Justifiable Defense
“Park Minhoooo!!!”
Min Taesu charged with his eyes rolled back, gleaming with murderous intent.
Shall I finish him off?
Ugh.
Isn’t she talking a little too casually about killing a person?
Hey, iron head. Don’t you have any common sense?
Right.
Ingrid. You at least try to stop her.
You should have cut his head off before even asking the master.
A fair point. Leaving alive one who has shown hostility toward my lord is a violation of chivalry.
This isn’t even a difference of common sense.
Why are they treating that like the obvious answer?
“Just neutralize him.”
Understood.
Dame Isra drew her sword. She walked slowly toward Min Taesu, then swung without the slightest hesitation.
Slash—
Droplets of blood painted the air. Min Taesu, who had been charging with inverted eyes, crumpled to the ground.
“Huh?”
He looked like he had no idea why he had fallen. A beat later came a wet thud as his now-ownerless right arm tumbled across the floor.
“Dame.”
I neutralized him to protect my lord.
True.
I did say neutralize. I never said to chop his arm clean off.
Is that not sufficiently merciful?
Ingrid seemed to share roughly the same opinion.
Ugh.
Fine. At least she didn’t take the neck.
Min Taesu, who had been turning his head as if he still couldn’t understand our exchange, finally spotted the arm rolling on the ground and screamed.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
He had been sprinting full tilt when one arm suddenly vanished. Of course his balance collapsed and he went down.
A moment later the rest of the Mir raid team entered the cavern. They gasped at the sight of Min Taesu’s condition.
“What in the world—!”
“Raid leader?”
“R-Raid leader! Your arm!”
I raised both hands lightly to show I had no hostile intent.
“Please don’t be alarmed. It was self-defense.”
My innocence was all recorded on the body cam right here. My summons had stopped short of taking his head, so they should really be bowing in gratitude.
“Just treat him already. His eyes were completely gone.”
The Mir hunters remained wary. While the others kept me in check, only two healing-type hunters peeled off and approached Min Taesu.
“Aaaaagh! Park Minhoooo!”
“Eek!”
Min Taesu’s remaining hand tried to strike a healer.
Clang!
A barrier flared from the healer’s necklace—some kind of emergency auto-activation item.
“It’s Black Spider venom.”
“He’s completely out of his mind.”
“We can’t treat him like this.”
Ah.
So the poison had scrambled his brain?
Not only had he turned murderous intent on me, he was even attacking his own teammates. The venom must have been seriously potent.
From what this maiden can see, jealousy toward Master is also part of it.
The classic face of a petty man.
Well, whatever. We had cleanly removed one of his arms, so we could let the killing intent slide.
“Hold the raid leader down!”
Heal
Cure
A mid-grade restorative draught
……
Only after two warrior-type hunters managed to pin him down did the treatment finally begin.
“Whoa. They’re using intermediate potions.”
“Those are ten million won each.”
The domestic top five really were on another level. With welfare this solid, no wonder hunters were desperate to join.
“I heard you left the guild, hyung-nim.”
How could a tiger mingle among wolves?
Listen to that cutting remark.
“I never thought anything that bad of them.”
Then why do you operate alone?
Uh.
Well… group life puts restrictions on personal activity.
It is merely a difference of expression. In the end it is the same thing.
Dame.
Only eloquent at times like this, huh?
“I’ll go harvest the magic stones from the remaining monsters.”
“Yes. Please do.”
Given the Min Taesu situation, I kept a polite distance from the Mir raid team. I had my undead standing guard when someone approached.
He looked vaguely familiar.
“Thank you for sparing the raid leader.”
“Who are you again?”
“Jang Minseok. We sparred before.”
Ah.
Right, right. No wonder he looked familiar.
“It wasn’t like he did anything worth dying over.”
“As a token of thanks, I’ll give you a warning.”
Excuse me?
Since when did “thanks” and “warning” mean the same thing?
My common sense had taken several hits today.
Fine. Let’s hear what he has to say.
“Our guild master is a ruthless man.”
“Is that a threat of retaliation?”
“I’m saying there are plenty of ways to harass Hunter Park outside of a raid competition.”
Now that I listened, it wasn’t even a warning.
This was a threat.
“Yes. I’m so terrified I’ll leave the lights on when I sleep tonight.”
“It may sound like a threat, but I meant you should be careful.”
“You realize what you just said sounded exactly like a threat, right?”
“I was just saying whatever came to mind. Sorry.”
Jang Minseok bowed his head. So it hadn’t been meant as a threat. As he first claimed, it was a genuine warning to watch out for the Mir Guild.
“You don’t even like me that much.”
“Watching Min Taesu get put in his place felt damn good, actually.”
Our raid-leader ahjussi.
He was hardworking, sure, but he clearly hadn’t won his members’ hearts.
“I’ll remember what you said.”
It seems we have become entangled in troublesome affairs.
Don’t worry.
If someone hates me for no reason? Then I simply give them a reason to hate me.
Envying the talented is the same in every world.
We must serve our lord well.
Fine. Iron head. For this once, we are allies.
How reassuring.
Watching my summons unite like that, I felt not even a single gram of fear.
“Good work.”
President Baek no longer even asked; he simply handed me an iced Americano.
“Aren’t you curious about the results?”
“Of course Hunter Park won.”
Wow.
So this was what it felt like to be trusted.
“You can tell just from the faces of the Mir hunters.”
“That’s true too.”
It was mealtime, yet they all looked so gloomy.
“You said your family home is nearby, right?”
