I Became the Guild Leader in Exile

44 – #8 Alice’s Filth (8)

Isaac intended to deal with the remaining filth as well. However, he couldn’t clean up any further. There were too many individuals harboring resentment towards them.

In the end, Isaac handed them over to the rebels. It seemed fitting for them to be executed by their hands rather than his own. That marked the end of Alice’s rebellion.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely uprooted. Some privileged individuals, sensing defeat, had abandoned Alice long before and fled. Pursuit teams were naturally formed, but capturing those who had escaped via teleportation was nearly impossible. Phileas sighed. If the plan had been clearer from the beginning, they could have captured them all.

“No, that’s too much hindsight.”

Phileas had predicted the failure of the rebellion from the start, and the prediction was close to accurate. It just got twisted due to the intervention of the powerful Iron Shield.

When the ruler Aus, who had ousted the reigning monarch, was executed, technicians and judges who had been holding their breaths began to voice their opinions. The pent-up frustration had erupted.

It took two weeks just to stabilize the situation. Fortunately, things were somewhat under control now. However, there was still a lot to be done in the future.

“The power vacuum in the Diamond ruling class, accommodating the grievances of the Bronze who have endured so far, among other things. There’s a lot to be done.”

“Wearing the crown carries that meaning, I suppose.”

“Master.”

Isaac, who had been holed up in the office, surrounded by documents, came in carrying a bowl of food after finishing his lunch. Phileas clicked his tongue.

“You’re not skipping meals even in a situation like this?”

“You shouldn’t skip even more in a situation like this.”

“I can’t take it. Seriously.”

“Enough, just eat.”

In the bowl Isaac handed over, there was warm chicken soup and vegetables—a humble meal for a king. Ironically, it was Phileas’s favorite.

“…I don’t like vegetables.”

“Eat it all. It’s good for your health.”

“Sounding like a dad.”

He thought it was nagging, but for some reason, it didn’t feel annoying. Instead, it felt warm, as if there was warmth in every word. Before he knew it, tears welled up in his eyes.

Looking back, twenty years was an incredibly long time. Initially, he wanted revenge. He wanted to make those who betrayed and murdered his brother pay.

But life was not that simple.

Retribution was a story from fairytales.

In the end, in a world where only the strong determined justice.

Perhaps, he had given up.

In a world driven by efficiency and self-interest, Phileas confronted the harsh reality that his desire for revenge was, in fact, impossible. The dominators of Elise were formidable opponents—Gideon, the judiciary, and even other kingdoms could be set in motion. They were entities that could be considered the world itself. Facing such beings, Phileas’s strength seemed utterly feeble.

“If this were a dream, I wish I could wake up soon.”

He had relinquished everything, living day by day like a wanderer. Everyone had given up on him, but only one person, just one, never gave up and had followed him this far.

“Cry to your heart’s content. There’s much to do afterward.”

However, in Isaac’s voice that neither affirmed nor denied, Phileas finally realized the harsh truth that this was reality. Isaac smiled faintly and quietly left the room.

Guild members were already gathered, having their meal in one place, except for one person. Isaac searched for the missing guild member, wandering about. Where could he be?

“Master? Are you looking for Zeke?”

“Diego, right. Yes.”

“If it’s Zeke, he’s on the balcony over there.”

“Thank you.”

Walking in the direction Diego pointed, there indeed was Zeke, observing the outside scenery from the balcony. He seemed to be doing something here, without even eating. What was he up to?

“Zeke.”

“Yes, Master.”

“What were you doing here?”

“I was enjoying the view outside.”

In the direction Zeke was looking, there were people fighting vigorously. They seemed to be nobles who had taken to the skies and fought during the reign of King Aus.

“No, really! This is my land!”

“Managing the magic stone has been passed down through generations…!!”

“So, where is this place?”

“It’s getting noisy.”

“They seem to be fighting as if their rights are at stake.”

Truly a ludicrous situation. People were dying, a topic they had turned a blind eye to. But when their rights were infringed upon, only then did they rise to confront it. It was disgustingly hypocritical.

