Chapter 85. Hey, They Say He Got Caught for Smuggling at the Airport?
Chapter 85. Hey, They Say He Got Caught for Smuggling at the Airport?
The rebel base was eerily quiet.
─ Vroom...
"Halt!"
"I-it's me!"
It was the comrade who had returned after delivering the hostages.
The sentries confirmed his face and opened the gate.
"They really... let you go safely?"
He had deliberately camped out for about a day in case anyone tried to tail him.
And he took a roundabout route with deliberate pauses to throw off any pursuit.
"Yes... though it was tense..."
"Huh... still, he's a man who keeps his word."
"They really just checked on the hostages' safety and then I just—"
─ Shunk!
"Gurk..."
Blood surged from the explaining comrade's mouth, accompanied by a faint metallic clink.
"This bastard... what's wrong with you?"
Everyone's gaze dropped downward. A spear tip was protruding from his stomach.
None of his comrades could grasp what was happening.
"Heok... what is this..."
A spear jutting out from his body.
Even the man who had been stabbed was feeling his own stomach with a look of utter disbelief.
The spear then slowly pulled back like a snake and vanished into the darkness.
"What the... what the hell did you bring with you...!"
His comrades stared into the pitch-black darkness, frozen in dead silence.
Then someone raised a rifle and sprayed bullets wildly into the dark.
─ Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!!!
The others followed suit, pulling their triggers blindly toward the darkness.
But only the sound of bullets ricocheting off the walls rang out—there was no meaty impact whatsoever.
─ Shluck!
"Kerk..."
Another scream from behind.
Spinning around, they saw yet another comrade staring back at them with a spear through the nape of his neck.
"L-li... lights! Turn up the lamps...!"
But as if to mock the effort, every light began shattering one by one.
The only illumination left in the room now came from a few lanterns on the table.
─ Shk! Kwaak! Shunk...!
The hands gripping the rifles trembled.
The darkness said nothing.
Without a word, without a presence, only the vile sound of tearing flesh and piercing bone could be heard.
"Heok... what the hell is this..."
Blood soaked the floor.
The survivors held their breath, no longer capable of making any sound at all.
"This is a slaughter..."
Someone muttered in a quavering voice.
Then the man who spoke those words died too, to that same sound of flesh being pierced.
─ Bang...!
"You said...! If we returned the hostages, you would let us live...!! You son of a bitch...!!!"
Someone screamed.
A wail verging on a shriek.
It was the trembling voice of a man drenched in terror.
But no answer came in response to that cry.
It was silent.
Only the scent of blood and gunpowder filled the space.
"Heuuk..."
The man's shoulders heaved violently.
He could no longer endure this terror.
He wanted to escape this fear.
─ Click!
With a violently trembling hand, he pulled the pistol from his belt and pressed it straight against his own head.
It was the way he chose to escape the horror.
"Kkeut!"
The moment he went to pull the trigger—
─ Pahk!
A short spear, different from before, flew in.
The spear pierced cleanly through the hand holding the pistol.
His hand was crushed along with the gun, and the man collapsed in a bloody heap, screaming.
"Kyaaaaack...!"
As he writhed in agony, the darkness loomed before his eyes.
And from within that darkness, a pair of cold, gleaming eyes flickered as they approached.
"A person...?"
─ Step. Step.
"Ah... y-you're..."
A face no citizen of Türkiye could fail to recognize.
"H-how... you're... of the same homeland as us..."
"Shh..."
Emir very quietly brought his index finger to his lips.
"Suicide is far too peaceful a death."
"Why are you doing this to us..."
"Did the people you kidnapped and murdered have reasons?"
"..."
─ Fwung!
Emir swung his spear, slamming it into the man's head.
It wasn't a thrust or a slash—he struck the man's skull with the spear shaft.
Emir faded back into the darkness once more.
─ Tadadadadang!
─ Shluck...!
─ Shkchk...!
Emir's hunt was not a noisy affair.
There was only the sound of prey thrashing and the sound of flesh being skewered.
─ Drip... drip...
Droplets of blood fell along the blade of his spear.
No sound of breathing remained in the rebel hideout.
Only blood and flesh, shattered firearms and broken furniture existed now.
"Hmm..."
Emir headed toward the location the rebel had cried out about while begging for his life.
When he forced the iron door open, the interior revealed stacks of bundled cash and gold bars.
"Oh."
Emir smiled in pleasant satisfaction and began carefully loading up a suitable backpack the rebels had lying around.
"If I give it to the Boss, he'll know how to put it to good use."
