Chapter 116
"The Maine Guild is... and I’m sorry to say this, but it’s a guild no one can afford to ignore."
Hmm.
That made sense.
As far as the government was concerned, or even the Hunter Association, the Maine Guild was not the sort of force you could casually dismiss.
If someone were to ask which guild was the best in Korea, which one would they pick?
Leaving aside the fact that everyone tends to favor their own side, it would probably be our Baekwooncheon Guild.
Lee Tae-cheon. Baek Do-hee.
And those two were enough to make S-class hunters Miller and Smirnov say in interviews that they wanted to meet them.
With such a strong image spreading all over the world, no other guild could really catch up.
But if you asked about the strongest guild?
If you were simply choosing the guild with the greatest raw power?
No matter how much I might lean toward my own side, I couldn’t possibly put Baekwooncheon at the top.
Instead, people would talk about guilds like Aigaion, Skyscraper, and Chaos.
But even all those guilds would have to bow their heads to one more guild.
The Maine Guild.
"It’s the largest guild in Korea, with more than ten members ranked in the top hundred."
More than ten guild members in the top hundred.
That was on an entirely different scale from Baekwooncheon, where there were around ten A-class hunters.
Hunter rankings didn’t tell the whole story, but they weren’t something you could ignore either.
Han Jin-hwan’s staying at number one for fifteen straight years was proof of that.
If rankings were something people could dismiss, nobody would bother arguing about them so much.
And if a guild like that had expressed its intention to join directly, then the government would have had no choice but to take it seriously.
Unless, of course, they had completely fallen out with Baekwooncheon.
And those bastards from the Balance wouldn’t have told anyone who had hired them anyway.
"So...."
When I just kept staring in silence, Minister Hwang finally spoke up.
He was trying to shift the mood.
"What was the name of the fellow Maine sent?"
"Ah, that would be...."
Director Bae trailed off and looked at me.
He was clearly checking whether I was all right with it.
I gave him a small smile, letting him know I understood.
There were some things you couldn’t help.
Throwing a fit here would change nothing.
"Hunter Jo Joo-hyun."
"Jo Joo-hyun, right. That was the name.... I think he was the one being called Maine Guild’s young ace this time?"
"Yes. That’s correct. He’s twenty-six years old, ranked twenty-fourth. His epithet is the 'Crimson Magic Swordsman.'"
Twenty-six years old and rank twenty-fourth.
We were the same age, and he had already made a name for himself as an A-class hunter.
And Crimson Magic Swordsman?
Using magic and a sword at the same time wasn’t exactly easy.
Han Jin-hwan, sounding interested, asked, "Maine Guild’s ace? What happened to the one they already had?"
"He’s still there."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean Jo Joo-hyun is more like a candidate for the next ace."
"Ah."
"They’re probably trying to put him in the spotlight."
"I see.... Now I’m looking forward to meeting him."
"You’ll get the chance soon."
"Of course. We’re working together."
"No, you’ll be seeing him today."
"Today?"
"Yeah. We arranged to have dinner together tonight, so we could spend some time together. That’s fine, right?"
"Huh, you did?"
As he said that, Han Jin-hwan looked back at me.
He was asking whether I’d known about it.
I shook my head right away.
I was hearing this for the first time too.
If they were planning to spend some time together, they should have invited Do-hee and Tae-cheon too.
"Haha, since I said Jin-hwan would be here, he said he definitely wanted to meet him, so I made time for it."
Sensing my stare, Minister Hwang added that like it was an excuse.
"Ah."
If that was the reason, then I could understand it.
Do-hee and Tae-cheon probably had no interest in meeting Han Jin-hwan at all.
If it were for work, that would be different.
But they wouldn’t have wanted to carve out time just to have dinner with him.
"Ah. Ah?"
Han Jin-hwan narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
He had caught the meaning behind that brief sound of surprise I’d made.
I scratched my cheek and laughed awkwardly.
They say you can’t spit on a smiling face.
Han Jin-hwan shook his head.
Watching him with obvious satisfaction, Minister Hwang said, "Since we’re meeting at the restaurant, I suppose we should head out."
With that, he stood up.
