Last Chance
Yun-a had been startled by Jeong-Hoon’s proposal to test whether she could grow into an S-class, but she accepted it without protest.
“The driving force that made you S-class… no, wait, back then you weren’t even friends with Chairman Lee yet, right? That was the first time you two met, so…”
Having finished the examination and returned, Yun-a started to joke, then thought of So-hyeon and shook her head. She had never met the woman in person, but she had heard about her through Si-eun and had even attended the funeral.
“Oh? Come to think of it, we’ve met before, haven’t we? I saw you at the funeral that day.”
“You’re right. I was so out of it I completely forgot.”
While Jeong-Hoon shook his head, recalling that the entire FC Guild had been present, Yun-a strode straight to the refrigerator and yanked it open.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing without permission?!”
“Huh? Chairman Lee said I could drink whatever I wanted.”
He had said something of the sort, but that had been before the examination, so Jeong-Hoon simply shook his head again.
“You’re loaded and you drink this stuff?”
“……It’s just my preference.”
Yun-a recoiled at the sight of the refrigerator packed full of lemon-flavored canned beer. Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers and summoned Fernandez.
“You called, Chairman?”
“Hunter Jo Yun-a seems to want a different beverage. Bring something appropriate.”
“At once.”
Watching Fernandez vanish after the brief exchange, Yun-a wrinkled her nose slightly and whispered something into Si-eun’s ear.
“It’s easier if you just give up.”
“Is this really something you give up on? He looks stronger than you—someone at that level…”
“Sir Fernandez is SSS-class.”
Guessing the gist of Yun-a’s whispered question, Jeong-Hoon answered in her place and shook his head. It had probably been something like, “He’s stronger than you, so why is someone like that working here?”
“I’m sorry, Chairman. My friend was rude…”
“No, I don’t mind at all. For some reason it feels familiar.”
When Si-eun apologized again for Yun-a’s attitude, Jeong-Hoon merely shrugged. The claim that it felt familiar was no lie. He simply could not place where he had felt that particular vibe before. It was different from the friends who constantly teased him.
“Ga—ah, crap! Chairman, I’m here! Grandfather sent me on an errand!”
While Jeong-Hoon was still trying to pin down the source of that familiar feeling, the door flew open and Butler Ju’s granddaughter Min-Ha burst in. He nodded to himself.
“Ah. Right. It was that kid.”
Having finally identified where he had felt Yun-a’s energy before, Jeong-Hoon gave a short shake of his head.
Upon learning that the leader of the Organization was Butler Ju’s grandson Ju Yong-Ha, Jeong-Hoon had deliberately kept his distance from Min-Ha. It was not that he distrusted her; he simply could not bring himself to order her to treat even a twin brother she did not get along with as an enemy. Like Butler Ju himself, she was brimming with motivation, yet throwing a minor onto the front lines still sat poorly with him. He had intended to maintain that distance until the Organization was completely cleaned up.
Everyone had sensed Jeong-Hoon’s intentions, so under the pretext of ensuring she possessed strength worthy of an S-class, the 12 Vassals had taken turns training her and blocking her access to him. That was why neither Fernandez, who had gone to fetch suitable drinks and snacks, nor Lee Yeong, who was bringing the examination results from Myeongil, had paid Min-Ha any mind. It was precisely at that awkward timing that Butler Ju had something to tell Jeong-Hoon, and Min-Ha had been sent.
“Heh heh. Min-Ha, you almost made a spectacular blunder just now, didn’t you?”
“Sh-shut up! I don’t have to take that from someone who isn’t even part of our group!”
Si-eun laughed as she pointed out that Min-Ha had nearly called Jeong-Hoon “Gaju” with complete confidence, thinking the room was empty of outsiders. Min-Ha bristled. She gave off the same energy as Yun-a, yet somehow Si-eun clearly held the upper hand.
“Ah. Is it because she’s older, so she has that big-sister confidence?”
Analyzing the dynamic, Jeong-Hoon nodded, then glanced at Yun-a, who was watching Si-eun and Min-Ha with keen interest. The two of them were doing a poor job of hiding that they were concealing something, and he worried Yun-a’s suspicions might be raised.
“Hmm. That school-uniform look isn’t a cosplay concept, is it?”
“……No, it isn’t. More importantly, who are you?”
Yun-a eyed Min-Ha’s school uniform—which seemed designed to emphasize her status as a minor—and let out a long sigh.
“What kind of company is this place, anyway? An S-class Awakened who’s still in high school? She’s younger than Si-eun.”
“I’m not a hunter, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“No, this is just my inferiority complex talking. I used to get so hung up on being a lower rank than my friend, and now that feels completely stupid…”
Yun-a shook her head, realizing how foolish she had been for envying Si-eun’s status as the youngest S-class and for fretting over the growing gap between them and someone like Jeong-Hoon. Min-Ha, however, only puffed out her cheeks further.
“So! Who exactly are you? Who do you think you are, barging into the most important place in our group and acting like you own it?!”
“……This is Jo Yun-a, Si-eun’s friend. You haven’t heard of her?”
“Never heard of her. What do I care about some childhood-friend ace from the FC Guild?”
Watching Min-Ha snap back so curtly at Yun-a’s self-introduction, Jeong-Hoon thought, Wow, she knows exactly who she is, but he carefully kept the observation to himself.
It was Jeong-Hoon’s private suite, yet the dining room attached to it was by no means small. Even so, Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the feast of dishes and liquor that now filled the entire table. He had ordered Fernandez to bring something appropriate; he was now keenly aware of just how large Fernandez’s hands truly were. Fernandez had filled Butler Ju’s absence so seamlessly that Jeong-Hoon had never felt any sense of wrongness—until today, when he felt it with absolute clarity.
