Perhaps that’s why Eunha felt like she would understand a bit more about why they called each other ‘family.’

“They’ll be back soon. It’s okay. Just wait a bit.”

Taking a snack offered by Hyesu, Eunha leisurely spoke. Watching her, Hyesu scratched her cheek coolly.

“Yes, well… even if it’s the Master, there’s no way he would break his promise with Yura.”

Hyesu sat down on the sofa along with Eunha, picking up a snack. She was no longer angry.

“Anyway, the Master is like that too. Do you know how he sings ‘nuna, nuna’ [older sister] as a guild member? It’s almost to the point of jealousy.”

After that, Hyesu changed the topic to various stories while making sure Eunha wouldn’t get bored. The main topic was the trivial daily lives of the seven members of the legion guild.

The surprising thing was that during more than an hour of conversation, Hyesu had not mentioned Eunha’s dress or parasol even once.
They neither looked down on nor belittled Eunha, known as an F-rank concept hunter. Recent stories about Jagalchishi Market or Jecheon Daesung were not brought up.

Maybe because of that, before he knew it, Eunha was comfortably nodding her head, leaning on the chair cushion.

Rrrrr…

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Hyesu, who was complaining about Junhwan’s appetite, reached out towards the vibrating cellphone.

“Hey, where are you?”

As soon as she answered the phone, Hyesu shouted like a machine gun, pouring out nagging complaints.

“Yura, where are you? Master too. Don’t tell me you forgot our appointment today?”

…

There was a moment of silence.

Hyesu said, “Hello?” while checking her cellphone, then brought her ear back to the speaker.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Hello? Are you listening, Bae Junhwan?”

At that moment, a flush appeared on Hyesu’s face.

“…Wait, are you crying?”

When Eunha, who was quietly sipping her drink, shifted her gaze to her, Hyesu abruptly looked at her.

Thud.

The cellphone fell powerlessly from Hyesu’s grip.

Tadat─

Hyesu, who arrived near the legion headquarters’ university hospital, hurriedly ran somewhere in a fluster.

‘I think I should check for a bit. They seem to be a bit injured.’

Just a few minutes ago, when Hyesu received Junhwan’s call, she urgently put on her outerwear and said so.

‘Are they hurt?’

‘Actually, this Pohang mission was an unknown gate subjugation.’

Only then did Eunha realize that they were heading towards an unknown gate. Facing the frozen Eunha, Hyesu said.

‘Will you come with us?’

‘Me too… What?’

‘Yes. Since Yura is the Master’s officially acknowledged family.’

—So she followed them for now.

Eunha looked at Hyesu’s back, who was running ahead.

Contrary to what was said about them being exaggerating troublemakers, Hyesu, who arrived at the hospital, showed a very anxious appearance.

As they turned the corner of the hallway, a familiar group in green cloaks appeared a little far away. The family.

Hyesu approached them quickly, suppressing her swearing.

Snap!

Then, she smacked Junhwan’s forehead, who stood at the forefront.

“I knew it would be like this! You said you were at the hospital, do you know how surprised I was? Ah, my heart.”

Hyesu shouted with a bursting voice.

Although her tone was aggressive, her mouth, which had been rigid the whole time, now seemed to loosen.

“See, Yura? What did I say? They’re really exaggerating. Just look at them, they’re perfectly fine, and what kind of hospital is this?”

Eunha, who followed Hyesu, also visually confirmed their condition.

All five of them had dirt and dust on their cloaks, as if they had been rolling on the ground, but there didn’t seem to be any major injuries.

‘How?’
They were an elite group composed solely of A-rank hunters. However, conversely, it meant that not all of them were S-rank hunters.

Unknown Gates are inherently mysterious places, and the difficulty of clearing them varies each time. Nevertheless, the fact that every single one of them returned unharmed was astonishing.

During the previous Unknown Gate incident in Busan, the Immortal lost a considerable number of members. Even though they had a strong bond and synchronization, returning without any deep wounds was peculiar.

What was even more concerning was that despite returning unharmed, there was something gloomy about their faces.

“Why does everyone look like that? Seriously, anyone would think we came back from a three-week retreat.”

Hyesu playfully teased her colleagues as if making light of the situation. However, she couldn’t help but feel it herself. The heavy atmosphere that felt suffocating.

“Hey, seriously, why are you all acting like this? Making people uneasy. Okay, fine, I won’t say anything now……. ”

Hyesu’s smile began to tremble slightly. Behind Hyesu, Eunha, who had maintained silence all along, took a step closer.

“Where’s Minju?”

That sentence was the trigger.

Silence flowed. Even Hyesu, who had been loudly talking, froze completely.

An extended silence. In the midst of it, Junhwan finally managed to open his mouth with great effort.

“…Master is.”

Unlike his lips, which moved hesitantly, his head dropped endlessly downwards, lower and lower.