𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟐𝟑: 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 3
They met again after more than ten years.
In the VIP room of a members-only luxury bar.
“Crow.”
“Long time no see.”
Ryu Ji-hwan, with his silvery-white hair, lifted his hand to greet the woman who opened the door and entered.
Crow greeted him briefly with a curt expression and sat down across from him.
“You haven’t changed at all, whether it’s then or now.”
“Neither have you. You look as stupid as ever.”
“Haha, there’s no one else who can talk to me like this.”
Ryu Ji-hwan smiled wickedly, the corners of his mouth lifted high.
However, Crow’s face remained expressionless.
“What? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
Ryu Ji-hwan frowned as he lit a cigarette.
The not-so-spacious room was soon filled with the pungent smell of cigarettes.
“That cigarette. . .”
For the first time, Crow’s expression changed.
“Oh, this. It’s the one that old man used to smoke.”
Crow’s eyes lit up with a hazy glow as she smelled the scent that the director always exuded.
It was a disgusting, yet nostalgic smell.
After a brief moment of reminiscence, Crow returned to her original curt expression.
“To think that it’s the Director’s cigarette. You have that side to you as well.”
“Hehe, he’s not someone you can hate. I hated him, but in the end, he was the one who protected our sanctuary until the very end.”
“That’s right. He was such a person. Until the very end.”
What the director left behind was something unexpected.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
After the orphanage burned down over a decade ago, Ryu Ji-hwan and Crow had visited the ‘Zero Bar’ and handed the bar owner a ring.
The shaggy-bearded man who received the ring stared at the object for a long time before leading them to a hidden space in the inner warehouse.
The space beyond the warehouse door was surprisingly large.
At first glance, it felt much larger than the entire area of the ‘Zero Bar’.
And in there were hundreds of large safes.
“Hmm. . . This should be it.”
He approached the innermost safe and held out the ring.
Beep.
The safe door opened as the director’s magic code infused into the ring was authenticated.
“What the heck is this?”
Ryu Ji-hwan, who had been expecting something, had a sullen expression.
He had thought there would be jewels or gold, but all that was inside were a few thick envelopes and several leather-bound books.
The owner pulled out a thick envelope from inside and let out a deep sigh.
“Here, take this.”
And then he showed the object to Crow.
“What is this?”
“Something that Older Brother had. . . a kind of bomb.”
“Oh, uncle, is this how to make a bomb?”
“As Older Brother said, boys are a bit stupid.”
He assessed Ryu Ji-hwan’s nonsense without even turning his head away from Crow.
Ryu Ji-hwan was about to argue with the man, but he sighed and took out a book that was in the safe.
He had been strictly instructed by Crow not to cause any trouble before coming here.
As she read through the documents, she realized that the contents were not ordinary.
“What on earth is this?”
“It’s a negotiation card that Older Brother has been collecting bit by bit.”
“This—you say it’s for negotiation, but it’s actually blackmail.”
“That’s right. Blackmail. But it’s defensive information that will protect you.”
“What are you going to do with this?”
“I wasn’t planning to do anything in particular. Just having the information is valuable. Older Brother wasn’t a very good hunter, but he was talented at dirty work.”
The documents left by the director were none other than records of his own bribes and evidence of corruption by politicians.
Materials that had been thoroughly hidden in preparation for any eventuality.
“You can distribute it to the media, or give it to a rival politician to gain an advantage. It’s best to go directly to the person involved, but that’s also the most dangerous.”
The owner scratched his head and gave them a few tips on how to use it.
However, he would not interfere or intervene any further.
He wanted to live a stable life and did not want to end up in misery in his old age because of unnecessary involvement.
Hiding the director’s documents in the safe was the biggest adventure he could handle.
“But why did you help the Director?”
Crow did not believe in human goodwill.
No one gives without expecting something in return.
Even the act of giving out of a sense of self-righteousness and to boast of one’s own nobility is for one’s own sake.
Feeling Crow’s sharp gaze, the owner scratched his head.
“I used to run a large entertainment business. Older Brother took care of the back of the business, and I secretly gave him some extra money.”
“It’s a business relationship.”
“That’s right. It was. Then one day, I went bankrupt because of a plot by a rival company. . . and that’s when Older Brother helped me. This store was also built with Older Brother’s help.”
He clicked his tongue as if it tasted bitter.
After listening to the owner’s short story, Crow realized that she could sense sadness from him and dispelled her suspicion.
“. . . is Older Brother dead?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Later on. . . when the children came with the ring. . . he said that they should know that he was dead.”
“. . .I see.”
Crow also responded powerlessly with a sunken gaze.
“Do you know why he died?”
“Someone set fire to the orphanage. . . He went inside to save the children and never came out again.”
“. . . . . .”
He closed his eyes and pressed his two thumbs into his eye sockets.
Ryu Ji-hwan and Crow greeted him briefly and went outside.
Even as they were completely gone, the owner could not take his fingers away from his eyes.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
“Are the kids doing well?”
“Well, thanks to you. You’ve been sending money to ‘Sult Ordd’ quite often.”
“Hehe, that’s good to hear. Is Min-jun, that scaredy-cat, doing well too?”
“. . . you don’t know anything at all.”
“What don’t I know?”
Ryu Ji-hwan, who had been pouring premium whiskey into a glass, looked at Crow and asked.
“Min-jun didn’t even get into ‘Sult Ordd’.”
“What. . .?! Why the hell!!”
“Because he’s not a half-demon.”
Bam!!
