The Blade of Misunderstanding (2)

“Is this your ability, Arin?”

“Yep.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips. I couldn't help but feel utterly deflated, especially since I had just spent the last few minutes psyching myself up, imagining every worst-case scenario and planning my counters. Anyone would feel the same if they saw the sight unfolding before my eyes.

Kieee...

Ten Grade 6 kaijus had their heads pressed flat against the dirt, whimpering in absolute submission. To be fair, I had expected the subjugation to go smoothly with Yugi and Arin working together... but I never imagined it would be over the literal second it started.

Arin's explanation was simple.

The moment she was summoned, she detected a pack of monsters fleeing in a frantic rush. Finding their behavior suspicious, she used her Emotion Manipulation to round them all up. While detection and emotional control were her specialties, she barely had to lift a finger this time because the Grade 6 beasts were already paralyzed with terror. Apparently, targets experiencing extreme emotions are incredibly easy to manipulate.

And according to Arin, the reason they had been running for their lives in the first place was Yugi's terrifyingly oppressive mana.

“I told you. His very nature is vicious.”

“Hmm...”

I offered a wry smile, dodging the subject. More importantly, I had to figure out what to do with these creatures. Driven by a sudden spark of curiosity—and a slightly unethical train of thought—I turned to Arin.

“Arin, do kaijus have babies?”

“...Huh?”

For once, Arin looked genuinely flabbergasted.

Why did that pop up all of a sudden? While I was busy being confused, Arin squirmed slightly, her body twisting in a bashful fidget as she spoke.

“Well, of course they do... but why do you ask?”

“I was thinking of breeding them.”

“?”

Since they weren't resisting, I figured it would be much more efficient to exploit them rather than just slaughtering them on the spot. Sure, it was a bit questionable, but considering a single kaiju could wipe out millions of human lives in an instant, did I really have the luxury of being squeamish?

“W-Why on earth would you do that?”

“If we mass-produce Grade 6 kaijus, we can feed Yugi a steady supply of high-quality mana.”

Yugi nodded his dark head vigorously. Just the thought of it seemed to bring him immense satisfaction.

“Hmm. For breeding, would a dark room be better, or maybe a scenic lakeside?”

A dark room is probably best, right? Alright, beasts, I shall spare your lives, so offer up your offspring to me! As I muttered these thoughts aloud, I felt a piercing gaze of utter disgust from beside me.

“...Ugh, Yoo-cheon, you scumbag. Absolutely not in my territory.”

“Ahem, I was just joking.”

Admittedly, it wasn't the most appropriate thing to say in front of the monsters. But I had wanted to test the waters with these two, so I threw out a rather bold proposition. Arin's reaction was mixed, and Yugi... well. I was starting to get a better grasp of how to handle them.

In any case, I couldn't just let these kaijus go. The only reason they weren't showing any aggression was because of Arin's ability. Some might scoff and say, "It's only ten of them," but ten Grade 6 kaijus could easily reduce an average city to rubble in a single day. As I stroked my chin, lost in thought, Arin spoke up.

“...I don't really like it, but... if Yoo-cheon wants, I'll help.”

“Huh? Help with what?”

Arin glided forward toward the Grade 6 kaijus as if riding a gentle wave. As she approached, one of the beasts rolled onto its back, exposing its belly. Arin reached out, her soft hand brushing against its stomach. I watched, wondering what she was doing, when the Giant Spike Salk suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, spitting out a strange object along with it. Arin carefully picked it up and handed it to me.

“...A magic core. It will take four weeks to regenerate.”

“A magic core? Kaijus have those too?”

My eyes sparkled at this fascinating piece of information. Arin continued her explanation in her slightly awkward Korean. Her explanation was both mystical and straightforward: any entity possessing mana has a magic core. Among them, living creatures can regenerate their core two or three times even if it is destroyed, though it costs them their own life force.

Of course, this was highly unusual. A wound severe enough to destroy a magic core was typically fatal. Extracting a magic core with nothing more than a cough of blood was a feat only possible because Arin was also highly skilled in healing.

“...But they can only regenerate it two or three times? What happens after that?”

“They live as normal, oversized beasts... and die. A bit sooner.”

Hearing it delivered in such a dry tone made the revelation quite shocking. It meant I could get two or three times the amount of high-quality mana for Yugi, and in the end, they would just become ordinary beasts. Granted, given their monstrous size, their sheer physical strength alone would still make them a walking disaster, but still. I looked at the Giant Spike Salks with intrigued eyes and spoke.

“So, is there anyone here who doesn't want to live out their days as an ordinary beast?”

Arin scanned the faces of the kaijus bowing before us. With a flat, unchanging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression, she pointed out two of them.

“That one, and that one.”

Following her finger, I saw two beasts trembling violently, yet glaring up at us with defiance in their eyes. I stared down at them for a moment. After a brief hesitation, I spoke.

“Yugi.”

Crack!

The moment the words left my mouth, Yugi's tail whipped out like lightning, instantly slaying the two defiant beasts. Witnessing this firsthand, the remaining kaijus pressed their heads even harder into the dirt.

We extracted the magic cores from all the remaining kaijus and ushered them into my golden gate. Arin only agreed to this after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I promised to buy her gold using a portion of the subjugation profits. Well, of course—she was harvesting magic cores for me, so the least I could do was buy her some gold. With that settled, I fed the eight magic cores to Yugi and checked his status.

