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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A New Job for the Strategist
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Not long after that, everyone was gathered around the dining table, quietly continuing their meal.
Lee Su-bin, his older sister, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cautiously posed a question.
“It was Mr. Bong-chang, wasn’t it?”
“No, it’s Bong-gu.”
At his words, Su-bin started, covering her mouth as she replied.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry…”
Kim Bong-gu answered nonchalantly, as if it were a common occurrence. “It’s quite all right.”
“Anyway, I tried my best to make this, but I’m not sure if it’s to your liking. To be honest, I’ve only made dried pollack soup a few times.”
For a moment, Kim Bong-gu’s mind raced, calculating.
*What on earth must ‘sister-in-law’ have thought last night, seeing me carried in, dead drunk?*
He decided this was his chance to correct the disastrous first impression he had surely made.
Kim Bong-gu.
He might not have much else, but he could confidently say his intuition and social skills were second to none.
Clearing his throat with a “*Keum, heum*,” he asked back with a touch of exaggeration.
“Oh, come now, sister-in-law. Your cooking is absolutely superb, isn’t it?”
“Sister-in-law…?”
“Yes, thanks to you, I bet my brother here looks forward to every meal.”
He then turned his head to look at Kang-jun. “Right, brother?” he asked in a playful tone.
“Hey.”
As Kang-jun put down his spoon, Kim Bong-gu swallowed nervously.
“She’s my sister.”
“Excuse me?”
“My biological sister.”
A moment of silence fell as soon as he finished speaking.
“Let’s eat.”
“Yes, brother.”
Just as Bong-gu’s mind filled with the thought, *I should’ve just kept my mouth shut,*
“Mr. Bong-gu.”
Thankfully, Lee Su-bin broke the uncomfortable silence again.
“Anyway, I heard from Kang-jun that you two were close neighborhood friends since you were kids…”
*Is that what he told her?*
“I’m terribly sorry to ask this of you having just met, but I was wondering if you could perhaps look after Kang-jun for a while…”
At her words, Bong-gu reflexively asked, “Pardon?” and whipped his head around to look at Kang-jun.
He might be wearing a shabby cotton t-shirt with a stretched-out collar and nothing but a pair of underwear, currently mixing rice into his dried pollack soup…
But this was the man who had subdued an A-rank Hunter from the Anti-Bureau Alliance with a single glance and treated a boss-level monster, a so-called “Great Demon,” like a puppy.
*What on earth does she mean, ‘look after my brother’…?*
While Bong-gu stood there with a blank expression,
“Ah, have you not heard yet?”
“Pardon?”
“Um, well…”
Su-bin glanced at Kang-jun before adding.
“I’m only bringing this up because you’re so close with him…”
“Yes.”
“The truth is, Kang-jun was trapped inside a Gate, and it hasn’t even been a month since he returned to our family.”
At that, Kim Bong-gu’s eyes widened like saucers.
*Wa-wait a minute…*
*So you’re saying he’s one of those ‘Gate survivors’ I’ve only seen on the TV news?*
It felt as if the jumbled puzzle pieces in his head were finally clicking into place, one by one.
*Come to think of it, aren’t there stories about some of the top overseas Hunters returning with mysterious powers from beyond the Gates?*
Kim Bong-gu’s gaze shifted back to Kang-jun.
*Then, could it be that my brother also…?*
Just then, Kang-jun interjected with a slight frown.
“I keep telling you, we weren’t trapped in a Gate.”
“Yes, yes, I know. You were the king of some continent, was it?”
After speaking, Lee Su-bin glanced at Crabslie and added.
“And the Elder here was the strategist who helped you govern the nation.”
“No, I wasn’t just any king. I was the emperor.”
“Oh, you. It’s the same thing, why are you getting so worked up?”
“It’s completely different. Kings wouldn’t have dared to even meet my eyes.”
At that, Crabslie suddenly let out a sinister, unsettling laugh. “*Kekeke*…”
“My Lord, do you perhaps remember the former king of the Baratheon Kingdom? He comes to mind, for some reason.”
“Huh, who was that?”
“The fool who was beheaded in the imperial capital’s square as punishment for not only daring to meet my Lord’s gaze, but also for raising a rebellion…”
“Ah, that guy!”
