48
Chapter 48
Trudge... trudge. Parang left the Hunter Association building and walked aimlessly.
Her Head was still throbbing.
It was because she never imagined they would discuss assassinating the Association President through written notes, all while having a completely different conversation out loud.
Of course, a Branch Manager suddenly calling a B-Rank Hunter to the Branch Manager's Office for a private meeting. It was an incredibly suspicious picture.
Come to think of it, it seemed like they intentionally hadn't removed the Eavesdropping Device.
After all, didn't they create a perfect alibi? Once the exam exclusive to Undersea Hunters was established, the meeting between Parang and Seo Sunwoo would have a perfect justification and probability.
Parang fiddled with the USB in her hand. Just what exactly was on this thing that it warranted creating a reason to kill someone?
Anyway, Natsuko, was it?
The current Association President, Igarashi Natsuko. To Parang, she was just like Mark Willmore.
Meaning she had no fucking clue who that was.
She didn't even remember her, but her significance in the Original Work Novel amounted to exactly two sentences.
The first was appearing as the Secretary for the previous Association President—the current one in the story—and receiving the evaluation, 'This friend does her job very well.'
The second was suddenly taking the Association President seat due to the previous president's 'worsening chronic illness' just a month before the Slayers' Ascension.
"Instead, his Secretary, Igarashi Natsuko, took the seat of Association President."
That was the Novel's description. After that, she didn't appear in a single sentence, or even a single word, until the ending.
Besides, she hadn't actually made any notable moves up until now either.
She was an existence with no particular connection to Parang, nor to the World itself.
Cylo had brought up someone like that and told her, 'It would be dangerous if this person knew about the sea, so let's kill her.'
If the person who said that hadn't been an executive of the Cylo Corporation, Parang would have left the room immediately, thinking, 'Ah, they must be possessed by something.'
Or maybe she would have seriously considered whether she needed to smack them hard on the Head.
It was only because it came from Cylo, who had continuously proven trustworthy until now, that she took a 'let's hear them out' stance.
Honestly, it was still utterly absurd.
......Still, it wasn't like they would spout complete nonsense either.
Ugh, whatever. She'd find out once she checked the USB. For now, she decided to bury it in the back of her mind.
#
And as for the person currently taking up the center of Parang's thoughts. What was Igarashi Natsuko doing right now, you ask?
"I'm Yoo Parang. Nice to meet you."
She was in the middle of wiretapping the conversation in the Branch Manager's Office while riding in her limousine.
Trying her best not to miss a single part of the ensuing conversation.
Checking to see if there were any hidden passwords mixed in, or if they were conversing through written notes.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Seo Sunwoo seemed to have placed the Electric Teapot near the Wiretap.
Gurgle- Gurgle-
Because the sound of the boiling water could constantly be heard, it was impossible to tell if a pen was scratching against paper.
That was the reason Seo Sunwoo liked tea.
"The tea is delicious."
"Thank you."
In the end, she couldn't find anything suspicious until the conversation was over.
Recently, Undersea Hunters had become a hot topic, and a new ranking system was being established for them.
Undersea Hunters were an unknown territory for the Association, so they were receiving help from the pinnacle of that field.
It made sense. A perfect alibi with no room for doubt.
So flawlessly unsuspicious that it was suspicious in itself.
This was also the reason why Natsuko kept a close eye on Seo Sunwoo.
"Phew......."
She sighed and leaned back.
Since she had finished recording for now, she would have to listen to it carefully once more later.
Yoo Parang and......Undersea Hunters, huh.
She certainly felt the need to keep an eye on them.
That was why she had attached a tail to Parang right after their meeting.
They were capable people, so Yoo Parang as an individual wouldn't notice them even in her dreams.
They should have gathered some useful information by now.
Since the thought crossed her mind, Natsuko contacted them.
......
"We lost her."
"......Excuse me?"
"W-Well, because she suddenly jumped into the Han River."
Natsuko cut the connection and, with a calm expression, picked up the Wine Bottle and poured a glass.
It tasted unusually sweet today.
#
Meanwhile, Yoo Parang, the espionage genius who effortlessly shook off even the Hunter Association President's tail.
She didn't have much going on in her mind right now.
It was just hot, and she figured it would be much better in the water.
So she jumped off the Han River bridge.
Ah, so refreshing.
Aside from being refreshing, the water looked like it needed some Purification though.
Parang briefly turned off her thought circuits to soothe her overloaded brain.
