Chapter 30: Magnolia

After the discussion ended, everyone except for Aria and Arin left. The two were still sitting on the soft sofa, chatting about matters both trivial and serious themed.

Aria also made sure to ask questions about the operation. She held a vital role.

After a few rounds of questioning, one particular problem came to her mind.

She knew that [Golden Insignia] was an anomaly, but there were limits in how abnormal one could be.

"How come Lein has these 'connections'? More like, how are you guys without any legal status when the members are all powerful?" Aria questioned.

If only [Golden Insignia] went ahead and registered themselves, wouldn't they set a farther record?

"Lein... He's a former member of the Association. He left on his own accord, but he used to be a high B-rank. His ability was more support based, so he couldn't fend for himself because he disliked interactions. He also disagreed with the Association's practices since it was too strict, according to him," Arin explained.

"Then, how come he joined Goldie?" Aria liked to shorten the team name to just 'Goldie' for practical reasons, although it elicited angry groans from Sung-ha who felt like his ability was desecrated.

She still didn't know much about the members' powers.

She knew the gist of Yoo Jin's Main, a little about Jin-kyung's ability, and parts of Sung-ha's.

"Well.. that's because.." Arin dragged out her words. "Are you curious?" She gave a tricky grin.

"..Yeah," Aria nodded, looking at the woman strangely as if it was a given that she'd be curious.

"Some things are meant to be explored with time and not rushed. Maybe wait until Lein tells you himself, won't that be more rewarding? And about the team, we're just people who share the same mindset. The Association, as you can tell, is hated by half of our members," Arin giggled. "Come on, we have to apply you to the faux team,"

The woman then stood up, feeling like their conversation had to end.

"What about you?" Aria wanted to ask once more. "Do you hate the Association?"

Arin turned around. "Who knows?" With a head tilt, she resumed her walk and headed towards the kitchen to draw a cup of fresh water before they jump into the travels.

Aria grumbled after knowing that her question was not going to be answered. Even so, she still followed closely after Arin's tracks.

They left the house in pursuit of fulfilling the upcoming event's requirements.

In order to land the fifth spot, she had to become part of a registered group known by the Association.

Arin brought her to another building. This time, it was completely painted in white. Signs of natural reactions like stained walls were present, but not too harsh. It was a relatively new building.

"This is it," She pointed to the doors. Strutting inside with confidence, Aria was able to see various people standing inside the building.

The blonde woman was able to enter without being obstructed. This led Aria to believe that Arin must've had some special connections to the building owner and the members themselves.

The fine prints [Magnolia] was embossed into one of the walls.

"[Magnolia] is the team you'll be joining temporarily," Arin mentioned, clearing things up.

Then, from behind the counter, a little girl emerged.

"Sister Arin? Why are you here?" A girl peeked her head out, calling Arin's name. "The other person is... Un, Miyu doesn't know!"

'Miyu' was a girl who looked no older than ten years old. Her hair primarily black with blue accents, her baby doll eyes a pristine black.

She detached herself from the wall she used to peek from and approached Arin.

"Miyu, go call Hana for me," Arin patted the child, mentioning another name that Aria wasn't familiar with.

The kid twirled around in panic.

"Hana is.. ummm.. uhhh.... ah! Yes, yes, Miyu remembers! Hana is on the third floor! She did say that Sister Arin was coming!" Miyu excitedly said. "Hehe, Miyu forgot. Thankfully Miyu didn't miss Sister Arin,"

"Miyu is goooood at recalling things!" The girl exclaimed once more. "Hana also told Miyu to tell Sister to go upstairs by herself! Go find Hana!"

"Is that so? Then, I will go now,"

"En~ Miyu will be in the first floor, Sister Arin and Sister...?" Miyu didn't know how to address her.

She fell into a panic after theorizing that Aria might be someone she had met before but forgot about, so Miyu fiddled with her fingers in nervousness.

"Pretty Sister, has Miyu met you before?" Miyu asked, flashing a gaze filled by innocence at the elder.

"Aria. My name is Aria," Introducing herself, she cleared her throat. "No, you haven't met me yet. I'm a new member,"

"Ah! Miyu also thought so! Miyu is good at memorizing people's faces, but Sister Aria is a new faaace!" Miyu spun around her and hummed in satisfaction. "Miyu likes the new big sister!"

"Aw, is my position taken by Aria?" Arin put up a farce, pretending that she was pissed.

