novelraw Chapter 210 : Awards Ceremony (1)
Chapter 210 : Awards Ceremony (1)
Awards Ceremony (1)
The investigation into Alcatraz was more or less finished, with Mimos being the last part.
After bringing back some research materials—including the structure of the facility known as the King's Tower—and explaining what had happened there to Gong Do-yung in Korea, his expression immediately turned serious.
"Jin Su-hyuk... you're saying his name was mentioned."
"There's a possibility it's a different person with the same name, but the most likely scenario is Jin Su-hyuk, president of Grand Nova."
"I think so as well. In fact, president Jin Su-hyuk hasn't appeared in public recently, either."
Even when we inquired with Grand Nova, the only answer was that he was unavailable due to health issues.
We lacked the evidence, justification, and everything else required to forcefully bring him out.
Jin Su-hyuk wasn't someone who would move just because a nameless mention with no other identifying information had surfaced.
"We've been monitoring Grand Nova for a while now, but nothing particularly suspicious has come up."
"Since when?"
"Since the time demons first became widely known to the world."
So, around the end of Odyssey?
That meant it was fairly recent.
"Was there really nothing out of the ordinary?"
"No. I imagine you also encountered Grand Nova's S-rank hunters during Odyssey, manager Park. Did any of them seem connected to demons?"
"No, both of them reacted as if it was their very first time hearing about demons."
After Odyssey ended, Gong Do-yung had thoroughly inspected every aspect of Korea's management agencies.
He wanted to take the initiative before any demons could sneak in.
Gong Do-yung had mentioned before that hunters suspected of being connected to demons had actually been found.
"I'll continue to keep an eye on Grand Nova. Next... would be the facility in Alcatraz."
"Yes, it seems to have been used as a lab, though there is one more thing that bothers me."
I explained the structure of the "King's Tower" as I had roughly sketched it.
"It's too big for just a laboratory. And there's a lot of empty space. It's as if they left room to store something."
"To store something?"
"Yes. Of course, it could just be that the King's Tower was simply designed that way, but there was nothing particularly special about it. It's like... a model house, you could say."
There were similar laboratories in the Empire.
Back then, I didn't think much about it, but in retrospect, the layout was distinctly strange.
No matter how much it was meant to hide the Saintess and conduct experiments away from demons, the place felt odd for many reasons.
"It looks a bit like a nail, doesn't it?"
At that moment, Gong Do-yung mumbled as he looked at my rough drawing of the King's Tower.
"Pardon?"
"Oh, it just struck me as having that shape. If you look at it simply, it's like a tower stuck into the ground, but the entrance is a big round plate, so I thought of a nail."
As he suggested, looking at the King's Tower as a whole, it did look like a nail driven into the ground.
'Is it just a coincidence?'
No, that couldn't be.
It was unlikely demons would build a structure like that without meaning.
"In any case, we'll look into this particular aspect more and let you know. The report from our side is eagerly awaited in the U. S. as well."
Gong Do-yung hadn't told me a name, but I roughly guessed who he meant.
It would be Enoch, the director of the Bureau of Paranormal Phenomena.
"Thank you once again for your help with the investigation. We'll report immediately if we find anything, and... you'll be handsomely rewarded, so there's no need to worry."
"A reward?"
Come to think of it, since Gong Do-yung's request this time also included personal matters for me, I hadn't really considered the reward.
"Yes, of course you should get one for going to such a perilous place as Alcatraz all alone. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It should have already arrived at Unique by now."
Now I was genuinely curious about what kind of reward was waiting, given Gong Do-yung's confident tone.
Judging from his words, it didn't sound like it was money...
"Oh, and Manager Park."
"Yes?"
While I was lost in thoughts about the reward, Gong Do-yung slyly let his gaze drop to my chest.
"... Did you start keeping a cat?"
Meow~.
As if it understood his words, the cat nestled against my chest let out a small cry.
It wiped its face with its little front paws like any ordinary cat, but I couldn't bring myself to tell Gong Do-yung the truth.
This was simply something that had taken the form of a cat.
***
"Wow! So cute!!"
When I returned to Unique, I saw the kids, who would usually be at Shin Ah-yeon's mansion at this hour, all gathered together.
Alencia was the first to dash out, her eyes sparkling as she spotted the cat in my arms.
"Oh my, you said you were leaving on business, so what's with the cat?"
Leaving Alencia behind, who didn't know what to do with herself over the cuteness of the cat staring intently at her, Hwang Yeon-ji asked. Since I had to keep Alcatraz a secret, I was said to have been on a business trip abroad.
'Not that anything bad would happen even if I did tell them, but...'
Still, since Gong Do-yung had asked that Alcatraz be kept secret, I decided to respect his wishes. Besides, it felt like the world would soon find out anyway, whether I said anything or not.
"A cat?"
Only Shin Ah-yeon narrowed her eyes at the cat in my arms, as if she sensed something off.
"That doesn't really feel like a cat..."
"Can I hold the cat? What's its name? Does it have one?"
"Mimos."
"Mimos? That's a unique name. Anyway, can I hold it?"
Apparently it wasn't enough for Alencia just to look at the cat; she sought my permission, reaching her hands out for Mimos.
Tap!
"Huh?"
However, Alencia couldn't pick Mimos up.
As her hand neared, Mimos smacked it away hard with its dainty little paw.
It even bared its claws; it had clearly swatted in earnest.
"Aw... the cat must not like me."
