#298. Why Is This Here?
Aila began the day's work with a lightness of heart she hadn't felt in some time.
Kang Moo-hyuk's commander exam was finally wrapped up, and the LA incident had fizzled out without turning into any major headache.
Thousand Eyes had issued a warning, sure, but prophecies were inherently vague things—interpretations often strayed from reality.
Aila figured this was just another case of a misread prophecy.
Golden light usually ties to divinity. Pairing it with 'ominous' feels off somehow. There must be another meaning. Maybe even a positive spin. For now, let's just be grateful nothing's gone wrong.
She threw herself into her tasks with renewed vigor, but her mood sank again in the afternoon when Alex brought his report.
"I have two items that need to go to you first, Lady Aila."
"Dread's winning out over anticipation here."
"The first one's what you've been waiting for."
"And I've got more than one of those. Which is it?"
"We've pinpointed the Hirbat clan's location."
"Really? How? Where?!"
Aila shot to her feet.
After decades of fruitless searching, her otherworldly kin had finally surfaced.
Alex answered her questions in order.
"As you know, the Hirbat excel at barriers. Standard searches, satellites, even mana detection—they all fail. So we had to get creative with a workaround."
"What kind?"
"We tracked activity on that special potion formula they patented ages ago. They hadn't exercised rights in forever after going dark, but we set up monitoring anyway—no better options."
"Makes sense. They're not the type to chase money or power. Booze, maybe."
"We built a watchlist around anyone accessing that patent. Then we caught a hit: someone invoking a special clause to exercise voting rights."
"Where?"
"Korea."
"Korea?"
"Couldn't get full details, but narrowing it to that tiny country on the global map? Huge win. It'll take time, but we'll cross-reference their herbalism expertise with geography, dispatch teams from there, and narrow the search."
"No need. I think I know where to look."
Aila waved off Alex's plan. She had a pretty good idea where the Hirbat were hiding—and who was sheltering them.
Han Byung-gu...
She recalled how oddly well the Hirbat had always clicked with Korean hunters.
Even during the Great War, they'd pause hunts for drinks together. They'd toast at funerals for the fallen, celebrate victories, drown sorrows in defeat.
Put booze in front of Korean hunters and Hirbat, and centuries of age difference vanished—they'd be instant pals.
Then they caused a scandal and bailed. How did I miss this? Suspicious in hindsight.
It wasn't surprising Aila hadn't suspected Korea at all.
By the war's end, Korean hunters were in ruins—total mourning mode. The Hirbat, fed up with the humans' antics and the power grabs from other non-humans mimicking them, had ghosted without a word. No time to persuade or hold them back.
Now that the pieces fit, Aila realized pinpointing them wasn't great news.
Hirbat don't care for the Federation. Snooping in Korea now? Han Byung-gu won't sit idle. Hunter Association gets involved, drags in Commander Kang Moo-hyuk and Guild Master Joo Se-ah. He might invoke commander rights. That could clash with the Round Table or Mother Tree Council.
Aila sighed and asked Alex,
"How many people know this intel?"
"Just me in the Federation. It was a side line I set up solo."
"Good. Hands off Korea for now—just watch."
"Isn't this the clan the Mother Tree Council's been hunting for years?"
"We've got C004 in Korea. My guess? Hirbat surfacing now ties to him. Otherwise, they'd never be this sloppy. We could clash with our newest Federation member over opinions."
Alex got it.
The Federation looked monolithic from outside, but it was a coalition of factions.
The Round Table called the shots, but non-humans meant Mother Tree Council.
And the Black Rock Society—gear obsessives who never meddled—wouldn't budge on species matters either.
They didn't do compromise.
"Understood. We'll keep it secret for now. Second item?"
"Also Korea-related..."
"Korea again? What now?"
"C004 took rented gear and bounced without returning it."
"Angervadil? We loaned it to Hunter Joo Se-ah like the Poison Well. S-rank has it—won't lose it."
"Not Angervadil. Something else."
"What?"
"Comms gear from the carnivorous wasp hive. C004 just took it and ran."
"..."
"Latest prototype. LA branch was testing it. Tech dev's demanding return—says even a commander can't pull this. Furious. Your call?"
Aila suddenly felt like she was aging into an elf elder overnight. Two hundred years, easy.
"Uh, long-term rental form first?"
"Prototype, no serial. No category."
