DEB 29

“…Haha.”

“Yeah. This must be a remarkable turn of events to make you laugh, huh?”

Huiyun realized with certainty that he was in trouble as the only one trying to cheer him up with forced laughter was Hong Juan.

Damn it.

How could things have turned out like this after pretending to be a decent citizen for so long?

No, they weren’t even around, so how did they notice the gate opening and come here?

It hadn’t even been 15 minutes since he entered and came out of the gate. Such a short time made Huiyun suspicious, and Jiwook raised the corners of his mouth, indicating the meaning behind those glances. 

It was an unfortunate but perfect coincidence for them.

“We’ve installed mana detection devices throughout the entire ward. So we can immediately detect if a gate opens or monsters appear. We’re not neglecting your protection, we should show this level of courtesy, right?”

“…I didn’t know that.”

Not knowing led to trouble. Huiyun, caught in the awkward situation, hesitated in his steps again, and Juan chased after him. Huiyun was quickly grabbed by the shoulders.

“Ho-Hong Juan!”

“Stay still.”

As Huiyun was surprised by the force pulling him, Juan muttered words of complaint and hugged Huiyun tightly, taking a deep breath. At first, he did it near the clothes, but soon he buried his nose in Huiyun’s neck and took a deep breath. Huiyun squirmed uncomfortably as the breath on his neck was awkward, but the more he resisted, the stronger the force holding him became.

“Ha…”

After slowly exhaling, Juan hugged Huiyun tightly with both arms. With a voice soaked in satisfaction as if he had finally achieved what he wanted.

“…Yasha’s scent.”

It was a voice full of satisfaction that he had finally grasped what he wanted after all of his efforts.

“…Indeed, it’s faint, but it’s Yasha’s.”

“Did you not use your domination ability? It’s definitely weaker than what you had at the gate, but it’s definitely Yasha’s.”

“So, this confirms it.” 

Nameless laughed and summarized the situation. 

“Yasha.”

Juan’s call was also a word that defined the current situation.

Damn it, seriously.

Huiyun realized that the situation had slipped out of his control, but he struggled as much as he could. 

It already seemed futile, but he couldn’t just admit it.

“No, let go of me for a bit.”

“Yasha.”

“Hong Juan!”

“Yasha, why are you pretending not to know?”

The man muttered, holding Huiyun tightly in his arms unfazed by his struggle, with no intention of letting him go.

“You know my name…” 

“Hong Juan!”

“You keep pretending not to know even though you know my name.”

The voice, initially hurt, became sharper. Realizing that struggling further would be useless, Huiyun grabbed the red hair tightly and pulled it back. Hong Juan, making a sound of discomfort as his head was tilted back.

“Please, Ash!”

“…Yasha?”

“Yasha, or whatever, let go for now and talk. Okay?” 

Calling him Hong Juan a hundred times wouldn’t make a difference. Huiyun realized that the guy was out of his mind. He called out to Ash, and Juan blinked blankly, staring at Huiyun.

Although his strong arms didn’t loosen, he didn’t push any further. In this standoff, Jiwook grabbed Juan’s by the scruff of his neck.

“That’s enough, let go.”

“You let go, Vina. The alliance is over now that we found Yasha. You know this too right?”

“Your nose is particularly sensitive to the Yasha’s scent, that’s why I asked you to check it out, but I didn’t tell you to stick that close. Back off.”

“Are you jealous, Vina?” 

“You imbecile.”

Jiwook gritted his teeth and tried to pull him off with force. The more he tried to pry him off from Juan, the force hugging him intensified. 

Huiyun closed his eyes tightly, realizing that nothing would come of it if they continued like this.

It seems now it would be wrong for Huiyun to claim he had no connection to Yasha and was just an ordinary citizen. Since any excuse would be futile, the only way to calm the situation and proclaim that Huiyun wasn’t Yasha was to cry out loud.

“Stop it, both of you! When did I ever say I was Yasha? I’m just Yasha’s disciple!”

Disciple! Disciple! Disciple! 

He shouted with all his might, and the last word echoed softly. Huiyun felt embarrassed at the thought of himself, along with three S-rank hunters, becoming a nuisance to the hospital and possibly being posted on the internet for creating a ruckus.

Fortunately, the shame was worth it. As he shouted ‘disciple!’ with all his might, the force pulling him in and hugging him stopped.

“…Yasha’s disciple?” 

“You?”

“This is the first time I’m hearing this.”

Even Nameless, who had been quiet until then, expressed doubt. When Jiwook withdrew his arm first, Juan also released Huiyun. 

Finally free, Huiyun took a deep breath and checked the condition of the child. Thankfully, the child was still fast asleep amidst the commotion.

Under the burden of everyone’s uneasy gaze, Huiyun decided to address the situation.

“…First, let’s move the child and then talk. Let’s also change the location. This isn’t the place for this discussion, right?”

