And so, I left the police station with the researcher and headed to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant.

"Now that we're outside, let me ask you just one thing."

"Yes?"

"I have a skill that can prove your innocence, but unfortunately, according to the laws here, using an awakening ability on a person results in handcuffs."

"Aah."

"But the law states not to apply abilities 'without consent'. So if the subject expresses their willingness first, wouldn't that make it okay?"

"Yes?"

"So, would you be willing to give your consent now?"

Tsk.

After that, I turned on the recording function on my phone. Not long after, the Earthling's consent was given, and the magic was executed.

However, during this process, I ended up receiving an unexpected verdict.

"What?"

The researcher had truly spoken only the truth. Now, things were about to get complicated. If it wasn't just a simple malicious slander from a psycho anti-fan, then who exactly had ordered the attack, and what were their intentions?

The first face that came to mind was Brooklyn Morgan, an S-rank hunter from abroad. I had never wronged her in any way, yet she had unhesitatingly unleashed her magic, convinced that I might be a fake S-rank. If anyone were capable of orchestrating something like this, it would be her—just to test my strength. And in fact, the messages in the chatroom had been written in English.

But if Brooklyn really was the mastermind... Then the involvement of the researcher sitting in front of me didn't add up.

"Hmm."

If the mysterious client had merely faked their identity, it wouldn't explain how they knew so much about the researcher.

"Excuse me. I have a question."

"Yes."

"Have you ever told anyone that I refused the security request that day?"

The researcher answered this question. All the members of her project team knew about it. After all, she had to officially inform the institution that they had failed to hire Kim Giryeo before deciding whether to proceed with another contact.

"Hmm?"

But at that moment, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Come to think of it, this guy."

Hunter Kim Giryeo is... moreover, I've heard that your actual personality is very good as well...

I recall a sentence from a researcher in the past.

'Now that I think about it, the reason that person came to find me was because they had been 'recommended' by someone, right?'

Not the first choice, nor the second. The one who deliberately chose the ominous-looking ninth place as their guardian.

If it had not been for the fact that Ally's errand-runner ability was something I could counter, things could have gone much worse. The aquarium attack was a serious crime that could have easily resulted in long-term injuries. So if there was doubt, it was best not to ignore it but to prove it.

"Doctor."

I uttered the word referring to the Earthling before me and then spoke my next words.

It seemed that I needed to meet your father.

***

What happened to that errand runner who was bought from abroad by now?

'Since the contract specified a period, they must have been forced to start working by now.'

In the quiet room, an elderly man with a sturdy build, likely due to consistent intake of good nutrients, sat on the sofa, resting.

He was Go Byeongdo, the president of the Hunter Association.

"Hmm."

At this point, what good would it do to hide it? In truth, Go Byeongdo had been behind everything from the very beginning. He had anticipated Ally's failure from the start, knowing it was full of flaws.

If the contract succeeded in injuring Kim Giryeo, that would be fine in its own way. However, his real plan was set to begin only after the foreigners were caught by the police.

"It's frustrating not being able to know the results right away."

Ally, Researcher Kim, and the researcher's father, Kim Beomshik. At first glance, these individuals seem unrelated when considered separately, but in reality, there was a hidden connection—Go Byeongdo and Kim Beomshik were relatives.

1. Kim Giryeo will not intentionally harm Go Byeongdo and his family in the future.

It was an attempted indirect murder aimed at breaking the pact. Contracts always tend to carry such risks.

Family. For an alien, this term would typically refer to direct descendants, such as parents and children. However, in countries like Korea, where the concept of community is strongly ingrained, it often includes close relatives. In other words, siblings of parents or their nieces and nephews are often considered family as well.

So, Go Byeongdo had used a certain researcher.

"Hmm."

It was Go Byeongdo who spread the false rumor to Kim Beomshik that Hunter Kim Giryeo would be suitable for the escort job. It was also Go Byeongdo who hid Kim Giryeo's contact information, forcing the researcher to reach out personally in the end. When you break it down, everything started with him.

