#52 At Dawn
#52 At Dawn
The decision to bring Wolf to Dawn was settled. Eun Ja-rim clicked her tongue, unable to hide her disappointment, but the matter of Alpha—the Jirisan Warg—wasn't something she could handle on her own. She nodded, accepting that handing him over to the Sword Saint was the right call. Once that was settled, Kang Tae-ho, who had been eyeing Wolf from various angles, spoke up.
"That's all fine. But how do we get him there?"
The truth about Alpha couldn't be casually disclosed. They'd enforce strict silence within the clan, but for now, letting it leak would be a disaster. Alpha's existence couldn't be made public until at least some groundwork was laid. They had to find a way to get him to the clan building without being spotted.
"Hm..."
Stealth would make things easy, but if Alpha used it, they'd have no way to confirm he was actually following. Sure, he'd probably manage on his own, but the whole reason they were in this situation was the lack of trust. More importantly, by now, vehicles would be swarming outside to move the wounded. Everyone except the most critical cases would be shipped off to hospitals. Dawn was no exception, and procedures would already be underway, so borrowing a vehicle wouldn't be hard. Having thought that far, Kang Tae-jun asked Wolf:
"...Can you use your shadow for long periods?"
Like when he had slipped into Kang Tae-ho's shadow. If his shadow use had no restrictions, things would be much simpler. Wolf, who had been playing with Perry and a tentacle, gave a vague nod and then narrowed his eyes.
'He's pretending he's not fishing for information.'
It was obvious he was subtly trying to gauge him, but since he wasn't being blatant about it, Wolf decided to let it slide.
"Good."
Soon after, Kang Tae-ho pulled a car up to the front of the shop. Even though it was a mid-size, cramming his huge frame inside looked deeply uncomfortable. Wolf slipped into Kang Tae-jun's shadow, and the car pulled onto the hunter-only lane and departed.
"Kyuuu!"
"Ah, you little shit. You're really fussy, you know that?"
Kang Tae-ho tried to pet Perry and got bitten for his trouble. The teeth sank in, but with his monstrous Vitality, there was no chance Perry's fangs could do any real damage. Still, the way he shook his hand and made a fuss, it was so over-the-top you couldn't tell if he was actually in pain.
After a series of minor snags, we arrived at Dawn, and I found myself with a strange feeling. It wasn't just Dawn—whenever I'd entered other clans before, I'd always had to infiltrate... though the fact that I had to hide my appearance was the same now.
'Daybreak's Dawn.'
A clean, orderly seven-story building. From the outside, there was nothing special about it. After parking, we took the underground elevator straight up without any trouble.
"You can come out."
The Clan Leader's room. He had the entire seventh floor to himself, and it was spacious enough. So spacious that one side of the room held a personal training ground. Kang Tae-jun nodded when he saw Wolf emerge from the shadow.
"You've reined in your magical power, it seems."
In that case, there shouldn't be any problems inside the room. With the training ground here, they could explain things away well enough. In the meantime, he could observe Alpha and work through the question of whether they could truly work together. For now, he had something to go on, but unlike Kang Tae-ho, he didn't have a Regeneration skill, so he needed to treat his wounds. He poured a potion over the injury and wrapped it in bandages... Wolf watched and yawned.
'I'll just think of it as a short break.'
I didn't strictly need to sleep, but I had nothing else to do. Building trust takes time. That wasn't something Wolf could force. For now, all I could do was stay still.
'Besides, I already dealt with that Silent Mouth bastard.'
That'll be a huge blow to them. They won't be able to move rashly for a while. More importantly, after the fight with Hong Yuri, I'd rooted out all the turncoats hiding in the various clans. I can't say one hundred percent since they might have planted new ones in the meantime, but things should be quiet for a bit. No—thinking about what's to come, the hunters' cooperation is essential. It's right to treat this as a brief rest, think about future plans, and pass the time.
"......Kyu."
As a side note, most of the assault team had gone to the hospital. Which made sense, since it was Neverland. There was no way they'd be unscathed, and even if they were, they'd still need a thorough checkup. I don't know the exact layout of the Dawn clan, but after scanning with Presence Detection, there were still plenty of people left in the building.
"...Kyuuu!"
Probably the administrative staff. And the hunters who couldn't join the Neverland raid. I was making these deductions to myself when Perry, suddenly throwing a tantrum, lunged at me.
"Kyuuuut! Kyuu! Kyukyu!"
She smacked me with her tail—whap, whap. She'd grown even more, and after consuming that medium, she'd finally broken past the 5kg mark. Meaning she was now about the weight of a small toy dog. In the middle of her sulking, Perry puffed out her cheeks. Like she was asking how long I planned to just sit there.
"......Bored?"
At that, Perry nodded with ferocious vigor. She'd spent the first few minutes rummaging around, bursting with curiosity, but had apparently already gotten tired of it. I was fine just staying put, but Perry wasn't. It had only been about an hour and she was already restless. Scratch, scratch—Kang Tae-jun, who had been organizing documents, also frowned, his concentration broken.
"...Right. She's still young."
Muttering about whether he should take her for a walk, Kang Tae-jun eventually set down his pen.
"Is there something you need? Since you're accommodating our situation, I'm willing to grant most requests."
"Is it all right if Perry is seen?"
"Not entirely without issue, but..."
She was a Fairy Dragon of this size. Since she'd already revealed herself to the assault team, they'd know the Fairy Dragon was with Alpha. If word gets out, anyone who isn't an idiot will at least suspect Alpha's existence. —Which is exactly what we want. Dropping a sudden bombshell versus giving them hints and letting the news spread over time are two completely different things. Come to think of it, this was part of laying the groundwork.
"—It's fine."
