Chapter 146: Removing Hives (3)
“I furnished the room since it might be used in the future.”
Simyeong Seok spoke in a satisfied voice. He had decorated the room that had been used during my Hong Kong kidnapping incident as a strategy room.
The entrance had been replaced as a miniature portal, and soundproof and security facilities were placed everywhere. Also, there were room and board facilities in case we had to stay for more than a few days. While there was other equipment, I could not guess what they were used for, except for everyday items such as the computers.
“You seem excited. When did you get the miniature portal?”
“I had a spare, and things are more interesting this way.”
Simyeong Seok spoke while pushing up his glasses, and it seemed that the glasses overshadowed the man. People from Sesung arrived soon after, and they were a man carrying a briefcase and a mid-aged woman holding a cane. The cane was slick, black, and had silver patterns, and from the faint light shining out in regular intervals when it touched the ground, it was not an average staff.
“Jisu Min is visually impaired.”
“Hello, everyone.”
The man spoke first, and Jisu Min said her greetings as she looked straight at us. Her gaze was confident as she reached out to Yoohyun, me, and Simyeong Seok with her eyes, and it seemed that her cane might be a dungeon item with abilities.
“Nice to meet you, Jisu Min. I am Yoojin Han.”
She flashed a bright smile in my direction.
“I heard from Mr. Hyunjae Sung that you two are close.”
The words ‘No, I’m not’ came right up to my throat, but I swallowed them and asked another question instead.
“Do you not belong to the Sesung Guild?”
She had said his name instead of calling him the Guild leader, and Jisu Min nodded at my words.
“I don’t have any other abilities, and I help the Guild out when they need me.”
Jisu Min introduced herself by explaining that she had lost her sight at her early thirties and awakened when she was caught up in one of the first dungeon breaks. She said that she learned of her skill when she had been lost amid human and monster corpses. However, Jisu Min stated that she is publicly known to be able to access only monster corpses.
“I had thought it true myself, and only received infrequent monster investigation requests from the Hunter Association.”
However, Hyunjae Sung had come to visit her one day, saying that she might be able to gather information from human corpses also.
“Didn’t you feel any repulsion? If the Sesung Guild leader had forced you to work…”
“That’s not it.”
Jisu Min spoke with a smile.
“I had felt uncomfortable at the beginning, but the fact I could do something more was more welcome. I could not help but be attracted to being able to do something no one else was able to do.”
She found it fulfilling that there were people who asked for her help as she had gone through a time when she found everyday acts to be insurmountable walls.
However, Jisu Min had felt uneasy going through dead people’s memories and only accepted commissions for criminals who had wilfully harmed others. Her skill conveyed information by letters like a novel, so her psychological burden was not that heavy. She said that what she read seemed unrealistic to her because she could not see.
“However, the reason I took upon Mr. Hyunjae Sung’s offer was because he was handsome.”
“…What?”
“I touched his face, and it felt perfect. He must look even better, right?”
He was handsome, but her logic went beyond my estimations.
“Wasn’t it too hasty to ally with him only by how his face had felt? You must have felt a distance, no matter how handsome he had been.”
“I was scared a bit, and I wouldn’t have given him everything if I had not felt it. But, who would be able to resist such an attractive man?”
Jisu Min laughed out loud, saying that she would have immediately packed her luggage and gone to Sesung. At least Hyunjae Sung and Sesung had done right by her. Many would have targeted Jisu Min if her skills were known, so they had hidden and protected her.
While Sesung had planned to ask Haeyeon to send the corpse for analysis, Jisu Min had wanted to come here.
“I wanted to meet the most famous person nowadays.”
“It was not worth the risk.”
I felt embarrassed hearing that I was famous. I lowered my head as she asked to touch my face, and her fingers were careful and warm.
“I heard that this would not be the last.”
“I would welcome and thank you, if our relationship continued.”
I did not want to use Yerim’s skills, if possible until at least she became an adult. Jisu Min went to where we were storing the corpse with Simyeong Seok, and the Sesung hunter who had accompanied her followed them after leaving the data material behind. I knew later that his skill had been to make an object indistinguishable, and while he could not hide her, he could make other people’s memory of Jisu Min fuzzy.
“I can ask her from now on.”
“Yerim Park won’t like it, and she will ask why you’re using another person when she can do the work.”
Yoohyun spoke as we organized the data together.
“While Yerim has a relevant skill, she should be going to school and playing with friends. She is too young to be doing this kind of work, although unusual work might be more interesting to her now.”
Anything would be more amusing than studying. However, she should not be immersed in dungeon conquests, and I wondered whether there was not a group for teenage hunters.
Hamin Do arrived, and I forced him to organize the material with us. I should make a proper team like Simyeong Seok mentioned since we had too little human resources.
“A lot of it went overseas as I expected. Japan and China are at the top, and this graph…”
“It’s a ledger of sales and purchases, lord.”
Hamin Do spoke.
“You know how to read this?”
“Of course, I do since I managed a store. There are a lot of imported goods for hamsters since they have more variety.”
He went on about bedding and nutritional supplements for a while and frowned when I handed over all the export sale routes. He had been worth the gold hamster.
Since Hamin Do had worked riskily and intensely as an informant between hunters even before I returned, his skills would not have gone anywhere. I should protect him so he could live in peace since he must have felt heartburn when he had to give up his hamster store to go into hiding for his safety.
Jisu Min and others came back about after an hour, during which we made slow progress with data organization.
“The person who requested the truck driver was Junbae Kim, who seems to be a hunter.”
“Isn’t this him?”
Hamin Do lifted a page and spoke.