The association president took great care to ensure that his identity would not be revealed when hiring foreign mercenaries. This meant he disguised an innocent victim as the client in this case.

And if, due to this manipulation, Kim Giryeo were to mistakenly identify the researcher as the culprit and, in a fit of anger, cause harm to them...

"He'd be done for."

Kim Giryeo could end up dead just for laying a hand on someone's family he didn't even know.

'No matter how arrogant his personality may be, he still went through compulsory education, so he wouldn't resort to violence that easily... but still...'

Of course, he didn't think that everything would go smoothly with just this one impersonation. Most likely, he would have to repeat such incidents multiple times until Kim Giryeo harbored a deep enough grudge against that doctor—his so-called family, though he sometimes even forgot their name.

"This bastard."

He gritted his teeth again, momentarily thinking of someone's face that had just popped into his mind.

"Anyway, that guy's face was always bad from the start! I knew this would happen."

A scammer who took away 3 billion, damn it. At this point, it's not about the money anymore. Even if it's just for his pride, he'd make sure to punish him, even if he has to use some distant relative.

First impressions, appearance, tone of voice, and even the way he dared to intimidate the leader of an organization... There were so many things about Kim Giryeo that I didn't like from the start. All these old grudges were quickly turned into certainty by the association president. He was convinced that such a vile person could easily pull off a scam, even one involving falsifying his rank, and he began to firmly believe this. Given the circumstances, the judgment the association president made seemed accurate.

"Ah, is it already 5 o'clock? I should wrap things up early today. I have plans for dinner."

He checks the clock on the wall and stands up from his seat. Then, leading his bodyguards, he heads down to the association's parking lot to leave for the day.

No, to be precise, he was about to head down.

"Hmm?"

But at that moment, someone walked in from the opposite side of the hallway.

Tak, tak, tak

The young man who entered the line of sight was a familiar face to any Korean. His serious stride and neat appearance stood out, a modern-looking hunter.

"Huh? Hunter Kim Giryeo?"

One of the secretary's colleagues recognized the person and greeted him first.

The blonde man responded with a light nod and then stopped in front of them.

"Hello, President Go Byeongdo."

What followed was Kim Giryeo's calm greeting.

"Ah, yeah. It's been a while, Giryeo."

"Right."

"By the way, what brings you here? Did you have some business with the association today?"

?sk.

He's alive and well, with his eyes wide open. Go Byeongdo felt a brief sense of disappointment upon seeing the fully intact individual. However, he wasn't overly shaken, as he had expected this much. But when Kim Giryeo spoke next, he immediately turned his gaze back.

"Rather than having business... I was wondering if you, President, had something to say to me."

"Yes?"

"To let you know in advance, I just met with Kim Beomshik. I'm already aware that he's your relative."

With his lower lids filled with the whites of his eyes, Go Byeongdo met the cold gaze of the other person and spoke confidently, as if to say, "So what?"

"Mm? My relatives? And so?"

Soon, a sharp response followed that seemingly ordinary sentence.

"—So what do you mean by 'so what'? No, you b*stard, after all this, you're still pretending like you don't know...?"

The other person suddenly started swearing and speaking rudely, getting angry. How could they be acting like this towards someone who was at least twice their age?

The other person suddenly started getting angry, throwing curses and speaking informally. How dare he speak like that to someone at least twice his age!

However, when you carefully consider the situation, there was a reason why Giryeo was acting this way. As he said before, didn't this older person cross the line that shouldn't be crossed when it came to showing courtesy?

"Why would someone called the association president do something like that just to break a promise?"

As this remark suggests, the archmage had already fully grasped the truth behind the incident. Whether through inductive reasoning or any other method, for a soul whose primary profession was that of a scholar, the process of deducing the hidden answer was not particularly difficult.

"Wait a moment, Hunter Kim Giryeo. What are you saying right now?"

In addition, the archmage had a powerful weapon that could prove his assumption.