His equivalent age had only increased by four years, but his physical size had grown astronomically. I suppose at eighteen, his physical growth was nearing full maturity. And honestly... seeing him this massive was a little terrifying. His sheer bulk was large enough to swallow a shopping mall whole. He truly looked the part of the legendary Xuanwu now, and it would be a lie to say I wasn't intimidated.

“Gyu!”

Yet, the sound that escaped his mouth was still as adorable as ever. He seemed highly pleased with the Grade 6 magic cores, bouncing around with even more energy than usual.

“No, Yugi. You shouldn't be saying 'Gyu' anymore. You should go 'Kraaa!' Try it after me. Kra!”

“Gyuuu-ang!”

“...”

Feeling a slight pang of disappointment, I set off to find the gate's main magic core.

“By the way, Arin, are you really okay with this?”

I was asking if she was fine with Yugi getting all the magic cores.

“I don't really care.”

For some reason, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Arin didn't seem to care much about her equivalent age. Was she trying to preserve her youth to maintain her beauty? Since it could be a sensitive topic, I decided not to pry.

Chatting about such trivial things, we quickly located the gate's core using Arin's detection ability and shattered it. The entire process took less than twenty minutes. I summoned a gate to quickly return to our starting point, said goodbye to Yugi and Arin, and stepped back out into the real world.

The moment I returned to Earth, the first thing that greeted me was Shin Won-chul's utterly dumbfounded face.

“Excuse me?”

It was a sight to behold. Not only had I returned in under thirty minutes, but I didn't have a single scratch on me. Since I had just shattered the core, the gate hadn't even begun to collapse yet. He was probably wondering how on earth I was already out. It would have been fun to tease him, but I didn't want to do that to someone who genuinely looked out for me.

“Subjugation complete.”

When I held up the shattered magic core, his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.

“I-I mean, you barely just went in!”

“I got a bit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lucky. How long did it take Kim Hosung back in the day? Three hours?”

In truth, I had only heard rumors that Kim Hosung had cleared a C-class gate solo; the average person didn't know the exact details. However, Shin Won-chul's response was more than enough to catch me off guard.

“Three hours?! It took him a whole day and a half!”

He held up the sleeping bag he had brought along.

“Do you think I brought this sleeping bag for fun?”

“Oh... so that's why?”

Wow, I hadn't expected such a massive difference. Even if he was destined to become an S-class hunter, it took him nearly two days?

“Just who are you... No, we don't have time for this. First, we need to collect the loot...”

“Ah, about that. I already gathered all of it.”

“Pardon? Where is it?”

“Tsk. You're awfully curious today.”

Shin Won-chul immediately shut his mouth. Usually, he was the type of person who never pried, no matter what I did. But today's events seemed too absurd for even him to ignore. Suppressing a mountain of questions and curiosity, he let out a heavy sigh.

“Whew, alright. Let's head back. Both of us are going to be very busy for a while.”

I chuckled and followed behind him, asking,

“By the way, which part of the Giant Spike Salk sells for the most?”

“Their spike fangs. There's a massive shortage, so they sell instantly. Wait, don't tell me you actually ran into them in there? How on earth did you...”

“Tsk.”

“...”

Back home, I lay flat on my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Did I make the right choice? The natural doubt crept into my mind. But no matter how many hours I spent agonizing over it, I couldn't find an answer right now. It was a matter where only the outcome would tell. If the results were good, it was a good decision; if not, then it was a mistake.

So, I shifted my perspective. Regardless of the outcome, it was a necessary step. By boldly displaying my power, I could avoid unnecessary conflicts. It would serve as a powerful deterrent against Kim Hosung and anyone else who might become an enemy in the future. Though, perhaps I had been a bit too bold.

“Hmm.”

Just as I was wrapping up my thoughts, the doorbell rang. A visitor at this hour was highly unusual. Fortunately, I had just returned from Arin's territory to harvest the fangs of the Grade 6 kaijus, so I still had some water droplets on me. I cautiously opened the door. The faces greeting me were, as expected, completely unfamiliar.

“Who are you?”

“Apologies for the late hour. We are from the Hunter Association. We couldn't reach you by phone, so we came in person.”

“And?”

“...Did you clear the C-class gate that appeared in Jeolla Province around noon today?”

The Association was a conglomerate of various factions, large and small. Even though I had moved with Kim Na-hyun's direct subordinate, it didn't necessarily mean the Association as a whole had sanctioned it. In fact, the reason Kim Na-hyun had assigned her own subordinate to me was likely to help me bypass the Association's red tape. Had they approached me officially through the Association, I would have rejected them outright, so it was a clever move on her part.

Regardless, I answered calmly. There was no need or reason to hide it.

“Yes.”

“...We would like to request your presence at the headquarters tomorrow regarding this matter.”

“Why?”

“We plan to conduct a brief inquiry and hold a press conference.”

All of a sudden? On whose authority? I was dumbfounded. They were probably acting this way because they saw me as an easy target—a newly awakened hunter. If it had been the me of a few days ago, I might have meekly complied. But not anymore. I now had a very clear grasp of exactly what I was capable of.

“I refuse.”

“...Pardon?”

I realized one thing. People tend to be far more foolish than one would think. I thought I had already proven myself through my results, but if it doesn't hit them directly, they will keep trying to test you. Well, I suppose I'll just have to tame them step by step.

“You may leave now. If I feel it's necessary, I'll handle it myself later.”