Chapter 111: Entry
“Wow!”
Haneda Airport was abuzz with activity for a state visit.
Members of the Self-Defense Forces unfurled a red carpet and held up a banner, at the end of which were government officials.
Prime Minister Fujisawa flashed a public smile and waved to the assembled reporters, then sighed softly.
“We’re welcoming some hunters, and we have to hold a reception like this.”
If this were a reception for a foreign head of state, he wouldn’t have been so disheveled.
The reason why the hunters, not the president of Korea, are being treated like this is because of the official request of the Korean Hunter Association and the government.
[There’s a person who is very particular about status coming now, so let’s treat him properly.]
When the prime minister received the call, he wondered if this was some kind of ego contest.
The relationship between Japan and Korea has always been an arms race, with each side trying to put the other down. This was true even after the cataclysm.
From the nominal advantage of sending “friendly” reinforcements from South Korea, the news of Japan’s extreme treatment of the hunters is a matter of national pride.
Of course, the Japanese government is also in a hurry to boost its national pride, but this time it was different.
‘Fucking Kamiya…….’
The Japanese government was forced to swallow its pride due to the behavior of Mr. Kamiya, who was extremely reluctant to reduce the number of private soldiers.
It’s a good thing for Kamiya, who puts personal achievement ahead of the country, and it’s a good thing for Fujisawa, who is forced to bow to the outside world because of his internal struggles.
‘But it’s not a bad picture if you look at it as a win-win. The more hunters that come from Korea, the less damage the Japanese hunters will suffer.’
In the end, the All Japan Hunter Association influence would not diminish.
This was when Prime Minister Fujisawa decided to take President Ahn Dong-il’s call as political.
[For the record, this is not for any political purpose or part of a fight].
“What… are you talking about?”
He heard the sincerity in his voice. If an elderly politician said something like this, he would be accused of being naive, but for a moment, Fujisawa took President Ahn’s words as genuine.
[What I’m about to say is off the record.]
He meant, it shouldn’t have been said in public.
Of course, it could have been reported as “Disrespectful to the President of South Korea!” but since he was in a position to help, Prime Minister Fujisawa took it cautiously.
[Woohoo…….]
Catching his breath, President Ahn Dong-gil said.
[King Lionheart is a troublemaker.]
“What… Do you mean?”
[That’s exactly what I mean. I don’t want to worsen relations between Japan and South Korea by having an accident there! Armed conflict between the two countries? If an article like this appears, we’ll also be in trouble.]
Deteriorating relations between Japan and South Korea is one thing, but armed conflict? It sounds like there’s a madman who will destroy everything if he gets a bad reception from the hunter they’re sending.
“Is it that bad, that survivor from another world?”
[No, it’s not that bad, he’s just out of this world, he’s just a fucking maniac.]
Ahn Dong-il’s words were diplomatically difficult to translate, but the meaning was there.
[I want you to treat him as you would treat an Emperor, and I mean that.]
“Hmmm…….”
In short, it was a request to be treated like a state guest during a state visit. Prime Minister Fujisawa was no stranger to politicians.
He made the announcement as if the Korean hunters had been bought like mercenaries at a cost of 1 trillion yen, but he was accepting help.
It was no secret that survivor common sense was out of sync with modern Earth, so the prime minister decided to exercise caution.
The runway had been emptied before the South Korean plane arrived and a red carpet rolled out from the landing strip.
The Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), dressed in gold epaulets and white insignia, flanked the plane with Japanese and Korean flags.
At the end of the line are the representatives of the Korean Hunters, Chun Jin-soo, the head of the Divine Sword Guild, and Kang Jin-sung, the head of the Blue Star Guild, and the limousine that would carry Leon and Beatrice, who were like royalty.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Queen of England received the same… or even less… courtesy when she visited a few years ago.
“Prime Minister, an aircraft from the Korean Hunter Association has arrived!”