Aila gripped her elongated earlobe tight—classic elf stress tic. Alex stepped up with a fix.
"I'll request return from C004. Tech dev? Get a user review report from him to stall."
"That work? Devs are gear fanatics..."
"Feed 'em prototype flaws and improvements—they'll geek out. Give techies busywork, they behave. C004's sharp; he'll nail it."
"Please do. Stress no delays on return."
Iron Will Guild's equipment room annex, C Warehouse.
Kang Moo-hyuk nodded to No Song-rin trailing him. She set a standard travel trunk on the table.
Equipment manager An Ji-il eyed the trunk and Kang alternately.
"Commander, what's this?"
"Gear from the World Hunter Federation."
"Nah, Federation stuff's beyond me. Couldn't even touch that translator you brought. Needs top experts in gate materials, mechanics, magic arrays—you name it."
An Ji-il waved it off and backed up.
Kang opened the trunk, revealing the item.
"This one's different."
"Comms device?"
"Advanced over ours. Similar basics, but prioritizes mechanical over magical. Federation's pushing for cheap, widespread use."
"Lemme see."
An grabbed it like he'd never refused, inspecting closely. Soon he quizzed No Song-rin on operation, tested it himself. Even hooked up analyzers for data.
After fiddling forever, he set it down with a whistle.
"Impressions?"
"Damn, real deal. Mana draw's tiny? Distortion near zero."
"Replicable?"
"Gotta try. Boost the budget."
"How much?"
"One unit first. Mass-prod design—simple structure, but all gate materials. Teardown for details."
"100 billion sounds cheap."
"What? Starts at 1,000 billion."
"..."
Kang's jaw dropped; An wagged two fingers.
"One becomes two quick. You serious?"
"Approved. Budget incoming."
"For real?"
"Like C Warehouse startup. Scraped funds somehow."
"Nearly got you fired as team lead. Gave Ma Tae-soo ammo."
"Results dried up—trouble."
"I cleaned it up. Man, pisses me off now. You started it, I nearly jobless."
An glared; Kang played dumb, changed tack.
"Future matters. No money halts now."
"Sweet. Apply heavy—rejections on you."
"Yes. Handling now."
"Target specs?"
"Gate-interior use, obviously. Original plan."
"Already viable. Latency's the issue."
Kang's face darkened at An's words.
"Zero lag inside-outside. No more accidents like before."
"Still hung up on that?"
An frowned, recalling the vivid past incident.
The spark.
C Warehouse Project.
Their dream of new gate assaults.
An worried Kang was stuck there. Luckily, the shadow passed.
"Not dwelling to stall. Remembering keeps the fire alive."
"Lose some, human. Can't live leashed and whipped."
"Better than hunter monster-wrangling. Desk won't eat me."
"Know how long since I slept here? More overtime, I'll eat you."
An gnashed teeth; Kang coughed, averted eyes.
An dropped it, picking up the comms.
"Rough road ahead. More hands? Old crew? Expand R&D."
"As many as needed."
"Uni labs I know—MOU for industry collab. Guild can't swallow all. Scout PhDs too."
"Telling planning. List names."
"Spin up a research firm? Serious: attract corp investment, build factories."
"Phase 4."
"Huh? Planned that far? Fast as ever."
"Up to phase 7. Contingencies for sabotage, tech theft... Later."
An grew uneasy at the trail-off.
"Just checking: C Warehouse now?"
"Curious?"
"Nah. Got it. Long haul. Sigh."
An patted pockets for smokes, remembered he'd quit ages ago.
Last cig was quitting Titan...
Recalling Kang drove him to it, rage boiled.
"Argh! Out! I'll handle. And no more work! Bring any, I flip tables!"
"Sudden rage... Menopause? Saw online—hot flashes, outbursts..."
"Too young... Ugh! Overwork me to death, you're the perp."
"Logic glitch. Dead can't finger killers..."
"Out!"
Kang bolted, swallowing retort. Knew better than poke yelling An.
"Why you sticking?"
An eyed lone No Song-rin.
"Curious."
"Spit it."
"That 'then' you mentioned? Commander's incident?"
"Sigh, not my tale. Ask him."
"Vibe's off..."
An pointed under eyes.
"This look like?"
"Dark circles?"
"Why are they here?!"
"Tired?"
"Get my drift?"
"Heading out?"
"Yes. Close the damn door on your way."
"Door shut, can't leave..."
"Out!"
Scamper!