𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐: 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞
“HSIU. . .?”
Volk was puzzled.
Of course, it was HSIU’s jurisdiction to investigate and apprehend Awakened criminals.
However, apprehending and confronting violent criminals was mostly done through guild contracts.
Recently, there had been a trend of ‘private detective’ guilds that targeted Awakened criminals, rather than monsters.
There was a reason for this.
HSIU didn’t have many skilled Hunters.
Volk himself had been apprehended by HSIU through a guild, so he had good reason to be surprised.
“Instead of a large guild, HSIU sent an escort guard? And only one at that?”
“Uh-huh.”
A short, curt reply, as if he was annoyed.
Volk scoffed at the guard sitting across from him.
When was the last time someone treated him with such disdain?
The people he had killed in prison hadn’t ignored him because they were weak.
Rather, they had been challengers of sorts, eager to take on the name ‘Gray Wolf’.
“Don’t you know who I am?”
“A punk who thinks he’s hot shit.”
Volk wasn’t really a criminal known to the public.
Even among Hunters, only those in the underworld or in investigative agencies knew about him, because he was a special type of criminal.
“Ha. . . Damn it, I’m going crazy. Now even some nobody is looking down on me.”
Volk leaned back in his chair and clicked his tongue.
He had been insulted by someone who wasn’t even a large guild’s fighter, but a nobody from HSIU.
If it had been someone like Hwang Jeong-gu, Seong Chang-won, Gong Gil, or Ku Hyo-min, the Named-rank Hunters of HSIU, he might have understood.
“How long have you been with the agency?”
“Umm. A few months?”
“. . . A newbie?”
“Uh-huh.”
Now he understood how things were.
Volk looked out the small side window.
The car had left the city center and was heading to a more remote area.
From Incheon Prison to Gangwon-do Prison.
‘𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨.’
Sometimes orders from higher-ups could be this unkind.
Why would they send an inexperienced kid as a guard, of all things?
“They’ve only added another annoying variable.”
“. . . . . . .”
“Aren’t you curious who your prisoner is?”
“Uh-huh.”
The Hunter from HSIU glared at Volk with annoyance.
Volk was speechless, because it was obvious that he was telling him to shut up.
‘𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙃𝙎𝙄𝙐?’
Even if his abilities were sealed, he was in a situation where he was alone with a criminal who had killed countless people.
A normal Hunter would have been on high alert, preparing for an ambush.
“Do you know why I was imprisoned? Why I’m being transferred?”
“No, you little shit.”
He was really starting to get on Volk’s nerves.
Volk thought he was a punk, but the guy sitting across from him was even worse.
“What the hell, are you a government agent who doesn’t even do basic research before going out on a job?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t you even have a file or some documents? Don’t you know who I am? I’m Volk! Volk! Gray Wolf!”
“I don’t know. You’re an idiot.”
“This damn bastard. . . .”
That was when it happened.
A sharp cracking sound came from somewhere, and a flash of light erupted outside the window.
Swoosh-BOOM!!
The escort vehicle lurched violently, its back wheels lifting into the air.
It seemed like a huge impact had hit the front.
An enormous pressure shook the interior, and the car shot up into the air like a roller coaster.
Volk instinctively grabbed the car’s handles.
At the same time, he kicked the HSIU guard sitting across from him in the temple.
In a moment shorter than a split second, Volk could feel the impact of his kick on his toes.
BOOM!!
The escort vehicle, which had shot up a dozen meters into the air, crashed from the ceiling to the floor.
Broken debris and shattered glass flew everywhere.
Volk kicked open the half-crumpled back door.
Even though he had been mentally prepared, his whole body ached.
He wiped the blood from his forehead and cursed.
“Damn it, you crazy old man! Do you have to try to kill me, too?”
“Heh heh. It would be a shame for the great Gray Wolf to be defeated by something like this.”
An old man in a black robe jumped down from a tree.
The old man with a long staff chuckled softly.
Volk growled at the old man for a moment, then held out his hands.
“Old man, stop talking nonsense and get this thing off me.”
“Your little seal is making you as meek as a puppy, aren’t you, you little rascal? Heh heh.”
“Ugh! Old man, are you going to make me a new coffin today?”
“You’re being naughty. By the way, it’s a bit difficult for me to undo this. Mana engineering these days is different from the old days. Hey kid!”
The old man called out, and a young man who had been hiding behind a tree slowly appeared.
He was short and stocky, and he glared at the old man as he touched his mask.
“Don’t call me a kid. . . .”
“Heh heh heh. If you don’t like ‘kid’, what should I call you? How about ‘wet behind the ears’?”
“Damn old man.”
The young man approached Volk, took out his tools, and skillfully removed the seal.
As the seal clattered to the ground, Volk twisted his wrists.
As the foreign object blocking his mana channels disappeared, a sharp pain shot through him and mana spread throughout his body.
He was in a lower-level prison, so he had been wearing a seal, but if he had been in a higher-level prison, he would have had a chip implanted, which would have been difficult to remove.
“I thought you’d be struggling to move.”
“Heh heh. You’re just a little puppy, whining about a few days in the car.”
“Are you crazy, old man? It wasn’t a few days, it was months! Do you want to play rough for once?”
“Oh, dear. I don’t want to be sued for animal abuse for beating up a puppy.”
“Damn it, you old bastard!”
As Volk and the old man were bickering, the young man raised his hand and pointed at something with his finger.
“Hey over there. . . .”
“What is it?”
“He’s alive.”
“What?”
Volk turned his head in a hurry.