It was not appropriate to sit stubbornly in front of the hospital forever. Luckily, there were no people passing by, but the hunters felt uncomfortable and reluctantly agreed to Huiyun’s suggestion. 

If Ash kept calling him “Vina,” then he was probably one of his disciples.

Huiyun wondered what to do if that obnoxious guy was really his disciple. 

How the hell did he discipline his disciple that they grow up like this? 

He barely managed to hold back his anger and went to find a nurse to show the child. When he mentioned that they had been out for a walk in the moonlight, the nurse was surprised and took the child.

“Will you leave his memory as it is?”

“It’s better to erase it. It would be bad if the child woke up and start talking.”

 Jiwook and Juan advised together. Huiyun realized that it could be a traumatic experience for the child and nodded in agreement rather than nodding his head in surprise.

“How do you erase memories?”

He asked out of curiosity, and the three hunters looked at him with the same expression, as if he had asked such a basic question.

No, why?

When he felt unfairly misunderstood, Jiwook moved. Without further explanation, he followed the nurse into the room, and Juan explained the mystery.

“Vina’s ability is related to memories. If you’re not an awakened, erasing memories isn’t that difficult. Even if you’re an awakened, he can erase the memories of anyone below C-rank, but it gets harder from B-rank, and it doesn’t work from A-rank.”

“Ah.”

Huiyun didn’t know such an ability existed. Seeing the reactions of the three just now, it seemed to be a secret almost as common as public knowledge. Once again proving that he had no particular interest in the hunter industry, Huiyun looked hesitantly at Jiwook, who had just come out of the room.

If it’s difficult from B-rank, does that mean he can use his ability on someone like Huigang?

Has he already done that?

Another reason not to get involved with them, but unfortunately, he had already declared himself as Yasha’s disciple. As he sighed deeply, Jiwook, who seemed to see his actions differently, frowned as if he was displeased.

“I don’t use memory-erasing abilities on just anyone. I’ve never touched your family.”

“…Well, that’s a relief.”

He wasn’t sighing because of that, but hearing this explanation made him feel slightly relieved. Since Jiwook had probably explained it separately to the nurse, there was no nurse asking him for an explanation as he headed to the ward at a late hour. Huiyun felt increasingly anxious as he approached his ward.

Let’s calm down.

There was no benefit in letting them know that his heart was pounding loudly. Huiyun steadied his heartbeat with quiet breaths and opened the familiar door to his hospital room. As soon as Huiyun entered, the three hunters followed suit, and Nameless close the door.

With a click, the door closed shut, and Huiyun briefly despaired, wondering if his future would also be tightly shut like that.

“So, what does it mean that you’re Yasha’s disciple?”

Jiwook asked bluntly, his tone full of disbelief. He didn’t even sit down, indicating an urgent tone.

Stay calm.

They say even in the tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you. Remembering that the best lie is one mixed with some truth, Huiyun faced Jiwook’s sharp gaze directly.

“It means exactly what it says. I am Yasha’s seventh disciple, but I’m not Yasha himself. I merely received part of the Domination Ability through his teachings.”

“Nonsense. I’ve never heard any news about Yasha having a seventh disciple.”

Jiwook cut off Huiyun’s lie mercilessly. In response, Huiyun stood even more boldly and shamelessly.

“Other disciples might not know. I was Yasha’s last disciple…”

Huiyun emphasized, putting extra strength into his voice to make his point.

“I was also the one he took in before he died.”

“…!”

The words seemed to catch the three off guard simultaneously.

“Hmm…”

Nameless hummed as if amused, lifting the corners of his mouth. Although Huiyun felt cold sweat trickling down his back, he maintained an indifferent facade.

“If you were truly Yasha’s last disciple, why did you say you didn’t know when I asked you about Yasha before?”

“I didn’t want to get involved.”

“What?”

“I’ve only realized that I’m Yasha’s disciple less than three years ago. My memories are unstable, and my abilities are unstable too. In that state, I didn’t see any benefit in getting involved with Yasha’s other disciples. Besides, nobody knows me anyway.”

It seemed lies begot more lies. Huiyun heard a voice from within asking how he planned to cover up the lie, but there was nothing he could do. It was better to become one of the disciples than to be caught and dissected by those crazy disciples if they found out he was Yasha.

It seems that Yasha’s disciples have various personalities. If that’s the case, there might be at least one selfish guy like this.

Although not completely convinced, the three fell into silence for a moment, seemingly organizing their thoughts. Juan chuckled dryly.

“Judging by the way you talk, it seems to be in line with Yasha’s taste…”

What?

Huiyun, who was deliberately portraying an extreme egoist, almost retorted naively.

To say that this kind of personality was in line with Yasha’s taste… 

What on earth did his past self do?

He didn’t know if the disciples’ personalities being equally stubborn was solely due to their master’s influence.

He didn’t know it for sure, but maybe the teacher was to blame for the disciples’ terrible personalities.