Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Kanae Tawata Pov. – November 14.
"Look! We can visit Gyengbokgung Palace, it's the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty! It's almost a thousand years old! Or Changdekgung Palace, the Huwon Garden sounds lovely to see. Oh, oh, oh, I've always wanted to visit Seoul Tower in Namsan, maybe we should go. I even brought some padlocks to put up as Love Locks, I want to put some up." My eye twitched slightly as I continued listening to Miyamura talking cheerfully.
"The palaces sound interesting, and the tower might have a nice view, mmm, it says here that it's 236.7 meters tall and located on Mount Namsan, so its height above sea level is double that," Zenin hummed. My eye continued to twitch.
"That sounds like a lot of people. Oh, this library looks attractive." Miyam-Taylor said, It's best to call them by name or it will be confusing.
"Oh, the Starfield Library, in COEX, it's inside a mall in Gangnam," Izumi hummed. "Mmm, 'COEX Mall, the underground shopping mall in Seoul, the largest mall in the capital and one of the largest underground malls in the world, and the largest in Asia.' We have to go!" Izumi exclaimed excitedly. My eye kept twitching harder and harder, to the point where I could feel my vein twitching.
"That's enough! We're not here on vacation!" I snapped at the three idiots in front of me. Izumi, Taylor, and Mai looked up, bewildered. We were on the private jet flying to Seoul, Korea, for the raid on Jeju Island. We were going to meet with the Korean hunters tomorrow.
We traveled a day early simply to have time to settle in and discuss things. And everyone was here. I mean, all the S-Rank hunters from Draw Sword, the 11 of us, several Association employees, like Hanekawa who was our translator, and finally the trio of idiots in front of me.
Izumi, Taylor, and Mai. I had no idea what the Hunter Association or the HPSC were thinking, sending these idiots on the Jeju raid. Sending students to Jeju, no matter how strong or useful their quirks were, was incredibly dangerous and a terrible idea.
Especially since there was… something going on. I had a bad feeling about this whole situation, not about Jeju, but about everything else. It was obvious that Goto-san had left me out of certain matters. It wasn't my job to question Goto, but there was something going on between her and some of the others, and they were keeping me out of it.
It was… irritating at best. The only thing I'd been able to figure out was that it had something to do with Izumi and Taylor; I didn't really know what, but whatever they were up to, it was definitely going to be dangerous.
And the idiot didn't listen to my warning.
I had tried to warn him to stay away from the whole thing, and yet today he arrived with a broad smile and boarded the jet without a care in the world, and then he pulled out several tourist brochures. Tourist brochures.
He started talking loudly with Taylor and Mai for the last hour about tourist areas to visit in Seoul. The three of them practically talked about the brochures as if we weren't going to Korea for a dungeon raid, but rather for simple tourism. And they were talking without caring who was listening.
I could see more than one of the others, equally annoyed by the noise, glaring at them, some even with murderous intent. I was sure more than one wanted to kill them right then and there, and the trio just kept talking as if nothing was wrong.
"No tourism?" Izumi asked, sounding surprised. "There's no way... 5 days to Jeju? What will we do for those 5 days?" Izumi asked, puzzled. My eye twitched slightly.
"We have important matters to attend to, we are representing Draw Sword, Japan, you can't just go sightseeing." I grumbled in annoyance, Izumi just looked at me and shrugged.
"I think they made it clear that my internship was delayed. I'm not really part of Draw Sword, as far as I remember," Izumi said with a cheeky smile.
"Even so," I grumbled in annoyance. Izumi just laughed amusedly.
"Let them go," Goto said calmly. I turned to look at her, but she didn't even turn around; she just kept staring out the window. "Kanae, go with them," she added, and my eyes widened.
"What!?" I exclaimed in shock, Izumi just laughed amusedly.
"Yay! Tourism!" Izumi said happily.
"Hanekawa won't be coming with you; you're on your own," Goto added, ignoring our shouts. I stared at her in disbelief. I ignored the mocking looks from the others and glared at them.
"It doesn't matter. I speak fluent Korean." Izumi said nonchalantly, and I turned to look at him in surprise.
"You know Korean?" I asked incredulously. "And you couldn't mention it before?" I added indignantly. Izumi shrugged.
"Nobody asked me," he said with a smile. My eye twitched once more; I was afraid that continuing with him would cause a permanent eye tic.
"When did you learn Korean?" I grumbled in annoyance. He shrugged.
"Years ago, I knew I'd need it in the future," Izumi said, his eyes slightly twinkling. I froze, as did everyone else, even Goto finally turning to glance at him. Future. Vision of the future.
