Chapter 65

Having never properly heard the words I like you, Pado never bothered asking what they were to each other. He simply defined their relationship on his own.

Morae, meanwhile, had never heard a confession or even a “Will you go out with me?” But naturally, she assumed they had started dating. After everything that had happened, there was no way Pado didn’t like her.

Each interpreted things in their own way.

In that sense, they were a perfectly mismatched pair.

They slept in the same bed while dreaming entirely different dreams, yet somehow everything still fit together.

Believing Morae wanted something from him, Pado trapped her between his legs.

“Then let’s skip the condom for the second round.”

There it is.

She’d known he’d ask for another round.

Wearing an exhausted expression, Morae puffed out her lips.

His erection was already standing proudly again, brushing teasingly against her.

“You prefer it without one too, don’t you?”

His fingers lightly traced her waist and hips.

His face, now only inches away, carried a relaxed confidence.

It was honestly ridiculous that the very first thing he did after redefining their relationship was whine about not wanting to wear a condom.

Still, she couldn’t blame him entirely.

She’d been the one making unreasonable demands in the first place, and she hadn’t exactly enjoyed using the condom either.

“…Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. If that’s what you want.”

Without letting it show, she pretended to reluctantly indulge his wish and planted a kiss on the bridge of his nose.

【 Be Careful Before Entering Into a Contract XX 】

Morae was in an exceptionally good mood.

She hadn’t been this happy since recruiting Pado.

It felt like receiving every birthday present she’d been hoping for all at once.

She was delighted that Pado had finally bowed his head to her, but even more than that, she was thrilled by how many ways she could now make use of him.

Gaining a new ally was like gaining another piece in a game of chess.

With Pado by her side, her forces became far stronger, and the range of things she could accomplish expanded dramatically.

There were countless things she wanted him to do.

The list was endless.

Simply having him guide ships safely through dangerous ocean currents could earn them a fortune.

Conversely, he could raise barriers across the sea to keep the government and the Hunter Association from interfering.

With him, even building a railway that ran across the ocean no longer seemed impossible.

And that wasn’t all.

If Pado stayed with her, she might finally fulfill the dream she’d been nurturing for years.

It felt as though she’d advanced ten giant steps toward her ambitions.

Unlike Morae, whose happiness was obvious to anyone, the members of the Shadow Knights were having a miserable time.

They’d been run ragged because Morae had barged into their hideout and behaved as though she owned the place.

She had shown up without warning two days earlier and immediately started demanding rooms, weapons, and delicious food.

After being worked to the bone until evening, the exhausted Shadow Knights exchanged dead-eyed glances before their leader finally stepped in.

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“That depends on when I’m finished. Dinner was delicious, by the way. I really like your chef.”

“No, seriously. How long? It’s bad enough you’re making us wait on you. Now you’re ruining our business too. Do you even know what situation we’re in?”

Shadow Knights leader Kim Heejin growled as she pounded the round table.

She had a point.

The place where Morae and Pado were staying was a hotel financed by the Shadow Knights.

Morae had barged into one of their hotels without notice and was using it as though she’d rented out the entire building.

Naturally, the regular guests had all been forced out.

“You used to be an underground Hunter too, so you know exactly what we’re dealing with. We’re already having a hard enough time after losing Seongho oppa…”

Heejin’s voice grew mournful as she thought of their imprisoned vice leader.

The Shadow Knights’ vice leader—the one responsible for kidnapping Morae—was still locked inside the cold prison beneath the sea.

Setting aside the emotional loss, his imprisonment had been a devastating blow.

In most underground organizations, the boss was the muscle, while the right-hand man handled the organization’s operations.

The Shadow Knights were no different.

Until now, Ji Seongho had managed the group’s finances and internal affairs.

The Shadow Knights’ biggest weakness was the imbalance between fighters and non-combat personnel.

Most of them were rough, battle-oriented people.

Asset management and personnel management often went unnoticed when everything ran smoothly, but once problems started, the cracks became painfully obvious.

Having lost one of their few capable administrators, Ji Seongho, the Shadow Knights had quickly found themselves in a precarious position.

Resting her feet on the table, Morae lazily propped her chin on one hand.

“That’s why I’m backing you up now.”

“And you call ruining our business helping? At least tell us how long you’re staying so we can prepare. The hotel staff are terrified because of you.”

One of the hotel employees flinched and quickly bowed.

The staff waiting near the door—standing by in case Morae suddenly wanted them to run another errand—looked equally flustered.

Morae looked over at them.

From the older employees to the younger ones, every single one of them wore the same uneasy expression.

Well, the staff here weren’t Hunters qualified to enter contamination zones. They were ordinary civilians, not even residents of the underworld, so it was only natural that they would be wary of Morae.

Morae didn’t frown at the people who feared her like a plague. At times like this, not being feared would have hurt her pride more.

