CH 19

The sharp blade was about to cut his throat.

The owner of the neck reflected on the mirror-like smooth blade was Takahiro Koji(高広康治), the vice-manager of the Shimazu Gumi Gyeongseong Branch

Following the blade to the top, the person holding it by the handle was Shimazu Renka(島津蓮花), the only daughter of the Shimazu family and the manager of the Shimazu Gumi Gyeongseong Branch.

In a desperate moment, where if the blade moved even a little the head of the vice-manager would roll, all the union members surrounding them were just looking on in dismay, not knowing what to do.

However, this wasn’t a static image.

『M-My Lady……?』

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A thin stream of blood flowed from where the blade was touching Takahiro’s neck, and the bottle of Ebisu beer that he was holding fell to the floor with a loud crash that broke the silence.

Renka, who had stopped just short of cutting Takahiro’s throat, stared at him silently for a while and then opened her mouth,

『This is not right.』

She muttered quietly, and then flung her sword away and sheathed it.

『No, this is not right…….』

Renka continued, and then fell deep in thought. Takahiro, seeing Renka, started to rack his brain.

‘Why is my Lady……? So suddenly?’

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After a bit of thinking, Takahiro realized why she was acting this way. It was clear that the fact that he had beaten the Joseon rickshaw puller out of frustration and hid it from her had come up to light.

Yesterday, he had thought that this wouldn’t cause a problem, however making a false report to the Lady, no matter how trivial it may be, was considered a serious sin.

Takahiro broke a cold sweat.

‘This…… Is an issue I should commit seppuku over!’

Having realized what the issue was, Takahiro got to the floor like a frog and prostrated himself, showing respect.

『I am so ashamed of myself! Please, forgive me!』

However, Renka spoke to Takahiro with her usual casual tone.

『Raise your head, Takahiro-san.』

『Pardon me……?』

『I will give you an opportunity.』

Opportunity! Takahiro bowed his head and said.

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『Yes! Yes, my Lady! I will do whatever it takes……』

『First of all, apologize to the father and daughter at the boarding house for yesterday’s events. I want you to express a formal apology as a representative of the Shimazu Gumi Gyeongseong Branch to them, and I also want you to admit the father into one of the best hospitals in Gyeongseong. Of course, the expenses, including the treatment and hospitalization, will be covered by you personally, Takahiro-san.』

『Yes……!』

『And, Takahiro, I want you to directly apologize to Shirabayashi-san. Of course, there is no need for you to commit seppuku as part of your apology.』

At this, Takahiro raised his head.

『……! W-Will I finally be forgiven if I do all of this?』

『No.』

『Eek……!』

At Renka’s immediate denial, Takahiro thought, ‘does she want me to apologize, come back, and then commit seppuku in front of her?’

However, Renka had no intentions to cut Takahiro’s throat or give him a knife so he could cut his own stomach open. She was thinking:

Do not let your emotions define your actions.

You must think rationally.

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It was unacceptable that her plans had gone awry because of her subordinate’s actions, but solving the issue came first.

Would Baek Cheol-yeon accept Takahiro’s head as an apology? The answer was “no”. Sacrificing one of her men would just be evading responsibility.

And even in Renka’s own opinion, Takahiro had just acted according to her orders. The only issue being that he had simply interpreted her orders in a different way and harmed a person.

This was partly due to her instructions being vague, but Takahiro’s deep-rooted racist prejudice against Joseon people was a direct cause to everything that went wrong.

That was why this accident had happened in the end.

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The reason why all of this trouble had happened and all her plans had gone awry were due to, first, Takahiro didn’t think much of Joseon people, and secondly, Takahiro only viewed Baek Cheol-yeon as some ordinary “Joseon cadet”.

‘This is probably why he cannot understand why I am so interested in Baek Cheol-yeon.’

Then, to prevent this kind of problems from occurring later on, again, it was necessary for her to remove the cause.

Correcting the prejudice would be the first step to making sure her plans all went smoothly.

Renka smiled at Takahiro, who was still kneeling down, and said.

『After you apologize to Shirabayashi-san, there is something else. Something you, Takahiro-san, have to do.』

***

[Status system recovery initiated.]

[Status system being reinstalled onto Ghost.]

[Reinstalling…… 99.99%]

[Time left: 0 days 0 hours 3 seconds]

[Time left: 0 days 0 hours 2 seconds]

[Time left: 0 days 0 hours 1 seconds]

[Time left: 0 days 0 hours 0 seconds……]

‘It’s done! The status window!’

Whoop-!