The bottle of alcohol that Ryu Ji-hwan was holding shattered, cutting his palm.
“Damn it! I told you to keep an eye on him, no matter how low his demonic energy was!”
“I did. I begged, pleaded, and threatened him, but it didn’t work. The Queen of the half-demons, Namir, is an incredibly powerful person. Deception doesn’t work.”
“That damn bitch! What’s so difficult about accepting just one child! Where is that damn bitch!”
Ryu Ji-hwan got up from his seat, unable to hide his anger.
However, Crow, on the contrary, did not let go of her cold and indifferent attitude.
“What are you doing?! Tell me where that Queen of the half-demons is!!”
“Stop talking nonsense. She’s several times stronger than you.”
“Damn it!! Then where is Min-jun?! Why aren’t you together?!”
Crow let out a deep sigh.
“Just tell me wh— Bang!
Bam!!!
Her fist flew like lightning and struck Ryu Ji-hwan hard in the abdomen.
Ryu Ji-hwan fell forward, and the numerous side dishes and bottles of alcohol on the table fell and shattered.
“Ugh. . . cough!! Ptooey!”
He grabbed his abdomen in pain from the unexpected attack and gasped for breath.
It was not just a matter of pain; it felt like his eyes were rolling around and his insides were being turned upside down.
“Y. . . Cough! You. . . crazy bitch. . .!”
Ryu Ji-hwan’s neck turned red with blood, and even his face turned bright red.
Tension hung in the air as if he was about to unleash his magic power at Crow any moment.
“What have you done so great that you can talk big to me after leaving like that?”
“Cough. . .! That’s why, damn it, I’ve been sending you a lot of money! To ask you to take good care of them!”
“Your mindset that money can solve everything is just like the politicians we hate.”
“What. . .?!”
“The Director was much better than you. He didn’t have money, but he cared about us.”
That’s why the children from EZ Orphanage still missed that place.
It was because of the stern-looking Director who had been there.
“Just because you smoke the same cigarettes as him doesn’t make you like him.”
Crow glared at Ryu Ji-hwan with eyes that seemed to say she was disappointed.
“Cough! What the hell did I do so wrong?!”
“You insulted Namir without knowing anything about her. That’s what you did wrong. She’s someone who sacrifices herself for us half-demons every day. And why didn’t you go with Min-jun?”
She took an unbroken bottle of alcohol and poured it into the glass in front of her.
The hot whiskey burned her body as it went down her throat.
“Where would you have put all those children to sleep and fed them? Who would have done the work and who would have taken care of the children? You never took any responsibility, so don’t pretend to be worried about the kids now. It’s annoying.”
“. . . . . .”
Ryu Ji-hwan brushed off the side dishes and alcohol on his clothes and sat down silently.
He picked up the cigarette he had dropped on the floor and put it back in his mouth.
Silence filled the room like cigarette smoke.
“. . . I’m sorry.”
It was an unexpected word that broke the silence.
“I thought my role would end once I sent the money. I didn’t intend to evade responsibility.”
Ryu Ji-hwan said in a sunken voice.
In truth, he did not know what responsibility was.
He had thought that the reason the children were unhappy during their time at the orphanage was because they were poor and powerless, and so Ryu Ji-hwan had devoted all his time to gaining wealth and power.
As a result, he became the underworld figure ‘McJester’ and even got his hands on the 〈Narak〉.
“Fortunately, you apologized. It would be good to apologize properly to the children later.”
Crow nodded her head.
If Ryu Ji-hwan had continued to be arrogant and unrepentant, Crow would not have contacted him again.
“So where is Min-jun?”
Ryu Ji-hwan, who had calmed down, asked again.
From the half-demons’ point of view, no matter how young the boy was, they would not want to take responsibility for a human.
It was only natural, since the beings who had ostracized them the most were the demon race and humans.
“I laundered his identity and put him in school.”
“Identity laundering? That couldn’t have been easy. Especially since ‘EZ Orphanage’ is a kind of stigma.”
“I used the ‘bomb’ that the Director left behind. It made the process a lot easier when I got my hands on a few people.”
She could have easily put herself in danger, but she took the risk for Jeong Min-jun, who had to be separated from her.
Thanks to that, Jeong Min-jun was able to enter the school he wanted.
“Is he still in school?”
“He graduated a long time ago. Now he’s working as an ancient history hunter.”
“A hunter? That sounds like a good job.”
Ryu Ji-hwan sighed in relief when he heard that Jeong Min-jun’s situation was not so bad.
He had been worried that he might be doing something bad somewhere and barely making ends meet.
“It’s not just a good job. I heard that he’s studying under Namir’s master, and that Hunter is apparently very famous.”
“Oh? Really? What’s his name?”
“I think it was Min Siwoo.”
“I’ve never heard of him. Is he a history hunter too?”
Ryu Ji-hwan asked with an indifferent face.
Since he worked in the shadows, he did not know much about the hunters who entered the gate and fought monsters.
The only beings that awakened criminals had to worry about were HSIU or other trash in the same industry.
“No, I heard he’s a famous battle hunter.”
“If he’s not famous enough to reach my ears, he can’t be that famous.”
“Well, since he’s Namir’s master, he might be getting preferential treatment.”
She shrugged and replied.
“I’m glad he’s doing well.”
Ryu Ji-hwan took the bottle of alcohol in front of Crow and poured it into his own glass.
A faint longing filled the small glass.
At that moment, Crow glanced at Ryu Ji-hwan and spoke first.
“Would you like to see him?”
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