CH 299

“Welcome.” The man had shiny blond hair, a straight nose, and porcelain skin. With a bright smile, he opened his arms to greet Gi-Gyu and said, “Nice to meet you, Morningstar!”

Gi-Gyu's travel to Italy was a secret, so only the people responsible for escorting him welcomed him.

“Nice to meet you too,” Gi-Gyu replied in awkward Italian, making his escorts’ smile even brighter. He had practiced a few Italian greetings and sentences, and this must have pleased them.

“I’m the branch manager of the European Players Association’s Italy branch, Alberto.” The blond man offered his hairy hand for a handshake.

Gi-Gyu shook his hand and thought, ‘He’s just a regular player.’ 

He had checked out Alberto secretly to see if he had any sorcerous energy or a foreign aura about him. Sung-Hoon had previously told him that Alberto could be trusted, but Gi-Gyu wanted to be sure. Now, he was confident the Caravan Guild and Andras hadn’t experimented on Alberto’s body.

‘Well, I guess I don’t know for sure just yet,’ Gi-Gyu told himself. He knew that he shouldn’t deem the man innocent just because he couldn’t feel any sorcerous energy or foreign aura from the branch manager. A man didn’t have to be brainwashed to be greedy and evil enough to obey a demon.

“Oh! What a beautiful woman you are!” Alberto exclaimed in fluent English when he saw El. He opened his arms to hug her, but when she just silently looked at him, Alberto scratched his cheek and added awkwardly, “Haha! I’m sorry if I offended you.”

After the introduction, Alberto escorted Gi-Gyu and the rest of the group. They moved quietly and in secret so no one recognized them.

‘I better keep my eye on him,’ Gi-Gyu thought as he followed Alberto. This man could be connected to the Caravan or the Iron Guild.

‘And I’m definitely not doing this because he tried to hug El,’ Gi-Gyu told himself firmly.

***

-I’ll go ahead and look around on my own.

Before they had even gotten on the plane, Go Hyung-Chul had hidden in Gi-Gyu’s shadow; now, he wanted to investigate independently. In his paparazzo days, Go Hyung-Chul had made many enemies, so he had to keep his public appearance at a minimum.

Gi-Gyu had no problem with that, as it played in his favor.

As the group moved, Go Hyung-Chul left them without Alberto noticing.

The car they were riding in stopped. It had been a long time since Gi-Gyu sat in a car.

“We’re here.” Alberto and a man, seemingly his assistant, opened the car door for Gi-Gyu and the group. Gi-Gyu watched the scenery in front of him.

“The Colosseum,” Gi-Gyu whispered.

“That’s right,” Alberto announced with a pride-laden voice, “The Italian branch of the European Players Association is here.”

Gi-Gyu continued to look at the Colosseum. It was his first time seeing it, but it did not impress him.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m so used to looking at Old Man Hwang’s constructions.’ 

All of Old Man Hwang’s buildings were unusual and beautiful. The sudden thought made Gi-Gyu smile.

“From now on, please follow close behind. Could you excuse me for a moment?” Alberto asked. Gi-Gyu nodded. Alberto took something out of his pocket and activated it.

Whir.

With a slight noise, a magic wave spread out.

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“We can’t have you seen by the public, Mr. Morningstar, so I just formed a barrier,” Alberto explained. He had likely used a barrier-type item to hide their abilities.

Gi-Gyu walked behind Alberto. Gi-Gyu’s and El’s faces were exposed, but the tourists in the area didn’t pay them any attention. The item must have been very effective.

‘This isn’t really necessary, but…’ Gi-Gyu didn’t require such an item because he could do much more, but he didn’t want to refuse Alberto’s help.

“Please, this way.” There was a door behind the Colosseum; Alberto opened it and entered. Gi-Gyu was about to follow him in when suddenly, his heart thumped.

“Master!” El hugged Gi-Gyu in surprise. He had staggered a little. It had happened so fast that Alberto and the surrounding tourists didn’t notice, but El saw it.

Gi-Gyu shook his head once and stood up straight.

El asked worriedly, “Are you all right?”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t answer her. The thump earlier was accompanied by a voice in his head.

-Help me.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t tell whose voice it was.

“Who was that…?” Gi-Gyu tried to find a trace of the voice, but it was gone completely. His heart rate was back to normal as well. Something wasn’t quite right.

“Mr. Morningstar?” Alberto returned when Gi-Gyu didn’t follow him inside. Gi-Gyu shook his head and began walking.

***

Unlike when he visited China, which had been purposefully publicized to lure Ha Song-Su and the Caravan Guild out in the open, Gi-Gyu’s trip to Italy was secret. He was here to find the Vatican’s exact location and rescue Michael, so it would be better to stay out of sight.

With Sung-Hoon and the Italian government’s help, Gi-Gyu had arrived here secretly. When the KPA was still in power, Sung-Hoon and Tae-Shik had formed a good relationship with the European Players Association (EPA). Using this connection, Sung-Hoon had requested the Italian branch’s help.

Of course, this didn’t mean Andras and his guild couldn’t influence the EPA. The right play here was to not trust them completely.

Sung-Hoon had said to Gi-Gyu, “You can trust that man.”

Gi-Gyu had questioned how he could trust someone so much. Sung-Hoon said, “There is no way he can be a traitor unless his body was stolen. I heard that he has some kind of deal with the association president.”