[K-HUNTER’S STATUS SYSTEM ver.3.2.2]

[User information]

Name 白哲然(Baek Cheol-yeon)

Age 17

Mana class E-class

Awakened abilities

Mana detection/D-class

Empowering/E-class

Poison resistance/C-class

Status Normal

[▷Main screen]

A translucent interface, one only I could see, came up in front of me.

The status system had finally been restored.

‘That took a long time…….’

It had actually only been four days since I had woken up in this period, so it hadn’t been that long, but the four days I had spent without a status window felt long enough to say that they were the longest four days of my life.

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‘It almost feels like two weeks have passed…….’

Anyway, my abilities that showed up in the status window weren’t too far off from what I had experienced and expected.

The mana level wasn’t very high, and it was the same with my mana detection, empowering and poison resistance.

In the 21st century, I was a C-class Hunter, barely making me about average, but now I was far weaker than I had been back then.

But there was nothing to be discouraged by.

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‘I’m going to school to get stronger anyway.’

Underage awakeneds could grow a considerable amount depending on their circumstances. Almost any blockhead could become a fairly good Hunter from attending the Hunter Academy in the 21st century, and it shouldn’t be too different now, either. As long as I was still attending school, my potential to grow was limitless.

‘Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.’

I looked at Ham Seo-ju, who was in front of me. I was still in the hospital and Ham Seo-ju was, indeed, still peeling apples.

If I had only been waiting for my status window to be restored, I wouldn’t have stayed in the hospital until now. The reason why I had stayed was to check something else.

‘See other people’s abilities.’

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There were many advantages to having a status system, but one of them was that I could check other people’s abilities as well.

However, with my current mana level, it was impossible to check other people’s status just by looking at them. There were some physical constraints.

‘Well, after all, I’ve been spending time here to check this out.’

I asked Ham Seo-ju.

“Seo-ju, could you give me your hand?”

A physical constraint, that is, I could only see other people’s status through physical contact. In other words, I could only check them if I shook hands with them, or at the very least held hands with them.

“Sorry?! Oh my! Mister, what are you……”

Ham Seo-ju, having heard my request, clasped her hands, startled. And then looked over at her father who was lying on the hospital bed. I hurriedly added.

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Hmm. It felt like her image of the school I was attending was starting to become weirder, telling her that we use the cyanide used as rat poison to kill monsters, or that they teach us how to read palms.

……Well, she’s never going to attend our school, so it shouldn’t matter if I make some stuff up.

“Ehem. If one wants to become a Yeopsa, they need to know how to do various things. Anyway, give me your hand.”

Ham Seo-ju seemed to be suspicious, but still held out her hand. I grabbed onto her hand, called up the status window to myself and focused.

Whoop-!

[User information]

Name 咸緒住(Ham Seo-ju)

Age 15

Mana class N/A

Awakened abilities N/A

Status Normal

[▷Main screen]

‘Good.’

Naturally, since Ham Seo-ju was not anawakened, the status for her mana or awakened abilities were not available. However, with this I managed to confirm that the status system was working properly.

It would be useful in the future as I would be able to get a better idea of my squad members’ abilities and their grades.

“……So, what do you see?”

As I had been staring into space, looking at the status window without saying a word, Ham Seo-ju grew impatient and asked me bluntly. It was only then that I pretended to carefully read her palm and just made up something nice.

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“Hmm! Well…… Let’s see! Well, first of all this is the life line. Since its long, you’ll live a long life. Also…… You’ll soon have good fortune…….”

After hearing this, Ham Seo-ju said,

“Is just saying anything all you can do?! If that’s it, I could say it too!”

And quickly took her hand of mine, but she seemed quite happy. After all, people feel better when they hear nice things about themselves, even if they are empty words.

Anyway, I had already finished checking the status window, so I was going to head back to my parents’ house. I got up.

“Are you leaving?”

“Mhm. I think I should start going.”

I answered, pretending to check my watch. But it was already 4pm. If I wanted to go today, Saturday, and come back by tomorrow, I had to go to the station and buy a ticket right now.

As I stood up and headed to the door, Ham Seo-ju followed me out and asked.

“You are returning tomorrow, right? Oh, then, when you come tomorrow, will you go straight to our house?”

“Well, I guess? Why?”

“I have to stay here. At least until father is discharged…… So I can’t cook for you, and what to do with your bento for Monday.”

She was worrying about that. I waved my hand and said.

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“Don’t worry about that, just take care of your father. If it comes to food, I can just buy something to eat.”

“Okay.”

“Then, I’ll get going.”

“Take care.”

After coming out of the hospital I caught one of the taxis that was on standby in front of the hospital and immediately asked the driver to take me to Gyeongseong Station.

