CH 431

“Sir, the situation is rocky on that side,” said the subordinate.

Knight Wiggins slowly massaged his temples while listening to the report.

“First of all... The movements made by the Chinese are unsettling, sir. The Crimson King's factions are openly making several moves, but the Azure King's faction hasn't made any yet... It seems they are scheming something in the shadows.”

“Scheming, you say...?” Wiggins groaned deeply. “I must say, those East Asians sure have dark hearts, don't you agree? I’d have preferred people openly making sinister moves since coming up with a suitable response would’ve been easier that way…”

“Yes, sir.”

Wiggins' expression showed no signs of brightening as he rubbed his chin.

'Those insidious, crafty bastards...'

Wiggins never could understand the mindset of East Asians. Even if China's land was vast and its people numbered past a billion, something like three factions of equal strength maintaining equilibrium for decades seemed utterly inconceivable to a European like him. Indeed, such a scenario would not happen in this part of the world.

The European way of doing things would've been more like waging intense, bloody wars until one side emerged victorious, then the victor assimilated everything of the vanquished. The only thing stopping them from doing that now was national borders. Without that...

However, the East Asians often picked the option of delaying the inevitable war to increase their faction's strength.

'And that's led to this nonsensical situation...'

If China's Three Kings finally started waging war for supremacy, the ripples would spread to all corners of the globe. That was just how deep and wide the Three Kings' influence and reach had extended to.

“And sir... The Japanese are acting strangely, as well.”

“Strangely? How so?” Wiggins frowned again.

“To present a united front to keep South Korea in check, the Japanese organizations convened a conference, but it only resulted in deepening their divisions instead.”

“...Deepening their divisions, you say?” Wiggins' brows rose up.

Repeating what his subordinate said weirded Wiggins out since this wasn't him trying to chat up a woman. However, he couldn't think of better alternatives after all these flabbergast-inducing reports had left him speechless.

“Deepening their divisions, huh...”

“The executives and representatives of all the gumis had convened a meeting, sir. However, they only succeeded in deepening their grudges instead.

“...I really can't understand this.” Wiggins rubbed his face, hard.

He always saw himself as an intellectual. A modern man. Of course he wouldn't do something as uncouth and barbaric as discriminating against others based on race or gender. However, he still couldn't discard a small voice at the back of his mind that said different races held onto different sets of values and mindsets than his.

“The Japanese tend to obsess over aesthetics more than rationality, sir. Considering that aspect…”

“It's fine. I get it,” Wiggins waved his hand dismissively. “How... vexing.”

A deep sigh leaked out of Wiggins' lips as he rested his head on his knuckles.

'Things are moving in uncertain directions...'

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The world seemed to be writhing suspiciously. It wasn't just one part of the world, either. The zealots of the Middle East were clamoring to destroy the established world order, while the situation in Europe was not as settled as it seemed on the surface.

There always had been conflicts of varying scales in the European continent as many races and nations called it their home. However, things had gotten precarious lately for the united front called 'Europe' to find itself on the brink of breaking up.

At least, North America seemed relatively stable, which was great. Even so...

'East Asia has become THE powder keg, hasn't it?'

Just the existence of China and Japan alone ensured that East Asia would be treated as one of the most important centers of power in global politics. In the world of martial arts, though, that statement carried a... slightly different connotation.

East Asia boasted the highest number of martial artists. And the concentration of the strongest warriors was arguably higher than anywhere else, too. In fact, that place was practically teeming with them! Especially in China, a country where most people now believed there were more hidden experts than the known ones.

And now, something akin to a nuclear bomb had dropped on such a place.

'Kang Jin-Ho, was it...?'

A bomb was a bomb because it didn't differentiate between allies and enemies. In that sense, calling Kang Jin-Ho a walking time bomb seemed quite reasonable to Wiggins since Kang Jin-Ho's existence alone had managed to shake up East Asia... Whether that was what Kang Jin-Ho wanted or not was a separate issue, but still.

'Do we have to eliminate him?'

Wiggins couldn't help but ponder this quandary. In the past, he wouldn't have hesitated to eliminate Kang Jin-Ho. But now, he couldn't help but think much more deeply about it.

Of course, it wasn't because Wiggins suddenly had become a pacifist. No, he was simply unconvinced that removing a single individual from the picture would bring stability back to East Asia.

