< Superior Rank Bait (2) >

The audience ratings should shoot up.

In the middle of the world’s sole magic beast trainer’s interview, the Haeyeon Guild Leader had appeared and was showing a rare look, when a proclamation of arrest fell. And it was on a live broadcast, at that.

If I could also see this sight on TV, I would’ve really liked it. Unfortunately, it was my situation, so I couldn’t make any popcorn.

Geez, my life. Bemoaning to myself, I turned off the fear resistance skill. At the same time, Song Taewon’s gaze toward me felt scary.

“S-suddenly, talking about arrest…?”

I stood up from my seat, being very taken aback. Peace, who jumped down from my lap, cried ‘kkioong’ softly. Blue, who didn’t understand the situation, tilted her head.

“Excuse me, I am…”

Song Taewon took out handcuffs that had an inventory sealing function. It had been a while. It was the first time after the regression, too. I had thought that I would live a life far from something like this, but to think that my first experience was on a live broadcast – ah, my life.

“What is this?”

Yoohyun blocked in front of me and said coldly. It was realistic acting.

“If you did not hear, then once again-.”

“I very clearly heard that groundless nonsense. You are putting quite an impressive false charge on a stat F-Rank Hunter who has not even been Awakened for two months.”

“If we are certain of his innocence, we will immediately send him back. Please stand aside.”

As the two’s fight of spirits slowly became stronger, my body trembled a little. It was good that I didn’t need to act.

“Yoohyun, calm down. Maybe I, did something wrong.”

“Hyung!”

“I’m not sure what it is, but don’t be like this because of me. You’re a guild leader.”

I stood forward, with a frightened expression. Was the camera filming it well? It was something I couldn’t do twice, if at least because it was embarra.s.sing, so I should firmly embed this image with this chance. Even if he was an S-Rank Hunter, he was this normally human.

Yoohyun grabbed me from going toward Song Taewon. I thought it was enough if it was this much, though. As I mumbled in my head and turned around to look, my heart skipped a beat. His expression acting was a little excessive.

“Hey… it’s okay. I’ll be released soon.”

“Can’t you just not go? I’ll do something somehow.”

I mean, Yoohyun. We agreed that you’ll show a law-abiding appearance even if you wavered.

“I don’t want to cause trouble for you. …Sorry.”

Saying I was sorry, my gaze fell to my feet. Maybe because I had turned off the fear resistance, my insides were really uncomfortable. This time, Peace came over towards me as I was shaking off my brother’s hand.

-Kkeuooong

Like he had already practiced, he let out a mournful noise. Our Peace was quite smart. I bent my knees and pet Peace.

“You’re good, right, Peace? Dad will come back quickly, so quietly wait for me.”

-Kkioong

“Blue, don’t make trouble either.”

-Kkyaoo?

It was gesture saying she didn’t know what was going on. The picture in contrast to Peace was perfect. Considering I was just going to be confined for a short while, it was an exaggerated farewell scene, but there was a need to show some melodrama in order for the future.

After soothing Peace, I turned back to Song Taewon. As soon as the handcuffs were fastened on my wrists, other characters appeared again.

“Yoojin!”

“Yoojin-ssi!”

Myeongwoo and Noah came rushing over with expressions asking what this was out of the blue. I had said those two didn’t need to put themselves forward as well, but they were stubborn about seeing me off when I was getting taken away, so they were added in.

“I mean, what kind of strength do you have that you would even get handcuffed!”

“It will be stifling because it is the bas.e.m.e.nt, and there are no windows…”

Noah, who had experienced the detention center before, had a worried face, saying that even the humidity was cold maybe because it was summer. At those words, Myeongwoo was startled, asking if there weren’t even dehumidifiers. The facility was on the better side, but it was a detention facility, so of course there weren’t.

“I’ll go visit straight away.”

“I will go as well.”

“But really, why put handcuffs? Isn’t it too much with even an S-Rank coming to get you?”

Myeongwoo said, glaring at Song Taewon. All of them acted really well. …It was acting, right?

“It’ll be okay. Thanks for worrying. Thank you to Noah-ssi, as well.”

“Let us go now.”

Song Taewon grabbed my arm.

“Hyung!”

-Kkeuang!

“Yoojin!”

“Yoojin-ssi!”

…That was enough. Anyone seeing this would think I was going off to die. They also followed after me being dragged away by Song Taewon. The camera furtively followed, too, as if it couldn’t miss out. The parking lot was near the building, so there was a considerable amount of people staring throughout the way there, so it was embarra.s.sing. It was hard keeping up a frightened face. I should’ve covered myself with outer wear, too.

The car was thankfully not the small car, but a special police car. It was a vehicle that was made a little more durably for Hunter use. Even so, it could be easily broken by even a mid rank combat Hunter.

I went into the car in the midst of gazes overflowing with pity. It had to resolve well the way I thought it would.

