Chapter 129

A week had passed since Dante returned to the imperial palace.

I went to work with Alex, just like any other day.

Alex, who had been stealing glances at me the whole way, casually asked.

“Are you sick or something?”

“No.”

“Then what’s with you lately? You’re barely touching your food.”

“I still ate as much as you did.”

“That’s what’s so weird! You usually eat twice as much as me without breaking a sweat, and now your portion is cut in half. Wouldn’t you be worried if you were me?”

I pressed my eyelids firmly. My mind was already a mess, and Alex chiming in was just exhausting.

“Just leave me alone.”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Didn’t you hear anything from the constellations?”

“Hear what?”

It seemed my strict orders to the constellations to keep their mouths shut on my way back from the palace a week ago had worked.

After all, if Alex had heard that Dante cut off Igrid’s arm, he wouldn’t be so calm.

“Don’t just suffer in silence. Spill it. Maybe I can help.”

Right, maybe telling Alex will ease this suffocating feeling a little.

I wiped a hand down my face.

“It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s about the Second Prince. Leaving him at the imperial palace has been bothering me.”

Alex’s expression turned strange.

“…He’s supposed to live in the imperial palace.”

“I know.”

“He went back to his own home, so why is it bothering you?”

Because that home is lonelier than a stranger’s. Because he’ll be all alone, like an isolated island with no one by his side.

Without even realizing he’s lonely.

Besides, thinking about what Dante did made my heart even heavier.

‘The emperor surely won’t let this slide…’

What if he’s locked up in a freezing cell again, one so cold that ice wouldn’t melt? What if he’s tied up like an animal and whipped? Is that why there’s been no news for a week?

Worrying like that completely killed my appetite.

I turned my gaze out the window.

“You don’t… have feelings for the prince, do you?”

“Is that the only kind of relationship you think can exist between a man and a woman? Men and women can be friends or colleagues, you know.”

When I sighed as if to say he was pathetic, Alex sheepishly scratched his cheek.

“I only said it because you’re not exactly the kind type to worry about others.”

“…”

It was so true I had nothing to say. I’d always been too busy trying to survive to worry about anyone else.

“If you’re that worried, should I look into it?”

“You? How?”

“As it happens, there’s a regular Yggdrasil meeting this morning. I’ll discreetly check things out while I’m at the palace.”

I avoided Alex’s gaze without realizing it.

“…Never mind.”

“Why? Are you worried about what the First Prince will think? Don’t worry. I can look into it quietly without getting caught.”

I should probably tell Alex. He was going to find out soon enough anyway.

I briefly explained what happened at the imperial palace. Alex, who had been listening with his jaw dropped, practically jumped out of his skin.

“What? The Second Prince cut off the First Prince’s arm?”

“Yeah.”

“How could he do that to his own family…? He really is insane! He’s not normal! No, why on earth would he do that!”

“The emperor suddenly burst in, so I couldn’t ask, but I think it was because of me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know that clip on the public bulletin board? The video of me getting slapped. He saw it and suddenly started radiating killing intent.”

“…He got angry watching you get hit?”

“I don’t get it either. I was the one who got hit, but does it make sense for him to be the one getting angry?”

Alex just blinked, a dazed look on his face.

“It… doesn’t make sense…”

“Anyway, I still don’t know why the Second Prince did it, but it’s true that it happened because of me. I guess that’s why I feel so frustrated.”

“…You really don’t know?”

Most people would think it’s because he loves me.

But does it make sense for Dante to love me that much? Obsession, maybe.

Dante was simply taking revenge on the person who scarred his precious doll. Considering his bizarre mental state, that made more sense.

“The Second Prince probably thinks of me as, um… a kind of attachment doll. The First Prince carelessly scarred it, so he got angry. The Second Prince has a side to him that’s not quite human, you know.”

“An attachment doll? What is that, that’s creepy!”

Alex shuddered. I slapped his arm as he made a huge fuss.

“Ow! What was that for!”

“Stop overreacting! I’m just saying that’s what I think, not that it’s the absolute truth. How am I supposed to know what’s in someone else’s heart?”

“Well… I guess that’s true.”

“I’m only telling you because you said you’re going to the meeting today. You can’t say a word until the news breaks. Make sure to warn the constellations, too.”

