Chapter 106
“Hello, Baek Do-woon, A-class Hunter.”
A-class Hunter....
What a pleasing ring that had.
I let the sound of it wash over me slowly, forgetting even to tap the screen of my smartphone for a moment.
“Mr. Baek Do-woon?”
“...Ah, I came to use the warp gate.”
Coming back to my senses, I tapped the screen again.
I could feel mana flowing through my fingertips and into the display.
“You’d like to use the warp gate? Then you’ll need to wait a little. Is that all right?”
“I have to wait?”
“Yes. Overseas warp gate traffic is heavy at the moment, so you’ll need to wait about thirty minutes.”
“Heavy overseas traffic?”
The words made my head tilt on its own.
The farther the distance a warp gate covered, the higher the price.
Travel within Korea wasn’t that expensive, but if you were coming from overseas into Korea, it would cost about an entire B-class Hunter’s annual salary.
If you came from the other side of the globe? You’d probably need about an A-class Hunter’s annual salary.
For that reason, B-class mages and above often preferred teleportation magic over warp gates.
The research teams from each nation that belonged to S-class Hunters didn’t just fly in for no reason.
Unless it was something extraordinary, they wouldn’t be crossing national borders through warp gates.
Seeing my puzzled expression, the Association employee kindly explained.
“Everyone wants to see what’s going to happen in two days with their own eyes.”
“Ah.”
What would happen in two days.
That was true enough.
It was no ordinary event.
It was bigger than the World Cup or the Olympics, which only came once every four years.
It was the kind of thing that would go down in a history textbook.
That was what it meant for every single currently living S-class Hunter to gather in one place.
No wonder people would spend a fortune just to see it with their own eyes.
“I guess I’ll have to take the bus back.”
“That would probably be wise. Will you be using the warp gate then?”
“Yes. My destination is Muju Ant Cave Dungeon.”
“Please wait a moment. Yes, you’re all set. Please wait over there.”
After receiving my boarding pass, I walked toward the place the Association employee pointed out.
The waiting room wasn’t large, but there were plenty of empty seats.
More people came here than left, after all.
I sat down wherever there was space and checked the time on my smartphone.
1:34 p.m.
Since they’d said it would take about thirty minutes, I should be able to leave around two.
I’d originally planned to leave early in the morning....
But perhaps because I’d been tired from the previous night’s events, I’d overslept.
Since I was already late, I’d eaten before coming, and the time had passed quickly enough after that.
While tapping the screen, I thought back to what had happened yesterday.
“The potion maker at Crystal Workshop is in danger.”
The moment I got that warning, I’d taken Hong Su-jeong straight to Jae-i's Blacksmith.
I’d been delayed because of some strange misunderstanding and had to sort that out first, but the roads were empty at night, so we got there quickly.
When we arrived in front of the blacksmith shop, Hong Su-jeong got out of the passenger seat and hurried into the still-lit building, clutching a bundle nearly as big as her own torso.
Inside it were the tools needed to make a high-grade healing potion.
Maybe it was because it was nighttime?
Watching her hug that bundle from behind, she looked for all the world like someone making a midnight escape.
Of course, the fact that she was so loud she drew everyone’s attention meant it was a failed midnight escape.
Rrrrk!
Hong Su-jeong yanked open the blacksmith’s sliding door roughly.
“Jae-i!”
“Hong Su-jeong...?”
Sure enough, three women were sprawled inside the workshop.
They had at least half-raised their upper bodies, apparently having decided to check what the noise was.
When Seom Yun-jin saw Hong Su-jeong and me come in after her, she set down her staff.
Mana dispersed.
I knew nothing about magic, so I had no idea what spell she’d been about to use.
If I had to guess, maybe she’d been preparing a detection skill.
“Hong Su-jeong. What brings you here?”
“I missed you!”
Hong Su-jeong set down her baggage and ran to throw herself at Yu Jae-i.
Yu Jae-i narrowed her eyes at Hong Su-jeong, who had failed to answer the question.
But she didn’t push her away.
Instead, she slowly lifted one arm and patted Hong Su-jeong on the back.
It looked less like two friends and more like sisters.
Kim Ji-yeon and Seom Yun-jin seemed to think so too.
They looked like they’d seen something cute and satisfying, the corners of their mouths lifting slightly.
