Chapter 94: Hermes

The next day.

To buy the shares, our guild, Crescent, and the Royal Knights began moving quickly.

Mr. Luca, Claire, and Ames would handle the Association.

The Royal Knights would handle Tachyon.

Crescent would handle Death God.

And Jihyeok and I decided to handle Hermes.

The reason I chose Hermes was because I judged it would be the most difficult guild to negotiate with.

Hermes is currently the largest guild among the Five Great Guilds.

True to its size, it’s also famous for having more incidents and accidents than other guilds.

Even so, the reason no one can easily touch Hermes is, of course, because Hermes is one of the Five Great Guilds and because of its Guild Master.

It’s been a long time since I met that bastard, but he left such a strong impression that he’s still etched in my memory.

The Guild Master of Hermes, Neveres, was a man with particularly greater ambition than the other Guild Masters.

Naturally, his relationship with me — with Verdiol — isn’t exactly good.

Back then, both I and that bastard had such strong pride that we were always fighting whenever we got the chance.

…Of course, it wasn’t a serious fight, just a bit of roughhousing.

To be honest, I do acknowledge that bastard’s skill.

He’s an S-Rank Hunter and possesses skill befitting the master of the largest guild among the Five Great Guilds.

But what I can’t compromise on, what I absolutely dislike, is his garbage personality.

He’s a crazy bastard who thinks he is the law, and that his words are the truth of the world.

In a word, you could say he’s a typical tyrant style.

However, he was also the type to treat you well if you were on his side. Maybe that’s why he had quite a few subordinates who genuinely followed him.

That’s probably why Hermes is the largest among the Five Great Guilds.

“We’ve arrived.”

Jihyeok set me down from his arms. On the way to the Hermes guild office, I couldn’t be bothered to use flying magic, so I came cradled in his arms, and the ride was quite comfortable. Now that my identity is out, I should make frequent use of this from now on.

Thinking that, I lifted my head…

“Is this… the guild office?”

I asked Jihyeok, dumbfounded by the sight before me.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…….”

Feeling dumbfounded once again at Jihyeok’s confirmation, I turned my head.

Then, the massive airship stationed at the dock came back into view.

Who would think that’s a guild office looking at that?

That thought lasted only a moment. At the edge of my vision, I saw a tiny dot moving. It wasn’t hard to realize it was a person.

*THUD!* Along with the sound of feet kicking off the ground, three people appeared before us. Two men and one woman. Their attire gave off an impression of a pirate crew.

“What have you been eyeing up since a while ago? Intruders?”

The man on the left asked in a provocative tone.

“Oh my, the little girl is kind of cute.”

…The woman on the right said that, looking at me.

“…You’re Kim Jihyeok.”

The man in the middle said, facing Jihyeok with a serious expression.

“Kim Jihyeok, that S-Rank Hunter?!”

“The one who closed an S-Rank Gate alone with just one other…”

As Jihyeok’s name was mentioned, the two people on either side made surprised expressions.

‘…That reaction should have come out when they heard my name.’

In the past, the moment they heard the name Yoschuko Verdiol, a lot of people would freak out. Probably because of my notoriety.

But I won’t see that anymore.

Honestly, even if I reveal my identity, with my current appearance, I have no charisma, and it’s hard to instill any tension.

‘That’s why I brought Jihyeok.’

I smirked and stared at Jihyeok. He was always someone I found reliable, but today, he felt especially reliable.

“…So, what business does an S-Rank Hunter have here?”

The man in the middle asked, staring at Jihyeok with narrowed eyes.

Jihyeok.

“I have business with the Guild Master of Hermes.”

Jihyeok said it in a very calm manner, as if stating something perfectly obvious.

“With our Master? What kind of business?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“You won’t even tell us why you want to meet, and you expect us to let you see the Master just like that?… Look, I get that you’re someone important, but even so, you can’t just say it like that and expect us to go along.”

The man in the middle spoke to Jihyeok in a sharp tone.

“…Our Master has something urgent to discuss with your Master. That’s all I’ll tell you.”

Jihyeok glanced at me once, then turned his head back and said to them.

“Hey, do you even know what guild you’re talking to? This is Hermes! If you want to have a conversation with the Master, isn’t it only proper that the Master comes to us himself?”

But that didn’t seem to satisfy them, because the man on the left answered that way. The others were silent too, so it seemed they agreed with that statement.

“The Master is right here.”

“What?”

At Jihyeok’s words, the three of them tilted their heads.

Then Jihyeok lowered his body. And then…

“This person right here is the Master of our guild.”

He extended his hand toward me as if presenting me, and said that.

“…….”

‘What the hell is this bastard doing.’

With that thought, I stared at Jihyeok with a sullen face, but he just kept his head bowed and his hand extended toward me.

