The negotiation with the Blue Guild went well. When we opened our account, the down payment was transferred in real-time. Although we haven’t received our epic-ranked items yet, we were given positions that we didn’t deserve. We were provided exactly what was promised.

Honestly, I did debate whether I should join the Blue Guild up until the last moment, but the more I knew about them, the more I thought that they weren’t such a bad guild. For the Red Mercenary Guild, the guild master had the authority, but for the Blue Guild, their organizational system was divided more than I expected. There was the guild master, sub guild master, six teams under them, and a few administrative positions. To make it simple, the Blue Guild was made up of six parties. A party had a minimum of five people and 15 people at most.

I didn’t know what the organizational system of the other guilds was like, but I was starting to understand why Kim Hyun-Sung liked the Blue Guild so much.

‘It’s nice to move together.’

As he expected, the moment we joined, a new party was created within the guild and the leader of the seventh party was Kim Hyun-Sung. It was difficult to say that we were now official members of the guild, but I was sure that we would be able to fit in with the guild pretty soon.

The things that had been mentioned until now were things that the Blue Guild originally agreed to do for us. All that was left were the epic-ranked items that we hadn’t received yet and the position that would be given to me. They were probably thinking hard about where I should be placed because they had to prepare a position where I wouldn’t be looked down upon by old men like Lee Seol-Ho. Not long after, they prepared a position for me.

‘Special administrator of non-combatant jobs.’

Anyone would be able to tell that it was a vague and improvised job. I originally had a party, so for someone like me to have an administrative job was rare, but Lee Sang-Hee was being considerate by providing me with a foundation where I could grow with Kim Hyun-Sung’s party.

‘Nice.’

Anyways, because of me, the Blue Guild took on one more administrative position and no one knew what kind of job was assigned to me. I was sure that they wanted to ask me for help with the administrative work, but it was difficult for them to give me a task right now. Despite that, the fact that they gave me a position in such a hurry meant that there was something that they wanted from me.

That was because…

“Mr. Ki-Young, a gift arrived for you outside,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Oh, thank you Mr. Hyun-Sung.”

…I was the mercenary queen’s lover.

‘Damn…’

When Cha Hee-Ra said that she was going to do things her way, I was worried. But I didn’t expect that she would do something like this. I thought that maybe she wanted to do an act of small revenge on me for my arrogant attitude, but considering the fact that she handwrote a letter for me every day and sent valuable gifts, I guess she thought that doing a proper investment would be better.

Of course, I got what I wanted and there wasn’t anyone within the Benigoa Holy Empire that would be crazy enough to mess with the mercenary queen’s lover.

‘Still…’

“This isn’t right.”

Her method was a bit different from the method that I had in mind.

Unlike me, who was upset, the Blue Guild became successful. Currently, the Red Mercenary Guild was the strongest guild within the Holy Empire, but the Blue Guild was rapidly rising up the ranks. Of course, I was in the center of all of this, so it felt like my position within the guild had gone up accordingly. However, the fact that some people were looking at me negatively couldn't be helped.

‘Cha Hee-Ra, the mercenary queen of the Red Mercenary Guild, has fallen deeply in love with the rookie that just came out of the tutorial. That rookie has an executive position within the Blue Guild and is constantly being courted by the mercenary queen.’

This was the rumor that caused it, but there were other rumors about me, like how I was a bastard that still did shady things despite having a hidden lover, or that I was extremely skilled in bed, or that I had already been familiar with Cha Hee-Ra back on Earth.

Of course, the Red Mercenary Guild was the one that started these rumors. The rumors had already spread within the limited space in front of the tutorial dungeon, so I was sure that it would eventually spread to the Holy Empire.

‘Damn it…’

While looking at the gifts that had piled up, Kim Hyun-Sung carefully spoke to me. I was sure that he felt confused and shocked by it because his opinion about Cha Hee-Ra was different from what he was seeing at the moment.

“Can you tell me what kind of conversation you had with her?”

“It wasn’t anything important, but I asked her to be our sponsor. I’m not sure why she’s doing this, but I’m sure it’s just a bad joke,” I answered.

“Hm…possibly. But I think you left a good impression on her because of all the gifts she’s been sending,” he said.

After hearing what Kim Hyun-Sung said, when I looked at the goods that were stacked in front of the building, I couldn’t help but come to a realization that this kind of misunderstanding also added trust.

[Ancient Republic’s Potion Making Alchemy Kit - Epic Rank]

[This is an alchemy kit that has been passed down from the ancient republic. The basic equipment was discovered in an underground laboratory and even after a long time, the equipment has maintained its original form. It may look like it is made out of a special chemical, but this equipment contains magic and because of its excellent quality and performance, it can’t be considered a simple piece of equipment. It increases the success rate of potion making and will increase the user’s luck stat temporarily.]

This wasn’t all…

[Minotaur’s Sinew - Rare Rank]

[Banshee’s Magic Essence - Rare Rank]

[Troll’s Blood - Rare Rank]

[Unknown Monster’s Blood - Rare Rank]

[Holy Empire’s Holy Water - Rare Rank]

Boxes of different types of catalysts often used in alchemy were stacked. There was a handwritten letter on top of the boxes and the words written were full of affection.

- Thank you always. It’s not much, but I hope you’ll accept my gifts. To my most handsome darling in the world, with love. Cha Hee-Ra.

‘That…damn it…’

It was obvious, but of course, I liked it since she was handing out free gifts and expensive items. And honestly, I didn’t care how other people looked at me.

The only problem was Jung Ha-Yan.

