83.

===============

At the same time, Lee Ho was texting his brother.

However, his brother’s message was unusual.

[ Is Emilia useful? ]

…Do you mean Emilia Mills? Why would you ask that? ]

Just curious. ]

Lee Ho thought about it seriously. He concluded that he needed Emilia.

She can empower other hunters through her supporting skills. With those, an A-rated hunter can have the power of an S-rated hunter. ]

That was true. That was the reason Emilia was considered one of the Big Three.

[ Do as you wish. ]

Lee Ho wondered what the question had been for, but he didn’t ask about this any further.

He didn’t want to be an obstacle to his brother. Even if he wanted to kill Emilia, Ho respected that.

That was why he’d sent that message.

There was no need to reply.

***

The next morning, a news report said that the president of the Hunter’s Authority had passed away due to his disease.

Two of the strongest countries, America and China, made statements that a new president was not needed.

Lee Ho made a statement, as did Oda from Japan, Jin Yong from China, Raul, and Sophie. The Hunter’s Authority was officially disbanded. Society was changing drastically.

Ho was in the middle of the storm. He was already planning to create an organization to replace the Hunter’s Authority.

It would be a hunter’s union, and he would unite Asia under its name. Asia would be ruled by Lee Ho.

Members of ROKHA were looking for jobs. Some had even found new ones. Hwan didn’t care much. He was at the gate.

They were in an A-rated gate. Hwan’s team members were there, and Emilia had joined them. The gate was forested, and there was an ogre.

Jeong Gi-Hoon was using Lancelot’s spear to fight against it, while Yoo Ee-Na and Kim So-Eun paired up to fight.

I was at the back with Kim Yoo-Jeong. I glanced toward her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

Yoo-Jeong smiled. Then I asked, “Did something happen yesterday?”

She paused for a while and then smiled brightly. “Nothing.”

“You see the woman next to Gi-Hoon?”

“Yes. She is… a hero from San Francisco.”

I smiled and added, “I saw it in my GED textbook. There’s a difference between Asian and Caucasian.”

“You mean that?”

“As far as I know, Caucasians tend to have more body odor.”

Yoo-Jeong laughed. But I knew that it was proven by science.

“I heard that it’s because of chemicals inside our body. What was it, Hippocrates?”

“Not even close. It’s Apocrine.”

“Oh, that was the one.”

Kim Yoo-Jeong smiled as if she was enjoying the conversation. She told me that there was nothing to worry about. She also mentioned that Emilia was a kind person, so I did not have to worry about that either.

Also, she added this: “I’ll work hard so that I can stand next to you.”

“…”

“I won’t be a burden. I’ll work harder.”

I didn’t take action without any reason. I quietly observed Yoo-Jeong and decided I had to tell her this: “Adults must be responsible for the choices they make.”

Yoo-Jeong smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll get ready for sniping.”

“Got a spot to do that?”

“I found a good place to hide. A place where ogres won’t come.”

She was now an A-rated hunter. I supposed she could figure that out by herself. So she went to the spot. Meanwhile, Gi-Hoon came to me.

Before, he had been smiling with Emilia. I asked, “So, are you planning to date her? I noticed that you were smiling more than usual.”

Jeong Gi-Hoon smiled awkwardly. “Well, it’s been a while since I had a conversation with her. She was kind as usual.”

“Kind?”

“She was. I liked her smile. It made me comfortable.”

I sighed. My dear friend was not good at finding girlfriends, and Emilia was not a suitable person to date. I was sure that he would suffer a lot when he finally dated someone.

I asked him to look after Yoo Ee-Na and Kim So-Eun.

So he did. Then Emilia came after me.

“I think you should get an Academy Award.”

“Is that so?”

Emilia smirked. She knew what she was talking about.

She was confident as well. I could see the reason why. She knew that she was quite talented and a demanding hunter.

“I am a talented woman. Hire me.”

That made me laugh. I stepped toward her and put my hands on her shoulders. It might sound like I was friendly with Emilia, but I exerted force.

Emilia frowned. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think?”

“…Get off.”

I stepped on her foot.

“Do it yourself. I wonder if you can.”

She was not able to escape. Emilia knew it. That was why she stopped resisting.

“You are a great actress; I’ll give you that.” I grabbed her hair and pulled it upward. “I don’t trust treacherous people. You do have talent, but I know that you are not the type of person I’m looking for. I know what you did to Yoo-Jeong. Don’t give me any bullshit.”

Emilia frowned. No one had seen that. Only I had managed to spot it.

“I’ve been thinking about my response. I’m doing my best to look after my brother, but I also have to look after my people. It’s not like Valhalla, so I’m trying to make a new standard.”

I started walking slowly. Emilia had to move along with me.

“I’ll give you a warning first. This is what I will do. I know that Yoo-Jeong said she’s fine, but I’m not.”

“…So?” she snarled. “What do you want?”

“I’m telling you that you are in danger. To survive, you’ll have to control your tongue.”

“…”

“Understood?”

She nodded.