Letting out an involuntary sigh, Su-bin did her best to continue speaking in a calm tone.
“You could say he’s suffering from aftereffects like this.”
“Ah…”
“It might be a blessing that it’s only this level of paranoia, but for him to readjust to society…”
Her smooth, flowing words trailed off, left unfinished.
It was because Kim Bong-gu was muttering to himself, as if he’d had a grand epiphany.
“No wonder he was so crazy strong and carried himself with such dignity… he used to be an emperor…”
“Um, Mr. Bong-gu?”
“Then Elder Dol-soe must have been something like the ‘Prime Minister’…?”
“M-Mr. Bong-gu?”
For Lee Su-bin, who knew nothing of Kang-jun’s power, it might be one thing, but from Kim Bong-gu’s perspective, he had no choice but to believe every word as gospel.
Having witnessed that immense power with his own two eyes, how could he not believe anything he was told?
Just then, Su-bin added again in her soft-spoken way.
“In any case, I was hoping you could help Kang-jun readjust to society, even if just a little.”
Kim Bong-gu, reading the room, replied.
“Yes, I’ll do my very best to help in any way I can.”
Finally seeming relieved, Su-bin replied, “Thank you so much,” and this time turned to Crabslie, asking cautiously.
“Elder, would you perhaps be interested in a part-time job?”
“Your Highness Subin, I am loath to ask, but what might that be…?”
“Um, you can just think of it as a simple side job.”
After speaking, Lee Su-bin added a few more explanations.
“The owner of our regular convenience store in front of the building is looking for a part-timer. So I mentioned you, and thankfully, he said to tell you to come by for an interview…”
Crabslie politely declined in his characteristically calm tone.
“Your Highness Subin, I am loath to say, but I have a duty to attend to my Lord, so I cannot be away from his side for even a moment…”
Just then, Kang-jun cut Crabslie off.
“No, just go get the job.”
Of course, there was the advantage that if Crabslie was with him, he could palm off all sorts of annoying tasks, but…
*It’s tiring having him around.*
For example, he would constantly whisper in a dead-serious tone, “My Lord, shall I kill them?”
And his tendency to engage in sudden, bizarre behaviors that drew the attention of every passerby on the street was a constant source of stress.
Therefore…
He judged it would be several times more beneficial for Crabslie to learn about Earth’s culture and customs by working a part-time job at the convenience store in front of their home.
*Well, that way he’ll also contribute to the household finances, however little…*
Crabslie, on the other hand, seemed unable to accept Kang-jun’s decision.
“My Lord, but…!”
In response to his aggrieved tone, Kang-jun asked in a solemn voice.
“Didn’t you promise me last time that you would help my kingdom rise on Earth as well?”
“Yes, I certainly…”
“To do that, wouldn’t you need a thorough understanding of this dimension’s culture, customs, and the livelihood of its people?”
Finishing his words, Kang-jun narrowed his eyes slightly and added.
“I am not telling you to neglect your duties as a strategist and go do some menial work at a neighborhood store.”
“Then…?”
“I am entrusting you with all matters related to the *founding of a nation* and asking you to conduct a responsible investigation.”
As his words ended, a heavy sigh escaped Crabslie’s lips.
“Ah…”
A very familiar emotion began to blaze fiercely within his chest.
*This feeling is…*
Loyalty.
Suddenly, Crabslie shot up from his seat and prostrated himself before Kang-jun, striking his forehead against the floor with a “*Thud!*”
“My Lord, please kill me—!”
“Ha, damn it. Here we go again.”
“I beseech your understanding—!”
“Hey, calm down first.”
Crabslie, however, looked like he had no intention of calming down.
“Having failed to grasp my Lord’s profound intentions yet again, I am ashamed to even look upon your noble face—!”
“Right, right.”
“Until this worthless body is crushed and my bones turn to dust, I shall devote my all to this investigation!”
Kang-jun glanced at his sister and asked.
“Sis, you heard him, right?”
“Huh…?”
“He’ll take the interview.”
And so it was decided. The brilliant strategist who had once governed and led his own clan, a ‘Vampire Lord.’
The man who had commanded the Ministry of State Affairs, one of the five core institutions of the Imperial Palace, and held the title of Archduke, making him the second most powerful man after the Emperor, ‘Shartia von de Crabslie’…
No.