Water, cool, clean, feels good.
Soaking in the river brought the freshwater fish Monsters to mind. Not the Monster Fish, just regular Monsters.
There weren't any in the Han River since it was well-managed, but in a wild environment like the Amazon River, a twenty-meter Pirarucu could be seen roaming around openly.
Parang had encountered one exactly once. Back when there were only three in Oceanus. Parang, Bertea, and Diego had roasted and eaten it together.
It was really delicious.
Then she suddenly snapped back to reality. She still had work to do.
She had to visit the World Government.
Honestly, Parang had been agonizing over this issue right up until she left her house this morning.
To go, or not to go.
In fact, this was a problem Parang had been constantly pondering ever since she did a Dive into Matilda Müller's memories in Hong Kong.
After the Galecus hunt—that is, after Parang's first broadcast—someone from the Government came and left a Paper with just an address and time scribbled on it.
She hadn't known it at the time, but looking back now, they had sent a special Strike Team to assassinate her, and when that failed, they visited her the very next morning to hand her an invitation.
It suddenly hit her again. What a bunch of crazy bastards.
Even now, Parang got goosebumps down her back just thinking about it.
Frankly speaking, Parang could have been sniped the moment she opened the door that day, or ambushed by about three S-Rank Hunters.
The reason they couldn't do that was probably largely due to Cylo's influence.
Anyway, they invited Parang.
And Parang accepted it.
'Just what was I thinking.......'
Parang rubbed her forehead.
From her perspective, it was unfair. Because she didn't know. And it wasn't like refusing right then and there would have changed her current situation much anyway.
'Should I just tell them to screw off?'
No matter how she looked at it, it was either an assassination, or at the very least, she wouldn't see anything good if she went.
It was glaringly obvious that it would result in at least confinement and kidnapping.
If it was certain that she wouldn't see anything good by going, wouldn't it be a hundred times better not to go at all?
However, she also couldn't deny that it was a very attractive situation.
Shouldn't I just go? Couldn't this actually be an opportunity?
From the World Government's perspective, there was a B-Rank Hunter interfering with their plans, so they called her out and got rid of her. That was all it was to them.
But the catch was that this 'B-Rank Hunter interfering with their plans' had experienced far too much in a brief period, and the Government was completely unaware of it.
Parang had 'Departure', Cylo watching her back, and even a vague understanding of the World Government's objective.
Furthermore, she knew what had happened to the Slayers, and she was in the process of piecing together the truth behind their deaths like a puzzle.
She wasn't sure if she'd have a chance to use it against the Government, but she also had the Kraken for now.
And other than the fact that Cylo was backing her, it was highly, highly likely that the Government didn't know a single one of these facts.
There was no way Cylo would have let information about her hidden cards, like 'Departure', leak to the Government.
Therefore, though she hadn't intended it, Parang currently held a certain degree of informational advantage over the Government.
If she could extract information from the Government through this visit, she thought it was definitely a worthwhile attempt.
What greater catch could there be than kidnapping someone from the Government?
After all, she still had Departure as a fallback.
The biggest risk to worry about was if Parang ended up killing someone from the Government while putting up Resistance or escaping.
Since Parang's public identity was a B-Rank Hunter and internet Broadcaster, it would be fatal if the World Government seized on the charge of 'murdering a public official' and played the media.
Her stream would naturally plummet into the abyss, and even a normal daily life could become impossible.
Still, since the Government was the one attempting to kidnap her first, she felt she could figure something out if she dug into that point well. So, after asking Sylomon a few days ago, the answer was,
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that. We can cover it both legally and in the media."
For Parang, a Painter in her past life and a fisherman in her current one, it was hard to understand, but it seemed that with the right media play and a team of lawyers, they could suitably twist the image into 'self-defense to escape a kidnapping situation.'
"Besides, the Government won't want to clash with us in a media war either."
For now, Parang accepted it as a concept similar to mutually assured destruction.
Problem, solved.
Thus, it was decided! She would accept the World Government's invitation.
That was the decision she made before leaving her house this morning.
Parang had also received a few emergency tools from Cylo that might be helpful.
Things like an EMP Bomb or an Emergency Warp.
A product that could transport her to a Warp Station up to 20km away. After checking a satellite map, there was a station 17km away that was extremely close to the ocean.
If she was lucky, she could snatch the information without even having to use Departure.
Since it was always better to hide your cards as much as possible.
She vigorously kicked through the Han River currents and headed to the meeting place.