The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 298

297

Near the Ural Mountains, in a dense forest.

Secretary-General Wesley and most of the International Association staff were exploring the forest, its towering coniferous trees casting long shadows.

“We can’t detect any more psychic waves,” a staff member from the headquarters control team announced, checking his equipment.

“Judging by the deliberate interference, it seems someone is activating a jammer [a device that blocks signals],” he added.

“A jammer? Who on earth…”

“It doesn’t seem like an individual’s doing. I suspect the Russian Association has implemented a massive blockade of all dungeons in the vicinity…”

“…”

Secretary-General Wesley paused, considering the staff member’s words.

The Russian Association is notorious for being the most secretive and closed-off of all associations worldwide.

Subjugation activities, hunter personnel, equipment holdings—they absolutely do not disclose any of that to the outside world.

Of course, there are various reasons, but the biggest is that they don’t want to reveal that they have the lowest standards among all the associations.

The Russian Association’s infrastructure and personnel quality are significantly lower than their country’s reputation would suggest.

Even compared to associations in developing countries, they fall far short.

‘Well, it’s a country that extremely dislikes individual organizations gaining power, so in a way, it’s only natural…’

In any case, as the only country where subjugation is carried out jointly by hunters and soldiers, their subjugation skills are truly the worst.

This is evident from the fact that they rely on the International Association to detect psychic waves on their behalf because they lack the necessary detection technology.

‘Thanks to that, I found Eden first, though…’

But why are they suddenly blocking psychic waves now?

Did they even have the technology to do that?

More than that…

Why would the Russian Association, which doesn’t even have proper detection technology, suddenly block psychic waves?

They wouldn’t even know what Eden is, let alone if anything was discovered, would they?

Secretary-General Wesley bit his lip and quietly spoke, “Something feels off.”

“Could the information have reached other people? For example, the news might have been delivered to Kim Jun-woo…”

Then, a control team staff member cautiously spoke, “Wouldn’t this situation be explained if Kim Jun-woo contacted Russia directly and requested the blockade? Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense that Russia would block psychic waves on their own…”

“Hmm.”

Secretary-General Wesley interrupted him and sighed.

That’s right.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason for them to carry out a blockade independently.

Either they received a request from someone, or they found out about Eden.

One of the two.

Well, whichever it is…

‘A competitor is joining in.’

He stroked his chin for a moment.

“How long do you think it would take to find it without psychic wave detection?”

Secretary-General Wesley asked.

“If psychic wave blocking and a regional blockade have been carried out, we have no choice but to search directly. To enter and check all the dungeons in the suspected area…”

“It would take a month to search this entire area.”

“…Yes.”

He let out a burst of laughter.

It’s not like we’re doing something stupid.

That’s absurd.

“First of all, it’s difficult to continue searching regardless. If they deliberately blocked it, they’ll be on guard. And if we get caught by the Russian Association…”

“It would become quite troublesome.”

Politically and physically.

Of course, there is another way.

If we attack the Russian Association and destroy the psychic wave jammer, everything will be resolved.

But if we do that, we won’t be able to avoid conflict with Russia.

‘I don’t know if it’s possible in this state, unlike before…’

Without hiding anything, the International Association’s power is currently about 80% depleted compared to what it was.

Of course, he could handle the riff-raff somehow, but he couldn’t guarantee 100% success.

‘I lost all the captured monsters while fighting Kim Jun-woo…’

Objectively speaking, we are no longer in a state to fight.

So, one way or another, we must avoid combat as much as possible.

“S, Secretary-General!”

At that time, an operations team staff member who had gone out to search the vicinity came running in a hurry.

“What is it?”

“T, there are large-scale forces nearby!”

“…What?”

Have we already been discovered?

“It’s certain that they are ability users, but from the looks of it, they are not members of the Russian Association.”

“Then…?”

“It seems to be a guild.”

He said.

“And… we’ve confirmed that Noah Westernwood is also with them. Judging from the circumstances, it seems to be the Noah Guild.”

“…!”

Secretary-General Wesley’s eyebrows twitched.

How did that guy find out and move?

More than that.

‘The fact that he moved means…’

There’s a high possibility that Kim Jun-woo is also moving.

If so, that explains why Russia blocked the area so quickly.

‘Damn it…’

I don’t know how he recovered from his rampage, but this is an ambush.

There is no worse situation than encountering the world’s number one guild in a situation where we need to avoid combat as much as possible.

This is a disaster.

I should have prepared a little more before coming.

‘I moved in a hurry…’

At this rate, we won’t be able to get any results.

“…What are you going to do?”

The control team staff member cautiously asked, and at that moment, he was once again deep in thought.

Kwang—!!

Suddenly, an explosion was heard in the distance.

Kwang, Kwakwang—!!

It continued several times for a while.

A huge fire began to rise in the distance.

‘Is it a bombing…?’

Are they trying to find us?

He continued to rack his brain while looking at the gradually spreading fire.

“Secretary-General! We need to evacuate!”

“…”

There was no more room to spare.

He gritted his teeth once as the approaching fire demon.

“Let’s… retreat for now.”

In the end, he decided to take a step back.

It’s a shame, but there’s no choice.

Blocked psychic waves, a sealed area.

The Noah Guild is nearby.

And even an inexplicable fire.

There was no point in staying any longer right now.

***

“A new Bank Item, huh…”

Russian Parliament.

Minister Vladimir was deep in thought in his office.

In fact, he is well aware that Russia is not putting much effort into the subjugation industry.