Emir changed clothes and headed for the airport.
---
"Um... manager, I think you need to see this?"
"What's this, cash and gold bars?"
There had been absolutely no issue when leaving Türkiye, but trouble arose on arrival in Korea.
"Is he a smuggler?"
The backpacks Emir brought contained an enormous amount of bundled cash and gold bars.
The staff guided him to an office while verifying his identity.
"This person is an S-rank Hunter?"
"Wait, how was he not caught on departure?"
It was strange.
They checked his flight, his passport, all his paperwork.
Nothing was forged.
"Seonghwa Foundation? That sounds familiar..."
"Ah! Manager, that's the foundation Unknown Hunter created."
"Hold on..."
A quick search pulled up information on the Seonghwa Foundation.
A foundation created by Unknown Hunter, pouring personal funds into the welfare of the disadvantaged.
Detailed information didn't come up, but there was mention of a withdrawal from Türkiye relief activities due to an unsavory incident.
"No wonder he didn't get caught on arrival."
An order had been issued to organize relief supplies, equipment, and records for repatriation.
Emir had crossed over as part of the foundation's local cleanup crew, listed with foundation equipment.
Thus, he'd passed through all the bothersome customs inspections in one go.
'Unknown Hunter, an S-rank Hunter, and piles of cash...'
A film reel of dozens of noir movies the manager had seen over the years scrolled through his head in panorama.
Films about corporations laundering money for drug cartels.
And then dark fantasies of shadowy organizations making those who knew the truth just... disappear...
'This was not for me to judge...!'
"Contact the president of the airport corporation right now."
The employee who finished the call approached the manager.
But her expression looked somewhat grave.
"What, what is it?"
"Well... he said he'll come right away, and to please keep that gentleman around for a little while."
The manager looked at Emir through the glass window.
Emir just sat there with an unreadable, blank expression.
"Hoo... understood."
The manager sat across from Emir at the table.
"Hunter, pleased to meet you. I'm the manager of this customs office."
"Yes."
"The currency you've brought in... as it was undeclared, you'll need to explain the source of the funds."
"Ah, that's from the reb—"
"Reb...?"
Emir thought it over in his head.
He'd clearly agreed to keep the incident with the rebels capturing foundation staff a secret.
Since they hadn't checked when leaving Türkiye, he assumed Korea wouldn't either.
"No... I meant, nice to meet you too..."
Emir scratched his head.
If he explained truthfully, he'd have to talk about the rebels. If he kept his mouth shut, he felt like he was just being a nuisance to these people for no reason.
Emir could not grasp how to resolve this situation.
─ Bang! (door swinging open)
"Hoo... sorry about that."
"Ah! Mr. President!"
The door opened and the manager's superior, the president of the airport corporation, arrived.
"Emir Hunter, pleased to meet you."
"Would it be alright if I used the phone?"
The newly arrived president listened to the manager's summary of the situation and then nodded.
"Yes, of course."
The manager personally brought over the office telephone.
Emir skillfully dialed and began speaking.
"Hello, Boss... I'm currently being held at customs on suspicion of smuggling."
The airport corporation president and the manager felt the situation taking an odd turn.
If he'd really been smuggling, he wouldn't sound this forthright...
"Yes, yes... I just... brought it over to help the Boss's foundation a bit..."
'What the heck was this guy's deal...?'
"Ah, that matter was settled... yes... I'm sorry."
Emir ended the call and gave a small bow of his head.
"Thank you for the phone. The Boss said he'll sort it out soon."
The manager who took the phone back stared at Emir with a strange look.
'The way he talks, he's just a foreign worker plain and simple...'
The airport corporation president also tilted his head in puzzlement.
'Sseup... he definitely doesn't look like someone involved in bad business...'
Another thought began to dominate the minds of the president and the manager.
The thought that perhaps this innocent S-rank foreign worker(?) had unwittingly been dragged into something unsavory...
---
─ Ttuk.
The phone disconnected.
"What did he say, Hero?"
"Hey, so he says he's being held at the airport on suspicion of smuggling?"
"Whaaat!?"
Laila shook her head as if such a thing were impossible.
I also found it a little odd.
"Smuggling...?"
"Yeah..."
"No way, he's someone who does nothing but give everything away, not bring it in the first place!"
"What a mess..."
I raised my cell phone once more.
"Ha... I hate having to call about Emir issues twice now..."
I'd already gotten help before with Emir's sudden visit to Korea.
And I'd been told to pass along any unusual developments.
"I just didn't expect an unusual development to actually happen again..."