43
043 ― Baby Dragon
A dark night without a single star. Even the moonlight, the only source of light, is hidden behind clouds and cannot be seen.
On a rooftop where fierce winds are howling, David drew his sword and confronted Jin-woo.
He can no longer tolerate this. When someone comes looking to be killed like this, not killing them would actually be impolite.
'How dare an E-rank bastard point a sword at me!?'
He doesn't know anymore. It seemed like his anger wouldn't subside until he tore apart the man before his eyes.
If it had been the old him, he might have endured it to protect his dream of entering politics. Since he had to live as a politician in New York, he would have avoided committing crimes directly in New York.
But that dream was shattered because of the man before his eyes, and he had also established connections with Hong Kong just in case. If killing Jin-woo becomes a problem, he can just cross the ocean.
"You E-rank bastard who doesn't know your place! If you want to die so badly, I'll kill you right here!"
When David took a step, the considerable distance between them was instantly closed. It was like an instantaneous movement technique that folded space.
David's sword flew at him with timing that was one tempo faster than expected.
Clang―!
However, it didn't work on Jin-woo, who was prepared. From the beginning, Jin-woo had come up with the full intention to fight. Since he had already come out prepared for battle, even the fast-tempo attack was within his expectations.
'This bastard……!'
That fact itself was a great humiliation for David. You blocked it because you were prepared? That's something that should only apply in battles between S-ranks of the same level, not something that should happen in a fight between E-rank and S-rank.
Screech― Ka-clang!
He twisted his sword upward to create an opening in Kang Jin-woo and somehow maintained his offensive. The effect of the first strike isn't just in surprise attacks, but in gaining the upper hand.
In battles between masters, once you gain the upper hand, it's not easy to reverse it. David designed his swordplay to solidify that advantage.
At first, it seemed to work well. Kang Jin-woo was constantly on the defensive, and it seemed like he could snap his neck at any moment.
Then at some point, he realized. The fact that his sword was missing the bastard by just a hair's breadth, never actually reaching him.
'No way.'
David realized it painfully. No, he had originally known but had been ignoring it.
'I've become too dull.'
Compared to his active days, his sword had rusted too much.
A swordsman must never let go of his sword, not even for a day. Since a sword is as delicate as it is sharp, if you let go of it even for a day, it starts rusting from that moment.
How long had he let go of it?
After becoming director, he was busy receiving entertainment from various places. Even before becoming director, he had devoted himself to lobbying and building connections to enter politics.
He had been closer to the phone numbers of politicians and businessmen stored in his smartphone than to the sword in his inventory.
Recently, with the Ireland incident, he had vaguely felt it when he took up his sword again, but he had deliberately ignored it. The price for that was now appearing.
'This isn't me! Remember, David. Remember me from my active days. And my appearance from my previous life!'
David recalled the abilities he had awakened while crossing Gates and fragments of his previous life. Those at the S-rank level possess memories and knowledge of their previous lives to some extent.
In his previous life, he was a mercenary who wandered relying only on a single sword. You could call him a ronin.
If there were a war, he would rush anywhere, and if he could get money, he would do anything. As a human, he was trash, but as a mercenary, he was first-class.
Remember.
The sensation of roaming battlefields.
The cruelty of cutting enemies' throats and quenching his thirst with their blood!
'Yes! This is my……!'
This is my power!
My memories! My previous life!
This is my……!
Stab―
His chest was pierced, and Jin-woo's sword split through blue flames.
"……Ah?"
The string supporting David, who had just been recalling his previous life and drawing up power and energy, snapped with a thud.
"Im, possible……."
He wanted to say it was impossible.
At this very moment, the fact that Jin-woo was E-rank and a thorn in his side and such things didn't come to mind at all.
He was just shocked.
"Second, rate……."
This wasn't in his imagination. Neither facing Jin-woo one-on-one, nor being defeated there.
He wasn't even defeated due to a difference in abilities. He was purely defeated in swordplay.
His previous life was powerful enough to make his current life an S-rank. Then what about his current self?
If there were a next life, what rank could his current self raise his future self to?
Probably, he thought it wouldn't even reach A-rank.
That became his lingering regret as he closed his eyes in resentment.
Shortly after, his inventory burst, and the items inside spilled out onto the hotel rooftop.
"Jin-woo!"
Around that time, Shartia, who had sent the signal, came up. Although it took a while to avoid surveillance, it was less than a minute.
It had felt like they had exchanged swords for so long, but the actual time was that short.
"Are you safe…… Ah."
What she saw on the rooftop was, contrary to her worries, an unharmed Jin-woo and, on the other hand, David bleeding and collapsed.
Seeing that all the items from his inventory had spilled out, he seemed to be already dead. Jin-woo had finished him off.
She knew Jin-woo was amazing, and cutting through the Ireland's heart and returning alive from Johan were equally amazing feats.
But hearing about such things and witnessing them directly had a different impact. To defeat an S-rank swordsman with a sword!
