Retire 476

476 Doll (2)

“……”

Surprisingly, Daniel didn’t seem particularly shocked by Hope’s hint that he had met Henry Lehmann in person.

“Did you meet him back when Hunter Hong was working independently?”

Hmm. I see.

As far as Daniel knew, Hope had shown such promise that Father had scouted him personally. And the reason for bringing Hope over wasn’t simply for dungeon raids. It was to involve him in more secretive matters.

If that was the case, it was only natural that these secretive affairs would be connected to Henry Lehmann. In fact, it might even be a point of pride—or a sore spot—that they didn’t trust America enough to handle it themselves. If he were the ideal middle manager I know, he’d be less bothered by wounded pride and more annoyed at having extra work dumped on him by a boss with wounded pride.

Either way, Daniel’s authority wasn’t high enough to care much about a suspicious guy doing suspicious things.

He just nodded, taking it in stride.

“Something like that… right?”

Perhaps having reached the same conclusion, Father replied, barely concealing his reluctance. Compared to Hope, who was staring wide-eyed, he handled it much better.

“Ah. Then… I see. So the reason he suddenly came out of hiding…”

Daniel didn’t need much explanation to fill in the rest. His reasoning was a bit off, but the result was close enough that there was no need to correct him.

“Is there anything the investigation team should know about Henry Lehmann?”

“Uh, huh? No…?”

Hope, for once, was flustered.

He probably wanted to catch the other off guard, but unfortunately, intelligence agents aren’t that easily rattled.

“I—I mean, the last time I met Henry, or, well, it was quite a while ago… so, uh, it probably won’t help much?”

“Still, tell us. There might be clues you didn’t realize were important.”

“You already know what Henry looks like…”

The funny thing about Henry Lehmann was that we learned more detailed information about him after coming to America. Whether that was useful to us was another matter.

Maybe it was because America’s perception had changed. He was a notorious criminal, but he’d gone from making money through smuggling and the black market to becoming the worst kind of terrorist. No one could be sure Lehmann had done all those things, but the mere possibility was enough for America to wash its hands of him.

And it seemed they wanted to use this opportunity to cleanly sever the ties between city guilds and gangs.

So, separate from the agencies that had been tracking Henry Lehmann, the military started to move. And when the military moves, everything else follows. The fact that Daniel, a healer-cum-intelligence agent who liked to show off, was still with us and sharing information about Atlas was proof enough.

“Our understanding is based only on testimony. Information is important, no matter how you get it.”

“Uh…”

“If you tell us, we’ll make sure you’re compensated.”

“No, there’s no need for that…”

Unlike the way Hope recoiled from Han Taekyung, this was a different kind of pleasure. Kids are always weaker in front of adults.

Hope hesitated, thinking over what he could say, then started to speak, stammering at first. For a moment, he glanced at me and Father, as if trusting we’d stop him if he said something he shouldn’t. As he went on, his voice grew more confident.

“So, I wasn’t planning on meeting Henry in the first place…”

I already knew this information. Still, I hoped Daniel might offer a different perspective.

The criminal organization Father had been chasing wasn’t limited to Lehmann’s Atlas. The targets were all the rotten elements of the underworld, especially those operating in Central and South America. Atlas was almost an afterthought. The real reason was that Atlas ran the monstrous black market that trafficked in the corpses of hunters—an atrocity beyond words.

It was practically impossible for Father to recover his brother-in-law’s remains, but he couldn’t let that grudge go. He wanted to make sure it never happened again. Naturally, he decided to destroy Atlas, which seemed most responsible during the investigation.

But that meant Atlas wasn’t his only target. And Father was far too busy to investigate black markets deep in the jungle. He continued to cooperate with America, but with the school and other responsibilities, he couldn’t devote himself to it.

And above all, Henry Lehmann’s identity was shrouded in mystery. The fact that even Alex Hope knew what he looked like said it all. That, too, was one of Lehmann’s tricks.

A more reliable source than Father was, of course, Imiseon.

Running here and there, building a school, caring for the kids—no matter how capable a hunter, there’s a limit to what one person can do at once. Father prioritized the demonstration school where he was the only teacher, so he naturally drifted away from the investigation. Imiseon filled that gap.

To be precise: Imiseon, Head of Special Activities, Korean Branch, International Association of Paranormal Abilities.

Of course, even Imiseon didn’t know everything. She was the Korean branch chief, after all. As she often said, she had no authority in countries across the Pacific.

She knew more than most, and could dig deeper, but even she couldn’t get information on a heavyweight criminal like Henry Lehmann with ease. No one blamed her for that.

‘…You’re not just saying that, are you?’

‘Have you been fooled all your life?’

‘You have a look in your eyes.’

‘What’s wrong with my eyes? I know how hard you hunters work. I know how much the principal and I ask of you. But you’re so capable… Well. No, even someone like you can’t do everything outside your jurisdiction. I get it.’

