Chapter 36

The Kokoroini City Bounty Office was a chaotic hive of activity, its walls plastered with wanted posters, its air thick with the scent of stale coffee and stoicism.

Some had desperate looks on their faces as they seemed to need money desperately. 

Hunters of all shapes and sizes milled about, their eyes scanning the bounty notices, their voices a low murmur of negotiation and other deals.

Some had desperate looks on their faces as they seemed to need money desperately. 

We were eager for a new challenge, something to test our skills and push us to our limits.

"Here's one," Rem said, pointing to a bounty notice pinned to a corkboard near the back of the office. "Pro Hunters and above. Sounds promising."

The notice, printed on pristine parchment, displayed a grainy image of a scowling man with a jagged scar running across his cheek. 

The bounty, a hefty sum of 500 million Jenny, was for the capture of a notorious bandit leader operating in a small town a few days' journey from Kokoroini City.

"Sounds like our kind of job," I said, a grin spreading across my face.

We approached the burly secretary, his desk overflowing with paperwork and empty coffee mugs

He glanced up as we presented the bounty notice, his eyes narrowed with an appraising glint.

"Names?" he grunted, his voice gruff.

"Tereda Chouju," I replied, handing him our Hunter Licenses. "This is Rem. We're Pro Hunters."

The secretary examined our licenses, his brow furrowing as he ran them through a scanner embedded in his desk.

"Says here you're Official Hunters," he said, his voice laced with a hint of amusement. "Not Pro."

"What?" I exclaimed, my brow furrowing in confusion. "That's impossible. We completed all the necessary paperwork."

The secretary chuckled, a sound that resembled a bear clearing its throat. "Paperwork's only good if it's legible, man," he explained, tapping a few keys on his computer. "Looks like the most recent scan of your Pro Hunter application is… well, let's just say it appears someone had a bit of a coffee accident."

He swiveled the monitor towards us, displaying a digital image of our application form, its surface marred by a large, dark stain that obscured several crucial sections.

"Damn it," I muttered, my stomach clenching with a familiar sense of dread. 

"There's no way around it," the secretary said, his voice laced with a hint of sympathy. "Gotta have the paperwork in order if you want to take on Pro-level bounties."

We exchanged a frustrated glance. 

Time was of the essence. 

That bandit leader wouldn't wait for us to sort out our bureaucratic mess.

Also I was fucking bored and wanted some action.

"Come on, Rem," I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the exit. "We need to find Netero. Hopefully, he hasn't left for the Hunter Association headquarters yet."

We raced out of the bounty office and towards the Hunter Hotel, a sense of urgency propelling us forward. 

We had faced countless dangers, overcome impossible odds, and earned our place among the Hunters.

But it seemed that even the most formidable challenges paled in comparison to the perils of paperwork.

—

We burst through the doors of the Hunter Hotel, our hearts pounding with a mixture of urgency and frustration. The lobby, usually a haven of quiet elegance, felt suffocating, its plush carpets and ornate chandeliers mocking our bureaucratic predicament.

Rem, her face flushed with a combination of exertion and annoyance, marched straight towards the reception desk, where a woman with a meticulously coiffed hairstyle and a disdainful expression surveyed us with a critical eye.

"Has Chairman Netero left yet?" Rem demanded, her voice sharp with urgency.

The desk clerk, her lips curling into a sneer, raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "He has, you… harlot," she drawled, her voice dripping with a condescending tone. "And even if he hadn't, there's no way he'd deign to meet with the likes of you. A delinquent like him and a… well, let's just say your profession is quite evident."

Rem's eyes narrowed dangerously, her aura flaring with a blue light that made the air crackle. She lunged towards the desk, her hand reaching out to grab the woman's throat.

"Rem, wait!" I shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her back, my own anger simmering beneath a forced calm. I knew Rem's temper, especially when it came to insults directed at her or her hypothetical sister. Things could get messy, and quickly.

"Let me handle this," I said, my voice low and steady as I turned to the desk clerk, forcing a smile. "We need to speak with Satotz. Is he available?"

The woman scoffed, her disdain amplified. "Satotz wouldn't waste his time on the likes of you. Even if you did have those ridiculous licenses, I wouldn't believe you were Hunters. Look at you! That physique, that… ancestry. I doubt your family even knows the meaning of the word 'discipline.'"

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Rem with a critical eye. "And that one," she added, her voice laced with a venomous sneer, "clearly lacks the refinement and decorum expected of a proper lady. I wouldn't be surprised if her hypothetical sister were nothing more than a common bordello whore."

My grip on Rem's arm loosened.

I met her gaze, the blue fire of her aura reflected in her eyes. 

The room seemed to grow colder, the air thickening with a palpable sense of danger.

"Just… don't kill her," I said, my voice flat, devoid of any emotion.

The desk clerk, oblivious to the storm brewing before her, continued her tirade, her words dripping with insults that cut deeper than any blade by sheer accident.

