A Duel Postponed
"Did you smear honey on the house or something?"
"Huh? Well, maybe... It does feel strangely nostalgic..."
"Yeah, so. What is it?"
"Eung? What, what?"
Why did you come here? I muttered inwardly, feeling frustrated.
Black Fang wore a blank expression for a moment before exclaiming, "Aha!" and said, "I wanted to know if you're willing to settle our unfinished match."
"Unfinished match... Did we even have one? We never fought."
"W-well, that's just how I'm putting it! You definitely said you'd do it! Are you going to or not?"
At least he didn't forget what he said.
"Sorry, I don't recall making any promises back then. We've got some things to take care of right now. If the chance comes up later, we can give it a try."
"Huh? W-what things? No matter how urgent it is, when you see skilled fighters like us right in front of you, doesn't your blood boil? You'd want to fight right away, right?"
Black Fang stammered in clear panic. Is this kid even an adult? He looks really small. Probably smaller than A-rin.
"Pfft... Calling yourself a skilled fighter when you're just a D-rank hunter. The world is something else."
Bae Jua, who had been listening quietly, lightly mocked him. Black Fang's face flushed bright red, and the others beside him furrowed their brows and glared at her. Jua stared right back as if to say, What are you going to do about it?
"What? It's not like I suggested we fight, so calm down. But we're going to be pretty busy for a while. I'm not just trying to avoid it. If we fought now, we couldn't go all out. Would you still be okay with that?"
At Bae Jua's words, Black Fang and the other Veil members immediately shook their heads. After a moment of thought, Black Fang spoke up.
"Fine. We'll put it off until next time. Like you said, it does feel a bit embarrassing to call myself a skilled fighter when I'm just a low-rank hunter... How about we fight once you reach C-rank?"
"Tap tap tap!!"
"Huh? What's that skeleton saying? Is it asking for a fight right now?!"
"No! It's saying it agrees. Got it. Let's fight once you hit C-rank."
After receiving our confirmation, they finally turned toward the exit.
Weren't they supposed to be an assassin organization? Why are they so obsessed with duels? They didn't recklessly kill other hunters and kept their promises. Though they belonged to the unorthodox faction, their actions felt more like the orthodox side. Strange how I found myself warming up to them. I'd never been involved with underground organizations in my past life, so I could only judge from limited information, but these guys were definitely unusual.
"Hmm... Why did you agree?"
Yeonhee asked, clearly curious about my unusual behavior.
Because sparring partners like them are hard to come by.
Yeonhee still didn't understand how difficult it was to encounter skilled assassins. I could spar with her if needed, but having an opponent who could fight with real tension would be better.
"It would be good experience, but can you really treat fighting them as practice? It feels like even fighting for your life, you'd barely win or lose."
After receiving my intent, Yeonhee tilted her head and said that. Of course they weren't opponents to take lightly. That's exactly why it would be valuable experience.
Anyway, today's dungeon exploration ended peacefully with no other events besides meeting that group of four. Once we exited the gate, we felt strangely empty despite the uneventful run.
"O-over here! Hello! I'm Jo Hye-min from Haksan Newspaper! I'm a reporter who received permission to enter today..."
Because we'd lingered, a reporter camped near the gate caught us. Usually, media outlets took turns getting access near gates, and one of them had latched onto us. We could refuse interviews, but given how important media relations were for hunters, we couldn't always avoid them.
The reporter with the distinctive pink headband, Jo Hye-min, unexpectedly requested an interview with Ham Eun-yeong.
"Your grandmother's name is Park Heung-ja, correct?"
"Uh... um... yes..."
Ham Eun-yeong spoke for the second time today because of the sudden appearance of the reporter. Park Heung-ja... I'd heard that name somewhere before. It had the feel of someone who'd lived through the Korean War... Where had I heard it?
"Hunter Ham Eun-yeong. Could you tell me a little about your grandmother? I'm planning an article about Park Heung-ja, one of the most powerful supporters among the early Awakeners. I'd really like to hear about her everyday side, not just her public image. It won't take long."
"I... I... I..."
—!!
At the reporter's words, the party members' shoulders jerked. Ham Eun-yeong couldn't answer right away and looked toward us for help. What are you looking at us for? You handle it yourself.
"I... I-I'm not good at talking..."
"That's fine! I'm not filming a video. I'll edit it nicely before publishing."
In the end, Ham Eun-yeong agreed to the interview. As we watched her and the reporter enter the waiting room prepared near the gate, we started the gossip we'd been holding back.
"No way! Are you kidding me?! Why didn't that girl say anything? She had an insane connection!"
Bae Jua stared intently toward the waiting room, saying she was seeing Ham Eun-yeong in a new light.
