Chapter 21: One-Man Army

Manager (3)

After the questions from the higher-ups were over, Comet left the State Council meeting. She waited where she was guided, and soon enough, Chairwoman came to find her, seemingly after the State Council meeting had ended.

"Nothing much, right?"

"It wasn't nothing, but the questions were easy, so it was comfortable."

Chairwoman laughed.

"I'm glad it was at least comfortable."

Comet shrugged.

"I'm a bit hungry. Can I eat here? It feels like it'll take too long if I go back to eat."

"The location is so confidential that it takes a long time to travel back and forth. Let's eat here. You can look forward to it."

As she said, it was true. The cafeteria in the Exhibition Assembly Hall didn't have a wide variety of menu items, but the taste was amazing. It seemed like the chefs were making it with determination.

Comet chewed on a piece of braised short rib and exclaimed in admiration.

"It would be nice if the National Assembly Building in Yeouido had this kind of quality."

"Yeouido is quite abundant. It's not easy to regularly operate a cafeteria that isn't just handing out rations. As for the taste..."

Chairwoman also put a piece of braised short rib in her mouth.

"It's true that the taste there is lacking."

"Right?"

"It can't be helped. Yeouido is also a place where citizens live, and how angry would they be if rumors spread that some people are eating gourmet meals at the National Assembly Building?"

"It's not exactly a gourmet meal, though."

"It's more of a gourmet meal than getting rations."

That was true.

"On the other hand, this place is a secret location, so there's no chance of rumors spreading, and there's a consensus that the elite soldiers need to eat well, so we pay a lot of attention to it."

"Still, it's monster meat. What a shame."

Comet ate another piece of braised short rib. It was definitely braised, but it wasn't exactly beef short rib.

Chairwoman sighed.

"I don't even hope that rifts won't occur; I just wish only edible things would come out."

"It would be nice if they just came out in the form of completed dishes."

"How about including a set of utensils?"

"That's a good idea. We could just eat it right there."

After finishing the meal, she left the Exhibition Assembly Hall with Chairwoman. This time, she had to wear an eye mask and sit quietly.

In the dark vision, Comet lightly tapped her thigh for no reason. It was a bit stuffy.

"I can't see anyway, but wouldn't it be impossible to use eye masks on other Awakened?"

"It would be troublesome if they figured out the external situation even with their eyes closed and guessed the location of the Exhibition Assembly Hall."

"Then what do you do?"

"It's easy. We just don't bring them."

"I thought you were going to tell me about the achievements of Alchemists or Magic scholars, but I guess not."

"Sorry to disappoint you. We've moved this far, so you can take it off now."

Comet took off the eye mask. Looking out the window, it seemed like it would take a while to get to Yeouido.

"Based on the data you gave me, we searched and found the locations of the Seoul relay and blocker."

"I figured you would since you're doing a destruction operation, but it makes me feel proud to hear it directly."

"You can be even more proud. It's a worthy achievement."

Comet nodded.

『Why is this commoner feeling proud when it was this body who taught you?』

The Empress was picking a fight, but it was just the complaints of a small jellyfish.

"The location of the relay is especially surprising. I don't know if I should call it an obvious result or an unexpected result."

"Where is it?"

"The mountain we climbed."

"If it's a mountain..."

It was the place where Dan Ga-yeon was about to face a complete death but failed because of the evil Healer.

"You insisted it was a walk back then, but now you're calling it a climb."

"There was a reason why so many Alchemical herbs grow on that mountain. Thanks to the large-scale Magic, there must be a lot of Mana, so it's only natural that they grow well."

Chairwoman ignored Comet's teasing as if she didn't hear it. She wondered if becoming a person of power made one so shameless.

"To think we were missing something right in front of us, we wasted so many opportunities. Should we have moved more boldly?"

Chairwoman muttered bitterly. It seemed like she was truly bitter. However, the way she was openly creating that atmosphere seemed to be mixed with the intention of blocking Comet's teasing. Comet was fed up with the politician-like way of speaking.

Chairwoman, who lightly subdued Comet, took out a candy from her pocket and put it in her mouth. It seemed like she had no intention of smoking in the car.

『That commoner's thoughts are mistaken.』

"The Princess is talking to me. About what?"

『You ignored me just now, but you're responding this time. You commoner really have no conscience!』

"I know that we found the relay and blocker thanks to the Princess. Right, Chairwoman?"

"Of course."

『Hmph.』

The Princess huffed, but she seemed to feel better after hearing a few words, and soon she spoke again.

『Unless the scale is quite large, the relay controls the Mana emission to conceal itself. So, herbs affected by Mana don't grow around it. The one you found this time just happened to have a relay in a place where herbs grow well. Usually, they avoid overlapping to conceal it, but it seems like they did a sloppy job.』

Sloppy job?

