The Aftermath

Meanwhile, outside—

A Party Bear slumped over, completely limp.

I chucked the unconscious thing toward the gate.

"Leave it with the other pieces. I've got sewing to do."

Two more Party Bears appeared, each grabbing one of its arms, and dragged it away.

Honestly, I'd wanted to beat it within an inch of its life…

But the thing had just fought with everything it had. I couldn't bring myself to be that cruel.

Kang Jiye watched the Party Bears carting off their comrades' remains in a line and spoke with concern.

"If Yena sees this, we're in trouble… Looks like the fighting got pretty intense."

I let out a sigh.

"Tell me about it."

As if the mountain of repairs I already had wasn't enough, these idiots had gone and eaten an S-class dagger on top of it.

This was no small matter. Most of the commercial-grade Party Bears had been completely wrecked.

Shrinking them down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had weakened their combat power, and that was why.

At least I'd preserved their heads, so the material cost would be relatively low—but the real problem was my skill rank.

Ugh.

I'd deal with that later. First, the important question.

"By the way—is Yena okay?"

Judging by the atmosphere, nothing major had happened, but I still wanted to confirm.

Kang Jiye looked mildly surprised.

"Yena?"

"Something went down outside too, didn't it?"

"It did, but… how did you know?"

"That woman threatened to kill you and Yena."

I pointed at the Fifth Divine Priest, and both of their heads turned.

I gave them a condensed rundown of her identity and how everything had unfolded. Once she understood the situation, Kang Jiye nodded. Then came the answer I wanted—Yena was safe.

"…Did you sew this shut?"

Meanwhile, Kim Seojun was studying the threads embedded in the Fifth Divine Priest's neck and face. With Joker deactivated, they'd loosened a little, but they were still holding strong.

I glanced at Kang Jiye, then shook my head.

"I don't know anything about that."

"…"

Kim Seojun spoke in a flat, settled tone.

"Nobody's going to lecture you for torturing a cultist, so just be honest. Right, Hunter Kang Jiye?"

But Kang Jiye shook her head firmly.

"It's not good behavior for a child's education. She needs a talking-to."

"Excuse me?"

Kim Seojun stared at her like she'd lost her mind.

"A magical beast is a child? Do you have any idea how old she is?"

"I don't care how old she is. If I say she's a child, she's a child."

"…Hunter, this could get dangerous depending on the situation."

"Don't be ridiculous. Our Pecia doesn't hurt people. Right, our little munchkin~?"

Kang Jiye pulled me in and stroked my hair. I pretended to hug her while flipping Kim Seojun off behind her back.

"…"

Kim Seojun froze like a robot mid-lag, and for some reason the Chief Instructor behind him burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Kim Seojun glared at the Chief Instructor for a moment, then sighed.

"If you keep this up, we can't move forward."

"It might not have been Pecia. Munchkin, did you do this?"

I shook my head at Kang Jiye's question.

"My kids get pretty out of hand. I'll make sure they're more careful next time."

Kim Seojun turned away like he'd given up. He clearly wanted to dig up the truth, but with Kang Jiye—my guardian—believing every word I said without question, it wasn't going to be easy.

He looked down at the Fifth Divine Priest.

"Anyway, this is your side's handiwork. Any problem if I just undo it?"

I tilted my head.

"Why would you undo it? Someone put in the effort to do that work."

"She's high-ranking, so of course she needs to be interrogated. Yeah, you totally did this, you little shit."

A laugh slipped out of me.

Damn it. He'd snuck that in the second I let my guard down.

Kang Jiye gave a bitter smile and flicked me lightly on the top of the head. She'd known I was the culprit from the start.

Had we wasted too much time? Chaotic mana fluctuations started registering all across Bukhan Mountain.

In the end, the Chief Instructor—who'd been watching from the back—stepped in to mediate.

"We've got her subordinates locked up too, not just this woman. Nobody's in critical condition, so get the kids out of here first and deal with the rest however you want."

Kim Seojun bowed his head.

"Thank you, Senior."

"And you, you bastard. From now on, you spill everything you know. You almost got wrecked sitting there knowing nothing. Of all the things a lunatic could hide, you hid a major terrorist organization?"

"Ah, well, the spies haven't all been identified yet, and I didn't expect them to make a move this sudden…"

"Shut up."

"Yes, sir."

Hehe. He's getting chewed out.

Judging by the cut on his collar, he'd had a rough time outside too. He must've been feeling pretty wronged.

But the Chief Instructor wasn't wrong, either.

If he'd known from the beginning, he would have acted more carefully—maybe even prepared in advance.

More than that, not receiving the information beforehand essentially meant he'd been under suspicion as a potential spy himself. Of course he wasn't happy about it.

Before long, every last scrap of teddy bear wreckage had been cleared away.

For all the numbers that had been torn apart, the actual combat zone was limited, so recovery went fast.

