Free Web NovelThe year Gates first appeared, the previous administration created a Gate-dedicated body called the “Special Response Team,” and they’re still very active—but their relationship with the current administration is awkwardly adversarial. After the change in power, the current government teamed up with the Hunter Association to keep the Special Response Team in check.
The problem is, the Association itself is rotten to the core. I don’t want to drag the rank-and-file I saw yesterday afternoon through the mud, but when the upper water is rotting like hell, is it really reasonable to expect the lower water to be crystal clear?
Anyway. Skipping the small stuff and cutting to Sung Uijae: back when he was active in Korea, the Association made him several proposals.
A lot of words were said, but the conclusion is simple—they offered garbage terms and made ridiculous demands. Things he loathes, like asking for an exclusive contract, or trying to rope him into their private profiteering.
Of course, Sung Uijae cleanly turned all of it down. Not just turned it down—he publicly exposed that behavior at a press conference, and because he was fairly popular at the time, his remarks spread like wildfire.
As a result, the government and the Association ground their teeth at him.
Maybe they realized he was never going to be persuaded, because the Association stopped trying to win him over. That looked like the end of it... until the government started doing something pretty petty.
They went after his nationality and slapped restrictions on every little thing.
In the end, when they went so far as to tag an S-rank Gate he cleared as “unreported” and treat it like a criminal act, Sung Uijae cleanly renounced his Korean citizenship.
It’s not like S-rank hunters lacked countries lining up to take them. And in his case, his family already lived in Australia.
He happily shouldered the Association out of his way and, right after renouncing his Republic of Korea citizenship, moved straight to Australia.
Public opinion of him worsened after that, but he just kept on not responding.
Well... even if you can’t un-throw away a nationality, maybe because he owed Kwon Taehan for various help, he acted moderately cordial.
Not that I expect him to be cordial to me.
Right then, Sung Uijae prodded me.
“Looks like you’re entertaining yourself with some fun thoughts?”
“I wasn’t thinking anything special.”
“Yeah?”
Could I use this to threaten him?
Truth is, he’d already caught me on two separate things; if I wanted to play dirty, I could drag out the government–Association mess and manufacture leverage.
But knowing his personality, if I came at him like that, he’d just ram me head-on.
We weren’t exactly close in the original story, either, so I had zero desire to make us enemies on purpose. I’m not an idiot.
More than anything, he doesn’t seem like the type to talk if I push him.
Yesterday his way of talking was a royal pain in the ass, but after spending the whole day together today, I realized he listens better than I expected.
So ideally, we’d reach a reasonable understanding, exchange greetings, and go our separate ways. Preferably without getting entangled.
Then he threw one more question.
“Hey. Beast-binding always has a trigger, right? Yeah?”
“Yeah, yeah...”
“So what made you bind yours? Did it happen inside a Gate?”
He sure has a lot of questions. I cut him off in the middle.
“My turn to ask. You’ve asked me twice in a row.”
“Meticulous. What do you want to know?”
I didn’t waste time.
“Why did you take me to the auction?”
“I needed an appraiser. Otherwise how would I know what to buy? Buying everything would cost way too much.”
“Hm.”
As if.
Frankly, most of the artifacts today were pricey, but there were, what, a dozen and change?
If you don’t know exactly what you need, buy them all. It’s not like he’s short on money...
And that broker’s reaction when he saw me was distinctly sour.
Were they planning to fleece him there?
I lifted a brow to show I wasn’t buying it. He chuckled and answered.
“Well... besides that, I wanted to take a look inside. Wouldn’t you be curious who’s running the place to be pushing products of that scale? But I didn’t have the authority to poke around that side. That’s why I brought the broker today, too...”
“...”
“I also needed someone to act as a broker, partly wanted to make them uncomfortable, needed an appraiser—several birds with one stone.”
That’s it? The reason felt so bland I didn’t have a good reaction ready.
Then he suddenly reached out and grabbed my right hand off the table.
He’s had basically no sense of distance since yesterday.
It’s dark enough that he can’t see clearly anyway, and him fiddling with my hand pissed me off.
When I pulled back, he spoke with a serious face.
“Did it upset you that I suddenly dug up your secret?”
“Upset” is a bit weak; “made me want to beat you” would be more accurate. I answered honestly.
“I’m changing my phone number when I go back up.”
“What? Hah!”
He laughed like I’d told a joke. For the record, I fully intended to change it °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the moment we split.
Once he’d laughed himself out, he calmed and said,
“I still want to keep things pretty friendly with you. Taking you there today was my way of saying let’s get along. I opened up a personal secret, like you did.”
“...”
“You know now that I have a mana suppression tool, right?”
I already knew he had one. So what? I stared at him spouting nonsense, then made a show of checking the time.
“Shall we call it a night?”
“If you’re staying over, I can lend you the other bed. You only booked the hotel for one day anyway, right?”
“I’m heading back up tonight.”
“Want to go up together?”
Does he really not have friends? I’m in no position to talk, being friendless myself, but seeing him wandering alone in a foreign country and saying this kind of thing to someone he met yesterday was... a little sad.
I caught myself looking at him with a touch of pity, and his expression went odd.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
That made me snort. He watched me grinning to myself, then dropped a sudden question.
“The thing in your palm—do you know where it came from?”
“I do.”
“Then you know it has more mana than you.”
“...”
He paused, glanced at my palm, then met my eyes again.
“And you probably know it’s a little dangerous if you leave it as is?”
“...”
“If its mana grows beyond what you can handle, your life won’t be easy to protect. That kind of worry doesn’t cross your mind?”
Out of nowhere?
I stared at him tossing out that non sequitur, then stood up.
I’d finished what he asked of me; I had no interest in humoring him further and closing the distance. I gave him a cool farewell.
“I had a good time today.”
“It’s a sincere warning—give it some thought. I really do want to keep things friendly. I could tell you a way to suppress what’s in your hand. That’d be a good deal for you, no?”
“Yeah... thanks for the offer, but I’ve got this chronic condition where I can’t get too close to high-rank hunters.”
“...”
“And I handle my own affairs just fine.”
Ah, there was one thing to mention before I left. I paused mid-jacket and told him,
“By the way, the last artifact we bought today was B-rank.”
“B-rank?”
“Yeah. I didn’t tell you to buy it to screw you over. I’m going to buy it off you. Tell me the price and I’ll send it right away.”
He pulled a Space-Saving Box from his jacket and took out the artifact I meant, setting it on the table.
Preservation Patch (B)
Slows mana depletion, helping you maintain a skill for longer.
Body-attachable.
“This one?”
“Yeah.” freeweɓnovel.cøm
“I don’t know the exact price since we paid in a lump sum.”
“Then ballpark it.”
He pinched the Preservation Patch and curled his lips.
“Something like this—I can give as a favor, anytime.”
“Then I appreciate it.”
“In exchange, I’d like us to stay in contact for a long time... How does that sound to you?”
“...”
Clinging over something weird, aren’t we. I answered simply.
“Sure.”
“Take it.”
“Okay.”
Just as I reached for the Patch, he clamped down on my wrist.
“...?”
“I don’t like lying. I meant it when I said I want a good working relationship going forward... keep that in mind.”
With that, his hand left my wrist.
“Got it. Then call me.”
Now it’s awkward to change my number immediately.
I’ll change it after he goes back to Australia.
It’s not like I can live here forever, and I probably won’t get a visa anyway. He can deal with it.
I tucked the item away with a clear conscience.
“See you next time.”
Preferably there won’t be a next time. With that, I ended the conversation with Sung Uijae and left the restaurant.