And now, amid the cheerful chatter of Si-eun, Yun-a, and Min-Ha as they excitedly talked over the spread of food and drink, Jeong-Hoon could not get a single word in edgewise.
“A little while ago Min-Ha looked ready to flip the whole table and storm out.”
“Ju Min-Ha is a promising talent who burns with ambition to become Chief Butler. She would never be so rude to the Chairman’s guest over personal feelings.”
Hearing Jeong-Hoon’s muttered observation, Fernandez shook his head and instead spoke highly of Min-Ha, surprising him. In front of Jeong-Hoon the man never showed it, but according to the other vassals Fernandez’s usual role was that of a nagging old man. Jeong-Hoon had never expected such high praise from him.
“I do give praise when it is due. I simply do not give it to the person in question.”
“……Shouldn’t praise be given to the person themselves?”
“If the Chairman orders me to correct that, I shall correct it.”
The sheer fanatic loyalty in the word “correct” rather than “change” made Jeong-Hoon shake his head.
“No. Keep your principles.”
“I am humbled, Chairman.”
At Fernandez’s courteous reply Jeong-Hoon turned his attention back to the three women’s chatter, then decided it would never end on its own and cut in.
“So, what business did Butler Ju, who’s still recovering, send you here for?”
“Um, Grandfather says his recovery is going to take longer than expected, and he wanted me to tell you he’s sorry.”
“If that’s all, why not just call?”
“I have to come see you and pay my respects once in a while too!”
“Yeah, yeah! Showing respect to your superiors is important in social life!”
When Min-Ha shot back at Jeong-Hoon’s question about why she had bothered coming, Yun-a immediately nodded in vigorous agreement. They had become close remarkably fast.
“I guess bonding over drinks is universal for men and women alike?”
“Ju Min-Ha is a minor and has not taken a single sip of alcohol.”
In any case, the news that Butler Ju’s return would be further delayed drew a long sigh from Jeong-Hoon. Fernandez was filling the vacancy superbly, yet the mere fact that there was a gap among the 12 Vassals inevitably left him uneasy.
“Pardon the interruption, Chairman. Hunter Jo Yun-a’s examination results are in.”
Lee Yeong knocked, offered a polite greeting, and entered with the results. Jeong-Hoon’s head snapped around at once. He had been growing tired of merely watching the three women’s conversation.
“How is it?”
“It is impossible for the moment, but if she invests about three months, she should be fully capable of rising to S-class. Any growth beyond that will have to be reassessed after she ranks up.”
Fortunately Lee Yeong had brought good news. Si-eun and Yun-a, who had been hanging on every word, clasped hands and celebrated together. Watching Min-Ha insert herself into the joy and celebrate right along with them, Jeong-Hoon could only snort a laugh. The three of them really had become fast friends in no time at all.
Yang, the former guildmaster of AP Guild, was currently imprisoned in an ordinary prison, restraint gear locked around him. Not only him—every escapee arrested that day was being held in ordinary prisons across the country, all of them in restraints. The Awakened prison had been completely destroyed by Yong-Ha’s Paseong.
They had broken out following the Organization, but the family’s swift response had left most of the Awakened who escaped with them dead. The only reason Yang had survived was pure luck, followed by his decision to surrender of his own accord and allow himself to be arrested. After capture he had consistently claimed, “I only pretended to escape under Nova’s threats; I never actually intended to cooperate,” and had thus received the relatively lenient disposition of re-incarceration.
Even so, he remained a life-sentence inmate. Surviving changed nothing about the fact that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“Damn it. Not even a single visitor?”
When he had been held in the Awakened prison, people had still come to see him. The group had collapsed because of an internal whistleblower, but there had still been men who valued loyalty. After the Awakened prison breakout and his re-incarceration, however, no one came. One could claim it was simply too soon after re-imprisonment, yet even inside the prison the public’s feelings toward the PS Association and Nova were perfectly clear. Guildmaster Yang was finished.
“Do you truly believe it is over?”
“Wh-who…?”
“Shh. Keep your voice down. Are you planning to alert the guards that I am here?”
The voice came from outside the window of a cell that, unlike those in the Awakened prison, actually had a window. Yang flinched. Even an ordinary prison housing Awakened was heavily guarded. Anyone who had slipped through that security to reach him was no ordinary person.
“Who are you?”
“Think of me as the man in charge of Nova’s European branch.”
Silvio Rosso, who had entered Korea and successfully gone to ground while Jeong-Hoon was down, smiled thinly as he waited for Yang’s reaction. If the man shouted for the guards, Silvio intended to withdraw at once. If Yang cooperated, however, he was prepared to use him as a cornerstone of the new world.
“You were a comrade of Nova? Hoo… so Nova truly never abandons its own.”
“Exactly. Every one of you is a precious asset for our sacred ideal.”
“Are you going to get me out of here?”
“I would love to pull you out this very moment, but my ability is not enough for us to leave together.”
Deliberately emphasizing the difficulty, Silvio performed a shake of the head even though Yang could not see him.
“Th-then you need time—ugh!”
“But with this, both you and I can leave.”
“Ah—urk!”
The sudden agony of a dagger plunging into his heart left Yang unable even to scream properly. He twisted his face as he stared at the masked Silvio who had stabbed him. Why bother persuading him if this was the plan?
“I dislike giving gifts to men who have no will to act.”
As Silvio answered the unspoken question with a shake of his head, the dagger’s mana coiled around Yang. The man’s body began to break apart, and a magic circle unfurled. Monsters erupted from the circle, and the prison collapsed.