Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
There were times when the atmosphere was not good even when a dungeon had been cleared successfully.
This was what was occurring at that moment.
The players began returning from the dungeon that was used for the verification to attack the A+ rank dungeon.
Players began leaving the dungeon in a steady trickle.
“It’s the players!”
“The attack was successful!”
“Uwaa!”
Those who were waiting for this naturally cheered and welcomed their return.
‘Huh? Why are their faces like that?’
‘They all have serious expressions. Did something happen?’
However, some people noticed that the expressions of these returning players were not good.
‘Was there an accident in the dungeon?’
And they knew that this was an expression that was usually only accompanied by unexpected situations occurring in the dungeon.
Those who noticed this immediately began paying attention to the players’ movements.
‘The officials’ expressions are also bad.’
‘There was definitely an accident.’
As more people noticed this, the screams naturally decreased.
“It’s the three Ishikawa siblings!”
“The heroes have returned!”
“Isaac Ivanov’s new teammates!”
When the Ishikawa siblings appeared, cheers erupted again before they quickly subsided.
‘Why are their faces like that.’
They appeared as though they had seen a ghost and suffered a great loss as a result.
‘This isn’t good.’
It was at that moment that everyone realised just how serious the matter was, and the atmosphere cooled to the point that the earlier cheers and screams felt like a mere illusion.
At this time, the officials who were broadcasting this situation live had their complexions change as they hurriedly wrote subtitles, changing what they had to ‘Breaking News’.
Reporters also began writing new articles, leaving the ones they had already prepared at the side.
The atmosphere peaked when Isaac Ivanov and his teammate appeared.
They both had no facial expressions as though they were wearing emotionless masks, and as soon as they left the dungeon gate, they headed in different directions.
‘What’s going on? Why are they heading in two different directions?’
‘Something happened between the two of them!’
It was then.
“A scoop!”
At that time, a reporter, who had managed to grasp the situation from a player, shouted out the reason Isaac Ivanov and his teammate left in different directions.
“Isaac Ivanov’s party is disbanding!”
At that moment, the reporters who grasped the situation rushed to ask Isaac Ivanov and his teammate questions.
“Is that true?”
“Is it true that the party is being disbanded?”
“What the hell happened in the dungeon?”
However, neither of them said a single word in the face of those questions.
No one was disappointed though.
‘It’s true!’
‘Isaac Ivanov’s party really disbanded!’
After all, there was no answer more definitive than silence.
…
[Shocking! Isaac Ivanov’s team is disbanding!]
It was breaking news that no one expected.
-What are they talking about? What do they mean disbanding?
-Wasn’t Isaac Ivanov preparing to attack an A+ rank dungeon? What do they mean his team is disbanding?
-No, what are they talking about? Disbanding? Isaac’s team is disbanding?
At the same time, it was incredibly shocking breaking news.
-It doesn’t make sense that they would just disband like this. Aren’t they the only team to hunt a Hatchling alone?
-I can’t take this. Isaac Ivanov’s team is the strongest team in history!
What kind of team did Isaac Ivanov have?
It was a party that had continuously done what no one else had ever done before, starting with the first needle snake hunt to hunting the hatchling alone.
The dissolution of this party was completely different from the dissolution of a famous idol group.
-Damn, Kim Woo-jin dies and the Spashiba leaves. What the hell is going on?
-This doesn’t make sense. You would usually only ever hear about a party this popular being wiped out, never them disbanding like this.
-Why did this happen?
So naturally, people started looking at the cause.
And of course, the cause was simple.
-Why did it have to be those damn Japanese bastards!?
?Right. Japan was also the one who killed Kim Woo-jin.
?It’s the same with Spashiba. There are rumors that their relationship was broken by the Ishikawa siblings.
?There were rumors that Spashiba might transfer to another guild before they even entered the dungeon.
After all, Kim Woo-jin had already died because of terrorism by a pseudo-cult from Japan.
Naturally, the accusations against Japan began to flood once again.
[Is the Sword Saint’s greed towards the hero the reason for this?]
