Chapter 212: Blue’s Move (2)
The truck made a wide loop around the under-construction facility. Once the permit for the mountain area was granted, they planned to build a passage connecting it. The spot designated for the artificial lake was marked but still empty. At some point, Blue had appeared and was now flying alongside the truck.
“The training center staff seems pretty excited.”
As the truck stopped in the advanced hunter training center’s parking lot, Moon Hyunah commented.
“Flying-type monsters are tricky to handle.”
“They’re also not easy to come across. Even just observing one will be valuable. And since Blue is a griffon, she has traits of both aerial and terrestrial monsters.”
In other words, it was a rare opportunity for hunters to safely conduct mock battles against an S-class monster. That had made it much easier to get approval and funding for the new breeding facility. Blue got playmates, hunters got a great training opportunity—it was a win-win for everyone.
“Of course, we need to make sure no one gets hurt.”
Not that Blue was likely to get injured easily.
As we stepped into the training center, a few hunters recognized us and greeted us. When Blue landed in the training yard, curious eyes immediately turned toward her.
“Please take good care of Blue from now on.”
After hearing that she was energetic and liked playing with people, one of the hunters stepped forward.
“Would it be alright if I played with her now?”
“Of course. Just be aware that she can be a bit rough sometimes. As an advanced hunter, you won’t get seriously injured, but still.”
“Minor injuries are nothing new.”
Tough crowd.
The hunter approached Blue, holding a long, blunt training staff. Blue chirped excitedly and bit down on it, pulling hard. As the two wrestled over the staff, another hunter joined in, trying to grab Blue.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
A massive wing smacked into the hunter, sending them tumbling across the ground. They immediately sprang back up and charged again. Blue, clearly thrilled, swished her tail like a whip this time.
She was having a blast.
“You really do look like a proud dad.”
Moon Hyunah shook her head before lowering her voice.
“You know, some of the old-timers in our circles aren’t too happy with your family right now. They assumed Breaker would naturally take MKC’s place, but Haeyeon came surging up instead.”
In the past, the unspoken ranking was clear: Sesung, MKC, and Breaker. Hanshin was a solid fourth, while Haeyeon had only recently climbed into the top five.
“But now, people are saying Haeyeon might be the next in line after Sesung. That’s rubbing some folks the wrong way. There’s even talk of collaborating with Hanshin.”
Moon Hyunah scowled, clearly annoyed that the situation was affecting her too.
“They’re even comparing me to Yerim. I was planning to visit Japan anyway, but now they’re pushing me to get as much screen time as possible and stir up enough drama to create a ‘Korea vs. Japan Round Two.’ …Ugh, seriously.”
She cut herself off before saying anything too vulgar. Understandable—she had every right to be pissed. Maybe we really should just crush them all.
“Haeyeon is still relatively small compared to the other major guilds in terms of scale.”
Though that would change soon enough.
“The fact that the breeding facility is tied to the guild makes it worse. It’s all about blood relations—when the guild leader and the breeding facility director are brothers and practically inseparable, it’s as good as sealed.”
Moon Hyunah smirked as she said that. Instinctively, I glanced at Yuhyun. What was I supposed to do? Pretend we weren’t close? That wasn’t happening. Yuhyun smiled at me reflexively even now. We even lived together… Yeah, I could see why people would assume things.
It wasn’t officially announced that Haeyeon’s guild leader lived with his brother. Yuhyun’s registered address was still Haeyeon’s guild residence. But people who paid attention would have noticed him commuting from my place. The rumors were inevitable.
No way in hell was I kicking him out. Whatever. Trying to remain neutral among the giant guilds was pointless anyway—especially after one of them collapsed and threw everything off balance. Not that I’d expected MKC to fall this quickly.
“If you ever feel like knocking down the people getting in your way, just say the word. I’d be more than happy to help.”
“Don’t tempt me too much, Director Han.”
Moon Hyunah gave a wry smile, saying that cutting ties without causing damage was never easy.
“I’ll be around often, Blue.”
— Kyawoo.
I stroked her from beak to neck before saying goodbye. Blue stared at me for a moment before happily returning to play with the hunters. She’d be fine here. And it wasn’t even that far away.
Leaving the training center, we didn’t head back to the breeding facility but to Haeyeon Guild. I needed to bring over the remaining young monsters still housed there.
As we arrived at the guild’s parking lot and started heading inside, we ran into Yerim.
She was glowing, her expression bright and excited. From head to toe, she had clearly been groomed and polished. She practically floated over to me.
“Mister! Did you buy a swimsuit?”
“…Huh? No, I didn’t.”
