The next day, Amon, introduced by Kyuwon, a director of the Chumon Group, headed to a certain location.
Vroooom! Vroom!
As soon as the door opened, the sound of wind being sliced filled the air.
Warriors dressed in black training uniforms with trackers attached to them were relentlessly swinging their swords.
Despite wielding swords in front of cameras with those ridiculous trackers stuck to their bodies, the warriors showed not the slightest bit of embarrassment and continued their movements.
The recorded footage, along with a few variations, would be stored as data and processed for use in training mass-produced swordsmen.
As Amon silently observed their movements, a young man, also clad in black, approached him.
“How do you find it, Amon? Have you given any thought to my proposal?”
Amon glanced at the young man for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the warriors being recorded.
“Indeed, your proposal is intriguing, Gimin. Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Then—!”
“But I will only demonstrate my throwing techniques.”
“Of course!”
Gimin’s eyes gleamed as he eagerly stepped closer to Amon.
His full name was Park Gimin.
He was the son of Park Kyuwon.
In Amon’s assessment, Gimin was an exhausting person in many ways.
Passionate, in a good way.
Loud, in a bad way.
His voice was so thunderous that interacting with him felt like having one’s mental strength drained in real time.
“Amon! I’ll set everything up for you right away!”
Amon recoiled, overwhelmed by Gimin’s enthusiasm.
‘Haah… How did I end up entangled with someone like this…’
Of course, someone like Amon, who didn’t discriminate between people, wouldn’t normally be fazed by a single hot-blooded individual.
If he were in his usual state of mind, he would have no problem dealing with someone like Gimin.
In other words, he was currently not in his usual state of mind.
‘Ugh, my stomach hurts.’
‘And the reason for his distress?’
It was because of the person Gimin had brought along.
‘Why is the prince here!!!’
When Gimin mentioned bringing along a younger acquaintance, Amon hadn’t thought much of it.
But when Seonu returned from the café with an iced Americano—the soul drink of Joseon—and suddenly slammed his forehead to the ground, Amon immediately sensed that the situation had gone south.
And when he realized that this “younger acquaintance” was, in fact, the youngest prince, his hand instinctively reached for the back of his neck.
“Gimin.”
“Yes! What is it?”
“Um… why is His Highness here?”
“His mother’s family is from our clan! He’s my cousin.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
The pressure on Amon’s neck doubled.
Rather than blaming Gimin, he directed his frustration toward Seonu for not warning him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know either.”
“Even your country’s queen doesn’t know?”
At Amon’s question, Seonu made a gesture as if telling him to listen closely.
“Not the queen, the concubine.”
“Ah.”
Of course, in Joseon, the official queen and the concubines were considered almost equal in status.
But that didn’t mean it was okay to confuse them.
Even someone like Amon, who didn’t know much about Joseon, understood this basic fact, so he quickly corrected himself.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Hurriedly, Amon bowed his head to the royal present in the room.
It was an apology for unintentionally mistaking his mother’s status.
Fortunately, the youngest prince, unlike the arrogant third-generation chaebols Amon knew, was inherently kind.
“No need to apologize! It matters not to me. They are both my dear mothers, so it makes no difference!”
For a brief moment, Amon barely restrained himself from saying, ‘Must be nice having two mothers.’
Suppressing his urge to make a snide remark, Amon continued speaking.
“Your Highness, this place is dangerous. Please stay with my companion.”
With that, Amon handed off the prince—this ticking time bomb—to the squinty-eyed priest.
As the priest’s eyes widened in disbelief, he shot a glare filled with curses at Amon, but Amon pretended not to notice.
In any case, what was done was done.
Now free of the royal burden, Amon finally focused on the purpose of his visit.
Sliding his fingers into the rings of the throwing blades, he prepared for his demonstration.
Gimin, eyes sparkling with excitement, approached once more.
“For generations, my clan’s greatest wish has been to contribute to the creation of a martial art that will go down in history. Thanks to you, Amon, that dream is finally coming true!”
Amon, his head throbbing from Gimin’s booming voice, silently focused on his throwing technique.
And then, he threw.
The motion was instantly captured by the tracker, converted into a model, and analyzed by experts.
The results came immediately.
“We’ve got the data. Adjust the wrist position like this…”
A warrior, having absorbed the model into his training, immediately attempted to replicate Amon’s throw.
Something about it felt as if years of their efforts had just been effortlessly copied.
But Amon didn’t really mind.
After all…
“How did you make it curve midair?”
The warriors could only throw in straight lines—and even then, at a slightly slower speed.
In other words, they were merely a degraded version of Amon’s technique.
Far from invalidating his efforts, this only reaffirmed his superiority.
No matter how advanced science became, it couldn’t completely take away what was his.
After a few more throws, Amon concluded the recording.
“The rest… I’ll finish it up after my current task is done.”
Of course, a martial art couldn’t be created in a single day.
What they had done today was merely the foundation of the basics—the theory behind the throwing technique.
Amon wanted nothing more than to perfect his swordsmanship, but he still had unfinished business in Joseon.
