“There is no meaning to it.”  

How could there be?  

“No meaning? But then, what do you mean by…”  

“Anyway, good work. Go back in.”  

“…Understood.”  

She went back into my shadow, panting.  

“…Huh.”  

Min-jae hyung was watching that scene with a perplexed expression.  

“You saw that?”  

“I saw it, but I have no idea what you meant by that.”  

“She has pledged her absolute obedience and loyalty to me. At first I thought she might only feign submission, but the system has recognized her as a being bound to me.”  

I didn’t know whether this system was good or evil, or what its true nature was.  

But one thing is certain.  

“The system does not lie…”  

Min-jae hyung nodded his head solemnly.  

And this is not just a story of having acquired a useful subordinate.  

“Hyung. Being completely subordinate to someone… I think it’s a form of punishment as severe as death.”  

Did I forgive the ones who killed my unit members?  

What nonsense.  

“I’ve used cooking to subdue many people, but even they weren’t as completely bound as this one. She’s in a state where if I tell her to die, she’ll have no choice but to do so.”  

“So that in itself is the punishment, is that it?”  

“Yes. I’m getting my revenge properly. Separately from that, we have to use any means necessary to survive.”  

“…Sigh.”  

I thought this would be convincing enough,  

“If that’s your view, then so be it.”  

“Your response doesn’t sound very assured.”  

“…But I still don’t quite understand.”  

Min-jae hyung still doesn’t seem very satisfied.  

“Still, I won’t interfere further in this matter.”  

“?”  

“I think your perspective is right… and above all, you’re the captain, after all.”  

Yet, it seemed he ultimately decided to respect my decision.  

“I’m sorry for saying unnecessary things. Like I said, I respect your choice. I was the one who nominated you as captain, after all.”  

With that apology, Min-jae hyung left to attend to other duties.  

Watching his retreating back, I thought,  

‘I’m sorry to Min-jae hyung, but this is an asset I absolutely cannot give up.’  

I only told him that it’s just a useful asset.  

But in reality,  

It has far more uses than that.  

Just like that thug who said earlier,  

In the society that has formed with people gathering,  

Where there is light, there is bound to be darkness as well.  

That man seemed to have tried to exploit that darkness for his own gain.  

But in a different sense, our unit cannot avoid involvement in the darkness either.  

In order to maintain this society.  

Perhaps there will be times when we have to do dirty work.  

‘I don’t want to assign that kind of task to the other members.’  

There is no asset more suitable for that dirty work, other than Ariella and her servants.  

The woman who was completely bound to me and in a sense was my royal guard.  

Not only routine tasks and escort duties,  

But she can also carry out missions that cannot be spoken of to others.  

For example, assassinations.  

Things like that.  

Min-jae hyung would likely object to such matters,  

But if it benefits our unit, I have no intention of hesitating.  

It was important to secure an asset that could carry out such tasks while ignoring any objections.  

“Master.”  

At that moment,  

Ariella, whom I thought was resting in the shadows, spoke up.  

“If the recent incident bothers you, just ignore it. As I said, it was an act without much meaning.”  

“No. I was simply following your orders. I have no thoughts about it.”  

“Really?”  

“…After all, even if the master uses the tool as a toy, the tool cannot complain, can it?”  

Looks like she was quite hurt.  

“But I feel I should report on the task you assigned.”  

“Report?”  

“The servant I sent out on the reconnaissance mission have finally returned.”  

“…Finally!”  

I was aware of the mission she mentioned.  

It was a task I had given her some time back,  

We had succeeded in conquering the Inje-gun.  

We’ve finally gained a bit of breathing room.  

While it’s important to continue reducing the monsters within Inje-gun,  

If we want to build up our forces,  

We’ll ultimately need to expand into other regions.  

And.  

Deciding the direction of that expansion was up to us.  

In that case,  

‘If we expand in the direction of my hometown… where my family is.’  

Until now, I’ve been desperately trying to forget,  

But I, and the unit members, are still human.  

Worrying about the safety of our families is unavoidable.  

The boss monster we encountered in the dungeon that we had infiltrated, the Swarm Mother.  

Seeing it treat me as its child, I couldn’t help but think of my own parents.  

Therefore,  

After the conquest of Inje County was completed, the first thing I thought of was that area.  

‘Most of the unit members are from Seoul or Gyeonggi-do, so it won’t be difficult to gain their support.’  

If we advance downwards while receiving their support,  

It may not be long before I can confirm the well-being of my parents.  

With that in mind,  

I had sent Ariella’s servant out on a mission.  

Her vampire servants were essentially just consumables to me.  

They may be weakened in sunlight, but it’s not difficult to just move at night.  

And with [Mist Form], it’s not hard for them to escape most crises.  

The fact that those reconnaissance troops have returned,  

But then,  

“Master.”  

“Ah, yes, quickly, report the results-.”  

“As hard as it is to believe, I find you somewhat pleasing, Master.”  

“???”  

What’s this sudden talk about?  

“Us nobles of the night do appreciate beauty, you see. Your face… might not entirely suit my tastes, but it’s somewhat within my preferences. While becoming a vassal was horrifyingly unpleasant, thinking that the thoughts dominating my mind are gone, even meaningless acts like earlier are bearable.”  

“Your preamble is long. What are you trying to say?”  

“I wouldn’t want to upset you with bad news, so please don’t take it out on me, that’s all I wanted to say.”  

“…?”  

A hand emerged from the shadows, holding a map.  

Upon unfolding and examining the map,  

“What is this line?”  

There was a thick black marker line drawn across the map, following the border of Gangwon-do.  

I wondered what it could mean,  

“It’s a wall.”  

“What?”  

“There’s a wall built along that line. An impassable, tall wall.”  

What the hell is this nonsense?