That was Zeke’s honest sentiment. It was understandable enough for Phileas to grasp Zeke’s genuine feelings. In response to Zeke’s honest answer, Isaac smiled bitterly and replied.

“Perhaps everyone in this world is like that—for the sake of their desires.”

“……”

“But you can’t necessarily view that as a bad thing.”

“Why is that?”

“Desire serves as a driving force for humans to move forward.”

Desire is a fundamental human need. It is through desire that people work, strive to attain what they want. Therefore, the world as it is now exists because of these desires.

“Of course, if one crosses the line, they could become such a monster. However, most people live restraining their desires.”

“Living while restraining desires….”

“That’s why we must differentiate. Those who have crossed the line of desire and those who have not.”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

“You won’t know yet. But someday you will surely find out.”

Apologies for the interruption. In reality, Isaac himself did not know what he was saying. However, Zeke surprisingly agreed. After all, she too had desires.

“Desire, and restraint. We must definitely restrain it.”

Emotions that had been budding in her heart for who knows how long. If that were called desire, Zeke had just learned a way to control that desire from what the Master had just told him.

If she were to act according to her desires.

The Master might come to dislike her.

That was something she wanted to avoid, no matter what happened.

But Zeke still didn’t understand desires properly. The desire forcefully suppressed in her heart would, at some point, inevitably overflow.

The Iron Shield received more rewards than expected this time by helping the rebel forces. They received a small portion of the properties disposed of first.

It was a far greater amount than the total sum of the rewards Iron Shield had received as commissions until now. However, it was not surprising for it to end with merely receiving money.

“They grant us the authority to monopolize the maseki for the next five years?”

“Yes.”

From Noble mtl dot com

“This is beyond my imagination.”

To be precise, it meant that Iron Shield would sell maseki only to the places to which they had leased the authority. Of course, existing partners, such as Hades or the Law Kingdom, remained the same.

Even considering that, there was no denying that it was significant authority. They could obtain maseki only from the places Iron Shield had granted authority, excluding Hades or the Law Kingdom.

Naturally, just the commission that would come in the middle would allow Iron Shield to acquire much more funds than they have now. Sofia, the accountant, naturally widened her eyes.

“Do I look stunned?”

“Is it that good?”

“And I want to present this to the prince.”

“This is…”

The next thing he received was the golden golem, Venus. From what he heard, Venus was the very first golem created by the young reigning king to protect Alice.

“Can I have this?”

“Isn’t it the future of Alice, for the prince?”

“….”

“It seems you have already decided.”

Arnold, as a close aide to Philes, was already seeing through his mind. For a moment, Philes looked at Arnold, smirked, and nodded. Yes, of course.

“I’m a fool. It seems I still can’t handle Ellis as well as you, Hyungnim.”

“So, are you staying here as the shield of steel?”

“Yeah, I feel like I can learn something here that I don’t have.”

“I see. I understand what you mean.”

Arnold intends to entrust Ellis to him for a moment. If it’s Arnold, who has never betrayed Hyungnim until the end, he might be able to govern wisely on behalf of Phileas.

“Hey, you. You’re not becoming the lord of Ellis?”

“I don’t need to stay in the guild.”

“I can’t ignore the welcoming greetings of the seniors. So, I’m trying to stay in the guild even if I have to grit my teeth.”

“This guy.”

“Ugh!”

Phileas, sarcastically teasing, ended up getting a playful hit from Hans. Watching this, the guild members couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It was their usual scene.

“Hyungnim, I’m sorry. It seems like we won’t meet again for a while.”

If we meet again someday.

Let’s finish the unfinished stories then.

Difficult and painful as it was.

It was also an enjoyable story.

* * *

“Artemis asked for punishment for the human who arbitrarily subjugated her divine beast, so I watched once….”

From high in the sky, he was surveying the land below. The man his eyes captured was Isaac Silverter. A familiar name, he thought. Indeed.

“It seems my wife is very fond of him.”

Meeting him once wouldn’t be bad.