'David.'
Meanwhile, Jin-woo looked at David's belongings scattered on the floor. Seeing that, Jin-woo could understand why his sword was so dull compared to his skill.
Among the scattered items, there weren't many tools necessary for Hunters. Really just emergency items and a few swords, nothing else.
Instead, there were gold and silver, jewelry, boxes full of cash, luxury watches, and car keys that seemed to be gifts.
'There was a reason he was much weaker than Rona. Even weaker than Johan.'
He wasn't a Hunter, but a politician.
***
David had gone missing.
Although there had been recent controversy, he was still the director of New York's Management Bureau, and there were many matters to handle due to the Ireland incident.
But he had vanished overnight. Not only the Management Bureau but even New York authorities were flustered and searched for his whereabouts.
During this, it was discovered that he had recently exchanged many communications with a certain congressman in New York. This congressman was secretly known to be receiving bribes from Hong Kong.
At the same time, a crumpled note presumed to be sent from Hong Kong was found in the room's trash can.
└ This is ridiculous! Running away to Hong Kong when he's this busy?!
└ Such an irresponsible action! Even if he were to go, he should handle the Ireland matter first!
└ Could it be because of that assassination request he made to the assassination guild for Shartia? Did he quickly flee because he thought he'd be investigated by the police?
In reality, David hadn't planned to go to Hong Kong. He just wanted to prepare for any contingency by setting up various conditions.
But with things turning out this way, he had inevitably become a criminal who had abandoned his duties and fled to another country.
'So this was what he was sneaking around for.'
Jin-woo knew David was plotting something, but he didn't know he was preparing to escape to Hong Kong.
He thought that at most he was going around bribing police or prosecutors.
'Of all places, Hong Kong got involved and things became complicated.'
Since he had only considered it a matter between himself, Shartia, and David, he hadn't thought Hong Kong would get involved.
The same was true for a phone call he received from Kurenai Masato.
―The guild in question was cleanly dealt with. Turns out it was a Hong Kong-affiliated guild.
"That one was Hong Kong, too?"
―Yes. I heard David disappeared to Hong Kong? Seems like he'd been hiding there for a long time in preparation for times like this.
According to what he heard, the Tsukikage Guild had been faithfully active in Tokyo for a full 15 years as an assassination guild.
Even if an assassination guild being faithful isn't something to be praised, it was still a guild that had built up results for a long time without being noticed.
In essence, they were hidden spies. Hong Kong had used spies who had been infiltrated for so long for David's recruitment. To damage his reputation and make him think of leaving New York.
According to what he heard, traces of Hong Kong's involvement were also being discovered in large numbers in the New York public opinion that had been spreading like wildfire recently.
"That's scary."
―That's what international affairs are all about. They pull all sorts of unimaginable tricks. Probably, besides Tsukikage, there were more than one or two operations targeting David.
"Even doing all that, is one S-rank worth it?"
―Of course. You be careful too. Especially women who approach out of nowhere. Nine times out of ten, they're spies.
"I'll be careful."
After ending the call with Kurenai Masato, Jin-woo watched the news. He flipped through various channels, and they were all reporting on David's matter.
Many prominent figures in New York condemned David's irresponsibility and criticized Hong Kong's cowardice.
On the other hand, he also saw Hong Kong's mayor Zhang Jie making an official announcement from the podium.
―New York's words are lies and deception from beginning to end. The authorities did not entice David and have absolutely nothing to do with his disappearance!
According to the translator, that was the content.
Though unintentional, he had somehow ended up sowing discord between New York and Hong Kong.
'That's why he shouldn't have tried to go to Hong Kong.'
Well, it wasn't his fault. He had just resolved a natural grudge, and ultimately, it was David's contact with Hong Kong that was the cause of the problem. The timing was just a bit coincidental.
Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders and turned off the news.
***
Lin Xiaofeng, director of Hong Kong's Hunter Management Bureau, felt like his stomach would develop holes from stress.
"Where the hell did he disappear to! That bastard David!"
"We haven't received any information on our end……."
"It's one thing for New York to be noisy, but even Mayor Zhang Jie is suspecting me. Asking if I'm stealing S-ranks to scheme something!"
"You, you must feel wronged."
"Of course!"
At his subordinate's words spoken as if it were someone else's business, Lin Xiaofeng grabbed the back of his neck and slumped back against his chair.
"Ah, oww…… Damn it! Find him somehow! I must clear this false accusation no matter what."
"I'll tell them to search more diligently."
"Don't just be diligent, bring results! Understood?"
"Yes, yes! By the way……."
"What now?"
"What do we do about Kang Jin-woo?"
A moment of silence flowed.
Lin Xiaofeng brought up a video on his monitor. It was that video of Kang Jin-woo bisecting the Ireland's heart.
'Our guys have been watching it like crazy too.'
What appeared in the video was just a single sword strike, but that one strike was too shocking.
