Chapter 35: Monster Handling (3)

After some commotion subsided, Yeom Haneul seemed to have accomplished her purpose for coming to the monster processing center.

“A-Are you all done now?”

Manager Jang asked Yeom Haneul, rubbing her hands.

“I’m all done… Suhyeon-ssi? Don’t you need to process your monsters too, Suhyeon-ssi? Hand them over to this person.”

“Ah. Shall I?”

“Yes?! No, no matter what…!”

Manager Jang was momentarily startled and looked back at Yeom Haneul.

She was a capable person in her own right.

Manager Jang personally handles six A-rank hunters.

In the monster processing industry, where even contracting one A-rank hunter is considered a sign of good skills, the fact that she has been under long-term contracts with six A-rank hunters for more than five years meant that her skills were superior to others.

Having built such a brilliant career, Manager Jang was about to object to Yeom Haneul’s sudden request to handle the monster processing of an unknown D-rank hunter, but.

“…Yes. That’s right. I should do it. I should. Haha!”

The woman in front of her, Yeom Haneul, was a woman who would soon become an S-rank.

Six A-ranks? No, even contracting half of the A-ranks for five years was less than a temporary contract with an S-rank.

The decision was quick.

The man was just a D-rank hunter. He probably brought monsters that matched his level.

Manager Jang thought she would just finish it quickly.

“Yes. The… Han Suhyeon-ssi? Where did you bring the monster corpses? Cargo truck? Top truck? Dump truck? Wing body?”

Manager Jang mentioned the types of trucks that hunters usually use to carry monster corpses.

Wealthy guilds sometimes brought them in airplanes, but the man in front of her didn’t seem to be at that level.

But Han Suhyeon didn’t answer the question and tapped the ground he was standing on.

“Should I bring them here?”

“…? No. There are separate areas. Follow me.”

Manager Jang was a little puzzled by his overly light reaction and guided them.

Judging by that reaction, he didn’t seem to have brought many monster corpses.

At most, he probably carried a few monsters in his own car.

“Here it is. Park your car here and unload the monster corpses.”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

“…?”

Manager Jang tilted her head, looking at him standing still.

Why is he just standing there? Instead of just standing there, he should hurry to the parking lot and bring the car loaded with monster corpses…!

Snap!

“Huaaaagh…!”

Manager Jang was startled by the sudden appearance of a Dire Wolf corpse in the empty air.

What is it, what is it? Did a gate backflow occur here? No, that can’t be.

Manager Jang, who thought she should immediately call the security hunters belonging to the monster processing center and request support from the Hunter Association, paused for a moment, realizing that the surroundings were surprisingly quiet.

“Wow… That’s Inventory… I saw it on iTube, but it’s really an amazing skill.”

“Unnie saw Suhyeon-ssi’s true value first and made a recruitment offer…? As expected of unnie…”

“… Huh? Th-That’s not really why… Um. Well. Right? I’m a bit amazing, aren’t I?”

“Ah, brother-in-law! Are you really not thinking of joining our party?”

“Yes. I’m not, so please be quiet.”

The only sounds that could be heard were the conversations between the Flame of Upheaval party and Han Suhyeon.

Lost in confusion, Manager Jang looked around.

And she found Han Suhyeon, who was casually snapping his fingers with one hand in his pocket.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Every time a cheerful sound rang from his hand, the number of Dire Wolf corpses increased one by one.

“… It’s annoying to take them out one by one.”

Han Suhyeon spread his hands, and countless Dire Wolf corpses appeared, piling up into a mountain of Dire Wolves.

“I wish they would pile up this much meat at the boshintang restaurant.”

Han Suhyeon, who casually uttered words that could bankrupt all the boshintang restaurants in the country in a day, kicked the Dire Wolf corpses and looked at Manager Jang.

“I brought them, anyway. Can you sell these?”

Manager Jang, who witnessed a power that could completely overturn the logistics industry.

“Of course! There’s no place like us! Trust us!”

She instantly changed her stance and became cooperative with Han Suhyeon.

I felt like she was being a bit rude and looking down on me, which made me want to say “f*ck off,” but Manager Jang quickly changed her stance.

I didn’t think badly of this type of person.

These people prioritize their own interests above all else, so as long as their mutual interests align, they can be exploited to the bone.

They also have the advantage of cowering in the face of overwhelming fear.

If she tried to stab me in the back even once, like Manager Eun…

Well, she’d be ‘f*cked’.

I gave Manager Eun one chance because I thought she might be useful someday.

But Manager Jang was different.

There were plenty of other traders, guilds, and associations that could be replaced.

Still, she was now looking at me and being cooperative, so I was going to let it go for now.

Manager Jang, who was observing one of the Dire Wolves pulled from the mountain of corpses, frowned and asked me.

“The… Han Suhyeon-ssi? Where did you catch this Dire Wolf? And who caught it?”

