"Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia Melloi. It's a pleasure to meet you. You must've suffered so much to reach where you are without dying. Thank you for surviving."

"It's nice to meet you too... Senior Retadane."

"Hi."

Red eyes and red hair. Lee Shin-Woo had only seen one person with those features thus far: Pleine, the beauty from the Secret Shop. He was never going to say that to her face, of course, or she would give him an annoyingly pleased smile.

While the goddess had red hair as well, her eyes shone in the five cardinal colors, so he excluded her.

"Are you bothered by my hair?"

"That's..."

There was now another with those specific traits: Seira Von Retadane. She was so unbelievably beautiful that she almost didn't fit in with everyone else.

Her red eyes were clear of any confusion, and her pale pink lips were sealed shut, seemingly embodying her iron will. Contrary to her cold expression, her ardent, long red hair fluttered in the wind like it would ignite at any moment.

"My apologies, Senior. I was just wondering whether you got your red hair after becoming a priest."

"...I see. That's obviously not true."

"Oh, that’s not what happened?"

"No. My red eyes and hair are hereditary."

She had the face of a young girl, but she was voluptuous. He was concerned that the weight she was carrying would become a hindrance on the battlefield, but had to admit the contrast between her bust and narrow waist were striking.

The white priest robe she wore failed to conceal her figure. If he were to take a picture of her, others would say it was definitely photoshopped, or that she must be an alien since no human should have a bust that large and a waist that small. Yet here she was.

She must be a mutant. Lee Shin-Woo thought, a little in awe. I can understand how Shino Rendu fell in love with her at first sight. It doesn't matter to me, of course, but there's something else that bothers me...

While Lee Shin-Woo's sexual desire had evaporated, he could still recognize beauty. Nevertheless, the only thing he was worried about right now was keeping his guard up against her. He was sure the moment he met her that the girl was level 8. It wasn’t a surprise to him per se, but it was worth noting.

"I feel like you could take down one or two of the twelve generals by yourself, Senior," Lee Shin-Woo blurted out.

"I think so too. However, there's no guarantee what would happen afterwards. Because of that, I don't want to make any big swings yet. My goal isn't the twelve generals, but eradicating all undead in the Empire. Speaking of that, there's so much I want to say about Ethan Cruz, but..."

Seira Von Retadane replied seriously to Lee Shin-Woo’s casual remark. Her grave tone made Lee Shin-Woo thoughtful. She didn’t know about it, but Lee Shin-Woo had already killed two of the twelve generals.

Were his previous actions wrong? Of course not. Lee Shin-Woo had merely made the decision most advantageous to him at the time. When this was all over, he would have to move more carefully than before. Though it might've been too little too late.

"Hoo, let's get started after Yasunori Akira joins us. Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you, Senior."

"I’ve been meaning to tell you... I don't really like being referred to as 'senior'. Please just call me Retadane."

"Ah, ok."

As an undead, Lee Shin-Woo of course couldn't drink tea, but he could at least fake it. He would let it go down his ‘throat’ and evaporate it with fire.

"Please wait a little bit."

She took out various tools from her inventory to make tea. Lee Shin-Woo watched as she boiled water and came to the realization that she was indeed no ordinary hero, or she wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to steep tea leaves!

Moreover, tea leaves could not be procured in the Empire, which meant she got them from the Secret Shop... As was the case with wine, such an item of personal preference would be extraordinarily expensive.

"Here, please enjoy."

"Thank you. With pleasure."

Lee Shin-Woo was surprised when he picked up the tea cup. He didn't have a sense of taste, but for some unknown reason, he was able to smell the tea.

It was a fragrance so pleasant that it shocked him. His work led him to meet all kinds of people, so he had drunk a variety of different teas. This particular one was of such high quality that he would say without hesitation that it was the best he'd ever had.

"Smells nice, doesn’t it?"

"This tea didn't exist in my world. It's delicious."

"Hoo, you can appreciate good tea. It's my favorite amongst all the ones available on the surface. I think it's made with Kunoa Leaf and Korite Leaf, which are found in places with powerful fire and wind magic respectively..."

He didn’t expect her to continue the conversation! Lee Shin-Woo was shocked that the passive and calm woman would suddenly start talking about tea leaves and the water she used in depth.

At the same time, he couldn't help but see the resemblance between her and Pleine, who became a different person whenever he brought up wine...!

Curious, Lee Shin-Woo asked, "...Are you related to the shopkeeper by any chance?"

"No, that woman's the worst. That's quite rude of you to say."

"I-I'm sorry."

She cussed out Pleine! Now that he thought about it, Pleine had a lot of things to say about her as well. Moreover, she had the same red eyes and red hair...

A hypothesis took shape in his mind, but he knew it wasn’t something to bring up when he saw Retadane’s expression turn frigid instantaneously. Fortunately, the tension was shortly dispersed by Yasunori Akira’s arrival.

"I'm late. Sorry about that. I was moving so cautiously that the trip took a little long."

"That's fine. Would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, of course… Mm, the fragrance reminds me of my homeland."

"Hello, Senior."

