Chapter 10: The King’s Choice

No need for a long explanation, right?

Under Jae-in’s power, the man confessed everything.

From the fact that the Tennouji family was behind everything.

To the traitor within the National Intelligence Service and the corrupt politicians, everything.

Of course, also the fact that it was the Tennouji who took the original half of the Manpasikjeok.

But.

Splash!

“Even so, there’s nothing we can do.”

Si-ah said with a bitter expression as she threw the dead man’s body into the sea.

“Either way, the Tennouji family is one of the most powerful families in Japan, along with the Seishuin family, and to hold them accountable is to make an enemy of Japan.”

I’m sorry to keep emphasizing this, but that’s how absolute the existence of a Devil King is.

A transcendent being, humanity’s last bastion, and a king of humans.

If it were other Devil Kings whose personalities were at least somewhat known, it might be different.

But in a situation where there is no information at all about the new king, touching a Devil King who is openly cooperating with the Japanese government was close to suicide.

Not to mention fairness, he could openly support Japan.

And even if he didn’t, in the end, blood is thicker than water.

If the King of Japan says to let this matter go, then it’s over.

“The Manpasikjeok will also naturally fall into Japan’s hands.”

“Didn’t you say it would be difficult to retrieve?”

“That’s from our perspective as humans.

There’s no way a mere divine beast, not even a god, can stand against a Devil King.”

Turtle Mountain might go on a rampage?

Meaningless.

Then they would just kill it.

No, maybe they’ll try to kill it and take it from the beginning?

Whatever it is, the remaining half will also fall into Japan’s hands, and the Manpasikjeok will be completed.

“It would be better to quickly retrieve the Manpasikjeok on our side and then feign ignorance, that’s the only way to at least keep the half we have.”

One fortunate thing is that if the Tennouji are in their right mind, they won’t carelessly reveal this matter.

Right now, it’s a secret that a Devil King has just been born, but borrowing the king’s authority is a very dangerous thing.

After all, even a Devil King is human, and most humans who are warriors have a strong sense of pride.

Would they take it lightly if someone used their name without permission?

It was likely that after some time, the majority of people speculated that the King of Japan would personally deal with Japan’s current excesses.

And of course, depending on the King of Japan’s choice, there could be quite a bloodbath.

Unless the Tennouji were fools, they wouldn’t leave any openings to be caught at that time.

“A Manpasikjeok is going a bit overboard, even for them.”

“So, normally it should be presented to the king?”

“Almost. The Tennouji only did the work, but the motive, the background, and even the information were all obtained thanks to the King of Japan, right?

A God’s Relic is something that even a king might move for, so it’s an understatement to say that the Tennouji obtained the Manpasikjeok by their own power.”

“Wow, this king is really something, isn’t he?”

“Of course. I told you, didn’t I? In this world, the strong one wins.

The king is the strongest person. Unless you’re a king yourself, you can’t even compare, numbers are meaningless…..”

She spoke as if it were obvious, and in fact, this was common sense in this industry.

But it was still unfamiliar to Jae-in.

He was once the Elden Lord, but he had never held such absolute power.

‘Absolute, my ass. I was always getting pushed around by Melina.

And to say that even numbers are meaningless……’

Even excluding demigods and gods, there were still many strong individuals in the Lands Between.

If he had to pick the strongest being he had ever fought, it would undoubtedly be the Elden Beast, the watchdog of the outer god that ruled the Elden.

But aside from that exceptional monster, the strongest was not a god or a demigod, but a Tarnished like him, the first Elden Lord, Godfrey.

‘Honestly, I was lucky. If I hadn’t obtained the Authority from defeating Morgott before fighting that crazy old man, I might have lost.’

In fact, the fight itself was overwhelming, but that was because, as mentioned above, the Authority obtained from defeating Morgott had ‘completed’ Jae-in.

Besides Godfrey, there were also numerous dragons.

The guardian who protects Destined Death, the enemy of the gods, Maliketh.

And his friend, the Tarnished Vyke, who is probably working hard in Jae-in’s place right now.

None of them are divine beings.

Nevertheless, they were monsters who were insanely strong, no less than any demigod.

If he were told to fight them all and win, he would confidently say “don’t talk bullsh*t” and smash the person’s head who told him to do it.

“Sigh, then how strong are these kings?”

Humans at their peak.

Jae-in’s standard for the peak of humanity was set at the level of the Tarnished, which led to this misunderstanding.

Objectively speaking, even if they were Tarnished, they were still human.

Once they accepted the Golden Blessing.

And within it, as a blade prepared by a god for the end of an era, it’s hard to see a Tarnished as a pure human.

In fact, this was proven by the fact that Jae-in became a Godslayer. The fact that he killed Malenia, the original owner of the [Waterfowl Dance], was not just luck, but his true skill, which he could do again.

He was confident that he could do even better.

“That look, you saw it from the beginning. My sword….”

“Not from the beginning. You showed it many times. And in the first place, if your body was in a slightly better condition, I would have been the one lying on the ground.”

“…I disagree. If that were the case, you would not have challenged me.

You have that ‘insight’. In fact, I think you were pushing yourself even to fight me in my current state.”

“What else could I do? My only friend is going crazy in real-time.

Anyway, love is the enemy. I’m sorry, but I’ll take your brother Miquella’s needle. The dead no longer need it.”

