Chapter 15: Networks are assets to merchants(7)

“What… did you say?”

The atmosphere becomes tense. She started to listen to me seriously.

Of course, to be more precise, it was closer to a look that said she would seriously crush me rather than seriously consider my words.

“I’m not saying I don’t understand how you feel, as Yuhwa’s mother.”

A person who thinks they are under attack will instinctively become defensive.

They will try to find my flaws, try to undermine my status, and try to doubt my intentions. They will think that it’s a way to prove their own legitimacy.

I shouldn’t let Seoyeon’s thoughts go that far. Since I attacked her once, now I have to be on her side.

“Your daughter is talking sincerely with a man she doesn’t know, and she’s asking you to buy her a toy that costs over 10 million won… You must be confused. You must be worried. You must want to know what happened to your daughter. I understand.”

“…..”

After organizing her thoughts for a moment, Seoyeon nodded with her lips tightly pressed together.

“Should I say thank you?”

If she tried to attack me with words like ‘What do you know!’, she would be denying my defense herself.

It’s not just me and Seoyeon here. Her daughter, the one she fears and loves. Shin Yuhwa is here.

Because she has to consider Shin Yuhwa’s gaze, she has no choice but to accept my desperate defense.

“It’s not like I’m hiding the recording because there’s something I shouldn’t say. It’s just… it’s just that Yuhwa revealed her sincere feelings, and it’s… difficult for me to reveal that without Yuhwa’s permission.”

“Then why was Yuhwa telling you that? What did you do to Yuhwa?”

“It’s not about what I did. Yuhwa was already in that state. She was in a state where she couldn’t stand it without confiding her feelings to someone she just met.”

“Why did you have to hear that story instead of me!”

Every time Seoyeon’s emotions fluctuated, I could feel the mana shaking. If I weren’t an Awakened, I wouldn’t have been able to last this long.

“You should… ask. Yuhwa.”

I opened my mouth with difficulty. Only then did Seoyeon’s fluctuating emotions come to a halt.

“Ah…”

The person who should be the center of the conversation was Shin Yuhwa, not me and Seoyeon. But Seoyeon ignored her and just tried to hear Yuhwa’s inner thoughts through me.

Now that I’ve said this much, there’s no way that ‘mother’ Seoyeon wouldn’t know this.

“That’s right…”

Realizing that the atmosphere had become serious, Yuhwa shut her mouth and didn’t say anything.

Seoyeon looked at Yuhwa with slightly moist eyes.

“I’m sorry… my daughter.”

“I-It’s okay. I’m more sorry! I love you! Mom, don’t cry!”

“No. Mom’s not crying, it’s just…”

As if she needed a scapegoat, Yuhwa turned her anger towards me.

“Brother is the problem too! If Mom did that much, you should have just shown it. Why are you making Mom cry?”

“You told me not to show it.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Well, since I have permission now.”

Conversely, Seoyeon stopped me.

“I-It’s okay. I’ll talk to Yuhwa, so you can keep that hidden-“

“No, Mom, just listen! You got mad over nothing, and you bullied my Brother! If you’re going to be like that, just listen!”

I opened the recording file with a hollow laugh.

There were many stories in it.

-I’m just… embarrassed.
-I wonder if someone like me should even be a hunter…
-I-I’ll try not to give up!

How much she was shaken, how much she was hurt, and how cheerfully she could laugh after regaining her courage.

Seoyeon listened to the sound with a reverent expression, like a priest listening to a sacred voice.

“…See. It’s a bit embarrassing, but it’s not… something I can’t show Mom.”

“I see…”

“I met Brother in the first place because I lost the ribbon Mom gave me… and he found it for me.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s not really Mom’s fault, but…”

It seemed like the relationship between the two had become a little closer. It was worth the risk.

After wiping her tears, Seoyeon looked at me with a much calmer gaze.

“Was she… having a hard time?”

“Yes. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have taken the time to meet her.”

“I see. What should I do… My child is causing trouble for others. As her mother… I should have taken care of her.”

“You’re the head of a guild. It can’t be helped.”

“Still, I learned a lot thanks to you. Really, really… thank you.”

Shin Yuhwa in my recording file looked ‘dangerous’ even at a glance.

Precarious as if she was about to collapse at any moment, as if she had given up on everything.

Now that she knew that I had supported her in that situation, Seoyeon couldn’t help but look at me favorably.

“In the future, please take good care of my daughter. I know I should do it… but when I can’t. I hope you can be there for my daughter.”

“What?”

“Just what I said.”

‘This isn’t good.’

I might have just kicked away the chance to naturally stop contacting Yuhwa.

“And… you said you were a salesperson, right? Is there anything I can help you with personally?”

“That’s…”

“I want to repay your kindness, even if it’s just a little. You did something good for my daughter and for me.”

I immediately bowed my head in gratitude. So that she couldn’t see the sly smile on my lips.

