Chapter 119
Well, cliff terrain is scattered around here and there anyway. It is a little disappointing that we smashed the one close by, so the next people taking the test will have to bring gliding-type summons and go farther out, but it'll be fine.
“Still, that was mean, Suri! Okay!?”
ㅡKiiit....
“I-I had fun too, but you should've told me first....”
Still, Suri gave me a sharp scolding. But it was seriously ridiculously strong. Compared to Bird Strike, where Suri used to jab monsters with its beak, the move where it went and smashed them with its horse hooves felt way stronger.
Compared to back then, it had gotten a lot bigger too, and I'd put in a lot more mana stones, so I guess that was only natural. It even made me wonder if, as long as you had money, you could get infinitely stronger.
“Yeah, good work, Eve. Go outside with big sis for a bit and rest, and I'll make the certificate and bring it to you.”
“Yay! A certificate!”
Now I could legally ride Suri to school and get to the smithy incredibly fast too. Ophelia would be taking her practical exam soon too, so maybe she wouldn't need to slog along in a truck to get there either. But then again, just imagining riding through the city made me think it might be a little embarrassing to stand out everywhere.
“Hehe, but that would still be fun.”
ㅡKiiit....
The older sister the old men had mentioned was Sujeong, and she was holding the doggo that hadn't been able to go into the gate with us.
“Hey, did you like being held by a pretty lady?”
ㅡBip....
“What do you mean, 'no'? You were totally all slack-jawed and drooling. You walk.”
ㅡBip?!
Suri had switched to sparrow mode now. It had gotten so big that people found it inconvenient when it walked down the hallway.
That said, I put the doggo on my head, and with Suri perched on top of the doggo's head, we followed Sujeong. When we got to the training grounds, Grandpa Galahad was in the middle of fighting other hunters—sparring? practice? Anyway, something like that.
ㅡThud!
“Honestly..! And you're that fast in that body..!”
“Kwahaha! Since I've got nothing weighing me down, I have to keep up at least this much!”
The other side looked like they were holding a practice sword, but Grandpa was bare-handed. Grandpa Galahad caught the opponent's quick movements in a flash, blocked the sword with his hands, and anyway, he was unbelievably fast.
‘Huh, that guy....’
But he felt like someone I'd seen somewhere before. Since it was dangerous, I couldn't go into the sparring area, but even from far away he looked familiar.
‘Kim Hyeok-seon..?’
The captain of Union Guild's main assault team, one of the two groups splitting Seoul between them and Nova. And the bad old guy who spoke to Ophelia first instead of me when the gate exploded on the street.
Huh, that old guy suddenly looks a bit slow. He doesn't seem that strong either. As expected, Korea's number-one guild is Nova after all. Union is just kind of...?
ㅡKWAANG!!
Kim Hyeok-seon's kick wasn't heavy... not really; it merely lightly struck Grandpa's forearm. Our grandpa had already endured a beating 500 times worse from Cheon Tae-seong, the former S-rank association chairman, so of course an A-rank kick from Kim Hyeok-seon wasn't going to do anything.
But the people around them were watching the spar with their jaws hanging open, completely dumbfounded.
ㅡIs it even okay to fight Kim Hyeok-seon like that?
ㅡLook at that build. With that much muscle, he'd be a monster even if he were non-awakened.
ㅡEven if a Damas rammed him at full speed, the Damas would be the one getting crumpled.
ㅡKim Hyeok-seon really is fast. That's insane.
ㅡThe fact that that grandpa is catching all of it with his eyes is ridiculous.
ㅡBut who is he, anyway? Was there an S-rank like that in Korea?
ㅡHe looks totally Nordic to me. Norway? Switzerland?
The fact that they're here means they're all pretty famous in their own fields, so Grandpa Galahad deserves 5,000 times the praise.
‘Hehe, that's it!’
The wording is a little funny, but I made Grandpa Galahad myself! When Grandpa Galahad gets praised, I feel good too.
“Phew, I can't keep this up. Let's call it here.”
“Kwahaha! You've got nimble feet, young man!”
“I'm in my late thirties already, and now I'm hearing that I'm young.”
Kim Hyeok-seon tossed the two practice single-edged swords he was holding in both hands to a staff member with a whoosh, then brushed his palms off and said.
“Old man, looks like you're planning to naturalize?”
“Something like that. I can't exactly become a citizen of this country, though!”
“If you naturalize, you're a citizen. Come on over to Union. I'll match whatever you want, and then some.”
With Kim Hyeok-seon, the boss of Union Guild, making a move on our grandpa, I have to get in there first and beat him to it.
“Grandpa ㅡ !”
“Oho! The princess is here! How was the exam?! As expected of the kingdom's smartest princess, I'm sure you passed with flying colors!”
“Hehe, I got a perfect score.”
Of course, the perfect score was on the practical exam that Suri handled 100 percent, and the written exam was a little dicey, but I passed in the end. Did I say anything wrong??
“As expected! I knew the princess would pull it off!”
“Ah, uh... you....”
When I hurried over and hugged Grandpa, Kim Hyeok-seon, who had been about to speak to me from the side, got completely flustered and started babbling.
“Huh? What is it?”
“Ah, um... haven't we met before?”
“Hmm, I don't remember. I don't remember anyone weaker than my grandpa.”
“Well... right.”
Then all of a sudden he rummaged around in his pants pocket and handed over a business card that felt like he'd stuffed it into his pocket and run it through the wash once. It looked like it was made of good material, so it wasn't quite as stiff as a brand-new card, but it wasn't torn or damaged anywhere.
