SFRW-Chapter 278

Ch. 278 Sword God From The Ruined World

The number of guardian planets remaining under Barhaut’s control was now down to a mere nine.  

Out of the original 39 guardian planets, 30 had been liberated, leaving only a single-digit number left.  

Now, they had arrived to free the 31st planet, but this place was different from the others.  

“You’re sure this is the Administrator’s tail?”  

“It’s the Eleks Merchant Group—the only organization that directly trades with the Crimson Fox Squad.”  

The Mercenary King, Joi.  

Interestingly, the Administrator of this planet was a figure known as the Mercenary King Joi, who thoroughly concealed his existence.  

“Crimson Fox Squad?”  

“It’s one of the top ten mercenary groups under the Mercenary King Joi.”  

The Mercenary King Joi was a figure shrouded in mystery—no one knew his gender, age, or appearance.  

Because of this, when Seo Do-jun and his party first arrived, they were greatly taken aback.  

They couldn’t understand why the Administrator, who held the highest authority on this planet, would live in such complete secrecy.  

Until now, the Administrators who followed Barhaut had all been the same.  

They were typical powerholders who ruled over the masses without hiding their immense greed.  

Parasites who flaunted their strength under Barhaut’s overwhelming power—that was the true face of the Administrators.  

But the Mercenary King Joi, this planet’s Administrator, was a completely different type.  

Because of this, when they first arrived, it took them a considerable amount of time just to figure out who the Administrator was.  

On the surface, this world seemed to function under a system of five kingdoms, living an ordinary life.  

But in reality, it was different.  

A greater power loomed over the five kingdoms, and surprisingly, it was the mercenaries.  

A mere group of mercenaries controlling the five kingdoms?  

It was absurdly impossible. Especially for a world that appeared so normal on the surface.  

As they dug deeper into this anomaly, they discovered a figure revered even more than any of the five kings.  

The Mercenary King Joi, who had appeared suddenly during the Era of Chaos (Barhaut’s Conquest War), led the mercenaries and ended the war.  

While everyone praised him, Seo Do-jun’s party was certain:  

He was Barhaut’s dog.  

They didn’t know why he took a different path from the other planet’s Administrators, but one thing was clear—he had pledged loyalty to Barhaut and offered this world to him.  

Then, without a word, he vanished, leaving the people of this world to regard him as a great Hero.  

“Hero, my ass. That bastard definitely has some scheme. Maybe he’s secretly sacrificing people to cultivate some evil power or something, right?”  

Though Seo Do-jun didn’t respond to Choi Kang-soo’s words, he agreed that Joi’s motives were unlikely to be noble.  

“First, we need to meet the Crimson Fox Squad to track down the Mercenary King Joi’s whereabouts.”  

At Shinjo’s words, Choi Kang-soo grumbled about why they had to make things so complicated—why not just flip everything upside down?  

“We can’t do that.”  

This world was peculiar.  

Despite serving as one of Barhaut’s guardian planets, it was unnaturally peaceful, as if it had nothing to do with Barhaut at all.  

Unlike other planets, it wasn’t in ruins. There was no clear divide between rulers and the oppressed, no wretched lives, and no gathering of purely evil beings.  

It was so peaceful that one could doubt whether this was truly one of Barhaut’s guardian planets.  

Even the kings of the five kingdoms, though they bickered among themselves, were neither extreme nor cruel enough to plunge the continent into war.  

Given the situation, Seo Do-jun’s party couldn’t just barge in and flex their power like they had in other places.  

“We just need to quietly find and deal with the Administrator.”  

It would take time, but this was the best approach—and a consideration for the people living in this world.  

Choi Kang-soo, knowing the atmosphere of this place, stopped grumbling.  

“Where do we go to find the Crimson Fox Squad?”  

Shinjo answered immediately:  

“The city of Pelloin in the Aliana Kingdom is under the Crimson Fox Squad’s control.”  

