An Unexpected Companion

The blade hovered just a hair's breadth from slicing open a throat. Reflected in the mirror-smooth steel was the face of its intended victim: Takahiro Koji, deputy leader of the Gyeongseong branch of the Shimazu Gumi. Following the edge upward, the hand gripping the hilt belonged to none other than the branch leader herself—Shimazu Renka, the only daughter of the Shimazu family head in Kagoshima.

One tiny movement and the deputy leader's head would fly. The surrounding guild members stood frozen in awkward half-crouches, unable to rise or sit, watching the scene in pure horror. But this was no still image.

A thin line of blood trickled down Takahiro's neck where the blade touched him. The Ebisu beer bottle he'd been holding slipped from his fingers and shattered against the floor with a loud crash, shattering the heavy silence.

Renka, who had stopped her blade at the very last instant before decapitating him, stared at him wordlessly for a long moment before murmuring softly,

She sheathed the blade with a sharp flick. "No... no, that's not right at all."

Renka fell into deep thought. Watching her, Takahiro's mind began spinning at full speed.

Why is the young lady... suddenly acting like this?

It didn't take him long to figure it out. She must have discovered that yesterday, in a fit of irritation, he'd beaten a Korean rickshaw puller half to death and then hidden the incident from her. He'd thought nothing of it at the time and concealed it, but no matter how trivial, submitting a false ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠report to her was a serious offense.

A cold sweat trickled down Takahiro's forehead.

This... this calls for seppuku!

Realizing the gravity of his mistake, he dropped to the floor like a flattened frog and performed a full dogeza.

But Renka addressed the prostrate man in her usual calm, even tone.

A chance! Takahiro kept his forehead pressed to the floor as he answered.

At those words, Takahiro lifted his head.

At Renka's blade-sharp denial, Takahiro thought she meant for him to apologize and then return to commit seppuku before her. But Renka had no intention of cutting his throat, nor of handing him a blade to disembowel himself.

She told herself she must not act on emotion. She had to think rationally. While she could never forgive that her subordinate had ruined her plans, cleaning up the mess came first. Handing Takahiro's head to Baek Chulyeon wouldn't constitute a proper apology. That would be nothing but shifting blame and cutting off a loose end.

Besides, from her own perspective, Takahiro had simply carried out his orders. He had merely overinterpreted her instruction to "test" the boy and turned the man into a bloody mess. While her own orders had been somewhat vague, the root cause was Takahiro's deep-seated racist prejudice against Koreans. That was what had twisted everything.

The fundamental reasons her plan had gone awry were, first, Takahiro's contempt for Koreans, and second, his viewing Baek Chulyeon as nothing more than an ordinary "Korean student."

So of course he couldn't understand why I would take an interest in a Korean.

To prevent such incidents from happening again, the root cause had to be excised. Correcting that prejudice was the first step toward ensuring everything would proceed smoothly according to her plans.

Renka gave a small, gentle smile to Takahiro, who remained kneeling.

Done! Status window!

With a soft flash—!

The translucent interface only I could see floated in the air before me. The Status System had finally finished restoring.

It felt like forever...

In truth, today marked only the fourth day since I'd awakened in this era, so it hadn't been that long. Yet those four days without the status window had felt like the longest in my life.

Subjectively, it felt like two weeks.

At any rate, the abilities displayed in the status window were exactly as I'd expected from my experiences so far. Pathetic mana capacity, mediocre mana detection and ganggi, and poison resistance. In the 21st century I'd been a mid-tier C-class hunter, but my current stats were far more pitiful.

Still, there was no reason to be discouraged.

I'm attending school to get stronger in the first place.

Minor-aged awakeners could grow as much as their environment allowed. The hunter academies of the 21st century could turn even the dullest student into a top-tier hunter, and the same principle should apply here. As long as I remained in school, the possibility of growth remained open.

Anyway, that's not important right now.

I looked at Ham Seoju sitting before me. I was still in the hospital, and she was still busy peeling apples. If I'd simply been waiting for the system to restore, I wouldn't have stayed here this long. The reason I'd been killing time was that I had something else to verify.

Viewing others' abilities.

One of the many advantages of the Status System was that, separate from my own stats, I could check other people's as well. However, with my current mana level, simply looking at someone from a distance wasn't enough. There were physical limitations.

Well, that's exactly why I've been wasting time here.

I asked the girl sitting in front of me.

"Seoju. Can you give me your hand for a moment?"

