Ch.26The Saint and the Unexpected Encounter

Monday morning.

It was going to be a day without much to do, except for the VIP customer who would be coming around lunchtime.

Kang Seona got up from her chair, stretched, and checked the time.

“8:40…”

The two kids should be at school by now.

Scratching her head vigorously, she headed to the kitchen first.

Wondering what they had for breakfast before leaving, she found a few slices of ham and fried eggs sitting on a frying pan in the kitchen.

“Aila. Come eat!”

Kang Seona called out for Aila in a loud voice.

But there was no response.

“Aila?”

Kang Seona looked around everywhere.

True to her claim that she could sleep anywhere, Aila slept in a different place each time.

Right next to the door, beside the toilet, under the kitchen table… Aila could sleep just fine in places that hardly seemed suitable for humans to sleep in.

That’s why, to wake up Aila, one had to search all over the place.

“…Did she go out?”

After thoroughly checking every room, there was no sign of Aila.

If she had been awake, she would have come when called for breakfast earlier, so she must have gone outside.

For whatever reason.

Kang Seona made a simple breakfast by mixing eggs, ham, soy sauce, and sesame oil with rice, and then washed up.

Normally she wouldn’t wash so thoroughly, but today was a special day, so she cleaned herself meticulously.

After washing, cleaning, and before she knew it, the time was approaching 10 o’clock.

“Where has she been for over two hours?”

Aila still hadn’t returned.

She wasn’t the type to get into trouble, but Aila was quite naive about the ways of the world.

Just as Seona started to worry that she might be getting scammed somewhere—

“Ms. Seona? You’re awake?”

“Where have you been until now?”

Click, the door opened.

Aila came in with a smiling face.

She usually had a smiling expression, but her smile now was even brighter.

Did something good happen?

Kang Seona asked briefly.

“Breakfast?”

“I’m fine.”

“We have a very~ important customer coming today, so we’ll be having lunch late, okay? Can you handle it?”

“Going hungry for a day is no problem. I’ve gone without food for a week before, so…”

Kang Seona looked at Aila.

How could she possibly believe that.

With that appetite of hers, saying such things…

“So, why are you grinning like that? Did something good happen?”

Hearing Kang Seona’s question, Aila grinned and pulled something out of her pocket, holding it up in front of Seona’s eyes.

“Huh? What’s this…?”

To see what was suddenly thrust before her eyes, Kang Seona squinted to focus.

“A registration card? Why suddenly…?”

What was in front of Kang Seona’s eyes was Aila’s hunter registration card.

“Huh?”

But something was different.

The alphabet letter next to the name was different somehow.

If Kang Seona’s memory served her right, Aila’s rank was C.

The registration card should have said C-rank.

But the alphabet letter on Aila’s registration card now was.

“…A?”

“Hehe, what do you think? I told you I could do it on my own.”

“…Fuck, am I not fully awake yet?”

Kang Seona denied reality.

“Hey, forging registration cards is a serious crime… Quickly turn yourself—”

“I’m sorry, but this was obtained through legal procedures.”

“That’s impossible.”

Kang Seona snatched Aila’s registration card.

She rubbed the alphabet part with her clothes and gently scratched it with her fingernail.

But the ‘A’ showed no change whatsoever.

“…How did you do this?”

“I looked up some methods online yesterday.”

“Online?”

Ah, so that’s what she was searching for when she locked herself in the room for four hours yesterday?

Aila continued.

“I looked into various methods, but there were too many things needed to raise the rank directly.”

“That’s right.”

This was something Kang Seona already knew.

Knowing this, she had let Aila do as she pleased.

“So I was thinking about it… The Hunter Association manages rank promotions, right?”

“…Yes?”

Something felt unsettling.

When conversations dragged on like this, it usually meant something strange was coming.

“So I asked them. If they could raise my rank. And they did it.”

“…What?”

It didn’t make sense.

There were missing steps in between.

“I don’t think they’d just raise it because you asked.”

“But they did.”

“No, how did you…?”

“I asked someone I know. Fortunately, they granted my request.”

“Someone you know?”

