Chapter 52 – Righteous Shield (4)
TL: Boko
“Let’s go. The car’s waiting outside.”
“W-Wait a sec…”
Before he could even respond, Leia grabbed his hand and
dragged him outside.
Although Leia was a Mage Hunter, she was still an
SSS-rank Hunter. Sung Joon instinctively tried to resist, but she was too
strong for him, so he was helplessly dragged outside.
If he really tried to resist, he might be able to
stop her, but since they were giving him an SS-rank item, he just obediently
followed her.
“Here!”
Leia pointed towards a parked black sedan. She and
Sung Joon got into the car and drove to the airport.
Since Washington and New York weren’t close, they
needed to use a plane to get there quickly.
They boarded a plane that the U.S. government had
prepared for them and landed in the airport in the Washington suburbs. There
was a worker standing by at the airport to accompany them.
“You get off first. Since you’re the star.”
Sung Joon nodded his head and stood in front of the
exit. Then, the crewman smiled, opened the door, and said.
“Welcome to Washington.”
Once the door opened, Sung Joon took a down the
stairs.
There were lines of honor guards beneath the stairs
that led to a luxurious sedan, adorned with the national flags of the United
States and South Korea.
“This is a bit excessive.”
“The U.S. government prepared this for you. Since
New York would’ve been annihilated if not for you. It’s only natural.”
Sung Joon commented and Leia replied. He began
walking and felt something soft beneath his feet. When he looked down, he saw a
red carpet.
He looked around and saw several cameras; perhaps
they were covering this as news.
“How grand.”
“That’s how it is in the U.S,” Leia
naturally waved her hand and said. She was familiar with this kind of thing.
“Why don’t you wave at them? You’re the star
today.”
Sung Joon looked at the camera and waved. The cinematographers
did their best to get more shots of Sung Joon, the hero of New York.
They wanted to get some closer shots of him, but they
couldn’t, as the airport employees were stopping them from getting too much.
“You can go down now,” Leia said after
Sung Joon had waved his hand for quite some time.
Then, Sung Joon went down the stairs.
He was inspected by the honor guard and walked to
the luxurious sedan. Sung Joon got into the rear passenger seat while Leia sat
in front.
“Are you coming with me to the White
House?”
“Yep.”
Sung Joon asked. Leia looked forward and then
replied. The driver anxiously grabbed the steering wheel, as an SSS-rank and
SS-rank Hunter were speaking to each other.
The sedan left the airport and immediately began to
drive to the White House.
“What’s wrong?”
Leia looked curious, as Sung Joon looked like he was
deep in thought and asked.
“I didn’t think they’d send an SSS-rank Hunter
as an escort,” Sung Joon replied.
Since Leia didn’t speak politely, Sung Joon decided
to do the same.
“You’re different from other Hunters. You’re
special.”
“Special?”
“Your growth rate is really fast. You can
definitely become an SSS-rank Hunter. I told the U.S. government that I wanted
to meet you, and that I’d be your escort.”
She looked at Sung Joon through the rear view mirror
and grinned. Sung Joon briefly sighed and shook his head.
Leia had a cooperative relationship with the U.S.
government, but she never did anything that didn’t interest her. If she hadn’t
been interested in Sung Joon, then the U.S. government would have sent someone
else.
“I never do anything I don’t want to do.”
That statement alone told him what position she held
in the U.S.
She was in her early twenties, but she was the
world’s sole SSS-rank Hunter. Although she couldn’t be a part of the army due
to the international treaty, she was still invaluable.
No one knew when an SSS-rank raid would occur, but
Leia would be able to deal with it. Thus, her cooperative relationship with the
U.S. was both politically and economically valuable to them.
“We’ve arrived.”
The driver notified them that they’d arrived at the
White House. Bodyguards wearing suits came rushing over, opening the doors for
them so that they could exit comfortably. Once the two disembarked, the driver drove
off.
“Let’s go.”
“Where exactly are we going?”
Just like before, Leia grabbed Lee Shin Woo’s hand
and dragged him away. The bodyguards followed the two. Sung Joon just noticed
that the bodyguards were all Hunters.
“To see the President,” Leia said. Like
always, she didn’t explain enough.
“Can we see him while armed?”
Protocol dictated that a Hunter go unarmed when
meeting the president of a foreign nation, but Leia shook her head and said.
“I’m going to be there, so it’s fine,” she
said confidently. As a SSS-rank Hunter, she could afford to be confident.
She probably thought that she’d be able to overpower
Sung Joon easily if it came to that.
‘At the very least, I wouldn’t lose.’
Sung Joon was confident. Leia beat him in terms of
magic and firepower, but Sung Joon was better at killing people, as he’d developed
his killing techniques over dozens of years on the battlefield.
Leia had also undergone training at the Central
Hunter Bureau, but she couldn’t match up to Roukel’s swordsmanship.
They’d have to fight to iron out the details, but he
was confident that he wouldn’t lose helplessly.
“Ms. Leia. I’ll take you there.”
“No need.”
