Unlike regular companies where you can resign anytime you want, Hunter Guilds have an incredibly strict resignation process, just as difficult as their hiring process.
The reason is simple.
Hunter Guilds earn their income through the activities of their members.
In other words, the guild members themselves are essentially the guild's lifeline.
Would a profit-driven organization just sit idly by while such a lifeline walked out on a whim?
Therefore, guilds draw up contracts when accepting new members.
These contracts list detailed conditions, along with signing bonuses, annual salaries, and contract periods.
Even if a member decides to transfer due to a scout from another guild, they must work for at least the minimum contract period before leaving.
And if they refuse even that, the guild can demand a penalty fee corresponding to the remaining contract period.
“Ah, right. There was a contract.”
“……”
Her expression, as if only just realizing it, made my head spin a little.
When on earth will this kid grow up?
Her body might have grown, but her actions are exactly like when she was a child, and it worries me endlessly.
I wonder if she'll get scammed by someone out there.
When I unconsciously looked at her with a pitying gaze, she noticed and furrowed her brows.
“Your gaze seemed quite unpleasant.”
That sulky voice she only uses when she's a little annoyed.
“You must have seen wrong.”
As I quickly composed my gaze and feigned ignorance, Sia huffed and looked away.
It was an expression that said, "I'll let it slide this once, so do better."
If I annoyed or teased her a bit more, she'd enter 'Stage 2'.
I should probably start cheering her up again.
Because once she enters Stage 2, it gets a bit tricky to appease her.
“Would you like another cup of coffee?”
“…Give it.”
She held out her empty paper cup with a pouting voice.
Like this, in Stage 1, a well-made cup of coffee is usually enough to smooth things over.
And how do you appease her in Stage 2?
You have to grant her one small wish.
Things that are perfectly doable, but take a lot of time and are a hassle.
Better to appease her now than regret it later.
Handing her a freshly brewed cup of coffee, I voiced a question that suddenly came to mind.
“But why did you submit a resignation? Princess, you're a direct party member of the Guild Master, part of an elite group within the guild.”
Even a National Hunter doesn't clear dungeons alone.
Therefore, within a guild, there exists a party directly under the Guild Master.
Tanks, ranged dealers, detection specialists, and so on.
These are individuals who boast renowned skills, more than capable of supporting an S-rank Hunter.
Jung Sia, right before me, is one of them.
Her position is a debuffer.
Because the binding effect caused by her Trait, 'Tyrant's Gaze,' is more powerful than any crowd control skill.
So, what does that mean?
It means Jung Sia is an elite guild member, considered a core asset within the guild, and her treatment and compensation are on a completely different level compared to other guild members.
That's why I'm even more curious.
What kind of dissatisfaction could she have with a guild that treats her so well, lacking nothing, that she would even throw in a resignation letter?
“Hmm... the reason, you ask?”
Jung Sia made a gloomy expression, swallowing a groan.
She opened her mouth.
“Everything I'm about to say is classified, so only you must know.”
Classified, huh...
What on earth could it be that she's even using the word 'classified'?
Well, it's not like I have anyone to blab to anyway, so I might as well listen.
“Yes, I will.”
As I nodded and replied, she continued, her demeanor much more relaxed.
“The current Guild Master is preparing for a comeback.”
“A comeback, you say...? Resuming Hunter activities...?”
“Precisely.”
I was a little surprised, but only just.
I had been thinking it was about time for that.
A break that had extended beyond the announced sabbatical.
Whether by choice or by force, he would inevitably have to prepare for his return soon.
Because the Association and the government must be relentlessly prodding him, asking when he'll finally return.
Even Han Ju-hee is probably one of the people poking him in the side.
I saw in the news that she handled several major incidents that Son Si-woo was originally supposed to take care of.
Given her recent tendency to focus more on research than Hunter activities, she must have felt her research time was interrupted and probably nagged her husband a few times.
She continued.
