Ch.89Heart’s Racing!

# There was a brief commotion at the airport, but thanks to Princess Kurumi, everything was resolved well.

Princess Sakura, who had sensed the mature princess’s killing intent, immediately distanced herself from me.

Afterward, she looked like she had many things she wanted to say, but in the end, she squeezed her eyes shut and fled the airport ahead of us.

“Don’t you think that was a bit too harsh?”

“Not at all! It actually felt quite refreshing!”

Princess Kurumi answered my question firmly as we sat facing each other inside the limousine.

I could clearly see the fire still burning in her eyes, indicating her anger hadn’t fully subsided.

“By the way, Mr. Lorensky, what’s with the sudden mask?”

“Well, I’m quite a famous figure worldwide. I thought it best to conceal my identity to avoid unnecessary attention.”

That makes sense. After all, Mr. Lorensky’s purpose was escort duty, not combat.

I thought it was actually a good decision on his part.

In this somewhat relaxed atmosphere, we finally arrived at the Kitsune Family estate.

Looking through the limousine window, I realized how different reality was from game graphics.

“Wow…!”

“This is basically a modernized version of a Japanese Sengoku-era castle…”

According to the lore, each of the World’s 10 Great Families valued their national traditions and built their territories with architectural elements characteristic of their respective countries.

But I never expected it to be this impressive.

Before our eyes stood a majestic castle that looked like two Osaka Castles combined—something straight out of a Japanese historical drama.

“That castle you see is known as Kitsune Castle, which also serves as our family symbol. It’s famous for having stood unbroken for 2,000 years.”

“I’d like to take a photo in front of it later.”

“Me too…”

In the original “Hunter’s Blood,” the Kitsune Family territory was a place you could only enter as a mere ‘visitor’ after completing various challenges like raising your hunter reputation in Japan and family favorability.

“Welcome, Princess Kurumi.”

But as soon as we stepped out of the limousine, I was stunned to see estate servants lined up on both sides of a red carpet, treating us with extreme hospitality.

As we walked about halfway down the red carpet under this almost burdensome kindness, following Princess Kurumi…

“You’ve arrived, Kurumi.”

“Brother Katsuo?”

Wow, I had to put in a good 100 hours of gameplay just to meet you.

Maybe it’s because of the sister buff?

Kitsune Katsuo stood at the front gate as if he had been waiting for us.

A man with blue hair and a cold, expressionless face.

Being the protagonist of the Japanese storyline, his was a face I couldn’t forget even after all this time.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“For me?”

“Yes. A party has been prepared to celebrate your return from Korea tonight. Please attend with the escorts you brought with you.”

“…Yes, I understand…”

Princess Kurumi gave a suspicious look to the heir apparent who had prepared a party just for her.

Anyway, he said he’d see us again this evening.

We were about to pass by Katsuo, who was stepping aside like an NPC…

“Wait.”

I was trying to quickly get to the separate palace where Princess Kurumi usually stayed, but—

Grab.

“?!”

“Brother?”

This side effect of being a Kaijufication Hunter is really something.

First Princess Sakura at the airport, and now Mr. Katsuo has grabbed me.

“Brother, Shinwoo is my acquaintance. I cannot allow you to handle him roughly, even if you are my brother!”

“Shinwoo…? I see. So you’re Han Shinwoo.”

“Yes, what about it…?”

Princess Kurumi glared at him with a murderous expression like she did at the airport, but as expected of the recognized heir of the Kitsune Family.

He paid no attention to her killing intent, as if he had anticipated it, and continued to stare at me.

Then.

Swish.

He let go of me and…

“Would you shake hands with me?”

“…What?”

“Huh?”

“…!!”

Katsuo extended his hand to me, seemingly indifferent to the reactions of the dozens of servants waiting around us.

“You want to shake hands…?”

“That’s right.”

What on earth is going on?

This was definitely not an event in the original game.

The future head of the Kitsune Family, who extremely avoided physical contact with people, was openly asking to shake hands with an ordinary person like me.

Everyone around us looked as shocked as I was, including Princess Kurumi.

But there was no reason to refuse.

“It would be my honor, Mr. Katsuo.”

“Mm!”

I took his outstretched hand and shook it a few times.

“Mr. Katsuo…?”

“Oh, was my form of address inappropriate?”

“…No. I actually prefer it. I was getting tired of being called ‘young master’ or ‘heir apparent’ all the time.”

After releasing his hand, I was surprised once again by what I saw next.

Because Mr. Katsuo was clearly smiling.

“The heir apparent…”

“Is smiling…?”

A man who was said to have never smiled once since birth.

That was the Kitsune Katsuo I knew from “Hunter’s Blood.”

“Perhaps… perhaps if I had met someone like you a little sooner, I might have…”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll see you again this evening.”

He muttered something more, but before I could make it out, he turned his back on us.

