Maria Yuri, who had visited Korea as a representative of Japan’s Four Great Families and the Historical Compilation Committee.
And Han Ga-eul, the eldest daughter of the Han family and the owner’s family of Taeseong Group, who faced Maria in the capacity of the Korean king’s proxy.
Since each represented her own country, the two women looked equal at first glance, but in truth, the positions of superior and subordinate were perfectly clear.
After all, Maria had come here to ask for Godou’s divine power to be returned, including Erica and Godou’s personal safety.
What more, the deciding factor between the two of them was information.
Maria, from Japan, did not know that Il-gyu had no choice but to return at least two incarnations.
That was not just a big card; it was, in fact, the key that would decide this negotiation.
“Sign it.”
“Pardon?”
“If you refuse, I’ll get up and leave.”
“W-what in the world is that supposed to mean...!!”
From the very start of the negotiation, Ga-eul shoved a single document across the table.
Then she demanded a signature.
And if Maria refused, she would simply walk out.
With such an absurd demand, Maria had no choice but to be flustered.
After reading the document, she glared at Ga-eul’s indifferent face as if even more dumbfounded, and shouted, “Th-this... this is basically you saying you’re going to take away our country’s investigative authority, isn’t it?!”
The demands written in the document were simple.
Exactly as Maria said, it was the seizure of investigative authority.
Any crime involving a Korean, whether it happened in Korea or in Japan, would be investigated by Korea and punished in Korea.
“Involved” included both victims and suspects.
In short, any crime entangling a Korean would fall under Korea’s jurisdiction, and Japan would be reduced to second place.
“There’s no way we can accept something like this!!”
It was, in effect, interference in domestic affairs.
There was no real difference between that and a violation of sovereignty.
Of course, there were conditions.
Supernatural matters.
That is, the restriction was limited to affairs in this industry.
But Maria was not stupid enough to mistake that for anything other than a fig leaf.
“That depends on how you put it. Who would know something like that before the truth comes out?”
Maria was furious at such an outrageous demand from the very beginning.
Ga-eul, in fact, understood that even this was excessive.
Investigative authority over an entire country.
Even with a few restrictions attached, it was the sort of demand you would expect only from the colonial era.
Who would ever accept that?
And yet, knowing that, Ga-eul pressed hard.
“Then the negotiation is over. On humanitarian grounds, I’ll return Erica Blandelli’s personal safety, so take her and go home.”
Ga-eul knew that Il-gyu was not the sort of man who would be satisfied with merely normalizing Korea.
His goal was far greater.
He meant to establish order and law across this entire industry.
For now, he was only content because his reach extended only within Korea.
What would he need in order to move out into the world?
Ga-eul judged that he needed a precedent.
A precedent proving that Il-gyu’s justice did not apply only to Korea.
If the whole world could see that he was a king named Il-gyu, then there would be proof that the order he imposed was worth trusting.
Only then could Il-gyu create an organization that would safeguard law and influence the entire world beyond Korea.
But—
“The hard part is getting the first step started.”
Because there was no precedent, he had to interfere in another country.
No nation would ever agree to that.
Even if Il-gyu was a Devil King who ruled above humanity.
And since the image of a Devil King was bad to begin with, it would be even harder.
That was why force was necessary.
And for that, she needed justification.
And right now, that justification—
“Japan gave it to us.”
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that had rolled right into her hands.
Even she knew she was crossing the line, but she could not let it slip away.
Because this was far more important than haggling over the price of returning the incarnations in the negotiation to come.
That was why she brought it up at the very beginning, and applied the strongest pressure, the strongest threat she could.
Still, if you press people too hard, they push back. That is human nature.
Ga-eul pretended to think for a moment, then proposed a small compromise as though she were being generous.
“Very well. Then let’s proceed with joint cooperation until it is confirmed that this is a supernatural case.”
“Ghk! For something so small—”
“Small? I think I’ve been very generous.”
Honestly, she did not want to say this either.
“Why did you think I meant only Erica Blandelli when I said I would return personal safety on humanitarian grounds?”
“W-what? N-no way... you...”
“In our industry, a Devil King is comparable to a nuclear weapon. In reality, he’s even worse.”
Even if his divine power had been cut in half, a king was still a king.
Was there any reason to return such a king to an “enemy nation”?
“Enemy nation?! Do you even realize what you’re saying right now?”
“Am I wrong?”
If a Devil King was comparable to a nuclear weapon, then Japan had launched a nuke at Korea.
That was nothing less than a declaration of war.
The only reason there had been no damage was because of Il-gyu.
That did not change the fact that the king of Japan had come to Korea picking a fight over some absurd excuse.
“When two countries hurl nukes at each other, the world calls that war.”
War had already happened.
Korea had simply won.
“Disarming the defeated nation is the natural next step.”
In that case, was there any reason to return Godou to Japan?
Erica had certainly been disarmed, so that was fine.
But Godou was another matter.
“If not, then strip out the remaining divine powers too and disarm him the same way.”
