𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟎: 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 1
A summit hosted by Marquis Charles de Bernadotte of the 〈World Hunter Association〉.
The video conference featured the leaders of around 30 countries who had gathered to discuss the issues stemming from the recent Hunter Hunt.
As the meeting was private, the heads of state spoke bluntly and with great agitation.
They were particularly vocal about how many of their Hunters had been harmed, so much so that Marquis Bernadotte had to call for order.
━Four of my country’s top Hunters have already been killed. What is the 〈HSIU International Headquarters〉 doing? Isn’t this what we pay all those donations for?!
━Indeed! We’ve lost three Hunters and seven have been injured this week alone. What good is it to have information on ‘Six Fingers’ if you lack the will to apprehend them?! Do you have it in you, Earl Edward C. Blackwood?!
━Gentlemen, your words are excessive. Is it fair to place the blame solely on the HSIU?
━Chancellor Shtoff, are you defending Earl Blackwood? He must be held accountable!
The heads of state needed a scapegoat for this crisis.
Many of them were facing plummeting approval ratings, with their citizens and Hunters alike growing anxious and holding daily protests.
Just as the police brass would usually shoulder the blame if they failed to capture a serial killer, the heads of state wanted to sacrifice Edward as a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility themselves.
━If we’re going to argue fault, shouldn’t we hold the relevant government agencies accountable for failing to secure the prisons in the first place?
A deep voice cut through the heads of state’s heated exchange.
As several leaders turned to confront the source of the voice, they belatedly realized who it belonged to.
━President Choi Dae-soo . . .
The head of state of one nation and the soon-to-be-promoted ‘Misteltein’, a monster among monsters.
The heads of state, who had been ganging up on Edward a moment ago, suddenly fell silent, coughing awkwardly and exchanging glances at Choi Dae-soo’s interjection.
━W-We’re not trying to persecute Earl Blackwood, but considering the subsidies we’ve provided and the urgency of the situation, the HSIU’s response has been. . . .
━Even the HSIU could not have anticipated that the security of various government agencies would be so lax.
━W-What do you mean?
━You overstep your bounds, President Choi Dae-soo!
The heads of state erupted in protest at Choi Dae-soo’s remarks.
Some of them watched the commotion with detached amusement, while others turned beet red as if their dirty laundry had been aired.
━I’m not sure why you’re so heated. Is it not true? It was your institutions that allowed hundreds of awakened criminals to escape their confinement, and you blame HSIU?
━ . . . Uhh.
━Didn’t South Korea suffer the same fate? I don’t think you’re in a position to make such accusations.
━We were affected as well, which is why we’ve been assisting with the Hunter Hunt. That’s why we’re here at this meeting. So let’s stop trying to blame each other and focus on solving the problem. Stop thinking about how to appease your approval ratings by sacrificing someone.
As Choi Dae-soo extinguished his cigar in an ashtray with a grimace, a few of the heads of state gulped nervously.
Even though they were not physically present with him, they felt a strange sense of intimidation.
At that moment, Prime Minister Ahmed of India raised his hand.
━Our Indian treasure, Shamal, has apprehended one of the ‘Six Fingers’.
━Is that true?
━As expected of the world’s top Hunter! Which of the ‘Six Fingers’ was it?
━Apparently, it was Sakr, the one who caused the ‘Arabian Holocaust’ in the past.
The heads of state shivered at the name.
Sakr, the world’s worst war criminal.
━That’s quite impressive. Even for Shamal, to fight and defeat one of the ‘Six Fingers’ one-on-one. . . . They’re each as deadly as a weapon themselves.
━Indeed. It seems Shamal struggled quite a bit. But then again, that’s what High Rankers are supposed to do, isn’t it? If we can apprehend just five more, their morale will surely falter.
Prime Minister Ahmed’s words seemed to praise Shamal while simultaneously belittling the High Rankers of other countries.
In truth, when international crises like this arose, it was customary for High Rankers to step up and resolve them. However, the problem was that the matter at hand was the ‘Ranker Hunt’.
As a result, High Rankers were being targeted by various countries, leaving no Hunters to solve the problem.
The presidents and prime ministers who possessed High Rankers grimaced at Prime Minister Ahmed’s remarks.
Of course, the ones who took the biggest blow from those remarks were Choi Dae-soo and Edward.
Not only were they High Rankers themselves, but they were also the heads of South Korea and the HSIU, respectively, which had Siwoo, a High Ranker of the highest rank, SSS-Rank.
Prime Minister Ahmed secretly reveled in his words.
━First of all, congratulations. It’s clear that Hunter Shamal is quite capable.
Edward, who had remained silent until now, spoke up.
━Haha, no. It was an action expected from someone of his rank.
━Actually, I received an urgent message while this meeting was in progress. . . . Would it be possible to connect to another video conference?
Edward asked Marquis Bernadotte and the heads of state as he glanced at them.
━Who is it?
━It’s SSS-Rank Hunter Siwoo.
━Oh. . . .
━W-Well, I suppose it’s fine?
━I approve. . . .
Although the heads of state would normally have expressed their discomfort and refused, they hesitated to do so when faced with the name of the world’s Rank 0 Hunter.
Edward connected Siwoo to the video conference.
The moment his face first appeared on the screen, everyone gasped in astonishment.
A face with sharp, pale features and a white dress shirt covered in blood.