Soon after, the Korean aircraft arrived at Haneda Airport. The aircraft carrying the Guild Leaders and Vice Guild Leaders landed and the doors opened.
‘As they are the heads of private companies, there is no official order of protocol…….’
However, even S-class Hunters have their differences.
Even if it was the head of the Korean Association, Oh Kang-hyuk, who was a government official, he was usually followed by the head of the Divine Sword Guild, Chen Jin-soo, and the head of the Blue Star Guild, Kang Jin-sung.
And as expected, it was Oh Kang-hyuk who was the first to get off.
‘And then…….’
It was then. The next person to appear was an unexpected blond youth.
“It’s the Lionheart King!”
“Oh…!”
The reporters shone their spotlights and pointed their cameras at him. The next person to step forward was Leon, the guild leader of the TTG Guild.
He was followed by Beatrice, who wore the same otherworldly queen’s cotton robe.
“Will you hold this king’s hand?”
“Thank you.”
Leon took her hand as he would a lady stepping out of a carriage, and she oozed fairy tale romance, like a knight and a lady from a long ago tale.
“It’s bustling.”
“It’s royal protocol; are you not used to it, Your Majesty?”
“No. My caravan was always full of worshippers but that was two hundred years ago.”
The two walked down the red carpet to the familiar cheers of the audience. They were followed by the S-class hunters representing South Korea, but they were the obvious bridesmaids.
“…….”
Prime Minister Fujisawa was speechless for reasons unknown to the approaching duo.
He had met many heads of state during his political career.
From dictators of developing nations to the President of the United States, the representative of the free world, to European royalty where the royal family still existed.
Above all, he regularly hosts the symbolic royal family, the nominal descendants of the gods in his own country.
But there was an unmistakable “aura” about Leon and Beatrice.
Royalty? Authority as rulers?
No, no, it’s something beyond that.
It’s a sense of class distinction…a violent class distinction… that you don’t get from a dictator, or a president, or a descendant of a dynasty that has survived to the present day.
It’s not just another name for a class that modern royalty, politicians, and businessmen use to distinguish themselves from the common man.
‘Royalty. The pinnacle of class…….’
The raw difference of class. The way the real royalty, the ones with a clear class distinction, look at the commoners.
“Prime Minister!!”
The chief cabinet secretary behind him urgently called out to the dazed prime minister.
Finally, Prime Minister Fujisawa spotted Leon and Beatrice, who had arrived in front of him, and hastily bowed.
“I’m Masamichi Fujisawa, acting Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Japan. Greetings to His Majesty the Lionheart King and Her Majesty Queen Alighieri of Spero.”
The prime minister did not offer a handshake as he would with any other head of state. It is not customary for a commoner to offer to shake hands with an emperor or royalty.
He wondered if he should bow to the emperor or royalty.
However, this policy was strongly opposed by his secretaries.
The prime minister, as the country’s representative, shouldn’t bow to a foreign head of state.
But then Leon stuck out the back of his hand to the Prime Minister.
“……!”
“……!”
The meaning was clear to all onlookers.
Prime Minister Fujisawa was stumped. He didn’t know how this would be received at home.
[Prime Minister Fujisawa humiliated by Koreans.]
The Japanese, like the Koreans, wanted to be tough on Korea.
‘Damn, this reminds me of when the Thai royalty came.’
Still, it’s better than royalty demanding humiliating bowing. Prime Minister Fujisawa glanced at Beatrice, who was waiting behind Leon.
‘The picture isn’t that bad.’
Leon and Beatrice may have enemies in Korea, but they are otherworldly royalty.
Not royalty in the modern sense of the word, but royalty with real authority and power.
Rather, Prime Minister Fujisawa’s response would be interpreted as a polite gesture of respect for the other’s culture.
“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”
Prime Minister Fujisawa kissed the back of Leon’s hand, then the back of Beatrice’s.
