The moment Cha Seohu stepped into the reception room, the servants who had been hiding their presence suddenly sprang into action.

Just as the rich scent of something savory filled the air, Cha Seohu appeared, his footsteps echoing against the marble floor. Cha Sahyeon followed close behind.

“Hunter Cha Seohu.”

At the sound of Ryu Sunghyun’s voice, Cha Seohu cast a glance at the four of them.

He scanned the seated S-ranks and let out a breath of relief.

‘Good. They look unharmed.’

He knew Representative Seo wasn’t the type to go back on his word halfway through—but still, given the circumstances, it was only natural to worry.

Without a word, Cha Seohu gave a small signal with his eyes and moved to take a seat—directly across from Representative Seo.

He flopped down onto the sofa and crossed his legs confidently, eyeing Representative Seo with visible irritation.

Cha Sahyeon, as if it were the most natural thing, plopped down right next to Seohu. Watching this calmly, Representative Seo was the first to speak.

“It’s late. Why bother coming here?”

“How could I not come?”

As Seohu crossed his arms and snapped in annoyance, a servant approached.

Clack.

Unlike the others who had tea placed before them, a pristine white mug was set in front of Cha Seohu. A warm, fragrant aroma spread through the air.

It was heated milk, loaded with honey.

Cha Seohu frowned in disbelief.

“What is this? If you're giving me something, give me coffee.”

The servant gently admonished him.

“It’s too late for coffee, young master.”

The S-ranks, silently listening, all had the same thought.

‘...Did he just say “young master”?’

‘Young master...?’

Another identical mug was placed in front of Cha Sahyeon, who looked pleased to be drinking the same milk as his brother.

“Seriously? You’re giving me milk at my age?”

Grumbling in disbelief, Seohu was interrupted by Representative Seo, who sipped his tea leisurely.

“Drink that and go upstairs. Why are you wandering around so dangerously at bedtime? Tsk. I figured you’d come to your senses and talk things through.”

His tongue clicked in obvious displeasure, and Seohu’s brow twitched.

“You kidnapped me, and that’s what you have to say?”

“Kidnapped? Please...”

Park Minhyuk looked shocked, but Representative Seo responded without batting an eye.

“If the result’s good, even kidnapping has its merit.”

“The hell kind of bullshit is that—”

“Then what?”

Setting his teacup down, Representative Seo’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“Cha Seohu, would you have chosen another method? I doubt it.”

Seohu scowled at the sneer in his voice and snapped back immediately.

“Even so, blackmailing someone with a recording—how dirty can you get!”

“......”

“...Well, I mean, if it had the highest success rate, I guess it couldn’t be helped.”

“You’d know all about that success rate, wouldn’t you?”

“Ugh.”

As Seohu rubbed his chin instead of arguing, the S-ranks all stared at him.

‘Wait... did he just accept that?’

Park Minhyuk looked at Seohu like he was out of his mind.

“Anyway, blackmail won’t work on me anymore. I’m leaving. And I’m taking these four with me.”

“Didn’t I just explain? I only used them as leverage to keep you here briefly. If that hadn’t been the goal, I wouldn’t have treated them as guests at all.”

“...!”

Cha Seohu froze.

“What does °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° that mean?”

Doubt flickered across his pale face. He glared at Representative Seo with disbelief.

“What do you mean by ‘keep me here briefly’...?”

“Exactly what I said.”

For the briefest second, Representative Seo’s gaze flicked over to Cha Sahyeon sitting beside Seohu.

“What I’m saying now is that I won’t stop or detain you from leaving the district anymore.”

Seohu’s expression grew even more confused.

“What the hell... Then why bring me here in the first place?”

“I believe I already explained that.”

Right after summoning Sahyeon, Representative Seo had entered the room.

And Seohu had said:

[You dragged me here without warning.]

To which the response had been:

“You left without permission.”

“...Hah.”

Cha Seohu let out a hollow laugh without meaning to.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You never had any intention of letting me leave in the first place.”

“Why would you think that? I didn’t interfere after you left. Even when you flooded the area with buffs and heals and crawled into the Great Dungeon, I left you alone.”

Representative Seo looked utterly indifferent.

“You don’t really believe I sent your brothers after you, do you? I only decided to bring you in after hearing you went to the Association.”

Seohu pressed his lips together.

He had to admit... that was true. If Seo had really planned to bring him in, he would’ve done it earlier.

He hadn’t even been cautious about getting kidnapped, and S-rank Dealers like Kwon Seoyul and Kang Haeil had only shown up under the pretense of keeping an eye on him.

“The timing just sucked. Your skills got revealed while you were holed up in that outdated, poorly secured place. For your safety, I brought you here.”

