“If you accept us as your pawns, we will do our best.”
The old man’s words were somewhat unexpected.
He had expected someone from the organization to talk nonsense like ‘don’t kill us’.
Siwoo rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment.
He didn’t really care if they were killed by the organization .
However, he didn’t want them to be caught before the meeting started.
With that in mind, it might not be a bad idea to keep them around for the time being.
“Fine. I accept.”
Siwoo nodded slightly, as if reluctantly granting permission.
He was prepared to accept anything, as long as he could catch the real culprit.
“Thank you! We will serve the Three Venerables with unwavering loyalty!”
“Do you have the will to do so?”
Siwoo asked, looking at Volk, who was still trembling.
“I, I. . . . . . .”
“Say you do. You rotten little bastard! Don’t you realise we’ve just been saved!!”
At the old man’s urging, Volk nodded.
“Yes. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“If you are lacking, we will even swear an 「Oath of Mana」.”
Oath of Mana.
Similar to Oath of Silence, but instead of a skill, it is an oath made to one’s own mana.
It is just as effective, but also much riskier, so it is not something that is done lightly.
If the Oath of Mana is broken, the mana will reject the person, blocking their dantian.
“No, I don’t want to bind you that way. What is your name, old man?”
“I am called Red Ear. I hope to become Master’s eyes and ears.”
The old man, Red Ear, trembled with a mixture of exhilaration and awe at the sight of a strong man.
For a first-generation Hunter, the existence of Min Siwoo was not a trivial matter.
“I, I am. . . Sheri Volk. . . .”
“I know.”
Siwoo tapped Volk on the head and stood up.
From far away, the sound of sirens and the clamour of people could be heard.
It seemed that the prison had reported them when the escort vehicle failed to arrive.
It was time to wrap things up over there.
“From now on, Red Ear and Volk, you are my limbs and under my protection. The lives you have given to me are now mine.”
A kind of master-servant pledge, promising to protect them even if the organization came to eliminate them.
Only those who possessed such strength could utter such words.
Red Ear and Volk knelt on one knee and replied.
“Yes, we will do so!”
“Yes, we will. . .do so.”
Siwoo looked at them and quickly formulated his next move in his head.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Hwang Jeong-gu skimmed through the piled-up documents with a face that seemed like it could burst into tears at any moment.
He had just sent one HSIU employee as instructed by his superior.
Min Siwoo had volunteered to go, and naturally, he had judged that there would be nothing to worry about.
So, he had relaxed and spent the weekend at ease.
But then, he had received a call from the prison.
A prisoner in a prison van has escaped. There are extensive battle traces, and there is a lot to investigate, so please come.
Surely, he hadn’t gotten bitten by a rabid dog.
No, that’s ridiculous.
When he arrived at the prison warden’s office, Min Siwoo was there looking very ‘healthy’.
“Uh, I got caught trying to escape and fought back, but I lost. I got the crap beaten out of me.”
Min Siwoo said confidently with his arms crossed.
The prison warden, the prison employee who was conducting the interrogation next to him, the investigator who was currently in charge of the investigation, and Hwang Jeong-gu, who was filling out documents while watching, all had bewildered expressions on their faces.
If you’re going to lie, at least make it sound convincing.
This was just blatant shamelessness without even a hint of an attempt to deceive.
“T-Then. . . why didn’t you record it on your body cam. . .?”
“It was broken.”
“. . . I checked and it was fine, though?”
“Really? Then, my bad.”
“. . . . . . .”
Hwang Jeong-gu gulped down some cold water as if he had given up.
He thought of the cigarette he had quit in the past.
Knowing that he was rabid, where in the world could he find a hunter who could go after him?
Just endure it. They say that if you endure three times, you can even avoid murder.
“Hey. Aren’t you being a little too irresponsible since you let him escape?”
However, the prison warden seemed to have a different opinion.
“If you’re going to make a mess, you should clean it up too. How can prison guards let a prisoner escape? Do you even know how dangerous that bastard is?”
He slammed the table and got heated up.
‘I can’t get promoted because of these idiots.’
The warden intended to minimize the fault of his prison as much as possible and shift all the blame, responsibility, and the prisoner’s escape onto HSIU.
“Oh my, Team Leader Hwang Jeong-gu. It’s not like we’ve only known each other for a year or two. Do we really have to keep arguing over something so trivial?!”
“No, sir. We will thoroughly search to figure out what happened and where he went.”
“I heard that HSIU has been on the rise lately, and I knew something was up when they started selling shit. I wondered why that punk Baek Geon-ho had suddenly changed, but it turns out he’s a complete mess.”
Siwoo stared at the warden with an emotionless face.
The typical arrogance of corrupt authority figures and the cunning tricks of shifting responsibility onto their subordinates.
Whether in the past or now, Siwoo despised people like this the most.
All they can do is talk big.
It was rare for them to actually do something themselves.
“You’re that new HSIU hunter who’s been doing well lately, right?”
The warden didn’t care about the minor details.
“Why did the camera suddenly break? It seems like you missed everything, so you must have turned it off. You punk.”
As always, the higher-ups reap the benefits, and the lower-ups take the blame.
“I was preparing to transfer him since he seemed to have a separate organization, but of course, a good-for-nothing like you had to be in charge.”
The warden clicked his tongue as he looked at the new recruit who couldn’t even talk back to him.
Now, this punk is going to turn everything upside down.
Anyway, ‘they’ had only wanted one new hunter as an escort.
Siwoo leaned back deeply into the chair.
Despite sitting in the lowest seat, his attitude was quite arrogant and confident.
“Jeong-gu.”
“Yes, senior.”
Hwang Jeong-gu had recently started calling Siwoo ‘senior’.
When trying to show respect to someone who is lower-ranked, the only titles that come to mind are ‘older brother’ and ‘senior’.
“Usually, how many prison guards are assigned to transfer a prisoner?”
“Basically, four to five. In particular, up to ten can be assigned when transferring to a higher-level prison.”
“But why was Volk only assigned one person besides the driver?”
“That’s the request we received. . . from this prison.”
“What do you mean?”
Siwoo’s icy gaze, as cold as the winter frost, scanned the warden’s entire body.
It was just a gaze.
But the warden felt a chill run down his spine as if a snake was wrapping around his body.
“W-What, what about it! Kid, wasn’t it your fault for letting that bastard escape in the first place?!”
He was so flustered that he didn’t even care that Siwoo was speaking informally to him.
Siwoo crossed his legs and put his feet up on the table.
“Didn’t you say ‘Do you even know how dangerous that bastard is?’ just a moment ago?”
“T-That’s. . . that’s. . . Anyway, the responsibility clearly lies withㅡ!”
“According to Volk.”
Siwoo cut him off.
“An assassination organization lobbied the prison superiors.”
His expression was
“To have the ‘number of escorts’ be ‘one’.”
colder than ever, and
“So HSIU is going to”
full of mockery.
“Investigate the escaped prisoner and the truth about the prison.”
The warden’s hands trembled as he held onto his cup.
This, this isn’t right.
“What do you think?”