CFZ

“Star King!”
“Star King!! Please look over here just once!!”

“Kyaa! He really looked! His gaze is terrifying!”
“…”
The piercing voices and chaotic noise combined, making my head ache.

“Star King!!”
“Star King--!! Please shake my hand just once!”
I was completely surrounded by people. They pressed in, radiating heat, cheering endlessly.
The intensity of their excitement was almost overwhelming.

“Star King--!!”
“No, no. I need to get through, so could you please step aside….”
“Our hero!”

“Damn it.”
Though no one was physically touching me, the crowd was so dense I couldn’t move forward.
At this rate, who knows how long it’ll take to get to the Alliance.

Should I push through with force, knock them aside, or just leap over them? The thought crossed my mind briefly.
“Star King…!! Thank you so much back then!”
“Thanks to you, I was able to save my mother…! I’m truly, truly grateful….”

“…”
Seeing the people approach me with gratitude, I couldn’t bring myself to ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) move my hands easily.
‘Tch.’

What should I do? Just as I was about to deeply ponder the situation—
“Star King Oppa!”
Oppa…?
Caught off guard by the unexpected title, I turned my gaze slightly. Nearby, a young girl was waving her hand.

She was sitting on what looked like her father’s shoulders.
“Hi, Oppa!”
“You brat…! How can you speak so rudely to the Star King…!”

The father panicked at the girl’s words and tried to stop her, but the child just smiled brightly, showing the carefree innocence of her age.
Who was this?
Ah, I remembered.

It was the father and daughter I saved while passing by.
They’d left an impression.
Recalling the moment, I smirked and spoke.
“Hey, are you listening to your dad?”

“Yes!”
“Good. Keep listening to him from now on.”
I never listened to mine, though.

Since they were close, I reached out and gently patted the small head a few times.
How strange.
‘A kid who doesn’t cry when looking at me actually exists.’

Usually, children burst into tears the moment they made eye contact with me. But this one didn’t.
She stayed still, calmly accepting my touch, reminding me of someone.
It was like looking at a younger version of Wi Seol-ah.

‘Though she’s even younger than Seol-ah was back then….’
Not caring much, I patted her a few more times. Then, the father addressed me.
“Thank you so much, Star King.”

“Uh… yeah….”
I smiled awkwardly. That damn title still didn’t sit well with me.
And it probably never would.

Neither ‘True Dragon’ nor ‘So Yeomra’ ever did, either.
“…Thank you. If not for you, my daughter and I….”
“It’s fine. I was just passing by.”

I had to spread my Qi to control the chaos back then.
As I mentioned before, it wasn’t about saving anyone. It was just cleaning up the mess I caused.
“No, that’s not it. Not only did you save us, but you even remember us.”

Hearing his words, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Remembering isn’t that hard.”
While speaking, I pointed at someone with my hand.
It was an elderly man covered in wrinkles.

“That old man over there used to run an apothecary, right?”
“Uh…? Oh, y-yes… That’s right.”
Surprised, the old man pointed at himself and answered.

Hearing his reply, I pointed to someone else.
“And over there—wasn’t that woman from the store under the merchant guild? And the man next to her worked at the Forge of Wind, right? And….”
One by one, I listed off the people I recognized.

“That elderly man over there….”
Mid-sentence, I froze. Something about the atmosphere felt strange.
“…What’s with those looks?”

Why were they all staring at me like that?
“…You… remembered everyone.”
Their faces looked deeply moved.
Seeing that, I started to sweat nervously.

What’s wrong with these people?
‘I remember them because I saw them, that’s all.’
It wasn’t like I memorized every detail—just picked out the ones I recalled. Was that really worth such a reaction?

“…As expected… the Star King…”
One of them looked ready to say more, but I immediately waved my hand to stop them.
“Enough already! You all seem fine, so clear the way. I need to go….”

“You’re our hope…!”
“Star King…!!”
“Damn it, seriously.”

It didn’t look like this was going to end anytime soon.
In the end, I had to use a bit of internal energy to slip away.
‘I’m not even feeling well.’