Though I wondered what that was all about, we proceeded to the separate palace where Princess Kurumi usually lived to unpack our luggage.

***

“How was it, son? The first-class flight your mother arranged for you? Fun, wasn’t it?”

“Yes! You’re the best, Mother! I’ll never forget it!”

“Sister, sister! I had fun too!”

“Hehe, even Lia… See! Only good things happen when I come along!”

Meanwhile, around lunchtime after Shinwoo had left Osaka Airport.

Sophia and her group, disguised as travelers to pursue Shinwoo’s party, had also safely arrived at the airport.

“So where do we go now? Even if everyone here is a professional hunter-level expert, secretly infiltrating the territory of one of the 10 Great Families is practically suicide.”

Riverine coldly inquired about their current mission while watching the three family members laughing together.

But as if he had already anticipated this…

“Yes, you’re right. That’s why I never planned to enter secretly in the first place.”

“Never planned to…?”

Han Jaewon answered with a smirk.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning a frontal assault…?”

“If it were about fighting, sure. But we need to infiltrate the Kitsune Family secretly, don’t we?”

While driving the rental car to the Kitsune Family territory, Han Jaewon began explaining his strategy based on future knowledge.

“According to Japanese Kitsune Family records, the family, which consists entirely of Beast Hunters, has a culture of frequently changing their servants.”

“They frequently changed servants?”

“Yes, Mother. As a Beast Hunter yourself, you know that all Beast Hunters have misanthropy, right?”

The direct descendants of the Kitsune Family had this trait overwhelmingly stronger than other Beast Hunters.

Because of this, they couldn’t stand seeing the same humans repeatedly and had a habit of personally changing their servants often.

“…That’s why the Kitsune Family territory has a notice saying they’re hiring servants 365 days a year.”

“I see… So we’ll enter as servants to monitor Shinwoo!”

“Exactly, Mother. Plus, we’re all professional hunter-level experts. The servant interview should be a piece of cake, right?”

“That’s right! So smart! That’s my son!”

“Uuugh…! I lost…”

The mother patted her son’s head while driving.

Her daughter puffed out her cheeks watching her mom.

‘They really look like they’re on vacation…’

Riverine felt somewhat uneasy about the complete lack of tension in their mission approach, but…

‘Still, the plan is theoretically perfect.’

If they could just infiltrate the family as servants, the rest would be like putting a cat in a fish warehouse.

Compared to hunter work, servant duties like cleaning the house would be truly easy, so this mission felt more like a vacation.

“Both of you fail!”

“…Excuse me?”

“What?”

Han Jaewon and Riverine, who had been imagining only good outcomes, faced harsh reality a few hours later.

“F-fail…?”

“Us?! Why?”

“Why? The woman tried to perform alchemy instead of cooking when I asked her to! And the man keeps destroying the floor instead of sweeping it! How am I supposed to use either of you?!”

“Damn…”

“How could this be…”

The two were exhausted from servant work(?) that turned out to be harder than hunter duties.

Meanwhile, behind these two…

“Sister, you’re really good at cooking!”

“Hehe. Of course. Do you know how many bride lessons I’ve taken because of Shinwoo? I’ve mastered all the nighttime skills that children shouldn’t know about.”

Sophia and Lia had been immediately hired as servants.

Lia could have been exposed as a monster due to her relatively young age and white skin, but…

“A-actually, my sister has terminal leukemia… I came here to earn money for her. Could you please help us?”

“I’m… good at cleaning and such… Please hire me…”

“Sob! To think there are such children in this day and age…! Alright, both of you are hired!”

They succeeded in getting hired through the miraculous “we’re pitiful” gaslighting.

Lia was disguised as a child with leukemia, which worked because she was a humanoid monster.

Plus, both of them possessed feminine qualities optimized for household chores.

“Sister, I wonder if it’s okay that only the two of us got in?”

“Hmm… that does worry me a bit. But we can ask Jaewon about it separately this evening.”

Anyway, we succeeded in getting hired!

The two were happily making onigiri in the large kitchen, preparing for the evening party.

Just then.

“The new servants entering my household are here?”

“Y-yes! That’s right, young master. But for a master to personally come see mere servants, this is absolutely unacceptable…”

“Quiet, nanny. What era do you think we’re in? Besides, these people will be serving me from now on. It’s only natural for the master to come see their faces.”

The noisy kitchen fell silent as everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads.

And passing by the servants who were greeting him, the figure approached Sophia’s back as she was making onigiri with Lia, completely unaware.

“Are you the new servant who will be serving me?”

“…Huh?”

“?!!!?!?!?!?!!?”

Sophia finally noticed the quiet atmosphere around her and turned around.

And as her sapphire eyes met those of Rokyu, the second child of the Kitsune Family…

Thump-thump-thump-!

For the first time in his 25 years of life…

‘…How can a person be so beautiful?’

He was experiencing what felt like “love” for the very first time.