Chapter 79

EP 13 - International Hunter Perspective (6)

- Noah Lumiére, the Supreme Executive of the International Hunter Organization, has stated that he will restore the lifespan of Representative Han Seung-moon, meaning he will actively cooperate to eliminate the side effects of the awakening agent. A senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that this is a one-sided claim that has yet to be verified...

- Is South Korea joining the European Union? This proposal can be seen as a challenge by the EU to the UN and NATO. In other words, it means they are willing to go against the United States. It reveals their ambition to expand from a regional union to a global international organization...

- There are also rumors in Busan's political circles that a high-ranking Chinese official visited South Korea in secret. Considering this, it is not unreasonable to speculate that the interim government led by Won Ok-bun, just 27 days before the presidential election, has entered the final phase of consolidation through some form of international cooperation...

- It is reported that EU Joint Army Supreme Executive Noah Lumiére is currently staying at the Lotte Hotel Busan and has entered into long-term talks with our government. Amidst a mix of public expectations and concerns, the situation of National Assembly Representative Han Seung-moon of the People's Party is drawing attention. This report was by KBC's Jung Seon-young.

* * *

There has been no public announcement about Lieutenant General Li Chong-bin's visit to South Korea. He came silently and disappeared like the wind.

In fact, about half of international cooperation works this way. Before publicly proposing cooperation, the parties involved first align their positions. If one side extends a hand and the other doesn't take it, it would be very embarrassing.

So, what about the other half?

- In an additional interview last night, Supreme Executive Noah Lumiére revealed the existence of the elixir.

It's exactly like this.

- The elixir is one of the crowning achievements of EU magical medicine, refined from numerous magical stones...

- Executive Lumiére even mentioned the word "respect" when talking about Representative Han Seung-moon...

- The influential French newspaper Le Monde stated that South Korea is the most needed presence in the European Union...

It's an offer so generous that it would be embarrassing to refuse.

If General Li Chong-bin had been rebuffed via a text message and returned, Lumiére would be like offering a bouquet of roses in the middle of Apgujeong.

Noah Lumiére was using every method to inject a lethal dose of national pride. The atmosphere was such that the entire nation would spontaneously stand up, clap, and urge the relationship to proceed.

Unfortunately, in a democratic country, national policy often follows public opinion rather than efficiency, especially during election periods.

That's why, before public opinion could heat up further, Won Ok-bun requested a one-on-one meeting with Supreme Executive Lumiére, and I immediately went to see him.

At the quarantine center.

"Mr. Gami-ja! Do you speak French!?"

"No, I don't..."

He answered with a perplexed look.

"An embedded war reporter in Africa can't not know French!"

*

Ideally, I should have gone with a Ministry of Foreign Affairs interpreter, but I didn't want this conversation to leak to the outside.

Anyway, French is the second most widely spoken language in Africa after English, which is why Gami-ja is now sitting next to me.

As the car headed to the Lotte Hotel, Gami-ja, unable to contain his excitement, spoke up.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see Executive Lumiére..."

"Do you know him well?"

"Not at all! When you have kids, you end up watching only dramas and news, and these days, I don't even watch dramas."

He lived on news alone.

"These days, cable channels cover a lot of foreign stories. The ratings are really high. Watching other people's problems is more entertaining than our own, and it's comforting to think we're better off than them."

He smiled and spoke with a sharp tongue, as if to prove he was a journalist. His eyes were bright like a fish in water.

I straightened my tie and clothes and asked him.

"I've been too busy lately to keep up with foreign affairs. By any chance, do you know who this Lumiére guy is—"

"A hero who has been active across Europe! The Liverpool Northern Offensive, the Dortmund Defense, the St. Petersburg Retreat, and the Paris Defense! You must have seen him casting a bright white light over the entire city from the top of the Eiffel Tower!"

He was enthusiastic like an idol fan.

"Lumiére is a symbol! When the US Navy's retreat left NATO in shambles, he was the one who organized the EU Joint Army by gathering superheroes from various countries. He's the one who patched up the fragmented army."

"Um, so he's like Joan of Arc?"

"French media sometimes refers to him that way. It's a bit childish, so they don't use it often, but he has led hunter organizations from the early stages of the crisis and saved several cities, so his status in Europe is on par with any president."

"A renowned international figure..."