I closed the sliding door and walked up to them.
“What’s going on? Why did the two of you come together?”
“Well-”
“A group called Crowd is targeting me.”
Still tucked in Yu Jae-i’s arms, Hong Su-jeong spoke.
Even while saying that they were targeting her, her voice didn’t tremble at all.
She acted as if it had nothing to do with her.
What surprised the others was not her.
Especially Yu Jae-i, her close friend, who looked confused and kept glancing back and forth between me and Hong Su-jeong.
“What do you mean? Why would Crowd go after you?”
“I don’t really know. Do-woon told me it was because of the potion I made, though....”
“Because of the potion?”
She turned to look at me then, her face asking for an explanation.
I told her the information I’d gotten from Park Woo-hyeon right away.
I left out the part about going to Crystal Workshop because I was worried about her.
After hearing me out, Kim Ji-yeon muttered in surprise.
“You were the one who made that potion, Do-woon...?”
“The one who actually made it was Ms. Hong. I only brought the materials.”
“Do-woon, did you tell the Association that Crowd is blocking potion distribution?”
“Huh? No.”
“Why not?”
“......”
Why not?
I had no answer for that.
There wasn’t really a reason I hadn’t reported it.
More precisely, I hadn’t even thought I should.
Only after she asked did it occur to me that I ought to have said something.
Looking at how the potions were still not circulating properly, it was obvious the government and the Association didn’t know.
Yu Jae-i sighed.
“You really weren’t thinking at all, were you?”
“Well.... I’ll report it to the Association right now.”
“......”
Under the sharp glares of the three women, I called Choi Hee-seok at once.
When the ringing had gone on for more than ten times, he finally answered.
“Do-woon?”
His voice calling my name sounded a little thick, as if he’d just woken up.
“Ahem, ahem! What is it?”
“Oh dear, were you sleeping?”
“N-No. I was working. Things have been so busy lately I don’t even have time to sleep.”
So it wasn’t thick from sleep, but because he hadn’t been talking much.
I could understand not having time to sleep.
Choi Hee-seok was a Hunter with the Association.
Not just any Hunter, either, but one of its most capable ace Hunters, holding an executive position.
He must be busy preparing for what would happen in two days.
I felt a little bad for adding one more thing to worry about for a man already carrying so much.
“Then I’ll get straight to the point.”
“Please do.”
“It’s about the potion.”
“Ah, you’ve become an A-class Hunter too. Are you hoping I can get you some high-grade potions?”
“......?”
What was he talking about?
I was the one who’d made the potion. Why would I be hoping someone could get it for me?
Apparently, he didn’t know I was the one who had produced it.
Well, I had left all the sales to Crystal Workshop, so I supposed that was natural.
“No, I don’t need that.”
“Huh? Then why...”
“More specifically, I wanted to talk about potion distribution.”
“Potion distribution?”
“Aren’t potions and materials from Europe not coming in these days?”
“Hm.”
It was an answer that was neither yes nor no.
As someone in the Association, he probably couldn’t say anything definitive about that information.
I nodded and told him the information I’d happened to learn.
“Crowd is the one blocking it.”
“......”
Silence fell.
After about ten seconds, he asked,
“Is that true? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Hah.... That’s unbelievable. This... how on earth did you find that out? We hadn’t known anything about it until now.”
“I heard it directly from Crowd.”
“What!”
His booming voice drove straight into my ear.
The sound was so loud it practically felt like an attack.
Was it my imagination, or did the World Tree Bark activate in my ear for a second there?
I switched the phone to my other ear.
“You heard it directly? What do you mean by that?”
His shocked voice came over the line immediately.
I wasn’t the only one who wanted to ask that.
The people standing in front of me were also staring with identical questions written all over their faces.
“Did you capture a member of Crowd? If so, bring them to the Association right away.”
“Mm, I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Not possible? Why... ah.”
“Senior Choi?”
“...Say no more. I think it’s better if I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“Just make sure you handle the aftermath properly.”
“The aftermath?”
“So that no one can find them. Not even me.”
“......”
Haa...
I’d thought the atmosphere was a little strange.
He seemed to have misunderstood something.
Judging by the way he spoke, it was as if I’d tortured someone and then killed them.
They had just come to me on their own and told me about it....
Well, whatever. My goal had been achieved, so maybe I should just let it go.
