Transferring You to the Person in Charge
Hiring contract workers only to discard them. Scheduling fourteen-hour part-time shifts just to dodge weekly holiday pay. Collecting résumés and never hiring a single soul.
Society, it seemed, had no shortage of ways to leave a bitter taste in the mouth.
And that bitterness did not end even if you successfully landed a full-time position at a well-reviewed company. It was simply the destiny of every working adult.
In the veins: the scorched-coffee-bean bitterness unique to iced americano.
In the brain: the exhausted bitterness of overtime and leftover work.
And when a superior either did nothing at all or worked far too hard: the explosive bitterness of a cascading work bomb.
Of course, compared to the Three Emperors of Ruin mentioned earlier, these were practically adorable little jokes.
But the finance team leader of the Red Flame Guild, currently enjoying a full complimentary set of all three adorable jokes, felt like he was genuinely about to die.
This week was supposed to be light…
Ordinarily his boss, Han Yena, was a workaholic—except during that time of the month, when she would actually rest. And one week ago had been the start of her cycle.
…A male subordinate memorizing his beautiful, mishy-style female superior's menstrual schedule might sound vaguely creepy at first glance, but it was essential for the guild to function. Female Hunters—especially combat types—were extremely, extremely vulnerable to menstrual cramps, and during those days they had to be classified as non-combat assets.
…We might not need that anymore.
That legally sanctioned stretch of roughly five easy days might be gone forever.
The finance team leader cast his mind back one week.
His boss Han Yena had strolled into work looking thoroughly refreshed, even humming under her breath—and every Hunter who quietly kept track of her cycle had gone wide-eyed.
"All team leaders and above, conference room! Now!"
And then, with a smile she could not keep from tugging at the corners of her mouth, she had made a declaration that left everyone reeling.
"I'm on my period right now?"
Even for a married woman who was fundamentally easygoing, who practiced fire magic and tended toward impulsiveness, and who happened to be the guild's leader—that was a statement of a social intensity ordinary people would never tolerate.
"Excuse me?!?!"
"What do you mean by—"
"That's impossible!"
But the Hunter team leaders present—everyone except the civilian finance team leader and the admin team leader—paid no attention to the intensity of the remark. They were focused solely on the fact that she was standing there on two perfectly steady feet.
"Actually…"
Under that collective stare, the secret of her perfect condition was revealed: the menstrual cramp medicine crafted by Master Han Sia.
"Haaah…"
At the time, the finance team leader had shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a look of pure defeat.
Master Han Sia was the very person who had sent him scrambling to sell every scrap of inventory he could, researching real-estate prices, and checking the loan limits under both the guild's name and the guild leader's name. Restricting information so you didn't inflate the other party's value was Negotiation 101, after all.
"…Tch."
But looking back now, there was nothing to be done about the regret. Female Hunters' menstrual cramps were catastrophically severe—they gutted productivity and created genuine social problems. On top of that, the master who made the medicine had been quietly telling every female Hunter who visited her workshop about it, so word spreading was only a matter of time.
In a case like this, the right move was simply to share the information with those nearby first, let the people close to you benefit, and buy some goodwill.
"Hoho, Team Leader. You must be awfully thirsty?"
"Do you not see the ten iced americanos stacked on that desk?"
"Not heading to the bank for a loan today? I could carry you there on my back~"
The fact that this left him suffering under the near-maniacal side-eye of every female Hunter in the building was a separate problem entirely.
"You're the Team 2 leader, right? About next month's budget allocation for Team 2—"
"Have a nice day!"
"…Huh."
The finance team leader watched the door swing open and slam shut with a whoosh, let out a hollow laugh, then slipped a finger under the arm of his glasses and pressed hard against the bridge of his nose.
…Right. At least he had the rank difference and the authority of controlling the guild's finances to chase people off. If he hadn't…
BANG!
"Finance Team Leadeeer~"
…Ah.
A human who outranked him in both position and power casually shoved the door open and walked in.
"Thirsty, aren't you?"
From the carrier in both of her hands, beads of condensation were dripping steadily onto the floor.
…It wasn't quite on the level of the Red Flame Guild, which prided itself on a horizontal workplace culture, but the master of overwhelming skill who had appeared like a comet was sending shockwaves through Hunter society as a whole.
Red potions and blue potions—the absolute essentials for any raid—supplied at high-grade quality for low-grade prices. A painkiller that dramatically boosted female Hunters' productivity. And even a medicinal patch that healed not only pain but herniated discs and all manner of joint conditions.
Which was why countless people were searching for ways to lock Master Han Sia into an exclusive contract.
"What is this. A college classmate and… a female elf named Imeumureumeumme? Is that even a name? …Anything else?"
"That's all the dispatched personnel managed to dig up. The master rarely leaves her workshop—"
"Hss— I'll put in a funding request to headquarters, but for now try to work with items we already have rather than cash. Right—that blacksmith, the one we lent money to at the Kebel Workshop. Tighten the deadline and collect the interest in items."
"…Understood."
That went for the Blue Sea Guild that Han Mina belonged to,
"We have to lock this down. We cannot hand this one over to those Blue Sea bastards too!"
"Export! Domestic regulations keep us from jacking up the price freely, but overseas is a different story! Especially the menstrual cramp medicine—you can raise the price like a complete animal and the demand still overflows! Max out every bank loan and bid no matter what!"
