Transfer Student Neon(4)

Gulp gulp—

On the rooftop of a building with the entrance door blocked.

Ryoka tilts the soju bottle she’s holding vertically to her mouth. Then the alcohol-filled drink goes down her throat heartily.

“Pahah…!!”

Although it was a bottle she had just opened, Ryoka downed it in one gulp and let out an exclamation full of alcohol smell.

Her body wasn’t drunk at all yet, but still, as the alcohol went in, she couldn’t help but smile.

Then, amidst that smile, Ryoka took out a new bottle of alcohol from the bag and started opening it while asking Yun-ah through the device placed beside her.

“Hey, it’s nice to drink alcohol and look down at the city like this, but… can’t we just flip over that school and take her away?”

Of course, she was grateful to Yun-ah for finding out that the Ancestor of the General Management Team was a goblin, and for finding this girl named Neon who that Ancestor seemed to cherish.

But honestly, apart from that, just waiting like this wasn’t to Ryoka’s taste.

Ryoka’s preference would be to charge in without thinking and handle everything with brute force.

She had been doing that since her previous world, and continued to do so after coming to this world, so the current situation was truly frustrating for Ryoka.

Gulp—

“Well, they say the Korean defense city is well-systematized, but in the end, they’re all weak, aren’t they? So can’t we just break in with force and then roughly take out that Neon or whatever her name is?”

Ryoka takes a sip of the newly opened alcohol and complains like this, frustrated with the waiting.

However, to Ryoka’s complaints, Yun-ah showed an apologetic expression but gave a negative answer.

[Of course, I’m not unaware of your strength, Lady Ryoka, who rules the second village, but if possible, you would need to capture Neon within 5 minutes and come straight to my hideout. Right now, Team Leader Ahn Seo-hyun is passing by in the vicinity, and if she joins in, the fight will inevitably be prolonged.]

“Ahn Seo-hyun? Why is she around here?”

[Um… it seems she came here briefly on an errand for the Ancestor.]

“Hmm… Ahn Seo-hyun, huh. Certainly, if she joins in, 5 minutes is absolutely impossible. And she’s not someone I want to fight either.”

At Yun-ah’s words that Seo-hyun might join in, Ryoka nodded her head, understanding the reason why she had to wait.

Ryoka had only seen Seo-hyun fight once in the past, but with just that one time, Seo-hyun had long been demoted in Ryoka’s mind to someone not worth fighting for fun.

She was strong, and her battle sense was excellent, but the essence of Seo-hyun’s fighting was self-consumption based on her quasi-immortal vitality.

For Ryoka, who sought the joy of fighting by clashing everything she had against her opponent within a finite life, Seo-hyun, who couldn’t satisfy such satisfaction, was nothing but a troublesome opponent.

Therefore, deciding that she should just drink more alcohol until Seo-hyun left the area, Ryoka praised Yun-ah’s innate ability, which was incredibly convenient even upon reconsideration.

“By the way, Yun-ah, your ability is convenient no matter how many times I see it. What was it called again… sharing something?”

[‘Sense Sharing’. As long as it’s not around someone with too strong mana, I can move my gaze to anything, so it’s certainly a useful ability for reconnaissance.]

Yun-ah’s innate ability, Sense Sharing.

In terms of the ability alone, it was similar to the Wind Eyes used by Lee Seol of the General Management Team.

However, while Seol’s Wind Eyes moved her vision to the wind itself, Yun-ah’s Sense Sharing was an ability to move her vision to objects.

Up to this point, it seemed like an ability that wouldn’t lose even to Seol’s ability, but unfortunately, Yun-ah’s Sense Sharing had a chronic problem.

That was that it couldn’t be used in the presence of a certain amount of mana or more.

Because of this, Yun-ah’s Sense Sharing didn’t work on objects made of high-purity mana alloys or things around people at the level of A-rank hunters.

Therefore, while its versatility fell far short of Seol’s Wind Eyes, Yun-ah’s Sense Sharing was still a sufficiently excellent reconnaissance-specialized ability.

Thanks to that, she had been able to find out the hidden secrets of the General Management Team and even Neon’s location, so it couldn’t be said that it wasn’t truly useful.

Gulp gulp—

After uttering what she considered praise, Ryoka took another long swig of the alcohol she was holding.

In an instant, more than half of the remaining alcohol was sucked down Ryoka’s throat, and Ryoka threw the emptied bottle behind her.

“Phew… Then tell me as soon as that person leaves. I’ll go in right away and bring her out.”

[Yes, it won’t take too long.]

Yun-ah asserted that the time would come before Ryoka finished all the alcohol she had brought, at the very least.

And hearing Yun-ah’s assertion, Ryoka once again took out a new bottle of alcohol from the bag and started opening it.

“There’s not much left now.”

Including the one she just took out, there were a total of ten bottles left.

Thinking even this newly opened alcohol was a bit of a waste, Ryoka looked at Neon visible through the window far away.