“I'm even handing out business cards now. This is mine.”
“Hmm.”
Should I take it or not? Should I smack him once more here?
‘Honestly, I was a little disappointed, you know? I'm a hunter too, and he talked to Ophelia first.’
“Why are you giving it to me? I don't really need it.”
ㅡGasp.
ㅡHey, hey, did you see that just now?
ㅡThat's insane.
ㅡTotal Lucifer.
ㅡIsn't there going to be trouble?
ㅡShe's probably that grandpa's granddaughter, so what problem could there be? Even the president couldn't lay a finger on her.
When I completely ignored Kim Hyeok-seon's business card, the people around us were utterly shocked and started whispering and murmuring. Kim Hyeok-seon himself offered a card, and an elementary school kid just totally ignored it?
It might end up on Shorts right away. Of course, that would be the case outside, but everyone here is a famous hunter, so nobody is even carrying a phone. If somebody filmed it and uploaded it somewhere, they could be identified, and filming is banned here to begin with.
“N-no.... You don't know me?”
“Um, not really.”
“We ran into each other on the street once. Don't you remember....”
At this point, pretending not to know him was enough, and I guess I was feeling a little less hurt too.
“Hmm~ Ah~ From Union?”
“That's right. I'm Kim Hyeok-seon, captain of Union's First Assault Team.”
“Really? Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, um... right. I'd like to talk with your grandpa, though.”
“Hmmmm~”
I turned my head and looked at Grandpa for a moment.
“Grandpa. Are you going to talk to that old man?”
“Whatever it is, we have to do what the princess wants!”
“Then that's fine. Ophelia should be out soon too, so sorry, mister, but we're heading home, so we can't talk.”
“No, wait. Then at least take my business card....”
“Sorry. I don't really need it.”
“No, old man? We were getting along just fine, weren't we?”
Since talking to me wasn't getting anywhere, Kim Hyeok-seon suddenly tried grabbing Grandpa's leg. But there was no way that would work! To Grandpa, I was the most important thing in the world!
“This old man will do whatever the princess wants. I hope we get another chance to meet later! Kwahaha!”
“Mwahaha!”
“Uhh....”
Kim Hyeok-seon stared blankly at the two figures receding in the distance, then awkwardly shoved the business card he'd held out into the depths of his pants pocket.
“This is awkward....”
* * * * *
“Ophelia! Are you done talking yet?!”
“You've been working hard, Ophelia. Did you take care of what you set out to do?”
“Yes. Sir Galahad's status will be handled by the Association as quickly as possible. We also received a hotline to contact should a similar case arise in the future.”
A hotline means that, right? A direct line you can call when something major seems to have happened among the big shots. That meant Ophelia had become a huge deal—someone who could speak directly with the top brass of the Korean Hunter Association.
“Woooo! That's great! Then Grandpa can go to a convenience store and buy beer to drink by himself now, right?”
“Woooo! That's amazing!”
“That was probably possible before too. The problem must've been that there weren't any convenience stores in the mountains.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, I don't think any convenience store clerk would ever ask Grandpa Galahad for ID. If he came to buy beer when I worked part-time at a convenience store, I probably wouldn't have asked for ID—I would've taken out every last bit of cash I had and handed it to him.
“Then is Grandpa registered as a hunter too?”
“As soon as his paperwork is ready, he'll be registered as an A-rank hunter.”
“A-rank!? But he's Grandpa!?”
“Unfortunately, S-rank hunter certificates can only be issued by hunter management associations in the four countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council. In Korea, even if that ability is proven, there is no way to grant S-rank.”
“Waaah.”
Only the huge hunter management associations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China can issue S-rank hunter certificates. Our country has had only a few S-rank hunters so far, but everyone who appeared went to the U.S. to get their S-rank certificate.
Or rather, the facilities? It seems only those four countries have equipment that can measure S-rank clearly and accurately.
Honestly, the facilities are just an excuse. Japan has already built advanced measuring facilities on par with those four countries, so it seems to just be an old custom.
“Sigh, if Grandpa went, he could smash even S-ranks to pieces.”
“Don't be too disappointed, princess. All this old man needs is the princess's recognition!”
“Ehehe, really?”
Right. It's not like Grandpa's combat ability gets any lower just because he didn't get S-rank, right? And they said S-rank comes with a ton of hassles.
“And we'll also delay the Princess's S-rank assessment as much as possible, within reason.”
“Waa, why?”
“It seems that in the four countries that can grant S-rank ratings, there have been cases where hunters from other countries entered their territory and, before they could receive an S-rank evaluation, were placed under travel bans and forced to naturalize.”
“Ugh.... They're horrible....”
“Just in case, it would be better to move to another country only after you're in a position where you can handle any problem that comes up.”
Yeah, honestly, I could naturalize in the U.S. or somewhere else if I wanted to. But forced naturalization is a bit much, isn't it? I still like Korea.
“It seems today's business is all wrapped up. We'll head back.”
“Ooh-!”
Grandpa, who can now ride in a car as well, came along too. Of course, he still occupied the entire two-person back seat by himself. If it hadn't been an SUV, he probably couldn't have gotten in.
* * * * *
Japan.
An educational institution specialized in training hunters.
Kyoto, Kannagi High School.
“Hmm.”
“President, president? What are you thinking about so seriously?”
“Ah, just taking care of this for a moment.”
“This one? Hmm, ah! That's it, right? Are you going?”
“Ah, I'm still thinking about it.”
[Sister-School Partnership (Seoul Aegis) - Exchange Student Recruitment Application]
ㅡScritch, scritch....
[Applicant: Tennoji Utaha]