“…? It’s an E-rank monster, so of course I caught it in an E-rank gate. I’m the one who caught it.”

“…”

Manager Jang’s frown deepened as she turned her head back to the Dire Wolf.

Manager Jang brought a sharp knife from somewhere and dissected the Dire Wolf.

In the blink of an eye, the Dire Wolf’s skin, flesh, claws, and magic core were separated.

After slowly observing them, Manager Jang pulled out another corpse from the Dire Wolf’s tomb.

When the series of actions was repeated about five times, Manager Jang muttered blankly.

“… This is E-rank quality…?”

“Is there any problem?”

“… The condition of the monster corpses is… really, really good. Usually, damage and decay of the monster are inevitable, either in the process of catching the monster or in the process of transporting it. But this corpse has none of that. No, it’s not just that there are no traces of it, it’s like the quality of the corpse has been upgraded by one level…”

Listening to Manager Jang’s explanation, I had one guess.

The Inventory function that always keeps stored items in optimal condition.

That function seemed to have affected even the monster corpses.

“Anyway. It’s good, right?”

“Of course. I’ve seen corpses in this good condition only a handful of times in all my years of work. With this quality, even the corpse of an E-rank monster can be priced as much as a decent D-rank monster… No, you can get even more. Ah!”

Manager Jang clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.

“By any chance, Han Suhyeon-ssi, did you go to support the Hunter Association a while ago?”

“Support?”

“Yes. The Troll and Orc corpses that the association sent last time were mostly of this quality.”

“Orcs and Trolls… Yes. I went to do something like support once. I moved them.”

“I knew it!”

Manager Jang’s gaze became even more friendly.

It was a gaze like looking at a goose that lays golden eggs.

Seeing that look, it seems like she roughly grasped the ability of Inventory.

That’s a shame. I was planning to stash a few monsters when I left the processing center later.

“We will purchase all of these Dire Wolf corpses. Of course, we will also calculate an additional price commensurate with the quality.”

“Yes. Please take good care of it.”

“We hope you will continue to use the Gyeonggi Monster Processing Center in the future. This is my business card. If you have any problems related to monster processing in the future, please contact me here.”

A pleasant deal was struck for both sides.

Medetashi. Medetashi.

After Manager Jang left, I talked with Yeom Haneul’s party for a while.

“I think I’ve finished all my business… Thank you so much for bringing me to a place like this, Haneul-ssi.”

“Ugh… Yes. Thanks to Suhyeon-ssi, I had a good time.”

I thanked Yeom Haneul for introducing me to this place, since a normal D-rank hunter wouldn’t be able to come to a place like this.

“So are you leaving now, brother-in-law?”

“Yes. Well… I’ve finished all my business. Ah. But why do you keep calling me brother-in-law?”

I asked Jeong Hana something I had been curious about for a long time.

Why do these people keep calling me brother-in-law?

There is no emotional exchange between me and Yeom Haneul.

At my question, not only Jeong Hana but also the movements of the three people froze.

Silence that was so uncomfortable that I could feel it.

“… Unnie. Don’t tell me… you weren’t in any kind of relationship…?”

“……”

“… Really…? I thought you were at least flirting…”

“……”

Except for the sound of Go So-hye whispering very quietly to Yeom Haneul, no sound could be heard.

Seeing them like that, I caught on.

These people have no family.

They had all lived such lonely lives that they lived as brothers and sisters among the same party members.

I had seen a few groups like this in Grandia.

The common characteristic of these people was that they were a group, yet they formed strong, close-knit bonds and had a positive influence.

There was a pirate crew like this in a modern pirate manga.

Yeom Haneul’s Flame of Upheaval party would be that kind of thing.

I quite liked such groups.

Depending on the capabilities of the person in the role of leader, it could become an axis of evil or a place that exerts a good influence.

And the image of Yeom Haneul that I had seen so far was… a pretty decent person.

There was no need to push the painful reality on these people.

I had no intention of belonging to another group, but it seemed like a good choice to play along with their family game for a while.

Family… It’s always a nostalgic and good-sounding word.

“Now that I think about it, it’s okay for you to call me brother-in-law. Ah, then Haneul-ssi should call me husband, shouldn’t she? Or maybe… honey? Darling?”

“…… What?”

Yeom Haneul, who had been making a half-crazed expression after hearing Go So-hye’s sharp words, suddenly came to her senses at my words.

“Wh-What did you just say…”

“The other party members call me brother-in-law, so shouldn’t Haneul-ssi call me husband? Or maybe… honey? Darling?”

“Ju-Just now…! C-Can you say it again! What you just said!”

“… Darling?”

“……!”

When I called Yeom Haneul darling, she collapsed to the ground as if she was melting.

Go So-hye and Jeong Hana also stared blankly at me and Yeom Haneul.

Anyway… They’re strange and interesting people.