Since I had come straight from school, I was wearing my school uniform, but since this was the formal wear for a student in this era, there was no need for me to change, and I didn’t really have anything to take with me from the boarding house either.

‘Ooh…….’

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Crossing downtown Gyeongseong, passing right by Namdaemun Gate, I could start to see the Gyeongseong Station building in the distance.

It was a magnificent Renaissance building with a copper dome on the top, built out of reinforced concrete and finished off with orange bricks on the outside. In other words, this was the old Seoul Station building that was still standing in that place in the 21st century.

The old Seoul Station building only looked shabby in the 21st century because the new Seoul Station, a glass palace, was built right next to it. However, the old station stood by itself, with no other tall buildings around it, and it looked quite imposing.

I walked across the square in front of Gyeongseong Station, where countless people and cars were passing by, and entered the station.

‘Let’s see…….’

The address on the family register was Suwon. I stood in line in front of the ticket booth and check the train schedule on the wall on top of it.

Looking at the train schedule, there was a train bound for Daejeon departing from Gyeongseong Station at 17:00. The train bound for Daejeon passed through Suwon. The timing was perfect as well, so I could just ride that. However……

“There are no seats left.”

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“There are no seats left?”

“Yes! All the tickets for the train bound for Daejeon at 17:00 are sold out.”

Damn. Was it because it was a weekend? I asked if there was any tickets for standing seats left, but the response was the same. I had no choice, so I asked.

“What about the next train?”

“The next train is bound for Busan, at 22:00, but there are only standing seats left.”

I had actually forgotten. This wasn’t a period where the train would arrive every ten minutes like in the 21st century. Then, I would have to wait until 10pm? That’s too much…….

As I stood there and wondered if I should look for a ticket scalper, I heard a voice that I recognized behind me.

『So this is where you were, you f…… sir.』

I turned around and I saw a man in his mid-20s with a mustache standing there. I recognized him in an instant.

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‘This guy’s name was…… Takahiro, was it.’

I remembered him clearly because we almost got into a fight the first day I woke up in this era. He was Renka’s direct subordinate or something like that.

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『Tsk……! You were not at school, or in the boarding house, or in the hospital so I had to fu…… I mean, look around for you.』

It seemed he had been looking for me. He had probably gone to the hospital, looking for me, and heard that I left for the station, so he came here.

『Anyway, it seems you don…… do not own a ticket?』

He said, as he continued speaking to me. But there was something that was bothering me,

‘What was up with this guy?’

Even now, the way it seemed that instead of just speaking to me comfortably, he was stopping himself and changing the way he spoke at the end to make it more formal, was quite suspicious.

I didn’t hide my alertness and asked.

『It seems so. Why do you ask?』

『We, the Shimazu Gumi, can gi-offer you a train ticket. The Shimazu Gumi always has a certain number of seats reserved in case of emergency.』

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He was offering me a train ticket. Was this some kind of apology, the same as them hospitalizing Ham Won-sam.

Well, I was in kind of a tight spot since all the tickets were sold out, and this guy was offering me a ticket, so I was thankful but……

This was all still quite suspicious.

『I’ll accept your ticket, if you’ll give it to me, but why did you chase me all the way here in the first place? And why are you using such formal speech after starting so informally?』

『……It was the Lady’s order.』

『Lady?…… Renka?』

The guy still had an annoyed look on his face, as he continued.

『……Yes. As a token of my apology, the Lady has ordered me to attend to you for the time being, and to serve you with all I can. So you must accompany me.…… Wakkadanna(young master).』

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I thought I had misheard for a second. More than him saying that he would be serving me, more than the fact that he asked me to accompany him, the title he had suddenly addressed me with was something I never expected to hear coming out of his mouth.

‘Young master……?’

***

After finishing her Saturday afternoon major classes, Aikawa ran straight to the dormitory to meet Lee Yu-ha.

『Miss Lee, are you feeling better?』

『I okay. Feel better than morning.』

Lee Yu-ha answered in her poor Japanese, sat on her bed and slightly smiling. As she had said she was feeling better, Aikawa poured some energy into Lee Yu-ha to check her condition, but she couldn’t find anything to be worried about at the moment.

『Phew…… I am glad.』

『For worrying, thank you. Because of you.』

『Ah…… It is not! I did not do much…….』

Aikawa was quite timid already, but somehow she felt she needed to be extra careful in front of Lee Yu-ha.

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Although Aikawa was Japanese, she had been raised by poor parents who delivered tofu from the Chuniljeong Street in Daejeon-bu, Chungcheongnam-do, and for her, someone like Lee Yu-ha who was a Joseon aristocrat, or Yangban, felt unreachable.