"Suddenly showing up and pretending not to know anything, saying all sorts of things. Honestly, it sounds like nonsense, like banging on a gong while half-asleep. I really can't understand it."

"What did you say?"

"Yes, it's true that Kim Beomshik is my relative, but so what? What are you getting so worked up about after hearing that?"

The president, Go Byeongdo, calmly explained in a composed voice. However, the more he acted this way, the more it only raised the blood pressure of the S-rank hunter facing him.

"I couldn't believe it, but it was all true! This Earthling really tried to use his own relatives to kill me...?"

Well, this side had already taken the Blueshell before entering the building! Using the power of the artificial enhancer he ingested, he was able to partially mimic the abilities of a magical tool like [Justitia].

He didn't change his expression at all and kept pretending not to know..."

Even so, the Hunter Association's president wriggled out of it like a cunning serpent. Whether it was talk of his relative or of Ally, he responded as if he knew nothing at all.

"You must have already sensed that I know everything, yet you're still acting like this?"

The old Earthling responded leisurely to the other person's question.

"Oh my. What on earth did you hear that made my life miserable—"

After all, the association president no longer feared the S-rank hunter in front of him.

"Anyway, I don't know anything. Besides, even if what you think in your mind is true, what does it change?"

"What?"

"Even if she's not Kim Beomshik's daughter, if you really think about it, I'm standing right in front of you, and in the end, I'm the same position."

"..."

"Our Hunter Kim Giryeo wouldn't be able to do anything, would he?"

"..."

"Even if you're angry. Even if you've been wronged."

That's right. Logically, [The Knight's Oath] is a promise that no one can break. But the blonde in front of him had sworn on a contract that he would never harm himself for the rest of his life. So, even if he's angry, what could he possibly do?

Now that he thinks about it, he can say that he was blinded by money and thoughtlessly signed the contract.

3 billion. That man was placed in an unfavorable position solely because of that measly amount of money.

"Well, I suppose asking someone like Kang Changho for help could."

At that point, he could just spill the bastard's secret to the S-rank who came to visit.

"Let's see if anyone else knows you're a fraud and still continues to associate with you."

But at that moment, when Go Byeongdo had a sneer on his lips, the blond young man said.

"...President Go Byeongdo, what's the reason for suddenly doing this to me?"

For now, it was clear that the association president was the culprit, but the reason behind his actions was still unknown.

However, Go Byeongdo's answer was.

"Well, why don't you use that smart head of yours and figure it out?"

"..."

"What's the question you're asking when you said you didn't want to be ordered around by ignorant people like us even when the dungeon break happened?"

The association president left, mocking Kim Giryeo before walking away. Based on his actions so far, Kim Giryeo was likely an A-class awakener who was close to S-class, but the president believed that due to the Knight's Oath between them, it was fine to treat him with disdain. That was why he behaved the way he did.

But the problem is.

"Hmm."

The alien didn't just cheat the president.

"Should I kill that mammal after all..."

[Knight's Oath].

In fact, it was an item that had no effect on a certain archmage. However, even so, he was in a position where he couldn't openly assault his contractual partner.

The title of the Hunter Association president was certainly a position that was worth being proud of. Among the bodyguards he carried, two were A-class, and on top of that, he always carried escape magic tools.

So what should he do from now on? Should the weak, low-level Awakened, who had been trying to survive, simply be helplessly defeated by the scoundrel who had tried to kill someone using his own relative?

"What made that Earthling's attitude suddenly turn aggressive?"

As can be seen from the matter with the Rakshasa Temple, Giryeo's personality was quite distant from the concept of tolerance. Moreover, if there was a high possibility that sparing him would continue to bring harm, he had to be swiftly eliminated.

"Ha."

The young man left alone in the hallway rolled his eyes and pondered for a while, then finally took out his cellphone.

"...Right. Well, snitches getting mocked is something that happens in childhood."

He had tried to avoid using this forbidden method. Then, the sound of the call connecting flowed, followed by someone's clear voice.