Heavenly Demon Cult Headquarters (1)

Ancient Gear.

Ruby, the artifact currently standing in for my mana heart. Like Ruby, Ancient Gear were no ordinary items.

They were the legendary armaments of a long-fallen empire — an ancient civilization that had once stood upon the otherworldly continent of Eyletan, in an age so distant it had passed into myth. Naturally, only the highest-grade pieces among them had stories legendary enough to survive the centuries.

Gears like Ruby. Or Yuri's Nibis.

On the continent of Eyletan, every special artifact unearthed from the old empire's former territories was collectively known as Ancient Gear. Their defining trait was this: they chose their own masters, and evolved according to those masters' capabilities. Even the low-grade armaments of the old imperial age had possessed that quality.

But the world of Aca Hunter was not Eyletan. It was Earth. And so, on Earth, Ancient Gear did not appear in the old empire's territories. They appeared in special dungeons — the so-called ancient dungeons, fragments of the old empire's land, broken apart and reconstituted as gates upon the Earth.

Which was why, for a hunter, possessing Ancient Gear or not was a matter of enormous importance. I found myself recalling something that had happened at Flame's headquarters.

"Ancient Gear — for real?! I never thought I'd get to use weapons that high-grade. S-rank guilds really are on another level! Is the Guild Master a god or something?!"

That had been Dong-hyuk, his voice thick with awe, the moment he'd heard that even the interns would be issued Ancient Gear as dedicated equipment. And he wasn't wrong. Yuri had instructed them that each intern was free to request whatever Ancient Gear they wanted.

Plenty of hunters never even dreamed of using Ancient Gear. Dong-hyuk's reaction hadn't surprised me in the least.

Whatever gear they wanted, huh.

Of course every hunter would want an S-rank Ancient Gear. But the higher a gear's grade, the more exacting its standards for choosing a master became. And those standards had nothing to do with whether the master's awakening rank was high or low. Only the will of the Ancient Gear itself could prove a master's worth.

So when Flame said "the gear you want," what they really meant was: pick the one that suits you best.

Dong-hyuk, a skilled tanker, and Arin, a healer, would both be able to choose something decent. The problem was me.

No Ancient Gear in existence would be better than the Ruby I already possessed. Ruby was an S-rank Ancient Gear that had chosen me as its master the moment I'd possessed this body — back when I'd been nothing more than an E-rank awakener. That made it all the more precious.

Not that it matters. Because of Ruby, I can't form a contract with any other Ancient Gear anyway.

Ancient Gear existed in a symbiotic relationship with their masters. A sufficiently low-grade gear might allow a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single master to hold multiple contracts, but that was always far inferior to forming one proper contract with a genuine piece. Low-level hunters still went around signing contracts indiscriminately, believing more was always better —

That's just a waste of money.

Team Leader Seo, who had some idea of my circumstances, had spoken to me quietly.

"The Guild Master appears to have set aside a considerable budget for this equipment matter. If you find yourself unable to select an Ancient Gear, Mr. Minsu, perhaps you might purchase other equipment within that budget instead?"

Ancient Gear were, after all, primary weapons. Even without one, there was plenty of other gear a hunter needed. He was being considerate.

But I already had something in mind.

This is a chance to undo Ruby's first-stage seal.

The method Professor Seong Chaerin had told me — a method that involved someone from the Heavenly Demon Cult. I turned to Team Leader Seo.

"You said I could request anything, so long as it stays within budget?"

"That's correct. There are any number of first-rate equipment manufacturers these days, so…"

"That's not what I mean, Team Leader. I think I'll need to put that budget toward repair costs."

I laid out my thinking. Seo Duho listened carefully, then nodded.

"A sound idea. But we can hardly send you there alone. It would be proper for Flame to dispatch this as an official business trip."

"In that case, perhaps Team Leader Yeon and I…"

After gathering the interns' preferences, Team Leader Seo had submitted a report to Yuri. That had been a few days ago.

Which was why I was now on a plane bound for Hong Kong, with Soso beside me.

