling such unique characteristics by disguising them as unique points of differentiation?.

Those with money will rather value and be enthusiastic about such scarcity..

“Where did the others go??”

After organizing his thoughts, Heinz looked around and asked Jin So-ran..

The number of people has significantly decreased compared to before..

It seemed like more than half of the people were away..

“Ah, there was a brief problem in Incheon. Since Jinseok went there himself, it will be sorted out soon..”

As Heterosis grows in size, many new people join its shadow..

Not only the existing hardliners, but also those who belonged to the moderate and neutral factions..

Among them was even a gamma named Jin-seok, who was an executive of the hardliners..

‘But it turns out he's more obedient than I thought. If you don't seem to listen, I was going to turn you into a bloodthirsty person..’

He did not come to the villa because he was in charge of local affairs, but later, when Heinz visited him in person, he immediately swore his loyalty on the spot..

Thanks to his faithfulness to his survival instinct, he was later absorbed by hardliners faster, so I was watching with satisfaction..

‘It's still a shame that we didn't get much information about Alpha. The fact that he doesn't look like this probably means he's already left Korea.?’

8Alpha, the leader of the existing hardliners who is presumed to be a level-level vampire..

I tried to deal with it when I had the chance, but his whereabouts have been unknown ever since that day..

Although the clan was swallowed up and its influence was used to continue the search, there was no significant progress..

“I really think the situation of the clan has improved a lot thanks to Rod. Of course, the speaking power of Heterosis, who leads it, is also growing..”

Heterosis, which rapidly expanded its influence based on the military and financial power derived from Heinz, led the clan and rapidly increased its power..

Of course, if the scale was directly inflated, the Guardian or the Supernatural Talent Management Bureau would have no choice but to be on guard, so it was a covert operation to expand influence to organizations in the back world behind the scenes..

‘The guys who sold gold bars at that time also came under my control..’

They seem to be showing signs of being quite useful in finding sales channels for magic tools..

When I think back to when we were dealing with each other back then, they were capable in their own way..

‘Now that I think about it, I have to move soon.···.’

In the meantime, after finding out about Buncheonhoe, I was so busy making plans for it that I couldn't even think about Sachi..

But now you can relax a little, so you can prepare slowly from now on..

‘Of course not right away..’

“You said there was a problem in Incheon, right? There's nothing to do right now, so I'll go myself..”

There was a need to stabilize the clan as quickly as possible..

Now, a big event that will shake up Outerica is just around the corner..

After this event, the 'Home Theater: The Demon King and the Hero' operation will begin in earnest, and Heinz will be busy as ever..

***

It's been fifteen days since high elf Lapori's search for the Immortal King began..

We have searched quite a few forests according to our priorities, but no significant results have been achieved..

Heinrich attended the mid-term meeting held after reviewing all of the candidates and was able to hear about the progress..

Now that he is deeply involved in this operation, he has come to prioritize this over the work of the Holy Knights..

‘At best, all I can do is observe from behind and help..’

Laforie smiled shyly and organized the documents for the area where the investigation was completed..

“···Hmm, I've searched all the areas I thought had the highest probability, but the results haven't been consistent, so I can't stand up with confidence..”

The saint and the archbishop shook their heads resolutely, saying that it was not the case at Laforie's words, which seemed embarrassing..

“I am just grateful to Lapori for making this effort. It was our denomination that decided on the search order in the first place..”

“In fact, it may be in a completely different area without forests. Even if that happens, the area can be greatly narrowed down, so it's not a bad thing..”

“Thanks to this, the church's search team is still focusing on areas without forests. It goes without saying that efficiency has increased significantly..”

As they said, the search personnel that were still in operation were mainly dispatched to areas including deserts and wastelands..

Of course, the search for the forest was not yet completely finished, but the church needed to prepare for an emergency in advance..

Archbishop Latius looked at the documents on the wall that outlined continental evangelism and priorities..

“Now, let’s take a look at the next ranked candidates. Let's see... This time, it's roughly around 30% of the areas..”

“Ha, it seems like that probability doesn't mean much now..”

“Hmm, isn’t that inevitable? Holy woman.”

“oh! Yes. That must have been the result of the efforts of many people. I was so insensitive.”

The saintess sighed with a self-reproaching expression..

He said it was okay, but he seemed to be mentally impatient with the lack of results..

“Well, since it's already late today, we'll go through these areas one by one starting tomorrow..”

“ah! Thank you, Lapori. You must be tired, so why don’t you just go in and rest?.”

The place was broken up, and Heinrich, who had been observing the progress of the Hans search operation in real time, returned to his quarters..

‘Finally approved... There really isn't much left now..’

On the fifteenth day after the search began, the Monster Forest located on the west side of the continent was included as the next candidate..

‘Still, I'm glad I made it on time..’

Because I was just able to get the results of my research..

The same time Heinrich headed to his lodgings.

[Huh... Huh hahaha! finally succeeded!]

A sinister laugh that seemed to have come from hell echoed in a cave..

[As expected, nothing is impossible for Hans. Given enough time, this isn't a big deal..]

Descendant of the Immortal King, Acrich Hans had the front of his black robe wide open, exposing his ribs..

An object that shows off its presence between the empty gaps between the starkly exposed pure white ribs..

It was a fragment of the ‘Heart of the Immortal King’, a black jewel that pulsates periodically like a heart..

But there was a big difference from before..

The image was not clear and opaque..

[Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk... Phase subspace using this body. It exists but does not exist. This body has come closer to perfection! Hahahaha!]

A space was created that overlapped with his existence, and the heart extracted with “immortality” was placed there..

To put it simply, it was the same as turning Hans' body itself into a subspace magic tool..

If you were a human... no, if you were a living being, it would have been absolutely impossible..

Of course, it wasn't the right method, so we gave up on complete disconnection, and the space was only the inside of the ribs.···.

That problem was nothing to him..

‘The initial goal has already been achieved!’

By making the body itself into a pseudo-subspace, it was able to ignore the limitations of fragments and create a smooth passage for supplying black magic..

It goes without saying that its existence can now be easily hidden..

The difficulty of hiding it couldn't have been the same when the entire thing was exposed and when it was connected only by a single passage..

‘In addition, I was able to use “Immortality” properly..’

Now, even if your whole body is reduced to dust, you can instantly recover with the black magic supplied through the passage..

In order to defeat him, a blow that splits the entire space or magic to handle it has become essential..

‘And there's no way Hans would take such an attack lightly..’

A satisfying result in many ways.

It was a few days before Lapori's search for the Forest of Monsters began..