A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 126
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 126: Today’s Fortune (2)
“It’s, it’s nice to meet you.”
At that awkward greeting, Ren neatly gathered the sleeves of her yukata and bowed her head in the same manner.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Amagi.”
“You, you know who I am.”
“Of course.”
Ren smiled faintly.
“I heard a lot about you from Hayato. That you enjoy wearing brooches.”
There was indeed a brooch attached to the woman’s chest. The woman tucked her hair behind her ear and moved her lips.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Amagi Hayato’s aunt…”
Amagi Hayato.
I recognized the owner of that name and slowly blinked my eyes.
‘So it’s that person.’
— Focus. You never know when or where those guys might appear.
— …! But, there was nothing there just a moment ago…
The tank from Hanako Guild, whom I had saved from being pierced by the yeti’s ice.
‘I saved him once, but couldn’t save him twice…’
The middle-aged woman before me was his surviving family member.
“Hayato doesn’t have either of his parents… He lived with me.”
“You really raised him well.”
“Th, thank you.”
Ren spoke quietly as if she already knew. Hayato’s aunt seemed a bit burdened by facing and conversing with an S-rank Hunter who was like the nation’s poster child, unable to make eye contact.
“There’s one thing I wanted to ask you about, so I came.”
Even so, when she said this, she looked straight at Ren.
“…Was Hayato’s end honorable?”
It was a tone filled with suppressed emotions. A question asked while holding back sorrow and forcing herself to inquire.
“My nephew always said his dream was to die honorably. Having to watch a child dare to say that death was his dream tore my heart apart every day, but if the path he chose was that of a Hunter…”
“….”
“I thought that too was fate.”
She said that much and then bowed her head deeply again.
“I know that Hayato was murdered. There probably wouldn’t be any honor in that, but just in case… I wondered if there were facts I hadn’t heard…”
No answer came from Ren. The woman looked as if she felt she had said something unnecessary. Embarrassment settled in, thinking she might have wasted the precious time of an S-rank Hunter.
“Yes.”
However, a firm answer soon came back.
“…?”
“It would have been honorable.”
His expression, which had been downcast throughout, briefly reflected the same confidence as before.
‘He seems… certain.’
It was impossible to know what kind of battle the four Hanako Guild members had died in.
Nakao Yuzuki was still in a state of panic, and it would take time to get testimony from her.
‘Even so…’
Ren seemed to know that this was the only comfort he could offer.
“Amagi Hayato is an excellent A-rank Tank. A Tank’s role is always to protect colleagues at the front of the team, and he has always faithfully performed that role.”
“….”
“That day too, Hayato would have fought honorably as a Tank.”
The Guild Leader of Hanako Guild finished his statement. The middle-aged woman looked slightly surprised, as if she hadn’t expected to hear such words.
“—I see.”
However, a faint smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.
“Thank you… for saying that.”
Of course, she would still be troubled. Her nephew, whom she had raised like her own child, had been murdered, and the perpetrator’s identity was still unknown…
But if even a little of the burden on his heart had been lifted, then Ren’s words had value just for that alone.
“Take care.”
Ren politely bowed in greeting. Hayato’s aunt bowed repeatedly and disappeared with quick steps.
“I’m sorry. We took a moment to talk.”
“Not at all. I’m glad the conversation seemed to end well.”
Seeing that he remembered the families of guild members, he must have been a good leader before Fox Mask appeared…
“I wish she would resent me instead… How much the other bereaved families must blame themselves for allowing the hunter work. It doesn’t sit well with me.”
Ren clenched his fist tightly. His eyes changed.
“Ugh…”
His clenched fist trembled. Strong hatred could be read in the hunter’s eyes as he gritted his teeth.
Hatred toward Fox Mask.
No matter how common death is in this industry, this incident is different. It’s a case with clear perpetrators and victims.
While feeling guilt, Ren had already moved on to the next stage. What he could do for his dead colleagues…
The conclusion was simple. Revenge. That’s all.
“Do you want to catch the fox?”
I asked.
“Of course.”
Ren answered without a moment’s hesitation. I rummaged inside my sleeve.
“I said I had something to tell you.”
“…”
“There’s something I found out. Would you like to hear it? It won’t be a waste of time.”
“…I’ll listen to whatever it is.”
What I pulled out was a cut-out newspaper clipping.
* * *
We sat at an outdoor table in a secluded spot.
Swoosh.
I spread out the newspaper clipping on the table.
“What is this?”
“You could call it traces of my effort…”
The newspaper written in Japanese had highlighter marks here and there. And underneath, Korean written in my handwriting was densely packed.
| Did I not help you with the Chinese characters? |
“Thanks to the Mountain Lord, I finished a bit earlier…”
Of course, it was confusing since he read them in Korean style rather than Japanese style.
I waved my hand and spoke to Ren.
“I started reading it just in case, and the more I read, the more interesting points I found.”
I placed the materials about the Fox Mask incident that I received from Jung Su-jin yesterday next to the newspaper clipping.
“Do you see it?”
My fingertip alternately pointed to a corner of the newspaper and the materials.
[20XX.11.18]
Today’s Fortune (៸៸᳐>⩊<៸៸᳐)♪
1st Aquarius
2nd Cancer
3rd Gemini
4th Libra
5th Scorpio
.
.
.
[Breaking News] Fujisan Guild, A-rank Hunter Kato Ichiro dead… Cause of death revealed as murder, shocking
– 20XX.11.18 2:39 PM
A-rank Hunter Kato Ichiro of Fujisan Guild, who had drawn attention for his outstanding dungeon conquest abilities, was found dead.
