The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 56

* * *

 

Throughout the entire journey back to the Association headquarters, the Vice Chairman’s face was flushed bright red. 

 

The garden had been empty, and amidst the flustered employees, he had been made to look like a fool in an instant.

 

“What thief dared to lay a hand on my property!”

 

The Vice Chairman kicked the back of the passenger seat.

 

Thud—.

 

The employee sitting in the passenger seat flinched, but did not dare say a word.

 

Strictly speaking, the crops in the garden did not belong to the Vice Chairman. He had no right, nor any justification, to make such a claim.

 

Nevertheless, the way he ground his teeth as if his own property had been stolen was quintessential to his character. If he coveted someone else’s possession, he took it first.

 

The moment the car brought itself to a stop in front of the association headquarters, the Vice Chairman stepped out of the vehicle as if bursting forth. 

 

“Just you wait. Once I catch whatever b*stard did this— what?”

 

The Vice Chairman’s face crumpled as he was entering the building aggressively.

 

A line of personnel in black suits was blocking the path inside the building.

 

One of them stepped forward as if they had been waiting.

 

A metal badge labeled ‘Internal Audit Department’ was pinned to the man’s chest.

 

“Vice Chairman.”

 

It was a polite, yet emotionless voice. 

 

“Please come with us for a moment.” 

 

“Come with you? What are you talking about. I’m in no mood for jokes, so get out of the way.” 

 

The Vice Chairman tried to brush past them, waving his hand as if shooing away an insect.

 

However, the other party didn’t back down a single step.

 

“A report has been submitted. There are matters to confirm regarding an internal audit. Please come with us.” 

 

As those words were spoken, shadows loomed over him from both sides simultaneously.

 

Two Internal Audit members in suits grabbed the Vice Chairman’s arms at once.

 

“What is the meaning of this! Let go!”

 

The struggling Vice Chairman realized instinctively.

 

Apparently, this matter was not the kind that could be suppressed and covered up with power like he usually did.

 

“Can’t you hear me tell you to let go? Do you think being part of the Internal Audit Department makes you special? Do you think I’ll let today’s incident slide?”

 

The Vice Chairman shouted at the top of his lungs, the veins in his neck bulging.

 

When he arrived at the door of the interrogation room as if being dragged, the Vice Chairman’s heart sank even further.

 

Clack.

 

The sound of the door closing echoed with unusual weight.

 

The interior was narrower than expected.

 

There were no windows, and even the air felt stifling.

 

After he sat in the chair provided in the interrogation room.

 

A thick stack of documents was spread out across the table under the stark white glare of the fluorescent lights.

 

Familiar transaction details.

 

Coordinates for unauthorized gates. Records of magic stone smuggling. Item distribution ledgers.

 

The chaotically arranged numbers spun round and round before his eyes. 

 

The color slowly drained from the Vice Chairman’s face.

 

“…This.”

 

His fingertips trembled minutely as he gripped the materials.

 

These were things that were supposed to be impossible to leak to the outside.

 

Only himself and Han Taeho.

 

They should have been the only two who knew of these records.

 

The Vice Chairman’s molars ground together.

 

“That damn b*stard, Han Taeho.”

 

Only one word surfaced in his mind.

 

Betrayal.

 

No other option occurred to him.

 

“I let that pathetic guild at least keep its ranking all this time, and he dares to stab me in the back?”

 

The fact that he had abandoned Han Taeho first was not important to the Vice Chairman.

 

What mattered was that a being who should have been beneath his feet had the audacity to screw him over.

 

Anger surged first. 

 

And then, anxiety began to crawl up right behind it.

 

‘Don’t tell me this news has reached that person’s ears as well?’ 

 

The Vice Chairman bit his nails.

 

It was still fine.

 

He could still clean it up. 

 

It was then.

 

Creak—.

 

The interrogation room door opened again.

 

As the Internal Audit employees naturally stepped aside, a person walked in between them.

 

The first thing that entered his vision was a unique purple suit.

 

A color so free-spirited and bold that it would be etched into one’s mind after a single glance.

 

The next thing his gaze landed on were bright blue irises.

 

Gasp. 

 

The Vice Chairman held his breath unconsciously. 

 

The person approaching with a relaxed gait and a faint smile hanging on his lips stopped across the table.

 

Then, after looking down at the Vice Chairman for a moment, he slowly spoke.

 

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

 

The voice was soft and elegant.

 

However, there was no warmth in it.

 

The Vice Chairman’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

 

Behind him, the interrogation room door closed again, and only two remained in the small space: the Vice Chairman and the man before him.

 

As soon as they were left alone, the man across from him turned off all the microphones and recording cameras.

 

“D-Damian.”

