The Investigation Site (2)

"Well now. They don't call you a genius mage for nothing."

"Ahaha..."

"And I really have to thank you for the last party. Back then..."

What is this...?

Park Min-gyu's sudden appearance had thrown me, but the conversation flowed surprisingly well. The man was a hell of an actor. He had that kindly-uncle face, a smile that put people at ease, and a measured, considerate tone that made you feel looked after. You'd need social polish like that if you were going to spend your days doing filthy work behind closed doors. If I hadn't already known what was rotting underneath, I would have fallen for it completely.

I could have shut the conversation down easily enough, but I was curious what he actually wanted, so I let it keep going.

"Come to think of it, what were you talking about with Miss Min Yeji earlier?"

And there it was. The real reason he'd come over.

"Ah — she was kind enough to offer me a spot in her guild."

"Oh... so from now on we'll be looking at Lee Ho-yeon of the Iron Blood Guild, then."

Park Min-gyu actually clapped, beaming as if he were genuinely happy for me.

"No. I'm sorry, but I turned her down."

"That's unexpected. The terms weren't to your liking? Did she lowball the signing bonus just because you're a cadet? You're already operating at active-hunter level."

"It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't that... I just don't really have any interest in joining a guild."

"Ahh. Well, Miss Min Yeji is a woman, after all. It might have been hard for her to put an offer on the table that a man like you would actually want."

"...Excuse me?"

"In the real hunter industry, there's plenty you can offer besides money and artifacts. Especially to a male hunter... women, for instance?"

After letting that hang, Park Min-gyu glanced at my face, gauging the reaction. The warm smile never left his mouth, but it couldn't fool my eyes. And when I didn't react, he immediately arranged his features into an apology, as if he'd made a social blunder.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That kind of talk isn't really appropriate, is it? If I overstepped, I apologize. I just wanted to give you a sense of how the industry actually works."

Look at this psycho act.

I had just turned twenty. I was barely an adult. And here was a man past forty, bowing his head and apologizing to me. People did not do that lightly. Park Min-gyu was going that far just to play me.

Women... women. Wait. Don't tell me...?

If we were talking about women from the Buyer Guild, there was only one thing that came to mind. I glanced around. I already knew there was no one nearby — I just wanted Park Min-gyu to see me check.

"No... that kind of talk isn't so bad, actually."

I dragged the corners of my mouth up as far as they would go and put on the greasiest smile I could manage. Nobody was watching. I could afford to look like scum.

"Haha... well, Cadet Lee Ho-yeon is a man, after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all. There's no man alive who doesn't like that kind of conversation."

Park Min-gyu pulled something from his coat. A contract.

"Nam Da-eun — the famous first-year. You know her, of course? She signed a lifetime contract with the Buyer Guild. And... well, she also has a private arrangement with me. A sponsorship, if you want to put it simply."

The word sponsorship sent a crawl of goosebumps over my entire body. He was holding her little sister hostage and calling it a sponsorship. Anyone who overheard this would think Nam Da-eun had volunteered to become a whore. And this was a girl young enough to be his own daughter.

"Stop. Hold on."

Park Min-gyu had even pulled out a photograph of Nam Daehee and held it up for me. He must have thought he'd landed the perfect hook. But I couldn't listen to another word. Bile was climbing the back of my throat.

"Hmm? Cadet Lee Ho-yeon?"

"I just remembered something urgent. Let's pick this up another time."

"No, it'll only take a moment..."

Park Min-gyu kept talking behind me. I ignored him and walked straight out of the party hall.

I even reached for magic, wanting to put as much distance between us as possible — and my chest gave a sudden, hard pound.

"...Right. I can't use mana."

The rebound from trying to raise my mana sent an ache rolling through my whole body. I had wanted out so badly I'd forgotten I was a patient.

"I didn't even say goodbye to Noona."

I should have at least paid my respects to Mun Su-rin. But if I went back in and ran into Park Min-gyu again, I wasn't sure I could keep the anger down. Even Clear Mind was having trouble covering it. More precisely — I could hold the rage in check, but I was in no condition to act like nothing was wrong.

Still. It wasn't a total waste.

Park Min-gyu still didn't know Nam Daehee was gone. He probably figured Nam Da-eun had simply gone back to the academy. That... wasn't a bad position to be in. I'd sat through a nauseating conversation and still come away with something useful. I'd take it.

