Chapter 450: Saving Maid Eunbyul (1)

The black sedan carrying Sihee, Do Yehee, and me began heading south along the national highway before we knew it.

To travel to the location currently presumed to be where Geum Nari was taken.

“You said the sisters of the Geumhyang Group are in the mansion in Yecheon, right?”

“Yes, yes…”

Do Yehee nodded her head to my question from the back seat of the sedan. Unlike her usual habit of sitting relaxedly with her legs crossed, her voice, as she spoke to me, still carried a sense of anxiety. I wondered if she was perhaps needlessly anxious after I caught her making a mess of the yard right before we left home. If she had just restored it back to normal, I had no intention of saying anything about it. Anyway, what was important right now wasn’t Do Yehee, but Geum Nari.

To get her back, I put on a butler’s uniform and took my place in the passenger seat of the luxury sedan. Sihee, wearing a hat and sunglasses, was acting as the temporary driver. The experience of riding in a car driven by an active chaebol heiress… wasn’t exactly my first time. Eunbyul, or rather, Geum Nari, was also a maid and a chaebol heiress, considering who she was.

While I was having such pointless thoughts, Do Yehee started explaining about the two sisters of the Geumhyang Group from the back seat.

“W-well, dealing with Dallae might be one thing, but facing Jangmi directly will probably be a bit troublesome. F-first of all, both of them have awakened abilities specialized for use against people, not monsters.”

“I don’t really have an interest in other Hunters, so I don’t know what awakened abilities are, but what exactly are those two people’s awakened abilities?”

“It’s probably natural that you wouldn’t know, Sungchul-ssi. Their awakened abilities are quite dangerous, so except for a very small number of people, no one knows about them. All I know is what I heard through Nari.”

…Despite being for use against people rather than monsters, they are actually quite dangerous abilities. As a little anxiety bloomed in my chest, Do Yehee’s explanation continued from the back seat.

“A-as for Dallae, her ability is related to ‘memory erasure’.”

“Memory erasure…?”

“S-since we’re short on time, to put it simply…”

What came out of Do Yehee’s mouth was roughly this: Geum Dallae, the younger of the two sisters, has an awakened ability that erases a portion of the target person’s short-term memory. Although it’s an ability that erases only about an hour or two of memory at most, she claimed it could be used easily on any number of people within that timeframe. Of course, it wasn’t an ability that could be used freely on anyone, and it seemed to have a few restrictions.

“It-it doesn’t work well against high-ranking Hunters, but it can generally be used with a high probability on Hunters ranked C or lower. Against a vulnerable target, it can even be used sufficiently against opponents of a slightly higher rank. Perhaps the infiltration into the Dokyung Group’s mansion where Nari is must have been done using this method.”

“What does that mean?”

“D-difficult to infiltrate Dokyung’s residence without being detected, but it’s easy to erase the memory of being detected afterward.”

“…Aha.”

“W-well, normally, either I, Sihee, or our mother would have stayed behind at the mansion, so it would have been an impossible attempt… but it seems they set the date to coincide with my vacation.”

Was that what she meant when she said Nari’s disappearance seemed related to her vacation? Anyway, she was truly a person with a knack for confusing speech patterns.

“If it only works on C-rank or lower Hunters, then conversely, isn’t it an ability difficult to use on Geum Nari-ssi? As far as I remember, Geum Nari-ssi was a B-rank Hunter even three years ago.” And now, having broken through her stagnant growth through the few times she had sex with me, she must have grown much stronger. Although she couldn’t take the promotion assessment due to her current status, it would be more accurate to consider her actual skill level close to A-rank. In fact, when we hunted together in a party, she gave an impression close to that.

As soon as I naturally brought up the question that came to mind, Sihee, who was holding the steering wheel in the next seat, answered.

“…It was probably that woman, Geum Jangmi, who subdued Nari directly.”

“Huh?”

“That woman’s awakened ability is creating ‘phantom pain’, and there isn’t even a set rank limit for the target. That’s why she’s a dangerous woman.”

“…Is something like that possible?”

“Well, compared to the awakened ability you possess, Sungchul-ssi, it’s nothing. From what Nari told me, who experienced it directly, she said it’s a pain that feels quite vivid. To the point where it feels like one’s spirit is instantly broken.”

“Hmm…”

“Although I’ve never experienced it myself, if Nari’s words are true, it wouldn’t be strange that she was subdued.”

“Even if it’s Jangmi, could she have used that ability on you, Sihee? The moment she uses it, she would essentially make an enemy of the Dokyung Group. It’s essentially no different than declaring war.”

Put simply, is it painful enough to cause conflict even between corporations? It was an expression that clearly conveyed the meaning of an interpersonal awakened ability.