Hong Kong's Hunters particularly had many previous lives as martial artists who learned swordsmanship, so most of them use swords.
Therefore, even in Hong Kong, analysis and discussion of Kang Jin-woo's single sword strike (一劍) was active enough to become a social phenomenon.
How wonderful would it be if such an S-rank moved his base to Hong Kong? Of course, Kang Jin-woo isn't S-rank yet, but…….
"If we could bring him in, he'd be a great asset. Not just increasing S-rank power, but the overall level of our domestic Hunters could rise."
His subordinate's words were correct, and there were many who actually expected this.
However.
"Leave him alone."
Lin Xiaofeng's judgment was quick.
"There's no law saying Erosion like the Ireland won't appear in Hong Kong. If we approach carelessly and even earn his resentment, it'll be troublesome."
Just like the S-ranks did at the victory party, if a new Erosion appears, it can somehow be resolved if it's just small.
But there was no law that a gigantic existence like the Ireland wouldn't appear again.
If faced with such a crisis, Kang Jin-woo would declare 'I hate Hong Kong. I won't go help’?
Then Hong Kong would perish.
"There's no need to pointlessly provoke him and invite trouble. Just leave him alone."
"Understood."
Lin Xiaofeng gave instructions to his subordinate in a powerless tone.
And that judgment was similarly thought by all countries worldwide.
From the moment no one could stop the Ireland and Jin-woo dealt with it alone, they had no choice but to watch Jin-woo's reactions.
***
Discussion about compensation wasn't something that would end in a day or two. There were over twenty S-ranks who came to support, and compensation for A-ranks and B-ranks also needed to be determined.
With the western region needing a large budget for reconstruction anyway, having to pay enormous compensation as well, New York was in a situation where it had to create money it didn't have.
Naturally, the countries that sent support also dispatched capable diplomatic corps to extract as much as possible, and New York had to suffer the ordeal of facing diplomatic corps from around the world alone.
The discussions naturally became prolonged, and Jin-woo decided to stay in New York a bit longer.
There was still nearly a month left until the next Gate anyway, so there was plenty of time.
Shartia also seemed busy every day, meeting various acquaintances here and there in her hometown she had returned to after a long time.
'Should I go get some fresh air?'
For a change of mood, Jin-woo walked around New York City for sightseeing.
Even without grand cultural assets, just walking the streets of a foreign country was enough to give a travel feeling.
"Hey! Mister Kang! Mister Kang!"
"Ah, hello hello."
Every citizen he met recognized Jin-woo and requested handshakes or asked to take pictures. He had instantly become a famous figure in New York due to the Ireland incident.
Since foreign people from other places treated him kindly, it made traveling was enjoyable. What was even better was that every store he entered gave him food for free or offered huge discounts.
'Mmm, meat really is the best. Meat is supreme.'
Dry-aged meat, steaks cooked in boiling butter, and such. Jin-woo entered every eye-catching store to try various meat dishes that were hard to find easily.
When he was full, he would eat ice cream while walking, or rest in small parks watching citizens passing by. He was enjoying New York's scenery in various ways.
Then.
"Jin-woo?"
He encountered a familiar face. A woman is carrying a conspicuous red baby dragon in her arms. It was Mahiri.
"Mahiri?"
"What a coincidence to meet you here."
She approached the bench where Jin-woo was sitting. And sat next to him with a slight distance, but strangely, fluent Korean was coming from her mouth.
Had she always been good at Korean? He hadn't heard it at all until yesterday…….
Jin-woo looked at them with suspicious eyes. Mahiri and Kalesian. More precisely, their flames.
"Kalesian…… Was it? That baby dragon."
"That's right. Isn't it very cute? Look at these beautifully curved wings and scales. The horns on its head truly represent princely dignity……."
Mahiri began praising the baby dragon's appearance and character. Just looking at that, they only seemed like a cute pet and its devoted owner, but.
'Did she really tame it?'
Jin-woo had fundamental doubts.
Mahiri's flame and the baby dragon's flame were connected by a thin line, and at first he thought this was related to taming abilities.
He had thought it was Mahiri's ability as a known S-rank Tamer connecting their souls.
But observing calmly like this, it seemed suspicious somehow. Should he say the positions of master and servant were indistinguishable?
Did it sense Jin-woo's suspicious gaze? Kalesian, who had been docilely nestled in Mahiri's arms, smirked.
From Mahiri's mouth, which had been chattering, completely different speech patterns were heard in her voice.
"Sharp eyes. As expected of someone who devoured my kin."
"……Crazy."
Jin-woo looked at the two with incredulous eyes. Two connected souls. The master among the two wasn't Mahiri, but the baby dragon!
―Especially women who approach out of nowhere. Nine times out of ten, they're spies.
The words of Kurenai Masato from their previous phone call came to mind. It wasn't just a spy from another country, but a spy from another world who had infiltrated.