Tch! Clicking my tongue briefly, I was about to leap away when—
“Make way—!”
Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind.

“Make way for us!”
Everyone turned to look.
“Ugh!”

As if pushed by an invisible force, the crowd began to scatter.
Through the forced opening, a group appeared.
Sky-blue uniforms with white embroidery—clearly members of the Martial Alliance.

Normally, their presence would make people step back or show admiration.
“…It’s the Alliance?”
“They’re from the Martial Alliance.”

However, the expressions of those making way were far from welcoming.
Some were resentful, others contemptuous, and only a few still seemed impressed.
Noticing this, I tilted my head.

‘They’re in worse shape than I thought.’
I expected some distrust, but it was far more severe than anticipated.
The Alliance members seemed to notice, too, frowning as they shouted.

“This area is scheduled for restoration. Civilians are prohibited from entering! What are you all doing here?!”
Looking around, I realized it was indeed a mess.
I’d rushed here, so I didn’t notice earlier—but collapsed buildings and debris were everywhere.

Still, gathering such a large crowd around me seemed unusual.
Why were there so many people?
Just as doubt crept in, someone shouted back at the martial artist.

“Does the Alliance own all of Hanam?!”
“…What?”
The martial artist frowned, as if offended by the audacity.

But others joined in.
“What did you even do to block off the roads?”
“That’s right! We’ll fix the area ourselves. You won’t help anyway, so just leave us alone!”

Hearing them, I understood.
‘They’re trying to restore the area themselves?’
How did they plan to clean up this mess?

I wasn’t sure, but one thing was clear—
‘Trust in the Alliance has plummeted.’
Due to recent events, the people of Hanam seemed to have completely lost faith in them.

“You…!”
The martial artist started to raise his voice in anger.
“What’s your business here?”

I cut him off.
“What the hell do you—”
He turned sharply toward me, only to fall silent when our eyes met.

He clearly knew who I was.
Which meant—
“Judging by your behavior, you must be looking for me, right?”

Tilting my head, I asked.
The martial artist cautiously stepped closer through the path cleared by the crowd.
Even as he approached, the crowd’s eyes bore into him with hostility.

When he finally stood before me, he bowed slightly and spoke.
“…I am Gi Mun-seok, vice-captain of the Azure Dragon Unit and one of the Seven Seats. I greet the Star King.”
He bowed deeply.

Though I could sense his irritation, his formality was impeccable.
Looking down at his bowed head, I responded.
“All right.”

“…!”
Gi Mun-seok snapped his head up, clearly startled by my response.
His eyes were full of disbelief. Seeing that, I gave him a grin.

“I’m joking. Just joking. You looked so stiff that I thought I’d lighten the mood. Sorry if it offended you.”
“…N-no….”
It was obvious that he was annoyed, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything and just lowered his head.

Watching him, I mulled over his name for a moment.
‘Gi Mun-seok, huh.’
Where had I heard that name before?

I tried to recall, but nothing came to mind immediately.
Anyway—
“What’s your business with me?”

I looked at Gi Mun-seok and asked. Only then did he raise his head.
“We’ve come to escort you.”
“Me?”

“Yes…. We sent a prior notice, but perhaps you didn’t receive it?”
“Hmm?”
I took out the letter from my robe and opened it again to check.

“Oh, you’re right.”
It was written clearly.
They’d informed me they would come to escort me around this time.

And I didn’t even notice.
‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have rushed out.’
Everything had been so urgent that I just rushed over. Turns out, it wasn’t necessary.

‘It did feel strange.’
The Alliance had summoned me, but asking me to show up on foot felt a bit off.
‘Given they even gave me a title, treating me like crap would’ve fit. I thought they were trying to mess with me.’

But it seemed they were making some effort after all.
Which only made it more disappointing.
‘There goes one excuse to flip the table.’

I thought about twisting the situation to start something, but unfortunately, the Alliance was incompetent—not completely reckless.
“…Star King, we’ll handle the arrangements for your trip to the Alliance.”
“Hmm.”

