Book: 2: 94

Book 2: Chapter 94

A long, rectangular table filled a large room, at which a dozen or so people sat.

As she took her seat, Joanna looked around the room. Those who sat at this table were all great figures whom most hunters would know by name.

Just from looking at the faces of these people, she found it hard to breathe. Even though she was pretty well-known herself, she hadn’t yet reached the stage where she would be known regardless of where she went.

‘...don’t be intimidated.’

Joanna took a deep breath before straightening her shoulders.

Sitting at the head of this table was none other than Vincent. This fact caused a few of the people there to feel a bit strange. After all, while Vincent was a fairly well-known hunter, he still lagged behind quite a few of them when it came to skill or fame.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Since he was attending the meeting as a proxy.

“First, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for taking time from their busy schedules to come here today.”

Aware of his position, Vincent’s tone was very polite as he spoke.

“Although not much, I am Vincent J. Heider, and I will be the host for this meeting.”

There was no applause. There were more than a dozen people gathered in the room, but no one could even hear the sound of breathing.

This was unspoken pressure for him to quickly get to the main point. Vincent tried to ignore the feeling that he was being crushed by the weight of the atmosphere.

Then, an old man spoke.R/ê/Ad lateSt ch/a/pters at novelhall.com Only

“Cardinal Thomas, I’d like to hear from you about the Association President’s condition.”

He was one of the board members. Although he lacked personal power, his influence could be ranked within the top five among the board members.

“It’s not good.”

Cardinal Thomas sighed as he answered.

“Have you heard of Rose Poison? It is very heinous. I managed to use my holy power to slow down its diffusion rate. But that is only a temporary measure instead of a true solution as I could only slow down and not stop the spread.”

“In that case, will the President die at this rate?”

Thomas hesitated for a moment at the board member’s blunt question before nodding.

“...that’s right.”

The atmosphere in the room became heavier as though a lump of lead had been placed on it. This was natural.

President of the Hunter Association, Neil Prand.

The symbolism, influence, and authority that he had were beyond compare. It would not be as simple as one person dying.

His death would impact the hunters in every Association Branch in North America and even humanity as a whole. They couldn’t even begin to imagine how large the ripple effect would be.

“I don’t understand. Where and what the hell were the Manhattan hunters doing?”

It was Anderson, Leader of the Fighter Squad, who opened his mouth with a harsh tone. His hostile gaze turned to Vincent.

“This is none other than the President of the Association. The leader of millions of hunters. A man like that goes to fight one of the Five Dukes on his own and no one stops him. Are all the hunters here stupid?”

“...”

Vincent just bowed his head. He couldn’t refute Anderson’s words. After all, he was right.

It was true that Neil had gone on his own to confront one of the Five Dukes, but the hunters in Manhattan were also at fault for not stopping him.

“It’s said that he’s currently in Korea.”

“Hmmm.”

“It’s said that he’s currently spreading his eternal life religion.”

“...”

Thomas bit his lip at those words.

“...he’s selling faith. It’s unacceptable.”

“From a business perspective, it’s a pretty good market. The religious business works well in Korea.”

It was Anderson who said these words with a chuckle.

“However, the fact that he’s in Asia... That will be a pain in the ass.”

Nodiesop.

The fact that an unidentified man had suddenly taken over the Asia Branch of the Hunter Association was something that was known to everyone capable of sitting at that table. It was highly likely that Korea was also not free of his influence. After all, the Korean Peninsula was not very far from the Asia Headquarters in Beijing.

“Have you come up with a solution to this, Vincent?”

“...”

Vincent was silent for a moment before he answered.

“...there is a Korean person with whom I recently became personally acquainted. I’m thinking of asking for her help.”

“Can you tell us who it is?”

“Min Ha-rin.”

‘Where have I heard that name...?”

“Are you talking about the White Flower?”

The hall became noisy for a moment.

Min Ha-rin was a well-known rookie from Asia. Her fame hadn’t yet crossed the ocean to North America, but there were a few people at the table who’d heard of her before.

“She certainly should have some independent line of communication to the Korean Branch.”

“Then let’s leave the case of the Association President there for now.”

In truth, nothing had been resolved yet.

There was no way to know if the Korea Branch would accept Min Ha-rin’s communication request or if they would help them find the Saint in Korea.

More importantly, it was possible that after they’d found the Saint after tremendous effort, he would refuse to assist.

Or even if he did agree to assist them, he might not be able to fix the problem.

...And above all else.

It was possible that Neil wouldn’t survive until then.

“...”

There were a lot of things that they were unsure about, and anxieties were mounting.

But Vincent decided to stop thinking negatively. Worrying like this would only cause him to become sick.

Besides, there were still issues in North America that needed to be addressed.

After the attack by one of the Five Dukes, the civilians were filled with tension and fear at the thought that North America was no longer a safe zone.

They had to come up with solutions for all of these problems within the day.

This meeting, which would surely go on for a very long time, had only just begun.