‘Ugh…’

‘Would you like some coffee?’

‘That coffee’s paid for out of my own pocket, you know!’

‘Yes. Which is why you should have some, too.’

Even if my sincerity didn’t get through to Imiseon, she did her best within her means, and her help far exceeded my expectations. Honestly, without her, we wouldn’t have gotten this far.

Given all this, it was ironic that our most reliable source of information was an insider from the Ark and his associates.

‘Huh? But I don’t really know what those guys get up to!’

He wasn’t much help on that front, either.

‘Neither Noah nor Henry ever wanted to tell me what they were doing… But I was the same, so we just went our separate ways.’

‘Even though you’ve seen them in person?’

‘That doesn’t mean we’re friends. I don’t want to get close to people who dislike me.’

‘You never wanted to be friends in the first place.’

‘Of course not!’

Our insider, Alex Hope, was close to Henry Lehmann in a different sense, but still not much help.

Of course, he didn’t think of that man as a friend, and neither did Henry Lehmann. Even if they’d sat across from each other and shared a meal, that didn’t make them friends.

Their relationship, including Noah Michel, was complicated.

Now that Alex Hope was completely out of that circle, there was no chance of that tangled friendship being revived. At most, Hope would mention Michel when cursing him from time to time.

Still, let’s clarify things once more.

‘It’s been proven historically. Animals with three heads can’t move.’

He had a lot to say for someone who was the first to drop out.

And strictly speaking, he wasn’t even a head. There was someone even higher, resting in the dusty library.

The “king’s” loyal servant was Noah Michel. That had been true from the moment the Mont Saint-Michel library appeared, and would remain true in the future.

But Noah Michel was human, and unfortunately, the king had a strange fondness for those who escaped the dungeon. Alex Hope wasn’t the king’s servant, but he outranked Noah Michel.

So what about Henry Lehmann?

A man who didn’t hate humanity, who didn’t want to end the world—what role did he play in this trio… or whatever it was?

If the heads had done their jobs, if the three parts had divided their work well, maybe things would have turned out differently. But nothing worked out.

Compared to the other two, Henry Lehmann was clearly lower in rank. He wasn’t the king’s servant, and unlike Hope, the king had no special reason to care about him.

But Michel needed Lehmann. More precisely, he needed the money Lehmann brought in. So Michel didn’t like Lehmann, but couldn’t show it openly. It was a relationship born of necessity.

Hope, on the other hand, had no such ties. He couldn’t touch Michel because of the king, but Lehmann was fair game. Still, since Michel disliked Lehmann, Hope treated him well—just to annoy Michel.

And Henry Lehmann?

It was the same for him. He allied with Michel because he needed something—like a way to replace parts of his body.

So, while his relationship with Michel was a fairly equal exchange, with Hope there was nothing of the sort. He joked around with someone who could kill him at any moment. He didn’t like it, but it wasn’t enough to be openly hostile.

And so, this strange system muddled along until Hong Seok-young began his pursuit of the Ark in earnest…

“…So, I was still busy siphoning off the South American drug lords’ funds, and that’s when Henry lost his temper!”

Surprisingly, Han Taekyung was listening to Hope’s story with interest. He claimed to dislike complicated tales, but apparently, this kind was to his liking.

Meanwhile, Kim Chaemin, who had been listening with me and Father, was looking at his phone with a bored expression.

“……”

I checked my own phone. There was a message from Gamble.

What time was it in Korea? Why wasn’t she sleeping? Well, come to think of it, I’d never seen her sleep at night.

I read the message and stroked my chin.

“……?”

I signaled to Kim Chaemin. He looked puzzled but came over. I showed him Gamble’s message.

“Oh my.”

Kim Chaemin’s voice was a soft murmur. Hope stopped talking and looked at Kim Chaemin. Naturally, everyone else’s attention shifted as well.

“It’s nothing. Go on.”

Kim Chaemin smiled gently and waved his hand. The conversation resumed.

I quietly asked Kim Chaemin,

“What do you think?”

“Do I have the authority?”

“You’re the kids’ teacher, aren’t you?”

“But isn’t Mr. Woo technically my boss?”

“Our guild has a horizontal structure.”

“No one’s going to believe that.”

It’s unfair.

“Anyway, do you think it’s all right for the kids?”

“I think it’s a good idea. Honestly, since I can’t move myself, there’s not much I can do from here.”

“…Isn’t it dangerous? You said so yourself, Mr. Kim.”

We couldn’t even be sure the rune was drawn correctly—or even that it was a rune at all. Considering it had been on a monster’s wing, the risk was even higher.

But Kim Chaemin looked at me with a mix of sympathy and pride.

“Mr. Woo, aren’t you being a little too subjective in judging Seohyun and Jinwoo’s abilities right now?”