｢It's called a Full English Breakfast. Try it and see if it suits your taste.｣
"That's what she says, unnie."
"…What kind of dish is an English breakfast."
Sausages that looked incredibly thick. Bacon with its edges crisped and curled. Tomatoes grilled to a golden brown. Mushrooms soaked in butter and sautéed.
And one enormous fried egg.
"Kim A-rin. Is this an ostrich egg?"
"Probably…not? Looks like a regular egg to me."
Dishes that had no business tasting bad were set down in front of Kim A-rin and me one after another.
If only there was rice, it'd be absolutely perfect. Being England, steamed rice was apparently not included in the breakfast set.
Since we were being treated for free, asking for rice on top of that felt a bit much, so I just ate what was there. Thankfully, the infamous stargazy pie was nowhere to be seen.
—Nom nom.
—Nom nom.
"How is it, unnie? Good?"
"Gordon Ramsay would have a decent fight on his hands."
｢That's what she says, Chairwoman. It seems to suit her palate quite well.｣
｢Heh, what a charming way to put it. I'll have to pass that along to the chef.｣
The white-haired grandmother who had been chatting away with Kim A-rin in English — I'm fine thank you and you and all that — rose to her feet.
She said something else to me as she did, and Kim A-rin translated from beside me.
"She says she'll step out until we're done eating. She's giving us space to eat comfortably."
"Oh…. Thank you?"
｢There's fruit as well, so help yourselves. If anything's not enough, just say the word.｣
｢Thank you for your generosity, Chairwoman.｣
｢Not at all, Hunter Kim A-rin. Hosting guests is simply proper courtesy. This isn't Sweden, after all.｣
｢Ah, ahaha….｣
The white-haired grandmother offered some food to Arkiel as well, then turned and left. The suited bodyguards who had come with her filed out after her.
It wouldn't have bothered me if they'd stayed and watched, but it was still nice of her to be so considerate.
More importantly — it was delicious. Even though it was my first time eating British food in my life, it was genuinely good.
Come to think of it, hadn't someone once said that the one thing England — notorious for its terrible food — actually got right was breakfast?
"Aren't you eating, Arkiel? It's really good."
"I'm fine. Please enjoy your meal."
"What about you, Miss Erdi?"
"…Pass on the meat. Hand me that fruit basket."
Erdi picked an apple from the basket and bit into it with a crisp crunch.
Being an omnivorous mouse, she ate fruit just fine too. The apple now had little gnaw marks in it.
—Not that I'd say that out loud, since apparently she gets mad about it, so I just went back to finishing my sausage. Unlike the other Hidden Bosses, Erdi was a little scary, honestly.
She looked the youngest of all of them by far, but her personality was the most fastidious and prickly. Getting close to Erdi wasn't going to be easy.
Still, she had fought those monsters yesterday just like I'd asked. So she didn't seem to dislike me that much. Hmm…
"What are you staring at."
Yeah. Getting close to Erdi was going to take some time. She didn't seem particularly fond of me yet.
There was a reason the message window had helpfully provided a strategy guide for Erdi. It meant she was just that hard of a Hidden Boss to win over.
—Whisper whisper.
"Hey, unnie. Is she also…."
"Whatever you're thinking, you're right."
"…Did you go into another Dungeon?"
"I, I stayed home the whole time. Seriously."
It wasn't a lie. The Gate connected to where Erdi was had opened up in my house.
Either way, I never went outside. I really was inside the whole time, okay?
Even with that explanation, Kim A-rin didn't look particularly convinced. Still, she didn't scold me too harshly.
Looking at the outcome alone, Erdi had saved Kim A-rin's life too. And Erdi had been the one to bring out the Red Gate's Dungeon Stone.
"Anyway, unnie. Listen up."
"To what?"
"You're a criminal right now."
"Excuse me, what."
"You didn't get your passport stamped when you came to England. That's illegal entry."
"Oh."
Kim A-rin began explaining in detail exactly what kind of situation I was in right now.