"Alright, playtime's over—get inside! Anyone still hiding behind those trees gets their ass split open."

I raised a dagger, and the ones who'd been dawdling with regret scrambled through the gate in a rush.

But two Toy Soldiers and Cratan were missing.

I sent a return signal through a mana pulse—and those maniacs showed up hauling a makeshift stretcher stacked with trees like a tower. They'd looted a whole haul of mana wood.

The Chief Instructor blinked with an utterly baffled expression.

"What the hell are they doing?"

As the dolls made straight for the gate, the Chief Instructor urgently tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, hey—tell them to stop for a second."

"Why?"

"Why? Look at them, you brat. They're cherry-picking nothing but the rare species! I barely managed to get those planted for training!"

"Well. We did earn some merit here. This much should be fine."

"I get that, okay? I get it. Just leave those for now. I'll report it up the chain and make sure you're fully compensated."

I pointed at the now-empty hillside.

"But they're already gone."

For reference: once Cratan set his sights on something, getting it back was impossible. His obsession with treasure rivaled that of Royalty itself.

There were even game routes where people tried to turn Cratan and Pecia against each other over treasure during certain raids.

The Chief Instructor clutched his hair like he was about to rip it out.

Looks like Bukhan Mountain had quite a few rare resources after all.

I couldn't identify the exact species, but even the safehouse I'd found had been built from top-grade mana wood with built-in stealth functions.

It had been quality enough to complete Cratan—an aristocrat—so the grade spoke for itself.

Not my problem either way.

I shut the gate entirely and asked,

"So what happened outside, anyway?"

There was no way trouble had been limited to Bukhan Mountain alone. An entire cult faction had mobilized. In terms of scale, it was like a small nation's entire military force going into action.

Sure enough, Kang Jiye rolled her tongue thoughtfully before answering.

"…There was an attack."

"On you?"

Kang Jiye shook her head.

"On everything."

"What?"

"Terror attacks hit all of Seoul. Of course, it seems like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the top priority targets were me and Yena."

"…Tell me everything."

I should stop by home while I was at it—see Yena too.

I started walking naturally alongside Kang Jiye. That was when the Chief Instructor called me back.

"Pierrot."

"Yes?"

"We received significant help from you either ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way. Thank you. I hope I'll be able to repay this debt in full."

I nodded silently.

"…But could you at least return the Legendary-grade ones? Each piece is worth two billion won. No—I'll just pay you that much in cash."

"Senior, you're looking a little desperate."

"Shut it. They pulled out Sacred Mountain Trees and you expect me to laugh?"

"Pardon?"

I ignored both of them and walked out of Bukhan Mountain.

"What on earth…"

Flying vehicles and helicopters packed the sky in dense layers. Columns of black smoke rose from every direction, and even now, intermittent firefights still lit up the air overhead.

And on top of it all, the blare of emergency sirens hammering my ears. The situation was far worse than I'd imagined, and my mouth fell open on its own.

Kang Jiye replied with a detached look in her eyes.

"It's fine now. There were some casualties, that's all. Those bastards went all-out with suicide bombings."

"…!"

Approximately one hour earlier, Hyesung Aquaville.

"Yena~ Want to go grocery shopping with Mom? It's been a while."

"Sure."

"Ppuu~."

"Go by yourself."

"…"

When had it started?

The adorable daughter who used to look for her mother all day long was gone. In her place was only a little hellion who spent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her time playing violent board games with her magical beast friends.

Kang Jiye let out a small laugh.

There was a time I used to worry first about who I could even leave her with.

She knew it was a happy kind of worry for a single mother—but every now and then, she couldn't help feeling that time was unfairly fast.

"Alright then. Be good and play nicely."

And with that, Kang Jiye headed out to run errands. Yena and the Party Bears sank deep into their board game trance.

"Ah, unnie. How do I move from here?"

Stuck at a fork in the path, Yena fretted. Eldrisa, who had been staring blankly down at the board, propped her chin on her hand and answered.

"You don't move—you put up an earth wall first. Second Bear is about to overtake you."

"Oh."

As a rule, Eldrisa never played the game herself. Consoling Yena after beating her was too much of a hassle.

Besides, a few bits of trivial advice like this were enough to put the girl to work like a maid.

"Here's some warm black tea~ for my smart unnie! Thank you for earlier!!"

Eldrisa accepted the teacup Yena offered as if it were only natural and took a sip. If Pecia found out, all hell would break loose—but she was born nobility, so it couldn't be helped.

She crossed her legs elegantly and whiled away the time in leisure.

……?

Then her head turned suddenly to the side. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she gazed out the living room window—and spotted a single point approaching at high speed.

Eldrisa's broom floated up and locked onto the point.

She took another sip of tea and spoke.

"Whoever you are, turn around quietly. This is pointless."