The Ancestor of the Punishment Team, Arashi(2)

Inside a room that blended light blue and white like a seashell on the beach.

Rustle– Rustle–

“Hmm… Personally, I like bright colors like yellow, but the book said that yellow clothes often give a bad first impression. Should I choose a dark color like gray after all?”

“Um, Ancestor… It’s almost time…”

Seo-hyun, who was glancing at the clock at Arashi’s leisurely appearance as she stood in front of the wardrobe choosing clothes, carefully opened her mouth.

The time shown on the clock was already 2:40.

Although all other preparations were finished and she just needed to choose clothes and leave, it seemed she would be late if she delayed any longer in choosing clothes.

“Is it already 2:40?!”

“Yes, you need to prepare to leave now.”

Arashi looked at the clock at Seo-hyun’s words and exclaimed in surprise.

Seo-hyun herself had postponed all of today’s association work to assist Arashi, but the person in question was in this state, so she couldn’t help but worry.

‘She certainly has dignity, graceful actions, and speaks eloquently, but in everyday life she’s so scatterbrained…’

It felt like serving a noble’s mischievous daughter.

With that feeling that made her stomach churn just watching, Seo-hyun looked at Arashi, who had finally decided on her clothes, hoping there would be no problems.

“Hmm, hmm…! This one will be good!”

After wavering back and forth, the dress Arashi chose was one with an appropriate mix of red and black.

However, Arashi instantly put on the dress that was neither too flashy nor too plain, and additionally wrapped a perception-lowering mask and cloak around her face and body that she seemed to wear when going out.

Finally, Arashi, who picked up the folding fan she always carried, turned around and said:

“I’ve chosen my clothes, and I’ve thoroughly studied all the words and actions I should take for a first meeting to become friends. Shall we go then? Seo-hyun.”

“Those book contents are completely useless… Sigh, you’re not listening anyway. Then let’s depart, Ancestor.”

Seo-hyun tried to object to Arashi’s words but sighed at her appearance of not listening at all.

What on earth were those books she had been reading for days that she placed such infinite trust in them?

It really felt like her hands were already sweating from worry as there was no part that didn’t cause concern.

As Seo-hyun had never been this nervous even in gates where she had put her life on the line dozens of times, she vowed not to let go of even a little tension as she followed behind Arashi, and they began walking towards the General Management Team’s tower, which was the meeting place.

And because of that.

Seo-hyun couldn’t hear the vibration of her device ringing, which she had left behind.

[Hunter Ha Se-young of Team 1]

The phone that vibrated with a buzz and then cut off abruptly.

The call that a hunter had made as a final restraint was thus cut off in indifference.

---

After finishing all the talk about the school Neon would attend, and Yeon-ah had also gone to work a while ago.

To be precise, when the hour and minute hands pointed to 2:50.

In the utterly quiet stillness, I slowly opened my eyelids in the guest room where I was sitting at the sound of footsteps coming from far away.

The sound of two people’s footsteps, with the sounds of heels and dress shoes alternating.

Those footsteps gradually approached the guest room where I was, and right in front of the guest room door. As the two footsteps stopped, a knocking sound rang out.

Knock knock—

[Hello, Miss Shin-yeon. I’ve come to meet you, may I come in?]

“Of course. Come in quickly.”

A clear woman’s voice that I had heard once before.

And when I gave permission at her question, the guest room door opened and the appearance of the two standing outside came into view.

Creak—

The first to catch my eye was Seo-hyun in the suit I had seen earlier.

In Seo-hyun’s hands were a black cloak and white mask that seemed to belong to the girl beside her.

And as I turned my gaze to the side, a girl in a red and black dress entered my sight.

To describe her appearance in more detail, she was a girl with light pink hair tied back, similar height to me, with an alluring smile hidden behind a fan, truly beautiful without a trace of falsehood.

Could this girl be the ancestor who was in the carriage that day?

Although her appearance was quite different from what I had expected, at least she had the air of a girl containing a woman’s presence, so in some sense, it was a more fitting true appearance than my imagination.

“Hehe. Although we’ve met once before, a first meeting is still a first meeting… It’s nice to meet you, Miss Shin-yeon. I am Arashi, the ancestor of the Punishment Team and a ghoul yokai.”

“Nice to meet you. I can’t tell you my race, but I’m Shin-yeon, the ancestor of the General Management Team.”

And I grasped Arashi’s hand as she held it out while introducing herself like that.

The unfortunate point was that although I already knew Arashi’s race so she revealed it to me, I couldn’t reveal my race to her.

This was the one part that Yeon-ah had earnestly asked me not to do before leaving, so I had no choice but to commit this regrettable rudeness.