Not like I needed one. I wasn’t even good at swimming. I had only learned enough to stay afloat in case I ever fell into the water while exploring dungeons.
Yerim puffed out her lips like a duck when she heard my answer.
“I told you to come shopping with me! Ugh, whatever—I’ve got another interview to do, so I gotta go.”
Yerim turned to look at Yuhyun, who was standing next to me.
“Guild Leader, you’re responsible for getting him ready. If we leave him alone, Mister is definitely just going to sit around and ignore it until the very last minute.”
“Yerim, it’s already September.”
It was still warm, but wasn’t it a bit late for swimming? I wasn’t sure about Japan’s weather, but since it was close, it was probably similar.
“Don’t worry! The hotel’s outdoor pool is heated, so we can swim even in the middle of winter. Or, we could just heat the ocean.”
“That’s not happening. Absolutely not.”
At least not in the East Sea. That’s why I specifically requested the match to be held in the Pacific, just in case.
“Anyway, Mister, you need at least five swimsuits!”
“…What?”
“And you have to buy new outfits for the trip! Also, sunglasses and a hat. A huge one with a brim this wide. Oh, actually, I bought a nice one yesterday—I’ll give it to you!”
Yerim spread her arms wide to demonstrate. She was probably exaggerating, but it sounded more like an umbrella than a hat. Just then, her attendant reminded her that they were running late.
“Make sure you buy them today! Promise!”
“Don’t forget, Guild Leader!”
She shouted as she climbed into the car.
Yuhyun, who had been silently listening to her nagging, turned to me.
“Should we go together after moving the baby monsters?”
“There’s no need. It’s just my stuff, so why bother? It’s not even necessary.”
Wouldn’t they have rentals? Or did they not?
“I don’t have one either.”
“You don’t? Seriously?”
I had assumed he would. But thinking about it, there probably wasn’t much reason for him to own one. Did that mean I actually had to go buy one? I wasn’t even planning to swim.
‘…Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing.’
I mean, compared to them… Personally, I was proud of my little brother for being talented in so many ways. But standing next to him half-dressed in public? That was mortifying. I was his older brother, but the gap was way too obvious.
‘And Noah and Myungwoo are coming too, plus Seong Hyunjae. If all three of them…’
Ugh. Nope. No way. Even if Yerim dragged me to the pool, I was keeping my clothes on.
“Hyung?”
“Oh, uh. I’ll call you after I’m done at the breeding facility. Let’s go together.”
At the very least, Yuhyun needed one.
After sending Yuhyun off, I headed to Haeyeon Guild’s monster breeding area. Rather than having a dedicated facility, they had just cleared out two underground training rooms for the young monsters, so it felt a bit cramped. Still, they were well cared for. The staff even took them out for daily walks and exercise.
“So, you’re moving all of them to the breeding facility?”
The staff member in charge of the baby monsters asked.
“There are only five of them, and they’re not that big. Now that Blue has moved and the black dragon and unicorns will soon be fully grown, there’s plenty of space.”
Comet, Whitey, and Blacky would all be leaving the current breeding facility soon. That would leave only Sorok behind. Belare was too big and too venomous to be kept there.
“The breeding facility will be much better for them. If you’d like, I can arrange for you to continue working with them.”
“Thank you.”
The staff member smiled in relief and nodded. I understood how they felt. Even if they were monsters, baby ones were still adorable.
“As you probably already know, the five remaining ones are all baby A-rank monsters.”
Once Haeyeon found out I could raise monsters, they had rushed to acquire young ones from all over the world. They had managed to get one top-tier monster—Blue—and seven high-tier ones, including Whitey and Blacky.
“This room houses three of them. Two of them are White Wood Wolves.”
White Wood Wolves. Also known as 3W in English-speaking regions, they were well-known monsters. They frequently appeared in high-rank dungeons over there, always in small packs.
They were highly intelligent, and any poorly coordinated hunter team that encountered them often found themselves toyed with before being wiped out. To make matters worse, they lived in white forests, were skilled in camouflage, and had a reputation for being incredibly difficult to deal with.
I remembered seeing them on foreign dungeon raid broadcasts. There was always that tense moment with the dramatic background music, where a hunter would hold up three fingers, forming the number 3 and a W shape—the universal signal for spotting White Wood Wolves.
— Grrrr.
— Kyarr!
Beyond the enclosure, two fluffy white puppies yipped and leaped around excitedly.
They were technically puppies, but their thick fur made them look like little polar bear cubs. Their black noses and eyes stood out starkly against their snowy coats. Adorable. Once they matured, their noses would turn white, and their eyes would shift to a grayish-blue.