Incheon to Hong Kong took roughly three and a half hours.

This equipment-related trip consisted of just the two of us — myself and Soso. It wasn't a particularly long flight, but Soso and I were no longer the easy, unguarded friends we'd been during our days at Eins. So this might be a little awkward.

No — it was probably quite awkward. The one saving grace was the wall between us: workplace superior and subordinate. We weren't going to Hong Kong on vacation. This was a company trip, nothing more.

If Soso wanted conversation, I was prepared to play the part of a dutiful subordinate. But she hadn't said much of anything. She was eating her in-flight meal in silence, now that lunch service had begun.

Still. I'm glad she didn't refuse the request to come along.

The guilt I felt toward Soso was still there. Asking her to accompany me on this had made me feel guilty all over again — but I hadn't had a choice.

Not long ago, Team Leader Seo had told me about Rex, the villain Yuri and I had arrested.

To think that bastard had ties to Red Lake.

If that was true, I'd landed a much bigger fish than I'd realized. The original novel had never mentioned a villain named Rex. But Flame was filling the role that Si-woo would have played — and that, perhaps, had created a natural point of contact with Red Lake.

Whether I'd stopped Rex or not, Flame would have gotten tangled up with him eventually.

Rex wasn't a member of Red Lake. But among the various assassinations and terror jobs he'd been contracted for, there had apparently been work connected to them.

One of those clients may well have been a member of Red Lake.

That was what Team Leader Seo had passed on to me after reading Choi Shinwoo's report. I steeled myself once more.

If what I do can help Flame, I'll do whatever it takes.

Traveling with Soso might be uncomfortable for her. But unsealing that first stage would unquestionably benefit the guild. I had to move while the opportunity was there.

That wouldn't make the guilt disappear. I decided to stay silent about that, too.

At least there's this: the trauma around Soso itself seems to have eased.

Even sitting alone with her like this, no severe panic had set in. The trauma, after all, wasn't directed at Soso. It was directed at the Blood Demon. As long as the medication I'd taken in advance held, there shouldn't be any major problems.

She finished her meal, and the tedious remainder of the flight stretched on. Fortunately, we were in business class, so the seats weren't uncomfortable — one of the perks the Association granted to certified guilds, and to S-rank guilds in particular.

"The in-flight meal wasn't half bad, for business class."

Soso dabbed her lips with a napkin, the gesture elegant. I glanced at her.

"Is that so."

"For the Heavenly Demon, cuisine befitting one's station is a matter of no small importance."

I'd seen Soso tearing through snacks at all hours around the Flame office more times than I could count, but I let it go. I didn't know much about culinary formality — but today's outfit, at least, looked more put-together than usual. The whole atmosphere around her was different.

A far cry from the aviation bomber jacket and those leggings.

Jeans, a pristine white ribbed knit, a beige coat over the top. A look that came across as quietly composed. Our destination was the Heavenly Demon Cult's headquarters in Hong Kong. For her, this was a return home.

The leggings wouldn't have been appropriate. She is the Young Cult Leader, after all.

Even so, the neatness of her current clothes took on a peculiar quality the moment she put them on. Her figure was good enough that tank tops and leggings had always suited her perfectly — which meant the ribbed knit clinging tight to her upper body had a strange effect when she wore it. And when she unthinkingly recrossed her legs the other way, the equally tight jeans and the line of those legs caught the eye.

This was not the Soso I remembered from our Eins days. She had become beautiful enough that any man would glance at her on instinct. Even on the way to the airport, I'd felt any number of other people's eyes on her.

"Ahem. Why do you stare so?"

Not that I was looking at her that way. But my gaze had drifted toward her without my noticing.

"It's nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment…"

"Lost in thought? I… I see."

Silence settled between us again. I hoped, privately, that she hadn't gotten the wrong idea — and then, without warning, Soso reached out and took my hand, holding it tight.

The time was a little before the two of them had eaten their in-flight meals.

