Chapter 119

Chapter 119

The leaders of the Caravan passed through the slums under the escort of Logan and the Awakened, then entered Neo Seoul.

The rumor that they had entered soon spread throughout all of Neo Seoul.

“A Caravan?”

“That is correct.”

At Kim Jae-kyung’s report, Johan’s eyes widened sharply.

Right now, Neo Seoul was in a festive mood over the fact that a Caravan had made contact for the first time in years.

The same was true not only of Neo Seoul, but also of the people in the slums.

Caravans set out to trade with goods that could only be found in their region. Their cargo compartments were certain to be filled with things that could not be seen in Neo Seoul.

“How valuable are the goods they brought?”

“We have not been able to determine that yet. The Mammoth refused to enter Neo Seoul and stopped, so......”

“It’s because of the anti-magic force.”

“Even then, it only managed to approach so close because it was such a gigantic Mammoth. If it had been a smaller species, it would have stopped dozens of kilometers away.”

“Hmm! I suppose so.”

Johan pushed up the glasses that had slipped down to the tip of his nose and looked out the window.

Beyond the high wall, the City Hall building could be seen.

“By now, they must have entered City Hall.”

“Yes!”

“This is a meeting taking place for the first time in decades. If it were an ordinary Caravan, it wouldn’t have been able to make it all the way here. They must have brought a great many precious goods.”

Johan’s eyes gleamed eerily behind his glasses.

Whatever goods the Caravan had brought, they would not flow into the slums.

Even if they did, it would happen much later.

Johan wanted to confirm the goods they had brought right now. If possible, he wanted to make them his own.

“Find a way to make contact with the Caravan.”

“Understood.”

“If possible, brainwash someone at the executive level.”

“Yes!”

Kim Jae-kyung nodded.

Johan murmured,

“An unexpected variable has appeared at a completely unforeseen moment.”

Johan liked situations that were firmly under control.

He hated it extremely when unexpected variables appeared like this.

“The others will be moving busily as well.”

It was a meeting with another Colony for the first time in decades.

Not only Mayor Jin Geum-ho, but also the rulers of each district of Neo Seoul were certain to move busily.

Not only the goods brought by the Caravan, but also the route they had taken, the situation in the desert, and the distribution of monsters—all of that information would become power.

The power gained that way was strong enough to shake the entire power structure of Neo Seoul from its roots.

The rulers inside Neo Seoul would never miss this opportunity.

‘If I fall behind here, I’ll never be able to catch up to them. Even if it’s for the sake of advancing into Neo Seoul, I have to get the Caravan into my hands no matter what.’

＊＊＊

The number of White Bear Caravan members who entered Neo Seoul was seven in total.

Every one of them had pulled the hood attached to their robe deep over their head.

Because of that, their faces could not be seen.

Logan glanced sideways and tried hard to look at their faces, but in the end, he could not learn a single thing.

Logan brought the people from the White Bear Caravan into City Hall.

Although he had long carried out missions assigned by Neo Seoul, even Logan had never entered City Hall before.

Because of that, Logan’s face was frozen like ice.

Perhaps because they had heard the information that the Caravan had arrived, they were able to pass through City Hall’s main gate without any special procedure.

They had just reached the lobby on the first floor of City Hall.

“You must be the people of the White Bear Caravan from the Akutsk Colony. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Seo Tae-ran, secretary to the Mayor.”

A beautiful woman dressed in red top and bottom that clung tightly to her body greeted them.

Her blond hair was combed back neatly, without a single strand out of place. Her beautiful yet strong eyes and nose bridge brought to mind an ancient northern goddess.

The woman was a martial artist-type Awakened and Mayor Jin Geum-ho’s secretary, Seo Tae-ran.

Although she was behaving politely, an inexplicable confidence and cold atmosphere could be felt from her.

Gulp!

The moment Logan saw her, he swallowed dryly.

Because he was also an Awakened, he could feel how powerful she was.

He could not know exactly what grade she was, but he knew at the very least that she was an Awakened stronger than himself.

The chill crawling up his back and neck proved that fact.

Then an especially large man stepped forward from among the White Bear Caravan members and removed his hood. His true face was revealed.

Although he was bald, with his hairline receding to below the crown of his head, his powerful impression and gaze did not look comical at all.

His deeply sunken eyes were as violent as those of a brown bear, and a powerful will could be felt from his firmly closed lips.

He introduced himself.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Alexandro Furchenko, the master of the White Bear Caravan.”

“So you are Caravan Master Furchenko. We sincerely welcome your visit to Neo Seoul.”

“Please call me Alexandro comfortably. I am truly grateful for your welcome.”

“You are visitors after many years. Of course we should welcome you warmly. Could you introduce the others as well?”

“Ah, these are the Awakened who protect our merchant group. All of you, remove your robes and greet her.”

“Yes!”

At his answer, the Awakened all removed the hoods attached to their robes.

Their atmosphere was as powerful as Alexandro’s.

Seo Tae-ran looked over them one by one, then her gaze stopped on the last man.

That was because his atmosphere was different from the others.

The others all had sturdy builds and powerful impressions, enough to bring to mind white bears. By contrast, the last man had an especially slender figure and handsome features.

Rather than a masculine man, he was closer to a handsome man—no, to a beautiful boy.

Seo Tae-ran revealed her curiosity.

“Is this person also an Awakened?”

“That is correct. Privately, he is my nephew.”

“I see. May I ask his name?”

“My name is Damian.”

The Awakened singled out by Seo Tae-ran introduced himself directly.

His voice was as pleasant to hear as his face was beautiful.

Seo Tae-ran smiled and answered,

“Then I will call you Damian-nim.”