“Ah, the vessel of a king. I’m sorry, brother. I can no longer wait for you here…..”

Of the day the Elden Lord was born.

The conversation between the Unfailing Goddess and the King at the beginning of the journey.

Anyway, it was Jae-in who unintentionally overestimated the Devil Kings.

But thanks to that, he could empathize more deeply with the feelings of the Special Missions Department members, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing?

Thus, early the next morning, a memorable first mission was completed with the arrival of support from the Special Missions Department.

Is there anything more rewarding than working hard and seeing the money in your bank account?

I was enjoying that feeling in real-time.

The corners of my mouth were twitching uncontrollably.

Moreover, Si-ah, Ha-neul, and Eun-ae must have reported well, because the Special Missions Department sent more than double the originally promised amount under the name of an incentive.

That day, I immediately went to the supermarket and swept up beef, Korean beef at that, put it on a new grill, opened a can of beer, and shouted, ‘This is life! This is the best!’ as I held a celebratory party.

“I got a really good job! It’s fun, the people are nice, and most importantly, I can work when I want to!”

Compared to the time when he was a figurehead king, constantly being nagged and scolded, it was truly heaven.

However, that didn’t mean he had absolutely no worries.

Why are freelancers dangerous?

Because there’s no organization to protect you, and on the other hand, you’re poking around everywhere, making a lot of enemies.

‘Even if I handled it as cleanly as possible, eventually, in time, it will be known that I did this.’

With a beer can at his lips, I thought quietly.

‘Tennouji, was it? Honestly, I doubt that such a family is the most powerful in the country, but they must have some information network.’

It’s only natural since they were the ones who leaked the information about the Manpasikjeok.

Such people would probably hold a grudge against him.

Since he’s a freelancer, they won’t confront him directly.

But they might send assassins, saying he must pay the price for daring to make an enemy of the Tennouji.

“Honestly, I’m not scared, but it’s going to be a pain in the ass.”

He wasn’t worried about the assassination itself.

He was used to such things because he had been in a rough place.

Especially since he completed the Elden Ring and erased it from the world through Ranni, the Golden Order fanatics were a bit, no, very much extreme.

Now, it’s to the point of being familiar and boring.

What’s more, unless it’s a monster specialized in assassination, his senses are too sharp for it to work.

And even if it did work, because of his Authority, unless it’s an incantation used by demigods, he can’t be instantly killed.

But apart from that, he knew better than anyone that being targeted by assassins was a huge pain.

It’s often said in martial arts novels that assassins keep sending assassins until the target is eliminated.

To wear down the target.

Of course, he thought that human lives weren’t like song coins in a karaoke, so that was bull, but when he experienced it, it was true.

It’s not a joke, it really wears a person down.

For real.

So much so that when he was at his most sensitive, even Melina, the nagging queen, was cautious.

‘Usually in this situation, you either uproot the source or crush them so they don’t dare to challenge you, but that damn King of Japan is in the way.’

A Devil King.

Or a Godslayer, was it?

After returning, I asked the Special Missions Department to investigate a bit.

Surprisingly, I found out that they were similar to me.

A being who killed a god and usurped the god’s Authority, becoming something more than human.

Thanks to that, at first, I thought, ‘Then am I also a king?!’

But when I heard that the ‘god’ was like Zeus or Thor from mythology, I was sure that I wasn’t one.

The guys I defeated were monsters who were no less powerful, but in my common sense, no matter what.

There was no way they could compare to Zeus or Thor.

“No, wait. But the Elden Beast might be comparable…….”

I thought about it for a moment, but…..

I concluded that it wasn’t the case.

Fundamentally, the Elden Beast didn’t give me any Authority.

Ironically, even though I defeated the Elden Beast, the one who gave me Authority in the end was Marika, the Eternal Queen.

“She gave me an Authority with obvious strings attached. Damn woman.

I should have known she was a b*tch when I saw her make her own children fight.”

Of course, the performance of the Authority itself is overwhelming, but…….

Anyway, let’s explain this later.

So, what’s important now is how to deal with it in the future.

But I soon stopped thinking.

Because I decided that it wasn’t a problem to worry about right now.

“The Tennouji haven’t sent assassins yet, so I can worry about it later.”

What’s more, I confirmed that the Special Missions Department members were more capable than I had imagined.

They were already in the process of recovering the remaining half of the Manpasikjeok that Si-ah and I had discovered.

Furthermore, they had started working to make sure that the story of the Tennouji family secretly trying to steal the God’s Relic would naturally reach the ears of the King of Japan.

“I’m not exactly a king, but I’ve played the role, so I know. If you let that kind of thing slide, you’ll be a pushover.”

Especially since the King of Japan had just become a king.

If he doesn’t make an example now, he’ll be treated like an idiot forever.

Well, this king is a brute force type, so maybe it won’t go that far.

But at least it’s the right timing to make an example.

“They’re not stupid, so they’ll take care of it.

The Tennouji, or whatever they’re called, will lie low if they’ve been marked by their own country’s king.

I’ll just stay friendly with the Special Missions Department people. It seems like they have a grip on the situation in Korea anyway.”

So, I decided to maintain the current situation for the time being.

But.

At this point, I didn’t know.

That the king was a real idiot…….