When Gi-Gyu first saw Alberto, he sensed no sorcerous energy in him. There was still a chance Alberto had changed, but…

‘If I want to work in Europe, I need his help.’ Since Gi-Gyu didn’t want to reveal his power wherever he went, he needed someone to help him move around in secret. And the best person for that would be someone with significant influence in Italy.

In summary, Gi-Gyu’s had two goals: Save Michael, and do that without getting detected by the Caravan Guild.

“An iron hand in the velvet glove…? Did I get that right? I learned a bit of Korean for Association President Oh Tae-Gu, but I still find it hard.” Alberto hadn’t stopped chatting since the start of their journey. “I can’t feel anything from you at all. It must be because I’m not a strong player, but I can tell you’re an amazing man, Mr. Morningstar. Your ability to hide your energy is remarkable! If Sung-Hoon hadn’t contacted me earlier about you, and such beautiful people weren’t accompanying you, I wouldn’t have believed that you’re the infamous Morningstar!”

Gi-Gyu was hiding his presence so that no one could sense him. Of course, he knew this wouldn’t be enough to avoid the Caravan’s detection, but it was better than nothing.

“And they are your… summoned beings, right? They look just like humans!” Alberto continued. Gi-Gyu wanted to interrupt and ask him to remain quiet, but he never got the chance.

Ultimately, Gi-Gyu had to interrupt him rudely. “Could you excuse me for a moment? I need to do something.”

“...? Of course. Within this barrier, you can do anything you want.” Alberto smiled.

Gi-Gyu didn’t refuse the offer. He walked up to Alberto.

“What are you doing…?” Alberto couldn’t even understand what was happening. Gi-Gyu had placed his hand on Alberto’s head.

“...?” Alberto looked up at Gi-Gyu in confusion.

“Sync,” Gi-Gyu said aloud with his hand still on Alberto’s head.

***

“This is amazing. I had no idea such an ability existed.” Alberto still hadn’t stopped talking; there was surprise in his voice now. “You are truly amazing. I guess your reputation wasn’t exaggerated at all.”

Alberto was truly impressed.

“It hasn’t been long since I learned to do this,” Gi-Gyu replied in fluent Italian. His pronunciation was perfect too, which was why Alberto couldn’t hide his shock.

‘I didn’t know it would work,’ Gi-Gyu thought. He didn’t sync with Alberto completely, which was why they wouldn’t affect each other directly. Gi-Gyu had only synced with him temporarily to extract Alberto’s memory of his language. In the past, Gi-Gyu couldn't have even imagined something like this. However, now that he had perfected the sync, he realized the endless possibilities within his reach.

‘And he’s so annoying.’ Gi-Gyu was frustrated by how Alberto admired El’s beauty. This was why he had wanted to pull a prank on Alberto. Even if he failed, Gi-Gyu was certain that he wouldn’t harm Alberto in any way.

In the end, Gi-Gyu succeeded in extracting Alberto’s language module.

‘But I got much more than that… I really don’t need these memories.’ 

Gi-Gyu now also had Alberto’s memories of his past girlfriends. He simply wanted to ensure Alberto wasn’t a traitor, but now he had HD access to Alberto’s promiscuous lifestyle.

“I’m sorry I did it without explaining,” Gi-Gyu apologized now that he knew Alberto wasn’t a traitor.

“No, not at all. I’m glad we cleared it all up,” Alberto chirped.

Gi-Gyu coughed awkwardly before explaining, “I don’t know if Sung-Hoon explained this to you, but we’re here to find the Vatican. Do you, by chance, know its location or anything that might help?”

Sung-Hoon had promised Gi-Gyu that Alberto would cooperate fully.

“The Vatican…” Alberto frowned for the first time. “You’re asking me a tough question.”

“...”

“Simply put, I don’t know its location. I’m pretty sure it exists in Italy somewhere, but because of its uniqueness, it is impossible to know its location.” Alberto explained.

“How is that possible?!”

Currently, the Vatican was a large group with numerous powerful players. It was like an army, so how could a country not know the location of such a group? As the branch manager, Alberto was responsible for the players in Italy. So it didn’t make sense to Gi-Gyu that he didn’t know the Vatican’s location. But thanks to their temporary connection, Gi-Gyu knew that Alberto wasn’t lying.

“It’s because I have no authority over them.” Alberto pointed at the sky and continued, “Someone much higher controls them. The Vatican is independent of our association. Even though they must live somewhere in Italy, we know very little about them.”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

“However”—Alberto narrowed his eyes—“we are investigating them.”

“And did you find anything so far?”

A sharp look appeared in Alberto’s eyes. So far, he had acted like a good-natured clown; now, he was exuding intense energy. Gi-Gyu realized that Alberto didn’t become the branch manager by chance.

“The year the Tower appeared, that S-Class gate in Rome destroyed the Vatican and much of Italy. We all suffered because of it. Our financial loss and casualties were unimaginable,” Alberto answered.

Gi-Gyu already knew this part of history. Italy alone hadn’t suffered that year. When the Tower first appeared, the gate had damaged the entire Europe badly. If it weren’t for the very first high-rankers and the forerunners, the continent of Europe might have disappeared from the map.

‘Just like North Korea.’ 

But Europe wasn’t a place the world could afford to lose. And luckily, the S-Class gate was closed, and the whole of Europe worked together to recover. Eventually, Europe returned to normal, proof of its impressive strength and the power of its long history.

“After that nightmarish day when Italy became hell,” Alberto whispered. “The Vatican changed. Their people had just lost their home, yet when they resurfaced…”

Alberto licked his lips and added, “They were holier than before. With their new divine power, they took over Italy.”