Pat—

Our hands grasp each other and a brief handshake is exchanged.

“Ooh… This is the hand of a free person…”

“…?”

Although Arashi’s action of massaging my hand a bit too much was somewhat strange, before I could say anything, Seo-hyun, who was standing outside the door, cleared her throat and drew our attention.

“Ahem! Then I’ll be waiting outside for a while. If there’s any problem, please call me.”

“Ah, yes! Please do so, Seo-hyun. Thank you for always working hard.”

And Arashi hurriedly let go of my hand as soon as she heard Seo-hyun’s cough and gave thanks to Seo-hyun.

At that somewhat clumsy-looking appearance, I felt like I could understand the meaning of Seo-hyun’s words earlier asking to take good care of her.

The reason she massaged my hand like that just now… I’m still not sure, but it must be a special handshake method of the ghoul race or something.

At least what was important now wasn’t such trivial details, so I first spoke to Arashi, who was still standing.

“Hmm… Then shall we sit down comfortably and talk?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Although I had met Arashi in the carriage before, as she said, this was the first time seeing her face.

As such, I gently started the conversation, intending to ask about her purpose for wanting to meet me after clearing the atmosphere a bit.

And as if she had found her pace, Arashi’s clumsy appearance from earlier was gone, and she took on the relaxed attitude of a queen that I had seen that day.

Arashi closed her fan with a snap and sat down across from me, fluttering her collar not too vigorously.

“It’s an honor to be able to arrange this meeting. So to repay your kindness, Miss Shin-yeon, I’ve prepared a small gift.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting.”

And having found her pace, Arashi naturally led the conversation as if she was very familiar with such first meetings.

Indeed, befitting her wearing such a dress and taking on the attitude of a queen, she brings up a conversation that would inspire goodwill and shows a smile.

Then, as if to take out the gift she mentioned, Arashi adjusted her grip on the fan she had been holding with difficulty.

But.

Rip—!

At Arashi’s next action, I had to correct my thoughts up until now.

“…Huh?”

“Here, would you accept my gift?”

As I looked at her with a question mark on my face asking what she was doing, Arashi handed me “her severed arm” with a beaming smile.

Then, I don’t know how she did it, but Arashi, who had regenerated her arm without shedding a single drop of blood despite being severed, pointed to her arm that she had given me and said:

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say myself, but not many have tasted my flesh. That’s because it’s such a delicacy that even a single finger goes for hundreds of gold coins. But please don’t hesitate to accept it. Hehe.”

“Umm…”

Until just now, I thought Arashi was a dignified queen, but…

This seemed to be a yokai with a screw loose in her head.

---

[The call cannot be connected. After the beep, you will be connected to voicemail…]

The out-of-office guidance sound rings out through the device.

And the moment she heard that sound, Ha Se-young put her tightly gripped device into her pocket and gritted her teeth.

“Alright… If Team Leader is going to be like this, I have no choice…”

She was planning to at least get permission before going to this hunter called Shin-yeon, but now she had no choice but to just go.

In fact, even if Seo-hyun had answered the phone, she was planning to go regardless of whether she got permission or not, but it was a choice that made a big difference to Se-young herself.

Anyway, since Seo-hyun didn’t answer the phone, now what Se-young herself had to do was find this Shin-yeon and take that ranking away in front of everyone’s proof through a fair duel.

“When there’s not much time left… That rotten bitch stole my S-rank promotion test like this?”

No matter how much protection she receives from the General Management Team, she wouldn’t be able to receive that precious protection in a fair duel between hunters.

And if such a stage is set, Se-young was confident she could beat Shin-yeon more miserably than anyone else.

“Really… I’ll have to tear off at least one limb.”

Who was she?

She was none other than Ha Se-young, the exclusive hunter of the Punishment Team, with the innate ability of ‘telekinesis’ and implanted with a ghoul gene mana stone with an 80% synchronization rate.

Unless she was facing the 6 S-rank hunters with an absurd wall between them, Se-young could be certain that she would not lose against an A-rank hunter.

“The S-ranks are just on a different level…”

Of course, she was also facing an S-rank promotion test, so she could be considered half S-rank, but there was a difference… quite a big difference from those who were born fitting for S-rank.

However, the opponent was clearly an A-rank hunter.

It was obvious that she was a nominal woman who had stolen 1st place with the backing of the General Management Team, so there was no worry.

“Let’s see just how great this bitch is.”

First, she’ll completely smash that face.

Just imagining it made her feel good, and Se-young let out a smile that seemed about to tear, and that smile echoed loudly at the entrance of the airport.

It was the moment when the former A-rank 1st hunter Se-young’s reputation was being chipped away.