The shocking point is that the location where he died was not a dungeon or dungeon break site, but the alley in front of his house. In the CCTV confirmed during the investigation of the incident…(continued below)
└ He was truly a complete A-rank. I express my deep condolences
└ Who on earth could have? I can’t believe it…
└ I remember the moment he saved my younger sibling. I’m shedding tears even though I’m on the subway.
I spoke in a dry tone.
“This is the horoscope and article from the day Kato Ichiro, the first victim, died.”
Today’s horoscope. It was a segment frequently covered on Japan’s morning broadcasts as well.
A kind of light entertainment section that tells the day’s fortune based on the zodiac’s 12 constellations. I think they called it Ohaasa?
“…?”
Ren had an expression showing he couldn’t grasp what connection this had to the current case.
“And this is the horoscope from the days when the second and third victims occurred.”
[20XX.11.25]
Today’s Horoscope (⌯•ω<⌯)ಣ
1st Place Aquarius
2nd Place Capricorn
3rd Place Leo
4th Place Scorpio
5th Place Gemini
.
.
.
[20XX.12.08]
Today’s Horoscope ૮₍ *•͈ ꇴ •͈* ₎ა
1st Place Aquarius
2nd Place Sagittarius
3rd Place Pisces
4th Place Cancer
5th Place Aries
.
.
.
Ren’s expression hardened instantly after reading that.
“Do you see the pattern?”
“…”
“Aquarius is in first place for all of them.”
That’s right, on the days when victims of Fox Mask occurred, Aquarius was always in first place in the daily horoscope.
‘He’s not just any ordinary madman.’
To choose the day to kill someone based on just a single daily horoscope…
Ha.
‘Crazy bastard.’
I let out an incredulous snort just like when I first discovered this fact.
“However, I’m not making such a fuss just because I figured out the murderer’s birth constellation.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
It seemed he had anticipated this as well.
“We can use this horoscope to predict when the next incident will occur.”
“That’s correct.”
I unfolded another newspaper clipping.
“But what I discovered isn’t limited to this. Just being able to predict the date doesn’t mean we can catch the guy.”
★ 20XX Year! ★
「 Hunter Popularity Poll Results – Grand Announcement! 」
.
.
2nd Hanasaki Ren
3rd Sasaki Neru
4th Minamoto Yukie
.
.
7th Kato Ichiro
.
“It’s the victim list.”
It was the results of a Hunter popularity poll conducted by some magazine company.
What was chilling was that the names of the victims written in the materials I received from Jung Su-jin were listed exactly as they appeared in the top rankings here.
‘Even if they say it’s darkest under the lamp, this is excessive.’
The evidence obtained from the newspaper was more than I had expected. No one would have anticipated that the suspect in the serial murder case would proceed with their work based on just a single newspaper like this.
‘Though I stumbled upon it by chance too.’
No, perhaps it was deliberately left out in the open for all to see… I continued speaking.
“Since they targeted Ren, who’s ranked 2nd, just a few days ago, combining this pattern makes the conclusion easy to reach.”
Ren gripped the newspaper as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Fox Mask is…”
“Yes. An Aquarius, a so-called ‘attention seeker’ young man.”
It was a term I learned from Baek Kyul. What else could it be when they only target popular Hunters every time?
I sighed and crossed my arms.
“On the day when his zodiac sign ranks 1st in today’s horoscope again, he’ll target another popular Japanese Awakened.”
“…”
“And that target will be the remaining person on the ranking list.”
Hanasaki Ren let out a groan.
“1st place, Sakura Mei…”
★ 20XX Year! ★
「 Hunter Popularity Poll Results Grand Announcement! 」
1st Sakura Mei
.
.
That trivial survey written in the corner of the newspaper had sentenced the next victim.
* * *
However, when Aquarius’s lucky day would come was still unknown.
“—For this reason, it looks like our schedule will be extended.”
I sat in the accommodation lounge talking with Jung Su-jin.
“Understood. I’ll revise the schedule including the departure flight ticket reservations.”
Jung Su-jin organized everything I had told her in detail on her tablet PC.
‘I still can’t return to Korea.’
I was already too deeply entangled in this case to pull out now. I had even collected evidence with my own hands.
‘There’s nothing to gain by leaving like this.’
No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem like I’d receive the Super Regeneration Potion just for the help I’d provided so far. The Management Bureau would probably make excuses like “So did you catch the perpetrator?” and refuse to give it to me.
Rather than let it all go to waste, it was better to keep trying until I got something.
However, there was one thing that bothered me…
“This will delay Jung Su-jin’s return schedule too… I feel so sorry about that.”
Jung Su-jin shook her head at my concern.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Really? You must be very busy with Association work.”
“That’s exactly why it’s even more fine.”
She held up her thumb.
“Thanks to this, I’m enjoying a fulfilling vacation. This is an opportunity that won’t come again in my lifetime.”
Ah.
‘No wonder her face seemed to have a glow to it.’
For office workers, vacation really was a cure-all. No matter how much of a workaholic someone was, rest was still necessary.
“That’s a relief.”
I smiled slightly and took a sip of tea. Then I looked outside the window for a moment.
‘So now… all that’s left is to wait.’
To turn the killer’s lucky day into an unlucky one. It was time to wait for a while.
One week later.
News appeared in the newspaper that Aquarius had once again claimed first place in today’s horoscope.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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