Chapter 143: White Whale
Gordon, the manager of the Coral Cave Shelter. He walked over to Walfred and Aria and asked, "Did you find your niece?"
"No. But I found out where she is."
"Hmm, South Key West, I take it."
"That’s right."
Walfred nodded.
Then he informed Gordon that Alice had Awakened as a fire attribute hunter, and that they planned to leave the shelter as soon as she got back.
At that, Gordon’s expression stiffened slightly.
"If it were just you, Hunter Walfred, that would be one thing. But if you’re taking a newly Awakened hunter with you, I think it would be better to leave tomorrow."
"If it’s because night is coming on..."
"No, that isn’t the reason."
Gordon shook his head.
Then he lowered his voice to almost a whisper.
"The Leviathan has stopped moving."
"...What?"
"We estimate it’s currently in the waters roughly 125 miles south of South Key West. Which means there’s a risk you’d become aware of its presence while traveling."
"Where did that information come from?"
"It was just posted to the community."
The moment Gordon finished.
Walfred pressed his lips shut.
’...The Leviathan is dangerous.’
A thing that could summon indescribable terror through the simple act of being perceived.
What if they crossed paths with it again?
Elsa had only just started to recover. She might have another attack. And Walfred himself had no desire to run into that thing again.
So he didn’t debate it long.
"Understood."
Walfred made up his mind quickly.
He would take Gordon’s advice.
"I’ll impose on you for one more day."
"Ha ha, of course. Stay as long as you like and make yourself comfortable."
Gordon laughed easily.
A moment later, he glanced around and then spoke in a lowered voice.
"Hunter Walfred."
"...?"
"If it’s all right, could we step somewhere else for a moment? There’s something I’d like to discuss privately."
Gordon’s expression was serious.
Then came a loaded remark.
"It concerns the Coral World Shelter in South Key West. And it may have something to do with your niece."
It might have something to do with Jenna?
Walfred’s eyes narrowed at that.
Then he nodded and followed Gordon away.
---
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
Coral World Shelter, South Key West.
Elma, the water attribute S-rank hunter who ran the shelter, felt a headache coming on.
The hunters gathered in the meeting room were shouting at each other.
"Ugh, this is driving me up the wall!"
A man in his early thirties.
Solidly built and tall, he screwed up his face and let his irritation fly.
"Why can’t you get this through your head? Let’s just clear out everyone who isn’t pulling their weight and be done with it! Problem solved, clean and simple!"
The moment he finished.
A woman in her mid-thirties sitting across from him shook her head.
"That’s far too extreme."
"Excuse me?"
"No matter how bad things get, how can you even think about throwing perfectly healthy people out of the shelter?"
"Fine, then come up with a better solution!"
"That’s what I’m..."
Voices ricocheted around the room.
Here we go again.
"...Haah."
Feeling the throb behind her eyes intensify, Elma ran through the problems facing the shelter.
There were three issues that needed solving.
The first was that new gates had started appearing far more frequently of late.
They weren’t high-rank gates, but they were a headache all the same.
’We don’t have the manpower to handle them.’
There were roughly 250 hunters in the shelter.
Of those, the number who could actually be sent into combat was 180 at best.
They’d held the line by a hair so far, but hunters were flesh and blood, not machines.
If fatigue kept piling up from nonstop fighting, a hole would open in their defenses sooner or later.
’And if an A-rank gate or higher appears right at that moment?’
The result would be something she didn’t even want to picture.
It might be nothing more than needless worry, but as the person responsible for the shelter, the unease was real, and Elma bit her lip.
’And the second problem...’
Ominous news from the international channel.
It concerned an S-rank frost attribute Boss Monster that had been born in the waters off Greenland.
[White Whale]
A colossal whale that dragged a blizzard behind it.
First sighted near Greenland, the White Whale froze everything in its path and began moving south along the North Atlantic.
Then, for reasons unknown, it suddenly turned southwest, and now it was reportedly past Bermuda and heading straight for Key West.
’And if it really is coming this way?’
Working out the White Whale’s speed, they had maybe five days.
Worst of all, even if she committed every bit of strength in the shelter, she couldn’t promise they’d stand a chance against it.
Elma’s own attribute was a poor matchup, too.
’Although...’
There was one thread of hope. Just one.
Someone who had recently become the center of attention in the community. A monster who didn’t fit any known scale, who had proven himself by taking down an S-rank Boss Monster alone.
’...Walfred.’
According to recent analysis, Walfred was heading south from New York at a terrifying pace.