The matter of ‘Code Name Choi Dol-soe’s interview at the convenience store down the street’ was settled.
* * *
After that rather tumultuous lunch had concluded…
Su-bin sat on the sofa for a change, idly killing time.
It was because Kim Bong-gu had stubbornly insisted, “I’ll handle the cleanup.”
She had tried to refuse several times, but he wouldn’t listen, and in the end, she was forced to sit on the sofa and rest.
Su-bin peeked her head out and watched Kim Bong-gu’s back as he stood at the sink far away.
Humming a tune, he was washing the dishes with a series of “*squeak, squeak*” sounds.
“Kang-jun, he’s still a guest. I feel bad about this…”
“It’s fine. He said he wanted to do it, didn’t he?”
“But he seems to be doing a pretty good job.”
“Great, then just get some rest.”
While Su-bin kept glancing towards the kitchen as if she were sitting on pins and needles,
Kang-jun’s gaze was fixed on the TV, where an anchor and a scientist were having a heated discussion.
[ Dr. Park, what are your thoughts on the recent, noticeable increase in Gate occurrences in the metropolitan area? ]
[ The current academic consensus is that Gate frequency may be closely related to population density. ]
[ So you’re saying that the more people there are in an area, the higher the probability of a Gate appearing? ]
[ Of course, this is still just a theory, but looking at the cases over the past three years, the Gate frequency in Seoul and the Gyeonggi area, which have the highest population densities, has been… ]
After a lengthy explanation, the scientist looked at the camera lens and added.
[ In any case, it would be wise for those living in densely populated areas to live with the awareness that it wouldn’t be strange for a Gate to suddenly appear at any time. ]
[ As is well known, newly generated Gates have the property of pulling in all life forms within a one-to-two-kilometer radius, so it is best to always be prepared to evacuate the moment you see signs of a Gate forming… ]
[ Furthermore, the academic community has analyzed past Gate generation patterns and announced that the next Gate is predicted to appear in the ‘region south of the Han River in Seoul,’ and countermeasures are being prepared… ]
Kang-jun tilted his head.
“Huh, isn’t ‘our house’ also in the region south of the Han River in Seoul?”
At his words, Su-bin nodded once and replied.
“It is. I’m so anxious these days, I can barely live.”
“Don’t worry,” Kang-jun muttered indifferently, scratching his stomach as he added.
“Nothing will happen.”
He then began to gaze intently at his daughter, Seol-i, who was happily playing with the puppy on the living room floor.
Sensing his gaze, Seol-i whipped her head around to look at Kang-jun and said in an excited voice.
“Papa, doggy!”
“I see.”
“Doggy, bad!”
The Doberman puppy, who was suddenly bonked on the head by Seol-i.
No.
The Great Demon Marbas let out a “*Whimmmper…*” and started to back away, prompting Kang-jun to narrow his eyes and say in a rather stern tone.
“Princess, you mustn’t do that.”
Seeing this, Su-bin muttered, “Oh?”
“Swinging your fist like that all day is useless. To finish it in one blow, you have to strike straight and fast toward the pressure point.”
At his words, Su-bin smacked Kang-jun on the back with a “*Thwack!*”
“That’s not it! You’re supposed to tell her not to hurt animals!”
Kang-jun rubbed his stinging back, thinking to himself.
*Hmm.*
Although he still couldn’t fully grasp the fact that this child was his daughter…
*She’s pretty.*
She’s pretty.
*She’s cute.*
She’s cute.
Whenever the child smiled brightly, revealing teeth that hadn’t even fully grown in, a ticklish feeling would stir in his chest.
And for some reason…
When that child looked at him and called out in her slurred speech, “Papa—!” it felt as if someone were squeezing his heart tight.
A child so fragile he was afraid to hold her, whose hands were like tiny ferns that made his heart grow soft just looking at them…
*It doesn’t suit her.*
He felt that this child didn’t belong in this unstable world, where the threat of death lurked around every corner.
*I want to change it for her.*
He had no intention of playing the hero out of the blue or sacrificing himself for the sake of all mankind and the public good…
But this child’s smile was achingly beautiful, and he wanted to change this pathetic world she would live in, just a little, so that she could smile more often.
*Just a little…*
Yes, just a little.
