Chapter 58
Chapter 58
‘Mother, she…’
It sounded plausible. Her mom had never been the kind of person who could ignore the misfortune of someone close to her, so if someone had asked for help, she would’ve given it.
Even so, Nari shook her head. She still couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t it all too sudden. A godfather now, of all times. Nari stared at Nan with a doubtful look and spoke in a peevish tone.
“I still can’t believe it. I don’t even know why you only showed up now, and my mom never told me anything. I’m just really, really flustered right now, okay?!”
“Ah, we tried to find you and protect you after Kang Hana passed away.”
“And? It’s not hard to find someone in a tiny country like Korea.”
“I was in school. No, I mean prison. I’ve only been out only for a few years.”
At the word prison, Nari’s face went rigid again. Nan went on as if it were nothing.
“And after that, we couldn’t find you. It was like something blocked the way. You never came here either, so there was no way to know.”
[The Lord of Chaos whispers that after you made your contract, he laid down smoke so complete strangers couldn’t get your information.]
Nari grimaced. It was true that after she’d contracted with the constellation, she’d arranged things so others couldn’t trace her information.
“Either way, now that we’ve met like this, I intend to fulfill my duties as your godfather. As long as you want it.”
‘…Did he really look for me?’
Nan stared straight at Nari. Nari still couldn’t hide her bewilderment as she met his gaze.
Maybe she was going to have a guardian. At twenty-five.
[The Lord of Chaos looks at you and says you don’t look that unhappy about it.]
‘...Weirdly so.’
For some reason it didn’t feel bad, so Nari blinked. Maybe she’d gotten a little used to leaning on someone. That didn’t mean she could trust the man in front of her. Those were two different things.
“I can’t answer right away. We only met today! And I’m doing fine on my own you know?!”
“I figured. Twenty-five years old. A chick old enough that a guardian might not be necessary. I’m not sure how to earn your trust.”
Nan rubbed his chin, then snapped his fingers like something had come to him.
“Then how about meeting my mother. She still remembers you, and she knew Kang Hana well.”
“…Your mother?”
“Yes. Just think of it as meeting someone who knew Kang Hana. On days like this, people who knew the deceased usually gather and remember her. She’d be happy if you came.”
“…”
Nari looked down at the ruined white bouquet she’d never managed to give. She’d never imagined remembering her mom together with someone else, but it might even make her happy.
‘And I’m curious.’
Nari looked at the man before her. A former gangster. Someone her mom had saved. The guild leader of Mago, one of the Four Great Guilds. And his mother.
Her mom had never told Nari she was close with people like this. Maybe it was a memory from when she was too young, or maybe Nari had simply forgotten.
Anyway, Nari felt both uneasy and glad to be chasing her mother’s traces. After a long hesitation, she muttered,
“…I’m not acknowledging you as any kind of godfather yet. I’m only going to see someone my mom knew.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Nan nodded without a change in expression. The way he looked like he could see right through her made Nari feel even more self-conscious. She stood up and mumbled,
“…It’s late, so I’ll get going. If you tell me where your mother is tomorrow, I’ll come find her.”
“Do you have a place to stay?”
At Nan’s question, Nari winced and glanced away like he had struck home. She didn’t. She had planned to pay her respects, take a quick look around the nearby night market, then head straight back to her studio apartment.
“In that case, let me arrange it. We have plenty of empty rooms. You can use one of them.”
“…Thank you.”
Nari had almost said she would just go home, but she figured it would be better than using Perception Interference and risking being tailed. She bowed her head and thanked him.
Nan made a call and summoned a driver.
He said the car would take about ten minutes. He took a coat from the hanger and shrugged into it. Nari let out a long sigh.
“By the way, how did you recognize me? You took one look and called me Shin Bitnari. I’m… pretty sure this is our first meeting.”
“I saw you a few times when you were little. So I remembered. And there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize Miss Hana’s daughter at a glance.”
Nan wrapped a scarf snugly over his coat, checked that the computers were all off, then looked straight at Nari.
“Because you take after Miss Hana a lot.”
“I’m the spitting image of my dad. I don’t look like my mom at all.”
“If you don’t resemble her in appearance, that means you resemble her in soul. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize your mother’s soul.”
“You must’ve been really close with my mom.”
“I told you. She was the benefactor of me and my mother.”
At that answer, Nari’s fingers tightened. People said that even if someone was a bastard to you, they could still be precious to someone else. It felt strange to know that someone treasured her mother, the nation’s traitor.
Maybe she shouldn’t like it, but she couldn’t help the swelling in one corner of her heart.
“My mom made a lot of people die though.”
Her mom had harmed many and led many to their deaths. That was certain. But she was still her mom.
