The Way of Wine
Clatter-clatter-clatter.
"Ahaha! Young Cult Leader, look at this. This is all money!"
"Does that mean our guild's rich now?"
"If we save a little more, we could even buy a proper building and move."
"Wow!"
The bright, pealing laughter of the two girls filled the training hall. At their feet, in the very center of the room, large and small stones glowed with a soft, luminous light, heaped together like treasure.
Kim Jin-seong, stopping by the Shingyo Guild after several days away, could only stare with wide eyes.
"How long has this guild been treasure-hunting?"
"About a week, maybe."
"...Even a seasoned party would struggle to find and clear a single decent gate in that time. Just how many have you cleared?"
"Plenty of D- to C-rank, and four B-rank gates."
"Unbelievable."
At Kim Do-yoon's answer, Kim Jin-seong could only click his tongue in amazement.
On paper alone, the fighting strength of the Shingyo Guild was already formidable. Kim Do-yoon was an A-rank hunter counted among the very best of his class—a veteran with real combat experience. Outside the five great guilds of Korea, he was skilled enough to serve as master of any large-scale guild. Kim Na-yeon was a B-rank tanker who had graduated top of her class from the Hunter Academy; her defensive prowess was famous, and with Wiji Yeon's help she was still growing. There was also the trainee hunter Lee Da-yeon—still young and only F-rank, yet training in some mysterious cultivation method alongside Wiji Yeon. And at the center of it all stood the girl who called herself the Heavenly Demon: Wiji Yeon.
Where did the limits of that power end? With the strength that had felled an Ancient Species, even A-rank and higher gates—the kind that normally required a gathering of guild-master-level hunters—could be cleared with ease.
Kim Jin-seong wore a playful smile.
"At this rate the guild will grow huge in no time. With a gate radar like the Heavenly Demon, every undetected gate around Seoul is yours for the taking. Money shouldn't be a problem."
Kim Do-yoon looked uncomfortable.
"Somehow I feel guilty, like I'm exploiting a kid who doesn't know the ways of the world just to make cash..."
"Haha. Hunter Kim Do-yoon, you've spent more time with the Heavenly Demon than I have. She acts of her own free will, doesn't she?"
"We still haven't found a Level Upper, though."
"Those aren't the kind of items you just stumble across."
"She says she's going to stuff me full of elixirs, pour enlightenment straight into my body, and make me S-rank... That her own body will take too long to grow, so until then I have to be the guild's figurehead?"
"Oh-ho. Thanks to the Heavenly Demon, a path of growth is opening for Hunter Kim Do-yoon. Isn't that a good thing?"
"It feels like she's turning my body into some kind of useful tool..."
Kim Do-yoon gave a theatrical shiver, then looked toward the two girls with a fond smile at the corners of his eyes.
"...Still, I know Yeon isn't a bad kid. That's why I go along with it."
Kim Jin-seong nodded.
Wiji Yeon. A child raised in a laboratory, only just stepping into the world. Inside that small head slept ancient knowledge whose depths no one could fathom. Once, right in front of him, she had revealed a presence utterly unsuited to her tiny frame—the oppressive aura of one born to rule. And yet she also showed the childlike impulses of following her instincts. Within that seemingly wild way of thinking there were rules of her own. She had even abandoned the easiest path to power—hunting Ancient Species—once Kim Jin-seong warned her of the danger to ordinary people.
"In front of Na-yeon she's a complete brat, yet sometimes she seems more grown-up than any of us."
"A difficult person to categorize."
"So, Master Kim Jin-seong—what do you think?"
Kim Do-yoon asked in a slightly worried voice. He was really asking how Kim Jin-seong intended to deal with "the experimental subject Wiji Yeon who possessed dangerous power."
Kim Jin-seong simply shrugged.
"Hmm. Does my opinion even matter? It seems best to just let the Heavenly Demon do as she pleases."
"What about Lee Myeong-won?"
"The investigation team has failed to find any trail and withdrawn, and he won't be able to move recklessly. We investigated every level of Jeokpung Guild from the bottom ranks to the executives, but with the people involved all dead, only a tiny handful know anything about the experimental subject. Aside from Lee Myeong-won and maybe one or two key figures in Jeokpung, even if they stood right in front of the Heavenly Demon they wouldn't realize she's the missing subject."
"R-really? So Yeon can walk around Seoul freely from now on?"
"It's the classic pattern of human-experiment crime rings. Even if people know experiments are happening, information on the subjects is extremely restricted. At the first sign of trouble they murder the researchers and destroy every scrap of data, making the subjects nearly impossible to track down later."
"Whew."
Kim Do-yoon let out a breath of relief.
"Well, as long as Miss Wiji Yeon doesn't become some kind of SNS star, it should be fine, right?"
"Th-that might actually be dangerous."
"...Is that so?"
Kim Do-yoon cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed.
"Ahem. Our kids are ridiculously pretty and cute, you know."
"...Haha! That would definitely be dangerous."
"When we recruit guild members we might have to put in a ban on photographing the little ones."
Compared to Kim Na-yeon he didn't show it as openly, but Kim Do-yoon was already a hopeless softie when it came to the girls.
"And even if someone did find her—"
"Right?"
Kim Jin-seong and Kim Do-yoon both grinned as they looked toward the children.
"Eheheh."
