“Red Blade, that clown.”
This really is a joke.
“So what’s the plan? If Kim Sinhwa doesn’t meet his demands, is he going to marry the poor Park Gwangrim off or something?”
Veeeeeeen—
Eye-light pours from my four eyes and washes Vasiliisa in green. Who got snatched isn’t the point.
If you’re going to pick a fight with a crude stunt like this, you’re not worried about blowback?
And I have both the will and the means to answer such stunts actively.
“Ke-ke-ke—darling, isn’t that a little... predictable?”
“What?”
“I’ll apologize for phrasing it in a way that could be misunderstood. But listen: Park Gwangrim wasn’t kidnapped.”
“Oh?”
Tudor smiles, voice falling into a pleasant, sing-song rhythm. A witch is a witch—put it like that and it’s hard to stay mad.
At the same time, a few possibilities knock around my head.
Not a kidnapping; the payment is Park Gwangrim; the client is Red Blade; and Tudor is smiling.
“I think I’ve got it.”
“Hm? You do?”
“He’s under protection, right? And the sticking point is... Hyeona.”
At that, Tudor studies me with a look of amused surprise.
“You cut out the word ‘kidnapping’ and leapt straight there? Still quick on the uptake, I see.”
“I know the players.”
“Mm~ Bored here, aren’t we? Shall we go somewhere else?”
With that, Tudor extends a hand with polished grace. An escort?
“Hah—”
Come to think of it, Vasiliisa’s fixers are watching me with bright, nosy eyes.
“Fine.”
With my “permission,” Tudor gives a sly eye-smile and tugs my hand.
“No need to hold hands.”
“Mmm~ Our lady is shy.”
“Knock it off.”
Booed by the fixers, I get dragged into Tudor’s office.
Perched on a desk piled with paperwork, Tudor crosses her legs and looks at me.
“Darling, shall we settle accounts first?”
“We should.”
The prior quest needs to wrap so I can move on cleanly.
She takes the glass jar of «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» [Mermaid’s Eggs], eyes going round.
“Unfertilized.”
“Right. Unfertilized.”
“Not as tasty, then.”
She flicks her tongue with a cat’s smile.
“Still [Mermaid’s Eggs], as requested. That doesn’t change.”
At my flat statement, Tudor nods.
“True. But there weren’t any fertilized ones?”
“None.”
“Really?”
Her pupils narrow, suddenly predatory.
“Mm.”
“Boring.”
A short sigh.
“Anyway, the client’s just expecting a dubious vitality tonic, right? If we give them the real thing, everyone panics.”
“Ke-ke, that’s true.”
She lifts the jar high, letting the light pass through. For a moment she gazes at it like a gemstone, then nods.
“Mun Gyeongjun would have wanted about this. He’ll be satisfied.”
Mermaid flesh makes an elixir of youth and life. If these were fertilized?
The Yeonam Group chairman on his last legs would be up and walking, and the power struggle growing fiercer by the day would take a hard swerve.
On many fronts, this is just right.
“You’re rooting for Candidate No. 3?”
With Mun Gyeongnam (No. 3 in the line) dead, Mun Gyeongjun (formerly No. 4) is now No. 3.
She’s asking whether I want Gyeongjun to be chairman.
“No.”
“Then why?”
Why help Mun Gyeongjun?
Because among that sly, wicked, appalling mad-sibling set, he’s the most cautious. Backing him is the best way to hold a stalemate.
“So—since you’re digressing, it’s not urgent, huh?”
We came in to talk Red Blade. Why are we on Yeonam?
“Euu—darling, don’t keep jumping ahead. Explaining the job is my joy.”
She throws a mock punch with exaggerated flourish.
“Today, verifying my guess sounds more fun. Don’t you think?”
“Hm—fine. What did you ‘guess’?”
She looks down at me from her desk throne. Same chair and I’d still be looking up—this angle is worse.
“I’ve heard the chatter—Jeong Hyeona isn’t doing well.”
“Right. She’s very mad at someone.”
Honestly, keeping my own head above water, I’ve been half deliberately ignoring it.
“And Park Gwangrim’s office is in Red Blade’s turf.”
If he were going to be kidnapped, it would’ve happened already.
“Yep. Yadang is Red Blade territory.”
Park Gwangrim’s detective agency is [Yadang Detective Missing-Persons Adultery Evidence Scam Probe Errand Center]. For short: Yadang Detective.
“Gwangrim’s been dropping my name forever. Red Blade and Hyeona both would know the ties.”
Tudor nods, smiling.
“In one of Hyeona’s strikes on Red Blade, Gwangrim got caught in the middle.”
“Right. Nearly died, from the look of it.”
“And Red Blade happened to save him? Rather than use him as a bargaining chip, he wants... not repayment, exactly—more like to take credit.”
“Excellent, Mr. Mage. Then can you guess what Red Blade wants to ask for?”
I nod this time.
“If it were just Hyeona, Red Blade wouldn’t need to overreach like this. Last time I checked, the balance was holding.”
I beat Red Blade down myself—but that was more like a rebalance.
“With Yeom Geumja’s personality, she wouldn’t team with Hyeona; and Hyeona wouldn’t want to take Yeom Geumja’s hand either. If the Black King had stepped in, we’d have fireworks.”
“That part I don’t know.”
“But you know the conclusion. Hyeona’s picked up a weird new friend, hasn’t she? No one in Red Blade’s circle can handle him, so they need a stronger new friend.”
“Wow! All correct!”
