Chapter 169

Throat clamped in the man's enormous hand, Sihyeok burst into a pained cough, and the man slowly eased his grip.

Air rushing back in, Sihyeok dragged in ragged breaths.

Red eyes glinting above the mask, the man's gaze moved between the two children. Then he flicked red mana off his fingertips and, in a single stroke, carved writing into the cold wall.

[How did you get in here.]

"You guysh brought us here! Let go!"

Hayun trembled all over, bursting with hurt and fury.

To save himr, she bit down hard on the man's solid forearm, clawed at him, hammered at him with her tiny fists — thrashing wildly.

But the man was a rock — didn't so much as budge.

"Nnh! Nnnh!"

When none of it landed, the man just watched her thrash for a moment, then wrote on the wall in mana again.

[You are not supposed to be here.]

"Then let us go, you mean mishter!!"

At the child's brazen demand, the man fixed the two of them with red eyes that gave nothing away.

In the strange stand-off, as Hayun looked up at him, her eyes began to waver.

Even though she had no way of knowing who he was, an inexplicable familiarity brushed at her.

And strangely… she felt like he'd hear her out if she pleaded.

Hayun stopped thrashing, quickly shifted strategies, and pulled on the most pitiful face in the world.

"Mishterrr… let ush go, pleashe? I won't tell anyone, really… I really, really wanna go home. The Direektuh's waiting for ush too…"

At the word Director, the man's brow twitched slightly.

Just as he was about to finish writing something on the wall —

Bang—!

"Chief! There you a—!"

The heavy iron door swung open and a hulking man came barging in, out of breath.

Hayun's face screwed up hard the moment she caught sight of him.

That guy…!

The very man who'd stormed the café, kidnapped her, and given the order to attack the Director.

The hulk's gaze didn't go to Hayun.

His eyes were fixed solely on Sihyeok — caught in the man's grip — dyed with sheer shock.

"Th-that — but how did an intruder—!"

Ashen, the hulk stammered, watching for cues.

"We had this place under strict surveillance, so how he got in—"

The moment the masked man's eyes shifted to the hulk, still spilling excuses —

Sihyeok didn't miss the short opening.

Whoosh—!

The shadow on the floor became a sharp spear and shot at the man.

Clang—!

But the man didn't so much as twitch a finger.

One indifferent glance, and the shadow spear's trajectory twisted and dispersed into nothing.

At his all-in strike blocked, Sihyeok's eyes filled with shock.

"You little rat! How dare you go at the Chief—!"

Just as the hulk, catching up to the situation belatedly, moved in menacingly, red mana cut coldly across his path.

"H-huh? Why—!"

From inside the flustered hulk's coat, two restraints slid out like snakes.

Gliding through the air, the restraints knocked away the loose one still hanging at Hayun's neck and, in the blink of an eye, clamped tight around both children's necks.

Click. Clack—!

"Ngh…!"

"Hnngh…"

As the cold metal locked in and forcibly clamped down on the mana inside them, the children's bodies sagged, helpless.

Strength draining fast, the two of them ended up going limp, powerless.

"Hang on — that silver-haired brat, I definitely had a restraint on her — when did it come o—?"

The hulk trailed off, muttering in confusion, then quickly wiped his face clean and started fawning, all bows.

"To control mana this precisely! Truly, our Docheol Branch Chief is the best of the best! The other branch chiefs can't hold a candle!"

Spraying spit as he gushed on, the hulk snapped his mouth shut the instant those cold red eyes landed on him.

Wiping cold sweat with effort, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"S-so, how did that one get in, exactly? He might have a weapon or a comms unit — we should search him thoroughly—"

Sihyeok's face went hard, but the masked man silently shook his head and jerked his chin at the door.

Quick on the uptake, the hulk hastily bent at the waist and gave a servile smile.

"A-ah, yes! You must have your reasons, Chief! This way. Perfect timing — we've just gotten in some top-shelf tea leaves, and I'll brew you a cup you won't forget, heh heh."