“Good. Act like usual and behave well in front of Gi-Hoon.”

Emilia turned her head away. Soon, she smiled like usual.

I observed her.

I thought of Yoo-Jeong’s words. What she’d said about Emilia was a compliment.

She should have thought of the reason I let her act freely and how I knew Yoo-Jeong’s story.

Emilia should have thought of that.

***

Kim Yoo-Jeong returned to her home. She was tired. She’d had to shoot her gun right up to the evening. Even though she was an A-rated hunter, her ears were ringing.

At the same time, Emilia arrived. She entered as if it was her house.

Yoo-Jeong smiled brightly. “I appreciate your help.”

Emilia gazed at Yoo-Jeong for a while. Then she spoke.

“You are smarter than I thought.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You talked about everything to that man. You knew what the effective way was, and you did it. That’s smart of you.”

Yoo-Jeong didn’t know what Emilia was talking about.

“But you are a useless whore. You only know how to beg for help. Did you have sex with him?”

“…You hate me?”

Emilia frowned. “I loathe anyone who is a free rider.”

“…Have you seen how hard I worked?”

“Have I? What you did was get help from someone else and become stronger. I don’t like girls like you. Yet you talk about the amount of work you have done?” Emilia laughed at Yoo-Jeong. “You should be ashamed.”

“…Why should I?”

“Well, you got that power easily. So know your place. Don’t dare to stand in front.”

That was envy. Yoo-Jeong thought of one thing. ‘Who would lose if I fought with her?’

It wouldn’t be Emilia. It would be Lee Hwan.

But she didn’t want that to happen. It was her and Emilia’s business, not Hwan’s. If she fought, then Hwan would be the one who had to clean up the mess. That was why she chose to smile. She managed to do that.

“I’m a sniper. I’m always at the back. Did you have a meal?”

“I will have one. But I’ll take a shower first.”

“…Alright.”

As Yoo-Jeong headed to her room, Emilia smirked.

She didn’t take a shower. Instead, she sat on the sofa and looked at her watch. She was mad. What Lee Hwan had done to her was disgusting.

She was the partner of a man who would become a king. She was a queen. A modern Cleopatra. Even though her nationality was not Egyptian, that was the correct phrase to describe her.

To be honest, she was interested in Lee Hwan.

He had the power to clear the SS-rated gate in a day. In addition, he was bold enough to kill the president of the Hunter’s Authority.

That was the king’s power.

Lee Hwan was similar to the Godfather in some ways, but he was different in others.

That was why she was interested in him. But there was a hunter who was not suitable for him. That was why she was trying to get rid of that woman.

But what she had gotten was intolerable. ‘How dare he treat me like that?’

She was one of the most valuable people around. Emilia knew that she was better than Lee Hwan. So she messaged someone.

The gate in America is cleared. It was Manifester’s brother. I think he will join Manifester and attack you. So why don’t we kill him first? Come and kill Hwan for me. I’ll support you. Also, there’s an attractive Korean girl. We can use her as well. If you are interested, reply to me. I’ll send you the address. ]

That was enough for now.

Emilia thought that the Godfather was clearing the SS-rated gate. She wondered whether he had cleared it or not, but she decided to ask that later.

However, her hands stopped. She couldn’t move.

Then someone spoke to her.

“Just as I imagined.”

It was Lee Hwan.

***

In Valhalla, I was a swordsman for more than ten years. They called me the Sword Master.

However, I had a lot of other nicknames. I’m not just a swordsman, but also talented in a lot of things.

The destroyer, emperor of Valhalla, and Sky Demon were such. I had a few others as well. This skill was what I made. I named it ‘Black Eyes.’

This allowed me to spy on someone else. Only I could do this. Yeo-Hwa called me a creep when I spoke about it.

It was understandable.

If I used that skill on someone, I could see everything through that person. That was how I saw Emilia’s actions.

“I wondered why you were trying to get to know me.” “How did you…?”

I smiled and looked at her. “You should have listened to my words.”

“…”

“Weren’t my words easy to understand?”

Emilia couldn’t say anything. I noticed that I was holding her mouth closed. I let her go. She took a harsh breath and asked, “Wha- What are you?!”

I didn’t know what to say. I just laughed. “Just answer my question.”

Instead of doing so, she teleported away.

I laughed again. At that point, Kim Yoo-Jeong came in.

“…Did she run away?”

I shrugged. “You remember what I told you? It was after calling my brother.”

Kim Yoo-Jeong nodded. Last time, I’d told her that I would support her once.

I was sure that I could track him down.

“The mechanism of teleportation is to make a small portal.”

“A portal?”

“Yes. No matter where they’re going, that’s the same. But there’s a trace of the portal left after teleporting. If you can find that…”

Instead of speaking, I decided to show her.

I covered my hands with a black aura. Then, I reached them up. Space was distorting. I put my hand in it and grabbed something. Then I pulled it back. It was Emilia. I had grabbed her hair.

Then, along with her hair, she was here.

“You can do this thing.”

Both Yoo-Jeong and Emilia were speechless.

“Wow…”