From where they were now, it would take about five days to reach.  

“Let’s move immediately.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s words, the party—who had little to pack—quickly prepared to leave.  

***

Ophel’s Seven Apostles  

“Any traces?”  

“There’s no sign of a separate dimensional passage. They’re definitely still on this planet.”  

Kael, the de facto leader of Ophel’s Seven Apostles, nodded at Ver’s reply.  

“Everyone heard that? Our prey is hiding somewhere on this planet. Let me make this clear—we must be the ones to catch them. That is Ophel’s will.”  

At Kael’s words, Raten, a thin boy covered in freckles, retorted:  

“How are we supposed to find them in such a vast place?”  

“Rather than finding them, we should wait for them to come to us.”  

“Wait? How?”  

When Raten looked at Kael as if asking for a method, Kael replied:  

“Barhaut’s guardian planets have Administrators, right? Their goal is to kill the Administrator and free the planet from Barhaut. So, if we find the Administrator first and keep them close, they’ll come to us.”  

Sounded simple enough.  

But—  

“Where do we find the Administrator?”  

At Raten’s question, Kael glanced around at the others.  

“Guess we’ll have to run around looking.”  

Most of their faces twisted in displeasure at his answer.  

“Why don’t we just flip everything upside down?”  

Felts, a muscular man in blue martial arts attire, spoke up, and Raten and a couple others nodded.  

Rather than tediously searching everywhere, it’d be better to make a grand display and force the Administrator to reveal themselves.  

“What if our prey gets scared and runs?”  

Qua, a woman with emerald-green short hair, clicked her tongue.  

“Run? They killed Vampica and Gettis—you think they’d be scared that easily? If they are, they’re not even worth our time.”  

Felts trailed off with a bored expression.  

“Even if they don’t run, we can’t do that. This is still Barhaut’s guardian planet. Ophel warned us not to cause unnecessary trouble.”  

Though this mission began at Barhaut’s request, Ophel had instructed them not to do anything that could later be held against them.  

“Fine, then.”  

At the mention of Ophel’s warning, Felts quietly withdrew his suggestion.  

“But if we need to find the Administrator, using some force is fine—just don’t cause too big of a scene.”  

“Still, Barhaut isn’t just sitting back and leaving everything to us, right?”  

At Qua’s words, Raten nodded in agreement.  

“Right. The remaining Six Seats won’t just sit still. Especially if they know what price Barhaut will pay—they’d never just watch.”  

“Those Six Seats always do their own thing. Look at Vampica and Gettis—why do you think they died? They were never like us to begin with.”  

At Felts’s words, Kael shook his head.  

“The remaining Six Seats are Luam, Allekuhi, Ratio, and Vipiens… As you know, Vipiens is only a Six Lord in name—he doesn’t even properly follow Barhaut’s orders, so we don’t need to worry about him. The real problem is Luam.”  

“Luam—that insane Lich would absolutely go overboard in his loyalty to Barhaut. And Allekuhi and Ratio might follow Luam’s lead and act together.”  

Kael nodded at Raten’s words.  

“Ophel was concerned about that too. Barhaut won’t just sit back and let us finish our job. He might already be scheming something using Luam.”  

“Then this just got more fun. How about I take care of Luam and the Six Seats?”  

Felts flared with fighting spirit as he spoke, and Qua smirked.  

“Trying to settle your unfinished business with Allekuhi?”  

“Unfinished business? What nonsense! That bastard was never my match! Let me make this clear—I beat him last time too!”  

“Hmm… I wonder if Allekuhi thinks the same?”  

As Qua giggled, Felts thumped his chest in frustration.  

“Pio, what about you? Want to settle things with Ratio this time?”  

Felts subtly pulled Pio into the conversation.  

Among the Seven Apostles, Pio was the only non-human—a high elf with pure white skin.  

As a high elf of noble bloodline, she couldn’t hide her disdain for Ratio, a dark elf.  

