Chapter 53

Meanwhile, the Collector's employees, who had received the same official notice as Cha A-ra, were extremely bewildered.

"...?"

"What is this?"

"Is the Guild Master playing some kind of prank...?"

"He isn't the type to prank us through an official notice."

It was true that Bi Sabeol often played pranks, but surprisingly, he was a man who drew a clear line between public and private affairs.

Unless it involved his collecting obsession, Bi Sabeol always maintained a gentlemanly attitude, so there was no way he would play a prank in an official notice.

"Is this some kind of ghost story?"

"This is about Black Cloak, right?"

The employees fell into confusion.

"So is 'Jio' a person, or a ghost...?"

The official notice said to treat him like a person, but from the nuance, it contained the meaning of, "This bastard is absolutely not human, but don't let that show, and everyone conduct yourselves with discretion."

"..."

"..."

The employees sensed an exhausting future ahead.

They exchanged looks.

"How should we interpret this?"

"... For now, let's gather with our respective teams and get a grasp of the situation."

"Oh, Guild Master..."

As befitted the Collector guild, where only cynical people gathered, they did not keep clinging to the matter and coolly gathered among themselves to discuss it.

They knew that nothing would get done if they simply remained confused.

"The first matter for discussion is whether this is a joke or serious."

"I would appreciate it if anyone with an opinion spoke freely."

"First of all, I don't think it's a joke."

"Our Guild Master knows very well just how much he can sway the employees with a single official notice."

"When it comes to works and art, he does occasionally break down as a person, but normally he maintains a perfectly proper attitude."

"I think the same."

"However, I do believe rules four and five are jokes."

"It has the format of someone tampering with the rules the Guild Master organized..."

At that, one employee said,

"Isn't it possible that someone else really did play a prank on the rules the Guild Master organized?"

"The most likely candidate would be 'Jio,' the one mentioned in these rules, in other words, 'Black Cloak.'"

"I mean that ghost who is presumed to be a humanoid monster."

"Ah... I included that when I called it a joke."

"It's not as if this official notice is being shared in real time, and he had plenty of chance to revise it, but he still sent it out like this."

"It seems the Guild Master is enjoying this ghost-story-like atmosphere."

"That makes sense."

Even if Bi Sabeol had organized the rules in this format, with two egos keeping each other in check, it was a joke.

And even if "Jio" had touched the rules Bi Sabeol had organized, he had distributed them without revising them, so it was still a joke.

"But in that case, we can define these rules as being worth thoroughly familiarizing ourselves with."

"Looking at it, he sent the official notice to all employees except non-regular workers of six months or less."

"Seeing that he took measures to prevent the notice from leaking outside the guild, we can tell this incident is quite important."

"Then I will conclude the first discussion with 'it is serious.'"

"I approve."

"I agree."

Second, the employees examined the content of the rules.

"This rule is definitely aimed at the 'Black Cloak' we know."

"The fact that his name is Jio had also been known unofficially thanks to several eyewitness accounts."

"However, introducing his identity like this in the first sentence seems intended to inform us of that being."

"It says he is a dawn-shift employee, while also telling us not to ask his identity."

"This must be because Black Cloak dislikes being asked about his identity."

"I'm not sure why..."

One employee asked,

"To begin with, is Black Cloak human or a monster?"

"Shouldn't we make that clear before moving on?"

"But even the official notice was organized and sent in this ambiguous ghost-story format."

"It seems the Guild Master was indirectly saying he has no intention of telling us Black Cloak's exact identity."

"Still, we can make guesses."

"No, think about it again."

The employee shook his head.

"The more we know, the greater the possibility that we will be saddled with troublesome work."

"How wise."

"Then for now, it would be best to treat Black Cloak as Schrödinger's human."

"Until we open the box ourselves, everyone should regard Black Cloak as a dawn-shift employee the Guild Master secretly brought in."

"Right, the official notice also has the nuance of treating 'Jio' as human."

"If the Guild Master told us to do that, following it is the virtue of a good subordinate."

Virtue or whatever, the employees, who had no intention of taking on additional work, all nodded as one.