***
Hunt Legion.
With only two days remaining, he needed to manage his condition.
So today, he decided to focus only on organizing the basics of throwing techniques, leaving the rest to be completed after Legion was over.
‘The company has been analyzing throwing techniques in various ways, anyway.’
Satisfied, Amon returned to his group.
But when he arrived, he couldn’t help but be taken aback once again.
‘Uh, why is that guy practically dripping honey from his eyes?’
Among Amon’s companions were the three hacker siblings.
And the prince’s gaze toward the younger sister, Levi, was anything but ordinary.
‘What? Has he never seen a Westerner before?’
But that didn’t seem to be the case—he showed no interest in Sonia or Cassie.
It just so happened that Levi was exactly his type.
And even Levi didn’t seem particularly against it.
Amon observed their interaction with interest before turning away.
‘Hmm… well, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.’
It was a bit confusing at first, but after thinking about it, he realized it wasn’t much of an issue.
After all, this was the youngest prince.
Not even the son of the queen, but of a concubine.
His place in the line of succession was dead last—’who cared who he dated?’
‘Even if, by some miracle, they ended up getting married, it still wouldn’t be a big deal. It might stir up a bit of controversy, but it wasn’t something Amon needed to meddle in.’
‘Well, if it really comes to that, at the very least, I’ll make sure it doesn’t turn into some kind of ridiculous drama.’
If Levi ever had to face the kind of in-law opposition you’d see in a classic Korean morning drama, Amon was more than ready to roll up his sleeves and step in.
‘Have a beautiful love story.’
With that thought, Amon silently cheered for the prince and turned back to his own lovers.
Sonia and Cassie, seemingly thinking the same thing, smiled warmly and clung to his arms.
Then Sonia whispered, “Doesn’t this remind you of the old days?”
Amon nodded slightly, recalling their time at the orphanage.
Cassie puffed out her cheeks and leaned against his shoulder.
“Are you leaving me out?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“It’s fine. But in return, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“How many do you think we should have?”
“…The kids are cute.”
Amon deliberately avoided answering.
***
Two days passed.
Finally, the day arrived.
The day when all kinds of ghosts would pour out, forming an army and marching forward.
Exorcists, shamans, and paladins from all over the world had gathered at Mount Geumgang.
Expecting a scene straight out of Halloween, Amon and his companions also made their way to Gangwon Province.
“Why Mount Geumgang, of all places, Father?”
“Don’t ask me—ask the ghosts.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll just make a confession and blast everything away.”
“You know you can’t do that, right?”
“Of course.”
No matter how much divine power Amon had, using his abilities recklessly in an unpredictable situation wasn’t wise.
Of course, there was another reason.
“The harder you work, the more work you get. If you overdo it and stand out too much, you’ll just end up with more responsibilities.”
“…Is that really something an exorcist should say?”
“That’s just how the world works. If you can resolve things smoothly and effortlessly, that’s the best outcome for everyone.”
“…Right.”
Keeping the priest’s strangely jaded advice in mind, Amon prepared to defend their assigned area.
Amon checked his swords.
Sonia inspected the blessed ammunition.
Cassie examined the spear she had ‘borrowed’—no, stolen—from the Vatican.
The priest readied salt, holy water, and sacred relics.
Meanwhile, the only one unfamiliar with fighting spirits, Ju Sunhwa, stood blankly, repeatedly polishing her sword out of habit.
As they were making final preparations for Legion, Amon spotted a familiar face.
Someone he had no desire to see—someone who shouldn’t even be here.
‘Them.’
Sighing, Amon patted Sunhwa’s shoulder as she absentmindedly oiled her sword.
“Sunhwa, look over there.”
Following his gaze, she spotted Seonu, wearing his black hat low, standing among the assassins of the sword clan.
The moment she saw her younger brother, Sunhwa immediately stood up, looking as if she was about to rush toward him.
But Amon stopped her.
“Calm down and look beside him.”
Only then did Sunhwa regain her composure and focus on the person standing next to Seonu.
And then, as if she had finally noticed ‘the boy,’ her eyes widened in shock.
“Why is Prince Ihyeon here…?”
Amon had the same question.
‘It was strange enough that the sword clan had been summoned to a place overrun with ghosts, but why had the youngest prince been brought along?’
‘And why was the sword clan acting as his guards?’
Everything about this situation was a mystery.
Just then, the priest urgently called out to Amon.
“Amon! What did you do this time?!”
“I’m innocent.”
“…What?”
“I’m saying, whatever you’re about to accuse me of—I swear, I didn’t do it this time.”
And he really meant it.
Amon had absolutely nothing to do with this.
‘There’s no way the prince came all the way here just to impress Levi, right?’
If the youngest prince was truly that much of a romantic fool, then the Joseon royal family was doomed.
But the priest had something entirely different in mind.
“Judging by your reaction, you really don’t know. Well, brace yourself—this is going to be a shock.”
“I’m already shocked enough.”
“The one leading this defensive line is none other than the Crown Prince himself.”
“…What?”
Something—something big was happening.