“Pfft, puhahahaha! What kind of nonsense is that?!”

At Jihyeok’s display, the three Hermes guild members suddenly burst out laughing.

“That little girl is the Guild Master? What a joke!”

“I was scared because he’s an S-Rank Hunter, but what bullshit!”

“It’s neither a joke nor bullshit.”

At Jihyeok’s serious voice, the laughter vanished from their faces in an instant.

“This person is none other than Guild Master Yoschua Verdi of the Bisang Guild!”

“Hey, cut it out, you fucker.”

Convinced that Jihyeok was doing this on purpose, I smacked his face and said. But Jihyeok didn’t know when to stop.

“What the hell is the Master of Hermes doing? The Master of the Bisang Guild, Yoschua Verdi, has arrived — why isn’t he coming out immediately?”

“What’s all this commotion?”

Almost at the same time Jihyeok finished speaking, someone’s shout came from the airship.

Then, what appeared was a giant of a man wearing a coat like an officer’s uniform.

“…You are, S-Rank Hunter Kim Jihyeok…!”

The moment he saw Jihyeok’s face, tension visibly crept onto his own.

“Sir Kevin!”

The three who had been blocking us lowered their bodies at his appearance.

He seemed to be one of their executives.

Kevin leaped high from the deck of the airship and landed in front of us in an instant.

“A guy like you, what business do you have here? You’re not here to declare war, are you.”

Kevin said with a smirk.

“I came to speak with the Guild Master of Hermes.”

“…Fine.”

Kevin thought for a moment at Jihyeok’s words, then spoke as if he had no choice.

“Riza, Jorge, Hoffman, get inside. I’ll inform the Master.”

“Ah, understood.”

At Kevin’s command, the three bowed their heads and withdrew.

“Follow me. Actually, the Master already knew you were coming.”

“Then he should have come out from the start.”

Kevin said that and gestured with his shoulder as if telling us to follow, and Jihyeok went after him.

I silently stuck close behind Jihyeok. Hoping he wouldn’t say anything more unnecessary.

The inside of the airship was surprisingly spacious. And there were just as many people.

Eyes pouring in from all directions… If this were Verdiol’s body, I’d have thrown a spell asking what the hell they were staring at.

But right now, I have no intention of revealing my identity to all of them, so I won’t.

Besides, I came here to negotiate — if I started a ruckus, I’d get kicked out immediately.

And so, the place we arrived at was in front of a door labeled “Captain’s Quarters.” It seemed this room was Neveres’s office.

“Master, you have visitors.”

Kevin said, carefully knocking on the door of the captain’s quarters.

We quietly waited for Kevin’s next move.

“The Master is inside. Go on in.”

There was no answer from inside, but somehow Kevin had received permission, because he turned his head and said.

The door to the captain’s quarters slowly opened under Kevin’s hand.

“If anything happens to the Master, Hermes will not forgive you.”

Before we entered, Kevin blocked our path and said.

The exchange of murderous glances lasted only a moment. Maybe Kevin decided this was enough, because he slowly stepped aside.

Jihyeok and I headed straight into the captain’s quarters.

* * *

The captain’s quarters were, like the outside, a surprisingly spacious room. This airship itself seemed quite large.

I was walking deeper inside, surveying the interior, when—

“Heh heh heh, an old face comes to visit.”

A voice came from the darkness. I recognized it as Neveres’s voice instantly.

I slowly stared toward where the sound came from, and in the darkness, I could faintly make out his figure.

He wore a red long coat and a pirate hat on his head, as if he were some pirate captain.

The guild master of Hermes, S-Rank Hunter, the Tyrant Neveres.

It had been quite a while, but he looked exactly the same as before.

“Black Night Rider! And the one beside you is…”

After Jihyeok, Neveres’s gaze swept over me, then he grinned and said.

“Of course I know. The A-Rank Hunter who’s been rising like a storm lately, the Black Mage!”

Black… Mage? Who the hell’s nickname was that? I thought, but no matter how I considered it, that bizarre title seemed to refer to me.

But I’d never heard that nickname before… Where the hell did he hear it?

“Long time no see, Neveres.”

Jihyeok greeted Neveres. This guy was also an old acquaintance of Neveres—since he was with me, they’d naturally met before.

“Black Night Rider, you haven’t changed a bit.”

“Looks like you haven’t either.”

“Hahaha, that’s only on the surface. The me now…”

Neveres trailed off, his gaze slowly turning to me.

“Enough. So, what’s the reason two famous folks like you came looking for me?”

At his question, Jihyeok looked at me. I nodded, then stepped forward in front of Jihyeok.

The dais was a bit high, so I had to tilt my head up, which was slightly annoying, but I steadied my voice and spoke.

“Uh, pwease sell us the wights to End Cave!”

…Ah, fuck, I tripped over my tongue.