249. Guangdong Province (2)
249. Guangdong Province (2)
The girl with the bun-shaped hair introduced herself as Shasha Pong.
Then, somehow, she explained her circumstances.
'......So she really is the landlord's daughter.'
Hearing Shasha Pong's story made it certain.
There were two main villains in this episode.
One was Shin family, who kidnapped people and performed live-body experiments.
And the other, acting as the supplier who provided those people, was the Landlord of Guangdong.
In the case of the Landlord of Guangdong,
to sum her up in a word, she was a woman drunk on power.
She already wielded emperor-like power and wealth within Guangdong Province and had reduced the local civilians to a wretched status near slavery.
But she wasn't satisfied with that and sought to seize all of China.
What do you think happened when Shin family, which possessed the technology to artificially produce Hunters, approached such a woman?
'She must have bitten, thinking a feast had landed in her lap.'
The Shasha Pong in front of me was the daughter of just such a woman.
"Recently, my mother started meeting suspicious people—"
I raised a hand and cut her off.
There was no need to hear a story I already knew.
"So, your mother has been meeting suspicious people lately, and you think she's the one who took your father somewhere dangerous?"
"Yes, y-yes, th-that's right......"
I looked at Shasha Pong with eyes full of suspicion.
The reason I was suspicious of Shasha Pong.
First, whether she had really come to ask me to save her father, who was genuinely in danger.
"Then isn't your mother in danger too? You said she met suspicious people."
At that, Shasha Pong bit her lips tightly and clenched her fists.
"That kind of person...... I can never acknowledge as my mother. If I could, I would kill her with my own hands—"
As if realizing she had spoken too frankly, Shasha Pong clamped her mouth shut after saying that much.
'Hmm...... I don't know if she's lying or not. For now, first-round pass.'
I couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but it seemed she harbored hatred for her mother, the Landlord of Guangdong.
But still, I couldn't believe everything Shasha Pong said.
That was because, although she had spoken of her father and mother so far,
Shasha Pong still hadn't revealed her identity as the daughter of the Landlord of Guangdong.
'And, no matter what, isn't the timing way too convenient?'
In the game, she was a character who merely flashed by for a moment in a cutscene.
And she had been camping out here waiting for me, who might not have even come?
It was too artificial.
'Maybe Shin family could be behind Shasha Pong. There's a chance they tailed Shin Se-hee. I need to be careful.'
"I understand about saving your father. But Shasha Pong, how on earth did you find me?"
When I asked that,
"......In truth, I am the daughter of the Landlord of Guangdong."
Shasha Pong hesitated, as if she were saying something she didn't want to talk about.
'Hmm, second-round pass.'
"I know. I was wondering why you weren't telling me that."
"Y-you knew!? Th-that was because I was ashamed to be the daughter of that kind of woman, s-sir......"
I nodded calmly at that.
"Right, that could be the case. Next, you need to clearly explain how you knew I would come here and waited. If I'm not convinced by this, I can't help you."
I subtly let out some energy, my eyes sinking low.
Hic—
At that, the kid chattered her teeth as if frightened.
She seemed to finally realize she was being tested.
If she were an ordinary child, she wouldn't have been able to say anything here.
But Shasha Pong bit her lip hard and met my eyes.
"As befitting the landlord's daughter, I had a lot of money...... Of course, it was dirty money."
When her father first disappeared,
she said she tried to use her money to find her missing father.
But she couldn't find him no matter how much money she spent within Guangdong Province.
So she turned her eyes elsewhere and asked the surrounding landlords for help, but they all refused.
She said the neighboring regions feared making an enemy of Guangdong and rejected any involvement outright.
'Well, the entire vicinity has already fallen into their hands, so there's no way that would work.'
So the method she chose as a last resort
was to hire a Hunter from overseas, not from China.
But after squandering most of the money she had on searching for her father,
she didn't have enough money to hire a Hunter.
While she was stuck like that,
an internet post caught her eye.
[ We're recruiting people to wait until Jin Yu-ha arrives! ]
She said it was a small gathering cafe named the Indian Rain Dance.
'No, it seriously was the Indian Rain Dance......'
Listening to her story, I was so dumbfounded I let out a hollow laugh.
"So from then on, I looked up things about Jin Yu-ha...... I visited the Flower on the Cliff cafe, subscribed to the Utopia Channel......"
And after confirming my exploits and strength there,
and reading the testimonial posts others had uploaded, she thought.
That I was the only person who could help her.
So she scraped together what little money she had left and joined that expedition.
And she waited for a full month.
Because she had no other way, clutching at straws.
"I had saved and saved, but I really had spent all my money, and I was wondering what on earth to do. Then, like a miracle, Jin Yu-ha came."
Shasha Pong finished talking in a calm voice.
"......"
'Should I believe this or not?'
Thinking about it from a kid's perspective,
it certainly made sense and was coherent,
but wasn't it relying too much on coincidence?
