Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 107
#107. The Wolf Returns
2022.11.15.
Somewhere in Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
The place, lacking even small windows, was draped only in dim orange light instead of sunlight or moonlight.
The cramped space was filled with a faint smell of wood.
It could be due to the mountain of books piled there, or perhaps because this place was in the middle of a forest.
In the heavy, sunken air.
Only the occasional sound of wind, heard from somewhere, indicated that there was indeed a passage somewhere in this stuffy space.
"...Really? Then the Princess of Dark Flare's participation is confirmed."
A smile of relief touched Roje's lips as she held her phone.
Yoo Hwan's laughter faintly seeped through the speaker.
"Whether the conjecture that there will be up to five gates is correct or not, she will be a significant asset. Good work, Yoo Hwan. And thank you."
I'll call you again.
Roje, ending the call, slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
"..."
As Roje closed her mouth, a quiet stillness returned to this sealed space.
She slowly rose from her seat.
The wooden floor creaked with every step.
Soon, she arrived at the left wall, in front of a large picture frame.
Roje gazed at the picture frame with downcast eyes.
Though faded with age, the mother and daughter in the picture still looked dazzlingly happy.
Roje slowly reached out and gently caressed the face of the brightly smiling girl in the picture.
In the empty room.
A gentle voice escaped her red lips.
"Just a little longer, my daughter."
The most precious thing in the world... my treasure.
"Ah, Ms. Yura. Are you leaving?"
Eunha, quietly closing the hospital room door, happened to meet Suhyeon, who was sitting on a nearby chair.
"Yes. Minju is asleep."
"Ah, I see... I'm so sorry. He's been nodding off frequently lately because of the medicine."
"It's fine. It's about time for me to leave anyway."
Then, I'll visit again.
Eunha, giving a slight nod, was about to pass Suhyeon when,
"Just a moment, Ms. Yura."
Suhyeon stopped Eunha.
"Um... about the South Coast Gate incident."
"I heard from Mr. Junhwan. I haven't said anything to Minju."
"No, that's not it..."
Suhyeon rolled her eyes as if choosing her words, then finally, as if resolved, met Eunha's gaze.
"How about you tell the Association and join our Corps team? Since there are quite a few combatants, we'll probably move in teams, and Ms. Yura, you don't have a guild and are unaffiliated."
Though she tried to make it sound as plausible as possible, Suhyeon's inner thoughts were actually a little different.
Lee Yura.
She was, on the surface, an F-Class hunter, and a rather flamboyant concept hunter who wore a dress as her combat uniform.
Suhyeon, the Corps members, Monkey King, and Doctor Plant suspected that Eunha wasn't an ordinary F-Class, but most of the hunters gathered there wouldn't know.
Since it was such a critical operation, there was a high possibility of ridicule or criticism from some quarters.
This was that kind of world.
It was no exaggeration to say that social standing was determined solely by rank.
If one's rank was low, their affiliated guild at least had to be famous.
But Eunha wasn't even that.
'If she's with Corps, it'll be fine.'
Suhyeon was confident.
They could protect her.
Because there would be no one daring enough to point fingers at Corps.
Therefore, she believed without a doubt that having Corps by Eunha's side was the most effective countermeasure.
However.
"Thank you for your concern."
Eunha, instead of answering the proposal, expressed her gratitude.
As if she knew exactly what Suhyeon was thinking when she made this offer.
"I'll think about the proposal. But I'm not going there to receive someone's help."
It didn't matter if someone thought of her as F-Class.
"I'm just going there to do what I can."
Because Eunha had never once thought of herself as F-Class.
That unwavering fact was the root that firmly supported her even amidst the world's evaluations, which poured down like a torrential rain.
At the same time, the entrance of Eunha's officetel.
"..."
Siwoo, leaning nonchalantly against the officetel building wall, rummaged through his pocket and took out his phone.
6:50 PM, it was almost 7 PM.
'Hunter-nim, you mean? Hmm, I think she said she was going out somewhere for a bit today...'
'I see.'
'Unless something unusual happens, she usually returns around 7 PM.'
'I didn't ask that.'
'Yes, sir.'
Siwoo, without taking his back off the wall, glanced forward.
Whenever his eyes met a pedestrian's, he would pull his hat down even lower.
He had to be careful.
If Wolf found out he came here, things would get troublesome.
About 5 minutes later.
Siwoo spotted Eunha walking in the distance.
Jeans and a white t-shirt with a small star logo.
It was the outfit she had bought with Siwoo at the shopping center before.
Where had she been alone?
Seeing her empty hands, it didn't seem like she had just been to a nearby convenience store.
Naturally, he hadn't thought she might have been to Trickster's hospital.
Beep, beep, beep...
Eunha, arriving at the 1st-floor entrance, began to press the passcode.
「Incorrect passcode. Please check again.」
「Incorrect passcode. Please check again.」
「Incorrect passcode.」
「Calling security.」
「──♬」
"...Ah."
