The Approaching Moon

Resellers ran rampant, of course, but Cheonseong cracked down on them with fire in its eyes, and most were caught in the very first round. It also helped that the people who'd failed to buy a wand were seething with such venom that they threw themselves into hunting resellers down with zeal.

Korea, comparatively speaking, had it easy. No matter how hard it got, there was still a chance to get your hands on a wand.

The real lunatics were all the countries other than Korea, which had been excluded from the first wave of sales.

Because Tae-hyun had restricted the first wave of sales to Korea, hunters the world over turned as one toward the Korean peninsula. In a way, it made perfect sense. Something they'd never been able to obtain before — even with mountains of money, simply because there was no stock — could now be had for certain in exchange for a modest bit of effort.

Even tickets for planes and ships bound for Korea were being traded as scalped goods — a positively outlandish state of affairs. Prices had already shot up severalfold from usual, and even those couldn't be found, sparking a full-blown shortage.

"I came all the way from Canada just to buy a wand!"

From neighboring Japan, from the United States on the far side of the globe — people crossed the vast oceans to reach the peninsula for one reason and one reason only: the wand.

But who flies that far just to buy a single item and go home?

While you were here, why not do a little sightseeing on the side, take a rest, enjoy some other shopping?

Besides, most of the people who'd come to Korea this time were hunters. And since Cheonseong's businesses centered on the hunter industry, the group reaped yet another colossal windfall. It was, truly, business of Cheonseong, by Cheonseong, for Cheonseong.

The result came back as the greatest revenue and growth in the group's history since its founding.

And on top of it all, the company's image climbed to something bordering on sanctification. It went without saying that the smile never left Chairman Lee Jin-sung's face.

"AAAGH! ARGH!"

Diana twisted her face in fury, venting her irritation outright. A violent pulse of mana burst from her body and wrecked everything around her. She was alone, thankfully — had anyone been nearby, they'd have been swept up and injured without question.

"How… just HOW…!"

A voice seething with agitation slipped between her badly chewed lips.

"HOW did they make a magic tool, of all things?!"

It was impossible. No — it was something that must never happen. Crafting magic tools, the exclusive domain of mages, the rightful property of the Magic Tower?

'And they're selling them at such absurdly cheap prices, no less!'

Objectively speaking, it wasn't exactly cheap. But compared to what they paid for B-rank wands pulled out of auctions or gates, it was a laughably small sum.

This went beyond a blow to the Magic Tower — it was a critical matter that threatened to topple the very standing of the magical world.

At this point, she'd considered simply buying up every wand they made, but Britain wasn't even a first-wave sales country, and purchasing that many wands outright was realistically beyond reach.

"This is a clear challenge directed at us…!"

Diana ground her teeth. 'All magic belongs to the Magic Tower.' A will and a conviction handed down since time immemorial. The current situation could only be described as a 'crisis of the Tower' — a direct affront to everything the Magic Tower believed in.

"…Did you truly think that I, the master of magic and the Supreme Tower Master, would simply let this pass?"

If so, it was a grave misunderstanding. Everyone in the Tower already understood how serious this situation was. And so, this matter—

"I will handle it myself."

As a rule, powerhouses of World Ranker caliber did not move lightly. Their mere existence tipped the scales of a nation's military strength, and when someone of that stature visited another country freely, it drew scrutiny from every direction. Britain was, at least, in a slightly less burdensome position, having another World Ranker in David, the 'Lion King.'

Even so, Diana stepping out personally remained a cumbersome, weighty affair. That she was willing to shoulder all of it was proof of just how seriously she was taking this.

"Korea. Cheonseong. Horizon… Lee Tae-hyun…!"

A few words ground out through fiercely suppressed emotion. Her silver hair soaked up the mana and began to glow with an eerie, faint light.

An upscale Korean restaurant. The same place where our family had once gathered — except this time, an even larger crowd had assembled.

"Everyone, dig in! The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠marbled short ribs here are absolutely superb."

Father raised his glass with an expression of pure, childlike bliss, as if all the happiness in the world had been gathered onto that one table. Around him sat the familiar faces.

"Thank you for the food!"

"Thank you so much for inviting me to a gathering like this."

The brother-and-sister pair, Shin Min-woo and Shin Yeon-hee.

"Mmm, more please, more~!"

Ah Seo-ah, who had already begun inhaling every dish in sight.

"Wow! This is my first time seeing such beautiful Korean food!"

"…Not bad."

Karin, eyes sparkling with wonder, and Baek Seo-ha, her chopsticks moving in silent, rapid precision — every single member of Shin Guild.

"Mmm~ a proper meal after so long. Absolutely the best."

"A single bowl of rice worth… dozens of mackerel…!"

Ji Yeon-ha and Gong Gi-hyun. The core members of Horizon.

And then there was me — the intersection point where those two groups met.

"Today's a day for celebration, so enjoy yourselves to your heart's content!"

The occasion was something close to a welcome party. Its official purpose: 'celebrating Horizon's success and Shin Guild's guild-war victory.' The guild war had been quite a while ago, admittedly, but we'd never actually held a formal celebration like this.

'Well, Horizon did pull off something big enough to make time itself feel scarce.'

Horizon's resounding success carried symbolic weight on every front. The successful creation of magic tools that neither rival corporations nor entire nations had managed to achieve — and through it, Cheonseong had shot up overnight as the very icon of 'innovation and revolution.'

"HAHAHA! I feel ten years younger!"

Father drained his glass and laughed heartily.

"Tae-hyun, you truly are my lucky charm."