"Hm? Ah, is that you, Lee Shin-Woo? That's surprising. You look a lot different than what I expected. I'm Yasunori Akira."

The man had black eyes and black hair like someone of the Asian ethnicities, but he didn’t seem Japanese despite what his name might suggest.

Then again, Ye Jin-Jin didn’t seem like a Chinese woman with her much taller frame and nigh-white skin. The same was true of Yasunori Akira. Perhaps they both came from a world similar but ultimately different from his own Earth.

"Thanks for the tea… Huh, you knew about this dungeon."

"It's a dungeon that I cleared by myself in the past. Some dungeons disappeared after they’re cleared, while others remained due to significant residual magic. This is the latter."

The three of them met up in a dungeon within the level 3 danger zone. Dungeons were normally filled with danger, but ironically, empty dungeons were the safest place heroes could be.

"Now that the Heaven Defying General has gone on a rampage...I might have to find a dungeon as a hideout too," said Yasunori.

Retadane hummed. "The Heaven Defying General... I wonder if he's connected with Ethan Cruz as well."

"He probably isn't. The Heaven Defying General isn't doing Ethan Cruz any favors in baiting the twelve generals and gathering the other heroes."

"That's true. That’s what alerted me to Ethan Cruz’s strange actions…” Retadane’s voice hardened. “Shall we begin talking in earnest? About what Ethan Cruz is plotting."

Yasunori nodded stiffly. Since they clearly wanted to protect their juniors and took their jobs as seniors seriously, Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t possibly tell them that he actually had his own corps, and that they could take care of Ethan Cruz while the corps kept the twelve generals busy.

I can't tell them my true identity, let alone the fact that I have an army of undead. Otherwise, things will go wrong fast.

Lee Shin-Woo sighed and decided to go with the flow. They started off with the Beast General, Jilun Pelta, and went on to the plans Ethan Cruz may or may not have, as well as any other unknown variables. They told the 'human hero Lee Shin-Woo' all this, thinking it safe to share the information with him.

"At first glance, this looks like a good place to fight the Beast General,” said Lee Shin-Woo. “But if there's a foe unhindered by the mountain range, there's a high chance that the heroes will be stabbed in the back."

"A foe that is unhindered by the environment... Lee Shin-Woo, do you have any guesses?"

"I don't know if it's one of the twelve generals or not, but I took down an undead riding a flying monster a little while ago."

"An undead riding a flying monster... Ha." Retadane gritted her teeth like things had suddenly clicked for her. "The Vulture General, Bureuche Von Golden Eagle...!"

Why would his title be the Vulture General if his family name was Golden Eagle!? Lee Shin-Woo anguished over the inconsistency, and Retadane gave them the answer unprompted.

"He's bald. The Emperor gave him the title because it would be funny. He doesn't like it very much. Amongst the twelve generals, he's probably the one who hates being called their title the most."

"I see..."

So that was the reason. He suddenly felt sympathetic and even fond of the Vulture General. When he asked Retadane why she had such detailed information on him...

"It probably worries you… Yasunori Akira, isn't it the same for you as well?"

"It does worry me, but I'd rather not force someone to talk when they clearly don't want to."

"It's alright. I feel like I'll work closely with you in the future, so I'll just tell you and move on. I'd rather not face Ethan Cruz's foolish taunt ever again..."

Lee Shin-Woo's ears perked up. Kratia tilted her head in question, having no idea what Retadane was talking about since she never entered the chatroom. Then Retadane dropped the bombshell.

"Seagald Von Retadane is my older brother."

"..."

"...?"

He knew that Seira Retadane was a descendant of the Retadane family, but he hadn't expected her to be Seagald's younger sister. Lee Shin-Woo remained silent at her unbelievable confession, and Yasunori was likewise quiet, struggling to process what she was saying. However, Kratia had no such problem and spoke up brashly.

"An old lady?"

"Hey!"

"It's alright. That fits my age… I’m one of the few citizens of the Empire that survived Sun Day, [1]. I am also the first hero picked by the goddess. At the time, I was only level 2..."

"Level 2..."

Lee Shin-Woo couldn't even begin to imagine what she had gone through to progress from level 2 to level 8. Moreover, she had to survive in the Empire with a living body!

If Retadane could tell what they were feeling, she didn’t show it with her unwavering calmness.

"But most importantly, I'm a hero. And my brother, Seagald Von Retadane, is now undead. I promise you that I won't hesitate when facing him. Eliminating all undead and purifying the Empire is not just the goddess’s will, but my own as well."

Retadane proclaimed firmly. It would be impossible to ask her about Anti-Skull. She likely knew what it represented, yet she still spoke of Seagald as an undead to be eliminated.

"Now then, let's get to our main topic. There's a high chance that the Vulture General, Bureuche Von Golden Eagle, will show up. There'll be enough forces to sow chaos amongst the heroes. I'll protect the heroes while you, Yasunori..."

Their war council continued for a few hours. It told Lee Shin-Woo how he should mobilize his army, so it was worth it.

Two days later, heroes participating in the assault against one of the twelve generals gathered in one place.

1. T/N: Day of the Sun or Sun Day. Not Sunday. ☜