We all knew he could see the future to some extent; the accident with the gates that opened all over Japan during the villain's attack on Kamino was prevented by him. But… if he… if he knew we were coming to Jeju years ago… how terrifying would that be?
"After all, how could I properly make fun of some Korean who bothers me if I can't speak their language?" Izumi added with a huge grin. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, fighting the urge to punch him in the face. He wasn't dangerous; he was just an idiot. "Alright! We have to go to COEX Mall!" Izumi said cheerfully, ignoring us once again. "It must have some clothing stores. I want to see if we can get some Dongtan dresses!" he said happily. "If not, we can go to Dongtan District. It's about a 20-minute train ride from Seoul," he added.
"What the hell is a Dongtan Dress, and why do I feel like it's something stupid, or perverted, or both?" Taylor asked dryly, Izumi just smiled broadly at him.
"Because you know me so well." Izumi sighed before taking out hisScroll, and then his screen lit up, showing a woman in a gray dress—a very thin, tight-fitting, almost transparent gray dress that concealed absolutely nothing. I blushed slightly.
"Yes, I knew it," Taylor said with a tired sigh. "I'm sure that counts as blatant discrimination based on things you see on the internet. It's impossible that normal people would use something like that in their daily lives," Taylor said dryly. Izumi shrugged.
"Hmm, are you going to buy one for yourself? Then I'll think about it." Mai said dryly. Izumi stopped and hummed.
"I wouldn't look bad in one of them," Izumi hummed. I stopped myself before the thought of Izumi in an equally tight, see-through dress flashed before I shook my head to clear the image from my mind. "As long as I can get one for all of you, Darkness would really look good in one," Izumi said with a perverted smile.
"Calm down, Izumi," Taylor said dryly. "We're in mid-air," she added with a sigh. Izumi just smiled shamelessly.
"I mean, we can always join the Mile High Club," Izumi said with a smile.
"No!" Taylor blurted out, blushing and glaring at him. I blushed too.
"What is... Mile High Club?" Mai asked, confused. Izumi opened his mouth before Taylor used her hand to silence him.
"Nothing important." Taylor grumbled. Izumi just huffed and went back to her tourist brochures. I sighed wearily. And I'd have to follow them around all day; I just hoped it would be over quickly. But considering there were still a couple of hours of flight left, I didn't have much hope.
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Sung Jin-Woo POV - November 15.
"Are we going to the association's headquarters?" I asked Dad curiously as I looked at the building, which seemed to grow larger as we approached. Dad just smiled and nodded slightly as he drove.
"We are. Gunhee called us." Dad said easily, and I could see him smiling with excitement. I raised an eyebrow.
"Chairwoman Go? Did something happen?" I asked curiously, Dad just looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Haven't you seen the news?" Dad asked curtly, looking in my direction. I just blinked at him, completely clueless. Dad just sighed wearily. "There are more important things than dungeons, son," he said dryly. I looked away so he wouldn't notice my slight blush. "It doesn't matter, you'll find out soon enough anyway," Dad said finally. I looked at him again; now I was genuinely curious, but I knew that digging wouldn't get me any answers, so I just nodded.
After stopping in front of the building, Dad and I went straight up to Chairwoman Go's office immediately.
"Il-Hwan, Jinwoo." Chairwoman Go greeted as she stood up with a warm smile.
"Gunhee." Dad greeted cheerfully.
"Chairwoman Go," I said more politely. Chairwoman Go laughed slightly.
"Thank you both for coming," Chairwoman Go said. "I assume you're aware of the news," she said, getting straight to the point. Dad just snorted in amusement.
"I am, my son isn't," Dad said curtly. I glared at him while Chairwoman Go chuckled slightly before turning serious.
"The raid on Jeju Island will be in four days," Chairwoman Go said seriously. My eyebrows rose slightly.
"So fast? The announcement was-" I stopped stiffly.
"A month ago," Dad said dryly. I cleared my throat as Chairwoman Go laughed once again.
"Yes... that," I said awkwardly. Had the month since the announcement really passed so quickly? All I remembered was going from one dungeon to another.
"As I was saying, the raid will be in four days." Chairwoman Go resumed the conversation. "We'll go to Jeju Island and eliminate those ants once and for all. All the citizens want Jeju Island back. I know you already refused once, but I'll ask again: would you like to join us in this operation?" Chairwoman Go asked me seriously. I frowned and looked at Dad; he shrugged.
"Your decision," Dad said matter-of-factly. I froze. Normally, I would accept without hesitation; Jeju Island is teeming with high-level monsters, and it would be a great addition to my shadows. I opened my mouth before freezing again—"Aura? At that level?"
"Are there hunters fighting nearby?" I asked curiously. They both snorted amusedly.