[The Sword Saint destroys Isaac Ivanov’s team!]
It was to the extent that accusations were even being pointed toward the Sword Saint, who was sacred in Japan.
It was none other than Isaac Ivanov’s first official announcement that truly drove the situation to its peak.
[Breaking News! Isaac Ivanov has given up attacking the A+ rank dungeon!]
[Isaac Ivanov has temporarily suspended all activities! Does he intend to retire?]
[The Hero stops!]
Isaac Ivanov announced that he would temporarily halt all activities.
…
“I’m sorry.”
Miyazaki Sakura apologized to the Sword Saint while kneeling on the floor.
The Sword Saint responded simply to her apology.
“What is the situation.”
“We have approached both sides, but it doesn’t look too good. I haven’t spoken to Isaac Ivanov yet, but…”
“What is it?”
“That…”
Seeing Miyazaki Sakura hesitating, the Sword Saint spoke with an eerie look in his eyes.
“Tell me what you learned.”
“…it is said that Isaac Ivanov’s teammate is in possession of the Makya.”
When he heard that, the blood vessels visible at the Sword Saint’s temples wriggled.
He was furious to learn that the Makya, which belonged to him, was in the possession of someone else.
But the more frustrating thing was the seriousness of this matter.
Didn’t it mean that the cost to change the teammate’s mind would be even higher since he was already in possession of such an item?
“What about the press?”
“The media in Japan is under control. But if it stays like this, this matter will eventually spread.”
Miyazaki Sakura swallowed slightly before continuing.
“However, we can’t conceal the fact that the Ishikawa siblings suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Isaac Ivanov’s teammate.”
“Dammit.”
When he heard that, the Sword Saint couldn’t help but let out a swear.
That was how serious the situation was.
‘I didn’t expect it to be this bad.’
While the world was shocked by the disbandment of Isaac Ivanov’s team, Japan and the Sword Saint were being held accountable.
In such a situation, what would happen if it spread that the three Ishikawa siblings were not as skilled as Isaac Ivanov’s teammate?
Furthermore, what if it was revealed that the Ishikawa siblings were the cause of this whole incident?
The accusations that would come would be completely incomparable to what they were receiving currently.
‘The criticism is fine.’
Of course, the Sword Saint wouldn’t mind the criticism.
After all, criticism would never be able to reduce his influence or pose a threat to him.
The problem was that this was only the beginning, not the end.
“If we don’t fix this now, we will be troubled for a while.”
In the future, if there were ever any issues with Isaac Ivanov, it would, in some way, be tied back to the Sword Saint, even if they had to stretch it.
“The Messiah might try to make this problem larger.”
It might reach the point where even the Messiah Guild might use it as an excuse to penalize the Sword Saint’s side.
In fact, that was the most troublesome possibility for the Sword Saint.
Currently, the Sword Saint and the Messiah Guild had a symbiotic relationship where they helped each other whenever possible.
However, if he was to reveal a flaw in this relationship, the Messiah Guild would take advantage of it immediately.
This was also part of the reason why he tried to get Isaac Ivanov on his side.
The Sword Saint had intended to use Isaac Ivanov to keep the Messiah Guild in check.
‘I was too greedy.’
But now, the situation had changed.
He’d tried to grab the sword, but he’d ended up grabbing the blade instead of the hilt.
‘I’ll have to fix this.’
In other words, this meant he would have to deal with this situation somehow.
If he let it stay as it was, it was possible that it would become something that might pull him down at an important moment.
“We have to deal with Isaac Ivanov’s teammate before he transfers to another guild.”
Besides, if he wanted to fix this problem, he would have to do so before Isaac Ivanov’s teammate transferred to another guild or group.
After all, if he transferred it would be impossible to restore the relationship no matter what the Sword Saint tried.
After hearing her report, the Sword Saint spoke slowly.
“Sakura, I’ll give you two options.”
At those words, Sakura looked up at the Sword Saint with a slightly tense expression.
Then she saw it.
“Either hold it in your hand, or remove it.”
The Sword Saint’s gaze had become sharp and deep.