Chapter 7
The world was divided into classes once again.
Noble families began appearing all over the world.
Things that should have existed only in the medieval past were revived, as if by agreement.
It was a phenomenon centered on a rank system whose levels cost astronomical sums to change.
...Or so they said.
I wasn't really sure.
Anyway, the most famous families among them were, of course, Britain's Cavendish and Cecil families.
As befitting a country that had clung to its class system to the very end, Britain seized and led this trend.
America's Walter and Gettyford families,
China's Wei Rui and Tao Chang families,
Japan's Shimizu family, and so on.
Many families appeared one after another.
And though they weren't quite on the same level,
Korea also had several powerful families.
For example, the family that supposedly accepts people of mixed Korean-American heritage...
"If it's Douglas Kim, isn't that an S-rank family? I don't think it's a place I belong."
When I voiced my doubts, Lee Chang-jin smiled.
"You're mixed-race. Besides, the head of the family and I are personally acquainted. I tried contacting him."
"Ah..."
Wow. This guy was something else.
No matter how much the times changed, it was still a world of the privileged,
a so-called 'league of their own.'
But a B-rank Hunter was acquainted with an S-rank family...? They must have had trouble even meeting as members of the same raid team.
'And they were close enough for him to grant a favor...'
"Uh, why are you being so kind to me?"
"Hm? Kind? No, no. It's just that I'd feel bad if a friend I've gotten to know ended up somewhere and lived a miserable life. It's better for everyone if things work out, right?"
"..."
You're unusually talkative.
That's a lie.
Or maybe he was mixing truth and lies in appropriate proportions.
I had a maxim(?) that I always reminded myself of throughout my life.
It was 'There are no free lunches.'
At this point, he must have been after something...
But he didn't seem like the kind of person who would do anything pointless.
'......Could I be the problem?'
I raised the corners of my mouth slightly and sounded Lee Chang-jin out.
"......Am I going to live unable to breathe under some enormous power?"
He paused—
Lee Chang-jin's arm stopped as he was lifting his teacup.
Then he turned his gaze toward me and blinked.
'Looks like I was right.'
After several days of intense mind games, Lee Chang-jin had kept calling me in under the pretext of psychological counseling... but I had gradually figured out his intentions.
Namely, that he still didn't trust me.
It would certainly be a headache from his perspective if I went somewhere and caused a major incident.
Given how long it had been since the Gates appeared, would someone like him really make the mistake of judging people based only on their appearance?
'He hasn't let go of his suspicions.'
I decided to end this meaningless mind game.
"Mister."
"...Yeah?"
"When you comforted me on the first day, that flustered look was an act, right?"
Lee Chang-jin chuckled.
"Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?"
"You might be good at interrogation, but you're terrible at acting. It's obvious—you're still trying like hell to figure me out."
"......You're a tiny thing, but you're no ordinary kid, hahaha!!"
Lee Chang-jin laughed as if he found it amusing. To be honest, I expected him to be at least a little flustered, but he merely lowered his eyes with a relaxed expression.
Then he began tapping the table.
"Hmm..."
"Mister?"
Tap-. His fingers stopped. Then he murmured softly.
"Acting, huh... Yeah. I'm not the only one who's bad at acting."
"...!"
Just as I thought. We were making our own Death Note!
I glared at him and lifted the paper with the list on it.
"These are all moles you planted, aren't they!"
Thud!
"Ow!"
"'You' is informal. And you're wrong, punk. Do I look like I run a private-detective agency? I just made sure they all knew about you."
'Ugh... He hits damn hard. Is he taking out his frustration because he got nowhere for days?'
I rubbed the crown of my head where I'd been hit and spoke.
"Th-then what's this...?"
"Haa—there's only one: Douglas Kim. Any ordinary girl would obviously have her eyes light up and choose them."
"......I suppose that's true."
"You think so too, right? But what are you, anyway? How are you so sharp despite being a kid, and so resistant to this kind of temptation?"
Lee Chang-jin said this while rubbing his forehead. He looked like he was dying of a headache.
'Honestly, I was tempted too.'
Putting aside how big and impressive they were, I'd at least like to see them once. I wanted to talk to celebrities, too.
But surviving in this world means being careful—very careful.
I showed him a derisive smirk.
"You should've realized I wasn't ordinary when you lost at chess to me, you slowpoke."
Thud!
"Ah! Seriously!"
"You're really asking to get hit. Anyway, what'll it be? Are you going or not?"
...
"What happens if I don't go?"
"I'll get annoyed. If you stay here, we'll keep wasting time like this, and if you go to an ordinary family, I'll have to assign you separate surveillance."
"......You could just ignore them and send me off. Why are you so fixated on this?"
I said this with a hint of complaint. If people lived their lives sensibly, things would be easier for everyone, so wasn't he choosing an unnecessarily roundabout path?
