The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 141

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with Song – Episode 141
Dante Brown, one of the heroes who ended Ragnarok.
No.
One of the Ragnarok survivors.
Since childhood, he had carried the weight of countless gazes upon his shoulders.
Sometimes as a political tool, within the Guild as a heroic mascot.
And now, stripped of his rank one title by two Korean Hunters, his usefulness was being questioned.
He, who evaluated the worth of everything, surely understood his own value well.
I could understand what Jung Hwan-jae was saying.
By Hanttae’s standards, he was someone who could never be viewed favorably, but he shouldn’t be discarded after being used like this.
“You’re right—Dante really doesn’t suit wearing a crown.”
At my composed words, Dante turned his head.
“Those who wear crowns understand fear.”
It takes considerable courage to relinquish what one possesses. And those who have grasped it once never wish to let go.
Yet Dante had set aside all the glory that could have been given to him and focused solely on his goal.
“Hunter Dante, you’re not thinking of leaving Nike while you have the chance, are you?”
Though his tone was composed, Jung Hwan-jae’s words struck a nerve, and Dante sighed.
Nike was the world’s top Guild, but it carried just as much criticism.
Usually, arrows of blame were directed not at individual Hunters, but at Nike as a whole, and most of all at Dante.
Jung Hwan-jae spoke plainly.
“Don’t think you can brazenly retire alone and do whatever you please. Not until I retire or die.”
“Since I won’t let Senior Jung Hwan die, you’ll have to retire along with me.”
When I added my own jab, Dante groaned.
“But I’ve troubled many people. Including Rosalind Brown.”
He couldn’t withdraw bearing a shameful name like this.
Since surviving Ragnarok, he had only been used. I couldn’t allow him to continue being exploited, fighting threats without anyone in his corner.
And while he was a good Hunter with conviction, he was not a good family member.
I couldn’t accept him trying to evade responsibility for how harshly he had treated Rosalind Brown all this time.
How could retirement be any compensation to Rosalind Brown?
“At the very least, shouldn’t you consult with your family first?”
“Family?”
“Yes.”
Because his worth had been constantly evaluated, he had begun applying the same standards to his surviving family that had been applied to him.
This time, as if touching upon something he truly wished to avoid, he groaned once more.
“You Koreans are truly troublesome.”
Jung Hwan-jae and I laughed.
Having said this much, he wouldn’t be easily pushed around at Nike.
The investigation into the Staff murders had been conducted in secret because there was a possibility they would catch wind of it and hide.
But once they were caught, things would change. It wouldn’t be impossible to solidify Dante’s position by revealing those results.
“And I find it easier to deal with you than with the older people at Nike.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s words drove the wedge deeper, and Dante was left reeling.
“Certainly, dealing with those people is exhausting.”
“And you’re the one who must stand at the front and shield them from that exhaustion. I represent Hanttae, not Nike. I’m not obligated to consider the preferences of Nike’s upper echelon, am I?”
Everyone in the room knew that Jung Hwan-jae rarely spoke with such measured deliberation and at such length.
“But at this moment, I can protect you outside of Nike, yet inside it—I’m afraid I cannot say the same.”
“Is your position truly this precarious simply because you’re not physically present within Nike and are traveling elsewhere?”
“It did become something of a pretext.”
But ultimately, he said, the real problem lay elsewhere.
Nike had gathered talented individuals from across the globe to become the strongest Guild.
This act itself was not the issue.
The problem was that they frequently poached talented hunters who were actively working at other Guilds and treated them as if they belonged to Nike.
“Several Hanttae Guild members went to Nike as well.”
“Yes, until now, that hasn’t been much of a problem.”
Because Nike was ultimately the top-tier Guild, regardless of how they conducted themselves or their reasons, such actions were quietly swept under the rug.
‘Isn’t it natural that everyone wants to join the top Guild? Those hunters also broke their loyalty, so why is only Nike being criticized?’