Eunha's finger, pressing the passcode pad, froze in mid-air.
From Siwoo's position, Eunha's expression wasn't visible, but he could tell she was flustered.
Siwoo chuckled silently from a short distance away.
It had been quite some time since she started living here, yet she still couldn't even press the passcode correctly.
Though she was an old-timer, apart from that, she was undoubtedly quite a klutz with machines.
"...I live in unit 1701, could you please open the door."
Through the speaker connected to the security office, Eunha spoke, sounding a little sheepish.
Siwoo, watching her, hesitated for a moment, then hesitantly took a step.
"Sunbae."
Driing.
The front door opened, and Eunha, who was about to enter, sharply turned her head.
Her eyes widened slightly upon spotting Siwoo.
Ah, perhaps she couldn't recognize him because of the hat and mask.
Siwoo, a step too late, brought his hand to his mask.
However.
"Shin Siwoo?"
Siwoo, who was about to take off his mask, froze.
Despite his face being so thoroughly covered, Eunha had recognized him at once.
It was because Siwoo was the only one who called her 'Sunbae', but nevertheless, Siwoo found that fact somehow...
"..."
Siwoo's blue eyes wandered, lost.
He didn't know what he had intended to say, having come to find her first.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
"It's been a while."
Instead of the speechless Siwoo, Eunha spoke first.
It hadn't been that long, but Siwoo slowly nodded.
"...Indeed."
Meeting Eunha's pitch-black eyes, he felt a strange sensation anew.
Why was that?
The Eunha Siwoo originally knew, her gaze was indeed like this...
'Hyuji.'
When she looked at Hyuji, her eyes would curve exceptionally well, and that image kept overlapping.
Blaming that for his inability to speak as he wished, Siwoo rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.
Eunha, staring blankly at him, asked lightly.
"What's wrong?"
"...I have something to talk to you about. Do you have a moment?"
"Something to talk about?"
Eunha looked puzzled.
She didn't answer immediately.
Siwoo somehow felt like his blood was running dry.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' crosses its arms, looking utterly dumbfounded, "When did this fellow decide to terminate the contract, and why is he coming back now?"]
[No, wait a minute... I think I've smelled this dog scent somewhere before...? it twitches its whiskers.]
In fact, the reason Eunha hesitated to answer was because of the cat's message that had popped up so quickly.
However, Siwoo, unaware of this, thought Eunha was contemplating whether to talk to him.
It couldn't be helped.
He himself had acted as if they would never see each other again.
Even if Eunha turned her back now, saying there was nothing to talk about, he would have no excuse.
In preparation for that, Siwoo had come up with some rather plausible excuses.
(Casually) I was just passing by and thought of you, so I dropped by.
(Directly) I heard about the South Coast Gate.
(Suddenly) The weather's nice, shall we go for a walk?
"..."
A faint crack appeared on Siwoo's face.
Now that he was actually seeing her face, his mouth wouldn't move as he wished.
The moment their eyes met, the various excuses he had thought of became utterly useless as his mind went blank.
—Truly, he was a fool.
He just needed to ask what he wanted to ask.
Whether participating in this operation was Sunbae's choice, or if it was because someone had forced her.
To think that even such a simple thing would be so difficult.
Indeed.
Come to think of it, if Eunha glared at him, asking why he was asking such a thing when the contract had already been terminated, he would have no excuse.
Thinking that far, the very situation of him standing here somehow felt strange.
What on earth was I thinking, coming here?
Siwoo hesitantly spoke.
"It's nothing, Sunbae. I'll just go back—"
Just as he was about to turn his back,
"Come in, if you want."
Eunha gestured with her chin towards the 1st-floor entrance of the officetel.
Come in? Where? Home?
Siwoo, surprised instead, froze stiffly.
"Ah, no..."
Stuttering uncharacteristically, Siwoo hastily averted his gaze elsewhere.
That appearance just now might have looked very foolish, but he had no leisure to worry about such things right now.
Siwoo, maintaining as calm a voice as possible, parted his lips.
"...There's no need to go up to your place. Just walking around nearby for a bit is enough."
"Really?"
The more he felt her gaze staring intently at him, the more Siwoo couldn't look her way.
While meaninglessly staring at the nearby streetlights flickering on under the sunset sky, a bland reply came from her.
"Alright."
The conversation time was arranged much more easily than expected.
Perhaps because of that, a short while later, Siwoo found this current situation, sitting side by side with Eunha on a bench, somehow strange.
'...I said harsh things.'
Though there was the pretext of getting her out of Wolf, Siwoo had nevertheless uttered sharp words to Eunha when terminating the contract.
However, Eunha treated him with the same face as before the contract termination.
At her serene profile, he somehow felt a pang in a corner of his heart.
Perhaps that was why he couldn't easily open his mouth.
"What did you want to talk about?"
In the end, it was Eunha who initiated the conversation again this time.
Siwoo, who hadn't been able to easily open his mouth, slowly parted his lips as if resolved.
"Actually..."
