Chapter 253
The governments in exile would say, ‘Our good citizens are being tormented by the evil god constellations!’ However, the people in the occupied areas lived surprisingly well on their own.
China and North Korea are prime examples of that.
Videos with people saying things like ‘Huh? Aren’t we eating and living better since the constellation took over? The only issue is that the smell of alcohol has become worse,’ were posted. It got to the point that the governments of other countries banned the videos.
Thus, it became apparent that the countries occupied by constellations were also places where people could actually live. Of course, there were people who wanted to live an easy life by attaching themselves to constellations.
Edward was a perfect example of such people. He was a British nobleman with a bloodline that the collector constellation appreciated! Such nobles had gained the constellation’s favor and established a court to replace the exiled government. A privilege like this was something that the nobles of former times used to enjoy, as it normally never would’ve stood in modern times.
Of course, the situation was quite infuriating for the British people, but… There was no one brave enough to disobey the laws created by a constellation.
However, the nobles also had enemies, namely those who defected overseas! To the British people who had gone into exile abroad, these nobles were seen as traitors who had sided with the evil god constellation.
Some of them even sent death threats. Fortunately, the nobles didn’t have to leave British soil, so they weren’t too worried...
At the moment, Edward couldn’t help being reminded of this fact when he saw the hunters busting through his door.
“Knights... are you from the Knights of the Holy Temple?”
Edward questioned the hunters, and Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. What was with this long name? Was it a clan?
“Who are they?”
“They’re crazy Brits,” replied Whittaker, wondering why Choi Yeonseung hadn’t known about this.
Choi Yeonseung tilted his head. “Are you saying that all British people are crazy? Well... It makes sense, but...”
“What... What are you talking about? That’s not what I meant!” Whittaker got fired up. Above all, it wasn’t good to badmouth British people when they were surrounded by them.
Illeya whispered with a shocked expression, “He discriminates against the British?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s Whittaker, so what do you expect?”
“...”
Whittaker vowed that he would never accompany these two people again.
“Ah. I remember. It was those bastards.”
“Bastards...?”
“That... they kidnapped the president of the United States and tried to bomb the United Kingdom, right?”
“Yes. I learned about it from a textbook.” Illeya nodded and agreed.
The Knights of the Holy Temple was a radical group formed by exiled royal forces and hunters during the British occupation. They only cared about restoring the United Kingdom, and they would do whatever it took to achieve this goal. The worst thing they had done was to kidnap the president of the United States and send a nuclear weapon to the United Kingdom!
“Are you saying I look like such people?” Choi Yeonseung asked in a dumbfounded tone.
Edward replied cautiously, “N... No?”
“Then what nonsense are you saying? We’re just a bunch of good hunters.”
“...”
Edward’s expression contorted as he finally realized who Choi Yeonseung and the other hunters were. They were the bastards that had been recently loitering around!
“You call yourselves good hunters...?! Get lost! What kind of good hunters would barge in someone else’s mansion like that? Don’t think you’re going to get away with entering the country in secrecy! You rat bastards! Get lost before I denounce you to the collector constellation!” Edward spat out.
The other people next to him nodded and glared.
“You jerks...”
Whittaker became furious once again. People criticized him a lot, calling him a ‘selfish bastard’, but it was hard to hear such accusations from a bunch of assholes who depended on a constellation. Weren’t they living comfortably under the constellation while the clan hunters were fighting monsters and protecting the citizens?
“Damn. Let’s go.”
Despite his anger, Whittaker put up with it.
This was the United Kingdom, and these people were the constellation’s favorites in their own way. If he accidentally touched the wrong person and a household member came here, things would get nasty.
“Why?” asked Choi Yeonseung in response to Whittaker’s words.
“...Uhm, they’ll report us if we don’t leave, right??”
Whittaker looked at Choi Yeonseung with a confused expression because, to him, it seemed like his suggestion to leave was self-explanatory.
“Whittaker, you’re not getting it. Why leave just because they told us to? We have to persuade them.”
“You think we can persuade them? They’ve been affiliated with the constellation for decades...”
Adaquaniel looked at Choi Yeonseung with intrigue. How exactly did Choi Yeonseung intend to persuade them? She was a bit surprised that he had just barged in earlier, but now it was clear that he was going to reason with the nobles.
Bang!
Choi Yeonseung kicked the furniture at the front entrance and smashed the stairs next to it. He then picked up a table and threw it out the window. The furniture flying away was accompanied by the sound of the glass breaking.
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
“...”
Edward and his family were at a loss for words and shut their mouths. They couldn’t even process the shocking situation that was unfolding right in front of their eyes.
“T... This...”
Choi Yeonseung told them, “Listen to what I have to say and then decide if you want to call the constellation.”
“What...?”
“Do you really think the collector constellation will send his household members here when he’s got his hands full with the ongoing battle? Even if he did, we could easily kill each and every one of you before a household member manages to get here.”
“You madman, this is a threat!”
Whittaker was inwardly horrified. Choi Yeonseung had said that he was going to persuade them, but this was an actual threat.
No...
Could they really do this? Of course, presently, no laws were being enforced in the United Kingdom, and the constellation didn’t care about such things anyways. However, since they sneaked in and made a fuss like this...
Choi Yeonseung pressed his fingers against the wall and lightly pierced the hard rock like it was cheese.
“Answer me.”
“N... No. I won’t call anyone.”
“Your answer is awfully short, isn’t it? We’ve come a long way, and that’s all you’ve got to say? How do you treat your guests?”
“I-I will treat you...” replied Edward in a hushed, quivering voice.