 

Damian Park.

 

A man of mixed American descent and a member of the World Hunter Association.

 

An SS-rank hunter like Seo Kanghyun.

 

Because his attribute was Light, he was a man called the ‘Reincarnation of a Saint’ in some circles, and he was now sitting across from the Vice Chairman, smiling sweetly.

 

“H-How did you get all the way here—”

 

Blue eyes that seemed to be permeated with light scanned over the documents spread out on the desk.

 

“What do you mean ‘how.’ Our Vice Chairman has been making frequent mistakes lately, so I came to offer some encouragement. I heard you were involved in an unfortunate incident.”

 

Damian pulled the stack of documents toward himself with the tip of his index finger.

 

The paper made a frictional sound as it moved.

 

“But my, my. You’ve been engaged in things far more troublesome than I expected.”

 

Cold sweat broke out on the Vice Chairman’s forehead.

 

This was not in his calculations.

 

To think Damian Park would happen to be in Korea during this period, of all times. 

 

The Vice Chairman hurriedly tried to pull the documents back toward himself.

 

“Y-You don’t need to concern yourself with this. This is just a minor disturbance. It’s a misunderstanding that occurred during internal reorganization—I can handle it on my own.”

 

“A minor disturbance, you say.”

 

Damian repeated the same words.

 

The end of the sentence flowed softly.

 

Then, Damian’s fingertips moved ever so slightly.

 

Flick.

 

At the same time, the interrogation room flashed with a brilliant light.

 

Dazzling light momentarily sliced through the space and passed.

 

The Vice Chairman reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.

 

In that brief moment, feeling a sensation as if something had slipped away, the Vice Chairman frantically fumbled at his chest.

 

It was gone.

 

The small box he had hidden in his inner pocket.

 

As soon as he realized that fact, he heard a familiar click as the latch was opened from across him.

 

The Vice Chairman snapped his head up.

 

The box was already in Damian’s hand.

 

Damian, having opened the box, gazed blankly inside.

 

The smoothly polished artificial gate cores.

 

Damian’s blue irises lingered on them for a long time before gradually sinking into a cold chill.

 

“What shall we do? This doesn’t seem like a minor disturbance.”

 

Damian picked up one of the artificial gate cores from the box.

 

The Vice Chairman merely swallowed hard.

 

Even then, he didn’t know what the problem was.

 

However, as Damian’s skill enveloped the core, the color gradually began to drain from the Vice Chairman’s face.

 

The core, wrapped in bright light, vibrated, and the artificial mana covering the exterior scattered as if being peeled away.

 

Shortly after, the shimmering red energy vanished.

 

The true form of what he had been fooled into thinking was a core was revealed.

 

It was a pebble.

 

Damian rolled the pebble, which looked perfectly ordinary no matter how one saw it, around in his hand.

 

“Truth has a way of revealing itself before the light.”

 

Crack. 

 

Soon, as if a cracker were being crushed, the pebble lost its shape and shattered between Damian’s index finger and thumb.

 

White dust scattered in the air and then slowly settled.

 

The Vice Chairman’s body trembled as he watched.

 

“Vice Chairman. Have you forgotten how precious these items are? Where did you smuggle the real cores?”

 

“I-I don’t know. I truly don’t know.”

 

“Oh dear.”

 

Damian let out a long sigh as if he had a headache.

 

“To cause a mess and not even be able to clean it up. How can we trust the Vice Chairman and leave work to you like this?”

 

Damian tilted his head.

 

“There’s no reason to keep holding onto a piece that has lost its use, is there? What do you think, Vice Chairman?”

 

The moment he understood the meaning behind those words, goosebumps broke out along the Vice Chairman’s spine.

 

He’s going to die.

 

It was an instinctive realization.

 

He had to escape, right now.

 

However, even if he opened the interrogation room door and ran, it was obvious he would be caught by Damian in an instant.

 

As his mind raced, the other gate cores in the open box caught the Vice Chairman’s eye.

 

The Vice Chairman reflexively snatched a core and poured mana into it.

 

He thought that if he escaped into a gate instead, there might be at least a small chance of losing Damian.

 

Sizzle—.

 

The air in the middle of the interrogation room twisted, and with a fracturing sound as if glass were breaking, a black rift split open in an instant.

 

The Vice Chairman hurriedly threw himself into that gap, which was still oscillating unstably.

 

However, Damian merely looked at the Vice Chairman’s struggles as if they were trivial.

 

“To think he moves so predictably within the range of my expectations.”

 

As Damian’s straight fingertip drew an elegant curve, brilliant light poured into the opening gate entrance.

 

In an instant, the space made a sound as if it were creaking, and the gate entrance began to distort.