Before I left, I sent Mun Su-rin a reasonable excuse.

I watched my smartwatch for a moment, but no reply came — she was probably buried in the investigation. I left the party hall as I was.

"Unnieee!"

"Mm-hmm. Come here."

I'd burned so much time at the party hall that it was an awkward hour to go see anyone else. So before I headed back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the hospital, I stopped by the dorm. I needed to check on Liliana and Nam Da-eun.

Five people in the dorm still felt strange. Scarlet, Liliana, and I sat watching Nam Daehee and Nam Da-eun play. Daehee clung to her sister; Da-eun smiled and gathered her in. The two of them looked close — genuinely, uncomplicatedly happy — and that made it better.

Nam Daehee was a middle schooler, but she glued herself to us like a much younger child. Probably because she hadn't been given enough love. Nam Da-eun knew that, and she took care of her sister with everything she had.

"Daehee's so bright. It's nice, right, Scarlet?"

"Indeed. I was just as cheerful when I was young."

Scarlet, sitting beside me, delivered this with a perfectly straight face.

"Hey. Why the sudden comedy routine?"

"...I mean it."

"Nom nom."

"Liliana. What about you?"

"Nom... huh?"

I wasn't sure what it was — some kind of jelly — but I talked to her anyway while she ate.

"When you were little. What were you like? Did you just game the whole time?"

"Me? Well... yeah."

"...The whole time? You can't have done nothing but game from the day you were born."

"That's not true! What do you take me for?"

Liliana looked offended and shoved another jelly into her mouth.

"So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what did you do, then? I'm just curious what life was like back in your hometown."

It was genuine curiosity. Nam Da-eun and Nam Daehee were in the living room, so I called Hell her "hometown."

"Hmm... hang on. For fifteen years after I became an adult, I just gamed. And then until I was thirty-five... what did I do...?"

"You and Scarlet both. Terrible material. If you can't remember that, it's dementia."

"I am not joking."

"...What did I do?"

Liliana's brow furrowed as she started actually thinking about it. Wait. This wasn't a bit?

This was bad. She wasn't joking.

"Liliana. You really can't remember?"

"Y-yeah... I don't know. Maybe because it's been fifteen years."

"...You don't just forget something like that because fifteen years passed."

I was starting to seriously wonder about dementia. Should I take her to a hospital? Then again, she remembered everything else just fine... Maybe it was a side effect of coming here from Hell.

"No, you don't? People forget all the time? Do you remember fifteen years ago? Do you remember being five?"

"Okay, being five and being thirty-five are not the same thing."

What kind of logic was that. But Liliana seemed extremely pleased with it.

"Anyway, you don't remember either. Same as me."

Mm-hmm. She nodded to herself, all alone, and decided that settled it. Being convinced by her own argument that badly was weird in its own right... but if she said she was fine, she was probably fine.

A mutter came from beside me.

"...If Lady Liliana was thirty-five fifteen years ago, that would make her fifty now?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"...!"

Scarlet's eyes went wide — apparently she was only now learning Liliana's age. Nam Daehee, who had been listening to the whole thing, let her mouth fall open and whispered,

"Whoa. She's an old lady..."

"I am NOT an old lady!"

"Old ladyyy!"

Liliana took off after the fleeing Nam Daehee. It was a blessing this was a high-end academy dorm. In an ordinary apartment building, the neighbors above, below, and on both sides would already have formed a delegation at our front door.

"To think you're fifty years old... that's astonishing."

Scarlet was genuinely shocked. She'd probably assumed Liliana was younger than she was. Looking at her, you would never guess fifty.

"She's five, in human years."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

Tsk. Why had I even said that. I couldn't explain properly anyway, not with Nam Da-eun and Nam Daehee right there. I settled for watching Liliana chase Nam Daehee around and killing time until I had to go back.

"Ho-yeon. Wait — Lee Ho-yeon?"

"Just call me whatever's comfortable. So, Da-eun — how are you holding up?"

"Okay."

Nam Da-eun, who had been playing with her sister, came over to me. We hadn't used to address each other this warmly, but with Nam Daehee around we'd been using first names to look close. We were actually a little closer now, though, so I'd told her we might as well just use names.

"Flowers... what do you like?"

"Huh?"

"Flowers. Ones with pretty colors."