I hesitated briefly before nodding.
Honestly, there wasn’t much to think about.
I had to go anyway, and having them escort me was more convenient.

In fact, this was better.
I’d been wondering how to get out of here without causing a fuss.
“Fine. Let’s go.”

When I said I was leaving, I sensed disappointment from the crowd.
I had no idea why they were so reluctant to let me go, but there was nothing I could do about it.
After all, the reason I was heading to the Alliance was simple.

They’d sent an official investigation request regarding the recent attack.

   ******************
   
With the Azure Dragon Unit leading the way, I arrived at the Alliance.

The interior of the Alliance hadn’t changed much since my last visit, but the atmosphere felt completely different.
It was inevitable.
An attack had occurred, and they failed to respond properly. On top of that, public sentiment wasn’t great right now.

The property damage may have been minimal, but fundamentally, the Alliance had suffered the most damage.
Creak.
The chair slid back slightly.

“Please, have a seat.”
I sat down without hesitation at the man’s suggestion.
I was inside the Alliance—

More specifically, the same interrogation room I’d been in before.
The only difference this time was the treatment.
It might have been called an interrogation room, but there was tea and expensive-looking snacks on the table.

They even lit lamps to brighten the room, so calling it a guest reception room wouldn’t have been far off.
“…The Commander will arrive shortly.”
Hearing Gi Mun-seok’s words, I grabbed a piece of yakgwa and popped it into my mouth.

“You dragged me here early in the morning and now you’re making me wait? Funny.”
“...”
“I don’t like pointless power plays. This feels childish. Ah, that’s a joke too.”

It was clear to anyone that it wasn’t a joke.
Gi Mun-seok swallowed dryly, looking nervous.
I thought about pushing him further, but—

Creak—!
The door opened, and someone entered.
I recognized him immediately.

‘Ilcheong Sword.’
In my past life, he had been Jang Seon-yeon’s right-hand man.
The Azure Dragon Commander, Jang Seong-myung.

It was him.
“Good to see you.”
He sat down without saying much. Resting my chin on my hand, I spoke.

“You’re late.”
“Yes, I had another meeting earlier.”
Jang Seong-myung didn’t make eye contact, focusing instead on organizing the papers in front of him.

I watched him quietly before speaking.
“Then you should start with an apology.”
“...”

His hand froze.
“It’s rude not to apologize when you’re late, don’t you think?”
I smiled, continuing to poke at him, and saw his eyes narrow.

I was curious about his response.
“…I apologize for keeping you waiting.”
“...”

Jang Seong-myung didn’t take the bait.
That was disappointing.
I briefly considered pushing him further, but—

“So, why did you call me here?”
I decided to cut to the chase.
Stalling here wouldn’t do me any good.

“Did you read the reason stated in the summons?”
“I read it. It said to come in for questioning.”
“…It’s less of an interrogation and more of a clarification—”

“Clarification is just a fancy word for questioning. You want to confirm whether I was involved in the incident or not, right?”
No matter how much they sugarcoated it, that was the bottom line.
Several days had passed since the attack.

The Alliance’s first action was to summon and question anyone who had fought—be it against the assailants or the beasts.
Their excuse was to clarify the details, but anyone could see it was just interrogation based on suspicion.
“I bust my ass saving people, and now I get to be interrogated? How delightful.”

“…Once again, it’s not—”
“Enough already. Let’s get this over with. I’m hungry and want to eat.”
Clench.

Jang Seong-myung’s hand tightened around the paper.
He looked like he was suppressing his anger. But still, he didn’t lash out.
“…Very well, since that’s what the Star King wishes. Let’s get started.”

I wondered how many times he’d sighed internally by now.
At that moment—
“There’s something I need to ask you, Star King.”

“Yes?”
“The Alliance is planning to create a new division.”
“…Huh?”

I frowned at the unexpected statement.
“Out of nowhere?”
“I thought it’d be best to bring this up before the questioning.”

“…A new division?”
“Yes. And before we finalize it, we’d like to offer you the position of commander—”
“No.”

“…Excuse me?”
I cut him off before he could finish.
“I said no.”

It was an immediate rejection.