We followed Minister Hwang out of the office.
Jo Joo-hyun, huh....
I was curious what kind of guy he was.
The place Minister Hwang led us to was a Korean restaurant.
Just by looking at it, I could tell the per-person price had to be absurdly high.
And judging by the dozens of autograph cards stuck all over the wall behind the counter, it was probably famous as a good restaurant too.
Han Jin-hwan’s autograph, complete with a photo, was displayed there in huge letters.
Maybe that was why.
The owner himself came out to greet us and guided us to a private room.
"Thank you for visiting us again like this, Hunter Han Jin-hwan!"
He cheerfully bowed, then closed the door and left.
Han Jin-hwan, watching that with mild confusion, turned to look at Minister Hwang.
The table already had side dishes and water on it.
As soon as the main dishes came out, we could eat right away.
"...Did you use my name to make the reservation again?"
Again.
The way he said it made it sound like this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
Minister Hwang laughed heartily.
"Haha. Your name gets you a free pass anywhere."
"And you’re fine with using that as a minister?"
"You’ve always said this place was delicious. If you don’t like it, we can go somewhere else right now."
With that, Minister Hwang walked toward the door.
Han Jin-hwan and Director Bae both shook their heads.
The two of them, still shaking their heads, pulled out their chairs and sat down.
Minister Hwang, standing by the door, looked back at us.
"...Aren’t you going to stop me?"
"Enough with the useless nonsense and sit down."
"Hoo...."
"Shall we?"
He hurried back and took the empty seat.
Smiling brightly, he looked at me and pointed at the chair as if telling me to sit down already.
Was this old man shameless, or just made of stubborn dough?
Even though I’d already met him several times, I still couldn’t quite get a read on him.
Well, it was awkward being the only one left standing, so I took my seat.
Minister Hwang and Han Jin-hwan sat on the inside, while Director Bae and I sat on the outside.
Rattle.
As soon as everyone was seated, the door opened.
I turned, thinking Jo Joo-hyun had arrived, but it was the staff.
The waiters swiftly set down the main dishes and traditional liquor on the table, then withdrew.
"When is Jo Joo-hyun supposed to arrive?"
Han Jin-hwan asked, smacking his lips.
His eyes were fixed only on the neatly arranged side dishes.
He must have been remembering the taste from before, because he was practically salivating.
Minister Hwang checked his wristwatch and muttered, "7:28.... He should be here soon."
"Well, if we start eating, he’ll show up on his own anyway."
Then the two of them each picked up their traditional liquor and chopsticks.
Neither of them seemed interested in waiting.
Well, one was a minister and the other was an A+ class hunter.
They didn’t exactly seem like the sort of people who’d sit around waiting for someone with food right in front of them.
Minister Hwang poured traditional liquor into the glass in front of him, then filled ours as well.
Han Jin-hwan, who had been picking at the side dishes, accepted his drink last.
"Right, good. Then...."
As Minister Hwang licked his lips, a system window popped up over his face.
It was a message from Saessak.
The World Tree sapling sensed a disgusting energy.
"Huh?"
The sudden message slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Minister Hwang paused halfway through his toast.
"What is it, Do-woon?"
The other two looked at me too, clearly wondering what was wrong.
But I had nothing I could say back.
I couldn’t exactly tell them that Saessak had suddenly sensed a disgusting energy.
What was that about all of a sudden?
"...It’s nothing."
"...?"
"Please continue. Your toast."
"Hm, hm...."
Minister Hwang cleared his throat twice.
After collecting his thoughts, he was about to resume the toast when,
Rattle!
The door opened.
This time it wasn’t the staff.
It was a man I’d never seen before.
This must be Jo Joo-hyun from the Maine Guild.
"I’m sorry! It’s my first time here, so I got lost!"
The man bowed deeply the moment he opened the door.
All the attention that had been on me shifted to him.
"Oh, Joo-hyun. Perfect timing. Come in and sit down."
"Good evening, Minister!"
Minister Hwang greeted him and pointed to the seat next to me.
As Jo Joo-hyun walked over to the indicated spot, he greeted each of us in turn.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Senior. I’m Jo Joo-hyun."