The trigger named 'Kang Jin-Ho' had already set things in motion in East Asia. There was no denying that. Eliminating Kang Jin-Ho now meant South Korea would most likely lose its core, the rallying point. And, considering why Japan or China hadn't invaded South Korea just yet—the difficulty in mobilizing enough troops to conquer the nation in one fell swoop—Wiggins grew even more convinced that touching Kang Jin-Ho now was not a viable move.

“Indeed, how vexing,” Wiggins grunted before sitting upright. Even aspirins were ineffective against his migraines these days.

The subordinate looked somewhat concerned. “Sir, you do look tired lately.”

“I'm now far more appreciative of how difficult it had been for Master over the years. I should've known that when so many matters require one's attention, terrible headaches cannot be avoided no matter what...” A deep sigh leaked out of Wiggins again.

However, he had no plans to avoid his duty, no matter how tough and unforgiving they might be. This was the sacred duty of a knight, after all. It'd be more correct to call a knight's duty a 'blessing' instead. After all, countless talented individuals aspired to become knights.

The Round Table's presence wasn't even revealed to the likes of mere riff-raff. And it was a similar situation for the existence of the knights, too. Knowing the noble goal and the sacred duty of the Round Table, Wiggins would never dare voice his dissatisfaction.

Wiggins raised his head and stared at the subordinate. “So... Who was dispatched to monitor Kang Jin-Ho?”

“Well, sir...” The subordinate, Purvis, suddenly started hesitating.

Wiggins frowned slightly. “...What happened?”

“Originally, the task was assigned to Heder, but something came up and... Someone else had to be dispatched at the last minute, sir.”

“Someone else, you say?” Wiggins suddenly felt a little nervous.

Purvis wouldn't have hesitated to finish his report if that someone else was a... 'normal' person. In other words, the operative dispatched to Korea must've been someone problematic.

“Who is it? Tell me, Purvis!”

Purvis couldn't help but wince at Wiggins' heightened voice and slightly looked away apologetically. “It's Elena, sir.”

“...!”

For a moment there, it felt like the air itself had forgotten to move.

Utter silence... Silence heavy enough to crush a person descended in the office. And the person being crushed was none other than Purvis!

“Did you just say... Elena?” Wiggins' weighty voice finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, sir.”

“The operative picked to monitor Kang Jin-Ho is... Elena? That Elena?!”

“...Yes, sir.”

“Purvis, do you not understand the importance of this assignment?”

“No, sir. I swear, I do. However, she was the only operative available that could be dispatched to South Korea at such short notice. One of the qualifications was fluency in the Korean language, so…”

“...Purvis. Let me ask you something.”

“Yes, sir?”

Wiggins leaned his head back against the chair, then groaned loudly. "Do you have any aspirins on you?"

Wiggins' headache was getting worse.

***

The blonde woman tilted her head slightly.

'Why is this woman throwing a hissy fit at me all of a sudden?'

The blonde woman, Elena, quickly recalled the contents of the report she read before coming here. This angry woman should be Choi Yeon-Ha. Known as one of South Korea's top stars, with considerable sway in both China and Japan, too. Her acting chops had been evaluated highly, and her private life was immaculate. Not a single black mark in that regard. An actress the public trusted and loved...

And her public image was supposed to be pure and innocent, too...

'...The report was wrong, then.'

Pure and innocent? Really? Elena could only see an embittered witch here.

'Still, she is pretty, I'll give her that much.'

Even though Elena's standard of beauty was different, Choi Yeon-Ha was still a beautiful woman in her eyes. Not only was her figure sleek, Elena even had to nod in admiration that Choi Yeon-Ha had curves in all the right places.

'Is this what they call an Asian beauty?'

How should Elena describe Choi Yeon-Ha's facial features? Perhaps the notion of 'Different but Beautiful' fit the best in this case. Although Elena's idea of ideal beauty slightly differed from what's accepted as beautiful in Asia, she still couldn't look down on Choi Yeon-Ha's beauty.

While thinking that a new investigation should be launched into Choi Yeon-Ha, Elena turned her head and addressed Kang Jin-Ho. “It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Kang Jin-Ho.”

However, Choi Yeon-Ha immediately intervened at the end of that greeting. “What the hell are you? A mixed?”