Spotlights exploded around them. Judging by the reactions of the reporters, it’s not a bad reaction.
The reaction was rather enthusiastic, as the wind blew a cotton cloth and revealed the queen’s mantle.
‘Okay, as long as the meeting between His Majesty the Emperor and Chairman Kamiya goes well, it’ll be perfect.’
The king and queen of another world visiting Japan and meeting with the Emperor of Japan. It was quite a picture.
But there was something Prime Minister Fujisawa had overlooked.
First, the survivors of the Otherworld were given the privilege of interpreting.
“Are you the King of Japan?”
The words come through unfiltered in the meeting with the Emperor.
* * * *
Leon’s “Are You the King of Japan” debacle turned the archipelago upside down.
-Even if you’re a foreigner, if you come to Japan, you have to follow Japanese laws!
-This is a grave disrespect to Japan. We should protest to the Korean government immediately!
The Korean government was also embarrassed.
It was an embarrassing moment for the Korean government, as it was the first time a hardline politician had spoken out against Japan.
Although Oh Kang-hyuk, the president of the association, tried to correct him on the spot, Leon stubbornly refused to use the word “emperor” for the Japanese emperor.
“How can you claim to be the lord of the heavens in a human body? Even the Heavenly King of the Eastern Empire only called himself a celestial being.”
For Leon, the sky’s the realm of God. Even if it’s an airplane or going into space, there is a strict division between the realm of gods and humans.
It’s hard to convince Leon, who doesn’t want to ignore Japan, but rather thinks it’s “unacceptable” in a pure sense.
In the end, to solve this diplomatic problem, Oh Kang-hyuk, president of the Association, had no choice but to play the hand of cultural relativism.
“His Majesty is unfamiliar with Earth’s culture. On top of that, there’s the issue with the ‘interpreter’ for the survivors.”
The good news is that Leon is otherworldly royalty. Moderns were more tolerant of outsiders than they realized, and it worked out well.
-If he’s foreign, he might not know our culture…….
-He’s a survivor who appeared in Korea, so it’s kind of creepy…….
Nomenclature aside, Leon was pretty mean to Emperor Haruhito.
“A gift from this king. Please accept.”
Leon is quite generous with royalty. As he did with President Ahn Dong-gil, he did the Japanese emperor a favor.
“Did you like it?”
Beatrice nudged him, but he responded with a cold look.
“Aren’t they pitiful.”
“Pitiful?”
“Yes. After all, royalty are those who lead the country but they are the puppets of the common people.”
This was a complete rejection of constitutional monarchy.
Of course, Leon knows how this constitutional monarchy came to be, and that it is the natural political system on Earth.
But he was a pure-blooded nobleman who had been king for 300 years before he returned to Earth.
If he had been a puppet with no power, with his every move exposed to the media, he would have killed these lowlifes in an instant.
That was the definition of a king that Lionheart strived for.
“But I still don’t feel it.”
“What?”
“It is said that the clan of these men called kings are descended from gods of long ago. They claimed to be true and living gods until quite recently.”
Of course, he knew this was the same historical propaganda everywhere but Leon had his own expectations.
Maybe there really was a god on this planet, maybe the myths weren’t false after all… he thought.
“What was the result?”
“They are not gods. They are mere mortals.”
So there really are no gods in this land.
Leon swallowed back a bitter feeling.
* * * *
Chairman Kamiya welcomed the Korean Hunters to Japan.
“My name is Kamiya.”
“This is Oh Kang-hyuk, Chairman Kamiya.”
The official representatives of the two countries shook hands, and then the Hunters, each other’s mainstays, exchanged pleasantries.
Oh Kang-hyuk first introduced Chun Jin-soo, the representative hunter of Korea, while Kamiya introduced himself and Takeda, the S-class hunter representing Japan.
It was a kind of face-off between the two countries.
The question came next.
“Among the Hunters of your country, there is a man called the King of the Otherworld.”