Why was she suddenly asking about flowers? I had never understood the point of buying them. For that kind of money you could get a proper bowl of soup and actually fill up.

"...Whatever's a good value?"

"A good value..."

I'd mostly been joking, but Nam Da-eun seemed satisfied with the answer. She gave a small mm-hmm, nodded, and looked back toward Nam Daehee.

What was that.

Was she planning to bring some on her next hospital visit?

And she doesn't even care how old Liliana is.

She really was a strange one. I didn't dwell on it either, and let it go.

The day after Lee Ho-yeon and Park Min-gyu met.

Thursday.

With the investigation of the party-hall attack finished and the guild's backlog of work cleared, Park Min-gyu went out on a guild patrol.

"Thank you for your hard work, Guild Leader!"

"Yes, yes. You're all working very hard. Always stay safe out there."

"Yes, sir! Thank you!"

Park Min-gyu answered the regular guild members' greetings with perfect kindness. Among the rank and file, there were still people who had no idea how filthy and repulsive the Buyer Guild's real business was. You needed a certain number of years in before you were gradually handed that kind of work — and the pay went up with it. On top of that, you could only assign those jobs to people you trusted, so the bar was even higher.

"The atmosphere around here is always so bright, thanks to the Guild Leader."

"Right? That's why I stay. We're small, but the vibe is good."

What are these pieces of trash even saying.

The voices of the ordinary guild members grated on Park Min-gyu. They ought to have been working, not standing around chatting. He didn't like it.

"Is Daehee doing all right?"

"Yes, sir. She's been playing quietly for the last few days, so we've just been leaving meals and coming back out."

"Good, good. Unless the situation requires it, don't speak with her."

Park Min-gyu had forbidden the guild members from talking to Nam Daehee at all. The point was to treat her warmly himself, so that she would come to depend on him alone.

Knock, knock.

"Daehee? Uncle's coming in."

He opened the door without waiting for an answer. Nam Daehee was sitting blankly in the center of the room.

"Today Uncle was going to..."

The kindly expression on Park Min-gyu's face went stiff. The room was thick with the scent of mana — traces of magic. He immediately poured out his own power. Mana was leaking from a magic circle whose output had already dropped.

"Son of a bitch...!"

Someone had been in here. Park Min-gyu dismantled the circle on the spot. Nam Daehee's figure vanished like smoke, and he was left staring at an empty room.

"What — what the hell is this. Nam Daehee! Where is Nam Daehee!!!"

"What's wrong, Guild Leader!"

"You stupid son of a bitch! How the hell were you watching her?!"

Guild members rushed in at Park Min-gyu's roar, and they too discovered that Nam Daehee was gone. The circle had been leaking mana for days. That meant the caster had stopped feeding it power. Which meant Nam Daehee had been missing for quite some time — and the fact that nobody had noticed meant the caster was extraordinarily skilled.

Someone that capable, with a grudge against the Buyer Guild...

"Who the hell..."

Wait. That wasn't what mattered right now. A far more important person flashed through Park Min-gyu's mind. He turned to the director, who had come into the room at the noise.

"Nam Da-eun. Get Nam Da-eun on the line!"

"That's... she hasn't been answering since she went to the party with you, Guild Leader. We assumed she was with you..."

The director had no real information on Nam Da-eun. Park Min-gyu had kept everything about the two sisters to himself, refusing to share it with the rest of the guild so he could have them both. There had been no communication between them at all, and because that was how it had always been, the director had assumed there was no problem and done nothing. This was the result. On top of that, Nam Da-eun — who until now had obeyed every word — had suddenly cut contact, which only made the panic worse.

"You morons call that an answer?!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Park Min-gyu's kindly face twisted. This could not stand. He had to find Nam Daehee, no matter what. Everything he had built was on the verge of collapsing.

"Find Nam Da-eun and Nam Daehee right now. By any means necessary!"

"Y-yes, sir! I'll put the word out to our informants!"

"Not just the informants — commission an information guild too. Somewhere that will never leak. Carefully. Understand?"

"Y-yes, sir!"

At Park Min-gyu's words the director bolted out, cold sweat running down his face, to place the request. Park Min-gyu watched him go, his teeth clenched.

Nam Da-eun's body seemed to shimmer in the air before his eyes. A body that was supposed to be his soon. He had been watching that body for more than ten years. He would never give it up like this.

Park Min-gyu clenched his fist and walked away.