‘Although not as much as a Japanese aristocrat, of course……’

If the feeling she felt when she met Shimazu Renka, a Japanese aristocrat, was something like pressure, what she felt when facing Lee Yu-ha was a kind of respect.

Despite Lee Yu-ha’s poor Japanese, her soft yet upright, and noble attitude made Aikawa feel a different kind of distance than that which she felt with the Japanese aristocrats.

At Lee Yu-ha’s thanks, Aikawa played with her hair and said.

『The truth is…… Shirabayashi-kun asked me to do so. He asked me to look after you…….』

『……!』

When Baek Cheol-yeon’s name was mentioned, Lee Yu-ha seemed a little surprised, and as she looked far into the distance, deep in thought, Aikawa continued speaking.

『Anyway, I was worried, but I am glad that it does not seem to be a serious illness.』

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At those words, Lee Yu-ha woke up from her thoughts, and smiled and nodded at Aikawa.

『Ah…… That is! Maybe, yesterday Professor Kurobe healing me, this seems help me.』

At those words, Aikawa was taken aback.

『From Professor Kurobe? T-That Professor Dracula healed you?』

Aikawa seemed startled, but Lee Yu-ha recalled yesterday’s events, when Professor Kurobe called her. Although that disgraceful Yang Bok-ja had proudly gone around spreading rumors that he was a vampire, in Lee Yu-ha’s eyes a rumor was nothing more than just that, a rumor.

Having actually gone to his laboratory with him, Lee Yu-ha had seen a multitude of instruments that she didn’t know the use for and glass bottles, like those she had seen in pictures of European scientists’ labs in books, but there was no blood or monster corpses like in the rumors.

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Lee Yu-ha rolled up forearm a little and explained calmly.

『Nothing much happened. Only, with a syringe? he take? took some blood. And I took medicine the professor give me, only that.』

『B-Blood? And you even took the medicine?』

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Aikawa was startled. That Professor “Dracula” Kurobe took her blood? And she even took some medicine that she didn’t know anything about?

Aikawa didn’t fully believe the rumors either, but what was true was that Professor Kurobe somehow felt shady and suspicious. And, more than anything, he didn’t make a good impression.

Unsusprisingly, when Aikawa visited Lee Yu-ha’s room in the evening, Lee Yu-ha had a fever and was moaning in pain. The heat was so bad that she had even left the window wide open.

‘This must be Kurobe-sensei’s doing!’

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It was clear that Professor Kurobe was responsible for what was happening to Lee Yu-ha right now. He had taken her into his rumored lab, taken a blood sample from her and given her medicine. No matter how you saw it, it was suspicious!

‘If…… If I do not check this myself……’

Aikawa, even with her hands shaking, became determined.

Although she was assigned temporary class rep due to being at the top of the attendance list, a class rep was a class rep. She couldn’t just overlook a cadet from her class, let alone a fellow squad member, when they were in trouble.

On top of that, she had been asked by Shirabayashi-kun, her squad leader, to take care of Lee Yu-ha. The same Shirabayashi-kun that had trusted a useless person like her and given her an important role during the Onikumo incident.

It was quite a heavy amount of responsibility, but she couldn’t let him down.

‘I-I have to check on it myself…….’

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Aikawa built up some courage and decided to sneak into Professor Kurobe’s lab. There was bound to be evidence in there.

She had just left the dormitory building and was about to go through the side path where the professors’ research building was located when,

『What is a cadet doing walking around outside of the dormitories so late at night?』

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She was startled by the sound. When she turned around she saw a young professor with a clean impression, it was Professor Saigane. Aikawa was relieved.

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『Ah, sensei…….』

『I was wondering who it was, but it was you, Cadet Aikawa? From the same squad as Cadet Shirabayashi.』

Professor Saigane was a professor who mainly taught the national language and other general subjects to Joseon cadets, so he had not yet taught Aikawa personally, but they had met on campus every now and then.

『Ah, yes……. I am!』

Professor Saigane spoke, with a relaxed smile.

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『I was taking a walk. Where were you going? Could it be that you were planning to go to a drinking party on campus with other delinquent cadets? If that is it, I am afraid I cannot turn a blind eye……』

Professor Saigane had spoken with a light, joking tone, but Aikawa was startled and answered honestly.

『Ah! No! I just had a question to ask Kurobe-sensei……』

『To Kurobe-sensei? This late at night? ……Hmm.』

Professor Saigane seemed to think deeply for a moment, and then put up a soft smile and said.

『I shall accompany you. Even if we are on campus, it is dangerous at night…….』