Elena was slightly taken aback by Choi Yeon-Ha's ability to utterly ignore her target's response and just bulldoze her way through. "N-no, I'm not a mixed. Just a Briton."

“Oh? Then, where did you download the Hangeul patch?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I'm asking you, why do you speak Korean so well? You said you're a Briton, didn't you?”

“Eh...? That's because I learned it? Not just Korean, I can also speak... No, wait a minute!” Elena stiffened her expression after realizing she had been sucked in to Choi Yeon-Ha's pace. She didn't come here to shoot the breeze with Korea's top actress, after all! “Let's do it over!”

“Huh?”

“Ahem... It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Kang Jin-Ho. My name is Elena, and I've traveled from the other side of the world specifically to see you,” Elena smiled brightly while reaching out toward Kang Jin-Ho for a handshake.

Anyone could see that Elena was requesting a friendly handshake, but Kang Jin-Ho simply stared at that hand before turning his head away toward Choi Yeon-Ha. “Shall we go somewhere else?”

Choi Yeon-Ha animatedly nodded. “Yes. Right away!”

“Then, let's.” Kang Jin-Ho unhesitantly turned around after getting Choi Yeon-Ha's agreement. Choi Yeon-Ha also ignored Elena's presence as if the blonde woman wasn't even here and quickly followed Kang Jin-Ho.

“Eh?” Elena blinked her eyes in flabbergast after the duo avoided her like a soiled rag. “...! Wait a second, please!”

Elena sobered up soon enough and hurriedly chased after Kang Jin-Ho, then stood before him.

“Mister Kang Jin-Ho, I came here to speak to you!”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes slightly and studied Elena before addressing her. “Get out of our way.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

“I said, get out of our way. And get lost.”

“...!” Elena reflexively stepped out of Kang Jin-Ho's way.

Kang Jin-Ho wasn't threatening her. He didn't even pressure her with his aura, either. Just the combination of his flat, emotionless voice and coldly-withdrawn eyes was enough to force her on the back foot without even realizing it.

Kang Jin-Ho was about to walk away again while ignoring the foreigner but suddenly stopped and glanced at Elena. “I'm warning you.”

“Sorry?”

“I don't care if you want to use your tricks. You must have your reasons for doing that. However, I'm warning you... Don't you dare interrupt my life without permission again.”

“...”

“This is your one and last warning. There will not be a next time.”

Elena involuntarily shivered. This man, he... Kang Jin-Ho knew. He knew that Elena was not an ordinary civilian. Just a casual glance was enough for him to see through her ruse, that she had been hiding her real powers.

'But, how?'

The Eastern martial arts were developed in a completely different framework than that of the Western counterparts. This difference meant people had a hard time detecting each other out in the wild. For instance, Elena couldn't detect anything extraordinary from Kang Jin-Ho right now.

If it hadn't been for the intel on Kang Jin-Ho she received beforehand, Elena wouldn't even have realized he was a martial artist.

'For sure, he shouldn't be underestimated.'

Elena finally gained some understanding of why the Round Table wanted to keep tabs on Kang Jin-Ho.

'Yes, this is what I'm talking about!'

The corners of Elena's lips subtly curled up. Only a target like this would make her assignment more 'fun'. Now that she knew she wasn't here to monitor some small fry, Elena felt her excitement stir up again.

“My apologies, Mister Kang Jin-Ho. I assure you, that was not my intention at all,” Elena bowed her waist deeply. “Allow me to offer you a more formal greeting. My name is Elena. I had no intention of angering you whatsoever. This was my fault for not being familiar with this country's culture, and all I can ask from you is your gracious understanding in this matter.”

Elena performed an exemplary greeting of impeccable etiquette and politeness. She quickly examined her attitude to ensure there wouldn't be a new problem, then decided to continue addressing Kang Jin-Ho. Since East Asians were known to appreciate polite individuals, Elena was certain that her new approach would work with Kang Jin-Ho.

Elena raised her head and asked Kang Jin-Ho. “If it's not too much trouble, may I ask you for a minute of your time?”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at her before suddenly breaking into a warm smile. Elena saw that expression and smiled brightly back while thinking that she had her man now.

Kang Jin-Ho briefly nodded, then addressed her in a gentle tone. “Get lost.”

“...”

Elena's complexion waned almost instantly.

“Pft.” Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't hold it and let a chuckle leak out of her mouth. And that made Elena feel even more miserable.