“I don’t care about that wench.”  

“Whether you care or not, Ratio might think differently. If they’re targeting us, you’d be her top priority.”  

Pio’s beautiful forehead wrinkled slightly at Felts’s pestering.  

Though his antics were irritating, the thought of Ratio targeting her was even more unbearable.  

“Felts and I will handle the Six Seats.”  

At Pio’s words, Felts couldn’t hide his triumphant grin.  

Seeing Pio step forward, Kael nodded in agreement.  

While catching their prey was important, they couldn’t afford to be blindsided by Luam and the others. Having Felts and Pio as safeguards wasn’t a bad idea.  

“Good. Then Felts and Pio will stop Luam and the Six Seats from interfering. The rest of us will focus on finding the Administrator.”  

No further objections were raised, and the Seven Apostles began their search for this world’s Administrator—the Mercenary King Joi.  

***

Aliana Kingdom – City of Pelloin  

“Now that’s an impressive building.”  

Choi Kang-soo whistled as he looked at the Crimson Fox Squad’s headquarters.  

A grand five-story building stood imposingly in the heart of the city.  

The Crimson Fox Squad, the city’s true rulers, wielded more power than even the high-ranking nobles of Aliana Kingdom. Their influence was evident from the building alone.  

“Let’s go in.”  

Seo Do-jun headed toward the entrance with only Choi Kang-soo and Shinjo in tow.  

Given the constant flow of people entering and exiting, no one paid them any mind.  

“I thought it’d be a flower garden…”  

Choi Kang-soo’s expression twisted as they stepped inside.  

Given the name ‘Crimson Fox Squad’, he had assumed the mercenary group was mostly composed of women.  

He had expected sleek, muscular women in bold outfits—but instead, the place was a complete sausage fest.  

“What brings you here?”  

A burly, buzz-cut mercenary in charge of handling requests and recruits spoke gruffly.  

Seo Do-jun didn’t hide his purpose.  

Their goal was still to find the Administrator quietly, but that only applied to normal circumstances.  

He had no intention of being polite to a notoriously rough mercenary group.  

“I want to meet the Mercenary King Joi. Where can I find him?”  

The buzz-cut mercenary burst out laughing.  

Soon, the entire first floor erupted in raucous laughter.  

It was as if they’d heard the funniest joke in years.  

“What’s so damn funny?”  

Choi Kang-soo scowled, and Shinjo’s expression turned icy.  

But compared to the rugged, menacing faces of the mercenaries, the two looked almost delicate.  

“You think the Mercenary King Joi is someone you can just meet? He vanished like smoke after the Era of Chaos ended. If anyone knew where he was, I’d want to meet him first.”  

The buzz-cut mercenary waved his hand dismissively.  

At the same time, several mercenaries stood up, fingers twitching near their swords, while others openly twirled daggers in silent threat.  

“What’re you standing around for? Get lost!”  

The buzz-cut mercenary barked when Seo Do-jun didn’t move.  

Then—  

Whoosh—Thunk!  

A dagger flew past Seo Do-jun’s face and embedded itself in the wooden wall behind him.  

“Listen when people talk. Don’t get cocky and end up buried in the ground. I don’t care if you’re some noble—that means nothing here.”  

As the mercenary’s eyes narrowed, Shinjo and Choi Kang-soo tensed to lash out—  

Pfft!  

Seo Do-jun suddenly laughed.  

A long-forgotten memory surfaced—back in his academy days, when he’d impulsively sought out a mercenary group to learn about their world.  

Back then, too, they had said:  

“Little lord, this is a place where desperate men gamble their lives for a few coins. We don’t care if you’re a noble or a commoner.”  

They told him to leave quietly unless he wanted to die for nothing.  

And back then, Seo Do-jun had—  

Clink—!  

—scattered gold coins on the ground and said the same words he did now:  

“The one who kills me gets all this money. Think you can do it?”