Comet blinked and conveyed the Empress's words to Chairwoman as they were. Chairwoman's eyes changed as if she noticed the subtle nuance, but she didn't bring up any related words.

After that, Chairwoman explained the operation this time. They overturned part of the mountain to find the device, and an entrance was discovered. After scouting the early part, they found it was a dungeon, so they decided to send an Awakened strike team to destroy it.

"A dungeon, you say?"

"I know, right?"

『It's tradition. The relay will be in the deepest part.』

There's all sorts of traditions.

"The blocker destruction will be done by another strike team, and you'll participate in the strike team in charge of destroying the relay."

"What's the team composition?"

"One Magic scholar, one Swordsman, and one Necromancer, for a total of three people. Honestly, it's an embarrassing number to call a strike team."

"Looking at the job composition, it looks like I have to do everything."

"Any complaints?"

"I actually like that there are few people. Honestly, I'm not really a party person. I'm not confident. I was even thinking of going in alone, so this isn't bad."

"I thought you'd say that."

Comet smiled brightly. Chairwoman smiled along.

"The Swordsman is...?"

"Officer Dan."

"Then who's the team leader?"

"Officer Dan."

Comet blinked.

"Officer Dan is more amazing than I thought?"

"She's well-known in the domestic raid scene. We didn't just join the committee for no reason. We brought her in to use her for this kind of thing. She's a new member of society, so we put her in a low-level position, but..."

"I should have done party hunting more often during my gaming days. Maybe I would have run into her."

"If you had, the current Comet wouldn't exist."

"I guess so. My identity is in PVP."

Comet stabbed the air as if stabbing with a knife.

"The Imperial Execution Order was tiring, but it was fun. I miss it."

"Ha! Fun, you say. Thanks to you, my NPC reputation was ruined back then, and I had a hard time."

"I'm sorry about that."

The car arrived in Yeouido.

#

The dungeon entrance was visible.

Dan Ga-yeon, dressed in combat gear, looked at the dungeon entrance with a tense expression and then turned around.

"We will now enter. As I explained, please prioritize my instructions inside the dungeon. Refrain from acting individually. If you have any opinions or discomfort, please tell me. Understood?"

"Yes."

The Magic scholar carrying a bag answered.

Dan Ga-yeon looked at Comet.

"Yes."

"Good. I will enter first from now on."

The dungeon was dungeon-like. It was made of stone floors and walls, and the light was illuminated by classically designed lamps. After the Magic scholar investigated, it was closer to a lamp design overlaid on magical lighting rather than a real lamp.

"The culture of the other world is truly amazing."

She didn't know why they even made this design while making the dungeon.

『Hehe. Isn't it amazing? Earth's culture is reflected. It's top-notch!』

The little jellyfish was proud. It wasn't a compliment, but she didn't bother to correct it.

Dan Ga-yeon raised one hand and gestured to stop.

"I think there's a trap ahead. Let's investigate."

After investigating, there was a trap as she said. The Magic scholar focused and examined it, saying that everything within sight seemed to be a trap.

Dan Ga-yeon pondered and then made a decision.

"Let's go safely by dismantling them, even if it takes time."

The Magic scholar began to dismantle them one by one. It took a considerable amount of time. According to the Magic scholar, the level of the Magic traps was high.

Comet calculated the number of traps and the time required for dismantling and then turned to Dan Ga-yeon.

"Isn't this too much?"

"But there's no other way."

"What about just destroying them all?"

"The risk is too high."

"It doesn't have to be a person who does it. I'll summon someone. How about that?"

Dan Ga-yeon blinked. She was silent for a moment. It seemed like she was recalling the contents of the assessment of the party members' combat capabilities before entering.

Dan Ga-yeon turned to the Magic scholar.

"Could there be a trap that could collapse the dungeon?"

"If I were to go through the trouble of making a dungeon, I wouldn't put such a trap at the entrance."

Dan Ga-yeon nodded and turned to Comet.

"Please summon."

"Okay."

Dan Ga-yeon and the Magic scholar stepped back.

Comet took out the soul orb and summoned Fenrir. Souls swirled and became a giant wolf.

As Fenrir was about to howl, Comet tapped him. Fenrir stopped in an awkward pose and stuck out his snout. He seemed a bit dissatisfied.

Comet soothed Fenrir by stroking his fur for a while and then raised her Spiritual Power.

Incantation omitted.

Spirit Body Enhancement.

Fenrir's size swelled, and Spiritual Power surged like a storm. At the center of the storm, Fenrir took a howling pose. There was no howling sound. He just wanted to take a cool pose.

Comet patted Fenrir and pointed forward.

"Run."

Fenrir scratched the ground with his front paws and then sprinted towards the traps.

Spiritual Power surged along the trajectory, destroying the traps.

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