Right now, in the middle of the training hall, Wiji Yeon was swimming happily among the pile of mana stones, smiling from ear to ear—and she was stronger than any hunter alive.
"I just don't want a situation to arise where Miss Wiji Yeon has to stain her hands with human blood."
"...If we expand the guild's scale, we might build a force that can stand against Jeokpung. Or else—"
Kim Do-yoon clenched his fist.
"I'll just have to get strong enough to stop Lee Myeong-won myself."
Click.
At that moment the front door of the training hall opened and Kim Na-yeon came in loaded down with snacks and drinks for the party.
"Kids, I bought snacks—ah!"
Kim Na-yeon froze in horror at the sight of the mana stones scattered all over the center of the hall and the two girls swimming on top of them.
"You—you little brats! Do you have any idea how much those are worth?!"
"Eek! I'm sorry!"
"L-let go of This Seat!"
Wiji Yeon thrashed her limbs while held in Kim Na-yeon's arms. Watching the scene, Kim Jin-seong and Kim Do-yoon burst out laughing.
"One of the reasons I decided it was fine to leave Miss Wiji Yeon as she is... is thanks to Miss Kim Na-yeon."
"...Even though I'm Na-yeon's older brother, it's still a mystery. No matter how rough she is, Yeon won't even use her powers because she's worried Na-yeon might get hurt. How on earth did she tame her?"
"They say a wild beast thinks the first person it sees is its mother, right? Something like that, maybe."
"Heh."
Kim Jin-seong turned and headed for the back door of the training hall. His business here was finished.
"Well then, I'll be going."
"Heading back to Daejeon?"
"With the joint investigation team dissolved, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer."
"We're having a little party to celebrate the gate profits. Why not join us? I even bought some drinks."
"Haha. Enjoy yourselves with your family. An outsider like me should step aside."
"...Hunter Kim Jin-seong, thank you for all your help."
Receiving Kim Do-yoon's farewell, Kim Jin-seong paused before leaving and glanced once more toward Wiji Yeon. He murmured softly to himself.
"Someday I'll come back to seek your teaching again."
Crunch, crunch.
"Kim Jin-seong...? He has no heart. Staying for days and then leaving without even greeting This Heavenly Demon."
"He asked me to pass on the message for him."
"Munch munch... To Right Guardian? Then I'll let it slide."
"Hey! Wiji Yeon. I told you not to talk with your mouth full of snacks."
"Kack!"
Gulp.
I swallowed the cookie I had been chewing without thinking and glared at Na-yeon with resentful eyes.
"I nearly choked from the shock!"
"Pfft. Shocked? The terrifying Heavenly Demon who smashes giant monsters in one blow?"
"How is This Body supposed to control reacting like that?!"
Somehow Na-yeon's words were hard to refuse. I tried rebelling now and then, but those powerful arms always subdued me. My guess was that the instincts of this young body were the problem. Unless I constantly circulated internal energy, even I found it hard to control pure instinct.
What's wrong with you, Wiji Yeon? Have you fallen into some heart demon?
At this rate the dignity of the Absolute One would never stand. Muttering to myself, I regulated my qi and blood.
"It will be fine once the body grows. Once the body grows."
"What are you mumbling about? Here, try this too."
"Ah."
"That's right, good girl. Heehee."
Na-yeon spooned pudding into my mouth, then grinned and ruffled my hair. Being petted like this was a problem too. My mind shouted, Treating me like a child—how insolent! yet my body twisted with strange pleasure.
"Urgh... How did This Seat's body end up like this..."
It was deeply frustrating, yet I had no idea why it had become this way. The bigger problem was that I didn't even dislike it.
After petting Da-yeon and me in turns for a while, Na-yeon suddenly called out to Do-yoon.
"Oppa, want a drink?"
"Yeah. Toss me a can."
Leaving Da-yeon and me among the snack bags, the adults clinked their cans together. With a hiss, foam bubbled up and spilled over the rims.
Young Cult Leader Da-yeon, who had been nibbling snacks little by little, poked me.
"Yeon-ah, what kind of drink is that?"
I sniffed the air. In an instant I knew exactly what kind of beverage it was.
"Oh."
Alcohol.
The Heavenly Demon Wiji Yeon of my past life. Though not quite on the level of that red-nosed Taoist Taeguk Geomseon, the man who had known how to drink was quietly lifting his head inside me. Bamboo-leaf green, Golden Dignity Blue, Daughter's Red—the names of many liquors flashed through my mind, yet this scent was of a kind I had never encountered. Still, anything would do.
The Heavenly Demon Wiji Yeon, who knew how to savor the Way of Wine, could not possibly pass up a new world's first drink without tasting it.
I glanced sideways at the bag by Na-yeon's feet. Several cans still remained.
Rustle, rustle.
I approached at once and rummaged through the bag—only to be immediately seized by Na-yeon's arms.
I thrashed.
"L-Left Guardian! Why?!"
"Hey! Kids aren't supposed to drink this!"
"Does Left Guardian even understand the Way of Wine...?! Forbidding alcohol just because the body is young is tyranny!"
"In Korea it's illegal for children to drink alcohol!"
Once again I found myself resenting this young body.
"Urgh..."
With Left Guardian's eyes blazing, I had no choice but to retreat for now. Yet even the words of a loyal Left Guardian could not stop something the Heavenly Demon was determined to pursue.
With burning eyes, I glared at the cans filled with alcohol.