Trap (3)
How much time had passed?
He hadn't checked a clock, so he couldn't be sure, but enough had gone by for the middle-aged man's patience to snap completely.
Dragging out a bunch of sleeping kids—how long could that possibly take? Just get out here already, and I'll straighten that empty head of yours right out!
—That was what he was thinking when it finally happened.
At last the orphanage door opened and someone emerged: a man with naturally squinty eyes.
“…What a load of bullshit. Absolute bullshit.”
The squinty-eyed man dragged out two unconscious subordinates by the scruff.
The ones still conscious weren't much better off. Arms bound, they moved exactly as the man directed them.
Thud. Thud.
At a casual gesture from the squinty-eyed man, the subordinates plopped down one after another.
The way they obediently followed orders made them look more like his men than the middle-aged man's own, which was almost funny.
“Heh… heheh…!”
The laugh that slipped out was completely at odds with the corners of his mouth, which trembled with pure, seething rage.
To have subordinates like these—better to just throw them away than try to fix them.
Of course, first he would erase that squinty-eyed bastard who had dared interfere with Jeokryeohui business.
Whoosh.
He waved his hand casually, as if swatting a bothersome mosquito. Despite the half-hearted motion, the staff shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Bang!
The sound of a stake being driven into the earth rang out—loud enough to have easily shattered a human skull—yet—
“Huh…?”
The squinty-eyed man was completely unharmed.
He hadn't even dodged; he had simply stood there. The reason he was fine was the barrier.
A bluish lotus flower, blooming from his neck as if it were a stem, unfurled over his head and blocked the staff cleanly.
“So. That must be the barrier installed at the orphanage.”
Whoosh!
As if in answer, the lotus expanded, enveloping the entire orphanage.
The staff that had been pushed back spun through the air and returned neatly to the middle-aged man's hand.
“Hmph. I'll smash that pathetic barrier to pieces…!”
The middle-aged man raised the staff high overhead. As it rose it grew larger and larger, until it rivaled a pillar supporting an entire building.
Then he spoke with absolute confidence.
“Do you know? This Pagyeolbong stores mana, and it can grow in size according to the amount poured into it!”
“I didn't know that.”
“And it has a barrier-destruction attribute, so it's excellent at smashing barriers!”
“…Yeah. Thanks for the kind explanation.”
“This bastard's acting all relaxed? Fine—let's see if you can keep that attitude after the barrier breaks!”
Enraged, the middle-aged man swung his hand at once. This was nothing like casually swatting a bug earlier.
He intended to obliterate both the barrier and the squinty-eyed man with everything he had.
KWAANG…!
The massive pillar crashed down onto the lotus with a sound that seemed determined to wake the entire night.
But….
“…This is no ordinary barrier.”
“Yeah. I'm realizing that all over again.”
Choi Yeon agreed with the team leader's involuntary murmur of admiration.
The lotus wasn't merely unharmed.
Even with a staff grown as huge as a building pillar slamming down upon it, the barrier remained as calm as if it had been struck by a single fat raindrop.
Even if the night around the orphanage stirred, the children's dreams would continue undisturbed.
“It won't break…?”
A hollow voice drifted from beyond the barrier. The executive looked as though his mind had simply frozen at the completely unexpected turn of events.
Whoosh!
Choi Yeon pulled a throwing dagger from his coat and flung it.
Startled, the executive rolled aside.
A fraction too late—a thin red line was drawn across his dirt-smeared face.
“Y-you bastard! A sudden sneak attack?!”
“Huh? Is that really something you should be saying?”
Choi Yeon tilted his head and pointed at the bound subordinates.
Coming in the middle of the night with a pack of men to kidnap orphanage children, and now complaining about sneak attacks? A snort of laughter rose unbidden.
An ordinary person would have looked away in shame, but the executive was no ordinary man. His shameless face seemed to demand what the problem even was.
The thoroughly absurd Choi Yeon glanced over at the Jeokryeohui team leader. The team leader, who at least possessed enough shame to fall into the ordinary category, averted his gaze.
“……”
“……”
For a moment everything went quiet as their eyes met and crossed. The executive was finding the current situation thoroughly unfavorable.
To take the experimental subjects he had to break that barrier, yet even the Pagyeolbong at full power seemed insufficient. Even if he poured everything into it, he probably still couldn't smash it.
And as for negotiating… he held not a single advantage.
On the contrary, with his subordinates already captured, there was no way Choi Yeon would accept any proposal he made.