“Alright, I get it! Ow, how can a girl’s hand sting so much? How are you ever going to get married like that?”

“Did I just hear a sexist remark?”

Alex, who had been grumbling to himself, clamped his mouth shut.

I glared at Alex before shifting my gaze back out the window.

Before I knew it, we were in front of the Guardian headquarters.

* * *

The entire morning was a blur. Lately, gates had been opening simultaneously all over the country.

“Guild Master! It’s the second wave!”

“Again?”

“Yes! A D-rank gate has been detected in the Pantheon region, an F-rank and a D-rank in the Cocoon region, and a C-rank gate in the Misheril region!”

The detection team had started calling this phenomenon of gates opening all at once a ‘wave’.

I quickly flipped through the party roster.

“For Pantheon, send ‘Red Deer.’ For the F-rank in the Cocoon region, send ‘God’s Protection.’ For the D-rank… send ‘Warrior Power’ and ‘White Legion’ together. Leave the C-rank gate in Misheril to ‘Money Lovers.’”

“I’ll pass that along!”

“And tell them not to push it if they think they’re being overwhelmed. They should retreat.”

“Are you planning to clear a gate yourself again? You already cleared two yesterday… Will you be alright?”

The most important condition for sustaining the apocalypse was managing the number of casualties so it didn’t get too high.

After all, the more victims there are, the more people tend to band together and find a way to escape destruction.

“That’s not your concern.”

“…Understood, Guild Master.”

As the detection team staff member left, a staff member from the support team came in.

“Guild Master, the Pocket Barriers are completely sold out. What should we do?”

“Already?”

The Magic Tower had slightly altered the formula and released Pocket version 2.

I bought their entire stock and sold them to my guild members for points.

The Pocket Barriers were a massive hit.

This was because they were a revolutionary item that could prevent monsters from escaping while also allowing one to monopolize a gate.

The commoner guild members, especially those who had experienced having gates snatched away by the nobles from Bluebird, desperately collected the Pocket Barriers.

“Hold on a moment.”

I shuffled through the neatly stacked approval documents.

“Are these the cores the guild members acquired over the past week?”

“That’s correct.”

“Quite a lot. Send them all to the Magic Tower.”

With gates popping up like mushrooms after rain, the supply of cores was also high.

The staff member jotted down a quick note before handing over the next document.

“These are this month’s membership dues. Below that are the profits from the cafe. Once you confirm, they will be transferred directly to your account, Guild Master.”

3.27 million points in dues and 3 million points from the cafe… Just looking at the numbers was enough to make me feel full.

‘As expected, it was a good idea to bring Jean.’

“Confirmed.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Once the support team staff member left, peace finally returned.

“I’m starving…”

By the time I finished dispatching parties according to gate ranks and handling all the paperwork, it was already noon.

I collapsed onto my desk as if my soul had left my body.

‘My god. How can it be this exhausting?’

Running a guild was no ordinary task.

It was about ten times harder than my past life, where all I had to do was clear gates by myself.

“Oh my, Guild Master, are you alright?”

“Zenia… ice water.”

“I thought you might be like this, so I prepared some in advance. Here, drink slowly.”

I had signed so many documents that my arm felt weak.

When I opened my mouth wide like a baby bird, Zenia chuckled and brought the glass to my lips.

“It’s a lot, isn’t it? I don’t know why gates have been opening nonstop lately. It’s like the floodgates have opened… At least their ranks are low, which is a relief.”

It was the same in my past life.

Gates that used to open one by one at regular intervals suddenly started appearing chaotically.

They would open in different regions at the same time, or four or five would appear in a single area.

A phenomenon that began in my third year in my previous life was starting here before even a full year had passed.

In other words, the difficulty was much higher than in my past life.

It was a good thing the hunters in this world were of a higher caliber… Otherwise, we would have been doomed already.

‘Then again, the scale of sponsorships is different.’

In my past life, sponsorships were in the hundred-thousands at most, but in this life, million-point sponsorships were fairly common. And that was without any change in the item prices in the shop.

So it was only natural for the hunters’ abilities to improve rapidly.

‘The items I have right now are Arondight, three ultimate skills, and… that’s it.’

Everyone else is growing like crazy, but I’m just stuck in place…

‘Am I going to drop in the rankings at this rate?’

Just as I was biting my lip in anxiety, a massive sponsorship came through.