Ch.117Past Connections Are Dangerous (4)

After finishing my call with Joseph and confirming all the aftermath of the battle captured on screen, I soon fell into deep contemplation.

‘…I think I’m right about this.’

At first I thought it might be my imagination, but once I started to get a feel for it, I soon became certain.

The owner of that sword technique was indeed someone I knew from Thebe.

‘How is this possible?’

It was a bewildering situation, but thinking about it, it wasn’t particularly impossible.

I too had Serejia in Thebe who helped me during dimensional travel, so it wouldn’t be difficult to do the same thing given the right conditions.

‘Then could it really be…?’

The intruders who attacked Russia and America were reportedly an unidentified duo.

If that was the case, then there was a high possibility that another person I knew was also here.

‘…Asti and Henesia?’

As I mentioned before, I didn’t have any official necromancy disciples, but there were those I took around and looked after for a certain period. They were Astride Luminion and Henesia Loben.

And if those two were the unidentified attackers, I could easily guess why they mentioned my name.

‘Obviously they’re looking for me.’

I thought they would be living well enough on their own, but this has become quite a troublesome situation.

Moreover, this makes things considerably complicated.

I’ve been maintaining that I have no connection to the attackers, but it turns out I actually do?

‘I wonder if they would recognize me as I am now?’

It would be easy to convince them if I showed them a few techniques, but that too is impossible right now.

It seemed best not to contact those two until my power returns.

“Master. Isn’t this situation more dangerous than we thought? It’s getting too big.”

“…I don’t know. If we can just hold out for 4 days, we’ll manage somehow.”

For now, the fact that I know those two is a secret from everyone, including those around me.

4 days.

I need to somehow endure for at least 4 days without causing friction with anyone.

I crawled back under the blankets on my bed, determined to stay cooped up at home without even going to the convenience store.

#

Bang!

“What on earth is going on?”

At this moment, the upper echelons of the American Hunter Association were absolutely furious.

They were already racking their brains over recent entanglements, and now their country’s S-rank hunters had been pulverized by mysterious attackers who appeared out of nowhere.

Three of them, no less.

“Does that even make sense? Has the standard for S-rank fallen to the ground without my knowledge? Someone explain.”

“Please calm down and reduce your agitation. This isn’t something to be thought of so simply.”

“What?”

Looking at Association President McKin who got caught up in the incident as soon as he returned, Vice President Joshua opened his mouth as if his head was aching.

“It’s truly hard to believe, but the enemy appears to possess remarkably excellent skills. The three S-rank hunters deployed this time were all experienced veterans. They’re not forces that would fall to inadequate opponents.”

“That’s why it doesn’t make sense! Where did such individuals come from?”

“I’m wondering about that too. At first I thought someone from the Seven Stars might be causing trouble, but that doesn’t seem to be the case either.”

“This is truly a headache.”

McKin shook his head and slumped down in his chair.

Recently, the criticism from the upper echelons over this matter has been no joke. But McKin had no choice but to be cautious.

Three S-rank hunters had been defeated—hastily attaching a pursuit team would only result in the same destruction.

“I suppose joining forces with Russia would be ideal. Is there any progress in the negotiations?”

“Russia is also firmly willing to cooperate. Korea has also offered to help track down the culprits.”

“What about the connection to that Baek Eunha fellow?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. Apart from his name being mentioned by the attackers, there doesn’t seem to be any connection. I heard that Baek Eunha himself has entered training and is refusing outside contact for the time being.”

“…I can’t make a judgment. Let’s hear what he has to say once we can contact him.”

“Yes. That seems best.”

America had been leading the world as a hunter superpower for many years, but recently they’ve been shaken in various ways.

So this time, they needed to resolve the situation as quickly and accurately as possible.

And to them came news that powerful reinforcement had been added.

Thud.

“You’re still here. I just received an urgent message.”

“William? What’s the matter?”

He was William Scott, who held an important position in the National Security Agency.

And if it was important news likely to be delivered from the Security Agency…

“Could it be that he…?”

“Just as you thought. We somehow managed to reach out and barely secured his willingness to cooperate.”

One of the Seven Stars and a first-generation hunter who had made a name for himself since the early days of the Day of Change.

Ryan Bristol, also known by the epithet “Thunder God,” had declared his involvement in the situation.

#

Whoosh!

Above the coastline where waves rippled all around, two women were flying through the air.

They were Astride and Henesia.

“Now I roughly understand how this planet is structured. In some ways it’s much more developed than Thebe, but the average combat ability of humans is lower.”

“…I’ll leave the course of action to you.”

“Well, I suppose so. Asti is weak at this kind of thing. If we use spells, we probably won’t be caught by the surveillance here anymore. Let’s quickly track down the teacher’s traces.”

As in Thebe, they were people called geniuses who transcended their era in their respective fields.

Among them, Henesia had already utilized her specialty to understand most of Earth’s systems, and in terms of knowledge, she had perfectly adapted.

“So, how were those S-rank hunters from earlier?”

“…They weren’t weak.”

“What a boring assessment. I guess opponents who can threaten you are rare indeed.”

Henesia could tell from watching nearby. Those S-rank hunters were certainly strong. They would probably have been talents who could hold their own position anywhere in Thebe.

However, with just that level, they couldn’t surpass the Astride before them.

Her sword was truly powerful and eerie.

In fact, it was difficult to find an appropriate comparison even in the long history of Thebe.

‘Of course, despite that, she’s still far inferior compared to the teacher…’

At the very least, both of them had grown much more than before. And they wanted to proudly show that growth to Baek Eunha.

“We’re approaching our destination, Korea. Let’s sneak in quietly without causing a commotion.”

“Okay. I’ll suppress my magical power.”

Whoosh.

Swish.

In an instant, the traces of magical power disappeared—even standing right next to her, one couldn’t sense her presence.

It was still spine-chilling magical control.

“You really are a monster.”

“…I just practiced so as not to shame the teacher.”

In their field of vision, land far away began to appear.

After checking the concealment spell they were using once more, Astride and Henesia gradually hid themselves above the clouds.

#

“…I’m bored.”

It was already the second day of being cooped up at home as I had resolved.

I rolled around on the sofa, constantly complaining.

There were still two days left until my power would return, but I couldn’t sit still as I was getting restless.

Since there hadn’t been any additional problems, I had relaxed a bit.

“Can’t I just go out?”

“Seoha will worry. He won’t be back until tomorrow because he’s entered an A-rank dungeon.”

“I have you. You can guard me.”

“Tsk. You said earlier that I wasn’t even skilled enough for that.”

Still, thanks to intensive training during the time my power was gone, Song Hayeon had become able to use more refined necromancy.

It was a bit unexpected, but honestly, I feel like she’s not far from S-rank now.

“You really do have talent. Seeing how well you grow with barely any guidance.”

“…That means you forgot about me for a while, right? No wonder you weren’t answering my calls.”

“You don’t understand. To grow properly, you need time alone.”

That was actually a lie. I was busy with other things recently, and ultimately, I just couldn’t be bothered.

Anyway, since Astride and Henesia were quieter than expected, and Song Hayeon had improved considerably, I didn’t think there would be any problems with going outside briefly.

I dragged Song Hayeon toward the entrance.

“Come with me. We’re going to the arcade.”

“…Well, I guess a short while would be fine.”

And I would come to regret that decision in just one minute.

Whoosh.

Ding.

Whirrrr.

On the first floor as the elevator doors opened, two women with somehow familiar faces were staring at me and Song Hayeon as we appeared.