Chapter 109. These Hunters Do It for Free(?)!
Chapter 109. These Hunters Do It for Free(?)!
Laila and I walked through Incheon International Airport.
Emilia still moved with careful steps, leaning on Max's hand for support, while Laila gently steadied her from the side, her eyes sparkling nonstop.
"You said she's how many weeks along now? Morning sickness? Anything uncomfortable at all?"
Laila sounded exactly like an older sister who had already been blessed with a child.
With a deeply sincere gaze, she kept asking Emilia questions.
I walked quietly beside them.
The look in Laila's eyes was far too tender.
And that made my heart feel strangely unsettled.
"..."
To be honest, there were still so many things I wanted to do alone with Laila.
I wanted to roam freely in every direction, and I wanted to enjoy everything this world had to offer together with her.
My selfish jealousy wanted to keep her as my 'lover' for now, rather than turning her into a 'mother.'
That's why I had told Laila we should put off having a child a bit longer.
She understood that selfish heart of mine and was considerate enough to accept it.
So every time we were intimate, I used contraceptive magic.
"My Hero."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Please don't look at me with those eyes."
Laila suddenly turned to me and smiled.
She lifted the corners of her lips just a fraction, then whispered softly into my ear.
"I know... that you still want to keep me all to yourself."
"..."
"My man is jealous, afraid that our child might steal me away from him... Isn't that just proof of how much he loves me?"
At those words, I flustered and averted my eyes.
A wave of heat rushed over my face.
Her smile, so much more composed than my own flustered expression, felt a little bit like cheating right now.
"We haven't been on Earth that long yet, you know."
Laila gently took my hand.
Then she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek and let out a quiet laugh.
"Well, we can take our time when it comes to a child, right?"
"..."
"Instead, you have to love me that much more, got it?"
Laila's behavior was so overwhelmingly lovely that Emilia's voice and Max's voice stopped reaching my ears.
Only Laila's warmth and her voice held me captive.
"Tonight... I'll be looking forward to it?"
Laila's voice completely ensnared me...
---
On the outskirts of Seoul, beneath an old tiled roof, there was an elegant Korean restaurant.
"That was a wonderful meal, thank you."
Emilia set down her spoon and smiled.
Her expression, which was normally so sharp and precise, now carried a soft and slightly different energy.
A little while after we finished eating, Emilia quietly began nodding off.
She covered her mouth once with a yawn, and then eventually, her head slowly dipped forward.
"You know, ever since Emilia got pregnant, she seems to get a lot sleepier."
Max reached out to her, wrapping his thick hand around her shoulder and pulling her gently toward him.
Emilia let out a small breath and leaned her head against Max's shoulder, sinking into sleep.
"So you're both going to the gaming festival?"
Laila and I exchanged a glance before answering.
"Yeah. We've both always liked games, and it's not bad as streaming content either."
"Oh, interesting!"
Max pulled out his phone and started searching for something.
"Hmm... even companies like this are coming?"
His eyebrows went up.
I grinned and asked him.
"What, you play games and stuff too?"
At my question, Max shrugged one shoulder.
"I can't exactly enjoy tennis or golf with this body, can I?"
Laila and I laughed at the same time.
If hunters had a downside, that was it.
It's not easy to enjoy sports that demand physical prowess, like soccer or basketball.
"Hoh... should I give this cosplay thing a try too?"
"...Huh?"
"You know, wearing armor or something. Or that... what was it, that game character who paints his face red and walks around with a giant axe, like some kind of Norse god?"
I spent a good while trying to picture that scene.
A guy that huge, walking around shirtless with an axe?
"...That might actually work, surprisingly?"
"But can you just sign up and participate like that?"
"If you seriously want to join in... since Emilia's with you, I'll ask around about it."
Naturally, taking a pregnant woman to a crowded place like that wasn't a simple matter.
I planned to ensure she got the maximum amount of comfort possible.
Or, I could even rent a private office inside the venue for her.
'It's not impossible, was it...?'
---
We had a nourishing evening meal for Emilia's health.
And instead of heading straight home afterward, we stopped by the foundation's office.
The CEO and the legal director were still working overtime.
And there was Lee Chae-hyun, who had just been officially hired as our secretary.
"..."
"...??"
"???"
"Yes, so everyone, please submit a request to the representatives in charge over there."
"No, hold on a moment... Chairman?"
"Yes?"
"So you're saying that Max Hunter has expressed his intention to participate in the gaming festival?"
"Yes."
"Not as a spectator, but as a cosplayer...?"
"Yes."
These were people already suffering through overtime.
The moment I dropped extra work on them, they all rubbed their faces dry and their eyes grew hollow.
Among them, Lee Chae-hyun's eyes were already etched with dark circles so vivid they were unmistakable, and her hair was slightly matted, as if she hadn't even had time to wash it properly.