It was truly a guild that could not help but run in a precarious fashion.

But ghost story, human, phantom, or whatever else, not a single employee wanted to know in detail the circumstances of an incident Bi Sabeol was enjoying and paying this much attention to.

"The more we know, the more work he'll give us."

"Still, he pays extra."

"I'll pass on the money and pass on the work."

"I have to go home and take our Choco for a walk."

"Fair..."

They were serious about work-life balance.

"Anyway, doesn't telling us not to ask his identity mean that this employee named Jio dislikes questions that dig into his identity?"

"The further this goes, the more he seems like a monster, human or not..."

"Ahem, be quiet unless you want to be hit with extra work."

"Still, it says there are no disadvantages to exchanging names, so at the very least, he probably isn't a being who plays tricks through contracts."

"Team leader, you're treating him as a monster too."

"I told you to be quiet."

Barring very special circumstances, Bi Sabeol would never do anything that would scratch up one of his collectibles, the employees.

So it seemed true that exchanging names carried no disadvantages.

"But if the phrase 'exchanging names' appeared in an official notice, doesn't that mean Black Cloak tries to exchange names that often?"

"Everyone exchanges names."

"Still, if it appears in an official notice, that means Black Cloak conducts introductions in a rather unnatural way, and no matter how I look at this, he really is a monster imitating a person..."

"Quiet."

"I'm sorry, it's just too absurd."

The analysis continued on.

"It says to respond kindly and politely no matter what kind of conversation he starts."

"After that, it also states, 'Let us always be employees who are polite to customers and colleagues.'"

"Seeing as it emphasizes it twice, Black Cloak seems to dislike rude people."

"And bad people too."

One employee pointed to rule nine.

"'Bad people cannot go before the portrait on the fifth basement floor."

"In particular, be careful not to visit the portrait at dawn.'"

"..."

"..."

"Seeing as this part blocks even approach altogether, we can tell Black Cloak's penalty for 'evil' is greater than for 'rudeness.'"

"I think it would be best to prevent Hunters with criminal records from entering as much as possible."

"No, seriously."

The young employee who had been grumbling for a while rubbed his face with dry hands.

"Fuck, I'm trying to treat him like a human, but the way this Guild Master talks is just..."

"Calm down."

"He may be like this, but he is still the Guild Master, and that is the kind of person he has always been."

"You may not have known when you stamped the contract, but anyway, we all know now."

"You are absolutely right."

"But it is certain now that Black Cloak has a deep connection to the portrait on the fifth basement floor gallery."

"From what I heard, there is a portrait of a man that the Guild Master recently bought at auction in the fifth-floor gallery, so, yes."

"..."

"Let's stop here."

No matter how much they tried to grasp his identity, the truth was of no use whatsoever to the employees, who hated additional work to an extreme degree.

While analyzing the official notice to avoid making mistakes, they gritted their teeth and ignored "Jio's" identity.

"Let's return to rule four."

"Not only does it simply emphasize courtesy, but after that, it says, 'If the conversation is successful, you will receive a gift from Jio.'"

"Then if one has a conversation that fails to satisfy Jio and does not receive a gift, is there a separate punishment?"

"Like feeling sick all day...?"

"Seeing as the Guild Master is simply leaving Black Cloak alone, I don't think a problem will occur severe enough to greatly hinder life or daily routine."

"However, Black Cloak seems to detest rude people, so an 'unsatisfactory conversation' could also be judged as a kind of rudeness."

"Then it may not be at the time one fails to receive a gift, but if such 'rudeness' accumulates, one might incur Black Cloak's hostility."

"That part could certainly become dangerous, so we should be careful not to allow a situation where one fails to receive a gift three or more times."

"I don't know whether Black Cloak's patience will really last three times, but... understood for now."

The employees who looked at rule five exchanged glances.

"This is definitely..."

"Black Cloak wrote it, didn't he?"

"It says the rules are exaggerated, so do not comply with them."

"What does that mean?"

"He could be waiting for us to let our guard down according to rule four's words."

"That's chilling."