Regardless of why Arkiel and I had come to England, it was legally a problem.
Apparently, for an S-rank Hunter like me, even the process of leaving the country was incredibly complicated — you had to file reports with the government and go through all sorts of procedures, she explained.
"Still…you don't need to worry too much. My senior said she'd work on resolving it from Korea."
"I'm, I'm not going to jail?"
"You're not. …The Chairwoman also said she'd help with this matter, so it should be fine."
"Phew."
The bottom line was that I just needed to sit tight and everything would be handled for me.
She did say that next time I should at least tell Yoo Do-a before making decisions on my own, so I said I would.
Rules and procedures exist for a reason, after all.
But.
—Flick.
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have come to England either."
"…Yeah. Sorry."
That said, I still had no intention of standing by and letting Kim A-rin or anyone else I knew die just because of rules and procedures.
People come first. Rules and procedures come after.
Anyway, as long as Kim A-rin didn't go getting herself into dangerous situations, I'd have no reason to become an illegal immigrant.
I scolded Kim A-rin right back.
She'd told me it was just a business trip, after all. She hadn't said a word about it being this dangerous.
"Right, Arkiel? She didn't tell me, did she?"
"That is correct."
"You heard that? I have a witness."
"…For the record, your witness is also a criminal right now."
"Ugh."
That white-haired grandmother from earlier.
No — Beatrice Clare had come because of Arkiel too, Kim A-rin said.
She said that, then asked me a favor.
She wanted me to make sure Arkiel cooperated quietly with the British Hunter Association's investigation.
"Um…. Arkiel, are you okay with that? They say the British Hunter Association people are going to investigate you."
"Do not worry. I won't breathe a word about anything related to you."
"She says that, so I think it'll be fine."
"…Tell her she can't lay a hand on anyone either."
"So I just can't touch them, is that it, human."
"No use of force whatsoever."
State the purpose and reason for coming to England clearly.
Don't say anything unnecessarily strange beyond that.
As long as those two things were followed, it probably wouldn't be a major issue, Kim A-rin said.
There was, however, one more problem.
"Erdi, was it."
"Yep. She's my master."
"Not yet. Don't get ahead of yourself."
"My master, open parenthesis, pending, close parenthesis."
"…Anyway, Erdi is also an illegal immigrant."
This might end up being even more complicated than my situation or Arkiel's, Kim A-rin worried.
At least Arkiel had some form of identity, but Erdi had nothing like that.
Illegal entry on top of being completely unidentified — if things went wrong, it could blow up into something much bigger, apparently.
Hmm, what to do.
"…Unnie. I know this isn't really how things should be done."
"Why? What is it?"
"Erdi, you see…."
Glance. Kim A-rin stole a quick look toward Erdi, thought it over, and finally said what was on her mind.
She thought that if it was Erdi, she could probably make it back to Korea without the British people noticing.
"You can use magic…right. Perception-blocking magic."
"Mind your own business. There won't be any unnecessary commotion."
Erdi spoke curtly to Kim A-rin too.
She said not to worry about any of the things Kim A-rin was concerned about — none of that would happen.
Listening from the side, it sounded like she knew some kind of hide-and-seek magic, but since I didn't know much about magic, I just stayed quiet.
—Knock knock.
—Creak…
｢Excuse me, Hunter Kim A-rin. The Chairwoman asks whether you have finished your meal.｣
｢Ah…. I apologize for keeping her waiting. I believe we're nearly done.｣
｢Understood. We'll bring out dessert shortly.｣
"That's what he's saying, unnie. Are you having dessert?"
"Dessert? There's dessert too?"
"Just something light — cake, cookies, that sort of thing. Coffee…I don't think you'd want that."
"Cake."
"Got it."
After Kim A-rin said something to the suited man, it wasn't long before dessert plates came streaming out one after another.
When we had our dessert, Beatrice Clare returned as well and joined us for tea.
It was around then that she began explaining why she had come to find us.