‘Right. This was the goal.’

I gained Seoyeon’s favor.

A huge favor that an ordinary merchant couldn’t even imagine, even if they offered hundreds of millions of won in bribes every month.

It was definitely worth the life-threatening gamble.

“Not right now, but later… when there’s an opportunity where I can help Hunter Lee Seoyeon and the guild, I’ll contact you right away.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting.”

The atmosphere finally relaxed. Yuhwa ran to Seoyeon with a bright smile.

“Oh, so I can meet Brother now? Mom gave me permission too! Alright!”

For a moment, Seoyeon’s smile became a little bit colder.

“…Mr. Isu , please leave. I need to have a talk with my daughter.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“One last time, really… Thank you.”

As I got up and opened the door to leave, the cheerful voices of the two women echoed.

“Meeting him is fine. But other than that, you need to be scolded by Mom.”

“Ah, why!”

“If you had met a strange person, what would you have done, Mr. Isu is a good person. Even though Mom was neglecting you…”

“No, it’s okay because I met someone who isn’t dangerous!”

“So you’re saying you did well? Did you feel nothing while listening to that recording?”

“Brother’s voice is nice?”

“Ugh… where did this daughter come from.”

“From Mom’s belly!”

They were bickering, but there was love in their conversation.

‘I’m exhausted. I have to sell things tomorrow too… And I have to put the bottled water in the fridge…’

I definitely quit my job, but I felt busier than ever.

Still, satisfied that I survived today, I left the luxury apartment and went home.
****
Peaceful academy.

One of the teachers who managed the expulsion test was looking at the computer with a tilted head.

“Hey, teacher Seon? I think there’s an error here-“

“What is it?”

“There are too many students who chose ‘shooting’ as their expulsion test subject. Even students who don’t usually use guns are doing it… I think there’s an error, can you check?”

“Ah, that. It’s okay. I thought it was strange too, so I confirmed everything verbally.”

“What?”

It was an incomprehensible situation.

“Do they want to quit school?”

“Ah, you haven’t heard the news yet?”

“What news?”

‘Teacher Seon’ smiled faintly.

“You know the gun Yuhwa brought last time? A lot of kids bought it.”

“Why would they buy so many guns that aren’t even artifacts…”

“They say it’s an artifact.”
“….”

Suddenly, the situation became complicated.

“They say that if you hold it and shoot, you’ll become a marksman. They say they’ll never fail.”

“Well, it’s probably a rumour. Yuhwa had to switch to guns because she had no choice, right? She was good at practical training, and she practiced hard.”

“I guess so?”

At that time, they didn’t realize the seriousness of the problem.

****

“Explain.”

A cold-looking woman in a suit was sitting in the highest and best chair, looking down at the teachers.

She was arrogant, but no woman could point it out to her.

She was a living legend in the Korean hunter world, and she had overwhelming fame and power compared to other teachers.

The principal of the academy, Wi Suna, was there.

“Well, it’s not… that serious of a problem, is it? If a student is expelled, it’s not good for us either-“

The academy’s ‘expulsion test’ was already a headache.

If there weren’t such conditions, there would be too many students who would be insincere in class, so it had to exist.

But the students of the academy were mostly students with jaw-dropping skills and power.

The teachers had to deal with the parents who were furious about why their child was expelled, and they didn’t want their students to be expelled.

“I know. I know, but this isn’t a normal situation. Right?”

The problem was that pistol.

An artifact of unknown origin that allows anyone to shoot like a marksman with just a little practice.

Students who were not confident in the expulsion test, and even those who were somewhat confident, used that artifact. They passed the test with ease.

“Give me a solution.”

The teachers sighed deeply. It was Suna’s declaration that ‘I’ll just nitpick, so you guys think.’

“How about raising the standards?”

“Didn’t we already have some complaints about the difficulty of the shooting test? These kids are students. It shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s an expulsion test.”

It was immediately rejected. As always, Suna wasn’t wrong.

If they were unlucky, a first-year student who had just entered the academy might have to take the expulsion test.

If the test was made difficult and required the level of marksmanship required of a current hunter, there would be too many students from the shooting department who would be expelled.

“If we ban the use of artifacts…”

“There are some kids who can’t shoot unless it’s their own gun. It’s a bit difficult.”

It was rare, but not non-existent.

There were people who used artifacts attributed to individuals and showed hunter-like performance with ‘that weapon’.

It could be considered discrimination if they were forced to take the test only with ‘the standard gun specified by the academy’.

“Then, we have to ban only that problematic gun…”

Suna bit her lip tightly.

“…That’s not realistic either. Still, there’s room for us to try.”

One of the teachers raised his hand.

“Can’t we just say that we’ll change the school rules? It shouldn’t be that difficult…”

Suna sighed deeply.

“Well, normally, yes. It’s our school, our rules.”

Her weak eyes were filled with the hardships of the world.

“But, will they think the same way?”