He rested his interlaced hands beneath his chin and stared at me.
"Just answer me honestly about this one thing."
"What?"
"......How old are you? Your word choice is plausible enough, but your overall vibe and way of thinking are absolutely not those of an elementary or middle school girl."
"......."
At that moment, for some reason, a number surfaced in my mind.
A wistful feeling swelled from my chest, and the number lodged in my throat—
Tap—
I forced it out.
"Fifteen thousand years..."
"......What?"
"......Eh?"
What was that all of a sudden?
"You shouldn't say anything at all. If you don't want to answer, just say so."
"No, no, no, that's not it...!"
"Then what is it?"
Damn it, how was I supposed to explain this? ...I must've just been delirious.
I simply folded my hands politely and bowed my head.
"I'm sorry..."
"You're a really weird kid. I've met all kinds of people in my line of work and throughout my life, and you're the first one like you."
"S-sorry."
Then he waved a hand as if he found it bothersome.
"Ah, I'm not particularly berating you, so don't misunderstand. I just asked in case. I already expected you weren't willing to answer anyway."
......I'm glad you understand.
Somehow, I felt sorry for him. He might have suspected me, but surely all the warmth he'd shown me over the past few days couldn't have been a lie.
Sending me to Douglas Kim must have been meant to ensure that
if they were good people, I'd live well; if they were bad, I'd live like the dead.
I picked up the list once more and propped my chin on my hand.
'Yeah. If the conclusion is already decided, let's not resist it. Even if I'm someone unsuited to the family, I can grow stronger little by little.'
Merely being afraid would never allow me to move forward.
How many more chances like this would I get? Above all, it was appealing that I wouldn't have to change my surname.
I smiled and declared,
"I'll go. Douglas Kim."
"Okay."
A one-word answer?
"......Then I just won't go."
"What? Why?"
"......."
Was this man genuinely clueless about what was wrong?
I said, incredulous,
"It kills the mood. After that long-winded conversation, all I get is 'Okay'?"
"......Then do you want me to bow down and thank you for going to them?"
"Th-that isn't what I meant, but..."
Ah, what was this? He was right, but why did I feel so stifled?
Yeah. Maybe I'd adapted to this body too much over the past few days. That's why I was acting spoiled.
Recently, I'd begun to appreciate, at least a little, the benefits of being a 'young beauty.'
If I'd still been an adult man like before, my behavior would have deserved being beaten to death a hundred times over.
But in this body, everyone was kind to me no matter what I did.
'Of course, some of it was probably meant to coax a confession out of me.'
I'd find out gradually which side was closer to the truth.
"So, when are we leaving?"
"Someone from Douglas Kim will come. We'll take your fingerprint and get your signature on the paperwork there, then you'll fly over with them."
"From the explanation, it sounds simple enough to be anticlimactic."
"It's Douglas Kim. That's how S-rank families are."
"Hmm..."
I was looking forward to it.
What kind of people were the Douglas Kims?
***
A few days later, a luxury sedan stopped in front of the embassy.
Seeing Lee Chang-jin dress me up first thing in the morning and hurry out, I knew who had arrived.
After I sat in his office and waited for a while, I began hearing a commotion from the hallway.
-%&#^#&...is that so?
-That's right. Why don't you meet them in person first.
-Haha, understood. I'm looking forward to it.
Wham—
When the door opened, the first person I saw was Lee Chang-jin, followed by a brown-haired young man who made him look like a squid by comparison.
'Heh... What a handsome bastard. So this is what mixed blood looks like.'
I brushed off my skirt, stood up, and greeted him.
"Hello."
The man strode over. Then he scooped me up and said,
"Wow—so you're the big-chested shorty who lies about her age. Looks like another unusual one is about to join as the youngest!"
Huh?
I looked at Lee Chang-jin. Seeing him shake his head from side to side with a flustered expression, I could tell his explanation had been heavily distorted.
I was beginning to get a sense of what the Douglas Kim family was like, too.
'...Ah, they're a bunch of lunatics.'
"I-I'm glad to meet you too, haha."
"Hmm…let's see. As I'd heard, your looks aren't lacking, but you're short. You're this tiny, yet so well-developed that you can't be human. Where were you manufactured? You're a doll, aren't you?"
"……."
I looked at Lee Chang-jin.
'Help me.'
"Haha, let's put her down first, Vincent. Even if she looks like that, she's quick-witted, so you'd better be careful."
"Oh, right, right—you said she was a sly one!"
"……."
Lee Chang-jin didn't say another word. He merely watched with a bitter smile, his hands in his pockets.
Fortunately, as he requested, the man put me down.
He thrust his face close to mine and said,
"Nice to meet you. I'm Vincent Jo, an 'A-rank' Hunter. You seem to have quite an attitude, but regardless of what the head of the family says, you'd better not sass me."
.......
Damn.