***
Back when I was struggling to survive in the Otherworld, I'd initially settled in a city.
Looking back, I think it was quite a large city.
Of course, I'd been driven out after just one year, but I'd certainly experienced a great deal during my time there.
The alpha and omega of everything I'd gained in that city was Rune Language, and this particular sentence was especially remarkable even among those discoveries.
『In the Golden Kingdom forsaken by God, I buried the King's Sword.』
『The one who holds the King's Sword.』
『Shall sit upon the eternal throne.』
When I inscribed this sentence into the ground and spoke the Rune Language word meaning 「activation」, the sand would ripple and assemble itself into a city, while twelve glowing orbs and a single sword appeared in midair.
The effect lasted anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes.
It varied each time.
"Strange, isn't it?"
It was true that Rune Language possessed power, but simply shouting random words wouldn't make anything happen.
There were rules governing how it worked.
And yet—
『In the Golden Empire forsaken by God, I buried the King's Sword.』
This sentence didn't contain words like Mohs, which meant fire, or ludin, which referred to a type of light.
Yet it produced lights of all sorts of colors.
Despite being nothing more than a sentence one might find written in someone's diary, it generated a wider variety of effects than the Rune Language sentences I painstakingly constructed myself.
Furthermore, the fang-shaped tattoo glowing vermilion on the back of my left hand appeared only temporarily whenever this Rune Language was activated, then vanished again.
I had no memory of ever getting a tattoo in my life.
Just how long had this invisible tattoo been on the back of my hand?
The answer to all these questions was simple.
"If I figure things out one step at a time, I'll eventually find a clue."
Even during my years in the Otherworld, merely thinking about this romantic dream had been enough to make me smile.
Now that I'd finally returned home, I no longer needed to worry about surviving.
My desire to find the treasure had moved beyond the realm of fantasy and become a tangible goal.
Before I knew it, the sun had set, and darkness had spread across the sky.
Beneath stars that shone with a whiteness incomparable to anything visible from Earth, I gazed at my tent.
"Study Rune Language, explore the Otherworld, and unravel the mystery behind this sentence."
And then find the King's Sword.
I didn't have any concrete plans yet, but the mere thought brought a smile to my face.
My moment of quiet reflection didn't last long.
"···?"
I turned my head and saw the lights of the village.
More importantly, the wind blowing from that direction carried the scent of blood.
"······."
It wasn't just an ordinary smell of blood.
It was a scent I'd encountered once before, long ago.
Back when I was living in that city.
"Why is this here?"
That's the smell of a vampire.
***
The guard captain stood looking up at the tent with a smile.
"Have you had many customers?"
"Customers? Hey! Cha So-hee!"
"What!"
Her voice came from behind the tent.
"Have we had any customers?"
"Why the hell are you asking me, you lunatic?!"
The guard captain smiled awkwardly.
"To be honest, Mr. Seon-hu, you never seemed particularly interested in running a serious business."
"I just want to make enough to live on. You know, that whole idea of moving to the countryside and opening a small café."
The guard captain nodded before getting straight to the point.
"Your construction permit was approved this morning. You can start building now."
"I can only use wood obtained from the Otherworld for the materials, right?"
"That's correct. And please remember that buildings are restricted to two stories."
All these regulations existed to deceive the inhabitants of the Otherworld.
At this point, a question occurred to me.
"Do people from the Otherworld come here often?"
The guard captain shook his head.
"Only twice in the past two years. I drove them away both times."
"Oh···. Why go to such lengths?"
"It's a policy established through an international agreement, so there's not much I can say about it··· But I imagine things would become quite complicated if the inhabitants of the Otherworld discovered Earth's existence."
He had a point.
When you knew little about the other party, it was advantageous to make sure they knew nothing about you.
I lay back in my chair.
The sunlight was so pleasantly warm that I kept feeling sleepy.
Then, the guard captain, who seemed to have fallen deep into thought, spoke again.
"By any chance, are you still accepting commissions?"
"Of course. Do you have someone you want to introduce?"
The guard captain scratched his chin and smiled awkwardly.
"Then I suppose I'll become your first customer."
***
"There's a ranch east of the base camp, toward the Bermuda Forest. It's nothing particularly impressive. They raise livestock from the Otherworld, along with cattle from Earth, to supply food."
"There's a place like that? I haven't seen it."
"Recently, livestock have been disappearing from the ranch."
"Could it be the work of Scaven Wolves?"
"The important thing is that there hasn't been a single witness. They even posted guards, but whatever is responsible has managed to evade their surveillance. That makes it difficult to believe those animals are responsible."
Scaven Wolves were certainly cunning, but they weren't intelligent enough to pull off something like that.
There had to be an entirely different explanation.
"Actually, the ranch owner has already hired two Hounds."
"Then why are you commissioning me as well?"
The guard captain scratched his chin.
Judging by his expression alone, I could tell he was dealing with a rather troublesome situation.
"Getting a Hound to sign a contract practically requires paying whatever price they demand. As a result, they've developed a bad habit."
"···Do they deliberately drag out their commissions?"