On the other hand, Choi Yeon was perfectly content.
Since the executive lacked the skill to break the barrier, he could achieve his goal of protecting the children simply by staying put.
As dawn approached they would withdraw on their own.
If that were possible, that is.
“Ugh… uugh…!”
Suddenly the executive's body staggered.
Like a man thoroughly drunk, he couldn't keep his balance, and his fingertips trembled violently.
He clenched his fists tight, trying to stop the shaking.
“Don't tell me… paralysis poison…?”
“Yeah. Looks like the drug's finally kicking in.”
“Using poison like a coward?”
“Again, that's not something you should be saying, is it?”
“Y-you damn squinty-eyed bastard…!”
The executive growled like a beast. But as a wounded beast, his eyes were already searching for an escape route.
Choi Yeon didn't miss the mistake of looking elsewhere.
He fluidly drew a dagger from his waist and threw it. A thread of mana extending from the hilt connected it to his hand.
“Where do you think you're—!”
The executive swung the Pagyeolbong, trying to bat away the dagger flying like an arrow—but Choi Yeon had already predicted it.
“Wire Shift.”
In midair the dagger's trajectory changed.
The blade tip that had been aiming for the heart circled the Pagyeolbong and wound tightly around it.
“No…!”
The executive cried out desperately. He held on with every ounce of strength, refusing to let it be taken.
Was it sheer will and passion manifesting?
Even with insufficient grip strength, he did not release the Pagyeolbong. But while he hadn't lost it, he was in no condition to continue fighting.
Thud! Like a big fish reeled in, he sprawled out helplessly in front of Choi Yeon.
Wow, stubborn as hell. Not letting go of this?
Choi Yeon looked down at the executive in disbelief and stomped on his back. The big fish flopped.
“Urgh! For me to end up looking this stupid…!”
“It suits you well. Right?”
Choi Yeon looked blankly at the team leader beside him.
It was so natural that the team leader almost answered as if a close colleague were asking. He also privately thought it was a rather fitting look.
“…I have a few questions. First, where is Na-yul?”
“Who?”
“Seo Na-yul.”
“Don't know. Who the hell is thaaargh!”
Choi Yeon broke one of the executive's fingers. The scream made the watching man's eyes squint, but it did not disturb the orphanage's silence.
Kim Minseok's party quickly subdued the Jeokryeohui forces, following close behind Choi Heeseok.
Even when enemies charged with swollen red blood vessels, it posed no real obstacle.
Bang! Bang!
Every time Choi Heeseok swung his giant white horn, the Jeokryeohui members were like leaves before a storm. Even when they blocked with swords or shields, the weapons often shattered completely.
Not far from them, Kim Minseok was locked in combat with Moon Ki-seop.
Boom!
A fist glowing red exploded right in front of Kim Minseok's face. At the same moment, blood spurted from the tip of Kim Minseok's sword.
Moon Ki-seop's fist had failed to connect, but Kim Minseok's blade had stabbed cleanly into his shoulder.
Boom…!
The fist that had missed its target vented its frustration on empty air. The regret exploded from his side.
Puhng….
A markedly slower fist pushed through the air. Fortunately, this time no red blood burst from Moon Ki-seop's body.
The blade had stopped without cutting his neck, as if merely slicing the air.
“This is as far as it goes.”
Kim Minseok's voice declaring the end was perfectly calm. Looking at the sword that could sever his neck at any moment, Moon Ki-seop swallowed hard.
From this point on, if he tried anything more he would have to stake his life. Even that would end as nothing more than a futile struggle with his head cut off.
“I surrender.”
Moon Ki-seop dropped to his knees with a heavy thud.
Even without that, the blood flowing from his shoulder and side made simply standing difficult.
Sssk.
After a single nod, Kim Minseok turned his gaze to Yoo Seo-jin, who stood alone some distance away.
Perhaps because he was a strategist, he had done nothing but watch throughout the entire battle.
But the strange thing was that even as Moon Ki-seop was being beaten and subordinates fell one after another, he still looked completely relaxed.
Yoo Seo-jin shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a leisurely tone.
“It seems everything is over now.”
“……”
Kim Minseok stepped forward quietly, as if he had no desire to exchange words.
“Hey, Mr. Kim Minseok?”
Yoo Seo-jin continued regardless. The two of them seemed determined to ignore each other.
“I'll answer the question you asked me earlier.”
“…Question?”
“Actually, I prepared one. Wherever I go, I always make one. An escape hole.”
Thud!