A White House worker rushed out and offered to lead
them, but Leia shook her head, took Sung Joon’s hand and led him herself.
It seemed like she had been to the White House quite
often, as she was familiar with its interior. She kept advancing unimpeded with
Sung Joon in tow.
They passed a long corridor and Leia stopped in
front of a luxuriously decorated door. She turned her head towards Sung Joon
and said.
“We’re here.”
It was the president’s personal office. He sensed
several presences within. Sung Joon calmly straightened himself out and then
opened the door.
A man at the door noticed Sung Joon first and approached
him with a joyous expression. The man was Korean; he wore a suit and glasses,
and had short hair.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m your
interpreter, Lee Shin Tae. It’s an honor to meet you in person, Mr. Kang Sung
Joon.”
Shin Tae spoke curtly, but came out strong
nonetheless.
“I will be your interpreter while you’re here
in the White House.”
“Ah… I see.”
Sung Joon nodded his head. There was one person who
particularly stood out amongst the people behind Shin Tae.
The kind looking man was the U.S. President. He
could recognize him immediately, as he’d seen him often on the TV.
“Welcome, Mr. Kang Sung Joon,” the U.S.
President, Aiden, greeted him.
Although he spoke in English, Shin Tae was right
next to Sung Joon and translated the President’s words. It was such a simple
greeting that Sung Joon didn’t really need the translation.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Kang Sung
Joon,” Sung Joon shook Aiden’s offered hand and replied.
He knew some English, but he continued to speak in
Korean since he had an interpreter.
“I’d like to speak with you in private. Could
you all please leave for a moment?”
The figures gathered within President Aiden’s office
looked disappointed. It seemed like they wanted to meet Sung Joon, the hero of
New York.
“I’ll set up a place where you can speak with
him later.”
“I understand.”
“Please do.”
Aiden promised that they’d be able to talk to him
later. The president himself had made a promise, so they all put their regret
behind them and left the office.
Now, the only ones left in the office were Aiden, Shin
Tae, Sung Joon, and Leia.
Shin Tae remained as an interpreter, while Leia
wasn’t someone the president could control very easily.
She walked around the office while swinging her arms
around and sat down comfortably into a soft looking chair.
Seeing that, Aiden sighed. However, he didn’t look
displeased. Rather, he looked like a father watching his daughter joke around.
“Would you like to sit?”
Aiden turned his attention to Sung Joon. Although he
was the President of the United States, he was still polite to Sung Joon.
Then again, he really didn’t have any other choice. Just
the fact that Sung Joon was an SS-rank Hunter meant that he was invaluable.
Plus, out of all the Hunters, he was most likely to become SSS-rank, so there
was nothing wrong with being cautious.
“Pardon me.”
Sung Joon spoke politely as well. If the president
was going to be polite, then he’d be polite as well.
“I’m truly thankful for what you did for New
York City. I thank you on behalf of the United States.”
“Please don’t mention it. I just did what
anyone else would’ve done.”
He’d profited from the raid, but it was true that
he’d helped. Sung Joon replied and Shin Tae relayed what he’d said word for
word.
“If it weren’t for you, Ms. Leia and the Witch
guild wouldn’t have arrived on time. The damage to New York would’ve been
greater had that happened. According to Beta headquarters, at least half of New
York City would’ve been destroyed if not for your help, Mr. Kang Sung
Joon.”
Sung Joon nodded his head.
It’s not like SS-rank Hunters were common in the
U.S. At the time, there weren’t any SS-rank Hunters nearby, and the SS-rank Orc
Chieftain, Kalleak, had appeared through the warp gate.
If the battlefield couldn’t be contained early on,
then the raid would spread like a forest fire. It would’ve been impossible to
deal with with the Hunters in New York alone.
“You’re too kind,” Sung Joon said
modestly, yet he was smiling. He always felt great from being complimented.
“Mr. President is right. I took him down
easily, so he seemed weak, but with that much mana, you would need at least
four S-rank Hunters like Idun to barely beat him. But before I arrived, there
were only three S-rank Hunters in New York.”
“Ms. Leia is right.”
Aiden nodded his head and agreed with Leia. The
United States possessed several S-rank Hunters, but because Hunters liked to be
independent, the U.S. couldn’t station them wherever they wished.
However, the U.S. government had several Hunters, so
they could somewhat evenly spread them around.
“I see,” Sung Joon smiled and replied. He didn’t
think it was such a big deal, but it seems like the situation had been worse
than he thought.
“What we are sure of is that because of you,
the damage to New York City was minimized to about 10%. Several lives and
assets were protected, and everyone is appreciate of your efforts.”
He wasn’t done with the compliments. It felt great,
but Sung Joon wanted something else.
“So we plan on giving you one of the eight
SS-rank items that the U.S. possesses: the ‘Righteous Shield’.”
“The Righteous Shield?”
“That’s correct.”
Aiden nodded his head. When Leia had told him he’d be getting an SS-rank item, he thought it might be a joke. So he felt like he’d caught a huge fish.