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
"Good to see you again, Director."
"Yes, nice to meet you too, Hunter Jo Joo-hyun."
"Ah...."
At last, his gaze fell on me.
The moment his eyes reached me, another message popped up.
It was from Saessak.
The World Tree sapling sensed a disgusting gaze.
The sapling reports that it can smell revulsion coming from the man in front of you.
Saessak felt disgust from Jo Joo-hyun.
It was the first time since the Crowd that I’d felt such openly hostile, negative emotion.
For a moment, I even wondered if Jo Joo-hyun was one of the Demon Race’s followers like them.
But....
If that were the case, wouldn’t it have said a hateful gaze instead of a disgusting one?
It would have felt hatred, not disgust.
There had to be a difference there somewhere....
I just didn’t know what it was.
"I’m Jo Joo-hyun. It’s nice to meet you."
"...Baek Do-woon."
"Uh, did I get something on my face?"
"Huh?"
Jo Joo-hyun asked, touching his cheek with his right hand.
He seemed flustered by the way I was staring at him.
"No. You don’t have anything on your face."
"Then why are you looking at me like that...."
"Ah, sorry. It’s just strange to finally see the so-called ace of the Maine Guild."
At that, Han Jin-hwan let out a sly grin.
He only smiled silently, so I was the only one who noticed.
Good.
He’d clearly realized I was lying.
Unable to tell, Jo Joo-hyun laughed awkwardly.
Then he extended his hand.
"The honor is mine. To meet the older brother of the White Saint, and a friend of Lee Tae-cheon, the Knight of the Sky."
"Those are my proudest connections in life."
I reached out and took his hand as I answered.
Then another message window appeared.
The World Tree sapling sensed disgusting but pure mana.
It feels puzzled that two opposing energies are present together.
Opposing energies....
I looked down at the right hand I had just shaken.
Questions kept piling up in my own head, just as they apparently did in Saessak’s.
Why had it sensed disgust?
How could something disgusting also be pure?
"Uh, were you in the middle of a toast?"
"Ah. We were about to start without you. Sorry."
"No, no. I’m the one who’s late."
"You said you wanted to meet me, didn’t you?"
Han Jin-hwan asked, lifting the bottle of liquor.
Jo Joo-hyun quickly picked up his glass and held it out as he answered, "Yes, that’s right."
"Then why me?"
The glass was filled to the brim with liquor.
Carefully holding it so it wouldn’t spill, Jo Joo-hyun grinned.
"I wanted to see you with my own eyes."
"See what? Me?"
"Yes. You’re my goal."
"Oh...."
Wow. That was some nerve.
How many people could say something like that in front of Han Jin-hwan?
Even if you could think it, saying it out loud took real courage.
Whether it was courage or recklessness, I still couldn’t tell.
Either way, he really did seem like the young ace of Korea’s largest guild.
Han Jin-hwan and Minister Hwang seemed to think the same thing, because they both laughed heartily.
Only Director Bae gave an awkward laugh, as if he felt slightly out of place.
"Please take care of me from here on out. I’m Jo Joo-hyun, disciple of Maine Guild Master Yoon Geon."
Jo Joo-hyun bowed his head.
Han Jin-hwan looked at him fondly for a moment, then said, "Oh, that man’s disciple, huh....?"
"Yes."
"Hmm.... What do you think?"
Then he abruptly asked me.
Why was he suddenly dragging me into this?
"Me?"
"Yeah. He says I’m his goal, so what do you think, as a hunter of the same age?"
"Uh...."
I wasn’t the only one who was curious, apparently.
Minister Hwang, Director Bae, and even Jo Joo-hyun were all looking at me.
Maybe because all their eyes had settled on me, I felt like I ought to answer seriously.
So I thought about it slowly.
Hunter ranking number one.
Korea’s best, and strongest hunter.
What was I supposed to think about that?
Well....
"Good luck? Fighting? You can do it."
I raised my right hand and made a tight fist at Jo Joo-hyun.
Then the three of them except Han Jin-hwan stared at me blankly.
They looked like they had run out of words.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"What? That’s kind of how I feel."
"Pffthaha!"
Han Jin-hwan burst out laughing.