The masked man gave a light nod, set the children down on the floor, and left the room without hesitation.

Slam—!

Only once the heavy iron door had shut and the footsteps had faded completely did Sihyeok let his stiffened shoulders drop.

"Hnngh, oppa… I'm shorry. You came to shave me and you got caught too…"

As Hayun sniffled and let fat tears roll down her cheeks in apology, Sihyeok wordlessly wiped her wet eyes for her.

"…Don't worry."

Sihyeok scanned the room, then carefully rolled up his sleeve.

"Th-this…!"

At the sight of his wrist, Hayun's round eyes went huge.

There, in an all-too-familiar design — different only in that it was shaped like a cat instead of the rabbit Hayun and Hajun had worn — was a bracelet.

"Location tracker."

Sihyeok said, curt.

"The Director gave it to me. He'll come. I know it."

That was enough. Color rushed back into Hayun's pale face in an instant.

No one knew better than she did that the Director would come tearing in to rescue them.

"Then he'll be here shoon!"

Hayun, elated, then added, worried:

"But the older ones are coming with him, right? The Direektuh can't come alone…"

She knew all too well — when it came to them, the Director threw himself in headfirst without a thought.

"They won't let him go alone."

At Sihyeok's firm words, Hayun finally relaxed and broke into a bright smile again.

That was the exact moment.

Bang—! Slam!

The tightly shut iron door flew open like it might come apart.

"Up, now! We're moving!"

The hulk from before came storming in, radiating menace.

Thrown by the sudden turn, the two of them froze, eyes gone round as rabbits'.

"What, didn't think you'd be hauled off this fast? With an intruder in the place, you think we're going to keep you sitting pretty?"

The hulk scratched at the back of his head, irritated, and muttered peevishly.

"With that branch chief bastard barging in on top of everything, I've got eyes on me — better to unload you fast. At a very steep price!"

Blinded by money, the hulk's eyes flashed greedily, and he strode over and started dragging the two children away, brutal.

At the same time.

"We're moving! More speed!"

At my urgent shout, Kang Taemin silently floored the accelerator.

Even as the car shot forward at a terrifying speed, the back seat was choked with suffocating tension.

Suho and Hajun sat white as sheets, gripping each other's hands hard, and Cha Yul had his eyes closed, focused on something.

Sea-ah, who'd been leaning forward from the seat right behind me to glare at the tablet, spoke up in a rush.

"Director! On this route, the destination looks like the District Seven port!"

"District Seven?"

I bit down on my lip, sick with dread.

District Seven.

A port city where massive freighters ran in and out around the clock — and a lawless zone where the underworld's dirty deals ran free.

If they got Hayun onto a ship there and slipped out into international waters, there'd be nothing we could do.

"District Seven means they're planning to run by boat! Argh, those cowardly bastards!"

At that moment, from behind Sea-ah, a hot-tempered voice burst out.

Inho — the one-armed fighter we'd rescued from the Colosseum.

No — I couldn't call him a one-armed fighter anymore.

Below his right shoulder, in place of the old empty sleeve, a precision silver prosthetic arm — the institute's cutting-edge tech concentrated into one piece — gleamed with weighty polish.

The other rescued fighters, all but the blind Swordsman who'd refused treatment, were still in rehab, but Inho alone — through sheer bloody-minded grit — had already clawed back more than eighty percent of his old form in a short window.

Truth be told, the fact that this whole crew was in my car had a story behind it.

When I'd rushed back to the guild to save Hayun, Hajun — who'd landed first via the space teleport — had already laid out the whole story to the kids.

Cha Yul, Sea-ah, and the others were already standing at the guild entrance like a barricade, on standby for deployment.

When I hesitated and told them it was too dangerous, Hajun teared up saying I'm going to save Noona too, and the other kids stood their ground, insisting they were Awakened themselves.

In the end, that resolute look wore me down, and while I was loading them in, Inho — who happened to be strolling past the corridor mid-yawn — got swept along too, half by accident.