So Kang Tae-jun nodded. Perceptions of Fairy Dragons were generally positive, so regardless of the gossip, it was unlikely to cause a commotion within the clan. Wolf asked him to walk Perry, and Kang Tae-jun nodded, rising to his feet.
"I'll step out for a moment."
All he had to do was take this Fairy Dragon, Perry, for a short walk....... That was what Kang Tae-jun was thinking, but he frowned when the Fairy Dragon threw a fit, insisting that Alpha come along. No matter how good his Stealth was, there was no real need for Alpha to go too. But the Fairy Dragon stubbornly clamped onto Alpha's ear and refused to budge. At that, Alpha let out a sigh as if he'd given up, and his huge body began to shrink. In an instant, the shackles on his ankles vanished, and the patterns encircling him disappeared. In the blink of an eye, he'd transformed into what looked like a black puppy.
"You even had a skill like this..."
There was no way to count how many skills he possessed. At any rate, there'd be no problem in this form. The moment Kang Tae-jun, giving a small nod, opened the door, the Fairy Dragon bolted out of her own accord. A black puppy immediately followed... looking at that, who would ever think of a section-boss-level monster? That skill must be part of the reason they'd never been able to track him down. Kang Tae-jun shook his head in disbelief.
***
"Ah..."
Hong Yuri, who had been on the phone for a long while after someone called, chewed her lip. News that the Neverland raid was over. And word that following Woo-taek, Gu Jin-ha was also hospitalized with severe injuries. Hong Yuri let out a deep sigh.
For hunters, getting hurt isn't something to make a huge fuss over. It's the nature of the job; injuries are inevitable. But even so, an entire arm just... gone. And on top of that, if he's hovering between life and death, isn't that a different story? Feeling suffocated, Hong Yuri spat out a curse.
"Fuck..."
If only I'd been there. Regret washed over her. Told me to focus on recovering, and then he goes and gets himself mangled like an idiot... Baek So-yul, who had been focusing nearby, turned her head.
"Teacher? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm heading out for a bit, so just keep doing what you were doing."
Seeing Hong Yuri grab her darkly tinted sunglasses, Baek So-yul furrowed her brow.
"You can't see a thing in front of you with those on. Why don't I just come with—"
"I'll handle it, mind your own business."
Grumbling irritably, Hong Yuri opened the door, and Baek So-yul sighed. It wasn't just a day or two; they'd been together for several days now. There was no way she didn't know what state Hong Yuri was in.
"I hope nothing goes wrong..."
Leaving Baek So-yul's worries behind, Hong Yuri stepped into the hallway and frowned at the sight of someone across the corridor. The Neverland raid had just ended, so everyone should be on their way to the hospital...
"Oh, Hong Yuri."
He raised a hand in a cheerful greeting. Kang Tae-ho stood there with a nonchalant face, having apparently returned at some point.
"...Are you okay?"
"What?"
He made a show of picking at his ear like he'd misheard. Hong Yuri's expression twisted for a second before she steadied her breathing. Who was she to get annoyed, when she hadn't even been able to join the Neverland raid? She chewed her lip and asked again.
"I said, are you okay?"
"Well, I'll be. Never thought I'd see the day you'd worry about me. Don't worry. It's me."
Come to think of it, worrying about him really was a stupid thing to do. Hong Yuri nodded.
"Where are you off to?"
"The hospital. Got a call earlier."
"Ah, I heard. Jin-ha's badly hurt too."
From what she'd gathered, his arm had been severed or something. She couldn't say for sure since she hadn't seen it herself, but even beyond Gu Jin-ha, it was worth showing her face to the others who were injured. Kang Tae-ho nodded and asked:
"Want to go together? I was just about to head over."
Whether they'd even be allowed to visit was questionable. After a moment of thought, Hong Yuri agreed. It stung her pride a little, but going with Kang Tae-ho, who knew her condition, was better than going to the hospital alone. Just as the two were about to head down the stairs, something came down from the upper floor—and started circling around them.
"...A Fairy Dragon?"
Hong Yuri frowned at the unusually large Fairy Dragon. What was something like this doing inside the clan building? The Fairy Dragon spotted Kang Tae-ho, came over, and started whacking him with its tail—whap, whap.
"Ah, I said I'm sorry. I won't touch you! I said I won't touch you!"
And on top of that, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over her, like she'd seen this somewhere before...
'The upper floor is definitely...'
That was Clan Leader Kang Tae-jun's room. Had the Clan Leader brought it? He'd seemed to rush off somewhere in a hurry... But then, how did this muscle-head know the Fairy Dragon? Hadn't he just gotten back from Neverland?
As multiple questions flooded Hong Yuri's mind, a black puppy came down from the upper floor. Kang Tae-ho's eyes widened into circles. There was no way he'd gotten a puppy in that short a time...
"Ha! Look at this guy."
His size and appearance were completely different, but if you looked closely, traces of his original form remained. Besides, with the Fairy Dragon here, where else would he go? Kang Tae-ho burst into loud laughter. He laughed for a long time at Alpha's somehow sulky-looking form, even wiping away a tear that leaked out.
"Heh heh... Anyway, shall we go now...?"
When he finally turned his head after laughing for ages, he saw the exact opposite.
"Ah, ah..."
Hong Yuri had collapsed to the floor without realizing it. She fumbled for her sunglasses with a violently trembling hand.
"......?"
—And the moment her eyes met those of Wolf—no, the puppy—who was tilting its head, her eyes rolled back, and she toppled backward.
"Ah."
Belatedly recalling Hong Yuri's condition, Kang Tae-ho let out a single syllable. From somewhere, the faint trickling sound of running water could be heard... and a silence descended.
"Kyu?"
In the awkward stillness, only Perry tilted her head, as if asking what on earth was happening.