The walk home from the Xenoh raid was filled with a profound sense of accomplishment.
The Grinning Fox had not just swatted flies; he'd uncovered a whole nest and a lead to a bigger predator.
The image of the terrified leader spitting out the name 'Grey Fog group' played in Yuhon's mind on a loop. He'd handled it. He'd been thorough, just like his parents said.
He slipped into the house just as the moon reached its zenith.
The familiar scent of sandalwood and brewing tea greeted him. His parents were still up, seated at the low kitchen table.
Aoqi was sketching designs for a new herb garden, while Zerkon was meticulously cleaning farming tools.
"You're back late," Zerkon noted without looking up, his massive hands carefully oiling a pair of shears.
"Got caught up in that group project," Yuhon said, the lie coming easier now, layered with a kernel of truth.
He poured himself a glass of water, his body humming with residual energy.
"It was… really successful. I uncovered a lot of problems. And I even found out who's really behind it all."
Aoqi looked up, her elegant eyebrows raising slightly. "Oh? And who would that be?"
"A group called the Grey Fog," Yuhon said, unable to keep the pride from his voice.
"The ones I was dealing with were just a small branch. I took care of them, but the main root is still out there."
Zerkon paused his oiling. "Grey Fog, huh? Sounds dreary."
He resumed his work. "And these 'problems' you uncovered. They were dealt with… appropriately?"
"Completely," Yuhon affirmed, leaning against the counter.
"They won't be causing any more trouble. The authorities will find them all neatly packaged and ready to confess. They sang like canaries about their higher-ups."
A faint, almost imperceptible look passed between his parents.
Aoqi's lips tightened just a fraction. Zerkon's shoulders tensed for a brief second before relaxing.
"Authorities," Zerkon grunted, the word sounding heavy on his tongue.
"They have a way of… misplacing things. And canaries sometimes stop singing."
Yuhon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means the world isn't as neat as your textbooks, dear," Aoqi said softly, setting down her pencil.
"Especially when you start pulling on threads that powerful people would prefer remain hidden. I'm glad your project was successful. Now, get some rest. You look tired."
The response was dismissive, almost wary. It punctured Yuhon's bubble of triumph slightly, but the fatigue was real.
He shrugged it off. They were just being parents, always seeing the potential danger in everything.
He went to bed, the name 'Grey Fog' his last conscious thought, a puzzle to be solved another day.
He slept the deep, untroubled sleep of the righteous.
---
The next morning, that righteousness curdled into ash.
He came downstairs to find his father uncharacteristically silent, staring at the small television on the kitchen counter.
The news was on. His mother was standing stiffly by the sink, her back to the room.
"—graphic footage," the news anchor was saying, her face a mask of somber professionalism.
"Viewer discretion is advised. The bodies of thirty-two men were discovered in the early hours of this morning, dumped unceremoniously on the outskirts of the industrial sector.
Authorities have confirmed the identities as known low-level members of the alleged 'Xenoh' drug distribution group.
The initial cause of death is being reported as a massive, simultaneous overdose of their own product."
Yuhon froze, the cereal box in his hand forgotten.
On the screen, a grainy, aerial shot showed a line of covered bodies on the asphalt. Police tape fluttered in the wind.
"An overdose?" Yuhon whispered, disbelief choking him.
"That's impossible! I left them alive! I left them frozen and tied up for the police!"
Zerkon slowly turned to look at him, his expression unreadable. "Did you?"
The anchor continued. "In a bizarre twist, the abandoned underground facility believed to be their base was found completely empty.
There was no evidence of drugs, money, or any illicit activity. Police are investigating the possibility of an internal dispute or a deal gone terribly wrong."
Empty. No evidence. Overdose.
The words slammed into Yuhon one after the other.
The Grey Fog.
They hadn't just covered their tracks. They had paved over the entire road and planted a garden on top. They'd cleaned house. Permanently.
"No…" The word was a breathless, furious gasp.
"No! They killed them! They killed all of them! They didn't just beat them up or scare them—they erased them! And they made it look like an accident!"
The cold, ruthless efficiency of it was a physical blow.
This wasn't the chaotic violence of the Iron Serpents or the brutal arrogance of the A-ranks who took Mei.
This was something else entirely. This was a statement. A warning. This is what happens to loose ends.
Aoqi turned from the sink. Her face was calm, but her eyes held a deep, ancient sorrow.
"This is the nature of the world you are choosing to step into, Yuhon. It is not a game of heroes and villains. It is a world of predators. And the most dangerous predators do not roar. They silence."
Yuhon's hands clenched into fists at his sides, his knuckles white. The cereal box crumpled in his grip.
"They were just… tools to them. And when they were useless, they broke them and threw them away. How can they just… do that? Thirty-two people!"
"Because to them, those thirty-two were not people," Zerkon said, his voice low and gravelly.
He turned off the TV. The sudden silence in the kitchen was deafening. "They were assets. And assets that become liabilities are liquidated. It is the simplest, coldest math there is."
"This isn't math!"
Yuhon exploded, his voice cracking with a rage he'd never felt before. It was a hot, cleansing fire in his chest. "This is evil! This is… this is…"
He struggled for the words, his mind reeling with the sheer, casual cruelty of it.
"This is the true face of the mafia," Aoqi finished for him, her voice still quiet but now laced with a sharp, icy edge.
"Not the flashy lootings or the dramatic fights you see on the news. This. The silence after the scream. The body no one finds. The story that never gets told. Ruthless. Cold. Efficient."
Yuhon stared at his parents, the truth of their words settling over him like a shroud. He had been playing vigilante. The Grey Fog was playing for keeps.
His fury didn't abate; it crystallized. It shifted from a hot, scattered anger into something cold, hard, and focused. This wasn't just about stopping bad guys anymore. It was about stopping this. This specific, calculated evil.
"They think they can just clean it up," Yuhon said, his voice now dangerously calm. "They think they can hide."
Zerkon looked at his son, a glint of something fierce in his own eyes. "What will you do about it?"
Yuhon met his father's gaze, the last vestiges of the boy he was burning away in the cold fire of his anger.
"They erased the evidence. They erased the witnesses. But they couldn't erase me. I heard the name. I know they exist."
A slow, grim smile spread across Zerkon's face. He gave a single, sharp nod. "Then I suppose they made a mistake."
Aoqi came over and placed a hand on Yuhon's shoulder. The sorrow was still in her eyes, but it was now mixed with a steely resolve.
"The strong prey on the weak. It is the oldest rule. But there is another rule, one they always forget."
Yuhon looked at her. "What's that?"
She smiled, a thin, sharp expression. "There is always something stronger."
Yuhon turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving his ruined breakfast on the counter. He didn't go to school that day. He went to his room, closed the door, and sat on the floor, staring at the wall.
The Grinning Fox had been a symbol of justice. Now, it needed to become something else. A hunter.
He sat and began mana absorption. He was doing it from the age of three, when he just learned to walk.
It's a basic and mandatory thing for every awakened to do. It's the process where awakeneds absorbs and refines environmental mana to become stronger.
Yuhon needs to become stronger to take on S-ranks. Even though he didn't fought them himself but to stay prepared for unexpected events, he focused on becoming stronger.