“After word got out that they could be trained as mounts, we received several offers from people wanting to buy them back.”
The staff member chuckled, saying they had refused all of them.
“They’re intelligent and excel at group coordination, so people believe they’ll be useful for more than just riding. As part of a team, they’d be a major asset.”
A hunter party with a pair of massive white wolves? Just picturing it looked cool.
In another enclosure, separate from the wolves, a large lizard was curled up. Even as a baby, it was already quite big.
“This one is a Winen Lake Lizard. When fully grown, it’ll be large enough to carry ten people and is also pretty fast. Most importantly, it’s incredibly tough, making it ideal for shielding healers and support hunters.”
A moving fortress, basically.
While we casually referred to them all as mounts, the truth was that their species and abilities varied widely. Each had different skills and roles suited to different situations.
The blue-scaled lizard lifted its head and looked at me. Since it was still a baby, its round head had a rather cute appearance.
“Would it be better to set up its enclosure near the pond in the rooftop garden?”
“That would be ideal. Since it’s a solitary species, it’ll actually feel more comfortable alone.”
In the next room, a baby ostrich and a baby lamb stared at us. The lamb was entirely black, resembling a rolling storm cloud.
— Kweek.
The baby ostrich stretched its neck through the bars and opened its beak wide. Its fluffy down-covered wings flapped excitedly.
“It might look unimpressive now, but once fully grown, it’ll be incredibly fast.”
Not just in speed—its agility was so remarkable that some dungeon raids failed simply because no one could catch it. However, despite being an A-rank monster, its attack power was relatively weak. It was just fast.
“The Volcanic Black Ram is cute, isn’t it? It changes quite a bit when it matures—so much so that people initially mistook it for a different species. Some hunters captured one simply because they were curious about why such a seemingly weak monster was in an A-rank dungeon.”
— Maaa.
The baby lamb let out a soft bleat as we approached its enclosure. Its wool looked incredibly soft. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out when fully grown, but a lamb seemed like a solid choice. Maybe I could give it to Chief Song. Hugging it would probably be therapeutic.
“Is its wool as soft as it looks?”
“Extremely. It’s amazing.”
Maybe I should take it to the Awakener Management Office—let him at least touch it.
‘…Not that he’d respond.’
He had cleared a dungeon this morning, or so I had heard. I had waited an hour before sending a message, but there was still no reply. Maybe he was just busy after exiting. One of Sesung’s dungeon buildings had been blown up, after all.
I transported the baby monsters to the breeding facility. For now, I placed the lizard in a first-floor enclosure before heading up to the rooftop garden to check the pond.
— Kyayak!
“…Blue?”
A golden griffon that should not have been here flew straight toward me. She pressed her beak against me first, then turned her gleaming eyes toward Haeyeon’s monster caretaker.
“Did she remember me from when she was a baby? But wasn’t she moved to the training center’s facility?”
“She was. Today.”
She had been moved… and yet, here she was. Watching Blue circle me, I felt a slight ache in my chest. She had been having fun playing there, but was this still home to her?
“Blue, you’ll feel too confined here.”
— Kyak.
“Your new home is much bigger, and you can play freely.”
How was I supposed to explain this to her and send her back? Before I could think of a way, Blue suddenly shot up into the sky. In the blink of an eye, she soared so high that she became just a tiny speck in my vision—then vanished entirely.
“She doesn’t have a teleportation skill, does she? That’s just pure speed?”
The caretaker marveled. Despite being an experienced monster handler with B-rank stats, he could barely track her movements. She really was fast.
I stared blankly at the clear, blue sky.
‘…She’s not coming back.’
Just how far did she go? I waited a little longer, but there was no sign of her. This was starting to seem suspicious. I pulled out my phone and made a call.
“Hey, is Blue there by any chance?”
The caretaker at the new facility asked me to hold on, then returned with an answer.
[She went to the training center. It looks like she took a quick flight to the mountains.]
A quick flight… Hmm. I thanked them and then checked the distance between the hunter training center and here. By car, it was a long way, but in a straight line, it was just under 50 kilometers. And it hadn’t even been ten minutes yet.
‘…So, to Blue, this is basically just the neighborhood playground?’
Rather than a move, this was more like a new playground had opened nearby, and she had gone exploring.
“Uh… I don’t think Blue fully understands that she’s moved. It feels too close to her.”
I had planned to dismantle her old rooftop nest, but I might as well leave it as is.
This move… didn’t really seem like a move anymore.
Still, I felt oddly happy about it.
That bird, seriously.
–TL Notes–
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