By Zephyria 
“I-is Uncle going to die?”
Having experienced the death of their own biological parents, the children understood death with a precocity that didn’t match their age, and tears welled in their eyes. Kim Si-baek wiped the blood trickling from Tae-un’s mouth with his sleeve. He then called the children closer and placed his hands on their heads.
“The mister just pulled out the bad energy inside.”
A gentle light spread and slowly seeped from the hands stroking their small heads. Since the children hadn’t suffered a single scratch despite the chaos, there were no wounds to heal, but enveloped in the warm energy, they gradually stopped crying.
He softly reassured the children as they calmed down, sniffing.
“I’ll make sure Uncle gets better. So, Seo-yeon and Seo-jun, don’t be anxious and pray that Uncle recovers quickly, okay?”
“Yes, yes…”
“Your dad will be worried, so wipe your tears.”
He cleaned away their tears and runny noses. As Biyendwe, who had seemed restless, fluttered and circled above their heads, the children hesitantly played with the baby crow.
Despite being a father for three years, the novice dad, who still struggled often, breathed a sigh of relief.
“You seem good with kids.”
“…It’s because I’m used to it.”
For some reason, a bitter regret flickered in Kim Si-baek’s eyes as he looked at them. Before Pi Min-hyeong could wonder why, Kim Si-baek averted his gaze from the children and focused silently on tending to Tae-un.
Since it wouldn’t be good for news of the Guild Master’s sudden collapse to get out, they had secretly slipped away to the parking lot. Because the damage reports were still being processed, no visitors had started heading home yet. Thanks to Kim Si-baek’s healing, there were no critically injured people, so it would be over soon.
‘Eun-ho will probably arrive before then.’
Pi Min-hyeong, having replied to a text from Yang Eun-ho saying he was almost there, stared gloomily at Na Jeong-woo, who was crumpled in the passenger seat. He couldn’t believe that this guy was the cause of this situation.
‘Jeong-woo isn’t the type to do this…’
Na Jeong-woo was as arrogant as he was skilled, but he didn’t hold grudges. Having suffered not just a narrow defeat but a complete crushing by Kim Si-baek, he should have folded and tucked his tail immediately. In a sense, he was the most suitable talent for the guild’s motto.
In fact, right after joining the guild, he had abruptly challenged Pi Min-hyeong, and after wiping the training ground’s dust with his entire body, he had become obedient.
“….”
The sight of Tae-un, silently closing his long eyelashes, felt strangely unfamiliar. Why was a man who hadn’t lost consciousness even after being critically wounded by Sang-ryu acting like this?
A stifled sigh filled his chest. Though he saw that exceptionally white skin every day, he had never given it much thought, but now that Tae-un was unconscious, his bloodless, pale face felt ominous.
Even as a child, Tae-un was the type to hide his injuries. Before the Great Cataclysm, he felt as though he let people in to some extent, but he changed after the Cataclysm.
Once, after a battle, Tae-un had disappeared without a word, and after searching for a long time, Pi Min-hyeong had found him in a corner, wrapping bandages around his own body. There were many scars on his body that even his closest friend, himself, did not know about. The mere fact that he lost consciousness in front of Kim Si-baek was sufficient evidence of what kind of existence Kim Si-baek was to Tae-un.
Separate from those feelings, it was also true that he felt a sense of helplessness for being of no help. Even while hunting the anxiety fog, he hadn’t noticed at all that Tae-un was hurt. He was angry at himself for being so complacent, forgetting the fact that Tae-un was an ordinary human who bled when wounded and could die if the injury was too severe.
Ding-dong.
If it hadn’t been for the alarm that went off just then, he didn’t know how much longer he would have sunk into the swamp of self-loathing. Pi Min-hyeong swallowed a sigh and checked his phone. It was an email from Gwak Yun-sang.
“An email arrived. He sent it in less than ten minutes.”
The attached file contained not only the analysis of Sang-ryu but also meticulous annotations so that even a layman in magical beast studies could easily understand. It seemed to be a report written specifically to be delivered to someone above a mere related employee. That ‘someone above’ could be the Commissioner…
Handing over the phone, Pi Min-hyeong read the report together with Kim Si-baek, looking over his shoulder. Scanning from the table of contents, he quickly scrolled down and carefully read the section analyzing Sang-ryu’s poison.
