You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿ - Chapter 107

Han Jae-young clicked his tongue.

âThe information is too slow; itâs frustrating.â
If this were Korea, the situation would be different.
He could have figured out who had put the Golden Drakeâs heart on the market, and whether there was any real connection to Layla.

It would even have been possible to track down Laylaâs whereabouts using that clue.
But this was New York.
No matter how skilled Han Jae-young was as an S-rank hunter, gathering information quickly in New York was impossible.

This was, after all, Estellaâs territory.
Han Jae-young stroked his smooth jaw and sank into thought.
âThe real problem is how Estella will respond...â

At that moment, someone hurriedly entered the room, only to be stopped by the security guard.
Upon recognizing who it was, Han Jae-young gave the guard a signal to let the person through.
âItâs okay. Let them in.â

âHa, Hunter Han Jae-young!â
The person who had rushed in was Lee Pyeong-hwa.
âIâm late because the interview took longer than expected,â Lee Pyeong-hwa said.

In Lee Pyeong-hwaâs case, even though it wasnât his will, his basic military training had taken longer than expected due to the accident during his training, so the interview had been delayed. As a result, he was the last to hear about Jeong Da-onâs kidnapping.
Upon hearing the news, Lee Pyeong-hwaâs face was a picture of confusion.
And then, he asked the question that everyone in the room was wondering.

âWhy on earth was Jeong Da-on kidnapped?â
âExactly, thatâs the question we all have,â Han Jae-young replied.
Why did Layla Lopez target Jeong Da-on of all people?
And why go to such lengths to prepare for it?

âA potential S-rank hunter, so she must be valuable as a hostage...?â
âMaybe, but if she made a deal with Estella, it might make sense. But as it stands, sheâs a hunter affiliated with Korea.â
Right now, Jeong Da-on was relatively famous as a potential S-rank hunter.

More importantly, a video of her using incantation magic right after awakening had been uploaded.
But this wasnât Korea.
In the United States, the scale of capital and the pool of talent was incomparable to Koreaâs.

Moreover, to the outside world, Jeong Da-on was still only a âpotential S-rank.â
The video of her using incantation magic was, of course, true for Han Jae-young, but it was so extraordinary that there were many claims that it was doctored or faked.
So even if Jeong Da-on were kidnapped, only those who already knew her true value would understand. This didnât make it any easier for the U.S. government to negotiate.

Of course, the South Korean embassy and government had a fire under their feet...
But Layla Lopez, as a criminal with U.S. citizenship, meant any intervention would require time and procedures.
Lee Pyeong-hwa sighed in frustration.

âSo, for now, we donât even know the motive behind it. Sheâs been gone for just a short time, and now a kidnapping... Has Jeong Da-onâs brother been informed?â
âNo, not yet.â
âWhy not? Shouldnât the family be informed?â

Han Jae-young shrugged at the logical question.
âI agree with you, but the criminal who is on the run was affiliated with the Hunter Associationâs headquarters. They said information canât leak.â
Telling Jeong Da-onâs brother, Jeong Da-jeong, in Korea about the current situation wouldnât change much either.

âIf Da-on were here, she probably wouldâve told me not to let him know.â
Despite being six years younger, Jeong Da-jeong was the type to try to avoid worrying his sister.
âAnd now, New York HQâs hunters are dispatched and tracking the traces of the teleportation magic circle.â

Han Jae-young pointed toward the people filling the waiting room.
âItâs been two hours, but there doesnât seem to be much progress.â
The Hunter Association is an international organization with over 190 member countries.

Each country has branches, but the headquarters overseeing all branches is located here in New York.
It is often referred to as the World Hunter Association or simply HQ.

Hunters dispatched from the headquarters gave Han Jae-young a sharp glare in response to his mocking tone.

[Whatâs he blabbering about? That guy is still so annoying.]
[Donât make a big deal out of it. Fighting with a mad dog just hurts us.]
[Woah, woah. A dog? Iâm half-Asian too. Cut the discriminatory remarks.]

[Hold on. Do Koreans really eat dogs?]
[Thatâs enough! Focus on the investigation.]
[Who cares? They wonât even understand it.]

The foreign hunters were exchanging a rapid-fire stream of swear words and blatant racial slurs, hard for anyone to follow.
Fortunately, Lee Pyeong-hwa, who didnât understand, stared at Han Jae-young with a confused expression.
âDonât they use translators?â

âItâs an interesting story, but Americans believe everyone in the world should speak English. Itâs actually rare for an American to use a translator,â Han Jae-young explained.
âEh... but...â
âProbably why Estella is so popular. She uses an item that translates Korean, after all.â

Estella using a translation item with Korean language support was probably her way of showing goodwill.
Even though, coming from a position of superiority, Han Jae-young didnât particularly appreciate it.
Lee Pyeong-hwa asked, his voice anxious.

âWell, that doesnât mean we can just sit back and leave it to others. Canât we join the investigation?â
âIâd love to, but the identity issue is a problem.â
Han Jae-young nodded, but instead of agreeing with Lee Pyeong-hwaâs suggestion, he shook his head.

He wasnât against the idea, but the situation was tricky. He wasnât officially admitted into the country and was in the U.S. as a temporary refugee due to his dimensional accident.
It wasnât a simple matter of just jumping in.
Yoo Han-ul sighed.

âSince Iâve officially entered the country, I donât have an identity issue. Iâve already asked to participate in the investigation, but...â
âRight, those guys wouldnât let anyone else handle the search for Layla Lopez.â
Both Han Jae-young and Yoo Han-ul were affiliated with the Hunter Association, but in this case, they were effectively outsiders.