What he was after, no one knew, but the last confirmed sighting had been in Savannah, Georgia. He might well cross the water and come to Key West.
’It would be wonderful if he did.’
If she could borrow Walfred’s strength, their odds against the White Whale would go up dramatically.
He already had a record of exterminating an S-rank frost attribute Boss Monster by himself.
But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
The odds of it actually happening were slim.
"Whew."
She let out a short sigh and turned to the third problem facing the shelter.
’A shortage of food they could produce themselves.’
A food crisis, in other words.
If the first two problems were broad threats looming on the horizon, this one was a concrete threat sitting right in front of her, and a genuine headache.
’And it’s the reason these hunters are yelling at each other right now.’
Elma looked at the hunters in front of her.
The first person her eyes landed on was the man in his early thirties who was hollering at the top of his lungs.
’Edward.’
A fire attribute A-rank hunter.
At some point he had become the leader of the hardline faction, which held that hunters should stand above everyone else.
Maybe that was why.
The solution he’d put forward for the food crisis was to expel every elderly person and small child who wasn’t contributing.
’It’s an extreme position, but...’
It was also the surest fix.
Coldly speaking, the elderly and small children only ate; they contributed nothing toward survival.
Cut down the number of mouths, and the food crisis would ease at least somewhat. Elma shifted her gaze to the woman sitting across from Edward.
’Ruby.’
A nature attribute B-rank hunter.
She believed hunters had been given great power not to rule, but to protect the weak, and she led the moderate faction.
That was why she insisted they had to find a way for everyone to survive without abandoning anyone.
’But...’
Not many people took her side.
The vast majority of hunters were backing the hardliners, who put their own rights and interests first and guaranteed them.
Ruby’s position, on the other hand, sounded to most ears like nothing but a demand that hunters shoulder all the responsibility.
Just then.
Edward lost his temper.
"For crying out loud! There’s an easy road right there, so why take the long way around? I don’t get it. I really don’t."
"That’s my line."
Ruby fired back without flinching.
She scowled and raised her voice.
"The distribution rates are ridiculous to begin with! Even the lowest F-rank hunter takes ten times what a non-Awakened person gets. How is that reasonable?"
"Of course it’s reasonable! Who do you think contributes the most to keeping this shelter running?"
"By that logic, the non-Awakened put in twelve hours of hard labor a day producing food..."
"Oh, please."
Edward let out a disbelieving laugh.
His face said the whole thing was absurd.
"Farming inside a gate where their safety is guaranteed. What’s so hard about that? Don’t talk to me about labor."
His voice kept climbing.
"We’re out there risking our lives on battlefields where we could drop dead any second! If we don’t even get this much in return, why the hell would anyone bother being a hunter?"
"Hunters can procure their own food through the shop. So if you’d just give a little on the base distribution rate..."
"No. There’s no giving."
Edward slammed the door shut.
"One has nothing to do with the other."
"You really are..."
The conversation circled back to where it started.
Just as Elma let out a quiet sigh, the sparks flew her way.
"What do you think, Chief?"
Ruby suddenly turned to her.
Both of them fixed their eyes on Elma at the same time. Elma made a pained face, but neither one looked ready to back down.
’I do have a plan in the works, but...’
It was still under discussion.
She was debating whether to bring it up when:
Knock knock!
"Chief."
A knock came at exactly the right moment.
A hunter waiting outside the meeting room delivered the message.
"The non-Awakened delegation has arrived."
The non-Awakened delegation.
An organization the various groups had formed with representatives to speak for the rights of the shelter’s vulnerable.
Come to think of it, they’d scheduled a discussion today about the supply distribution problem. Remembering belatedly, Elma nodded.
"Yes, send them in."
The words were barely out.
The meeting room door opened.
A moment later, six men and women of various ages came into view. Edward and the other hunters made no effort to hide their scowls.
"I can’t believe they actually showed up here."
"Tch, these people don’t know their place..."
Open contempt and hostility.
Cowed by the pressure, the delegates hunched their shoulders and dropped their eyes.
All but one.
Thud!
One person kept walking, steady and silent.
The girl with her long hair tied up on top of her head had the youngest face in the delegation.
Proving as much, a school uniform showed through the gap in her heavy winter coat. Elma noticed too, and tilted her head as she asked, "You look like you’re still a student."
"Yes, that’s right. I’m here representing every minor in the shelter."
Stepping past the cowed adults.
The girl came forward boldly. Even in an atmosphere as thin as ice, she gave Elma and the hunters a proper bow.
Then she stated her name.
"My name is Jenna."