POSSESSED 54

Baek Joomyeong admitted to my ability on my behalf. It was quite foolish to deny it to a man who, as a fellow Mental-type, could see mana. Knowing that, I let Baek Joomyeong say whatever he wanted.

“He’s a real Teacher?”

Ho Seowon asked repeatedly. Baek Joomyeong nodded calmly.

“How can someone with an ability be a Teacher…. Ah, is it a side job?”

“No.”

“No? Then don’t tell me… he’s unregistered?”

Baek Joomyeong stared at me. It was as if he were asking for permission to answer.

Actually, since I had already been caught by the man I most wanted to hide it from, the reality of being caught by someone else didn’t come across as a greater fear. Having already been burned by a large fire, I was able to calm down relatively easily from this much.

Approaching them while readjusting my hold on the child in my arms, I spoke to the confused-looking Ho Seowon.

“Shall we go inside together and talk? I think you need to apply some ointment to that wound.”

Ho Seowon knelt before me.

“Teacher, please forgive my rudeness. I am sorry.”

He didn’t harbor any further suspicion. Since I said I was the Teacher, Baek Joomyeong said I was, and even Yeonji said I was, he seemed to have decided to believe that I was indeed the Teacher.

“Don’t be sorry. With the hat and the mask… I was suspicious enough. Just a moment…”

Sitting in front of Ho Seowon, I personally disinfected the wound and applied ointment. I had done this for Baek Joomyeong before. Back then, Baek Joomyeong just stared intently at my face and didn’t even seem to feel pain. However, Ho Seowon groaned “Ouch” every time the disinfectant cotton touched the wound. Seeing him struggle and even grimace, I felt bad for having used Baek Joomyeong as the standard when I disinfected him.

After steadfastly finishing the disinfection and applying the ointment, I turned my gaze toward Baek Joomyeong and Yeonji. Yeonji was thoroughly sulking. She was even more huffy than when she was upset with Baek Joomyeong.

The problem was Baek Joomyeong too. He was expressing his sulking in a different way than Yeonji. For example, by watching Ho Seowon chillingly. Or by making an openly hurt face whenever our eyes met. His mood was fluctuating wildly.

You said you were friends. Why are you looking like you want to kill him just because I’m treating a friend’s wound….

I learned about their relationship on the way back to Baek Joomyeong’s house. Ho Seowon, a Mental-type Hunter from the White Night Guild, was Baek Joomyeong’s high school classmate and a fellow trainee from the education center. One more thing, they were also neighbors living in the same apartment.

While listening to their history, I calmly racked my brain. Did Ho Seowon appear in the original work? There was one thing that came to mind. The person Baek Joomyeong and Lee Kangseo met when they needed the White Night Guild’s help regarding the villains—Hunter Ho. If my memory serves me right, it must be Ho Seowon.

I don’t remember the details of Hunter Ho being a Mental-type, but I know his personality exactly. Ho Seowon is not a bad person. That’s why I readily applied the ointment for him.

“I am truly, truly, truly sorry.”

“It’s alright. As a Teacher, I actually feel more relieved that you were suspicious of me. It means you were protecting Yeonji.”

“Ah, I see.”

Ho Seowon scratched his head with an embarrassed face. Then, noticing Yeonji glaring at him like he was a villain, he put his hands together and apologized.

“Yeonji-ya, I’m sorry. Uncle was wrong.”

“Hmph! No!”

Yeonji turned her head sharply. Baek Joomyeong patted Yeonji’s back as if encouraging her for doing a good job.

An adult shouldn’t act like that. We have to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’ll explain it well to Yeonji later. For now… I’d like us to talk a bit about me and my ability.”

“I will handle that.”

Baek Joomyeong stepped forward. I opened my eyes wide and tilted my head. Why would he step up when it’s my story to tell?

“Don’t worry. I will explain based on what I know.”

“No. I can do it myself, and I’m the one who should.”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult for Yeonji to hear about the Teacher’s situation? Please stay in the room with her instead.”

It should be the other way around. I should tell my story and Yeonji should be with her uncle. But Baek Joomyeong was firm. Yeonji also reached her arms out to me. It couldn’t be helped. Even if just for the sake of the child carefully pestering me to hold her, I quickly stood up.

Is this right? Since my anxiety wouldn’t fade, I whispered to Baek Joomyeong.

“Please speak well to Hunter Ho Seowon. If possible…”

Would it be okay to ask Baek Joomyeong to leave out the Jeoksang business?

If I were the one talking, I would leave it out on my own, but asking this man felt shameless, so my lips stayed shut.

“I will explain appropriately.”

When I felt that he understood what I was worried about from the whispered words he followed up with, I felt a little relieved.

Baek Joomyeong smiled brightly, saying he’d leave Yeonji in my care. Realizing once again that he’s a man who looks much better smiling than being hurt, I headed to the room with Yeonji.

A while later, I left Yeonji asleep in the room after she had played in my arms. The atmosphere between the two sitting across from each other at the dining table was unusual. Still, while Baek Joomyeong smiled faintly as soon as he saw me, Ho Seowon did not relax his serious expression.

Don’t tell me he heard that I tried to hand Baek Joomyeong over to Jeoksang?

Just as I was worrying for nothing, Ho Seowon spoke up.

“I heard about your circumstances from Joomyeong-i, Teacher. That you didn’t register because you wanted to live as an ordinary person.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“I fully understand. There are exceptionally many unregistered people among Mental-types. We don’t get as much recognition compared to other Hunters, and it’s common for us to die after being constantly overworked.”

I swallowed hard, frightened by the terrifying story. Rather than letting me stay there, Baek Joomyeong gestured for me to come closer and moved to the next seat over, giving up the spot where he had been sitting. I bowed my head in thanks.

“If you listen to the rookie Mental-types, that’s how it is. They say they didn’t want to do it even if it killed them, but became Hunters because of money, or they were caught by a Mental-type scouter, or… someone reported them for being unregistered, so they became Hunters reluctantly.”

Being reported for being unregistered. Just hearing it made me nervous, and I swallowed dryly over and over.

“Fate, mission—honestly, there’s no such thing. We are the Hunters that even the Main Headquarters doesn’t protect. We, the Mental-types, are the ability-users who do it while being forced to eat bitter mustard.”

“…….”

“That’s just the usual talk, but in your case, Teacher, it’s different. I want to recommend that you formally register and join a guild. I want you to receive professional training.”

This time, I couldn’t even swallow my dry saliva. To think he’d suddenly recommend joining a guild. It seemed it wasn’t something discussed with Baek Joomyeong beforehand either. Looking at him out of the corner of my eye, he looked appalled by Ho Seowon’s words.

I carefully questioned Ho Seowon.

“I’m not trying to be difficult…. Why do you think so?”

“Because your mana is unusual. Mana usually flows outward away from oneself, but Teacher’s mana is flowing toward yourself. You’ll get hurt that way.”

My mana is flowing toward me?