“I wonder if that kid is a bit strong too…?”

It would be boring if she just went down with one punch, so I hope there’s at least a bit of a fight to enjoy.

Even if it’s a fight that can only be enjoyed for a few minutes, wouldn’t it be good if it could be used as a warm-up?

Muttering such hopes, Ryoka put the newly opened bottle of alcohol to her mouth.

---

She successfully finished her self-introduction.

‘Phew, phew…’

It might sound like nothing special at first glance, but Neon barely calmed her pounding heart with deep breaths at the fact that she had said everything she had thought of without a single mistake.

And as her heart calmed down, she began to feel an excited mind.

Neon inwardly smiled at the emotions in that mind and looked at the classroom scene unfolding before her eyes.

‘This is a real school…!’

Just like she had heard on the radio, children her age were neatly seated in chairs in front of desks, all wearing the same outfit.

Seeing this classroom scene, Neon couldn’t hide her emotional heart, feeling that the ordinary life she had longed for had really become a reality.

“Alright, everyone heard Neon’s self-introduction, right? Well, you’re all high school students now, and aspiring hunters, so I don’t think this will happen, but don’t cause any unnecessary problems. Everyone answer.”

“””Yes.”””

“Then Neon, you see that seat by the window in the very back? That seat is empty now, so use that seat for now.”

“Ah, yes!”

The rightmost seat when viewed from the podium.

It was a window seat, so it got good sunlight and had a view of the entire classroom. Neon brightened up and immediately walked to the seat Sung-hwan had pointed out.

Then Neon put down the bag she had been carrying on the desk, carefully pulled out the chair, and sat down.

Thump thump thump—

And pathetically enough, as soon as she sat in the chair, Neon bit her lip slightly at her heart pounding again.

‘Stop beating so hard…!’

She had already been moved by everything there was to be moved by and excited by everything there was to be excited by, so why was her heart pounding again?

In fact, since it was her own body and emotions, she knew the reason clearly, but Neon forcefully muttered like that.

And as she sat there like that, gazes occasionally directed at Neon from around her.

Those gazes looking at her awkwardly, as if proving that Neon herself had not yet blended in here, made Neon clench her fists and recall the resolution she had made over and over again.

‘I must blend in as an ordinary student…!’

Because that was for Shin-yeon, who had pulled her out of the slums, and for Neon herself, who had not given up on her dream, however faintly.

Neon fiercely rekindled the passion that had momentarily diminished.

---

Clank clank—!

“Move carefully, carefully!”

“Wait there for a moment! If you haven’t had the implant surgery, don’t touch the weapons carelessly! You’ll faint as soon as you touch them!”

“Be careful not to cause any malfunctions! Each of these is more expensive than your arms and necks!”

The goblin warehouse in Mount Seorak, reopened by me and Hwa-gon, was in a chaotic state with numerous workers brought by Yeon-ah.

Workers each packing gold and silver treasures or weapons and loading them onto cargo flagships.

To see if anyone was trying to steal anything in the process, I was watching the workers from atop a pillar inside the warehouse with Yeon-ah, but was this the result of Yeon-ah’s careful selection?

The workers were all quietly doing their jobs without showing even a bit of greed.

Naturally, an exclamation of admiration burst from my mouth at this amazing sight.

“Wow… This is incredible. In the old days, if humans were brought into a goblin warehouse, they would all have tried to take even one more piece of gold.”

『Even though they have a guaranteed contract fee as workers, to not show greed in front of such treasures… It’s certainly impressive.』

“Fufu, they’re all from reliable personnel agencies among the contract offices under the General Management Team, so you don’t need to worry at all.”

Yeon-ah answered like that to the admiring words of me and Hwa-gon, and I couldn’t help but agree with those words.

The scene right before our eyes was showing exactly what she said, so what was there to worry about?

Therefore, realizing that there was no need to monitor any further, I lay down on the pillar where I had been standing.

“Roughly guessing, will it be done in three or four hours?”

“If we hurry a bit more, we could finish in two hours.”

“No need, rushing will only lead to mistakes. Tell them to take it slow.”

Originally, even if it took five hours, it would be enough time to return, so what was the hurry?

Since there would already be plenty of time left even if it was finished in three or four hours, I waved my hand at Yeon-ah who was asking if we should hurry.

And in the situation where I had a few hours of spare time, I slowly closed my eyes and relaxed my body comfortably.

“Hmm… I wonder if that Neon kid is doing well.”

“I’ve asked Seol to keep an eye on her for today, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“I guess so?”

Yeon-ah answers me again that there’s no need to worry particularly.

I too, although I brought it up, put aside unnecessary thoughts about Neon, who I wasn’t really worried about.

Now that Neon had become almost completely trustworthy, where was there any need for me to worry?

Therefore, instead of thinking about this, I thought I might as well take a nap and slowly let my consciousness sink into sleep beyond my closed eyes.

Click–.

If only the stone mask at my waist hadn’t suddenly twitched.