━Good day, I am SSS-rank Hunter Siwoo.
Siwoo stared at the screen with piercing eyes, still bearing the remnants of the battle he had just fought.
━. . . Th-that. . . .
━Oh. . . What. . . . ?
━W-What is the meaning of this, Sir Edward?
The heads of state looked back and forth between Siwoo and Edward with expressions of utter bewilderment.
However, Edward shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t know either and ignored their gazes.
━Master, I think you should wipe the blood off your face.
At that moment, a gentle voice was heard next to Siwoo, and a white-haired woman used a washcloth to wipe the blood that had splashed onto Siwoo’s face.
It was the Queen of the Half-Demons.
━Oh, I apologize. I felt the need to report this urgently.
━What is it, Hunter Siwoo?
Edward asked him with a faint smile.
━I have apprehended two of the ‘Six Fingers’ a short while ago.
━T-That’s impossible!!
Prime Minister Ahmed of India shot up from his seat and protested.
━Why is it impossible?
━Ah, no. I was just surprised. Did the HSIU and the Queen of the Half-Demons cooperate to apprehend them?
━No. I apprehended the two of them by myself.
━Lies. . . . !!
━My master does not lie.
Namir, who had been listening from the side, replied in a furious voice on Siwoo’s behalf.
As Prime Minister Ahmed stammered out an apology, Edward asked another question.
━Who did you apprehend?
━A man named Dmitry and a man named Yuto.
━Did you take them alive?
━Well, they seem to be alive for now.
Siwoo raised his cell phone and pointed it at a different space instead of himself.
━Gulp. . . . !
━What’s that. . . . ?!
The people present could not believe their eyes.
Yuto and Dmitry were impaled on long iron rods like insects pinned to a wall.
Their wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, and solar plexuses had been pierced, making it impossible for them to escape.
Siwoo approached Yuto.
━Tell me what you know.
Yuto looked at Siwoo with empty eyes and chuckled.
━Hehe. . . Your skill. . . . It’s interesting. . . .
━You’re done.
Siwoo materialized a shotgun and blew Yuto’s head off.
BOOM!!
Even though it was a private meeting, it was an act of blatant disrespect in front of the heads of state of various countries.
However, none of them dared to blame or scold Siwoo for it.
Siwoo then approached Dmitry, who was impaled next to Yuto.
━Tell me what you know.
“Y-Yes!!”
Dmitry began to spill everything he knew, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
He recounted everything from the prison break to the moment he was sent to Korea by 〈Pandemonium〉 and confronted Siwoo.
There was no embellishment in his explanation.
Once Dmitry had finished, he closed his mouth tightly and bowed his head.
━Very well, you pass.
Siwoo patted Dmitry on the shoulder and raised his cell phone again to show the upper half of his body.
━As you’ve heard, 〈Pandemonium〉 considers this Hunter Hunt as merely a stepping stone. Their true goal is—war.
His words were met with silence.
The weight of the word ‘war’ was far greater than Yuto’s blown-off head.
━But couldn’t that just be the ravings of an escaped criminal? It doesn’t seem like something the HSIU should investigate. . .
━For your information, the HSIU International Headquarters has decided to promote Hunter Siwoo to ‘Special Agent’ in consideration of his achievements and his actions. The promotion ceremony will take place at a later date, but since he has already assumed the position of Special Agent, I would like the heads of state to take note.
This came as a surprise to Siwoo as well.
Of all the HSIU branches, Edward was the only Special Agent.
To appoint Siwoo, who was a Sub-Special Agent, to the rank of Special Agent meant giving him authority on par with the HSIU President.
━I will handle the internal affairs, and Hunter Siwoo will handle the external affairs. If he is capable of apprehending two of the ‘Six Fingers’ on his own, isn’t he qualified enough?
━I. . . suppose so.
Choi Dae-soo chuckled as he observed Edward’s scheme.
It was likely that this matter was still under discussion within the HSIU headquarters.
However, with Siwoo’s overwhelming appearance before the heads of state and his undeniable achievements, Edward must have decided that this was the right time to make the announcement.
In order to prepare for war against the Demon Race, Siwoo needed more support and authority.
Edward must have realized this and decided to empower Siwoo.
“Allow me to say a few words as well.”
Marquis Bernadotte raised his hand.
“It is true that we must prepare for war in advance. I believe it is the first step towards peace. Therefore, after discussing the matter with Earl Edward, I have also decided to prepare for the possibility.”
He let out a long sigh before continuing.
“As an emergency measure, we will create a ‘War Response Team’. It will be a horizontal organization, but I believe it should have a Team Leader. . . . The Team Leader will be Hunter Siwoo.”
The people present began to murmur, wondering what was happening.
The situation seemed to be escalating too quickly.
“My apologies, but I would also like to invite a new member to the meeting. They will be the backbone of the ‘War Response Team’.”
As Marquis Bernadotte finished speaking, new figures appeared on the meeting screen one after another.
In truth, there was no need to introduce them.
That’s because the heads of state recognized who they were the moment they saw their faces.
━Greetings—I am Shamal of India.
━Long time no see, Siwoo! I’m Gandharva! Remember me?
━Oh my, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Baba Yaga.
━Heh heh heh heh. This old one is Merlin.”
No less than three ‘Mistelteins’ and one Super High Ranker greeted Siwoo from the screen.
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