Once he'd gotten the gist of the situation in the car, Inho balled his fists and huffed.

"Director! Don't you worry! With someone terrifyingly strong like you here, and me, what threat could a bunch like them possibly be?"

Inho thumped his prosthetic arm firmly against his chest — all bluster and reassurance — then cupped that huge hand around the side of his mouth and leaned toward me in the passenger seat.

Then, in what he clearly thought was a private whisper, he started murmuring:

"Do we really have to bring the squirts along, though? You, me, and that big brother up front — the three of us are more than enough to steamroll them, easy."

At that, Cha Yul — arms folded, eyes shut — cracked one eye open.

"Anyone weaker than me can stay quiet."

At Cha Yul's jab, Inho bristled and raised his voice.

"What?! Hey, kid! You and I've never even tangled — how do you figure you're stronger?"

Because the one who beat you to a pulp at the Colosseum was actually Cha Yul disguised as me…

I nailed the truth in my head, but couldn't quite bring it out loud and made an effort to look elsewhere.

The fighters we'd rescued from the Colosseum all believed, without exception, that I was some absolute powerhouse they couldn't even measure.

Even though the ones who'd pounded them into the dirt in that arena hadn't been me at all — it had been the kids, disguised as me.

When I'd first brought them back to the guild, I'd tried to set the record straight.

But Cha Yul had blocked it.

Just let them keep thinking that. Awakened only listen to people stronger than they are.

Beside that cool, cutting piece of advice, Sea-ah had nodded along, enthusiastic.

Right! We'll back you up from beside you so you don't get caught out, no worries.

Since that day, this enormous misunderstanding had snowballed out of control, and it was still standing firm.

Nudging the pang of guilt aside, I turned my eyes back to the tablet.

On screen, the red dot was pushing on and on, deeper into District Seven.

Soon I pulled up a satellite map of District Seven — and looking at the holo-photos floating in front of me, I let out a small groan.

"…A whole mountain of shipping containers."

True to its status as a port city, District Seven was an endless labyrinth of tens of thousands of massive steel containers.

Not just the docks — the countless huge ships moored there were stacked wall-to-wall with those metal boxes too.

With just this crew, sweeping that entire area is out of the question.

"…Nothing for it."

Without hesitation I pulled out my device and made a call.

Screeeech—!

Kang Taemin slammed the brakes and stopped the car at the entrance to the District Seven port.

Getting out fast, I let out a heavy sigh at the scene in front of me.

"Haah…"

Up close, District Seven was even bigger than the photos had suggested.

Millions of containers piled up like sheer cliffs formed a metal mountain range, and beyond them, hulking freighters stood lined up.

I checked the tracker urgently, but the red dot only vaguely indicated the port area at large.

Nothing for it — we'd have to comb the whole place.

The sky was already burning red with sunset.

Once darkness fell, the search would get dozens of times harder.

Just as I bit down on my lip, resolving to settle this before it got any later —

"Oh! You've made it."

An oily, over-friendly voice reached me from behind.

I flinched and turned, and there stood a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a genial smile.

Two glittering taegeuk-hibiscus insignias on the shoulders of a crisp police uniform.

"Salute! This is the top authority in the area — Chief of the District Seven Police! The moment we received the Deputy Guild Master's call, he personally led the force here—"

At the young officer's over-the-top fuss, the Chief stopped him with a gentle smile.

"Now, now, no need to be so stiff in front of the Deputy Guild Master. Step back."

Chief waved his subordinate off, folded his thin eyes into a pleasant crescent, and leaned in confidentially.

"You've no idea how alarmed I was to get the call. What kind of madmen would dare kidnap one of the Deputy Guild Master's own? Before you worry any more — our police will comb this port down to the last nail and clean the whole thing up for you."

He brushed dust off my shoulder with a gloved hand, all warmth, and the corner of his mouth curled up, oily and ingratiating.