"Park Heung-ja... You mean that person who bloomed at the oldest age among the early Awakeners?"
"That's right. The ability user of Reverse Flow, who could turn all unfavorable conditions for allies on the battlefield into favorable ones. So she's her granddaughter... Amazing..."
Yeonhee also looked toward the same place with a surprised expression.
"No wonder I recognized that extraordinary hand mirror right away! An artifact that can't be detected. It's an absurd item to begin with, isn't it?"
Bae Jua tried to rationalize it, recalling several remarkable moments from Ham Eun-yeong as if she'd known all along.
"Definitely... I tried touching that hand mirror too, but no information came up. It must be an artifact... but even searching didn't turn up any mention of an item with that ability."
A-rin, who couldn't resist her curiosity either, seemed to have already tried to obtain information about the hand mirror.
Even touching it doesn't bring up information? Something like that exists? I'd known it was an artifact from the first time I saw it, and I'd planned to hold back my curiosity until Ham Eun-yeong mentioned it herself, but hearing that no information appeared made me curious again. I should try touching it when I get the chance.
"Agh, she should just wrap it up and come out. She's taking forever."
But that curiosity didn't last long. When Ham Eun-yeong didn't emerge after more than ten minutes, the party members began showing their limited patience.
Jua, A-rin, and even Yeonhee, who was restlessly crossing her legs for some reason, were all waiting eagerly for Ham Eun-yeong to come out when I sensed a familiar energy through my sensory waves.
Two, four, six, seven people? Seven just to catch A-rin?
That group was the Apex Guild members targeting Heo Min-sol's bounty. I'd thought they'd start watching from tomorrow's dungeon, but it seemed they'd moved up their timeline. Their composition had added two more to the original five members, but their overall strength was slightly weaker than yesterday. Seven people splitting the bounty and giving a portion to the guild. It probably wouldn't leave much, but considering the various side incomes they could earn after killing A-rin, it would still be decent pay for simple work.
Hmm... What should I do? Should I kill them once? No... I couldn't predict what kind of repercussions it might cause.
As planned, I'd just provide protection. From what I'd heard, the hunter-exclusive apartment where Bae Jua lived was quite high-end, so the risk of Apex guys attacking while she slept would be low. So all we needed to do was escort her home.
"Huuuee... I-I'm sorry..."
Ham Eun-yeong returned looking completely drained and was immediately bombarded with questions from us. Unable to speak properly, she just clutched her hand mirror tightly and said we should go home quickly. She was very tired.
Jua and A-rin looked disappointed they couldn't ask more, but they promised to continue tomorrow and sent Ham Eun-yeong off in a taxi. Afterward, we took a taxi together to Jua's house.
When we arrived, Bae Jua's apartment was much nicer than I'd expected. The entire building was within the range of a barrier spell, which would require at least four or more barrier mages to maintain. In other words, it was pure money being thrown around, which didn't quite match Jua's usual money-obsessed image.
What? She's well-off?
"Just in case you're wondering, this is all on loan. I have no money. I impulsively took out a full loan after hitting a jackpot at the mine last week and bought it, and I'm really regretting it now. Please don't do anything as stupid as I did."
Jua struck first as if she'd read my thoughts.
"S-still... That's a relief. This should definitely be safe."
"Like Yeonhee said, looking at the current situation, it seems like the right choice. Hehe, you really never know what'll happen in life."
"Well then, we'll be going now."
"Huh? You came all this way, and you're not even going to look around the house?"
When Yeonhee offered her farewell, Jua spoke with a slightly hurt expression. Yeonhee politely declined, saying she had urgent matters at home.
"No, what on earth do you have at home that makes you want to leave so quickly? Don't tell me you have a boyfriend?"
"What?! N-no, no!"
"Eeh? Your reaction says otherwise. You really got a boyfriend?"
"Huk... Yeonhee's dating someone?"
"No, I'm really not... I-it's just... I need to go home and..."
Yeonhee couldn't finish her sentence and only succeeded in making Jua and A-rin more suspicious. Leaving behind Jua and A-rin, who were squinting and giving her strange smiles, we headed home. Naturally, Yeonhee's face was bright red, but I was more focused on the guys still watching us.
They're not attacking. They seem confused too.
Well, who would have thought a D-rank hunter would live in an apartment with this level of security? The Apex guys were probably wondering why a rich young lady like that was working as a hunter, which made me smile.
After parting with Jua and A-rin.
"W-we're going straight home, right?"
Nod nod—
Yeonhee's clasped hands trembled slightly. That trembling didn't stop as we walked together, took a taxi, and arrived in front of the house.
Yeah, she tormented me too much yesterday.