Nonsan Branch Office (4)
Fortunately, those brats didn’t cause any more trouble while I was resting in the room with Nureungi and Pobbi.
They seemed to have simply written off yesterday’s half-baked hunt and cleanly given up on it.
Once, an environmental ministry official had casually mentioned that hunter society, like ours, was surprisingly narrow and rumors spread fast.
So it looked like they valued their reputation and pride a lot more than we did.
That was probably why they wouldn’t go out of their way to make things bigger just to mess with us and damage their own image.
The next morning, I told Nureungi and Pobbi that today they could freely wander around the city if they wanted.
The moment they heard those words, their eyes sparkled with excitement.
Since they still had a decent amount of the reward money from catching that old boar last time, I couldn’t help but laugh at their happy faces and pulled out my card to hand it over.
I figured they should splurge on whatever delicious food they wanted and enjoy some great sightseeing.
It was also a chance to smuggle in real hunter gear that I might never get to touch again…
But that was a story for later. No need to worry about it now.
Even if I had expensive weapons, they’d be useless for hunting monsters in Dohwang-ri anyway.
And if something did happen, the ministry official would definitely scold me with eagle eyes long before any of that.
With ears and tails perked up, Nureungi and Pobbi bounded ahead of me as we left the shelter.
To my surprise, those same brats were lounging around in the lobby.
They shot us a quick glance, then looked genuinely disappointed, as if they hadn’t expected me to mean what I said.
If they had been ordinary human kids, maybe, but these were demi-humans.
Yeah, right. Two demi-human kids and a woman like me… that was probably why they’d been so reluctant to stir up trouble.
I watched Nureungi and Pobbi chatter excitedly as they headed out the shelter entrance, then turned toward the city hall instead—the opposite direction from where they were going.
While they were off on a fun outing, I was heading to work.
I had to gather at the city hall first thing tomorrow to hear the important briefing on the hunting area before we set out.
Since the hunting grounds were in the rough mountains around Nonsan, there were plenty of things we huntsmen needed to know in advance.
As soon as I stepped into the city hall building, a large sign written in bold letters—clearly meant for the average age of huntsmen—kindly pointed the way.
Following the directions, I climbed the stairs and entered the small auditorium on the second floor.
The smell of stale air mixed with the familiar and unfamiliar faces of the hunters gathered there.
Most of them were my age or older, the type who belonged to the older generation of hunters, or even the kind of people who worked as ministry officials now.
It felt ridiculous to be sitting among them in the middle of all those gray-haired uncles, looking like a young flower snake trying to blend in.
‘Ugh, I really look like a young snake trying to fool these old men…’ I almost sighed out loud, but I held it back.
If I let out even a small sigh, the hunters sitting beside me would probably worry and ask if I was feeling sick, which would only make things worse.
So I sat there with a blank, emotionless expression—the best I could do in this situation.
It would have been nice if at least one of my acquaintances had been here, but it looked like none of them had joined this hunt.
Those ungrateful bastards.
A moment later, a civil servant from the city hall’s environmental department stepped onto the stage and began delivering the prepared explanation to the crowded auditorium full of old men and gray-haired uncles.
But to my surprise, the content he droned on about was nothing but trivial details and the kind of basic common sense that veterans would have reacted to before even thinking.
The other hunters sitting on either side of me hung their heads, some dozing off while others stared blankly at their phones.
Watching this scene, I felt like I was seeing my younger self from the old days of hunting, or perhaps just the naive attitude of these veterans.
The civil servant on stage seemed to notice our bored expressions too, because he recited the prepared script in a flat, lifeless voice.
This was clearly just a routine administrative procedure.
If he really wanted to convey something important, he wouldn’t have shoved us into this cramped little auditorium. He would have called us to a proper training facility instead.
With a small sigh, I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket like the other hunters and started scrolling.
At just the right moment, a message from Nureungi and Pobbi popped up.
They were sitting side by side at a café table piled high with desserts, ears perked up as they took a selfie.
I should set this as my background wallpaper.
The briefing ended, and the civil servant asked in a formal tone if anyone had any questions.
Everyone in the auditorium stayed completely silent, as if they had rehearsed it.
If that was the case, then what was the point of coming here in the first place?
But the civil servant only revealed the real purpose right before the event ended.
“Make sure to arrive at the entrance of Gyeryong Mountain by eight with your firearms. Detailed information will be sent to you via text message as soon as the briefing finishes.”