While other countries are carrying out all sorts of things, such as by-product trade and subjugation support projects, Russia has not touched them at all.

The reason was simple.

Individuals here should not have power.

Fortunately, whether due to geographical reasons or other factors, the number of dungeons appearing is not large… and even those are sufficient with only a few ability users and soldiers.

Of course, there are times when difficult dungeons appear from time to time, but then they can just ask for help from external associations.

Compared to other countries, it was a loss, but now that I think about it, not putting effort into the subjugation industry has rather become a masterstroke.

Because the subjugation industry has not developed, we have not been caught with weaknesses by the International Association.

If there is nothing to gain from us, there is no reason to control us.

That’s why Russia has become the most free country in the subjugation industry.

That’s why I didn’t really care about Bank Items or the International Association’s control…

“Something feels uneasy…”

Minister Vladimir muttered, tapping his fingers on the desk.

Then, Dmitry, the head of the Russian Association, who was standing in front of him, cautiously asked, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what the new Bank Item is, but it’s an item that the International Association and WDSO [World Dungeon Security Organization] are all moving for…”

He flashed his eyes and continued, “If that’s the case, I think it might be useful to us too.”

“…Is that so?”

Association Chairman Dmitry replied quietly.

“Has it not been confirmed yet what kind of item it is?”

“I’m looking into it, but the detection and analysis technology within the association is lacking. And right now, it’s difficult just to block psychic waves…”

“Hmm.”

Minister Vladimir clicked his tongue once.

“Now that it’s come to this, how about we find it first?”

“Y, yes…? W, wouldn’t that cause us to be at odds with WDSO?”

“What are you talking about?”

He shook his hand and continued, “WDSO requested that we block it so that the International Association couldn’t get their hands on it, but they never told us not to touch it.”

“…”

“Besides, isn’t it the same in the end? If we acquire it first, we can stop the International Association.”

It was a sophistry that anyone could hear, but Association Chairman Dmitry couldn’t say a word.

“If you understand, start searching.”

A unilaterally dropped order.

“R, right now?”

“Is there a problem?”

“That is, the International Association may also be in the blockade area right now. Above all, I heard that the Noah Guild is on guard, so it’s impossible to search without being detected…”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Vladimir nodded.

But that was only for a moment.

“Then, just kick them all out.”

He said.

“Kick them out…?”

“Burn down everything near the blockade area.”

“…”

Association Chairman Dmitry made a sullen expression.

But.

“What is it? Is there something you don’t like?”

“No, sir.”

This is Russia.

The only association belonging to the government.

There was no way that a mere association chairman could object to the Minister of National Defense.

***

The helicopter supported by the German Association finally arrived in Paris, France.

“This…”

Kim Min-ju opened her mouth, quite embarrassed as soon as she got off the helicopter.

That’s because.

“It’s more intact than I thought?”

It looked surprisingly peaceful for a country where a coup had taken place and the central government had been captured.

“I know, right? I thought it would feel like the end of the century.”

Lee Ah-young was also quite surprised by the unexpectedly neat city appearance.

Of course, Han Yu-bin and I had already visited once, so the peaceful city landscape was not so unfamiliar.

“The International Association’s goal is to control the subjugation industry, not to become a dictator.”

At that time, Chloe calmly opened her mouth.

“Especially Wesley is a man far from politics. The reason why he succeeded in the coup but left most of the government officials alive is also because of that.”

“Even so, are the citizens just standing still? It’s the country of revolution, after all.”

“There’s no reason to step up. Unless they oppress and control, there’s nothing particularly different from before. I heard that since Wesley took power, welfare has increased, so there are even people who like it.”

Heh.

The country is doing well.

“Anyway, this is also a city where ordinary people live. So don’t overturn it too much just because you’re carrying out an operation.”

“I’ll try.”

“Headquarters is this way.”

I don’t know if she heard my answer, but she immediately turned around and took the lead.

We moved for a while with her guidance.

As soon as we arrived in front of the National Assembly building, I quickly looked around.

There are no guards visible outside, but I can’t guarantee the inside of the building.

They would have left behind the minimum force to carry out domestic subjugation while they were away.

Above all, if it’s the operations team, they’re likely to already know my face, so it’s impossible to infiltrate with a disguised identity.

Then…

‘I have no choice but to suppress them as quickly as possible.’

I muttered and looked at Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin.

As if they had the same thought, they nodded their heads at my gaze.

Each of them finished their attack posture with a tense expression at that time.

Ring—.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

I was startled and hurriedly checked, and it was none other than a call from Noah.

“What’s going on?”

「A large-scale fire has broken out in the blockade area right now!」

“…Yes?”

At the same time, unexpected news was delivered.

「It seems someone deliberately set the fire! All troops have been ordered to withdraw, and the authorities will proceed with fire suppression first.」

“Could it be the International Association guys…?”

「No, even those guys will get caught up in this fire. If those guys have also arrived in the area, they’ll have to avoid it, so there’s no reason to set a fire.」

“Then…”

「A third party has intervened.」

At his words, my face hardened.

「Quickly recover the Bank Item and join us. If you’re not careful, you might get kicked out without even seeing Eden.」

“…I understand.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, Chief Lee Ah-young approached.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems someone has their eye on the prize.”

Presumptuously.

“Let’s hurry. If we don’t join them right now and find Eden, it may be handed over to Russia.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

With that, Kim Min-ju, Han Yu-bin, and I slowly approached the building.

And soon.

Kwang—!

Former Paris National Assembly Hall.

We smashed the door of the current International Hunter Association headquarters and entered inside.