This is the kind of person who finds the awakening agent so desirable. Lost in thought, Gami-ja continued to speak with a smile.

"Europe, which he has saved, is now in a state where it could fall apart. He must be in a desperate situation, needing Representative Han's help."

"......Recent trends?"

"The atmosphere among PMCs is very hostile. Europe lacks a proper defense line, so each guild acts like a feudal lord, taking a city as a base and building shelters to survive. The atmosphere is so hostile that it leads to bloodshed among guilds."

"Why is that?"

*

"There are not enough Awakened."

People with excellent magical aptitude often have their magical properties manifest physically. While they couldn't use magic in various ways, they usually displayed overwhelming power in one specific area.

For example, Hong Seon-ah's hair has a faint red glow.

Noah Lumiére was also of this type. Her platinum short hair shone faintly.

It was a different kind of light from sunlight or fluorescent lights. It seemed to resemble a halo, or a candle in a dark prayer room.

It was a light that was both devout and warm.

"Due to the lack of Awakened, Europe is fragmenting. Many people will die, and to prevent this, we need the awakening agent."

There was no pretense. She summarized her purpose in one sentence. With her serene attitude, I calmly listened to her story through Gami-ja.

"PMCs protecting each city are suffering from a lack of manpower. They take Awakened from other PMCs' cities, and those PMCs collapse, leading to cities being occupied by monsters. As a result, a ruthless recruitment war is happening behind the scenes."

Her neat suit made her look like a calm office worker, but one of her ears was red, as if new skin had grown. The cut looked like it had been bitten by someone.

Since Yeo Doyeon had recovered from being mushed several times, I could distinguish the subtle difference in skin color. Other minor clues also clearly showed signs of regeneration after being damaged.

She must have been in a terrible state more than once.

Her mouth had been torn open at some point, and she spoke carefully with slightly stiff facial muscles.

"Therefore, the current recruitment war is not a conflict of power but a conflict of survival. The problem is that the civilians in the PMC-protected areas are the biggest victims of this friction. Conflicts among PMCs will soon surface, and if a civil war breaks out, many cities will be occupied by monsters, and at least several million people will be sacrificed."

Her neatly dressed appearance and stiff expression made her words even more serious.

"That's why we need the awakening agent."

Even though I was hearing it through an interpreter, her voice had a compelling quality.

Most of all, I couldn't take my eyes off her. From the moment I entered the room, I couldn't look away from her eyes.

"To the Central Command of the EU Joint Army, there is no power to mediate conflicts among local PMCs. Therefore, we need to eliminate the root cause. We need to quickly resolve the shortage of Awakened."

Because of those blue eyes.

Calm but,

with a slightly off flavor.

Because of that flame, half-mad and unbridled.

So familiar,

those blue eyes.

I couldn't help but think of a Westerner.

She wasn't as boisterous as Kim Chun-sik, but she bowed deeply like him. Her faintly glowing hair fell over her cheek.

"I apologize for the rudeness in my public appeal. However, this is not a matter of national interest but of public good. Therefore, I humbly ask for Representative Han Seung-moon's charity."

After bowing for a long time, she raised her head and looked at me with her blue eyes. I couldn't avoid her gaze.

Her eyes reminded me of the dead, making me feel an inexplicable sense of guilt. Kim Chun-sik was speaking to me.

"Help save more people."

I stood up, trying to hide my trembling voice.

"......I'll be right back."

I left the hotel room and asked Bae Chae-won if there was any lie in what that woman said. I secretly hoped there was.

Bae Chae-won shook her head, and I sighed.

As a person, I wanted to hand over the awakening agent, but as a politician, I had to consider the national interest thoroughly.

No matter how I felt, it was clear that Noah Lumiére had overwhelmed me with her charisma or atmosphere.

I helplessly took out a cigarette from my pocket and rushed to the balcony of another room, smoking and coughing for a long time.

While Han Seung-moon was on the balcony, Bae Chae-won thought with a subtle expression.

Han Seung-moon and Noah Lumiére.

They were both deeply affected by each other.

*

Noah Lumiére only learned about Han Seung-moon about a week ago. She was too busy to pay attention to foreign affairs.

Specifically, she had less than six hours of rest a day. She had to use her healing powers over several kilometers, to the point where her head veins were about to burst, all day long. For reference, the six hours of rest included travel time, meals, and sleep. If she weren't a healer, she would have died from overwork several times by now.