The New York headquarters was far removed from the branch offices in other countries.
âEstellaâs been betrayed and escaped, after all.â
The hunters from the headquarters were blindly loyal to Estella.

And Layla Lopez, with her long history in the Item Development Department, had stolen valuable items from Estellaâs back and was now on the run after kidnapping an Eastern hunter.
The HQ hunters must have felt severely embarrassed.
No, it wasnât just about embarrassment.

They might even feel like Estellaâs reputation had been sullied.
So, it wasnât hard to guess that they wouldnât welcome strong outsiders like Han Jae-young into the investigation.
Even if Han Jae-young asked to participate formally, it was unlikely theyâd accept him, and even if they did, they wouldnât share meaningful information.

âAnd even without all this, they donât really like us. Donât make eye contact. Theyâll do anything to pick a fight.â
âUs?â
âMore like me.â

Yoo Han-ul spoke dryly.
âItâs probably because they always compare me to Estella as an S-rank.â
The comparison didnât only happen in Korea.

Yoo Han-ulâs feats had spread in several videos, and globally, he was recognized as being on par with anyone in terms of strength.
To Estellaâs fanatics, that was highly unpleasant.
Especially to the racists, the idea of comparing an Eastern person to Estella would be very upsetting.

âThey think the comparison to Estella is an insult. Thatâs why every time I come to America, I always end up getting into a big argument.â
Lee Pyeong-hwa was so outraged she momentarily forgot the situation.
âWait, thatâs...! Thatâs not Yoo Han-ul Hunterâs fault!â

âIf it had been a reasonable argument, it wouldnât be our fault.â
Han Jae-young trailed off, and Yoo Han-ul, rarely, responded with a hint of emotion.
âIt was reasonable, though?â

âYeah, I think so too. Anyway, thatâs why we donât get along with the HQ.â

Thatâs why Han Jae-young was even more sensitive to Estellaâs approach to Jeong Da-on.
If Jeong Da-on had been tempted by Estellaâs offer to join the HQ, she wouldâve faced not only the negative atmosphere toward Korean hunters but also the territorialism of the HQ. It probably wouldnât have been a good outcome.

âOf course, Jeong Da-onâs not the type to be swayed by that kind of atmosphere...â
Lee Pyeong-hwa asked cautiously.
âThen could it be that bad blood from that situation is why the investigation is delayed...?â

Han Jae-young smiled softly at the question.
âMaybe thatâs possible~? Itâs been over two hours, and they still havenât even traced the teleportation magic.â
âYeah, I canât just wait for this investigation to work alone.â

âHey, be careful what you say!â
One of the hunters, who had been quietly whispering in fast English, suddenly shouted.
Did he think Lee Pyeong-hwa understood Korean?

The hunter, with his face flushed, walked toward Yoo Han-ul aggressively.
âWeâre doing a sloppy job on the investigation, huh?â
The threatening attitude made Lee Pyeong-hwa instinctively shrink back.

âUh, I didnât mean it like that...â
âShut up.â
Han Jae-young quietly pulled Lee Pyeong-hwa behind him.

Lee Pyeong-hwa whispered in surprise.
âUh, what should we do? I made a slip of the tongue...â
âIf I thought it was a mistake, I wouldâve stopped you.â

He didnât stop her because he knew it was intentional.
In fact, he had guided her into saying it.
It was difficult for them to make the first move, so Han Jae-young wanted them to start the confrontation.

âIf Iâm wrong, the results will prove it.â
Yoo Han-ul stepped forward, his voice sharp.
The entire room gasped.

The aura surrounding Yoo Han-ul dominated the space.
A veteran hunter unconsciously controls the magic around them. Even a change in their emotions could alter the density of the air.
So, an S-rank hunter who was angry could make it dangerous to approach them.

âHunter Han Jae-young is right. The victimâs been kidnapped for over two hours, and thereâs still no success with the tracking magic. We havenât even made contact with the criminal.â
But the hunter who had approached Yoo Han-ul was already too late to escape.
Everyone in the room was now focused on Yoo Han-ul and the hunter who had confronted him.

The hunterâs forehead began to sweat as all eyes were on him.
âThatâs...!â
âIf youâre not just slacking off, then whatâs this? Lack of ability?â

Yoo Han-ulâs words, rare for their sincerity, cut through the tension.
And honestly, Han Jae-young thought.
âThe guy left his post first and is now venting his frustration...â

But the hunter from the HQ, who had no idea about this background, couldnât stand Yoo Han-ulâs words.
âHey, thatâs too harsh! Weâre doing our best... ugh!â
Yoo Han-ul casually stretched out his arm.

The hunter flinched and gasped, even though all Yoo Han-ul did was cross his arms.
He was completely dominating the situation with just that small gesture.
In fact, he was threatening the man.

âYou havenât even started making harsh comments yet?â
âWhat, what did you say?â
Thereâs one misunderstanding people often have.

Although Yoo Han-ul was inherently a righteous person who couldnât ignore the plight of others...
Even Han Jae-young, part-fairy, would be amazed at the rare level of goodness he possessed.
âGathering this many people and wasting time just to trace the teleportation magic.â

In modern society, evil is carried out under the guise of rationality and everyday behavior, but goodness often appears inefficient and troublesome.
In that kind of society, someone who doesnât easily overlook the wrongs of others canât be weak.
A true good person must be stronger than the evil person.

And Yoo Han-ul was not the type to tolerate corruption, especially when it came to an official investigation.
âA police dog would be much more useful. At least theyâre cute.â