“O-of course, since it’s ‘phantom pain’, it won’t leave actual physical injuries or aftereffects, but still, it’s best to avoid direct confrontation as much as possible. B-because her method is to exploit the momentary weakness caused by the pain and aim for an opening.”

“…A company operated by sisters who use such dangerous abilities, is it possible for it to run properly in modern society?”

“A-after subduing them and extracting everything they want, they just erase the memory with Dallae’s ability, and that’s that. W-when their mental strength is momentarily weakened, Dallae’s memory erasure tends to work well too.”

“In fact, maintaining secrecy is probably done this way too. I had no idea until Nari told me directly.”

…In other words, it means they’ve been running the group using their combined abilities in a rather unethical way until now. After learning about their awakened abilities and how they handle them, I somehow felt like I understood why Nari ran away from that family. Firstly, since the company itself wasn’t operated in such an unethical manner, it wouldn’t have suited Geum Nari’s personality. And unlike Geum Jangmi and Geum Dallae, who needed each other’s help, Geum Nari’s awakened ability felt a bit out of place. If Geum Nari had stayed in that family, she probably would have been used in some way or another. Considering they actually stormed the Dokyung Group’s mansion to attempt a kidnapping, it was practically an undeniable fact.

“Then, if confronting those two isn’t an option, how do you plan to rescue Geum Nari?”

“Th-that, I don’t know either.”

“What…?”

“Wh-what I can do is only to make it easier for Sihee and Ki, Kim Sungchul-ssi to move. W-well, you’ll have to figure out the detailed method yourselves.”

“To say something so irresponsible after coming all this way…”

“P-please calm down, Kim Sungchul-ssi. S-still, I’ll definitely take care of the women who are likely to be the most problematic.”

Along with those words, Do Yehee abruptly made a call to somewhere. Although the voice on the other end wasn’t clear, I could infer the general content of the call just from what Do Yehee was saying.

“…Dallae. Are you doing well these days?”

「…….」

“Yes. It’s nothing else, but I happened to have business near your mansion, so I stopped by briefly. Mm-hmm…”

「…….」

“I have something to tell you and Jangmi regarding information about Nari. I was wondering if you might have time?”

「…….」

“Hmm, is that so? Then I should take it to mean you’re ignoring my effort in coming all the way down to Yecheon and refusing to talk?”

「……! …….」

“…Yes, yes. You should have responded like that sooner.”

Do Yehee maintained her arrogant poker face while chatting about this and that with the person on the other end. From what I could gather, it seemed she was aiming to talk with the Geumhyang sisters, Geum Dallae and Geum Jangmi. After finishing the rather tense call, she put down her smartphone and spoke to me and Sihee.

“W-with this, I should be able to keep Jangmi and Dallae occupied somehow. Of course, since the two girls already have Nari secured, the time I can buy with my false information is about an hour at most.”

“Conversely, that means we have to finish everything within an hour.”

“Finding out where Nari is detained in the large mansion, rescuing her, and escaping – all within an hour.”

“…That won’t be easy.”

“Wh-what I can do is only up to this point. The rest is the task that Sihee and Kim Sungchul-ssi must handle. Sihee, since your eyesight is good, it would be best for you to search the mansion’s outskirts, and Ki, Kim Sungchul-ssi…”

“…You will go into the mansion with me.”

Do Yehee insisted, with a serious expression, that I must go into the mansion with her. Coming this far, I could roughly grasp the intended use of the clothes I was wearing. An answer came back from Do Yehee that was almost exactly as I had expected.

“Well, although it’ll be brief, you’ll have to play the role of my butler. There’s no better way for us to enter the mansion together.”

“So it’s going to be like that, as expected.”

“W-well, unlike Sihee, the two sisters don’t know your face yet, and you can also use an artifact to obscure your appearance. Th-there’s probably no one better than you to help avoid Geumhyang’s pursuit.”

“That makes sense.”

“…A-and from now on, since you’ll be acting as my butler, please try to speak politely, if possible. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t use a casual tone, and when you address me, please use the title ‘Do Yehee-nim’.”

…Well, I had expected things would turn out this way from the moment I heard I had to act as a butler. Although I didn’t particularly like having to use honorifics towards Do Yehee, I could fully understand that it was necessary. And, although only slightly, I was beginning to think more favorably of this woman than I had earlier.

“Understood, Do Yehee-nim.”

“Yes, do that. If those sisters get suspicious, both you and I will be in quite a difficult position.”

“…Yes.”

As soon as I lowered my tone, she reverted from the woman who had been cautiously watching me until just moments ago back to the arrogant chaebol heiress, Do Yehee. Truly, in many ways, she remained an unpredictable person.