Epilogue (5)
[Legislation will take time, but we’ve been told the United States isn’t simply paying lip service.]
Han Yuhyun spoke from the monitor.
The United States’ statement about accepting goblins as its own people was the result of negotiations between Han Yuhyun and Haeyeon. Of course, they were not asking America to make goblins U.S. citizens immediately. Merely expressing that intent was enough. With a few words, the United States could polish its image as a righteous global police state and a nation of immigrants, while also earning the goblins’ goodwill in advance. Naturally, they had gained other compensation as well.
“They said we’d sell them part of Chatterbox’s equipment, right?”
At Moon Hyunah’s words, Han Yuhyun gave the faintest nod.
[Second choice rights after Korea. Up to twenty percent, limited to equipment. We finalized the contract last night with officials from the American Hunter Association who visited as mourners.]
In exchange for cooperation on guaranteeing the rights of nonhuman races and on special facilities related to Awakened education, they had agreed to sell part of Chatterbox’s equipment to the United States. Most of the equipment Chatterbox owned ranged from S-Rank to SS-Rank. In other words, they had essentially made a large-scale military arms deal in secret. Any country would normally be strict about exporting high-ranking equipment, but Chatterbox’s equipment had no fully disclosed official inventory to begin with, and the vault itself had been in America. That made the deal possible.
[The guarantee for the contract was based on my brother’s will.]
[I agreed to it!]
Park Yerim cut in from one corner of the screen.
Han Yujin’s death had not yet been legally processed, but for the sake of smooth follow-up arrangements, his will had been opened. The contents were revealed in the presence of a small number of related parties from Haeyeon and Dodam, including Han Yuhyun and Park Yerim, and most of the people gathered there were thrown into considerable confusion.
The reason was simple. Among the list of heirs Han Yujin had named, Han Yuhyun’s name was nowhere to be found.
More precisely, the will hardly mentioned Han Yuhyun at all.
Han Yuhyun and Park Yerim understood the reason at once. If Han Yujin had truly died, then by the time the will was opened, Han Yuhyun would no longer exist either. There was no need to leave a will for the younger brother who would follow him in death.
But for people who did not know the circumstances behind it, the omission was not merely puzzling. It was suspicious. Some even asked whether someone had swapped out the will. Only after Han Yuhyun said, in so many words, that this was something he and his brother had discussed did the room finally settle down.
[According to Mister’s will, Chatterbox’s equipment is basically mine too.]
“That’s true.”
Moon Hyunah smiled faintly and nodded.
Han Yujin had left most of his estate to Park Yerim and the three children, Hangyeol, Han Seol, and Han Byeol, and named Moon Hyunah as their guardian. As for Dodam Breeding Facility, he had asked that it be maintained under the existing system as much as possible until the Monster Mounts reached the end of their lives. The Dodam building, excluding the café, was left to Yu Myungwoo and Noah. The café was Do Hamin’s share. Besides that, he had left various things to the people he was close to.
To Chief Song Taewon, he had left various pieces of equipment, including S-Rank wire, along with fifty billion won under the condition that he purchase a detached house with a yard in Song Taewon’s name and actually live there. Han Yujin had added a note telling him to please move, if only for Little Song’s sake. He had written that it was an inheritance meant for Little Song as well.
To Seong Hyunjae, he had written that he would return the red earring he had received as a gift and the Silekia coat. Since Seong Hyunjae already had everything, surely he did not need an inheritance too, Han Yujin had written, and left him the cultivator and gardening set, including a straw hat, that he had prepared as that year’s birthday present. He had also added that Chirp seemed to like his house quite a bit, so he was leaving Chirp in his care, and asked him to pay a little attention to Yerim, Peace, and the three children as well.
“Since the death hasn’t been registered, the will won’t be formally executed until three years from now, but it’s enough as a guarantee.”
[It’s also what my brother wanted. He had planned to give the Hunters who came to help during that wager the equipment they chose as compensation.]
What would be the point of hoarding piles of equipment no one even used? Han Yujin had also been thinking of dividing it up and selling it to various countries in reasonable portions. Even if this incident had not happened, they had already planned to establish a Haeyeon branch in America, so even if Han Yujin had been here, he likely would have offered similar preferential treatment and taken what he needed in exchange.
[Since there’s no need to execute the will yet, Mister Song refused to accept his inheritance too! I kept poking at him because Mister would definitely have wanted to give it to him right away, but he wouldn’t budge! The only thing he barely agreed to keep was the gauntlets he’d already been using.]