“Then I’ve passed the information along. I’ll let you go now.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Before I could hang up, Choi Hee-seok ended the call first.
He was probably going to report the information to his superiors right away.
After I ended the call, Grow the World Tree appeared.
I saw Saessak and the elves. The elves were sitting around Saessak, taking a break.
I looked up while tapping the screen.
“Did you kill him?”
“No. He got away.”
Strictly speaking, I hadn’t even lost him.
I hadn’t chased him in the first place.
Without any proper detection skill, I had no means of pursuing him.
Unless Saessak had sensed an unpleasant presence, that was another matter entirely.
Seom Yun-jin raised her hand and asked,
“Um, Ms. Hong... Su-jeong? Can I ask you one question?”
“Yes. Ask awayy.”
Still wrapped in Yu Jae-i’s arms, Hong Su-jeong answered with a relaxed face.
Of course, Yu Jae-i, who was holding her, looked anything but relaxed.
She seemed to be forcing herself to endure it so she wouldn’t hurt Hong Su-jeong while shaking her off.
“What did you make it with to get that kind of taste in the potion?”
“Ah, that is....”
Hong Su-jeong didn’t answer. She just looked at me.
That was because the potion had been made with World Tree leaves.
It wasn’t information she could casually share with other people.
I smiled faintly and gave her a small nod.
Since I was planning to ask the two of them to protect Hong Su-jeong anyway.
And they had already been present when I traded for the World Tree cones.
They already knew I could obtain World Tree-related items.
“It was made with World Tree leaves.”
“......What?”
The two of them went wide-eyed like startled rabbits.
Their gazes shifted from Hong Su-jeong to me.
Even if Hong Su-jeong had made the potion, I was the one who had brought the materials.
Seeing that, Yu Jae-i smiled in satisfaction and nodded.
So that’s why.
“So, about that... could you also guard Ms. Hong for us?”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
The one who answered was Kim Ji-yeon.
Seom Yun-jin had gone off into her own world and had started muttering to herself.
Her voice was too soft for me to make out what she was saying.
Given that she was a mage, it was only natural that World Tree leaves would spark her interest.
“Even with one more person, are you all right?”
“That’s fine. If Crowd attacks this place, we’ll just run away immediately with teleportation.”
Ah, I see.
If that was the case, it wouldn’t matter whether there were one or two people to protect.
As long as teleportation magic activated properly, that was enough.
“Then please take care of her a few more days.”
“Ah, I heard. You’ll be moving sometime after the middle of the month, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not trying to rush you, but why after the middle of the month?”
“Hm. You know the S-class Hunters are coming in two days, right?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t know that?”
“I’ve been assigned to go along as security. Right beside Han Jin-hwan senior.”
“......What?”
Kim Ji-yeon’s eyes went wide with shock again.
This time, Yu Jae-i and Hong Su-jeong were the same.
Seom Yun-jin was still lost in her own world.
“D-Do-woon is... going to be there...?”
“Yes. So move after that’s over.”
“...Fine.”
“That’s okay, right? It’s okay, isn’t it?”
“I don’t really care.”
“Me neither.”
After asking them one by one, they nodded and answered right away.
After answering, Yu Jae-i added another question.
“But do you have formal wear?”
“Huh?”
“Formal wear. From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you’re going to the banquet hall too. Do you have clothes to wear there?”
“A suit should be enough, right?”
“...Are you serious?”
Then was that a lie?
As I was thinking that, she let out a long sigh.
Hong Su-jeong also murmured, “Do-woon....” and Kim Ji-yeon shook her head repeatedly.
Hmm. Was there some reason I couldn’t just wear a normal suit?
“Can’t I just wear a suit?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. If it were an ordinary banquet, anyway.”
“......?”
“But the place you’re going to is a banquet of the century that every broadcaster in the world will be shouting about. Who goes to a place like that in just a regular suit?”
“Who, you ask? Me, obviously.”
“Hoo.... How did I end up with someone like th—”
Yu Jae-i let out a long sigh and muttered to herself.
Her voice was too low for me to catch the end of the sentence.
Still, because the face she turned toward me was one I knew very well, I could tell it wasn’t anything flattering.
It was the same face Do-hee often wore when she looked at Tae-cheon and me....
Yes.
A face full of exasperation.