From Today, You're Family

"We heard an important guest was coming today, so we went to the trouble of preparing military burgers."

Junhwan had come up beside her before she noticed. He smiled, a little proud of himself.

"You can just eat it like a regular hamburger. But if you pour the milk onto the tray, spread strawberry jam on the bread, tear it up, and roll it all together, it's seriously good."

One of the guild members demonstrated ahead of her.

Eunha turned her eyes back to the table. Besides the trays of plain hamburger fixings, there was hardtack, instant coffee mix, and plenty of other food that might let her remember the old days.

"……You always eat like this?"

"As much as we can. This way, it actually feels right."

Minju took a huge bite of the burger he had made himself and grinned. Farther off, a guild member in an apron waved both hands wildly.

"If it isn't enough, just say the word. Normally it's two patties a person, but for Miss Yura I'll refill you all the way to five. Special."

"What? Since when is that a thing?"

Junhwan, quiet until then, suddenly bellowed at his comrade. It was the opposite of the way he treated Eunha. Maybe this was his real face.

"Obviously. You think she's just some F-rank concept hunter? She's the one from Busan's Jagalchi Market—"

"Hey."

Clang!

A spoon struck the glass tabletop, sharp. Silence dropped over them at once. Out of it, Minju slowly raised his head.

"Hyung. We're eating. Let's not talk about useless things."

One bright smile, and that was the end of it. Minju took up his spoon again. The mood, once it had sunk, did not easily come back.

"……."

Eunha stole a glance at him. When their eyes met, Minju smiled, small and easy, and lifted a thumb just a little. She wasn't sure what the signal was supposed to mean.

"S-so, since it's come to this, how about unlimited refills today?"

One of the guild members spoke up louder than usual, trying to turn the air. Only then did the frozen atmosphere ease, if only a little.

"Un-li-mii-ted refills? Absolutely not. The master ordered forty-two figures this week alone. We have to save. Got a problem? Then you take mess duty."

"Hey. Did you forget I'm supply? Keep this up and starting next week I'm not packing you any seasoning mix."

"What did you say? That's low, using that!"

They showed no sign of stopping. The argument ran on until they had each other by the collar and in headlocks, and by the end even Junhwan had thrown himself in, turning the whole thing into a brawl.

"Um… shouldn't someone stop them?"

Eunha, who had been watching in silence, spoke at last. Minju, still chewing, opened his eyes round.

"Why? They're just playing."

"Playing?"

"Yeah. Happens all the time."

Minju shrugged as if it were nothing. Beside him, Suhyun, who had been quietly slicing meat, nodded along.

"It might take some getting used to, but our family has always been like this."

"Family?"

When Eunha caught on the unfamiliar word, Suhyun smiled.

"Yes. Family. We call each other family."

"Why go out of your way to say it in English."

At Eunha's murmur, Suhyun glanced at Minju, then whispered low enough that only she could hear.

"Because he gets shy."

"……."

"It's the same word either way. Right?"

Suhyun laughed without a sound. Over her shoulder, Junhwan and the others were still squabbling.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Laughter drifted in from somewhere. It might have been very far away, or right beside her. Something she had forgotten for a very long time.

Ah.

At last she remembered.

This strange scene in front of her had, once, been an everyday thing for her too.

"……."

Eunha quietly lowered her gaze. Beside her, Minju had been staring the whole time—at the fork closed in her hand, and at the way she could not seem to move.

Then he sprang up from his seat and brought his hands together in a single loud clap.

"All right, everybody, quiet!"

They froze. Every eye went to his voice. Minju cleared his throat and pointed straight at Eunha.

Every guild member's eyes went round. So did Eunha's.

"What? Does that mean she's joining the Legion?"

"No. Not that. She's just family. If I say so, then that's how it is."

Minju sat back down as if he were finished. Eunha's dark gaze chased after him in a hurry.

"No, I—"

Her lips had barely parted.

"Then a toast, for our new family!"

As if they had never been fighting, the guild members raised their cups as one. She was staring at them, dazed and thrown, when Junhwan pressed a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glass into her hand anyway.

"Here. Please take your glass."

Eunha looked down at the glass half forced into her grip. Bright orange juice, filled to overflowing. She lifted her eyes again.

"Cheers—!"

Clink!

The cheerful crash of glass rang hard in her ears. Eunha, gone still without ever looking away from them, eventually gave in and slowly raised her own.

"……."

Was she drunk on orange juice? There was no way. And yet, for a moment, the face reflected in the glass looked strangely as if it were enjoying itself. It was an odd feeling.

"……Cheers."

But she didn't think she disliked it.

At the same hour. Somewhere in Seoul.

"The pendant you brought last time has been a great help to the research. Thank you."

Geum Rose, master of the Rose Guild, drew out a box she had been keeping carefully beneath the desk.

Clack.

When she opened the lid, the Sea's Tear—spoils of the Busan Unknown Gate—shed a blue light.