“That sounds like Director Song. People don’t change overnight. Still, it looks like he’s at least starting to take what he should.”
“I’ll take our Guildmaster’s birthday present on his actual birthday. Has Chirp come back?”
At Kang Soyeong’s question, Park Yerim frowned slightly and shook her head.
[No. He disappears for days all the time, so I thought this was just another one of those times… but I’m starting to wonder if maybe he went looking for Mister. You know how it is. Chirp could go anywhere. Even outside our world.]
“He was strange, no question about it. I guess he really wasn’t an ordinary baby monster. It would be a relief if he were with hyung-nim, though.”
“Maybe he’s perched on our Guildmaster’s head right now. He liked that spot.”
“He liked Dal’s head too.”
Moon Hyunah spoke with a quiet laugh. Chirp looked like a weak baby monster, but somehow, she did not feel as though he would be in danger.
“Just looking at their rescue capabilities, there’s no way other countries wouldn’t want to take the goblins. Under normal circumstances, though, they would’ve spent a long time feeling each other out. They would’ve wanted to give as few rights as possible.”
In the end, goblins were not human. They had originally been objects, too. Any country that accepted them would most likely have tried to impose this restriction and that, unlike with its own citizens. They would have negotiated as much as they could, trying to secure the most advantageous terms possible. In fact, after the goblins were revealed to the world, various conversations had already been taking place beneath the surface.
But once the United States and several other countries stepped forward, the rope in that tug-of-war snapped.
Moon Hyunah tilted her head slightly to one side.
“The best move is to push hard enough that they don’t have time to weigh all their options. When people are in a hurry, they can’t stop and calculate. Haeyeon Guildmaster, you’ll need to manage your image well for a while.”
[Missing my brother is sincere, so there’s no need to worry.]
The related discussion continued a little longer, and then the video call ended.
Still perched on the edge of the desk, Moon Hyunah looked down at Kang Soyeong.
“How’s the position treating you?”
“Don’t even ask, unnie. There are truckloads of people itching to pick a fight with me.”
Kang Soyeong pouted as she complained.
“It’s a little better because I’ve got Britain behind me, at least.”
If Kang Soyeong had taken the position of acting Sesung Guildmaster without any particular achievement to her name, the backlash would have been severe. She was young, and she was A-Rank. There certainly would have been dissatisfaction within the guild, but the chaos outside would have been far worse. Even people with no real connection to the matter would have raised a fuss, claiming that her age, her gender, her experience, her rank, and who knew what else all proved Kang Soyeong had no business sitting in that position.
But the Kang Soyeong of now was the Dragon Knight who had saved Britain. If one asked a British citizen which Hunter they loved most, ninety-nine out of a hundred would give her name. No one could easily claim that Kang Soyeong, who had ridden an S-Rank black dragon and performed beyond even most S-Rank Hunters, lacked the qualifications to act as guildmaster.
“At least the articles themselves are fine. The comments are probably saying I only got lucky because I found an S-Rank dragon, and without Comet I’m just an ordinary A-Rank, though.”
“Don’t read that stuff. No need to care about it.”
“I don’t. I don’t read them, but I can guess what they say anyway. And it only annoys me a little. Whatever they say, I have a dragon!”
Kang Soyeong threw both arms high into the air as she shouted.
“That’s right,” Moon Hyunah said with a laugh.
Just then, there was a knock, and Evelyn entered. Moon Hyunah gave a small shrug.
“As scheduled, the articles will continue pouring out,” Evelyn said. “The news and current affairs programs will also keep treating it as an important issue.”
At Evelyn’s words, Moon Hyunah gave her a suspicious look.
“The results are excellent, and I’m grateful, but I didn’t know you had influence over Korean media too. America would’ve made sense, but Korea?”
The person who had pulled the reins on domestic media for this incident was none other than Evelyn. Haeyeon and Breaker also had a certain degree of influence, of course. But not as much as Sesung. Ordinarily, Sesung would have taken the lead, but the problem was the absence of its guildmaster, Seong Hyunjae. Kang Soyeong had become acting guildmaster, but Sesung was enormous, and it would be difficult for her to immediately handle normal guildmaster duties in full.
The person who had stepped into that empty space was none other than Evelyn. Claiming she had some personal connections, Evelyn had helped Haeyeon and Breaker guide the media in their favor.