“You may call me Damian comfortably.”

“All right, Damian. I sincerely welcome your visit to Neo Seoul. Now, let us go up to meet the Mayor. The Mayor is waiting for you to come up.”

Seo Tae-ran had Alexandro and his party board the elevator.

Whirr!

The elevator moved them to the highest floor of City Hall in an instant.

Caravan Master Alexandro let out an exclamation of admiration.

“Hah! Neo Seoul has surpassed the technology from before the destruction. It is truly remarkable.”

“It is all thanks to the Mayor’s efforts.”

“He must be an incredible person.”

“Yes! He is an incredible person. Without him, the Neo Seoul of today would not exist.”

“Our Akutsk Colony is too busy defending against monster attacks to even dream of a civilization this advanced. I want to meet the Mayor as soon as possible and hear his secret.”

“You will soon. Once we pass through this door.”

The elevator opened, and the door to the Mayor’s office appeared before them.

Seo Tae-ran carefully knocked on the door with her fist and said,

“I have brought the master of the White Bear Caravan.”

“Bring him in.”

“Yes!”

With Jin Geum-ho’s permission, Seo Tae-ran opened the door to the Mayor’s office.

Beyond the door, Jin Geum-ho stood with the floor-to-ceiling window pouring in light behind him.

Seo Tae-ran said to Alexandro,

“Please enter.”

“Thank you.”

Alexandro nodded, then entered the Mayor’s office.

The Awakened who served as his guards were about to follow him inside when Seo Tae-ran blocked their way.

“The only person who may enter the Mayor’s office is Caravan Master Alexandro. Everyone else, please wait here.”

“We cannot do that.”

“We are those who protect the Caravan Master. We can never be separated from him.”

The Awakened flared up and raised their voices.

They looked like large bears getting angry.

Even before their threatening appearance, Seo Tae-ran’s expression did not change at all.

Still smiling, she said,

“That is the rule of the Mayor’s office. Only one person at a time may face the Mayor. Since you have come to Neo Seoul, I would appreciate it if you respected our rules.”

“How are we supposed to trust Neo Seoul and leave the Caravan Master alone?”

“Then you may return as you are.”

“What did you say?”

At Seo Tae-ran’s words, the Awakened burst into anger.

They looked ready to shove Seo Tae-ran aside and enter the Mayor’s office at any moment.

Then the slender, beautiful boy, Damian, opened his mouth.

“Brothers!”

As if by magic, the Awakened stopped their threatening behavior.

Damian continued,

“Surely the Mayor of Neo Seoul would not harm the Caravan Master. Let us simply wait here until he comes out.”

“Mm!”

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

Seo Tae-ran watched the Awakened, who had been radiating such ferocity, become calm as if it had all been a lie, and thought,

‘Then the center of these people is that boy Damian? I thought there was something different about him.’

＊＊＊

The White Bear Caravan set up camp in the middle of the desert, far away from Neo Seoul.

The cargo wagons that the Mammoth had dragged all the way from Akutsk were made from special materials. They were light yet sturdy, and tall as well.

When the cargo wagons were arranged in a circle and stacked five levels high, they became a castle in themselves.

This was one of the secrets that allowed the Caravan to survive in the desert.

By creating a castle like this, they could safely protect their people even against attacks from desert monsters.

Because the cargo wagons were so large and tall, it was impossible to grasp the situation inside from outside.

For that reason, how many people were inside, how many Awakened there were, and what goods were loaded in the cargo wagons were all thoroughly veiled.

After staring at the camp for a long while, Briel asked Zeon,

“Zeon, have you ever been to Akutsk?”

“No.”

Zeon shook his head.

Over the past seven years, Zeon had traveled through quite a few Colonies. But the places he had gone were mainly concentrated to the south and east of Neo Seoul.

He had never had time to go west, and the north was so far away that he could not even bring himself to attempt it.

This was the first time he had even learned that there was a Colony in Akutsk.

Akutsk was the capital of the Sakha Republic in the old Russian Far East, famous for its tremendous cold, where winter temperatures dropped to minus fifty degrees.

It was an environment difficult for humans to live in, but paradoxically, because of that, they had survived and built a Colony.

Russia and the Akutsk region had also turned into desert. Only the temperature was different. Because they were much farther north than Neo Seoul, the temperature was much lower.

Thanks to that, many people had survived, gathered their strength, and built a Colony.

‘There must have been a fairly capable leader. Even if the environment was better than Neo Seoul’s, building a Colony couldn’t have been easy.’

He suddenly became curious about who the leader of the Akutsk Colony was. But Zeon soon let go of that interest.

Based on experience, he had never once had a good memory from becoming too deeply involved with another Colony.

It was more comfortable to keep an appropriate distance from everything.

“Let’s go in now.”

“Already?”

At Zeon’s words, Briel looked regretful. Zeon smiled and said,

“If you’re curious, you can keep watching.”

“Can I?”

“Don’t approach them. They look docile, but Mammoths are ferocious monsters. If that thing runs wild, the slums will be devastated.”

“Yes!”

Briel nodded vigorously.

Zeon looked at Briel for a moment, then turned away.

The streets were full of people who had come out to see the Caravan.

The rare spectacle they had not seen in a long time stirred the curiosity of the slum people.

The eyes of the slum people looking at the small castle in the distance were filled with all sorts of desires.

Zeon clicked his tongue quietly.

‘Briel wasn’t the problem.’

Desire was the driving force that moved people.

Good desire made people develop, but distorted desire drove not only oneself, but also those around them, toward destruction.

Zeon had seen countless cases like that.

This time, he hoped such a thing would not happen.