Representative Seo’s blatant criticism of the Association made Park Minhyuk grind his teeth—but he couldn’t refute it. The Association had, after all, failed to protect Seohu during the attack.

“And Cha Seohu, even if not for the Association, you would’ve had to come here eventually. You thought so too, didn’t you?”

“...Yeah.”

As much as it annoyed him, that was true.

Still, agreeing too easily didn’t sit well with Seohu, so he forced a smile and retorted sarcastically.

“There’s a difference between walking back on my own two feet and being dragged here like this.”

“If you didn’t want trouble, you should’ve taken better care of yourself. If you’d gone to Yesung Guild, I wouldn’t have gotten involved.”

Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes grew cold.

‘So he knew Seohu was staying with us.’

Just how much did this man know?

Even as the disgust rose, Kwon Taehyuk found himself overlaying bits of his own image onto Representative Seo and swallowed a bitter laugh.

“Don’t be stupid, Cha Seohu.”

Representative Seo tapped the armrest of the sofa slowly.

“How long did you think you could keep running? You went to the Association to hide from Kang Haeil, didn’t you? Sooner or later, you had to face it.”

“That’s not—”

“When I taught you swordsmanship, I told you: if you have a goal, don’t waste energy on unnecessary distractions. Focus on what needs to be done.”

“I...”

“You have a habit of making impulsive decisions when emotions get the better of you—even after laying out a plan. I told you to always be on guard. How long has it been since you left the district? And you’ve already forgotten that?”

“......”

The more Representative Seo spoke, the lower Seohu’s head dropped.

‘He’s getting scolded.’

‘Yep. Totally getting scolded.’

The S-ranks, now caught in the blast radius of this verbal beating, did their best to keep straight faces.

Seohu clenched his fists through the reprimand—but finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and jumped to his feet.

“Then maybe you should’ve explained earlier! You had Kwon Seoyul and Kang Haeil breathing down my neck—and now you want me to be grateful because you say I can leave?!”

“What, you thought running away from your family would make you some kind of tragic hero? Why should I spell everything out for you? And for the record, I only ordered surveillance. If those two overstepped, that’s on you for provoking them.”

Seohu, livid, clutched his neck in frustration.

‘So... everything that happened because of the C-281 bastards was for nothing?’

It was all because Kwon Seoyul and Kang Haeil ignored their orders and went off-script.

That’s when Ryu Sunghyun, who’d quietly observed until now, cleared his throat and cautiously asked,

“So does that mean Hunter Cha Seohu can leave the district now without interference?”

“Yes, I permit it. But there are conditions.”

Representative Seo, switching to informal speech like it was the most natural thing in the world, rested his chin on his hand and continued.

“First, surveillance will continue. Don’t like it? Too bad. You lost my trust—that’s on you.”

“Wh-What...?”

“Second, you can do whatever you want domestically, but no international travel. If you want to go abroad, come ask for permission again.”

“Hold on—”

“Third, I don’t care how you do it, but replace the Association President. I was planning to help, but since you stormed out claiming you’d handle everything alone, this should be easy for you.”

“Why the hell would I agree to that—!”

“If you don’t like it, you’re free to stay here. Kwon Seoyul and Kang Haeil seem real eager to use your skills. Let’s see how long you last.”

“...If I sneak out—”

“Then you’ll just repeat the same stupid mistake again. The most pathetic, foolish option possible.”

“......”

Ughhh, Seohu groaned and held his forehead.

After wrestling with it for a while, he, clearly agitated, grabbed the now-lukewarm milk and chugged it down.

Clunk!

He slammed the empty mug down and glared at Representative Seo.

“No take-backs.”

“Alright.”

“If you go back on your word or get in my way again, I’ll set out water at dawn and pray you go impotent.”

“Touching that you care about my sex life. In that case, I’ll add one more condition.”

“What now?”

“Leave in the morning. It’s bedtime now.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. You already gave me three cond—huh?”

Mid-sentence, Seohu suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed back onto the sofa. His body slumped, vision blurring.

“Wh-What the...?”

“Hyung?!”

Cha Sahyeon rushed to support his brother and shouted at Representative Seo with sharp hostility.

“What did you do to him?!”

A terrifying aura exploded outward.

The S-ranks immediately shifted into combat readiness. Their energies clashed in the air, thick with tension.

Only Representative Seo remained completely unbothered as he slowly rose from his seat.

“Sleeping pill.”

“...!”

Cha Sahyeon checked Seohu’s breathing.

Steady, rhythmic, and soft. Peaceful, deep sleep.

Realizing he was only asleep, Cha Sahyeon let out a shaky breath and withdrew his aura.

“He won’t wake up until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you should all rest. A servant will guide you to your rooms.”

With that, Representative Seo turned and exited the reception room as if nothing had happened—leaving behind a room full of stunned silence.