When this present first arrived and the rumors started spreading, I couldn’t describe her expression with words. I was worried that she was going to use magic on the gifts that the mercenary queen gave me, but seeing how she was crying and trying not to look at the gifts, she was obviously stressed with the fact that there wasn’t anything she could do for me. Jung Ha-Yan knew better than anyone that in her current state, she couldn’t provide me with these kinds of gifts. Of course, I kept telling her that I didn’t have that kind of relationship with Cha Hee-Ra and tried to convince her that she was the only person I loved, but Jung Ha-Yan spent a lot of time quietly thinking to herself. Jung Ha-Yan focused on her magic training like crazy, making it look like she was overworking herself.

Besides the short time that we spent together, I didn’t think that she slept much and of course, this included the times where we showed our affection physically. If we didn’t spend time together like this, I was sure that Jung Ha-Yan wouldn’t be able to handle it. Those times were when we reconfirmed our feelings for each other, but it was also the times when she disinfected me from the dirty things.

“Where’s Ha-Yan…” I asked.

“Miss Ha-Yan is probably at the lake in the back. I think she’s been training herself in water magic recently. I’m sure you’ll find her if you go there. Mr. Deok-Gu has been…” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

“Deok-Gu?” I asked.

“I think Mr. Deok-Gu has been building a boat on the lake since this morning…” he said.

“A boat?”

“Yes. I think the way Miss Ha-Yan was staring at the lake gave him the impression that she wanted to ride a boat…I thought that it will help with her training, so I left them alone,” he replied.

For some reason, I got chills on my back.

‘Park Deok-Gu…’

I wasn’t sure what he was planning right now, but I didn’t have a good feeling about it. After gulping, I continued the conversation with Kim Hyun-Sung. “More than that, is everything going well?”

“Yes, of course. The meetings are a bit difficult to follow right now, but…I think I know a bit more about the Blue Guild now. They said that tutorial dungeons have started opening up in other locations as well. It seems like the transfer market will open soon, but unfortunately, the guild doesn’t have the luxury to invest in a conquest party…it’ll probably be one or two people at most. I’m sure that there are people with a lot of potential within the survivors, so I think they’re going to try to invest in those people,” he explained.

“Hm…it’s because of us,” I said.

It was the perfect answer.

“You can say that, but if possible, I’ve been thinking about using the down payment for the members that’ll be joining our party…” he said.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea and I’m sure the guild itself will be kind of happy,” I said.

“That’s a relief. How are things on your side?” he asked.

“I think the key members of the guild are thinking about collaborating with other parties to enter a dungeon because helping us grow fast isn’t that bad of an endeavor for the guild. It’ll probably happen after this is done, but preparing in advance will be good,” I explained.

“Which side…”

“That hasn’t been decided yet. Personally, I think finding an undiscovered dungeon will probably give us experience, but I think the guild is thinking about going out on a basic hunt,” I answered.

“Oh, I see,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Well, I have a meeting, so I’ll head in first. What about you Mr. Ki-Young?” he asked.

“Oh, I’ll be heading out first.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you in a few,” he said.

It was a pretty helpful conversation.

When I glanced over at Kim Hyun-Sung, I saw him nod. If Kim Hyun-Sung thought about our course of action from now on and made plans based on that, then I could simply assist him with the external things. After all the tutorial dungeons were over, I could select and poach people from those that hadn’t been chosen from the market, those that hadn’t made a choice, and those that were done with their training.

Kim Hyun-Sung also looked at the survivors in order to find out if there was some sort of connection in the past, but it felt like he was just leaving it up to me. He realized that I did way better than he imagined. It was a short time, but since I provided results beyond his imagination, it was a bit funny seeing him think that his instincts were right.

‘I need to be trusted more.’

It was better for people to think that I was useful in many things. I was sure that Kim Hyun-Sung was thinking that he had obtained a person that was useful.

As I walked, I headed towards the training center where the members were currently being trained. It was the place where the survivors from the tutorial dungeon were being taken care of.

Just like my conversation with Kim Hyun-Sung, the basic training had ended. Getting a headstart would put me at an advantage since I had to prepare for the recruitment drive. In addition, I also had to create a list of people for Cha Hee-Ra.

Of course, the people from the other tutorial dungeon were more important than these people, but there may be a survivor that I was not aware of, so I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least check.

“An executive member of the Blue Guild will be visiting us today. After completing this short, yet long training, you’ll either receive offers from different guilds or you can either apply to them. I’d appreciate it if you’ll act according to the procedure.”

“Okay,” the survivors answered.

Inside the tourney hall of the training center, today’s training was in progress.

When I quietly moved, I could hear people greeting me first and they weren’t from the people that were lined up in the tourney hall.

“Keep up the good work,” I said.

“Oh! Thank you, team leader,” one person said.

“I haven’t been officially commissioned yet, sergeant,” I said.

“Haha, but you’ll soon be the pillar of the Blue Guild,” he said.

“I appreciate the compliment.”

“More than that, what brings you…there’s still some time left…” he asked.

“Oh, I thought it would be best to take a look ahead of time. Since I received a position that I’m not worthy of, I need to show that I’m at least doing my best,” I answered.

“As expected…”

The conversation only lasted for a moment, but I was sure that it was enough to reach the hearts of those that were under the hot sun.

The people who didn’t know me must’ve thought that a high-ranking person had arrived because their faces were filled with nervousness, but the people at the shelter with me had no idea what was going on.

‘Having power is nice.’

I saw people that couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

‘It all depends on whose side you’re on.’

We fell and came here together, but my position was more than 180 degrees different from theirs.

In a very extreme way.