The moment those words fell, chairs scraped loudly across the floor along with slow “Yes~” responses from all around.
The hunters rose from their seats without hesitation and headed outside.
Ah… so the most important part was just going to be sent in a text.
That finally made everything click.
That was why the civil servant had explained it so casually, and why the hunters had listened so casually.
I was the youngest here, yet I was so weak when it came to new technology…
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and sighed again, then followed the retreating backs of the hunters out into the hallway.
When I stopped at the vending machine near the city hall entrance to buy a can of coffee, my phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.
I tapped the screen to check the message. It was packed with detailed information—meeting points by team, the designated hunting route, and even individual ammo allocations.
“If it’s like this, why didn’t you send it earlier? Why bother calling us here?”
I grumbled as I called Nureungi to ask where she was.
She said she was about to have lunch not far from the city hall.
When I told her I’d come over, she panicked and told me to wait quietly.
I wasn’t exactly the type to cause trouble, but why was she acting like that? I only got a little lost in places with lots of buildings.
Well, at least she was coming to find me on her own. I was grateful for that.
Just as the can of coffee came into view, I spotted Nureungi and Pobbi walking toward me from the other side.
Both of them were smiling brightly as they approached me, as if something wonderful had happened.
“Long time no see in the city. Enjoying it?”
“Yeah! And Unnie is super strong!”
Pobbi’s sudden remark made me blink.
“Strong?”
“Today, some weird hunters tried to touch Unnie’s ears, but Unnie kicked them so hard they flew away~”
Ah… I think I know who they mean.
“Then what?”
“They got all angry and started yelling at me, so I gave them a piece of my mind! After that, they ran away!”
“What did they say?”
Pobbi perked up her ears proudly.
“We’re still minors!”
Ah, right. According to their ID cards, Nureungi and Pobbi were still considered minors.
So… the picture was starting to come together.
Those idiots had tried to take advantage of demi-humans who were seen as vulnerable and underage, without any awakening abilities, and got what they deserved.
This was one of those things you couldn’t complain about anywhere.
Even if I went running to the Hunter Agency or the police station to complain, the police would kindly escort them to the cells…
What would the Hunter Agency do? Punish them? Or expel them?
Either way, they were done for.
Nureungi had taken care of those idiots in a satisfying way, but there was still a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.
No matter how young and inexperienced they were, they were still hunters.
They weren’t weak enough to fall over from a single kick from a normal demi-human’s rear leg.
Logically, Nureungi’s legs should have been the ones injured.
That meant… maybe something I had been worried about was starting to happen.
Awakening.
Everyone else talked about awakening like it was a blessing, but I wasn’t so sure.
It was much better to just stay home, eat delicious food, and live a peaceful life than to risk my life fighting.
Of course, if Nureungi really wanted that, I’d cheer her on. What else could I do?
I decided to push those complicated thoughts out of my head for now.
Right now, I would just face the two of them and praise them for doing well and giving those idiots exactly what they deserved.
That was all I could do.
For a while, we wandered around Nonsan City, enjoying the sights.
We ate lunch at a famous chain restaurant I had only heard about, then went shopping at a real department store instead of some local supermarket.
For this moment, I wasn’t a hunter about to face danger tomorrow.
I was just a normal unnie enjoying the city with her two younger sisters.
As the sun began to set, before heading back to our lodging, we stopped at a convenience store.
I walked straight to the counter and bought a few instant lottery tickets as my little habit before big events.
I didn’t know if Nureungi and Pobbi knew or not, but they teased me playfully from the side.
“Wow! I hope we win!”
Their cheerful excitement somehow missed the mark completely.
Everything came up blank.
When I smiled satisfiedly while looking at the scratched-off lottery tickets, the part-time worker stared at me in surprise.
“You know, they say it’s harder to win even one prize on these… In a different way, you’re amazing.”
I got a backhanded compliment, but this kind of bad luck was actually the best kind of luck for me.
At that moment, as if they had read my mind, the two of them stepped forward.
“Our unnie always buys lottery tickets before big events.”
“If we get all blanks, it means we did our cleansing properly~”
Nureungi and Pobbi said it proudly, and the part-time worker finally smiled, understanding my expression.
“Ah, then there must be good things coming our way.”
“Haha… I hope so.”
I just gave an awkward smile.
Even my little habit that no one knew about except the substation staff had been completely figured out by these kids.
They heard about it from rabbits and passed it on to dogs.
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