Who could Aila possibly know at the Association?

No matter how hard she tried to think, nothing came to mind.

“The internet is really amazing, isn’t it? I didn’t have a way to contact them, but when I searched, their phone number came up—”

“Wait, phone number?”

“…Yes. Everything came up when I searched.”

Spreading personal information on the internet…?

“Who did you call?”

“Your friend, Ms. Seona.”

“My friend?”

Friend?

Do I have a friend who’s met Aila?

To begin with, anyone I could call a friend has been dead for a long time.

Kang Seona tilted her head in confusion.

Friend, friend…

It was a word from a very distant past for her.

Kang Seona continued to ponder.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t recall any friend who would have met Aila.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Changing her approach, Kang Seona realized she should be looking for someone she had introduced to Aila as a friend, not a friend who might know Aila.

‘Who have I introduced to Aila as my friend?’

Kang Seona searched her memory.

Someone Aila had met recently.

Someone she had introduced as a friend.

‘You’re my friend. A friend. That’s what I think.’

A chill ran down her spine.

There was exactly one person who fit all the criteria.

“Hey, no way… it can’t be?”

“Yes?”

“Who did you call? Tell me.”

Aila looked at Kang Seona for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.

“Mr. Seongho.”

Kang Seona slapped her forehead with her palm.

***

“Chairman, what on earth were you thinking when you allowed such an outrageous act?”

“……”

On the top floor of the Hunter Association, a man sat in a chair.

“You know very well that the other executives already see you as a thorn in their side. So why take such a risky action…?”

“I had no choice.”

The man called the Chairman gave a short answer to the woman who was firing questions at him.

“Was everything handled properly?”

“Yes, yes. It was all taken care of. Promotion from C-rank to A-rank without any evaluation. Do you know rumors are already spreading?”

“I can guess what kind of rumors… but what are they saying?”

“It’s mean to ask when you already know. You know, right? That she’s your hidden child, your lover… all those kinds of rumors, along with relatively mild ones like she has leverage over you, or she saved your life—all sorts of rumors are circulating.”

“Tsk, idiots….”

Watching Chairman Seongho click his tongue at her words, his secretary Yang Hayoung sighed.

“…Then let me ask just one thing. Who is that woman? Why did you grant such a request?”

“…I thought it was better to clear the debt this way than to make an enemy by refusing.”

Seongho said calmly.

“And A-rank was her appropriate rank from the beginning. Some crazy woman insisted on making it C-rank, so that’s what it was. Things have just returned to normal.”

“…Hah, I understand. You must have had your reasons. But I hope I don’t suffer any consequences because of this.”

I’ll be going now.

With those final words, Yang Hayoung left the room.

Alone in the room, Seongho recalled their earlier conversation.

A request to raise her rank as high as possible, with the condition that he could ask for one favor in return.

Since there was nothing to lose either way, he had readily agreed.

“Well, since someone volunteered to handle the aftermath… if any problems arise, that ruffian will take care of it.”

***

“This is insane….”

After hearing Aila’s explanation, Kang Seona clutched her head.

She had hoped it wasn’t true, but she really made a deal with that bastard?

“What were the conditions?”

“That would be a breach of contract. I’m sorry.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

Kang Seona realized her thinking had been too shallow.

Aila wasn’t stupid.

She just lacked common sense.

While she might be naive about the modern world, that was limited to contemporary society.

When it came to relationships between individuals and organizations, negotiations, deals, and other psychological and institutional aspects of human interaction, she could handle them skillfully.

From the circumstances, it seemed she had already planned everything out yesterday evening.

“Since I handled it myself, there’s no problem, right?”

“You little—”

Knock knock.

Just as Kang Seona was about to curse, there was a knock at the door.

“A customer’s here, so let’s talk later.”

“Ah, yes.”

Kang Seona sat on the sofa and gestured to Aila, who was standing blankly.

“You should open the door.”

“…Yes.”

Aila opened the door.

“What’s this, why are you opening it only now— Who are you? I haven’t seen you before.”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

The moment her eyes met with the customer outside the door, Aila froze.