“Yes. It’s a short walk.”
“Then leave the cleanup to me and head home early.”
Reporting the competition results, processing monster byproducts—all the complicated work, President Baek said he would handle.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“It’s my job. Don’t worry about it.”
I had offered once out of politeness; that was enough. The summons had done all the hunting, but staying on high alert the whole time had left me exhausted.
“Hyung-nim. Leave it to us and rest.”
“See you at the next training!”
When they put it like that, I had no choice but to go. I exchanged casual goodbyes with President Baek and the support team and turned away.
About ten minutes’ walk from Manseok Park brought me to Suwon Traditional Market.
“One of these, please.”
I couldn’t show up empty-handed. I bought a box of soft peaches on the spot.
They do not look much different from the fruit beside them.
Hey!
Soft peaches are the truth. Remember that.
Near the traditional market stood an old residential complex. After walking a little farther I saw a weathered building with shops on the first floor and living space above.
The house where I had spent my school years.
The scent of frying oil drifted to my nose. Back in my school days I had lived high on the power of being the chicken shop owner’s son… but that was all ancient history now.
“I’m home.”
“Son? What brings you here without a word?”
“Had business nearby. Dropped by while I was at it.”
“I told you to come empty-handed. Yet you always bring something.”
Creak—
My younger sister came down from the second floor, scratching her belly, then met my eyes.
“Oppa. You’re here?”
“You should wash up. What time do you think it is?”
“It’s my day off.”
“A person never knows when or where they’ll meet someone. You should always keep yourself presentable.”
“All that nagging… yep, that’s my oppa.”
My sister, five years younger. Raised as the late child with endless pampering, she had grown thoroughly full of herself.
“Did you raise me? Mom and Dad did.”
“I have shares in the diaper-changing.”
“Eww! Why are you still bringing that up?!”
“When Mom and Dad went to fry chicken… that little me changed your poopy diapers…”
“Aaaaaah! I can’t hear you! La la la!”
Ugh.
She really had no sense of shame.
“Woof! Woof!”
“Aww, is our Happy coming to see hyung?”
“Blech. Don’t talk like that.”
My sister stuck her tongue out. I patted the head of Happy, the family dog, then looked around.
“Where’s Dad?”
“Out on a delivery. He’ll be back soon. Eat something, son.”
Sniff.
Maybe it was the smell of oil, or maybe it was how hard I had pushed my body, but hunger hit me all at once.
“Fried, please.”
“Oppa. If you’re going to dip fried chicken in sauce, why not just get seasoned?”
Foolish little sister.
Tsk tsk.
I wagged my index finger left and right.
“Crispy fried chicken dipped in sauce and soggy fried chicken already coated in sauce are completely different experiences.”
A chicken shop owner’s daughter who didn’t even know the proper way to eat it. You were disqualified.
“So you’re saying Mom’s frying tastes bad? Moooom!!!”
This was why fake news was terrifying. I had merely taught my dense sister the correct way to eat chicken, yet she was cutting my words out of context to drive a wedge between me and our parents. A truly wicked creature.
I knew exactly how to silence my lifelong rival.
“Catch.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
A white envelope containing Shin Saimdang bills. My sister peeked inside with her right hand, and life instantly returned to her face.
“I love you, dear oppa.”
“Blech.”
“Isn’t this a bit too thick? I heard you’ve been doing well lately, but still.”
“Oppa’s doing pretty well, yeah.”
“Ugh. I’ll let it slide because of the allowance.”
Even when I stated facts she reacted like that.
Rattle—
While I was lightly bickering with my sister, Father opened the door and came in.
“I’m back.”
“Minho’s here. You wash your hands too and sit down quick.”
“Oh! Son! What brings you on a weekday?”
“Since when do hunters care about weekdays and weekends?”
If you weren’t guild-affiliated you were a freelancer.
“Good work coming all this way. Let’s eat.”
Freshly fried chicken landed on the table. Steam rose in soft curls. Even after more than twenty years of eating it, I could close my eyes and still recall the exact crispness and flavor… yet still—
Gulp—
My mouth watered.
“Thanks for the food.”
“Eat well.”
Mmm.
As expected, chicken was the truth.
“Guui-dong Necromancer oppa.”
Hey.
I almost cursed mid-bite.
“If you even start the ‘Gu’ of Guui-dong, allowance confiscated.”
“Tch.”
“Son. Any thoughts of joining a guild?”
“Actually, other guilds have been sending offers. I need to think it over.”
If I said I planned to stay a pure freelancer—or rather, work through an agency—they would only worry.
“Dad just wants you to do what you want to do.”
What I wanted to do…
Becoming the world’s strongest hunter, like Dame Isra said?
It still felt like a vague, distant goal. For five years I had struggled just to reach D-rank. After meeting Dame Isra I had become completely absorbed in growing stronger itself. But I had never really thought about something I wanted to do, or a dream I wanted to achieve.
“If nothing comes to mind right away, take your time thinking.”
“If you’re troubled, talk to Mom and Dad.”
My parents’ warm words. I simply bowed my head deeply.
“Thank you.”
The moment I lifted my head, something came flying toward my face. It was the phone in my sister’s hand.
“Hey. You’re gonna hit someone doing that.”
“Oppa. Did you go to Manseok Lake earlier?”
“I had business there.”
“Mom!!! Dad!!!”
“Look at this girl. How can you yell while we’re eating?”
“O-Oppa beat up the Mir Guild hunters!”
Pffft—
Cola sprayed from Father’s mouth like a misting bottle, painting the air.