“But during that process, the fake one arbitrarily brought people into the guild.”
I think I know who she's talking about.
The four Paladins given by the cult priest from the upper echelons, to be used as his limbs.
“And not just as regular guild members, but saying he'd use them as direct party members of the Guild Master!”
“Ah.”
Jung Sia crumpled the empty paper cup in her hand in indignation.
I could roughly picture what she was getting at in my mind.
Most likely, that guy still can't properly handle my body.
To even make slight use of it, he'd need to put in some effort, but he's the type who avoids anything like that.
Amidst all this, the Association, the government, and even his wife are all prodding him about when he'll return.
To overcome this, he received four Paladins from the cult priest.
The reason is obvious.
“He's surely planning to have them clear dungeons in his stead, so he won't be exposed as a fake, hmph!”
Sia exclaimed, huffing and puffing.
She was right.
Son Si-woo brought the Paladins into the guild to hide his incompetence.
His purpose, of course, was to make them his direct party members.
He'd go into the dungeon with them, but leave all the clearing to those guys, while he just sat there twiddling his thumbs.
Then, after the clear, he'd come out and talk big, as if he'd done it all himself.
I generally understood the picture she painted, but there was one part I didn't get.
“Did the other guild members just accept that?”
“Of course not!”
She exclaimed in an even more indignant voice.
But that was only for a moment.
“But it wasn't accepted...”
Sia let out a deep sigh, uttering the rest of her sentence in a thoroughly dejected voice.
“This whole situation is frustrating. The fake one is running rampant, and no one believes this Princess's words... What am I supposed to do...?”
Hmm...
Regardless of the good treatment, the guild members don't take her words at face value.
It wasn't just once or twice that she'd told absurd stories, like claiming she was a tyrant in her past life.
Moreover, for them to believe that the Guild Master, who clearly clocks in every day with fingerprint and iris recognition, is a fake—that's not easy unless you already know the truth, like me.
I understand how she feels.
How frustrating it must be, with the Guild Master being a fake and the other guild members not believing her.
“So that's why you made a resignation letter and threw it at them?”
Even making one herself, something not even in the company's official forms.
Sia nodded weakly.
Suddenly, I grew curious.
“Have you thought about what you'll do after you leave?”
I naturally assumed she wouldn't have.
“I have.”
“…Oh.”
She says she has.
What could it be?
As my curiosity grew, she opened her mouth again.
“I shall find the real Guild Master.”
“……”
As I said before, Jung Sia doesn't speak empty words unless it's a truly unavoidable situation.
There's no reason for her to lie in this situation, so that means she's 100% serious...
“Do you even know where he is?”
“Hmm, I haven't thought about that yet.”
She spoke in a rather serious tone.
“But I will find him, no matter what.”
Her eyes held a resolute glint, determined to find him.
However, the words that followed, in contrast, carried a deep sense of pathos.
“The Guild Master... Uncle, he's my only family...”
“……”
Family, huh.
Jung Sia has no family.
Unlike me, who was abandoned at birth, I heard she lost her parents to a monster that emerged from a Rift when she was in her first year of middle school.
Her only relative was an aunt living in far-off America.
Even that aunt was out of contact, leaving the fourteen-year-old girl alone overnight. For a little over a year after that, she lived by herself.
...Until she met me.
“Uncle, you were the only one who approached me when I was isolated and swayed by uncontrollable power.”
Even her tone of voice had changed.
Her ordinary self, which occasionally emerged when she was being utterly sincere.
“So I will find him. No matter how much money and time it takes... I will.”
A quiet ripple of energy shimmered within her dark eyes.
It seemed closer to a sticky obsession than a firm will.
Something distant, tangled and intertwined like glue, unable to be separated anymore.
“I won't lose him again.”
“……”
Perhaps the true nature of that was a wound.
A twisted emotion or self, formed from unhealed wounds lumped together.
I realized anew.