As Rem's aura flared, casting a chilling blue light across the lobby, I knew that the desk clerk had just made a very grave mistake.

The consequences, I suspected, would be swift and unforgettable.

Just as Rem's fingers brushed against the desk clerk's throat, the back door to the lobby burst open, slamming against the wall with a resounding crash. Satotz, his usually calm demeanor replaced by a look of stunned fury, stormed towards the reception desk, his long strides eating up the distance with a predatory grace.

"My god, Beatrice!" he roared, his voice echoing through the lobby, silencing the hushed murmurs of the other guests. "We literally hired you yesterday, and you pull this?! Fired! Out!"

Beatrice, her face paling as Satotz's words sank in, sputtered in protest. "B-but Mr. Satotz, they-"

"Silence!" Satotz barked, cutting her off. "I will not tolerate such blatant disrespect towards our guests, especially Hunters."

He turned towards us, his expression softening slightly. "My apologies for this… unfortunate incident," he said, offering a respectful bow. "How can I assist you?"

Rem, her anger still simmering, but tempered by Satotz's intervention, stepped forward, her voice laced with a chilling calm. "That… creature," she said, gesturing towards Beatrice with a disdainful flick of her wrist, "dared to insult my sister- A bordello whore she said! My sister who is so far away that I may never see her again in this lifetime. I demand recompense. She must be punished."

Satotz, unaware of the multiversal context of Rem's words, interpreted them as a reference to a deceased family member. 

A shadow crossed his face, his eyes narrowing as a wave of grief and anger washed over him. 

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, the loss of his brother, the driving force behind his own journey to become a Blacklist Hunter, was a wound that never fully healed.

He turned towards Beatrice, his gaze cold and hard. "You…," he began, his voice barely a whisper, "you have crossed a line that cannot be forgiven."

He closed his eyes for a moment, as if steeling himself. Then, when he opened them again, his expression was blank, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"I see nothing," he said, turning back to us. "I'll have someone clean this up when you're done. Hunters do have privileges, and this… this is beyond the pale."

He stepped aside, gesturing towards the now vacant reception desk.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized the implications of his words. Satotz, a man renowned for his stoicism and adherence to the Hunter Association's rules, had just sanctioned a brutal act of retribution.

And Beatrice, still frozen in terror, had no idea what awaited her.

The Hunter world, it seemed, operated on a different set of rules, where power and justice often intertwined in ways that defied conventional morality.

Rem was familiar with the privilege of nobles from her original world, now that she was of privilege, she would not forgive.

Rem darted forward and wrapped her hands around the rude female whale's neck, slowly squeezed, and continued squeezing until there was a loud pop.

The struggle of the thing meant nothing.

I shook my head.

Satotz called a number, and said a few words. 

We waited as a few minutes later a group of individuals wearing gold pins marking them as on the higher ranks of Tojo Clan members entered the building and gathered up the people who had seen the murder, and took out a pen shaped device.

"Hey, everyone" The few tojo's in front put on sunglasses as the foremost one spoke. "I need you all to look in this direction so that we can interview-" Once the crowd had looked over, a click was heard and a flash happened.

The Tojo representative didn't even bother continuing his sentence as they all filed out of the room through the entrance.

I turned my head towards where the corpse of the woman was and noticed it had been moved somewhere and an Official Hunter was taking her place as receptionist.

—

Satotz's temporary office was a small, sparsely furnished room with a single window overlooking a dusty alleyway, its only decoration a framed Hunter certificate hanging on the wall that didn't even seem to be for Satotz.

He gestured towards two chairs facing a plain wooden desk. "Please, have a seat," he said, his voice regaining its usual calm tone. "Let's get this paperwork sorted out."

He retrieved a stack of forms from a nearby cabinet, his long fingers moving with a practiced efficiency as he filled out the necessary information. 

The scratching of his pen against the paper was the only sound in the room, the tension from the lobby incident lingering in the air.

After a few minutes of focused work, he then scanned two certificates into the computer, their holographic seals shimmering with the official insignia of the Hunter Association.

"Congratulations," Satotz said, offering a rare smile. "You are now officially Pro Hunters. Scanning your licenses now should show the correct information."

Rem took her license back, her expression still clouded with anger and sadness. 

We left the office as Rem continued to seem down.

I could sense the weight of her grief, the longing for her sister, a constant ache in her heart.

I stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder, my voice soft and reassuring. "It's going to be okay, Rem," I whispered. "We'll find her. I promise."

I leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, hoping to ease the pain that shadowed her eyes.

She sighed, a flicker of her usual playful spirit returning to her gaze. "I know, Tereda," she murmured, her voice regaining its warmth. "Thank you."

I knew I could help Rem through this.

I knew the obvious grief in her eyes would give way to smiles and happiness soon.

I just wish Rem could at least talk to her sister and be happier for it.

I shook my head and focused on the near future instead of the far future.

We were Pro Hunters now.

For real this time.

It was time to actually do stuff now.