He had lived like a noble in this town, but the moment he encountered someone violent who couldn’t care less about nobility and ranks, his illusion of power was instantly shattered.
A chilling sense of dread seized every inch of his body!
Seeing this whole ordeal, Adaquaniel tilted her head. She had seen it earlier, and she could see it even now, but… There was something strange about Choi Yeonseung’s persuasion.
***
The British enjoyed tea time.
In particular, when welcoming hunters who had come a long way, everyone in the house, including the house owner, would kneel on the floor and drink tea. This was the unique culture of greeting people in the UK.
-Is that true??
-No. They’re irritating.
-......
The goddess of sloth was angry. Choi Yeonseung had made it sound so plausible that she almost fell for it.
“So you’ve met the collector constellation?”
“Well… We didn’t exactly meet, but at his palace...”
Buckingham Palace. This historic palace was once the residence of the British royal family, but now it was merely the symbol of the collector constellation’s authority. The collector constellation was located in the Abyss and wouldn’t really bother coming to the palace, but his best and most loyal vassals dwelled there.
Subordinates from all over the United Kingdom were invited to the palace. Even Edward was invited from time to time.
“That’s true.” Choi Yeonseung nodded.
Finding the holy relics hidden by the constellation in the vast land of the United Kingdom might’ve seemed intimidating at first, but when he thought about it, there were limited places where they could be hidden.
There was no way an arrogant constellation like the collector constellation would hide holy relics in a messy place like a garbage dump. Of course, it had to be in a pretentious place! In this regard, Choi Yeonseung suspected places like the Buckingham Palace to have the holy relic.
“Tell me more details.”
Choi Yeonseung coaxed, confronted, and intimidated Edward, extracting detailed information from him. He asked things like who his subordinates were,?if there was anything suspicious...
Choi Yeonseung decided that they would go there together, and he urged Edward to be truthful to him if he didn’t want to die.
“Huh????”
Edward was shocked. “What? N-No. You’re coming with me...?”
“We’ll go together. What if the people you know won’t help you?”
“...”
Edward realized that things were getting serious. Did he really have to go all the way to London with these crazy hunters?? At this rate, wouldn’t they all die?
Edward made one last attempt to reason with them. “Monsters... Didn’t you come to kill them??”
“I will kill monsters, but I have to check various things while here.”
Whittaker, who was next to him, asked as if he didn’t understand, “Isn’t London too dangerous? No matter what, there’s no need to go there...”
“Tsk tsk.” Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue at Whittaker's ignorance. “Whittaker. You really are clueless. Do you know what I heard before I came here?”
“What did you hear?”
“That there’s a mountain of artifacts in London that’s been piled up by the collector constellation.”
“...!!!!!!”
Whittaker’s eyes widened to the point where they couldn’t get any bigger.
“Do you think I came here just to kill some monsters?”
“W-Was it something like that...?”
Whittaker trembled with apprehension. He hadn’t understood why an A-grade hunter came all the way to the United Kingdom while taking care of all the clan hunters. However, there was a reason. Such a purpose convinced him of the decision to go to London.
“Y-You’ll let me join, right?” Whittaker wondered.
“You’re a bit...”’
“I’m a healer! You’ll need a skilled healer like me, right?”
“You’re irritating.”
“...”
Whittaker was momentarily left speechless by Choi Yeonseung’s transparency, but what was there that he could do? He was arguing with an A-grade hunter…
“I’ll obey your orders unconditionally, so please...”
“Hmm. Okay.”
Bang!
As he was speaking, they suddenly heard the sound of the front door being smashed open. Choi Yeonseung turned his head with a quizzical look.The door had already been broken, so who could’ve done that?
‘What? Is a household member here?’
That wasn’t the case. Heavily armed hunters stood at the main entrance. They were armed with various equipment and heavy weapons. It was easy to mistake them for mercenaries, but Choi Yeonseung could feel a high amount of magic power radiating from them. The power seemed to range from C to B-grade! They could take out an entire military unit with that amount of power.
‘They’re not the Icarus clan hunters?’
“The bastard Edward! Traitor of England! You shall face judgment from your country!”
“Uh... Aaaaack!” It’s the Knights of the Holy Temple!!!!”
Edward now trembled with even more fear than when he had previously been threatened by Choi Yeonseung. He knew that Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t just kill him like that. Meanwhile, the Knight of the Holy Temple were completely out of control and they had no qualms about killing him!
They were fear incarnated!
“Go and grab him! This bastard’s end shall be known to the public. We’ll let people know what happens to traitors... Wait. Aren’t you hunters?”
The Knights of the Holy Temple stopped when they saw that other hunters were already inside. They were so famous that one could recognize them just by seeing their faces. They belonged to the Icarus clan! Things weren’t going as they expected, so their knightly minds were quite perplexed.
Edward exclaimed urgently, “I think you’ve got the wrong idea! I’ve joined forces with these hunters! We’ve actually been cooperating for a long time! I’m a patriot!”
“...??”
Choi Yeonseung stared at Edward with a look of disbelief. Edward gave him a desperate look. Despite not saying anything verbally or through telepathy, Edward managed to get his message across.
-Please speak for me...!
“...Well, yes. He has indeed been working with us for a long time.”
“You’ve been collaborating with the Icarus clan?”
The Knights of the Holy Temple relaxed their glare. Then, one of them spoke in a much softer voice, “I’m sorry about that. I think we misunderstood the situation. We didn’t know what was going on, so we held a grudge against you. Hey, put your tools away.”
“...”
Choi Yeonseung looked at the tools that the knights were putting away and was stunned.
What were those jagged, bloody instruments of torture??
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