Apparently it stung a bit, since Alencia started rubbing the back of the hand Mimos had just struck.
Considering that Alencia was tough enough not to get hurt by most attacks, it must have been quite a hit if even she felt it.
'... If it were just a normal person, their hand would probably have been split in three.'
Of course, I'd warned Mimos, so it probably wouldn't have acted that way to an ordinary person.
It was obvious that, on instinct, Mimos had realized Alencia was a 'Saintess'.
'It's probably because it was made from the Demon King's right arm.'
It made sense that a being created from that would feel naturally hostile toward a Saintess.
Demons and saintesses were fundamentally incompatible.
Meow.
After swatting Alencia, Mimos jumped down from my chest to look around the room.
It showed a degree of hostility toward Shin Ah-yeon as well, though not as much as to Alencia, and eyed Hwang Yeon-ji—who was half-demon—with strong wariness.
"Huh?"
Then, turning its gaze to Lee Soo-ah, Mimos leaped up at once and landed on her shoulder.
Unlike with the others—toward whom it had shown nothing but animosity—Mimos seemed to adore Soo-ah, nuzzling its cheek against hers.
"Hey, why is it only being like that with Soo-ah unni?"
Naturally, Alencia, who had wanted to hold Mimos, didn't look happy about Mimos snuggling up to Soo-ah instead.
Meanwhile, Soo-ah just stiffened awkwardly as Mimos rubbed against her cheek.
She probably wasn't used to cats.
'It's thanks to Soo-ah's affinity with magic power.'
One beloved by magic power.
Of all those I'd seen, Soo-ah was the most remarkable in that way, so Mimos couldn't help but be fond of her.
Made by combining magic power and demonic energy with prepared materials, Mimos was an artificial life form whose traits followed those lines. In fact, it was closer to a spirit than a living creature.
"I'm glad it likes Soo-ah. That's a relief."
"Um... I've never raised a cat before, though..."
"It's fine. It's easy to take care of."
Mimos had survived for years in a deep layer where there was nothing.
It was obvious it could live just fine by simply absorbing the magic power floating in the air around it.
'With Soo-ah, it's a perfect fit.'
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to do with Mimos, but if anyone could take care of it, it was surely Soo-ah.
Even if Mimos turned hostile, Soo-ah could easily bring it under control.
Just as I had bad compatibility with Mimos, she had absolutely poor compatibility when it came to fighting Soo-ah.
"Anyway, sounds like nothing major happened while I was gone."
"Well, nothing happened per se, but it was chaos here."
Shin Ah-yeon commented with a very tired face.
She still seemed bothered by Mimos, but since I didn't say anything, she decided to leave it alone.
"Alencia's Titan subjugation was broadcast on TV for everyone to see. You left the country just to avoid the commotion, didn't you? Just so you wouldn't get hassled!"
While I'd been at Alcatraz, the footage Reporter Pyoh Ji-yeol had filmed was completely released to the public.
The scene of Alencia single-handedly taking down the S-rank Over monster, Titan.
The fight, on a 'whole different level', caused a huge stir among the general public.
"You have no idea how many important people came here while you were gone."
If even Lee Soo-ah was saying this, things really must've been busy.
And even putting aside Alencia's matter, Unique had become the center of attention recently.
Shin Ah-yeon's movie was still a blockbuster hit in theaters.
Hwang Yeon-ji and Lee Soo-ah, who had made a big impression during Odyssey, were inundated with dozens of ad requests a day.
"Hmph. We're popular, but you're an even bigger issue. You know that, right? The public still hasn't forgotten what the French hunter said."
"..."
Hwang Yeon-ji's smirk seemed to be telling me: brace yourself, things are just getting started.
'I thought people would forget by the time I got back...'
The remark made by the S-rank hunter from France had a far greater impact than I expected.
On every community site related to hunters, there were still endless posts discussing my abilities.
"Jung-woo."
At that moment, the President's office door opened, and Sung-hwan beckoned to me.
His face was quite serious, so I left the others to go quietly into his office.
"What the hell have you been doing outside?"
"... Did something happen?"
"Of course. Why else would I call you?"
Sung-hwan sighed, wondering where to start.
"First, 5 billion won was deposited into Unique's account."
"Five billion... you mean?"
"The Hunter Association asked me to deliver it directly to you. What the hell did you do to get five billion won at once?"
So that was the reward Gong Do-yung had mentioned earlier.
Five billion won—even thinking about it, it was an enormous amount.
Even now, I had more than enough money, but five billion was at a level where "I made some money" didn't even begin to describe it.
"And that's not all."
Sung-hwan took a small box from his pocket and carefully handed it to me.
When I opened it, a rather ornate bracelet was lying neatly inside.
"An artifact with a wearer-protection spell."
This too would be expensive.
But it didn't seem like anything special to be given alongside five billion won.
"It's no ordinary artifact. See those three red gems on the bracelet?"
"Yes."
"Each one's good for a single use—the Association President's authority."
For a moment, I didn't quite understand his words.
Basically, by using this bracelet, even if only three times, I could exert the same authority as the President of the Korean Hunter Association.
By placing my finger on one of the gems, I would be instantly connected to the Central Hunter Association of Korea, and could invoke any order under the President's authority.
"One use per gem. So you get three uses in total."
Faced with Sung-hwan's serious tone, I was left speechless.
So this is what they meant by an impressive reward—I never would've guessed it would be something like this.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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