The physical limitation was that I needed physical contact to see someone else's status. At the very least, I had to hold their hand.

"What?! Oh my goodness! Guest, what are you..."

Ham Seoju recoiled in shock, pulling her hands back. She glanced nervously at her father lying in the hospital bed. I quickly added,

"No, don't misunderstand. It's something I learned at school. I know how to read palms."

"...They teach that at school...?"

Hmm. It seemed the image of my school was becoming increasingly strange in her mind. First killing a demonic beast with rat poison, now palm reading. Well, she would never attend our academy anyway, so I could make up whatever I wanted.

"Hey, if you want to become a hunter, you need to know a bit of everything. Anyway, give me your hand."

Though still suspicious, Ham Seoju eventually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extended her hand. I took it, focused my mind, and called up the status window internally.

Flash—!

Good.

Of course, since Ham Seoju wasn't an awakened, mana and awakened abilities didn't apply. But it confirmed the system was working properly. Being able to clearly see my squad members' abilities and numbers would be very useful going forward.

"...So? What does it say?!"

When I remained silent while staring at the floating window, Ham Seoju finally asked in a slightly curt tone. Only then did I pretend to examine her palm carefully and offer some generic positive words.

"Hmm! Let's see... First, this line here is your life line. It's quite long, which means you'll have a long lifespan. Also... it looks like your fortune in wealth will open up before long..."

Hearing this, Ham Seoju snatched her hand back.

"You're just saying whatever comes to mind! I could say the same things!"

Still, she didn't seem entirely displeased. After all, people tend to feel good when they hear nice things, even if they're empty flattery.

With the status check complete, it was time to head back to the family estate. I stood up.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. I should head down now."

I glanced at my wristwatch as I answered. It was already past four in the afternoon. Since today was Saturday, if I went down and planned to return tomorrow, I needed to get to the station and buy a ticket soon.

As I rose and headed for the door, Ham Seoju followed to see me off.

"You'll come tomorrow, right? Oh, and when you return tomorrow, will you come straight to our house?"

"Well, I suppose so? Why?"

"I have to stay here until Father is discharged... So I won't be able to prepare meals for you, and what about your lunchbox on Monday?"

She'd been worrying about that? I waved my hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about me, just focus on your father. I can just buy something to eat."

"Alright."

"Then I'm off."

"Take care."

Leaving Ham Seoju's farewell behind, I left the hospital room, hailed a waiting taxi out front, and told the driver to head straight to Gyeongseong ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Station. I'd come directly from school in my uniform, but in this era, a student's formal outing attire was their school uniform anyway, so there was no need to change. There wasn't anything particular I needed to retrieve from the boarding house either.

Oh...

Crossing through the city, passing Namdaemun, the massive building of Gyeongseong Station gradually came into view. A grand Renaissance-style structure built of reinforced concrete with orange brick facing and a copper dome on top. It was the very same old Seoul Station building that still stood in the 21st century.

In the 21st century, a new glass palace of a station had been built right beside it, making the old building look shabby by comparison. But here, standing alone without any tall buildings around it, the old station exuded an imposing dignity.

I crossed the bustling plaza in front of the station, filled with people and vehicles, and entered the building.

Let's see...

The address of my family estate listed on the family register was Suwon. I joined the line at the ticket counter and checked the train schedule posted on the wall above.

There was a train departing Gyeongseong Station at 5 p.m. bound for Daejeon. It would stop at Suwon as well. The timing was perfect, so that would do nicely.

But...

"There are no seats available."

The answer I received when requesting a ticket was completely unexpected. I asked again.

"No seats?"

"That's right! All tickets for the 5 p.m. upbound train from Gyeongseong are sold out."

Damn. Was it because it was the weekend? I asked if there were any standing tickets left, but those were gone too. Left with no choice, I asked again.

"What about the next train?"

"The next upbound is the 10 p.m. to Busan, but only standing room remains for that one too."

Right. I'd forgotten. This wasn't an era with trains running every few dozen minutes like the 21st century. So I'd have to wait until ten at night? What a pain...

As I stood there wondering if I should look for a scalper, a familiar voice came from behind.

When I turned around, there stood a twenty-something man in a suit with an arrogant mustache. I recognized him immediately.

His name was... Takahiro, right?

I remembered him clearly because we'd had a staring contest on the very first day I awakened in this era. He was one of Renka's direct subordinates.

From the sound of it, he'd been searching for me. He must have gone to the hospital, heard I'd left for the station, and followed me here.