When Yoo Seo-jin stomped hard on the ground, a hole appeared right in front of him.
The reason he had remained in one place throughout the battle was precisely that.
Whoosh!
From the square hole, murky fog surged forth like waves.
It was no ordinary fog—it seized Kim Minseok's feet and held them fast. The same happened to the other hunters.
Like the calm eye of a storm, only the spot where Yoo Seo-jin stood remained completely free.
“W-wait!”
Moon Ki-seop shouted urgently.
He half-lifted his knees from the ground, but was immediately pressed back down by the martial artist.
Take me with you too!
The unspoken plea only circled inside his mouth, yet Yoo Seo-jin, true to his role as strategist, understood immediately.
“Aigoo. That would make it all for nothing, wouldn't it?”
All for nothing? What does that even mean…!
His momentarily blank eyes flew wide open.
Moon Ki-seop understood Yoo Seo-jin's meaning without difficulty. Wasn't that exactly why he had been kept here?
“Yoo Seo-jin! How could you…!”
“Oh dear, oh dear. If you hadn't realized, at least your heart would have stayed at ease.”
“You! Even if you abandon me, the Lord won't just let this—”
“I think so. Do you really believe I would have done something like this without the Lord's permission?”
“What…? What do you mean—”
“Well then, farewell.”
Yoo Seo-jin bowed like a stage actor and disappeared into the hole.
Moon Ki-seop stared desolately at the vanishing opening.
“……”
In other words, that was it.
Yoo Seo-jin's goal had been to tie down City Hall's top forces while abandoning Moon Ki-seop.
Like the other Jeokryeohui members, he too was….
“I… I'm a failure….”
A voice filled with despair settled low against the ground.
There was no sympathy for the abandoned one. Moon Ki-seop himself was the type who had called his own subordinates failures and discarded them.
Rather than waste any more time here, the right move was to hurry back to the orphanage.
“Minseok. Leave this place to us, and you should go first—”
“It's fine.”
Choi Heeseok stopped the mage who was speaking urgently.
In fact, he already knew from what he had heard. Weren't they hunters from the same Seonhwa Dongdae?
“Yeon's guarding the orphanage.”
“What? You mean Mr. Choi Yeon is there?”
“Exactly that.”
“But why didn't you say so until now—”
“Because the battle started before I could get the words out?”
“Ah….”
Come to think of it, that was true.
When the Jeokryeohui forces had attacked on Yoo Seo-jin's orders, there had been no time for conversation.
“Um, but isn't it just a C-class hunter alone…?”
“Yeon is a C-class hunter, yes.”
“Then wouldn't it be better to hurry back after all?”
“Hmm….”
Instead of following the mage's suggestion, Choi Heeseok took out his smartphone.
Tap. Tap.
After tapping the screen and checking a message, a full, warm smile spread across his face.
“Says he's already captured them all.”
“Captured them? Alone?”
“That's right.”
“Heeh…?”
The mage made a thoroughly bewildered face. Like her, the other colleagues also looked quite surprised.
A C-class hunter capturing a Jeokryeohui executive and his subordinates single-handedly—calling it outstanding was an understatement.
As Choi Yeon's evaluation quietly rose among them, Choi Heeseok simply shrugged.
“Why are you all so surprised? There's a barrier at the orphanage.”
“…Ah?”
“Aaaah…!”
One by one, exclamations of understanding burst out.
Come to think of it, wasn't that so?
There was the barrier of Monk Myeonghyeon and Father Joseph, so it couldn't simply be viewed as one against many.
“No….”
Kim Minseok frowned in pure disbelief. Did he really think it was all thanks to the barrier?
As a former classmate, he roughly knew Choi Yeon's true skills.
If he had simply used sword aura, Choi Yeon was skilled enough that he would definitely have become a B-class hunter. So he tried to correct the misunderstanding spreading among his colleagues.
If only Choi Heeseok hadn't grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
“Leave it.”
“What? But…”
“It's fine.”
Tap. Tap.
Choi Heeseok patted Kim Minseok's shoulder and gave him a quick wink.
…Does he want to hide Mr. Choi Yeon's skills? Why bother?
Even after brief consideration, no reason came to mind.
He simply reminded himself that the hunter standing in front of him was Choi Heeseok. There must be some reason he didn't know.
“…Understood.”
Kim Minseok nodded in acceptance.
Unfortunately, he had no idea that Choi Heeseok was regularly lumped together with Choi Yeon by Dongdae Chief Kim Jaesang and called one of “those Choi bastards.”