“You mean His Majesty Lionheart.”
Oh Kang-hyuk was cautious about revealing Leon, worried that Japan might try to use him as a government tool.
Still, he couldn’t resist introducing Leon during the visit. President Oh Kang-hyuk turned to Leon, who was holding a champagne glass in the center of the banquet hall.
“Your Majesty, how are you enjoying the banquet?”
“Well, so-so.”
“I’ve told you before, I’m President Kamiya, head of the Hunter’s Association of Japan.”
President Kamiya stood in awe of the blonde young man in front of him.
‘He has an unbelievable presence.’
TTG Guild is arguably the largest guild in Korea.
However, the majority of its members are Class C Hunters. Considering that a single Class A Hunter could take on 50 Class C Hunters, TTG Guild only had more numbers.
But what about Leon in front of him?
On paper, he looks like he could have grown up in a noble family in Europe.
However, there’s a sense of old age in him that you don’t get from a child. He has a look in his eyes that tells you he’s looking down on you.
There’s a dignity about him that doesn’t make you doubt that he’s a king and a gaze that could even be described as arrogant.
His own strength is said to be beyond S-class and Chairman Kamiya didn’t doubt that assessment for a moment.
‘It’s a good thing that someone like this appeared in Korea.’
This is his kingdom. He doesn’t need foreigners like Leon so Kamiya held his tongue and offered Leon his hand to shake.
“My name is Kamiya.”
“…….”
Leon stared at Kamiya’s outstretched hand and said.
“How dare a commoner try to touch the jade body of royalty?”
Leon’s unfiltered words immediately reached President Kamiya and he frowned.
‘This is how they treat me in Japan.’
He is the unified head of the Hunters across Japan, an absolute power that not even the Prime Minister can control. In other words, he’s the king of Japan.
But such “petty power” is only a fleeting moment for Leon, who is the embodiment of classism.
If Kamiya had been a member of a governmental organization instead of a private one, he would have been treated no differently than the President of the Association, Oh Kang-hyuk.
To Leon, Kamiya was an ordinary scribe who didn’t even count as a foreign dignitary.
“You’re rude.”
When Leon refused to shake Mr. Kamiya’s hand, S-class Hunter Takeda behind him spoke up.
He was an S-class hunter, the right-hand man of the former president. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the most powerful man in Japan after Mr. Kamiya.
As he cranked up his magic power to point out Leon’s disrespect, air-altering magic waves surged through the banquet hall.
“Ugh…….”
The enormity of the magic wave was enough to surprise even the legendary Korean association president Oh Kang-hyuk.
‘Indeed, the man who is said to be the next strongest in Japan after Kamiya is not an ordinary person.’
But Oh felt strangely confident. He didn’t have the slightest thought that Leon would lose.
“You spoiled your dog, and that’s the responsibility of the dog’s owner.”
“……!”
Takeda’s brows narrowed at the unspeakable insult. But then… there was a knock on the chairman’s door.
“Chairman Kamiya…!”
The man, an employee of the All Japan Hunter Association, rushed over and whispered in his ear.
“It’s the Wandering Demon Sword──”
Chairman Kamiya’s eyes widened at that.
* * * *
In the vast ocean there was not a single fishing boat in sight, and an object that was clearly alien parted the sea.
It was a magic sword, the main body of the demon swordsman who caused the London massacre and bathed in the blood of countless hunters and citizens.
It cuts a straight line across the sea, carrying its host on its back.
“…….”
The sixth generation Demon Swordsman stood on the blade of the Demon Sword and stared out over the endless horizon.
It was then that the world warped in the path of the Demon Sword. Space split like a mirror, and a gate to a new dimension opened in this world.
The gate that appeared out of nowhere off the coast of Japan swallowed him whole.
A moment later──
-Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Countless monsters burst out of it and behind the monsters that poured out with the dungeon break, the Demon Swordsman muttered.
“A thousand…oxen…….”
