29 Sales

The sound of the horse’s hooves pulling the carriage rang out in steady rhythm.

While passing through a forest where bamboo shot up in vivid reds and greens, the hunter sitting beside me cautiously struck up a conversation.

“Um... Juseon?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever done security work before?”

“No.”

Of course not.

After hearing me, the others nodded as if to say, Well, of course.

Manager Kang Baram would normally have told us not to chat during work, but surprisingly, he didn’t stop us.

“...Then what is your relationship with Team Leader Ryu Seoram?”

“Me? We were classmates at the Hunter Training Center.”

At that, everyone, including Manager Kang Baram, widened their eyes.

“Class 111?”

“The Golden Generation? Th-then you lived with Hunter Yu Yena too?”

“Well, yeah.”

They seemed to have plenty they wanted to ask.

If you said you’d graduated from the same training center as the two Chilgeuk hunters in Korea, most people reacted like this.

“Then are you a hunter too, Juseon? Are you working independently?”

“No, I run a business.”

Now?

I immediately pulled out a business card.

<We find your miracle in countless worlds.>

Meracle, the hunter-specialized matchmaking agency.

“This is the kind of work I do. I’m especially good at matching hunters up.”

“Ah...”

“What the-”

“Hunters often miss their marriageable years because of work, so if you’re interested, please contact me.”

Their expressions twisted.

They looked like they’d thought I was someone who’d run alongside legends, only to suddenly hear, flat-out, that I had a good face.

But this is society.

Embarrassed?

Blushing?

Fuck, right now one of my employees is waiting in the office, headbutting the wall.

“Ahem.”

“No thanks.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

Everyone handed the cards back.

A pity, but at least I’d made an impression.

The mood even grew cold.

“Well, I figured as much.”

“If you’d done well, your name would’ve been known.”

“Tsk...”

Technically, I could call myself their senior from the Hunter Training Center, but that meant nothing.

To their eyes, I probably looked just like one of the countless nobodies who’d been at the Hunter Training Center.

If you got into Blackline Risk, you had to be top-tier even at the training center.

In other words, to them I was the future version of all those pathetic guys who’d been left at the bottom of the training center.

Besides, I’d be disappearing once this job was over anyway.

Ssshh!

Then Ryu Seoram’s voice came through the radio clipped to Kang Baram’s chest.

- The VIP says they want to stop by a rest area. We’ll pull over in ten minutes, so secure the route beforehand.

“Copy that.”

A little later, we arrived at the rest area.

The Beta Team got off the carriage and immediately checked the route.

By the way, even though it’s called a rest area, it isn’t the kind you usually see on the 3rd Floor highway.

Think of it as a sort of big inn.

Just as the culture of the 5th Floor had seeped into the 3rd Floor in many ways...

the culture of the 3rd Floor had naturally spread to the 5th Floor as well.

This rest area was on the main road leading out of the tower, and I’d seen on TV that it had become a huge hit.

Ssshh!

The radio crackled again.

- Since the VIP wants rice cake balls and warm green tea, buy some, and keep people stationed along the route to the restroom too.

“Copy that.”

Talk about acting like royalty.

“Se-rim and Dedral, go buy the food. The rest of you wait nearby. Kim Juseon, you and I will escort the VIP to the restroom.”

Manager Kang Baram’s brisk orders.

‘Me?’

I didn’t know why he’d singled me out for direct VIP security, but I followed along for now.

A little later, two carriages arrived.

From the front carriage, Ryu Seoram and the VIP, Aul, got out, and from the carriage behind, the Alpha Team piled out and kept watch on the carriages.

Aul was, as his name suggested, an owl beastfolk. His round eyes looked innocent, and the feather tufts on both sides of his head stuck up like horns.

He was hiding his identity with a hat and glasses, and had covered his body with a coat.

He was handsome.

And his personality was even better.

He had even held a press conference saying that the reason his throat got hurt this time was not Wolfguard Tactical Solutions’ fault, but his own responsibility.

Of course, they said Aul was just being kind and covering for them.

But Wolfguard Tactical Solutions got even more flak for being shameless.

‘My stock...’

I sank back into gloom, but there was nothing I could do.

After escorting him all the way to the restroom, Aul came out and bowed politely to Kang Baram and me.

“Th-thank you-.”

“...!”

I had heard that his throat had been damaged.

But his voice was like rusted metal scraping against metal.

I suddenly remembered Kim Yang and Renea dancing to Aul’s carol song last time.

‘His voice got this ruined?’

You Wolfguard bastards.

You should’ve protected him properly.

How much smoke did he have to breathe for it to get that bad?

‘They said owl beastfolk had very sensitive throats—and smoke alone could ruin it this badly?’

After Aul went into the restroom, Manager Kang Baram quietly asked me,

“Ahem, Kim Juseon. You run a business outside?”

“Yes.”

Look at him pretending not to know after hearing everything in that cramped carriage earlier.

So this is why he pulled me aside for restroom security?

I handed him my business card without saying a word, and Manager Kang Baram took it with an awkward cough.

“Ahem! Ahem!”