***

It was a strange scene.

The young man standing in the falling rain was a normal human. An ordinary person who could easily be squashed down like wet mud if he was lightly pressed down on.

But monsters[1] that would be hard for Song Taewon to handle were standing guard on both sides of him. While having soft eyes like tamed dogs.

At first, it was surprising. And he was apprehensive. Wondering if those things had put a leash on an good-to-use stat F-Rank and were acting tolerant as if treating him like a pet.

But that ordinary person, that harmless looking young man between those monsters, wasn’t normal.

Han Yoojin’s gaze had obvious affection. He adored and loved the monsters loitering around his side, and those two eyes even had presumptuous worry.

Very normally. As if he was facing normal people.

“…I understand. I will try to announce it as fast as possible.”

Song Taewon ended the call as he let out a short sigh. The aftermath of the live broadcast was huge. Stat F-Rank. The appearance of a person no different from an ordinary person being caught by an S-Rank Hunter while being frightened, would’ve been incredibly stimulating. On top of that, his family and animals, as well as friends, had rallied around him.

‘Though there wasn’t a young child.’

If even Bak Yerim had been there, it would’ve shaken public opinion one level more. Even now, complaints were piling up.

Song Taewon slowly rubbed his chin. A person that monsters embraced and were satisfied with as if he was their own child. It was still a little hard to grasp how to treat that.

He let out a sigh again and walked.

***

‘I can’t get an injury.’

It was obvious but handcuffs were uncomfortable things to have on. Maybe because they were for Hunters, they were pretty heavy. I moved my wrists on the table here and there in vain.

At the words that I would neatly play bait in order to expose the a.s.sociation’s rotten roots, that little brother naturally was opposed. In order to persuade him, I even had to write a contract and several memorandums.

‘I agreed to quietly stay in place without a complaint after this if I get an injury where blood comes out.’

Myeongwoo and Noah also inserted themselves and took one copy each. What started off with ‘it’ll be safe, I won’t get hurt’ at first, developed into some kind of body waiver in the end.

If I happened to get wounded, it would be just that if I secretly treated it with a potion, but it would be best if I didn’t have to see blood. If it was exposed, the number of body waivers that would be pushed toward me were as much as three. If Yerim had been there, it would’ve been four.

Creak

Along with the sound of the heavy iron door opening, Song Taewon came into the interrogation room. He had on the stiff face that he always had whenever I saw him. As an S-Rank, he was good looking, so he would look much softer if only he had even a hint of a smile. Was that face better for work?

“You have a handgun.”

“It is for against Unawakened People.”

A short reply came back. To think it was a firearm, for someone for whom it would be enough to just pick up a pebble and throw it. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t adjust his strength.

“First, I will a.s.sert that I am innocent. This is not being recorded here, correct?”

“There is no audio or video recording. Was the black dragon Hunter Riette?”

“It was a pa.s.sing monster.”

“The matters regarding Hunter Han Yoohyun were clearly wrong, but this was excessive.”

“What could be done about it collapsing due to bad luck? It should be built again.”

“About half is from taxes.”

I became sorry in an instant. Taxes, so it was taxes, huh. Then again, it made sense.

“…I am B-Rank, so I pay taxes as is. A lot of work from overseas will also come in from now on, and I will probably pay a lot. Haeyeon said they would handle taxes for me, but I was just going to sincerely pay them.”

I was satisfied as long as I earned enough to live comfortably during my life. Even if I had a lot of money, there wasn’t really anything I would use it for. I will become a sincere payer of large taxes, so please overlook it.

A short silence flowed. Sitting on the opposite side, Song Taewon opened his mouth with an expression that made it hard to know his inner thoughts.

“It is not that I have decided to cooperate yet. I can send Han Yoojin-ssi like this.”

In order for me to play bait, I had to get free of the close-to-perfect protection. I could do something stupid like just wandering around alone, but that was too much like yelling that it was a trap. If they had brains, they would realize it was suspicious.

So the method I choose was confinement. The a.s.sociation had their hands deep in the Hunter-use detention center. And if Song Taewon left, only mid and low rank Hunters would remain.

That meant it was an environment where it wouldn’t be hard to secret away one person. On top of that, imprisoned Hunters carried out escapes frequently, so it was easy to make an excuse if I disappeared. And a reasonable charge could be made from me making Noah make Hunters faint a few days ago and the false report about a gate.

“You should not be like that after coming this far.”

But if I was imprisoned, Song Taewon would protect me, at least because of my importance, so I needed his cooperation. He had to leave his position, so that I could be kidnapped.

“Isn’t it helping to expose the rotten parts of the a.s.sociation?”

“I did not agree to go so far as to raise the Haeyeon Guild Leader’s reputation and aggravate the distrust related to the a.s.sociation. If Han Yoojin-ssi disappears in this situation, the backlash will be big. As it is after purposely being on broadcast, you probably do not have any intention of hiding the disappearance.”