‘It’s just a job change, isn’t it?’
This atmosphere had become pervasive.
In truth, it made sense. Blaming hunters for switching Guilds for better conditions and blaming the Guild that offered those conditions was illogical.
“I presented all the Hanttae members that Dante brought over with conditions they could accept. If the terms had been truly unreasonable, I would have opposed it.”
“After all, no Guild can compete with Nike in terms of capital or what they’ve accumulated so far.”
Though his words could have sounded like he was belittling Hanttae, Jung Hwan-jae’s expression didn’t waver.
He was essentially admitting that he’d taken Hanttae’s people with money.
[Liri: That’s pretty cool.]
‘This goes beyond cool. It’s downright chilling.’
If it were me, I’d have thrown a fit not just about taking our Guild members, but about striking at Hanttae itself.
[Liri: I don’t understand it either, but I was trying to present some justification for it.]
[Liri: Guild Masters really do have something strange about them.]
‘If the reason I can’t understand those people is because I’m not a Guild Master, then I can accept that to some degree.’
While Dante and Jung Hwan-jae engaged in their subtle battle of wills, I passed the time chatting idly with Liri.
When Jung Hwan-jae calmly countered even Dante’s provocative remarks without rising to the bait, Dante seemed to give up, and his next words came forth.
“But I heard that some of the Guild members I didn’t bring here were told that if they came to this place, they could join Dante’s team.”
“Nike doesn’t operate in teams, though.”
“Exactly. I only found out later, but those people insist they heard that story.”
However, since no such clause was explicitly written into the contract, it created no legal problems.
Others had spread the word, yet Dante became the liar, and those within the Guild who viewed him negatively multiplied exponentially.
“I can barely defend myself by saying I’m not abandoning the Guild, and then I go traveling overseas, so what can I do?”
“If it were me, I’d stay with the Guild. No matter what I wanted to do.”
“I agree.”
Jung Hwan-jae accepted my interjection without surprise.
He gave a short nod.
“If I could retire in the process, I wouldn’t say that’s a bad outcome either. I’m sick of Dungeons and Hunters at this point.”
Dante admitted cleanly, as if he had nothing left to hide.
He still had no intention of forming a team, and even if responsibility fell back on him, it wasn’t as though the contract had left no victims in its wake.
“I do feel a sense of responsibility.”
“And under Nike’s name, I won’t be able to move freely either.”
“I won’t deny what Ye-ah said. When I first came to Nike, I didn’t know this place would shackle me.”
Nike had taken him in after he survived Ragnarok, made him stronger through that, and now he stood here because of it.
I have no intention whatsoever of destroying Nike for him or offering some kind of help.
My own nose is three feet long—what can I do?
But our Guild Master standing beside me is wearing an expression that shows he’s concerned, so here we are.
[Liri: Right now, Hunter Jung Hwan, you’re not making any expression at all.]
‘Liri doesn’t know. This is a face of someone deeply worried and anxious right now.’
[Liri: When did you two get close enough to read each other like that?]
‘We have.’
“Even if we can’t be on the same team, couldn’t we enter the same Dungeon clearing?”
This wasn’t coming from Dante, but from the people who had joined Nike admiring Jung Hwan-jae and Dante, and I was concerned about them.
“Huh?”
I deliberately ignored Dante’s bewildered expression and continued.
“What’s so special about a team? We’re just running Dungeons together.”
Jung Hwan-jae nodded as if in agreement.
“Take those people and enter a Dungeon.”
“…Hunter Jung Hwan, it seems you’re looking for something.”
Dante shook his head with an expression that said, “I knew it.”
Jung Hwan-jae continued matter-of-factly, as if he had no intention of denying it.
“There’s someone we can use while Nike is vacant. Otherwise, Hunter Dante will come under suspicion, so go somewhere safe.”
“Who?”
Jung Hwan-jae spoke coldly.
“Hunter Rekka.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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