“At the level of a manager at Blackline Risk, if you don’t have any debt, you could at least be B-rank.”

“Ahem! Ahem! I do have debt, but I bought an apartment, so it’s a mortgage.”

“Under your name?”

“That’s right.”

Damn, I’m jealous.

“There are things to consider, like your salary and the monthly interest payments, but it should be fine.”

If you bought an apartment by taking out a loan under your own name, it was rarely treated as pure debt.

“A-are there any decent women?”

“Plenty.”

“Could I see some photos—”

Surprisingly direct.

Was he in a hurry because he’d gotten promoted to manager and still didn’t have a woman?

Besides, I don’t carry my clients’ photos around.

“Ah!”

A photo suddenly came to mind.

Renea’s selfie flashed through my mind—the one she took while comparing the photo quality of my phone with her own.

“How about this one?”

When I showed him the photo of Renea winking, Manager Kang Baram’s shoulders shook.

“A-an elf? Do people like that come to matchmaking agencies too?”

“Yes, of course. As you know, elves are a little older than they look, but isn’t she beautiful? You could say she’s in her twenties.”

“Ahem.”

I didn’t mention her age because she might change her mind if she heard it.

* * *

Was it because of Aul’s voice, already ruined beyond repair?

Looking at his schedule, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him in several ways.

Most of them were places to find peace of mind, soothe the heart, or scenic tourist spots.

It was an itinerary that projected the desire to shake off painful reality.

At the end of the day’s schedule, we arrived at the great inn ‘Cheongunru,’ the five-star hotel of the old martial arts world.

Of course, that’s only relatively speaking; it isn’t actually on the same level as the real five-star hotels on the 3rd Floor.

Anyway, it was an inn built by someone from the 3rd Floor who had modeled it after a Japanese ryokan, so it especially drew a lot of 3rd Floor tourists.

Damn, I need a smoke.

I yawned and leaned against the sliding door behind me.

I was guarding the VIP’s room like a sentry on night watch.

‘Well, isn’t this a little too much?’

I knew he was a famous singer, but did I really have to stand guard like this at night?

“Haaam.”

Thunder rumbled outside.

It wasn’t raining, and there wasn’t even a breeze, yet thunder kept rolling again and again in an oddly unnatural way.

“Maybe I should’ve just said we’d never come. We might’ve been found out, too.”

But six million won for three days was too much money.

And even if the Azure Dragon was amazing, could he really find one little human that quickly?

Clunk!

Then, the door behind me tried to slide open but caught with a clunk. When I gave it a bump with my back, it slid open smoothly again.

Aul was smiling awkwardly.

“Um, um-! Sorry, but-.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“The person who’s comin’ to give me acupuncture! At five o’clock-!”

“Ah, yes. I’ll let them in right away when they arrive.”

I’d already been told by Ryu Seoram.

A famous doctor from the old martial world was coming to take care of his throat.

“Th-thank you.”

“Not at all. It’s my job.”

“Um...”

“Yes?”

After I gave him my business smile, he asked cautiously.

“Ah! I heard it in the restroom—you run a matchmaking agency!”

“The restroom?”

So owls really do have excellent hearing.

It seemed he’d heard us unintentionally.

“Yes, that’s right.”

It was a pity how every word came out pinched by his accent because he kept forcing his throat to speak.

If it was hard, he could’ve written it down instead, but Aul insisted on using his voice to the very end.

“C-can I do that too?”

“Marriage?”

“Y-yes! Th-that! I think I might have to retire, actually.”

“...”

“My thr-throat is like this-! I think I have to retire!”

“I see.”

I kept my expression as neutral as possible. Sometimes even sharing someone’s sadness can hurt them.

“Kya-! I want to meet someone with absolutely no connection to me-! Someone like that!”

“Don’t worry.”

I simply held out a business card from my inner pocket.

“I’m Kim Juseon, the CEO of Meracle. I’ll find your miracle across many worlds, Mr. Aul, no matter what.”

I’m the one trying to get even a 1,901-year-old grandmother married off.

A former singer with a damaged throat?

Of course I can do it.

At my words, Aul gave a faint smile and nodded.

“Th-thank you.”

Just then, the doctor also arrived at the end of the hall. The two of them went into the room, and I quietly took an earbud out of my pocket and put it in one ear.

One of the songs I’d saved.

I listened to Aul’s carol, “Good Christmas.”

- Through the softly ringing bells~

- May today be the winter of just the two of us~

- Forgetting everything and looking only at you~

- It’s a beautiful day~

A song sung in such a sweet voice was really nice.

It was a song I’d heard in passing when Kim Yang was trying to film a short-form video.

It was good enough to make me look it up and download it.

KWAANG-! KWAANG-!

Thunder kept pounding into the ear not covered by the earbud.

I had thought this wasn’t something I could just let slide...

I realized why the thunder had been crashing so mercilessly.

‘He was trying to cover up his daughter’s footsteps.’

Far away.

At the end of the hallway swallowed by darkness.

A familiar face comes running toward me with a bright smile.

“Great Hero-!”

“Great Hero-!”