"You're perceptive. The more serious the situation becomes, the more they can demand in payment. That's why I don't trust those bastards."
He looked directly at me as he spoke.
"Of course, the ranch owner hired them with his own money, so it's technically none of my business. But I don't want the situation to deteriorate while everyone stands around doing nothing. The atmosphere at the base camp is already tense··· People are going to become frightened."
The guard captain wasn't a government official.
He was merely an employee of a private company, yet he clearly possessed a strong sense of conviction about his responsibilities.
There was something about that look in his eyes that moved me.
"What about the commission fee?"
"Since I'm paying personally, I can't offer very much. Around two hundred thousand won···."
"That doesn't sound bad."
It didn't seem like a particularly difficult job anyway.
"May I add another offer?"
"Let's hear it."
"I'll help you construct your building. Obtaining the necessary materials will probably be troublesome."
He was absolutely right.
This wasn't something I could simply leave to an ordinary construction company.
After all, materials from Earth weren't permitted.
So it wasn't a bad offer at all.
Truthfully, I'd already started packing my belongings before he'd even finished explaining.
Cha So-hee poked her head out.
"Your first commission, huh?"
"You were my first."
She smiled at that and waved.
"Good luck. I'll just stay here and organize the supplies I brought."
Recently, she'd been coming over whenever she had spare time and spending it like this.
She called it a hobby, but her regular job must have been exhausting enough already.
It seemed as though she was projecting her own dreams onto my business.
I didn't think much of it.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed toward the village.
***
"Before you start investigating, let me tell you what I know. Do you remember the inn where we met last time? The person who runs it······."
"He's the ranch owner, isn't he?"
The guard captain's eyes widened as he stared at me.
Then he nodded.
"That's right. Did you already know?"
"And there wouldn't have been a single trace of the missing livestock being moved anywhere."
"Correct. That's why the whole situation is so mysterious."
"Has anyone mentioned hearing something that sounded like dozens of rats scurrying around?"
"······."
The guard captain stopped walking.
"Someone did. Two days ago···."
"What about reports of someone smelling blood?"
"···There was one."
The guard captain had returned to that serious expression I'd seen before.
"···Have you already figured something out?"
I didn't stop walking.
"If livestock disappear, they must have gone somewhere, right?"
"Yes."
"But it's strange that there isn't any evidence of someone taking them away, no matter how you look at it."
"That's··· correct."
"I think I know why."
By then, we'd reached the center of the village.
I stopped walking.
The guard captain stood behind me, staring intently.
"Because the livestock never went anywhere."
"Then···."
"The innkeeper took them himself."
"Why would he do something like that? If he took them himself, there'd be no reason for him to hire two stalkers, would there?"
"Those bastards are accomplices."
"Accomplices?"
"Have you heard of vampires? They're one of the races inhabiting the Otherworld."
"···I have. They're a race from the Otherworld that feeds on blood."
"When vampires are in danger, they release something resembling the scent of blood into their surroundings to send an SOS signal to others of their kind."
The guard captain seemed to realize what I was getting at.
His gaze followed mine toward the place I'd been staring at.
"···Could it be?"
"I've thought this before, but you're remarkably quick on the uptake."
"Are you suggesting that the innkeeper secretly abducted a vampire?"
I nodded.
"What led you to that conclusion?"
"There's an overwhelming smell of blood coming from inside this inn."
I had no evidence.
It was merely something I could sense.
But I didn't need evidence.
Because whatever I was looking for was obviously inside.
"Captain, could you wait here for a little while?"
"······."
"I'll take care of it and be right back."
***
Perhaps it was because of the rumors that had circulated over the past week, but the inn had noticeably fewer customers than before.
The handful of travelers scattered around the room glanced at Kang Seon-hu before returning to their conversations.
Kang Seon-hu headed straight for the counter.
Two burly men were pestering the employee behind it.
"Isn't that fucking incredible? I'm telling you, this bastard and I found a Scaven Wolf den this time."
"Yes, haha··· Yes, yes. That's very impressive."
"Actually, we're ranked within the top hundred Hounds in the association's performance rankings for this quarter."
"Wow···."
The employee's responses were entirely mechanical.
Apparently realizing that she wasn't paying them any real attention, the Hounds began looking irritated.
"Ah, fuck··· Is that any way to treat customers?"
"That's a pretty lousy attitude."
The bald, tattooed man standing behind the other Hound kept chiming in.
"You know we work with your boss, don't you, miss? We're only asking you to keep us company while we drink. Why can't you take a hint······?"
BANG—!
A loud noise rang out as a backpack was placed on the counter.
"What the··· Fuck! You scared me."
"Fucking moron. What a cowardly bastard."
The bald Hound chuckled with his arms crossed.
Kang Seon-hu ignored them and got straight to the point.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, yes, sir. Do you need a room?"
"Is the owner here?"
"Pardon? Yes··· He's upstairs."
"Please ask him to come down."
The employee looked troubled by the sudden request.
"Um··· If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what this concerns?"
"Just tell him I've come about the commission concerning the missing livestock."
"What?"
The Hound who'd been listening beside them frowned.
"Excuse me. Who exactly are you?"
