Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Leaving That Embrace
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“...”
The night was gradually darkening.
After wrapping up our strategy meeting and discussion on next steps with the others at the hotel, I headed up to the rooftop and found Sen staring blankly at the night sky.
To be precise, it was less a proper rooftop and more a sloped roof, so one wrong move and you might tumble right off.
I quietly sat down beside her, where she perched as meekly as a cat.
“What's wrong? The request is over, isn't it?”
Sen had checked Hebbon Ren's hotel location and length of stay that afternoon and reported back.
Thanks to her, we'd confirmed he was only staying in Betel until tomorrow morning—which meant we could pinpoint Michael's mentioned deal happening tonight or at dawn.
“There's something I want to ask of you again.”
“Ask? You mean a request?”
“...Well, you could see it that way.”
She called it a request, but Sen had never actually demanded anything from me. She didn't even bring it up, so calling it just “letting things slide” didn't fit either.
It felt too formulaic, like she was stuck in the rigid framework of requests to get things done, so I took back my words.
“No, not a request.”
Sen's expression, which had brightened slightly as she looked at me, darkened in an instant.
“If it's not a request, I won't accept.”
“What's the pay? What do you want?”
“...”
As expected.
Seeing Sen clamp her mouth shut, her face saying she hadn't even considered that far, I felt a pang of pity.
“You won't move unless it's a request because otherwise it's not like the Extermination Squad, right?”
“...!”
Sen usually acted like nothing was wrong, but I could sense a massive well of anxiety bottled up inside her.
The Extermination Squad she'd spent her whole life with was gone.
No matter how brutal their actions or how inhuman their demands, to her, the Squad had been like parents.
And those parents had suddenly cast out their child.
Without any explanation, just shoved her away.
It must have felt like she was suddenly left alone in the world—which was why she was forcing herself to mimic the Squad.
“Is staying with the Extermination Squad that important? This could be your chance to leave them and live your own life.”
“What life is that?”
Sen shot to her feet, clenching her fists as she glared at me.
“I'm Extermination Squad. From childhood until now, that's all I've been. Live my own life? The Squad and the leader—they're everything to me.”
The girl, forged into a dagger for assassination, vented her emotions with chilling calm and composure.
As if she didn't know any other way to express them.
“You sure talk big for someone who's only lived 18 years.”
“It's 17. I'm a year younger.”
“What? You're my little sister then?”
Wait, she'd faked her age to enroll?
Sen averted her eyes with an irritated glance and started heading down from the roof, but I grabbed her wrist.
“We're not done talking. Kids your age always act like they've lived full lives already. You haven't even hit halfway.”
“...”
“You planning to cling to something forever? Is that really all there is to Sen? Defining yourself by someone else?”
“Shut up.”
“Who said change happens overnight? You think the knots twisted inside you for 17 years untie that easily? But you have to try, step by step. You know you need this.”
I used to see this girl as just a link to the Extermination Squad—a convenient tool for tough jobs.
Yeah, that's how I thought at first, but spending time together changed my mind.
She's just a kid, in the end.
Especially, I realized Sen and Michelle had some unexpected common ground.
Sen, whose “parents” were the shadowy Extermination Squad.
Michelle Portren, whose “parents” were Michael Portren and the fighting dogs.
Both knew their “parents” were wrong, yet couldn't let go.
But I could tell her firmly.
“How long are you going to throw tantrums? The time to break free from your parents comes eventually.”
“...”
“Like I said, you can't snap all the chains right now. But you have to start somewhere.”
A girl as sharp as Sen couldn't not understand.
She was just scared.
Everyone is.
Circumstances differ, but the moment to leave your parents' embrace and spread your wings always arrives.
“For now, you're leaning hard on the Squad. Try shifting that weight bit by bit.”
“Shift it?”
I gave a small nod to Sen, who looked up at me.
“Stop obsessing over the Squad. Figure out what you like, what you hate—find yourself. You'll naturally drift away from them.”
“Find... myself?”
“Doesn't that sound fun?”
Imagining myself trying all sorts of things and having a blast, I grinned, and Sen clenched her fist tight before giving a tiny nod.
“In that spirit, this is my request to you.”
“Request...”
Her face darkened again, whether at the word or something else nagging her.
I quickly rephrased.
“Not a request, then... a mission? A promise between friends? Think of it like that?”
“Mission... Mission sounds good.”
From request to mission, huh?
Not sure if that's progress, but at least she's trying to change.
Worried she'd balk again, I pressed on hurriedly.
“Tonight, protect Michelle Portren. I don't think it'll be a big deal, but just in case.”
“Michelle...?”
Her face said she didn't get it.
“Yeah, just to be safe. Plus, you owe her one.”
“Owe her?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Missions... are complicated...”
Sen made a subtle face, sensing the difference from paid requests, and I chuckled.
“That's life, kiddo. The Extermination Squad's the weird one, tying everything to money and goods.”