That Sia cherished me more dearly than any ordinary family.
In contrast, I had simply been thinking as I pleased.
That she was all grown up now, and could live perfectly well even without someone like me.
But that was a misconception.
She wouldn't stop until she found me.
Until her last breath.
I couldn't just stand by and watch that happen.
So, to her alone, I must tell the truth.
That I am Son Si-woo.
“Ms. Sia.”
She scrunched up her face at the sudden address.
“Hmph, how dare you disrespectfully call this Princess's name...”
However, her words didn't continue to the end.
Because my utterly serious demeanor made it impossible for her to maintain her persona and continue speaking.
I spoke again to her, who seemed slightly flustered.
“I'll help you find the real Guild Master.”
I had decided to reveal my true identity to her.
But not now.
With the non-disclosure clause in effect, I couldn't tell her anything truthfully right now.
So, for now, I'll just have to keep her close.
Keep her by my side so she doesn't waste time and money on futile endeavors, and so I can appropriately soothe and persuade her.
“…Really?”
She looked up at me with wide, round eyes.
To her right now, I was the only one who understood.
The only person who fully believed her words about the Guild Master being a fake, and who understood her feelings.
“Instead, I have one request.”
“A request, you say...? What might that be...?”
I held up one index finger and continued.
“First, you must not leave your current guild for the remainder of your contract period.”
As I recall, Sia's remaining contract period is about one year.
If she insisted on leaving now, she'd have to pay a penalty fee, and since her annual salary and signing bonus are so high, paying a year's worth of penalty would really hurt her bank account.
Quite a lot, too.
At my first condition, she nodded with a reluctant expression.
“Well... since that fellow is a fake, there won't be much activity anyway, so it shouldn't be too difficult.”
Towards her, who had accepted it without much difficulty, I held up another finger.
“Second, after your contract period ends, you must join the guild I create.”
Surprised by my words, Sia's eyes widened a little more.
“What...! You mean you're going to create a guild yourself...?”
“Yes.”
Guild creation.
Honestly, it was something I'd considered a few times and then given up on.
Having experienced once how difficult it was, I never wanted to do it again, but recently my mind changed.
“I'm planning to create my own guild. One filled only with my people.”
The operating principle will be a select few, an elite group.
I'll create a guild composed only of those bound to me by an unbreakable connection, in one way or another.
A comfortable guild where we can easily trust each other completely, knowing betrayal is impossible.
And a guild that possesses stronger military power than any other.
Hearing this, she gave a strange smile and asked me.
“Hoo... does that mean you're determined to make this Princess your person, then?”
She's kidding herself.
You're already my person, you brat.
I nodded, hiding my inner thought that I found her amusingly naive.
“That would be nice, but... I have no intention of forcing you to stay. If you find the real Guild Master and wish to leave with him, I'll let you go without regret.”
This was a tactic to gently sway her stubborn heart.
Essentially, it was like dangling a free carrot I'd picked up on the street, with no real strings attached for me, to tempt her.
And that temptation seemed to work quite well.
“Hmm... if that's the case, it might actually be acceptable...”
Her gaze flickered down to the crumpled paper cup in her hand.
She was probably thinking something like, "He makes good coffee, so maybe staying for a bit wouldn't be so bad...?"
Then, she raised her head and asked me.
“Ahem...! Do you, by any chance, have a guild name in mind? If I like it, I might consider it...?”
“I do.”
Fortunately, I did.
A name I'd decided on after days of deliberation.
“Ansimhoe (å®å¿æ). How's that?”
It means 'a gathering of people who seek peace of mind,' or 'who possess peace of mind.'
I'd agonized over this name for days.
As I looked at her with eyes full of conviction, believing there could be no better guild name, she glared at me with a fierce expression, as if she'd met her sworn enemy, and snapped.
“You, if possible, should never name anything. You seem to have a talent for infuriating those who hear it.”
“……”
I was thoroughly shot down.