Even with the explanations, the content was professionally difficult, causing him to frown, but Kim Si-baek finished reading and handed the phone back. He looked up to confirm that Biyendwe was soothing the children well enough and then stepped out from the back seat.
“I have something to talk about for a moment.”
To ensure the children wouldn’t get anxious, Kim Si-baek lowered his voice and whispered to Pi Min-hyeong.
“Did you know that Un-i has poor eyesight?”
“Well… he wears glasses occasionally.”
“It’s because of Sang-ryu’s residual poison.”
“…What?”
“I heard that the poison from Sang-ryu that seeped in when he was injured remained in his body, causing his vision to deteriorate continuously. I found out last time and treated him, but I failed to completely drive out the toxic energy. Because the poison remaining in his body reacted with Hunter Na Jeong-woo’s poison, Un-i’s body couldn’t hold out.”
Pi Min-hyeong, who hadn’t even known that Sang-ryu’s poison remained in Tae-un’s body, opened and closed his mouth a few times, then bit his lower lip.
“…Is there a way to treat it?”
“I will definitely make him well.”
Kim Si-baek reached into the car and caressed Tae-un’s cheek. The affection emanating from the careful touch was so clear that Pi Min-hyeong turned his gaze away, feeling as if he had witnessed something he shouldn’t have.
In the distance, Yang Eun-ho’s car was seen entering the parking lot. Yang Eun-ho, who stepped out of the car with a half-doubting expression despite hearing the news, turned pale upon seeing the unconscious Tae-un.
Only after Kim Si-baek restrained Na Jeong-woo with the Awakened-specific handcuffs brought by Yang Eun-ho did he treat the severed tendon in Na Jeong-woo’s ankle.
✽ ✽ ✽
Na Jeong-woo was appalled.
The first reason was that he was restrained by Awakened-specific handcuffs. Specialized handcuffs block an Awakened’s abilities, but they aren’t perfect. They are ineffective against top-tier A-ranks and S-ranks, so the government suffered a headache whenever a top-tier hunter committed a crime.
However, Korea was the exception. If the government needed to detain a hunter criminal whose abilities could not be blocked, they requested Tae-un, and he had never once refused. The hunters Tae-un targeted were often captured in a state worse than death. A prime example was a hunter who had acted as a cult leader in the past; the bones of his limbs, crushed by Tae-un, had still not recovered to this day.
Those who envied him nitpicked, saying, ‘He hunts down criminals just to exercise violence on people without any repercussions.’ But regardless of what slander was heard behind his back, it was an undeniable fact that Tae-un played a major role in maintaining public order in Korea.
Anyway, the fact that he was restrained by these handcuffs meant he wasn’t a top-tier A-rank, which dealt a huge blow to Na Jeong-woo’s pride.
The second reason was the false accusation.
“What? You’re saying I tried to stab—no, Hunter Kim Si-baek? Why? And I used poison? Why?!”
As the interrogation continued, Na Jeong-woo became so appalled that his blood pressure soared, and it felt like his veins were about to burst.
“I don’t know who the hell did this, but if you’re going to frame me, shouldn’t you get to know me a bit first? Poison is something only weaklings use!”
“Sigh.”
Yang Eun-ho, looking exhausted, took off his glasses and pressed his fingers firmly against the bridge of his nose.
“Did you hold a grudge because you lost a sparring match to Hunter Kim Si-baek?”
“If I held a grudge because I lost a sparring match, I would have attacked our raid leader first!”
“There is evidence video.”
A video began playing on a laptop. It was footage from the time of the attack, secretly taken from the amusement park’s security room. Although the video was cut just before Tae-un was stabbed instead, the scene of Na Jeong-woo attacking Kim Si-baek was captured vividly.
“That… uh, uhhh…”
Na Jeong-woo’s eyes widened, and his lips only flapped.
“Are you still going to insist?”
“…Ha, isn’t this synthesized?!”
“Where did you get the poison?”
“No, r-really, I…”
At this rate, he was going to be stuck with all the false accusations, and this manipulated video was far too smooth. Even to him, it looked like something he had done.
While a pale Na Jeong-woo was stuttering, unable to make an excuse, a call came into Yang Eun-ho’s phone. After listening to the other party, Yang Eun-ho thought for a moment and answered.
“You may come in.”
As permission was granted, the door to the interrogation room opened quietly, and Kim Si-baek entered.