"Because of this pendant, we'll be able to save more people. You've done something truly important."

Having said that, Rose hesitated, then glanced at Yu Hwan.

"There wasn't… anything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠else?"

Anything else. She did not mean other spoils. Yu Hwan nodded, heavy.

"Nothing."

"……I see."

Rose's violet gaze went to a frame on the desk. Inside the wooden frame, a little larger than a palm, were two people who looked happy. The Rose in the photograph was holding a little girl who looked just like her.

Her only daughter, Narae, missing for eight years. A treasure Rose had valued more than her own life. If the girl were alive, she would be about Minju's age by now. To this day the police had not found so much as clothes or belongings, let alone her whereabouts.

They couldn't have.

Her daughter had been swallowed by an Unknown Gate.

After that, Rose had fixated on Unknown Gate research as if something possessed her. She had believed she would find her daughter someday, and that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠belief had not changed.

Rose stroked the surface of the frame as carefully as if she were touching a newborn. Her eyes sank deep. Yu Hwan watched her profile in silence and said nothing until she spoke again.

At last she took her hand from the frame, and her lips moved, slow.

"……More importantly, after Busan, Pohang is showing signs that aren't normal. Look at this."

At her gesture, a hologram monitor rose softly over the desk. Red flag icons marked places all across the map of Korea. Every one of them was an Unknown Gate that had appeared over the past twenty years. Up through the most recent—the Jagalchi Market Unknown Gate in Busan—there were five on record.

"If the data we've gathered so far holds, an Unknown Gate will open in Pohang soon. As early as the day after tomorrow. Within three days at the latest."

"You're sure?"

"Almost. I've already passed it to the Association."

"And the Association?"

"The same as always. They say they understand, but they still don't fully trust my data."

Rose dropped her gaze, frustrated. Beside her, Yu Hwan spoke evenly.

"I trust it."

Rose looked up. He was watching her with eyes that did not waver an inch. As he always had.

"……All right. Thank you."

A smile finally returned to her stiff mouth.

"We don't have time to sit still and only hope for help. We have to move first. If we want to keep the damage down, it would be best to send an S-rank hunter, the way we did last time."

"Then I will."

"No. You can't."

Rose cut him off, firm.

"Bulmyeol already bled badly over the Jagalchi Market Unknown Gate."

"……."

It rankled, but Yu Hwan had to close his mouth. She was right. Nearly all of the Bulmyeol fighters sent into the Unknown Gate had been wiped out. Only three had come back, Seongyun among them, and even those three were still recovering their strength. For at least the next two weeks, a real fight would be impossible.

"We can't expect anything from Wolf to begin with. And our Rose Guild, as you know, isn't suited to combat. So what's left—"

Their eyes met.

"……You're going to leave it to that kid?"

"That child is S-rank too."

"Hm."

Yu Hwan rubbed his chin, not entirely pleased. It wasn't that he looked down on Trickster, or dismissed him. Only that driving a boy who was still a teenager over a cliff for no reason except an S-rank went against what he believed.

Had Korea really run this short of anyone worth relying on? He ran back through the roster in his head, then suddenly looked up. A name had struck him like lightning.

"Rose. I have an idea."

"Tell me."

"Before that… there's something I still haven't told you. I should start there."

Yu Hwan fell silent. He seemed to hesitate, then lifted his gaze to her.

"……The truth is, I wasn't the one who obtained the Sea's Tear. Not Do Seongyun. Not Heo Jaemin. Not anyone else in Bulmyeol."

"What are you saying?"

"The Princess of Dark Flare."

Yu Hwan spoke, heavy.

"An F-rank concept hunter. Contracted to Wolf."

"……What?"

Rose's face hardened despite herself.

Countless articles she had seen and pretended not to see flashed through her mind.

"You're joking."

Rose asked. Yu Hwan's face stayed blank. He neither denied it nor confirmed it. He only stared at the pendant glowing clear inside the box.

"……."

Rose closed her mouth. They had been friends for a long time. She could tell he was speaking the truth. After a short silence, she shifted in her seat.

"……So? Yu Hwan. Don't tell me you mean we should leave this to that hunter."

"She's worth placing hope in. More than enough."

"……."

Speechless, Rose stared at him. His expression was serious. He did not look as if he were joking at all, and that only made it more absurd.

"Get a hold of yourself, Yu Hwan. This could become a national catastrophe. Offering an uncertain plan for something this grave is foolish."

"Nothing is more certain than my eyes."

"I know. I know, but… there isn't much time before the next Unknown Gate appears. If they aren't S-rank, it doesn't mean anything."

Rose let out a small sigh.

"First we have to contact the Legion. Right now we need a hunter with a high rate of success. Looking for another option comes after that."

Her violet eyes rolled toward the hologram floating in the air. Pohang, North Gyeongsang. Above the city, a red exclamation mark was blinking, so vivid it felt like an ill omen.