There were many monsters like that.

Monsters that deliberately led humans to break the rules concerning that monster, and once the humans broke the rules, used that as justification to attack or harass them.

"Then for now, it means he knows Korean, right?"

"According to the eyewitness accounts from the dawn security staff, he introduced himself as 'Seo Jio.'"

"He likely borrowed the Korean naming format, and to that extent, I suspect he may also be familiar with Korean culture."

"You said we should treat him as Schrödinger's human, team leader."

"Ah, hm... yes, even among humans, there are people who are ignorant of different cultures."

The team leader waved a hand as if telling them to let it slide.

"Rule seven isn't hard to understand either."

"If you want to give something to Black Cloak, be sure to receive something in return."

"This part is probably Black Cloak's rule."

"So this is just a monster..."

"Shh."

"There are people who value rules everywhere in the world."

"I don't know how much direct interaction we will have with Black Cloak in the future, but if you ever give Black Cloak something, make sure to receive something in return."

"He must be someone who really likes repaying kindness with kindness."

"Indeed, how very kind."

They were still gritting their teeth and ignoring the truth.

"Isn't rule nine hard to come about in the first place?"

"The fifth basement floor gallery, the final floor, has a restricted number of people who can enter."

"Is this part a rule for the Curators?"

"I think there is a high chance of that."

Once they had roughly finished organizing things, the employees dispersed on their own.

"I should buy the Curators a meal sometime soon..."

They pitied the Curators, the managers of the gallery.

At that time, countless Curators were holding back tears.

"Please let it not be me."

"The 'Portrait of Jio' isn't our responsibility anyway."

"If Yu Seongun is busy and can't come, we have to do it."

"Ah..."

It was the same for the dawn security guards.

"... They say he's that scary."

"... We'll just have to be careful, I guess..."

In any case, as long as they followed the rules, it meant there would be no problem with their lives, did it not?

Then that was fine, the employees thought, and accepted it calmly.

* * *

"... So the situation has turned out like this again..."

Yu Seongun nodded.

"I think you have chosen your employees very well."

"They are all quite indifferent."

"It is just like the members of our Collector, who hate additional work more than death."

"At any rate, they will adapt well."

Bi Sabeol said there was no way to confine the Portrait of Jio, and he himself did not want his work to be abused that way.

With Yu Seongun's opinion as a Gardener added, they devised a way for "Black Cloak" to properly blend into the human world.

This could be called a kind of vaccination.

Bi Sabeol smiled, saying that from the perspective of all humanity, it was not a decision that would be a loss.

The way he seemed to say, what could be done even if a few people died, was shameless indeed, befitting an S-class Hunter.

"And about Hunter Cha A-ra, whom we saw last time."

"Oh, is there some problem with that friend?"

"Well..."

Yu Seongun scratched his neck.

"It seems Jio will end up meeting that family sometime soon."

"My goodness."

Bi Sabeol's face lit up brightly.

"Is Jio going out again?"

"I also submitted in my last report that he seemed likely to watch the Sun Cult initiation ceremony."

"He is a portrait that does not especially like noisy things, so I thought he might change his mind."

"I was concerned about that part as well and asked again, but he said he still intends to go out."

"It seems his first outing went very smoothly, but I don't know whether the second can do the same."

"Strictly speaking, would it not be his third outing?"

"Jio has already met Hunter Cha A-ra in the Jewel Vein."

"To be precise, I would call it the portrait's official imitation of a human."

"What a delightful thing."

"... Delightful..."

"Has the sea been noisy lately?"

"They said there have also been changes in Jio's personality... hm."

"..."

Yu Seongun felt ominous.

"... The way you are saying this sounds a bit strange, so did you happen to see something?"

"The future, perhaps?"

"My skill is appraisal."

"I ask that you refrain from strange lies, Curator Yu Seongun."

Bi Sabeol smiled.

"But it sounds like it will be entertaining."

"..."

Yu Seongun gritted his teeth.

For Bi Sabeol, who was famous for having a good eye, to say "it sounds like it will be entertaining" was truly the sound of his lifespan shrinking.