Song Taewon said coldly. Well, it was true I tried to wring out something extra.

“I am offering my one body, so I should receive that much compensation. If the a.s.sociation was clean in the first place, this matter would not have happened, isn’t it so? It is reaping what you sow.”

“Wasn’t fixing the Haeyeon Guild Leader’s image enough with the broadcast? Please hide the disappearance.”

“You are defending them excessively. Song Taewon-ssi. Are you not already well aware that the a.s.sociation is pulling nonsense? Just speaking of the Awakening Center, they tried to open it without countermeasures. Even so, do you have the heart to take their side? If you have the t.i.tle of public servant, you should think of the citizens before the a.s.sociation.”

It was a matter that hadn’t happened yet, but even if you just counted the Awakening Center case, the a.s.sociation was trashy enough. In the first place, it was a problem starting from the expertise-less head.

It wasn’t like this from the beginning. Making the shopping mall, which was a market for official items, and providing the groundwork for the Hunter registry was commendable. They had also planned out a system for dungeon bidding and management.

But they were trying to get settled in, so they pushed out the staff right away. It hadn’t even been half a year since the current head got the position.

“Is it the citizens?”

The ends of Song Taewon’s mouth twisted slightly.

“If the a.s.sociation loses strength, the S-Rank Hunters will start to run wild first. Han Yoojin-ssi. Are you not wishing for that as well? While mistakenly believing that you are in an equal position to those guys.”

It was heavily weighted, but it was a sharp voice. If the fear resistance hadn’t blocked it, I would’ve felt a considerable pressure.

“You have misunderstood me quite a lot.”

Though if the c.u.mbersome a.s.sociation disappeared, it would be easy for the kids to play.

“If the a.s.sociation was in a good state, then I think it would be okay for it to exist. I am speaking of an a.s.sociation with proper staff on top. Like Song Taewon-ssi.”

The gaze toward me became seeped in a higher level of coldness. Should I use Eunhye or not? It seemed okay for now.

“You mean simply due to the reason of being an S-Rank Hunter.”

“Not simpl-.”

Deureureuk

The chair I was sitting on was pushed back. It was because Song Taewon’s hand had grabbed my collar and pulled me. I blinked while having been dragged about halfway on top of the table. It was in an instant.

“What is it that you want?”

“World peace?”

The glint in his eyes seemed like he would choke my neck if I said nonsense one more time.

“I have many things I want, but they are things that cannot be attained.”

“Exactly how great of a greed do you have that you cannot attain them even with your position?”

“It is small, though.”

“Please speak.”

“There are various things, but what I want recently is Yoohyun going to school normally. Making friends and dating. Sometimes he would drink too much and return home late. He hasn’t done drunken antics even once before.”

The day when I would go ‘why did you drink so much’ and slap his back probably wouldn’t ever come.

Song Taewon’s expression, which had been chilly throughout the entire time, crumbled slightly.

“That is……”

“It is not much, really. But who would grant this?”

The world would have to change again, so would they have to be something like a G.o.d? I really didn’t have much that I wished for. I only wished for things that would all naturally occur if you just lived diligently.

I smiled toward the face imbued with confusion.

“Song Taewon-ssi. Folding your body into a small car and taking the subway and carrying a handgun, do not matter in the end. What I also wish, is for things to be the same as they were in the past. But things that will not happen, do not happen.”

Strength disappeared from the hand that was grabbing my collar. I sat down again in my seat and smoothed my collar.

It was clear that Song Taewon was wrapped up in the pre-Awakening past. How should I say it – he seemed like a tiger who believed he was a cat. One that was sitting blankly, with only one foot inside a paper box that he could comfortably fit in when he was a baby.

‘How do I drag that out?’

I wasn’t in a position to speak. Even now after regressing to live a new life on top of suffering for several years, I was an idiot who couldn’t throw away lingering feelings. Still, I was more or less conforming to the change and moving. Did Song Taewon also have to regress once to change?

“……I will cooperate at least.”

“Ah, then please go on a date or something at night. I will get kidnapped during that time.”

“And I will take responsibility for the disappearance. Leaving my post even while knowing of Han Yoojin-ssi’s importance and past kidnapping case, is a significant blunder and act of negligence.”

……This person, really.

“Do you want to be criticized that much? It seems like you are already being criticized a lot.”

Song Taewon didn’t reply. But his expression didn’t have a single indication that he was reluctant about the future where he would take a heavy responsibility and be dragged down as he was denounced. Somehow, wasn’t it something welcomed instead?

So this person was pretty warped too, huh. I had that kind of thought.

The situation was set up, but it wasn’t like news would come right away. I worried about what to do if my detention center life lengthened, but thankfully, the client I was waiting for came to find me the next evening.

[1] the krn word, not the eng word (only used for dungeon monsters), so it’s being used metaphorically