He kept speaking to me. But what had been bothering me since earlier was...

What the hell is with this guy?

He'd almost said "nai ka" (don't have it?) before belatedly correcting it to "arimasen ka" (don't you have it?). The way he kept slipping into casual speech and then forcing polite language felt extremely suspicious.

I responded without hiding my wariness.

Offering me a reserved ticket. Just like how he'd arranged Ham Wonsam's hospitalization, this must be part of the apology. Of course, since I was currently in a bind without a ticket, I'd be grateful if they provided one... but it still felt suspicious.

He continued with a face like he'd swallowed something bitter.

For a moment, I thought I'd misheard. It wasn't the offer to serve me, nor the suggestion to travel together, but the title that came from his mouth that I had never expected.

Young master...?

After finishing her Saturday afternoon major class, Aikawa Satomi hurried straight back to the dormitory to find Lee Yuha.

Lee Yuha sat on her dormitory bed, offering a slight smile as she replied in her awkward Japanese. As she'd said, when Aikawa checked her condition by channeling energy into her, there were no strange symptoms to be felt for the moment.

Aikawa was timid by nature, but she became even more cautious in front of Lee Yuha. Although Aikawa was Japanese, having grown up in a poor family that delivered tofu in Chuniljeong Street, Daejeon-bu, Chungcheongnam-do, the old Korean nobility—the yangban—felt distant and lofty to her.

Of course, not as much as the nobility...

If facing the noble Shimazu Renka had felt like realistic pressure or oppression, facing Lee Yuha gave a sense of reverence. Even with her awkward Japanese, Lee Yuha's gentle yet firm, noble demeanor made Aikawa feel a different kind of gap than she did with Japanese nobility.

In response to Lee Yuha's thanks, Aikawa twisted her hair nervously and said,

At the mention of Baek Chulyeon's name, Lee Yuha seemed slightly startled. Then she gazed into the distance, lost in thought for a long time. Aikawa spoke again.

Snapped out of her reverie by those words, Lee Yuha smiled and nodded at Aikawa.

Aikawa was shocked.

While Aikawa was horrified, Lee Yuha recalled being called to Professor Kurobe's office yesterday. Yang Bok-ja had proudly spread the rumor that the professor was a vampire, but to Lee Yuha, rumors were just rumors. When she'd actually visited his laboratory, it had been filled with strange instruments and glass bottles like the laboratories of European scientists she'd occasionally seen in books—not a trace of bloodstains or demonic beast corpses as the rumors suggested.

Lee Yuha rolled up her sleeve a little and explained calmly.

Aikawa was horrified. That "Dracula" Professor Kurobe had drawn her blood? And she'd taken some unknown medicine? Aikawa didn't entirely believe the rumors, but she couldn't deny that Professor Kurobe felt somehow sinister and suspicious. Above all, his appearance was unpleasant.

Sure enough, that evening when Aikawa had visited Lee Yuha's room, the girl had been burning with fever and moaning. The windows had been wide open because of how hot she'd been.

It must be something Professor Kurobe did!

Aikawa was certain that Lee Yuha's current abnormal symptoms were the professor's doing. Taking her to that rumor-filled laboratory, drawing her blood, and making her take medicine—how could it not be suspicious?

I have to check this myself...

Though her hands were trembling, Aikawa steeled her resolve. She'd been forced into the temporary role of class representative because her attendance number was early in the list, but a representative was still a representative. She couldn't ignore a problem affecting a classmate—especially one in the same squad. Moreover, Squad Leader Shirabayashi-kun had specifically asked her to look after Lee Yuha. During the last onigumo incident, he'd trusted her despite her lack of help and given her an important role.

It was a burdensome responsibility, but she couldn't disappoint him.

I'll check it myself...

Aikawa resolved to secretly visit Professor Kurobe's laboratory. There was bound to be some kind of evidence. She had just left the dormitory building and was about to take the side path toward the faculty research building when—

Startled by the voice, she turned to see a neat-looking young professor—Professor Saigane.

Aikawa felt relieved and placed a hand over her chest.

Professor Saigane mainly taught general subjects like Korean language to the Korean students. Although Aikawa hadn't taken his formal classes yet, she'd often seen him around campus.

Professor Saigane smiled leisurely.

It was clearly a joking tone, but the startled Aikawa answered honestly in her panic.

Professor Saigane seemed to think seriously for a moment before smiling gently again.