“As I said, it was a personal contingency plan.”
“…That’s exactly what I’m asking. Why would you need a personal contingency plan? If it weren’t for an exception like this, Sesung should’ve been enough. Which means you planned to use it for personal reasons eventually.”
It left a bad taste in her mouth.
Only a few months ago, Evelyn’s main base of activity had been the United States. So why go out of her way to prepare this?
At Moon Hyunah’s words, Evelyn lifted the corners of her lips slightly.
“To knock on an old nest.”
“What?”
“A fool sitting on rotten eggs and refusing to leave needs to be blown out of it. But now it looks as if that won’t be necessary, so I used it here instead.”
Moon Hyunah’s expression grew even more wary. If Kang Soyeong had not been acting guildmaster, she would have slipped out by now, she muttered under her breath.
“More importantly, be careful of Marisa Moore.”
“Ah. Uh.”
“She seems to have taken a deep interest in you.”
“Well, she has come to see me before. Said something about an heir and all that.”
“She is far more dangerous than she appears.”
“I can handle it.”
“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying.”
The air went cold in an instant.
The two S-Ranks’ gazes clashed head-on. Both of them were smiling, but neither pair of eyes held any warmth.
Kang Soyeong wanted to run.
At this moment, and only at this moment, she missed the Guildmaster.
[Goblins Become Citizens of the Republic of Korea!]
[Official Approval Granted for Nonhuman Race and Awakener Education Facilities]
One day before Han Yujin’s birthday, the bill related to nonhuman races was rushed through emergency processing. On the basis of the goblins’ performance in Britain, their recognition as citizens was deemed deeply connected to national security, and the matter was fast-tracked. It was the first case in which a nonhuman race had been accepted not as individual persons, but as a people in and of themselves.
– Goblins are obviously Korean.
– If my cat awakens, gets a skill, and turns human, will she be recognized as a person too? She’s already a genius.
– Will the Awakener school count as a special admissions track for college, or a regular one?
└ If your rank is high, there’s already special admissions, apparently.
– My kid’s Awakening rank is low. If they go to the Awakener school, will they get extra points for college admissions?
– Are they not going to open the goblin village? I want to visit. It sounds fun.
└ They could probably develop it as a tourist spot.
– But is it okay to recognize them as people this easily? Giving them the exact same rights is kind of too much.
└ Better than letting another country take them.
└ A goblin is probably more human than you are.
– So can people marry goblins now?
– Are there any nine-tailed foxes or anything besides goblins?
└ Since goblins exist, who knows. Maybe mermaids too.
Once everything seemed to be resolving smoothly, the loud, heated atmosphere quickly began to calm. In its place, more and more people started talking about the practical benefits and drawbacks of the new changes. Late protests against nonhuman races did break out, but they failed to attract much attention.
That night, just after midnight.
“What is that?”
“Huh, over there too!”
[Happy birthday to our beloved Director Han Yujin! From your partner♡]
Starting with the outer wall of the Sesung Guild building, birthday messages for Han Yujin began appearing across all kinds of buildings and large billboards. It was not only happening in Korea. Similar displays appeared overseas as well. In countries where it was still evening, fireworks were set off.
“If it were the Guildmaster, he would’ve done something even more ridiculous, but please let this much slide. I was short on time, you know.”
I should at least take care of Director Han’s birthday on the Guildmaster’s behalf.
As Kang Soyeong looked at the result of the very first task she had pushed through after becoming acting guildmaster, she smiled in deep satisfaction.
“I should’ve made the wording more outrageous. The design is too plain, too. It’s so hard to keep up with the Guildmaster. If he were here, at least one plane would’ve exploded by now.”
Or part of the Sesung Guild building would have been blown away.
She missed those commotions, just a little.
“Daddy’s birthday!”
Surrounded by birthday party decorations, Han Byeol bounced up and down as she shouted.
The guest of honor was not there.
Still, the birthday party went on. Fairy Dragonkin flew through the room holding balloons. One by one, they stuck and hung the decorations along the walls themselves.
“…I thought Mister would come back for his birthday.”
Park Yerim murmured the words softly, too quietly for anyone to hear.
She had expected him to appear on his birthday with a ta-da. She had not been able to help expecting it.
But there had been no news at all from Han Yujin. Seong Hyunjae had not appeared either, and neither had Chirp. Yu Myungwoo was still utterly unreachable as well. Even when they entered dungeons, they could not meet Rookie or Young Chaos.