"You have an excellent ability to sense auras, as always," Chairwoman Go said with a laugh. "The S-rank hunters are training in the gym; I assume you're referring to them," she added.
"S-rank hunters?" I asked curiously. Dad just sighed and shook his head.
"If you kept up with the news, you'd know," Dad said curtly. I glared at him. The Chairwoman just laughed.
"Yes, since there are only four days left until the Jeju Island excursion, Ryuko Goto and her S-rank Japanese hunters are here. They arrived in the country yesterday," Chairwoman Go said seriously. I paused slightly. "Do you want to go see them?" the Chairwoman asked cheerfully.
The three of us went down from the building and into the gym. My gaze immediately went to the training arena where some people I recognized were already training. Dad and the Chairwoman were still talking while I scanned the people gathered there. My gaze then fell back toward the entrance.
"And those over there, they're the Japanese." Dad said, looking at the same group. I just nodded and frowned.
"A school uniform?" I asked, looking at two in jackets. They both looked young, too young, my age or even younger, maybe Jinah's age.
"That girl over there, the one with glasses, is Taylor Miyamura, a student at UA," Chairwoman Go said with a frown.
"A UA student?" I asked, surprised. "Wait, Taylor Miyamura? I... I remember her, the insect girl from the sports festival, right? Didn't she have another name? What's with the name, and why does it sound familiar?" I asked, curious. Chairwoman just looked at me and blinked. Dad sighed wearily again.
"You really need to pay more attention to the international scene and the news, son," Dad said dryly. Then he pointed at the student. "Taylor Hebert, S-Rank, exchange student. The PRT sent her to study at UA. According to official channels, they wanted one of their S-Ranks to train under All Might."
"She married Izumi Miyamura while she was in Japan, the grandson of Ryuma Shimotsuki, another S-Rank," Dad said matter-of-factly. My eyes widened slightly. "Her dual citizenship is causing some tension between the American and Japanese governments, but that's not important."
"She was sent here as a hero, specifically because of her Quirk, Queen Administrator. It grants her complete control over all insects within her range. She's capable of controlling millions of insects individually and has also demonstrated the ability to control insect-type monsters with the same ease," Dad said seriously. My eyes widened slightly.
"Jeju has ants," I said, as if it were obvious. They both nodded. "Do you want to take control of the insects on Jeju?" I asked cautiously.
"Some probably," Chairwoman Go said with a sigh. "We'll try to eliminate them all, but I have no doubt they'll try to reclaim and take some of them."
"Normally, insect-type dungeons are quite low-level, the Jeju monsters are one of the few known gates with A-rank insect-type monsters. They want to increase her strength, even if she can only take a dozen of them, it's still a small army of A-rank monsters, Taylor Miyamura's power would increase considerably."
"You yourself must know how valuable and powerful it is to have an army of high-level monsters," Chairwoman Go said seriously. I could only nod while thinking about my shadows.
"Can we stop her?" I asked, frowning. Chairwoman Go shook her head.
"We will try to eliminate as many ants as we can, and we will apply pressure to prevent many of them from leaving the island, but we definitely cannot refuse to let them take some with them."
"This is a joint operation with Japan; to antagonize them in any way would be bad for us," Chairwoman Go said with a grimace.
"What is its range? If it's capable of covering a large part of the island, then..." I said, frowning.
"5 blocks."
"Five blocks? That's not—" I stopped stiffly, as did Dad and the Chairwoman. All three of us turned around at the sound of a fourth voice. How had someone managed to escape our senses?! We all turned and looked at… no one? I blinked, confused.
"Where are you looking?" the same voice asked, sounding amused. I turned around immediately, completely alert. Only for a finger to stop me mid-turn, pressing against my cheek. I jumped back instantly, almost panicking. I brought my hand to my cheek in disbelief.
I… I hadn't felt it at all. Even when he was so close, even when his finger touched my cheek, I wasn't able to feel it. I… no one had caught me off guard in years. Like…
Look ahead and see the person in charge. He was a teenager, younger than me. He had shoulder-length hair tied back, and he had many ear piercings, the most prominent being three gold bars in one ear. And most importantly, he was wearing a UA uniform.
He had a lazy smile as he looked at us, standing in front of us, his finger still extended as if nothing had happened. I recognized him immediately.
Izumi Miyamura, Ryuma's grandson. And he had been able to hide from a national-ranked, retired S-rank, and me. None of the three of us were able to sense him until he spoke, and even now, I'm still unable to.
Even when I concentrate, trying to sense his aura, all I can feel is that I seem to be looking at a damn tree or something equally useless. How... how was he doing that? He's dangerous, much more so than I expected.
"Yahallo!" Izumi Miyamura smiled broadly as he waved. I blinked slightly.
What?