Nonsan Bound
When I told Nureongi and Boppi about the dispatch after returning from our walk, the two of them nodded and looked pleased, contrary to what I had expected. After all, their usual range of outings was limited to the Dohoang-ri neighborhood at best, or stretching it a bit to Taean County, or the occasional trip into town in my old truck. The idea of visiting a new region they had never seen before, and a much larger city at that, seemed more than enough to spark their interest.
I thought it was a decent suggestion myself. The two of them would probably benefit from spending time at a hunter shelter surrounded by people like themselves and building connections with other beastmen. Just then, Nureongi tilted her head and asked, "But... Unni, when you say shelter, does that mean like a basement or something?"
"No, it's called a shelter, but it's basically like a big resort or lodging facility."
At my words, Boppi perked up her ears and chimed in knowingly. "Oh, I've heard about that! They say the ones in Seoul are on a whole different level from regular hotels! Apparently those people have so much money they don't know what to do with it."
Boppi was right. In this world, no group had more money than the Hunter Bureau. In the old days, people might have pointed to chaebol heirs or powerful politicians as the richest, and it was true they were still wealthy. But in the current era, power mattered far more than money. When a group that possessed that kind of power also had enormous wealth and deep ties to politics, calling them a "state-level organization" wasn't much of an exaggeration.
Still, that was a story that had nothing to do with me, and I hoped it would stay that way for these two as well. Since I had gotten permission from Nureongi and Boppi, the only thing left was to get approval from the police outpost for transporting the firearms. In truth, that was much easier than getting the girls' approval. Convincing them required all sorts of incentives, but this was simply a matter of following established procedures.
The Ministry of Environment official had probably already contacted them about my dispatch to Nonsan, so the outpost would just need Park Gyeong-wi or the junior officer to fill out the paperwork based on that. The next day, I headed to the outpost with a light heart. As soon as I stepped inside, a familiar officer spotted me and immediately held out a document, as if he had been waiting for me. Just as I expected.
They must have already been in touch with the official in charge. The paperwork was completely filled out, with only my signature line left blank. "Must be quite the hassle, going all the way to Nonsan."
"When else would I get to visit a big city like this? It would've been nicer if it was somewhere in Gyeonggi Province instead."
The officer made a face at my joke. "Uh... that doesn't sound great at all."
I just smiled at his reaction and signed my name on the line. He knew as well as I did that Gyeonggi Province was crawling with all sorts of dangerous monsters because of how many people lived there. Still, it was amusing to see such an innocent response every now and then.
When I handed the document back, the officer asked, "Will you be picking up the firearms on Sunday?"
"No, I'm planning to leave early Saturday morning."
"Understood. I'll notify the Nonsan police station in advance that you'll be visiting on Saturday."
"Thanks for your help."
After leaving the outpost, I stretched my arms wide to loosen up my stiff body. Between the mudskipper and the horned water deer, far too much had happened in the past week. Now I even had to go on a dispatch, so even with a Quasi-Awakened body, the soreness was unavoidable. So for the remaining days until Saturday, I spent my time resting properly.
Most of my time was spent doing the household chores that had piled up with Nureongi, or going on neighborhood walks with Boppi. Whenever I had a spare moment, I cleaned my equipment for the dispatch and organized my luggage. I felt like I had made good use of the time. Then, the night before departure, I was doing one final check of my bags.
My large duffel bag contained only my hunting gear and a few changes of clothes, all of them drab hunting outfits. In contrast, Nureongi and Boppi's bags were packed full of pretty going-out clothes, like kids heading off on a school trip. And tucked into one corner of their bags were the dress and other nice clothes I had bought in town not long ago, neatly folded and divided evenly between them.
It seemed the two of them were determined to dress me up and take me out during this dispatch no matter what. Part of me wanted to secretly pull them out, but I decided against it. I already had trouble refusing when they looked at me with sparkling eyes, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it if they looked at me with sad eyes instead. So I just pretended not to notice.
Once I loaded my bag and theirs side by side in the back of the truck, it somehow felt like we really were a family going on a trip together. A family trip... I couldn't even remember if I had ever gone on one as a child. The thought of asking my parents crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. Calling them would only lead to questions like, "So how are Nureongi and Boppi doing? Are you bringing them for the holidays?" I just shook my head once and went back inside.
On the morning of departure, we woke up before sunrise and left the house. The first stop was the police outpost, where I picked up my gun after receiving the transport permit. Seeing it again after so long, disassembled for safety and packed in a long gun case, felt strangely unfamiliar. At a glance, it looked like either a violin case or a golf bag, which I actually found rather appealing.