"We requested additional funds from the American guild headquarters and they said they'll free some up. Since the Guild Leader is currently in the Empire, approval will go through the Vice Guild Leader—"
for the well-informed corporations and guilds,
"What? If there's a master like that, you should be sweet-talking them under the Association's wing this instant—what are you standing around for? Wait, there's someone like that and I didn't know? What's the name?"
"It's Han Sia—"
and even for the Hunter Association, a government body…
SCREEECH—!
"—Aigoo, you son of a bitch! Are you trying to kill me?!"
…was not the case.
Inside one of the Hunter Association's private offices.
Choi In-seo—a Director who was not publicly known but who participated in and coordinated the Association's major decisions—reflexively flung his rolling chair back as though dodging an arrow, his refined features completely at odds with the motion, then shuddered hard from head to toe.
"You—are you seriously trying to assassinate me?!"
"…Hoo, hoo—"
It took him a long while to collect himself.
"…Director."
Because he was a former Hunter who only talked tough and was, at heart, a sensible man, his secretary managed—though her hands trembled slightly from pure instinct—to remain standing and hold out a handkerchief.
Choi In-seo accepted it with his one remaining hand, wiped away the cold sweat, and recalled the warning Servel had delivered over the phone in the small hours of the morning.
"You. If you don't want to see my old habits come back, you'd better handle everything related to our Sia properly. Got it?"
As a Director of the Association, a bridge to the first-generation Hunters, and the unofficial overseer of the Prisoner Unit, he knew that insane elf all too well.
Wanted name: Robin Hood.
After her sworn sister went missing, she had donned a green cape from god-knows-where and gone around assassinating corrupt ministers and assemblymen connected to the Association—vanishing without a trace, never leaving a single piece of evidence or charge that could stick. That had been her.
And he was the one who, as a surviving first-generation Hunter with a personal connection to her, had unusually been given a Director's seat to normalize the Association—and who had persuaded her to take command of the Prisoner Unit.
"Then regarding the recruitment plan tied to the delayed rank appraisal… how should we proceed?"
And recently, Servel had been in contact with Cha Ji-woo—her former accomplice in those perfect crimes.
He knew exactly how to survive a situation like this.
"Scrap the recruitment. Process the appraisal by the book, and give her every convenience she asks for. Train the staff properly so nobody tries anything clever."
With neither Han Seyeon nor Lee Seong-ju around, he absolutely could not afford to get tangled with her more than necessary and hand her an excuse.
"Hiiing—"
"Don't cry. Crying over something like this."
"Huuu— I, sniff, what am I supposed to—"
"You're not supposed to do anything. Just sit there."
"Huuueng—"
"…If you keep crying, I might actually die."
"?"
Pat, pat.
Meanwhile, after pouring out a flood of tears on the rooftop that morning, Sia was stirring a mana cauldron full of blue liquid with eyes still puffy and swollen, long after the other two had gone home.
With every turn of the ladle the liquid inside grew richer. Even as she used her skill, Sia's mind was racing.
First I'll finish today's and tomorrow's batches, then go straight in for the sub-effect appraisal.
And while she was at it, she'd ask them to do the still-pending rank appraisal at the same time—then use the sub-effect premium to raise the price… higher.
Along with the thought came the memory of a headline: [Red Medicine Saved My Life].
Her small hand clenched the fabric of her dress over her chest.
It hurts my heart…
She understood that the price had to go up. But three hundred million won wasn't a small sum, and neither was three million. And she had watched Hunters wait day after day just to buy these potions. Even knowing with her head that this was the right call, the mere thought of raising the price filled her with guilt.
…As a compromise, maybe she could at least take reservations from the people waiting today.
Which meant she had to move even faster.
"…Ung!"
She could do this!
She clenched both fists tight, gave herself a little pep talk, and started working her skill even harder.
She stuck a bottle of Blue Medicine in her mouth and sipped it one mouthful at a time while channeling the Aging skill through the ladle—using the skill and stirring simultaneously—and with her free hand she sealed the lids on the finished potions.
By the time she had taken reservations even from the people camping out in tents, it was half past five in the afternoon, the sun sinking close to the horizon.
The Hunter Association, a government-affiliated agency, would be closing its doors soon.
I wanted to go today… Well, maybe I can at least call ahead and ask.
Rrring—
She searched for the Association's number on her phone and dialed.
Click.
"Yes, Hunter Association counseling desk—"
"Um, e-excuse me, I'd like a rank appraisal and… a premium evaluation. As soon as possible, please."
"…Yes— …date of birth, Awakened registration number, and full name?"
As always happened when someone called with a child's voice, the counselor's tone shifted into the weary register reserved for prank calls.
Sia shrank a little, but she did not let her voice shake.
"…… February tenth, the number is …… and my name is Han. Si. A."
She was an adult!
"…Excuse me?"
A moment later, the reaction that came back was strange.
"J-just a moment. I'll transfer you to the person in charge."
"Nyeng?"
Before she could even ask what was going on, a click sounded and the line transferred.
"One moment. I'll transfer you to the person in charge."
"One moment. I'll transfer you to the person in charge."
"One moment. I'll transfer you to the person in charge."
But it wasn't just once. It kept happening, one after another.
Click.
"Oh for fuck's sake, why are you dumping this on me—you people never do your damn j—"
Click.
…I think I just heard something weird—
Click.
"Hello, this is Song Ji-su, Team Leader of Appraisal Team 1 at the Hunter Association."
She must have misheard.
"Yeees…."
"I understand you'd like the earliest possible date."
"Th-that's right?"
"Then would you be able to come in before midnight tonight?"
"Nyeee…?"
Civil servants… weren't supposed to work at night, right…?