She had to boost the morale of millions of evacuees, rescue isolated people from enemy swarms, and lead them to safety, and shine a light in the midst of fierce battles.

When she received the promised endgame from the acting president of France, the EU Joint Army Operations Commander, and the President of the United Council, she headed to South Korea without hesitation for this reason.

Dedication to save more people.

After a certain point, people move not by a sense of justice but by a sense of duty. When she heard about Representative Han Seung-moon's background and activities, she thought the matter would be easily resolved.

Judging by his activities, he was a kindred spirit. The sense of connection transcended nationality.

He was the same age as her younger brother, who was four years younger, which made her feel a bit proud. She even thought about sharing a glass of rustic hometown wine and talking about their struggles to become friends.

Although she was so numb that it didn't show on the outside, her hometown of Côte-d'Or had become a ruin after the wine and everything else.

In any case, she had a slight sense of intimacy towards Han Seung-moon.

However, that expectation was shattered at their first meeting.

A limping man opened the hotel room door and entered. He was accompanied by a young girl and a seemingly simple middle-aged man with glasses. Both looked exhausted but had a rather innocent appearance.

In contrast, the moment she saw Han Seung-moon, she naturally thought of someone.

A deceased Russian dictator.

A politician who unhesitatingly sacrificed millions to save billions.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Владимир Владимирович Путин.

After rescuing millions of Russian citizens during the St. Petersburg Retreat, she was invited to Moscow and treated to tea once, where she received a thank you.

She often saw him being mocked in the news and on the internet, but she couldn't forget the memory of seeing him.

The real person she met once in a Moscow underground bunker was deeply etched in her mind.

Considering all the battles she had been through, this meant that meeting a single human was more impressive than fighting monsters, and the charisma of a single human was more nerve-wracking than a battle against a giant monster.

In fact, she was frozen in place, drinking the tea he poured and giving short, stiff answers to his questions.

She didn't believe his sudden death for a while. The impression he left on her was truly remarkable.

And,

"Nice to meet you, Executive Lumiére."

For the first time in a long while, she felt her muscles contract.

The idea that he was the same age as her brother and a somewhat sickly and gentlemanly young man disappeared instantly.

The cane was just a simple hiking accessory, but holding it made him resemble the authority of mafia bosses in old black-and-white movies.

His silver-streaked hair, illuminated by the dim hotel room lights, reminded her of the madness of someone who had been overworked by biological experiments, making her forget that he was four years younger than her.

The prosthetic leg visible between his shoes and suit pants seemed to prove his experience in many harsh battles, and his low, raspy voice sent an indescribable chill down her spine.

His dark circles and thin, gaunt appearance initially made him look like a tired office worker, but the moment she saw his eyes, she changed her mind.

Those black eyes. The persistent, black eyes that never left her.

They were familiar. She had seen them once in a Moscow underground bunker, but they were never something she could get used to.

In his eyes, she saw a deadly poison.

The eyes of someone who doesn't care about means or methods. She just instinctively felt that way.

Too old to be young, too young to be dead. Leading many hunters in their final golden age,

an old male lion.

She stiffened like prey in front of a hunter, unable to even think of what to say or how to greet him, and revealed all her facts and weaknesses.

It wasn't until Han Seung-moon and his party left the room and she was alone that she let out a deep breath.

However, the respite was short-lived. After about five minutes, Han Seung-moon returned with two bodyguards, and the faint smell of tobacco from him made her tense up again.

Had he gone to verify the facts? I heard that South Korea has a national intelligence agency.

France has the DGSE, known for its notorious special forces "Action Service," but it has become a laughingstock as a government surveillance agency decades after the Cold War ended.

But what about South Korea? Haven't they been in a state of tension for decades, facing the notorious nuclear-armed communists who threaten the world?

For decades, they have maintained a state of tension, or rather, engaged in fierce battles in the shadows. The National Intelligence Service, the strongest intelligence organization, must have thoroughly investigated the EU's internal affairs long ago.

Lumiére swallowed hard.

And then,

the verdict came from the politician's mouth.

"I'm sorry, but..."

She felt as if someone was pushing her off a cliff.

"There are still some cautious aspects to consider before discussing cooperation."