"Sister Arin is in a different category! Sister Arin is special," Miyu said. "Hana told you guys to hurry, so go upstairs without Miyu! Miyu doesn't want to climb the stairs, it makes Miyu tired..."

"Then, Miyu can stay here. We'll be going up, okay?" Arin said.

"Okay! Miyu can be alone, no worries at all!"

After that, the two of them went to the stairs and climbed up until the third level.

Walking in the hallway, Arin knew where to go as she headed straight to a specific room, stopping in front of it.

Knocking three times, Arin opened the doorknob.

"Hana," Arin greeted.

The woman called 'Hana' stood in front of the windows. Her pinkish hair floated with the wind, creating a beautiful sight.

"Really... You only come here when you have a favor to ask from us. Who's that, a new member? Is she going to be the sacrifice?" 'Hana' scrutinized Aria for a few seconds before coming up with her own conclusion. "Not bad. Where did you steal her from? I don't think she's listed in the Hunter Association,"

'She knows that I'm not a Hunter?' Aria was baffled. It couldn't be that this 'Hana' person memorized every single Hunter's name, right?

"Jin-kyung brought her to me. I tested her, and the reaction was pretty interesting," Smiling, Arin pulled out a brown envelope.

Inside was one million Korean won in cash, offered to Hana as compensation for borrowing the group name. It wasn't their first time, but with clever disguise, they would always be able to get away with it.

However, as the lender, [Magnolia] had full knowledge of their illegal name usage. Even though they won't be the perpetrator, they would still be held liable if the Association traced it to them and decided to take action.

That was why, the price was usually very fantastical.

One million was a far cry from the first time Arin came here to borrow the group identity.

Hana frowned after she looked inside the contents.

"One million? For one day? You're getting cheap here. You think the [Magnolia] name can be bought with only this?" Hana sneered.

"She will raise you guys' name up. You haven't been active lately, right? Aria will reverse that. After all, this dungeon is something thousands of Hunters set their eyes upon. Isn't it a given that you will gain attraction?" Arin retorted back.

Although it wasn't like they were poor, saving money was something she preferred to do in every situation. Save as much money as possible.

Thanks to Arin's money sense, the group had quite the abundant riches.

"That's.. so untrustworthy. I can understand if Sung-ha went, but this girl? A newbie I've never seen before?" Hana clicked her tongue, not ashamed to display her true thoughts.

"Come on. You of all people should know not to judge people before you see their power. Would you like to see Aria in action? Feel free to come with us," Arin sighed. She was indeed going low, but this offer was not too out of the world.

After all, this dungeon wasn't something they 'had' to acquire. It was just to scout and gain experience, and primarily- Aria's wish to go in order to complete her quest.

Hana wasn't too amused, but she did want to see Aria's display of power.

Ruffling her pink hair, she groaned out. "Ahh, I understand, I understand! We'll go and see what she has to offer, then,"

"There you go. Is the old place open?" Arin heaved a sigh of relief. If Hana decided to refuse, she'd have no way of forcing her. She'd have to search for another suitable team, which would be as hard as finding a small needle in the bushes.

"Open. Yuki might be inside, though," Hana replied. Without checking on them, she immediately went to the back counter. Her shouts could be heard from the front doors.

"Yuki came back? I thought she wanted to transfer to the Japanese Hunter Association?" Arin let out a small gasp of surprise.

'There goes another name I don't know.' Aria commented inside her mind.

"Yuki's here as a vacation. She got a holiday," Hana answered while doing her tasks.

"Kids, I'll be going out for a while!" Hana shouted to her members. In response, some of the girls replied, whereas the others only nodded.

Both Aria and Arin stood still, waiting for Hana to come and lead them to the 'old place'.

"So much trouble just to borrow the name? Is it fine?" Aria whispered. She thought that it would be a short process.

"Hana is super friendly. She just wants to know what was so special about you. Like I said, we don't invite just anybody," Arin winked at her junior.

[Magnolia] and [Golden Insignia] were closely connected, both groups' members were acquainted with each other. With the new addition of Aria, of course Hana wanted to see what the woman was capable of.

Both groups were very similar, which was one of the factors that made them want to initiate agreements.

"...I see," Aria braced herself for whatever was about to come. She was a new member indeed. Hana is, in some ways, her senior.

She had to prove herself. Her worth.

"We're here," Hana stopped in front of a building.

This time, it was made out of wood and had an ancient feel to it. It was only one floor, but it was quite wide in area.