His eyes, touched with a hint of sentiment, swept across the scene inside the restaurant. The awkwardness from the beginning was long gone, replaced by the sight of everyone chattering away, happily immersed in the moment.

Father clapped me on the back, then spoke in a low voice meant for my ears alone.

"Tae-hyun. Those people are yours now."

"…"

"Depending on how you act, they could walk away at a moment's notice — or they could walk with you straight down a road to hell. So…"

"—treat them more preciously than any treasure. Right?"

A familiar line. It was the phrase Father always kept on his lips, and the first rule of conduct I'd lived by since long ago.

"That's my boy, through and through."

Father broke into a fond, gentle smile. My own heart was just beginning to warm at the sight of it when—

"By the way… when exactly were you planning to introduce us to a sweetheart of your own, Tae-hyun?"

The words came out of absolutely nowhere.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, you've never once introduced a girlfriend to your dear old father, that's all."

…Well, yeah, because I don't have one. Why would you just assume one exists?

"Don't tell me you don't have one?"

"…"

"Impossible! A boy as handsome and capable as you, without a single girlfriend? Not a chance! My mistake, then."

I saw it — the exact moment those words left his mouth, Father's eyes rolled.

'There it is!'

Proof that he was scheming something. In other words, he'd said it knowing full well I didn't have a lover.

"Chairman-niiim~."

And almost simultaneously, a shadow approached him, bottle in hand.

"Might I have the honor of pouring you a drink?"

"Hm? HAHA! I should be thanking you."

"Oh come on, speak comfortably with me. You're someone I'm grateful to as well, you know."

"Well then… I suppose I shall!"

Karin smiled with honeyed grace and began to pour, liquor trickling smoothly into the empty glass. Her posture was so perfectly composed it was like watching a noblewoman from some old aristocratic house. Father watched her and nodded with evident satisfaction.

"I've heard a great deal about you. That you're someone remarkable enough for our Tae-hyun to bring back from Japan himself."

"You're too kind."

"To think I might have a daughter like you, Lady Ayase… how reassuring that would be."

"Fufu, who knows? You never can tell."

Karin. What on earth are you saying right now?

"A daughter who might even become a daughter-in-law—"

"I… I'll pour one for you too, s-sir!"

Before Karin could even finish her sentence, Baek Seo-ha abruptly cut in. A bizarre burst of energy I'd never once seen from her in my life.

"Seo-ha! I hear you helped our Tae-hyun tremendously back when he was founding his guild. That he leaned on you."

"Sorry? Ah… um…"

"Without you, Seo-ha, this gathering might never have existed at all!"

"N-no, that's not… quite…"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"The one who leaned on someone and was helped… wasn't Tae-hyun, it was me. Thanks to him, I was able to stand back up on my own feet…."

Baek Seo-ha lowered her head with a faint flush of shyness. Father's expression grew warmer still.

"Truly fitting of the Sect Master of the Sword Sect — such magnanimity!"

"I-I really mean it… though…"

"Hmm. For a future daughter-in-law, I'd hope for someone like you, Seo-ha — a person who and Tae-hyun could lean on each other, side by side."

"…!"

For reasons I couldn't quite pin down, Baek Seo-ha's eyes went wide, and the corners of her mouth curled upward ever so slightly.

"Th-then I'll pour you a drink as well!"

The next challenger was Shin Min-woo. Hands trembling, he somehow managed to pour without spilling a drop.

"I learn so much from you every single day, hyungnim! It's no exaggeration to say you saved my life, hyung!"

"HOHOHO! To think you already have a brother-in-arms this loyal. I'm envious of you, Tae-hyun."

After Father drained the glass Shin Min-woo had poured, Shin Yeon-hee stepped forward in turn.

"You gave me a new life too, Guild Leader. I'm always grateful."

"I've been watching your exploits closely, Yeon-ha. The thanks is mine to give."

And once Shin Yeon-hee's glass, too, had been emptied—

Father's gaze, entirely without meaning to, drifted toward one corner of the table.

"Chomp chomp… gulp!"

Ah Seo-ah, who'd been tearing into the short ribs with gusto, read the room, and raised her glass.

"M-me too…!"

"No. You sit this one out."

"…Why?"

"You've got rib grease all over your hand."

"…Oh."

Ah Seo-ah's face went crimson the moment she finally registered her own appearance.

"HOHO, well, I'm glad the food's to your taste."

"A-ah… th-thank youuu…"

"It's been a long time since I've seen you eat with such healthy appetite. It's a modest little dream of mine, you know — once I gain a daughter-in-law, to set a meal for her with my own hands. Seeing someone enjoy it like that would warm an old man's heart right through."

"Yes, YES?!"

Ah Seo-ah's eyes blew wide open, and she yanked her hat down hard over her face.

Hey, hey — your hat's getting all the grease on it. Your hat.

"Ahem~ then might I toast as well?"

Ji Yeon-ha, glass already filled at some point, sauntered over.

"But of course."

"Fufu, please speak comfortably with me too. I expect we'll be seeing a great deal more of each other from here on."

"HOHO! Understood!"

Father's glass and Ji Yeon-ha's met with a soft clink.

"To Horizon!"

"To research funding… I mean, to Horizon!"

Both glasses were emptied in one light swallow.

"Truly… thank you, all of you. For coming here for our Tae-hyun's sake."

"Father, don't you think you've had a bit much?"

"The wine just tastes so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good today, what can I do? Days like this are exactly what drinking is for!"

And so the bottles drained lower and lower, and just as the mood reached its warmest peak—

My phone buzzed with the alert.

"…Huh?"

It felt like the alcohol I hadn't even drunk was instantly sobering in my veins.