Before leaving the outpost, I received the firearm transport permit from Park Gyeong-wi and got back in the truck. Sitting in the driver's seat, I skimmed through the permit. It listed everything from the reason for transport to the route and estimated travel time. Beneath the densely written details were the names of the county office environment department official and Park Gyeong-wi, along with their clear official seals.
"Yeah, this much is the least they could do if they want me to go without worrying." I handed the document to Nureongi in the passenger seat and stepped on the accelerator. Our beat-up blue truck finally began moving slowly toward our unfamiliar destination: Nonsan.
Since we needed to use the highway to reach Nonsan, we entered the tollgate in the opposite direction from a few days ago. Fortunately, the highway wasn't under control, probably because not much time had passed since the Dimension Deviation alert ended. If we had been unlucky, we would have had to take a long detour on national roads, which would have been exhausting, but luck was on our side.
Once again, soldiers were standing guard at the tollgate. I rolled down the window and handed over the permit from the outpost. The soldier checked the document, confirmed the gun case was in the back seat, and let us through without any further questions. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw that Boppi in the back and Nureongi in the passenger seat were sitting quietly instead of shrinking away at the sight of the soldiers like they had a few days ago. It was oddly heartwarming.
The highway now was very different from the one I remembered. In the past, there had been rest areas and drowsy driver shelters here and there for long drives and travelers, but those spots had all been replaced with signs for emergency shelters, giving the road a bleak appearance. Of course, you could stop at an emergency shelter if needed, but it was generally safer to reach your destination as quickly as possible. As a result, the highway was almost completely empty except for vehicles that absolutely had to move urgently or transport goods. The only consolation was that we wouldn't have to deal with traffic.
I had to keep my eyes fixed on the monotonous straight road ahead, but Nureongi and Boppi were different. Instead of the familiar coastline, the passing cities and mountain scenery seemed quite interesting to them. The two chatted away while looking out the windows, completely losing track of time. Since they didn't seem bored, I had a feeling this trip would go smoothly.
After driving steadily for quite a while, the green highway sign reading "Nonsan" finally came into view, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. When I stopped the car in front of the tollgate, the scene that greeted us was fitting for a city famous as a military hub. An armored vehicle stood imposingly beside the tollgate, and the security personnel conducting inspections were heavily armed. But no matter how intimidating they looked, I wasn't bothered. My only job was to show them the permit, and theirs was to search the vehicle before letting me through. That was all.
The heavily armed soldiers seemed to be thinking the same thing. They took the permit I handed over, gave it a cursory glance, looked once at Nureongi and Boppi sitting quietly in the car, and then saluted and stepped aside without any further checks. Only after finally entering the unfamiliar city of downtown Nonsan did I let out a long breath I had been holding. The tension was melting away.
"You worked hard, Unni."
"Yeah! Even I got bored just staring out the window, so you must've been even more bored driving."
Hearing Nureongi and Boppi's warm encouragement from the passenger seat and back seat made the stiffness in my shoulders feel like it was easing up again. I glanced at the two of them in the rearview mirror, chuckled, and gripped the steering wheel once more.
Our first stop was the shelter operated by the Hunter Bureau in the city. The building that appeared before us was massive and luxurious enough to put most hotels to shame, showing just how much money even a regional city like Nonsan had to spend. But that was only the exterior. The tall defensive walls surrounding the building like a fortress and the stern gazes of the guards at the entrance made it clear this wasn't just a playground for rich people.
When I parked my old truck in front of the shelter entrance, a man who looked like a guard approached. "What brings you here?"
"Thank you for your work. Could you check if this is usable?"
When I handed over the ticket I had received from the official in charge, he scanned it with a barcode reader and returned it to me without a word. "Please wait a moment."
The guard, who had spoken curtly, gestured toward the inside, and the barrier blocking the entrance slowly rose. Whether he was naturally that strict or simply looking down on me as a Quasi-Awakened, I couldn't tell, but I didn't have the energy to argue about it. All I wanted was to get inside the shelter and rest as soon as possible.
After parking the truck in the designated lot and getting out, I looked around and saw rows of gleaming luxury cars that made our beat-up truck look even more pitiful. I couldn't tell from the cars alone whether their owners were truly powerful hunters or just flashy amateurs, but I had to admit I felt a twinge of envy. Unlike Nureongi and Boppi, who were curiously looking around, I stepped through the shelter's massive glass doors while once again feeling the gap between rich and poor.