Otherwise, he would simply be discarded.
Of course, in reality there was no way to extract any more divine powers, but Maria did not know that, so it did not matter.
And in theory, it was not impossible to extract them either.
After a trial ends, any crimes committed afterward can be tried separately.
If Godou committed another crime, they could hold another trial and extract the remaining divine power the same way.
Well, if he had anything in his head besides decoration, he would not do that.
At Ga-eul’s claim, Maria’s face turned deathly pale.
She had come here begging them to return the divine powers, and now they were saying they would take the rest too.
It felt like looking beneath the floor and finding an even deeper floor below it.
Or rather, an abyss.
And on top of that, to discard him...
“Do you mean to kill him? A king?”
“Is there any reason I couldn’t?”
“A king is humanity’s only means of standing against the gods. He is a miracle and a treasure of mankind! How can you speak of a human killing such a king?!”
That was true.
For now, each country and organization was operating separately, but if the threat to the human race ever came, all the god-slayers would move at once.
The final line of defense for humanity.
That was a Devil King.
But Ga-eul shot a cold glance at the enraged Maria and said, “Indeed. The fact that you, of all people, are saying that gives those words a rather different weight.”
“............”
It was a pointed jab at Maria, who had nearly been offered up as fodder for Marquis Voban’s amusement.
In truth, Maria was the one who should have hated god-slayers more than anyone.
And yet she had called a Devil King a miracle and treasure of mankind.
In the end, Ga-eul decided to take one more step back.
“I’ll give Japan supervisory authority over investigations. That does not change the fact that Korea holds the authority, but it will include the power to dismiss investigators operating within Japan.”
Japan’s minimum means of self-defense.
Of course, not without conditions.
“That supervisory authority will be valid only for you. We will not permit transfer unless our king approves it.”
Sensing that this was the final warning, Maria finally finished signing with trembling hands.
Satisfied, Ga-eul also promised to return Erica’s personal safety, along with Godou’s.
But as you know, the negotiation did not end there.
“Th... the divine powers...”
“How much did you come prepared to pay?”
“Ghk! So it really won’t be free.”
“Of course not. Those are trophies won by our king with his own hands in battle. Keep in mind that even this is his mercy for the sake of smoother relations between our two countries.”
Of course, she would only sell one.
In truth, she should have handed over two, but this way she could drive the price down.
As expected, Maria nearly dropped to her knees and clung to Ga-eul with a face on the verge of tears.
Ga-eul, as though reluctantly yielding, accepted the sale of two in exchange for the divine powers, on the additional condition that Japan return all of Korea’s supernatural-related items in its possession.
“So which incarnations would you like returned?”
“The boar... is out of the question, I suppose?”
“You’ve learned to read the room.”
“Sigh. Then please return the Phoenix and the Goat.”
They were the most combat-oriented incarnations.
Honestly, Maria had expected to be turned down even here.
After all, what she had asked for were precisely the incarnations just below the Boar.
In particular, the Goat was a powerful incarnation that, depending on the situation, could even surpass the Boar.
So to be honest, she had said it with the feeling that if they would only take one of the two, that would already be enough.
“Very well. We’ll return the Phoenix and the Goat.”
Ga-eul accepted without hesitation.
“Huh? Y-yes?”
“Hmm? Do you want to change your request?”
“No! No! The Phoenix and the Goat, please!”
Maria let out a relieved breath, thankful for the outcome.
But of course, this too was exactly as Il-gyu intended.
From the beginning, the incarnations to be returned had already been decided: those two.
Anyone listening might wonder why they were returning those two instead of some useless gale or other nonsense.
But that was based on how Godou used them.
Il-gyu’s own judgment, after using them personally, was different.
“This gale thing... is insane. He only used this as a rescue teleport? What the hell did that guy even do after becoming a god-slayer?”
“Wouldn’t the Goat be a waste? It’s an extremely powerful incarnation.”
“I agree that it’s powerful, which is exactly why I shouldn’t use it. If I were to use the Goat in earnest, I’d dry out every living thing in the area and leave not a single trace behind. I don’t want to use that kind of power just to win.”
The Phoenix, after trying it, seemed like something he could reproduce in a similar form, though not perfectly.
And with the gale, he probably would not need it anyway.
As a result, Il-gyu took the Boar and the gale, while the boy stored them in the wish-fulfilling jewel.
The remaining Goat and Phoenix would be returned.
“Honestly, even I can only say this talent is insane.”
That was why, in another sense, it was even more regrettable.
Verethragna’s ten incarnations.
Godou’s divine power, which Greenwich had named the [War God of the East].
It should have been Il-gyu, not Godou, who usurped it.
“Maybe he got a balance patch?”
Maybe.
It was already at the level where people would call it broken.
Whatever the case, Maria seemed satisfied, so that was fine.
Ah, and for the price of the incarnations, they received a clean one trillion yen each.
Of course, the unit was yen.
thanks for the chapter