After giving her answer, Castorice waited for the other party to continue questioning.
Who would have thought that 'Go Gunhee' would simply flash an 'I understand' smile, showing no intention of pressing further.
Castorice, who had painstakingly prepared her response: ...
"I can see that Hunter Castorice possesses a peaceful and gentle nature."
Go Gunhee, who had prevented Castorice from showing off, turned his back to her, gazing at the scenery outside the building.
This wasn't an act of dismissal—offering one's back to another was a gesture of voluntarily placing trust in them.
Watching the bustling city with its streams of people and vehicles, this prosperous and peaceful scene softened his gaze even more.
Seeing him like this, Castorice couldn't help but feel her own heart soften a little.
It wasn't because she was swayed by a few kind words, but because she could sense the sincerity in his deanor at that mont.
"Do you hold a great fondness for this world?" Castorice asked.
"Yes," the old man covered in scars nodded. "If I ca here initially out of a sense of duty, now I find myself contemplating how to coexist with this place."
"It isn't all that perfect, even filled with sin, yet it remains utterly captivating."
Castorice nodded thoughtfully. She could sowhat understand his aning.
In his own world, they hadn't wanted to fight but were forced into battle. Yet, when they finally won, the very purpose of their existence beca a profound question for their own sense of self.
Without evil, justice loses its reason for being.
"I see. Well then... I wish you may find the ho you seek here."
Castorice nodded again.
At first glance, these words seed harmless enough, but neither of the two present were ordinary individuals.
Go Gunhee turned back, a hint of contemplation in his eyes.
Castorice's words were indeed a blessing, yet they carried a subtle air of... a host's deanor. It didn't sound like the blessing of a fellow 'wayfarer.'
However, seeing that Castorice didn't seem inclined to elaborate, Go Gunhee didn't press further, rely smiling and saying, "I appreciate your well-wishes."
Their conversation wasn't extensive. One side was disappointed the other didn't ask more; the other was disappointed the first didn't say more.
But at the very least, both sides had confird the other wasn't an enemy, which counted as the greatest gain.
Knowing that Castorice, like himself, didn't wish to reveal too much about her identity, Go Gunhee didn't show any further signs of special treatnt.
Or rather, he had already reverted to being simply 'Go Gunhee' again. After hearing another version of the report from Castorice's perspective, he bid her farewell and returned to his office.
As for whether Go Gunhee was aware of their earlier conversation, Castorice wasn't sure.
But she suspected he probably knew.
After stepping out of the Hunter Association's main entrance, Castorice was about to head ho when she saw a man in a red overcoat and neat glasses walking towards her.
"It's been a while, Hunter Castorice."
It was Choi Jong-in.
"It has been so ti," Castorice replied with a slight nod and a smile.
"Thank you for helping our Vice Guild Master this ti."
The smile on Choi Jong-in's face still seed sowhat artificial, but the sentint behind his words was genuine. Both professionally and personally, he didn't wish for any harm to co to Cha Hae-in.
But his next sentence imdiately revealed his agenda:
"Who would have thought such an incident would occur today—a magical beast suddenly appearing in the city district. It seed almost like a preditated attack. Though, targeting Hunter Cha was clearly a miscalculation on their part."
It sounded like rambling nonsense, as if he were guessing blindly without knowing the facts. But if he guessed 90% correctly, it would naturally lead others to believe he was also in the know.
Cha Hae-in wouldn't casually break protocol, so it must an the Association had granted him the right to be inford.
Unfortunately, his guesses were almost completely off the mark. Naturally, this left Castorice with no way to play along and feed him information.
"..."
Seeing Castorice remain silent, rely smiling, Choi Jong-in realized he hadn't hit the mark.
The intelligence he had was too scant, forcing him to lean toward less plausible angles. After all, this was an incident the Association was covering up—it couldn't be too reasonable.
Reasonable conjectures were easy; unreasonable ones were as difficult as scaling the heavens.
So, Choi Jong-in wasn't too disheartened and smoothly transitioned to the next topic:
"After all, Hunter Cha isn't alone; she has reliable friends like you, Hunter Castorice... Speaking of which, counting this ti, you've already helped Hunters twice. One could call it a kind of fate."
"My apologies, but I currently have no plans to join a guild."
"Don't misunderstand, Hunter Castorice. While I truly wish you would join us, I'm not the type to be insensitive or overly persistent."
Choi Jong-in smiled. "Still, I hope you'll allow a chance to thank you—in a personal capacity."
Castorice felt a bit exasperated. His words said he wouldn't be persistent, but his actions told a different story.
Though, thanks to him fending off advances from other guilds, she only had to deal with Hunters' 'enthusiasm.'
"There's no need for thanks. Helping a friend was my own choice," Castorice said.
Unexpectedly, Choi Jong-in didn't insist this ti. Instead, he nodded with a hint of regret. "Very well. Then I'll keep this debt of gratitude in mind for now."
"..."
If she didn't know he was acting, Castorice might have actually felt sowhat embarrassed.
Knowing he wouldn't extract any more information, Choi Jong-in didn't linger. But since they'd t today, he casually asked, "By the way, Hunter Castorice, are you familiar with Jeju Island?"
"That would be the island that fell years ago due to an out-of-control S-rank Gate."
Castorice naturally knew of it. It was Korea's greatest scar of the past decade, where countless mid-tier Hunters, many high-rank Hunters, and even an S-rank Hunter had lost their lives.
Yet, despite such imnse sacrifice, the Gate on that island remained unclosed. To this day, it was still a forbidden zone for humanity.
That battle remained an unhealed wound for Korea's S-ranks.
"Recently, we've decided to restart the suppression operation on Jeju Island. For that, we need as much strength as possible."
Bringing up this topic, the ever-present smile on Choi Jong-in's face faded noticeably, a flicker of fire seeming to ignite in his eyes.
"Not just to reclaim the S-ranks' honor and our territory, but more importantly... ti waits for no one."
Choi Jong-in continued, "Not long ago, we captured an insect that had evolved the ability to fly across oceans. It killed seven civilians and two D-rank Hunters before being taken down by three B-rank and A-rank Hunters working together."
His tone carried hatred, fury, and a deeply buried apprehension.
"Currently, it's only this one instance, but we must consider whether such individuals have beco the norm. And... if this growth ability isn't limited to flight alone..."
Then continuing to ignore it would allow them to grow stronger, unnoticed.
"I'll go."
Castorice had no reason to refuse.
"Thank you."
Choi Jong-in was still sowhat imrsed in his anger, but Castorice's agreent improved his mood considerably.
After all, Castorice wasn't a native Korean Hunter, nor did she share Korea's particular pain and hatred regarding Jeju Island.
Even among Korea's own S-rank Hunters, so had no intention of participating in the subjugation. It would be normal if Castorice didn't want to get involved.
Yet she agreed. Choi Jong-in couldn't help but feel moved.
No wonder she got along so well with Cha Hae-in. Compared to people like himself, perhaps only these two won could truly be called heroes.
-- --
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.
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