｢There's no need to be too tense. The formal investigation isn't scheduled to begin for a few days yet.｣
｢Then, today…｣
｢If it's all right with you, I'd like to offer you somewhere more comfortable to stay than a hospital room. What do you think, Hunter Kim A-rin?｣
｢Could I perhaps…hear the reason?｣
｢I'm afraid reporters have already begun gathering at this hospital. Goodness knows how the rumor spread….｣
After a long stretch of back-and-forth in English, Kim A-rin turned to me.
"Unnie."
"?"
"She's asking how we'd feel about staying at her manor for the next few days while we have to be in England."
"A manor? Like, with a fountain in the garden? For real?"
"A foun…tain, I'm not sure about. But there's probably a garden."
"Let's go."
｢She says she's grateful for the Chairwoman's generosity.｣
｢Not at all. It's a rather modest return for the debt England owes you.｣
And so, just like that, we were set to spend the next few days living in a grand manor.
She also said she'd send over the British Hunters who had treated Kim A-rin the night before.
Then, asking if there was anything else we needed, Beatrice Clare turned and addressed Arkiel —
—Shake shake.
Erdi, who had been in the corner of the hospital room, gave a small shake of her head, and Arkiel did the same in turn.
Had those two been communicating telepathically or something.
｢And you, dear? Is there anything you need?｣
"She's asking if you need anything, unnie."
"Wi-Fi."
｢Um…Chairwoman, would the manor happen to have internet access?｣
｢I believe it does.｣
"She says there's Wi-Fi."
"Thank you!"
｢Hehe, I do hope you'll make yourself at home.｣
Beatrice Clare looked at me and nodded with a warm smile.
For the record, Beatrice Clare still didn't know I had entered the country illegally.
She believed I had come to England together with Kim A-rin from the start, so Kim A-rin said we'd need to explain it to her separately later.
｢Well then, shall we be off.｣
We rode in some kind of luxury limousine on the way to the manor where we'd be staying for the next few days.
I wasn't particularly trying to compare, but it was bigger and more spacious than Yoo Do-a's limousine back in Korea.
Must be the country that gave us Kingsman.
There were even buttons that, when pressed, went whirr and produced a can of soda with a pop.
…This isn't going to cost money, right?
"Don't worry, unnie. It's probably free."
"Oh."
"And any money you spend in England gets covered as expenses."
"Whoa."
For the next few days, I just had to relax and enjoy it like a trip to England.
Kim A-rin said that, then added that the manor had a swimming pool too.
"You can swim if you want. Or just…take a walk."
"Hmm."
"There's a tennis court too, apparently. But I figured you wouldn't play tennis, unnie."
"…There's a lot going on there."
"It's a manor. Apparently a noble used to live there."
Just as Kim A-rin had said, the manor we finally arrived at looked exactly like somewhere a noble would live.
A vast garden, and enormous trees.
Beyond them, a tennis court and swimming pool were visible.
There was even a fountain. The ultimate symbol of wealth.
—Crunch crunch.
—Crunch crunch.
"Oh. That's…."
After quickly unpacking, I wandered around the manor and stumbled upon something like a small playground.
There was even a tree swing — the kind that showed up in practically every classic old movie.
The one where the heroine is swinging on it and the hero spots her from a distance, falls head over heels, and comes trotting over.
—Blink blink.
—Blink blink.
"Hmm…."
Up close, it was a little rusty.
Still, I kind of wanted to try it, so I carefully sat down on the swing —
—Plop.
—Creak….
—Creak….
"…The sound is a bit scary."
"It's not going to suddenly snap, right?"
"You're light, unnie. You'll be fine."
I didn't feel particularly safe about it.
Especially given that Arkiel, who had been quietly watching me, suddenly stepped up from behind and volunteered to push me.
"I'll make it fun for you."
"Um…. Fun?"
"Hehe."
—Grab.
—Whoooosh───!
"AAAAAAAAAH───!"
It was scarier than most roller coasters.
I am never getting on a swing again.