“...We're only a year apart.”
Seeing her pout, I could feel something shifting inside her, preparing for change—and I let out a hearty laugh.
Late into the dawn.
The city of Betel lay in such profound stillness that you could say it was fast asleep.
In that deep night, the Portren estate's grand gate creaked open cautiously. Michael emerged, coat and hat on, accompanied by a few servants.
His movements were so furtive, like a burglar slipping out after a heist, that I couldn't help but smile.
“Come out boldly. It's your own house, after all.”
The group startled.
The servants instinctively clutched the bags they held—whatever was inside, it had to be the item for tonight's deal with Hebbon Ren.
“Daniel McClane, you've ignored my warning after all.”
Michael Portren stepped forward slowly.
Clear rage boiled in his eyes.
“Didn't I tell you? It's for Michelle.”
“Didn't I say I'd kill you if you mentioned her once more in my presence?”
He handed his hat to a servant and shrugged off his coat.
His muscles began to writhe like living things.
“It'd be better if you surrendered to me. If Haini sees you like this, she'll execute you on the spot.”
“Before that, all of you die by my hand.”
His voice echoed like it was in a cave.
His grayish-blue hair started lengthening, and bluish-gray fur sprouted across his body.
His nails thickened and sharpened.
His teeth grew viciously pointed.
I'd figured, being a fighting dog, he'd have some beast from the Demon Realm Forest implanted in him.
“Picked a tougher one than I expected.”
“Talking like you know something.”
“Moon Werewolf. The progenitor species of the werewolves roaming outside.”
“...!”
His eyes twitched—that was the only sign—but I could tell my words shocked him.
“How do you know that?”
“Enough to source herbs for your daughter.”
“...Too late for that now.”
But that wasn't the key point.
The ten or so servants also sprouted thick fur, transforming into werewolves and taking positions behind their master.
“Whoa, all of them?”
Unexpected, but no big deal.
Michael growled at me as I drew my sword.
“Kill you, devour the corpse, then meet Hebbon Ren—done. The inspector will be hounded by nobles and forced to leave tomorrow.”
“Even if you head to the meetup spot now, you won't find him.”
I didn't know the location, but...
“Hebbon Ren won't show.”
Because besides Sen and Michelle, there was one more girl breaking free from her parents.
A luxury hotel in Betel, popular with tourists.
Even with checkout tomorrow morning, Hebbon Ren had returned his key early, packed his bags, and left with his two bodyguards.
Once the deal with Michael Portren was done, he planned to ditch this tiresome Betel immediately.
The royal inspector Haini was a nuisance, but he'd turned it to his advantage by adding her removal as a condition, sweetening the deal.
“Heh heh heh.”
Hebbon Ren chuckled, imagining the prize soon in his grasp, as he exited the hotel—only to spot someone at the garden entrance.
A girl with black bobbed hair and a cold demeanor.
A pouch-like ornament of her own making hung at her waist—one reason he was so eager to leave Betel.
“Hayun?”
His niece, daughter of that wretch his younger brother had brought from the East.
He'd used her well until now, but cast her out the moment she rebelled.
“Uncle, where are you off to in the dead of night?”
Hostility laced Hayun's low voice. The family bodyguards stepped forward.
“Scram, you useless girl. Your mother snagged my brother's nose with her pretty face, but you can't even claim one lowly commoner.”
“My father and mother loved each other.”
“I have no desire to bandy words with trash. Credit to you for not dragging the Ren name everywhere.”
He tried to brush past, but Hayun raised the sword from its sheath, blocking his path.
“If you go now, the royal inspector will arrest you.”
“Hah, what nonsense. Here to protect me?”
“No, not you.”
Hebbon recoiled in surprise as Hayun slowly drew her blade. His guards reflexively unsheathed theirs.
“Not for you. For the name 'Ren,' which my parents and I once belonged to, however briefly. To do what they couldn't.”
“...”
“Uncle, who ends a disownment via message without even showing their face?”
Hayun's cold voice rang with quiet serenity.
‘When gripped by fear or confusion, you can't even bring half your skill to bear. That's a major flaw for a swordsman.’
‘But conversely, if you master calming your mind, you could be the strongest student swordsman at the academy.’
People often overlook something simple.
The difference between knowing something yourself and hearing it from someone else.
Hayun knew it too.
That her fragile heart made her sword waver. That mastering it would make her a finer swordswoman.
But hearing it spoken changed everything.
From a swordsman whose peak dwarfed her own.
If she could just master this.
If she could attain that mental peace, her blade would sharpen keener still.
Those words planted conviction deep in the girl's heart.
Conviction that it was possible.
And tonight was the time to act on it.
“Hayun Ren, eldest daughter of Herbert Ren and Yunran Ren.”
Assuming a stance worthy of a portrait, Hayun declared.
“Today, I cast off the family name.”