“He has the same name and is a hunter belonging to a small guild in charge of transporting the honey in this country.”
“Let’s see.”
He was a D class and had no other noticeable characteristics, but it was probable that he was the guy Jisu Min had discerned. We had the justification of him involved in dungeon item trafficking even if he was irrelevant to the truck driver.
“Let’s go after these guys.”
“Should I quietly send some men?”
I shook my head at Simyeong Seok’s words.
“I’m planning to go loud and clear, and the Head of the Awakened Office needs to do some work.”
“Then, those involved would go into hiding.”
“They would run around like rats in a burning house, and we have Mr. Hamin Do with us.”
If we track down the significant suspects regarding the Hunter Association, we would be able to pick those who had been involved in honey trafficking. If they are flustered at a small guild without any ties with the Association, then it would be definite. That was when we send men quietly.
“There are more than twelve people.”
I tapped Hamin Do’s shoulder as he frowned and took out my phone.
“I have to treat Chief Song something.”
I wanted to give him an S class equipment through Myeongwoo even though he would refuse. Was there a way?
***
Dongju Lottery, the guild Junbae Kim belonged to, was located in a suburban area between Seoul and Incheon. Was the Guild leader’s name Dongju?
“There was no need to follow me.”
Taewon Song furrowed his brow after getting out of the car.
“We’re involved in this case, and don’t you cooperate with relevant guilds regarding hunter related crimes? Hunter Minyui Kim came from Haeyeon, and I came from the hunter related facility despite not being a guild because there was no one else.”
I deliberately sighed, saying that I had too little workforce. Actually, it was true since I had not employed most of the people in the building, and I was simply the landlord.
“There’s hunter Noah.”
“He’s busy with other things.”
Noah was waiting to catch those who would make a move right after hearing that we ambushed Donju Lottery. Noah could make himself disappear and was mobile enough to not perform chores like this. He was a supporter in dungeons, but one of the best hunters outside and with the addition of Hamin Do, he had information, stealth, and mobility.
He could get the target fast and in secret, and I was sorry because he was too useful.
“Don’t worry since Hunter Minyui Kim is reliable, and I’m only going to watch. Since you’re here, things will end in a second anyway.”
I spoke, holding Minyui Kim, or Yoohyun’s arm as he stood next to me. Taewon Song stared at Yoohyun and then nodded as if he gave in.
“Confirm the exit routes and block them.”
The hunters who came with Taewon Song moved at his sign. They belonged to the Awakened Office, and while there were only a few of them, since they were attacker hunters all above mid-class, they would be able to fend off a small guild.
Others waited in position, and only Taewon Song walked to the building entrance. The escapees would be a problem, and if they retaliated, he would be able to take care of them. Fighting alone would be easier for him as he would not have to think of hurting allies.
When he rang the bell, there was no answer. The light seeping through the window hastily turned dark, and they seemed to want to run away after checking who Taewon Song was.
Taewon Song ripped the door open, and I saw his back disappear into the dark.
“This is breaking and entering-“
The shouts did not last long, and I heard things break instead.
“How long would this take?”
“Under three minutes.”
Yoohyun looked up and down the building before answering.
“There are nine in total, and five of them are below, and four of them are hastily taking care of something up above.”
“How can you know all that?”
“I can estimate if the movements are large without much thought. The five that came down are now taken care of.”
I heard something like a thick door break and some shouts. Then, there was silence.
“Has it been about two minutes?”
I hoped there had been enough time for the four above to contact others, and they seemed to have managed it as I received a phone call.
[They started to move.]
It was Simyeong Seok’s voice, and the lights in the building came on again. The hunters who had been covering the exit routes went in and cuffed the criminals. I went to the second floor and saw Taewon Song stand in front of an opened safe. I saw blood on his gloved hands and no other signs of a fight.
“You’re not hurt?”
“…No.”
Of course, he would be fine since this was a light exercise against weaklings, but I was scared for him since a fight is a fight. I breathed in deeply and went to the safe.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Don’t worry. Actually, I have some equipment available if you’re interested-“
“I’m not.”
His answer was firm. I had given equipment from Hong Kong, including the Shawl of Magos to Yerim, and others to Yoohyun. There were limits to how much a person could be equipped, and the characteristics had to be considered. Those were stolen goods anyway.
“Would you buy items if I sold it to you at a reasonable price?”
“It’s against the law if the price is too low.”
Should I go into a dungeon with a recruit after saying that I will reward the individual who completed a dungeon conquest? I had to change the civil hunter contract conditions first. The rules had to change at least so they could receive individual items.
***
“Don’t worry! There’s no evidence that Donju Lottery has a connection to us!”
A middle-aged man spoke towards the cell phone he was holding in his hand, but his face was dark. The small guild that had been in charge of the honey transportation from the broken dungeon had been tracked down this fast. It meant that the opponent was capable of gathering information.
“However, erase all traces since it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
The man ended the call and rushed out of the house. He drove to a vacation home he had bought under another name, and he had stored the contract regarding the illegal dungeon with the items and magic stones he had gained in the safe here.
“It would be difficult for them to come here.”
However, he had to destroy them or store them in another price. Since he had visited this place often, it would be found soon. The man had opened the safe hidden in the living room wall without turning the lights on when he felt something.
“What?”
The living room windows opened with a loud bang, and an invisible hand blocked the astonished man’s mouth.
“Be quiet.”
The voice was soft and easy on the ears, but it was powerful enough to stop a man in his tracks. The person he could not see spoke again.
“I caught him.”
[I sent a car nearby. The next place is-]
The man’s body floated with a faint noise of fluttering wings.