Han Yujin was absent, but Han Yuhyun had gotten up early that morning and made seaweed soup, then cooked red bean rice. Even now, he was preparing the food for the birthday table.
Park Yerim smoothed out her clouded expression and blew air into a balloon. Han Seol untangled Han Byeol, who had gotten herself wrapped in shiny garland, and Hangyeol grabbed the garland and flew up.
“Byeol! Don’t draw on the sofa!”
“It’s decoration. Sparkly stars.”
Insisting that it was not scribbling but decoration, Han Byeol, together with Han Seol, drew crooked stars and hearts across the sofa, the table, the walls, and the floor. Park Yerim tried to stop them, then ended up simply laughing.
“…I wrote Daddy a birthday card.”
Hangyeol, who had finished decorating the ceiling and turned back into human form, spoke in a small voice. Park Yerim patted him gently.
“Mister will be back soon. Gyeol, you can hold onto it and give it to him then.”
“…Okay.”
Unlike Han Seol and Han Byeol, Hangyeol was taking Han Yujin’s absence the hardest. Even so, he was trying not to cry or complain.
‘If only Sesung Mister were here, it might’ve been a little better.’
Looking at Hangyeol, who only kept holding everything in, Park Yerim swallowed a sigh. With Seong Hyunjae, he would have been able to get angry, snap, and vent his feelings. But in front of Park Yerim and Han Yuhyun, as well as the others, he kept trying too hard to be quiet and good.
The birthday table was set among the decorations. Candles were placed on a large cake. They planned to celebrate with family at lunch, and then hold a party at a hotel in the evening. The children, and even Peace, wore pointy birthday hats.
“Pictures first!”
Park Yerim set up the camera and quickly joined the children. Click. A commemorative photograph was taken. Of course, they recorded videos too. They filmed everything carefully, starting from the children putting up decorations, so they could show it all to Han Yujin later.
They sang the birthday song, clapped, and set off party poppers too.
“Cake, cake!”
“Blow out the candles first. Hey, Han Yuhyun. If Mister isn’t here, you have to do it for him. Make a wish.”
Han Yuhyun nodded, then blew out the candles.
There was only one wish.
For his brother to return.
Everyone gathered there, including the monsters, wished the same thing.
“I don’t know where Mister is, but he should at least be getting happy birthday wishes. Byeol, wait! Wait!”
Park Yerim spoke while cutting the cake and handing slices out on plates. After celebrating the birthday together, Hangyeol seemed to feel considerably better, and he was smiling with his younger siblings. Of course, Han Byeol was the most excited of all. She even asked, When is Byeol’s birthday?
“Kyaaa! Kyuuu!”
By evening, Han Byeol’s excitement reached its peak.
Sparkling chandeliers. Gorgeous decorations. A huge, huge cake, and tables packed full of food. People smiled as they watched Han Byeol run around in delight. Shishio dabbed at his tears with a handkerchief.
“On top of the cake! I want to go up there!”
“No.”
Han Yuhyun caught Han Byeol and lifted her up as she repeatedly tried to charge toward the cake. At the sight of the little child flailing, Moon Hyunah laughed and called her a troublemaker.
It was the birthday party of a dead man, but the atmosphere was warm. Everyone had so many stories they wanted to share. Every word was threaded with longing.
Han Yuhyun’s flame lit the candles on the cake. This time, Han Byeol declared that she wanted to blow them out, and Park Yerim flew up with all three children in her arms. The flames flickered at the very top edge of the towering cake.
Han Yuhyun looked up at the candles.
It was a cake for his brother, but his brother was not here.
Han Yuhyun was moving for the sake of the work Han Yujin had entrusted to him. But his heart remained cold and hardened.
“One, two, three!”
At Park Yerim’s signal, the three children blew out the candles at the same time. The flames, which had been swaying fiercely, went out. The few that had not been completely extinguished were quietly snuffed by Han Yuhyun.
Applause rang out from every side.
The children laughed.
And in that instant—
“…!”
Han Yuhyun abruptly turned around.
Beyond the wide windows, he could see the night-darkened sky.
Something white seemed to have brushed past his eyes.
Han Yuhyun’s lips moved unconsciously.
“…Happy birthday, hyung.”
That was what Han Yuhyun said.
His voice blended into the others’ voices wishing Han Yujin a happy birthday. Fireworks burst. Han Yujin, as well as the children, received piles of gifts.
And then time began to flow again.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt