Yugoslav

In the city called Yugoslav, you can see merchants, dealers and carriages. It is a merchant city after all. Goods were traded and the same with valuable information. Within this thriving city located the Hunter Association. Nothing much to say about their headquarters other than it is just a typical guild hall you anywhere else in this world.

Walking through the door were Rose and Leon. Their arrival was greeted by an old man.

"Welcome back Rose and you as well."

"Good to be back, old man." Leon was annoyed by the ignorance of the old man.

"I want to ask about the latest target."

Rose cut to the chase. She wanted to know why James is being hunted. For her, James was the one who can help her revenge.

"Which one are you referring to?"

"She wants to know about the Black Priest, old man."

Leon butted in. Rose nodded her head. The old man brushed his long beard.

"It was a request from the king. It is an odd request but we are only concern about the money and he is able to provide the money to recruit us for the job."

"Do you think we can hunt down this target?"

Leon smirked as he asked the question.

"Are you sure that you are not disturbing a sleeping time bomb that could end our life?"

"Our association has existed for decades and I am proud to say that no existence has yet able to threaten our organization albeit we only have one currently."

"Make it two, old man."

The old man raised his eyebrows.

"Having our ranked hunter to say such a thing, you have piqued my interest. I would say you must have met him and the fact that you did not bring back his head shows that you are unable to defeat him."

"Absolutely correct."

"Grandmaster, may I request to overlook the bounty and ask him to join our cause."

Rose stepped forward and said her thoughts.

"If it is lovely Rose's request, I would make sure to do it if it is within my power."

Rose's face light up.

"But…"

And Rose's excitement died away immediately.

"Our client, the King is not someone we can mess with easily. Leon, just now you said that we should have 2 people to watch out. I think we should make it 3 now."

"So the King is another trouble. Then this makes his conquest of the world more credible. No weak man can achieve such a feat," commented Leon

"The King did not make a request. He actually demanded us to hunt the Black Priest down. Failure to do so will mean the end of our organization. But if we succeed, we get the cash prize."

"What a sorry state we are in right now, old man. All the more reason to recruit this Black Priest guy into our ranks. First, we will use him to get rid of that annoying Demon Lord and second…I don't know what to do about our second step."

"And how are we going to recruit our target to join their pursuers. Do you think he will obediently join us without asking for unfavorable conditions?"

"He is not that type of guy. If you can help him kill demon lords, he would be happy to do anything."

"You speak as if you know the target well, Leon."

"That's because we do know him. We have spent quite some time together, isn't that right, Rose?"

Rose nodded her head.

"But along the way, we met some trouble and now we have lost contact with him. I wonder where is he now."

"I believe we can recruit him into our ranks but we have to make sure it is done in secrecy. We can't let the King know about our decision or else we will be killed. His power is not something we can simply mess around. First, we will cooperate to eliminate the demon lord and if he is as powerful as you claim him to be, then I don't think us hunting him down, later on, will be a problem for him. Of course, we will make sure to not disturb him as a condition for helping us. We just put up an act that we are hunting him down and we can give him one of our artifacts as well just so that the King has no reason to accuse us of not doing our job. I can see it works."

"You mean the Robe that is given to the top three hunters. The robe that can hide away one's presence to prevent detection?"

"Yes, that. After the elimination of the demon lord, I don't see a reason why we need those items anyway. We can spare a few and give it to the Black Priest as a token of appreciation for his help."

Leon let out a sigh.

"If only he is with us right now. I wonder where is he right now?"

Rose was happy about the Grandmaster's decision. But at the back of her mind, she remembered the encounter with the imposter James. Knowing him, she knows that he probably planning some scheme behind everyone's back. One thing she knows for sure is that if everything is going too well, it is time to be on guard because that's when he will always strike and land a devastating blow. Furthermore, she can't directly speak out about his presence due to her soul being bound to him. The moment she speaks about him, he will immediately be notified and a disaster will happen. The only person who can call his name is only himself and no other people. Other people must always refer to him as Lord or Master or the Great One. He is truly the embodiment of Pride.