Infamy was a kind of fame too. For a thug and a villain, it was exactly the kind of reaction that made her hold her head a little higher.

Taking a sip of wine, Morae gracefully glanced at them. Seeing them flinch, worried she might vent her anger on them, pleased her.

“Don’t be so scared. I’m not that difficult to deal with. I don’t feed just anyone to the whales. Only people who deserve it.”

The hotel employees looked even more nervous.

Crossing her ankles the other way, Morae smiled to herself.

The hotel where Morae and Pado were currently staying was a small establishment built inside a contamination zone in the central inland region.

After the dangers of contamination zones became known, they had officially been designated as uninhabitable areas. In other words, they were effectively extraterritorial zones, much like international waters.

Almost anything that happened there became your own responsibility—property damage, theft, assault, aggravated assault, even solicitation of murder.

The reason was simple.

Since contamination zones weren’t places where people were supposed to live, investigators couldn’t be sent in.

Not only were they filled with danger, but even merely living there would gradually damage an ordinary person’s body. No government was willing to send people into such places.

It was the same principle as the police being unable to investigate theft or fraud deep inside a desert, jungle, or remote wilderness. A contamination zone was all that, with radiation added on top. The government had long since given up trying to police them.

Instead, they simply made kidnapping or forcibly bringing someone into a contamination zone a serious crime, then washed their hands of the matter. With Gates capable of appearing at any time, they couldn’t afford to waste their already limited personnel guarding vast stretches of wilderness.

As a result, the government couldn’t completely control who entered contamination zones. They were scattered around Gate locations and covered enormous areas.

Trying to control them was like trying to block off the sea or the mountains. They could regulate ports or mountain trails, but sealing off everything was impossible.

Besides, unlike Antarctica or deserts, the areas around Gates had functioning ecosystems and valuable resources.

Naturally, people went there anyway.

Hunters especially, regardless of affiliation, all dreamed of making a living—or striking it rich overnight.

That created another problem.

Accommodation.

Contamination zones were vast. Many places weren’t even accessible by car, and fighting monsters or gathering resources often took days.

Dragging camping gear in and out every trip was exhausting. Travelers desperately needed restaurants and places to stay.

But contamination zones were essentially half-lawless territories. Even setting health risks aside, they were crime-ridden areas. Unless you were strong enough to protect yourself, running a business there was impossible. The government certainly wasn’t going to protect you.

That was where underground organizations—the underworld—came in.

They either operated hotels and shops themselves despite the danger or placed civilians in front as the owners while backing them from the shadows.

The underground groups supplied the money, handled security, and dealt with anyone who crossed the line. Sometimes they even settled disputes that arose inside contamination zones.

Most lodging facilities and rest areas inside contamination zones operated this way.

Legitimate guilds certainly had the resources to support businesses as well, but criticism that they were sending people into death traps and violating human rights caused most of them to back away.

The underground had no such concerns.

They recruited people willing to risk one or two years of their lives to earn a fortune and freely built rest facilities.

Officially, it looked as though fearless civilians had voluntarily opened the businesses, leaving the government with little they could do.

This hotel was one such establishment, backed by the Shadow Knights.

It was popular with both civilian tourists and Hunters out farming resources, but ever since Morae had effectively reserved the entire hotel without paying a single cent, their losses had become considerable.

Morae, who also had a hand in business herself, understood that perfectly well.

This hotel had been built by Ji Seongho, whose business sense was exceptional, and it had been making excellent money. Watching all those profits disappear naturally stung.

But so what?

Looking at Kim Heejin, who was beginning to reach middle age, Morae spoke coldly.

“I’m letting you off easy, and you’re still complaining? What exactly did you people do right? You kidnapped me. You should be grateful I even let you keep your bodies intact. Pretty chatty for slaves.”

“Hey, the only reason we’ve been obedient despite being treated like slaves is because you promised to look after Seongho. Do you really think you’re worth that much? If we’re going to end up starving anyway, we’d rather fight to the death.”

“Of course I’m expensive. I’m worth my weight in gold. I’ll finish what I came here to do and leave within three days, so just make sure you treat me properly. Right, Pado? You can finish it within three days, can’t you?”

Morae called to him warmly.

Pado—her man, her subordinate, and her greatest trump card—finally looked up at her voice.

“I need to talk to you. Alone.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Pado crooked a finger.

He had shown no interest whatsoever in the business discussion between Morae and Kim Heejin, yet now he was calling Morae out.

And whatever he wanted to say apparently couldn’t be said in front of everyone else.

It had to be something important.

Without another word, Morae stood up and followed him.

After leaving the seminar room and closing the door behind them, only the two of them remained in the hallway.

After confirming no one else was nearby, Pado leaned closer as if he were about to share a great secret.

With an utterly calm, ordinary expression, he quietly confessed,

“I’ve got a hard-on.”