'I mean... all they had to do was contact the event organizers?'
"Chairman..."
The CEO was the first to speak up.
"We have to consider the security issue here. This isn't just some VIP we're talking about. He's an S-rank hunter from another country."
"Huh...? It's just a festival, is that really necessary?"
At my answer, the legal director shook her head firmly.
"The problem is his companion. She is pregnant. And on top of that, she's the spouse of Max Hunter, who has international influence."
The CEO continued where she left off.
"In the worst-case scenario, if she were to get injured on site... that wouldn't just be an accident. It could escalate into a diplomatic conflict."
'Oh? Now that I thought about it...'
"That makes things simple, then."
I pulled out my phone.
"We've got Emir. We can just tell him to act as her bodyguard."
"You mean Emir Hunter...?"
"Yeah. He's got multiple shops now so things have stabilized, and he was getting bored anyway. For a guy like him, a simple security detail... no, honestly, he's beyond qualified, isn't he?"
The legal director and the CEO exchanged a look.
"Certainly... if it's S-rank security personnel..."
"That would be above the protection level afforded to most national officials."
"Then please proceed with that."
Without a word, Lee Chae-hyun opened her laptop again and let out a sigh filled with resignation.
"Festival cosplayer registration process, lounge rental negotiation, identity security protocol..."
"..."
Lee Chae-hyun looked like her soul had left her body.
"Once this job wraps up smoothly, I'll give everyone a vacation."
At those words, Lee Chae-hyun's hands stopped.
She slowly lifted her head and met my eyes.
There was a resolve in those eyes that was anything but lighthearted.
"...Chairman."
Her voice was lower and cooler than usual.
"That promise... you absolutely have to keep it?"
"...Yeah."
She silently turned her gaze back to the laptop.
And then her fingers started flying across the keyboard again.
"Ah, I'll talk to Emir separately..."
And late that ambitious night, the gaming festival's operations team received an email regarding 'one cosplayer registration.'
The sender was an official representative of the foundation, and the subject line of the email read as follows.
[ Request for S-rank Hunter Max's Cosplay Participation and Lounge Space Coordination ]
---
The next day, as soon as it was light out, I went straight to the kebab shop as soon as it opened.
Even though it had just opened, there were already quite a few customers.
The business had expanded into multiple locations, but this original shop was still the one place Emir personally tended to.
"Oh! Boss!"
The moment Emir saw Laila and me, he threw his arms wide open in welcome.
"It's been a while! We just opened up, so everything is piping hot!"
"Yeah, we came to grab a meal and also to ask you for a favor."
At those words, Emir guided us to a seat and then sat right down at the table with us.
"Oh, a bodyguard gig?"
Emir nodded his head.
"I'll do it. The Korean part-timers are quick and real good!"
"..."
I'd definitely gotten him a Korean tutor, so why was he still talking like this...?
"But are you going to another dangerous place, like in Türkiye again?"
"No, you know Max, right? He and his wife are here in Korea, but his wife is pregnant. So..."
"Aha, of course you have to be extra careful with a pregnant woman!"
I asked him to come along just in case, because the place was going to be crowded and chaotic.
"Ah, cosplay...! I've heard of that."
"How do you even know about that...?"
"I know that it's a culture where, to mark a special day, you specially tailor an outfit based on a legend or myth!"
'...'
Was that... technically wrong?
"Anyway, can I ask you to do this?"
"But... Boss, in that case, can I give it a try too?"
Emir's eyes sparkled as he spoke.
"Every time I see you, you always bring some new trick to the table..."
"I've heard there's a character that looks like me! Customers tell me about it sometimes! They say there's a character with black hair in a pomade style!"
I frowned for a second.
If I remembered correctly, that character didn't exactly have the best ending...
"Well, as long as you handle the security properly, I guess the outfit doesn't matter."
"Don't worry. I'm a man who strictly separates business from personal matters. A man who does what he says, a true man!"
"Let me see your phone for a second later..."
And just like that, I had successfully recruited(?) Emir as well.
At the same time, I contacted the foundation.
- Pfft... pffhehe... hahahaha...!!
"So I'm adding Emir to the participant list, and..."
- ...
"Uh, Manager...? Chae-hyun...?"
- So you're saying that on top of the Unknown Hunter and S-rank Max Hunter, you're bringing yet another S-rank, Emir Hunter, to participate as a 'cosplayer'?
"Yep."
- ...Chairman, even if you wrote that in a novel, you'd get roasted for destroying all credibility.
"..."
- The vacation... you'll have to make it a long one...?
"I'll try my best."
- Yes...
And then I hung up.
Our manager seemed to be very busy with company work these days.
And so the gaming festival operations team received yet another email from the foundation.
[ Subject: S-rank Hunter Emir's Cosplay Participation and On-site Safety Support Personnel ]