She wasn’t saying it to anyone else. She was only remembering her alone and letting herself feel a quiet happiness. To Nari, who had mourned her mother in solitude, Nan’s presence felt strange.
Nan looked at Nari for a long moment. Then he sighed.
“Yes, even so. No matter if the whole world curses her, I intend to remember her. The fact that she changed my life doesn’t change.”
“T-That way of thinking is selfish.”
The words slipped out. Nari clapped a hand over her mouth. Nan looked at her, turned off the lights, and stepped into the dark corridor of the third floor of the charnel house. Nari followed after him.
“Your mother was a thoughtful person. So I don’t believe she did something like that carelessly.”
“She made a unilateral call. People died because of it.”
“Circumstances change inside gates all the time. Plans don’t always work out.”
That was true. Conditions inside a gate shifted constantly, and sometimes improvisation mattered more.
Even so, that didn’t mean Hunter Kang Hana bore no responsibility for the failure to clear a class 1 gate and the huge number of casualties.
“When a class 1 gate appears, the normal thing is coordination between the state and a number of S-rank Hunters. Hunter Kang Hana going in alone made failure the expected outcome.”
Nan pushed his horn-rimmed glasses up and went down the stairs. Nari kept her confusion in check and followed quietly.
She didn’t know what to think. Was it really all right to flip her feelings about her mother this easily. She shook her head a few times to throw off the turmoil, then spoke to the man ahead of her.
“By the way. Um… What should I call you?”
“Right. You haven’t accepted me as your official godfather, and there’s a big age gap, and calling me sir feels too stiff. Uncle will do. Uncle Nan. Call me that.”
Uncle. Saying so, Nan glanced down at Nari. Nari avoided the cool black eyes behind the horn-rims and muttered,
“Okay, sir.”
* * *
Sitting in the back of a black sedan limousine, Nari looked around the interior. It was her first time in such a luxurious car.
Nan sat beside her, paying no attention to how bewildered she looked, and worked through documents on a tablet. Nari’s expression was dazed.
‘What is this guy…?’
Usually when you put someone you just met in your car, you at least did a little ice-breaking or small talk. She knew he had barely done regular social life.
‘He is unbelievable about doing his own thing.’
[The Lord of Chaos clicks his tongue and says he has never seen someone like that either.]
Since Nan wasn’t paying her any mind, Nari naturally pulled out her phone and searched for “A Nan” and “Mago.”
She skipped the basic profile entries anyone could find and tapped into community posts. In times like this, the Hunters-only forums were useful.
[Question] Mago is mostly monk class. How do they even attack? Sanctuary @llillliiil
Isn’t killing forbidden?
And is it true the guild leader is a former gangster?
[Comments]
-We only have non-targeting skills.
└If I hit someone myself that’s killing, but if I fire at the ground and the guy happens to walk into it and dies, that’s just inevitable fate.
└The only one with a targeting skill is our guild leader. He isn’t even a Hunter, he is just an Awakener.
-I don’t know about the jail part, but he does have a big dragon tattoo on his back.
└Is it true he is contracted with a constellation?
└└No idea. Would a constellation keep a contract with a random Awakener who never fights?
‘…He has a constellation?’
She didn’t get what she wanted, so Nari blinked and searched more posts. Results poured out.
[General] Our guild leader is hilarious. Mago @lllllIIIIIlllll
We had a meeting with a client today and he suddenly stood up. The client’s boss got startled, so he said the plants hadn’t been watered and went right over and watered the office plants.
The funnier part was that the client boss seemed to know the guild leader’s personality, said it would probably take a while, then pulled out documents and did the work on the spot.
[Comments]
-Wasn’t that a roundabout way to tell him to get lost?
└I thought that too, but it is just the guild leader’s personality. He is the real deal about doing his own thing.
-How can someone like that even run a guild.
└He is insanely meticulous with records and remembers even throwaway remarks. Maybe that is why. He isn’t two-faced either.
└There is a rumor he has a constellation contract. Maybe he uses the constellation’s power outside of combat, like the guild leader of White Night.
└In Busan, the Mago guild leader is basically a benefactor. People say he used to be a gangster, but in the days when the law didn’t work he was the number one reason this place stayed safe. He did his prison time for that, so the locals treat him well. Most of the business owners here are locals, so it tracks.
‘...The more I dig, the less I get.’
He himself seemed plain and like he hid nothing, but the rumors that followed him were countless. There was talk of a constellation contract, there were complicated reasons for prison, and he had a strange connection to her mom.
He was an extreme case of doing his own thing. Nari had never met anyone like him.
Overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information, Nari let out a small groan. Nan pushed up his horn-rims and looked at her, then made an oh expression.
“Oh no, I made a mistake!”