'Tch, what a headache. Let's just move on for now.'
"So, how did you know your father was in danger? Did you just come looking for him because he vanished?"
"......My father was a fairly strong Hunter in the past. Among men, of course."
"I know."
"Huh, y-you know that too......?"
Shasha Pong's pupils shook.
Of course.
Why wouldn't I know?
In this episode, the person who appears as a mid-boss is your father.
And when you take him down, a cutscene plays where the mid-boss, briefly regaining his senses, cries and remembers his daughter.
— Shasha......
In that scene, the one who appears for exactly one second as if passing by is the little kid in front of me.
'Hmm, but...... won't it already be too late even if we go now?'
The issue of trusting her aside,
"M-my father gave me this before he disappeared!"
Shasha Pong said as she frantically rummaged through her belongings.
"Something he gave you?"
"Yes, th-this......"
So saying, she took out a Magic Stone.
A pure white one.
"......Huh, this is a White Magic Stone? How is this—"
I stared at the White Magic Stone with a bewildered look.
"My father gave it to me...... He said as long as this didn't go out, he wouldn't die...... He told me if this ever went out, then to leave Guangdong Province, to run to a place no one knows......"
"Ah."
Damn, why didn't she show me this earlier!
Shasha Pong!
No, our Shasha!
'If she had shown this, I would've accepted right away without suspecting anything!'
It was then.
Ss-s-s-s—
Suddenly, the already faintly glowing light of the White Magic Stone began to grow even dimmer.
"Ah, no!! D-dad!!!"
At that, our Shasha threw a fit and screamed,
but inside, I was thinking something a little different.
'......With this, if we play our cards right, we might be able to minimize the damage from this episode.'
* * *
"Huh? Y-Yu-ha hoobae. Y-you need my help again......!? Really!?"
"Yes, sunbae. This is something only you can do, Ga-eul sunbae."
"......!"
Im Ga-eul's mouth fell open.
Because suddenly, Jin Yu-ha had asked for her help again. How long had it been since they returned from Gulliver's Travels!
'Has he really got something going on these days......?'
It felt like good things kept happening one after another.
"K-kehm! Lately, I seem to have a lot of chances to step up. Hoobae? So, just once, call me Your Highn—"
"I'm in a hurry right now. Quickly, this."
She tried to show off as much as possible in front of the other party members, but Jin Yu-ha firmly cut her off.
Jin Yu-ha handed the White Magic Stone to Im Ga-eul.
"Huh? Wh-what's this? A Magic Stone? This one is white?"
"Yes, it's called a White Magic Stone. Do you remember the Black Magic Stone you used before?"
At the mention of the Black Magic Stone, Im Ga-eul's eyes went round.
How could she not remember?
The Black Magic Stone.
The moment she used that was the pinnacle of Im Ga-eul's life!
Though she had used plenty of Magic Stones in Gulliver's Travels too, in the end, she had just thrown sheer quantity at it. She hadn't really become stronger.
'The same kind of Magic Stone as back then......?'
Gulp.
Im Ga-eul's gaze as she looked at the White Magic Stone in her hand grew greedy.
"It's a Magic Stone similar to the Black Magic Stone from back then."
"Then this......"
"You just need to fill this with Mana."
"Hehe! Leave it to me! I'll pack it full of Mana— Huh? Wh-what? Fill it with Mana?"
"Yes."
Huh......?
Im Ga-eul cocked her head to the side.
She had clearly assumed he was going to tell her to use this to support the party with some special mega-acceleration.
But instead, he was asking her to fill it with Mana?
"This is something only you can do, sunbae. Because you're able to freely let Mana in and out regardless of a Magic Stone's properties......"
Since it wasn't the development she'd expected,
disappointment spread through her chest like wet dye.
But how could she refuse a hoobae who was asking her with such a serious expression?
"Uh, um, o-okay, hoobae! Leave it to me!!!"
And so, Im Ga-eul had no choice but to nod her head grudgingly.
*
Hummmmm—
"Eeeeek—! Huff, huff, huff— Eeeek—!!!"
An hour had already passed since Im Ga-eul had started infusing the White Magic Stone with Mana.
Whenever the light dimmed, she infused it with Mana.
And whenever her own Mana seemed insufficient, she would drain other Magic Stones she had brought separately and transfer that Mana into the White Magic Stone.
'This is way too hard......!'
It was absolutely not something she could do with a clear mind.
"Hoooooobae, how— how long do I have to do this......?"
Sweat beading on her forehead, an exhausted-faced Im Ga-eul let out a whine toward Jin Yu-ha.
"Umm, until this episode...... no, until this China schedule is over......?"
"Wh-when is that?"
"How would I know? But don't worry. I don't plan on including you, Ga-eul sunbae, in the combat this time. You can just relax and charge it!"
Jin Yu-ha smiled brightly as he said something heartless.
'Relax, my ass!!!'
Im Ga-eul squeezed her eyes shut.
Sob.