From the moment she'd boarded the plane, Soso had been unable to calm her racing heart.

Like this, it almost feels like the two of us are going on a trip together.

Hong Kong had always been a reasonably famous city, even on Earth. After Muguk established itself across southern China, it had flourished all the more. And above all else, it was home to the Heavenly Demon Cult's headquarters.

The Cult's original mountain gate had stood in a harsh, barren hinterland even by Muguk's standards — but the dimensional convergence thirty years ago had made that a thing of the past. With Hong Kong as its base, the Heavenly Demon Cult had soared.

And yet there was a time I hated going back to Hong Kong so much I could have died.

She was the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult. But Soso had been introverted since childhood, and had always been an outsider even at headquarters. She was the only daughter of Yeon Se-hwi, the Heavenly Demon — counted among the strongest hunters alive — and she had never had any confidence in her martial arts.

The weight of being the Heavenly Demon's only child had crushed her at every turn. But that life had changed after the winter break of her second year at Eins.

All of it was thanks to Minsu.

With his help, she had awakened the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. After graduation, she had entered the hunter world — and in that debut, she and Yuri had built Flame into an S-rank guild. Soso herself was now a leading candidate for the next S-rank hunter. She'd heard that headquarters held her career in the martial world in extremely high regard.

Unlike the old days, when she'd always slunk home cowed and diminished, she could now enter the mountain gate as a Young Cult Leader with her head held high.

Not that any of that particularly mattered to her. The reason her heart wouldn't stop pounding was far simpler: she was sitting here, just the two of them, with Minsu.

A business trip to outfit the interns with dedicated equipment. And on that trip, Minsu had needed her. That fact made her heart race all the more.

I get to be useful to him. And the fact that he specifically asked for me… at the very least, that doesn't mean he dislikes me, right?

That was when the Blood Demon spoke from within her.

Soso flinched. The Blood Demon wasn't wrong. She wanted to talk to him — about anything at all — and already half the flight had passed without a single word exchanged.

Don't talk about it like that. I awakened the Heavenly Demon Divine Art because of that.

Shut up. So what if he did?

She knew. She had always known where Minsu's heart lay. And she didn't resent him for it. Minsu was a kind person. Even if he had trained with her so diligently that winter break just to spend time with Yuri — he had never used Soso for that purpose alone.

If I hadn't awakened the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, my life would have twisted even further out of shape.

In the end, it had been for both of them. Soso understood that perfectly well. But the Blood Demon would not stop.

Don't talk nonsense. That kind of cowardly—

The Blood Demon was right.

Just being able to see Minsu's face again was a good thing. But Soso knew all too well how terrible, how viciously unbearable it was — the pain of the man you loved loving someone else. If it hadn't been, the Blood Demon would never have awakened in the first place.

But what am I supposed to do…

An excellent method? If you're about to tell me to throw myself at him again—

Sh-shut up.

She didn't actually think the Blood Demon was wrong. She had tried to change. But Soso's heart had always pointed at Minsu and Minsu alone. She'd never had any romantic experience at all, and so she couldn't begin to imagine a way to win his heart — or even to earn the smallest scrap of his affection.

Is the Blood Demon actually right…? Even if it means using my body… No. That wouldn't win his heart anyway…

She turned it over and over inside herself, and the time kept slipping away. The in-flight meal coming out had eased her nerves a little — but then she realized they were getting closer and closer to Hong Kong, and the anxiety came flooding back.

That was when she felt Minsu's gaze on her, unbidden. She started, and spoke.

"Ahem. Why do you stare so?"

"It's nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment…"

"Lost in thought? I… I see."

And in that instant, the Blood Demon whispered — like a devil's temptation.

More nonsense…

There was no way. And yet… if Minsu felt any kind of interest in her at all — if that were true — Soso wanted to confirm it.

Even if he didn't refuse, it would only be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠because of the guilt he felt toward her. She knew that. But her heart was too restless, and in the end, Soso gave in to the Blood Demon's words.

She took Minsu's hand, and held it tight.