Although he was technically speaking politely, his tone was openly confrontational.
Kang Seon-hu still didn't spare either of them so much as a glance.
"We accepted that commission first. Who hired you? Actually, are you even a Hound? Do you have an association membership card?"
"The guard captain hired me."
"···The guard captain?"
"That bastard··· He's still trying to interfere behind our backs."
"More importantly, why the fuck are you talking to us so casually?"
Just as Kang Seon-hu sensed the Hound's hand reaching toward him, his own hand, which had been tucked into his pocket, began to rise.
At that moment—
"Now, now, everyone, calm down. Haha! What's all this about?"
The innkeeper's voice rang out from the staircase.
He descended with his plump cheeks pushed up into an exaggerated, professional smile.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"I'm here about the commission. I'm sure··· you already know everything."
It lasted only a fleeting instant, but Kang Seon-hu clearly saw the innkeeper's expression turn serious before the smile returned.
"Hoho··· Of course I know which commission you're referring to. Naturally, sir. But I've already hired Hounds to handle the matter. May I ask who commissioned you?"
"The guard captain requested my assistance personally."
"The guard captain··· I see. Hahaha! That man really does help out in all sorts of ways."
Kang Seon-hu's gaze remained unwaveringly fixed on the innkeeper.
"So, how may I assist you, sir? I have to look after the inn during the day, you see."
"This isn't really the sort of thing I'd like to discuss in an open area. Is there a room where we could talk privately?"
"Ah··· Yes. In that case, please follow me."
The innkeeper led him behind the counter toward a room that appeared to serve as an office.
The building was large enough to function as an inn, and the office was located surprisingly deep inside.
The two Hounds followed them as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
They positioned themselves on either side of Kang Seon-hu, apparently intending to intimidate him.
The closer they came to the room, the stronger the stench of blood became.
***
The man who operated both the inn and the ranch, generally referred to simply as the 'boss,' maintained a poker face as he observed the mysterious stranger.
He, too, had heard about Kang Seon-hu.
He didn't know the man's name, but rumors had circulated among the guards about someone who'd single-handedly confronted an entire pack of Scaven Wolves.
And there was something else.
'They say he has the eyes of a predator.'
Some guards had actually shuddered while describing the man.
Yet now that the innkeeper was facing him in person, he couldn't sense anything of the sort.
If anything, the man seemed almost dim-witted.
'What a fucking nuisance. Some bastard just had to stick his nose into my business.'
Since the stranger had personally accepted a commission from the guard captain, the innkeeper couldn't simply throw him out.
Maintaining a good relationship with the guard captain was essential if he wanted to continue operating his business here.
I'll just humor him for a while and send him on his way.
There's no risk of him finding anything out anyway.
With that thought, he entered the room and turned around.
"Please, have a seat. Shall I have someone bring you some tea······?"
CLICK—
For a moment, he couldn't understand what was happening.
The instant Kang Seon-hu entered the room, he'd locked the door without even bothering to look around.
"······."
The Hounds' expressions hardened, and they swallowed nervously.
"Um, I'm afraid I don't understand what's going on. Perhaps you could sit down and explain why you're doing this······."
"Vampire."
That single word from the man's mouth was enough to drain every trace of color from their faces.
"Why did you kidnap one?"
The Hounds exchanged glances before looking toward their boss.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I believe there must be some misunderstanding. Why don't you sit down first and explain······?"
"There's a strong smell of blood coming from beneath this building."
The smell of blood?
The moment he heard those words, the innkeeper instinctively sniffed the air.
But he couldn't smell anything.
··I made sure to clean everything thoroughly after feeding it.
There shouldn't be any smell left behind.
"Planning to sell it off? Vampires are particularly beautiful, I suppose······. But thinking about it that way makes this even more disgusting, doesn't it?"
Thump.
Despite the sharp edge to his words, his demeanor remained relaxed.
Kang Seon-hu even sat down in a chair as he spoke.
The Hounds standing behind him exchanged glances with their boss.
The bald, tattooed man slowly slipped a hand into his pocket.
The innkeeper gave him a subtle nod.
And at that very moment—
SWISH—!
The hand shot out of the pocket, gripping a sharp knife.
The blade went straight for Kang Seon-hu's throat.
CRACK—!
Kang Seon-hu sprang from his seat, twisted his waist, and drove his fist into the Hound's face.
"Urgh······."
The bald Hound couldn't even scream.
He simply crumpled to the floor as though his entire body had folded in on itself.
"Y-you fuck··· Mmph···?! MMMMMMPH—!!"
CRACK—!
The other Hound lunged from behind, attempting to strangle Kang Seon-hu.
Kang Seon-hu immediately twisted the man's arm backward, snapping it in the opposite direction, while simultaneously clamping a hand over his mouth to prevent him from screaming.
Everything happened in an instant so brief it could scarcely be measured.
The innkeeper stared at Kang Seon-hu, his lips trembling.
The vacant, almost foolish expression he'd worn moments earlier was nowhere to be seen.
His face seemed utterly devoid of emotion.
His eyes, perfectly still without even the faintest tremor, were focused with absolute clarity on a single point.