Clap clap clap—Tudor laughs and applauds.
I press a hand to my chest and give a slight bow to match the bit.
“No tricks, no hidden devices. What—that face? Anyway, it’s hard to gauge how far Red Blade wants to push. So—what did he say?”
If this could end at an all-ages rating, that’d be nice.
“He wants to meet and talk.”
Cue the sigh.
“So Red Blade hasn’t decided yet.”
“Seems so. He plans to decide while talking to you.”
“That much you should have wrangled as the broker.”
Tudor angles her cat-eyes away from mine and answers.
“I tried—but Red Blade’s touchy.”
“He’s going to pull something stupid to seize the initiative.”
“That’s why he wants to meet face-to-face. He won’t listen to a word from the broker.”
Another sigh.
Fair enough—Blue Lake tried to size me up first when I came to rescue his daughter.
The three heads of the Triumvirate.
Blue Lake, Red Blade, Black King—soul triplets, really. They can’t stop fighting till one erases the others.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“And Park Gwangrim’s okay? That’s the claim.”
“Darling, you really dote on him. You two even went to Busan—must’ve had a good time there?”
At my double-check, Tudor purses her lips in a sulky face.
“Even if the guy next door got snatched—if I know them, I’d worry. And if it were you, this would already be upside down.”
Even if I didn’t flip the table, Tudor would’ve done it for me.
“Hmph. Honeyed words—”
She says it, but the answer clearly pleased her; the corner of her mouth twitches.
“Anyway—tomorrow, right?”
Time to prep hard.
I finish with Tudor and head back to the Starving Mansion.
“Mm, tomorrow’s plan...”
At this point the pattern’s fixed; I can guess it.
One: meet Red Blade tomorrow and hear the terms.
Two: depends on those terms, but to fix the problem I’ll have to meet Hyeona.
Three: check what kind of ‘friend’ Hyeona’s made.
Four: beep, [Feast’s Offering] triggers.
Five: miracle victory on the power of love and friendship.
Simple.
The third part’s the problem, likely.
If it can topple the Triumvirate’s hard-won balance in a flash, it won’t be easy.
Minimum: a whole cult tier. Or an artifact or grimoire on par with a cult.
Worst case: an Abyssal.
What will it be? Spiders? Fungi? Bees? Winter? Toads? Or...
Srrr—
That creepy sense of something crawling under my clothes. Subtle and cold. A chill that freezes your breath.
“Mr. Mage, what’s wrong?”
Jang Hyundeok, in baggy shorts, stares at me wide-eyed.
“Ah—no. You, uh—”
“Sir?”
“Is one of those mine?”
He’s walking out of the kitchen with two ice creams. One in each hand.
Both unwrapped? Like he’s going to eat them both at once.
“No. Both are mine.”
Why’s he obsessed with two lately? Is it a disorder?
“But... since the mage caught me, I guess I should give you one.”
“That’s right.”
I take the ice cream with the dignified air of a living god worshiped by a sect whose creed is filial piety and service (not that you can see it under the mask).
“What?”
“Just curious how you eat with that on.”
“You underestimate me.”
With a single toss of my head, I switch masks in one breath.
“Whoa!”
“No tricks—no hidden devices.”
Clap clap clap—Hyundeok applauds around his ice cream.
I tip my head in a graceful reply and head for the kitchen.
“Mr. Heo Sanghyun.”
“Yes.”
“Would you help me with a job? I need a necromancy specialist.”
Heo Sanghyun widens his eyes and smiles.
“If it’s something I can do.”
“Good. Let’s go to the basement.”
Two days later.
“Now I’m a full-on monster.”
I open and close my left hand, covered in a tangle of sigils, and check. No lag—moves fine.
At a glance it’s just a hand with doodles, but truth is—it’s made in a way far uglier than the mana-stone version ever was.
Heh... In my left hand... No—forget it.
“This should be the place.”
Per Red Blade’s request, I arrive at an abandoned factory in Paju’s old publishing district.
A vast space with the concrete skeleton bare.
Long-abandoned building, yet a few cables look recently strung—and at their ends, a surveillance camera and a big monitor.
“Ah, but seriously, this is... Eh, never mind.”
From a gamer’s angle, it’s a little fun—but the sigh’s inevitable.
Feeling like a clown, I wave at the camera per the prepared script.
Chzzzt—
The monitor crackles to life.
— Have you been well, Kim Sinhwa?
Red Blade’s voice, with a laugh in it.
His face fills the screen.
True to the nickname, that long, bright red hair is immaculately kept.
It shouldn’t match a rock-star mane, but somehow it pairs with a three-piece striped suit.
“You wanted a face-to-face, but if it’s a video call like this, you could’ve just phoned.”
— A phone’s no fun.
He shakes his shoulders, laughing silently.
I expected some theatrical set-up, but this is a bit much.
Then again, the man would have excelled as a variety-show PD more than as an underworld boss. That’s [Cthulhu World] for you.
— And am I brain-shot? Meeting a mage in person means prepping wards and anti-hypnosis and whatnot. This is cheaper.
“Fine. It’s business, so let’s start. What did you call me to say?”
— Hey.
He’s smiling, but there’s no joy in it. It’s a feral, watchful face. A growl of a voice.
“Yes.”
— Blue Lake. You killed him, didn’t you?
We’re starting there? Bit heavy on the ad-lib.
“What are you talking about?”
— Don’t play me. You psychotic mage. Business? Sure. But you’re not a client—you’re product.
[System: Penalty trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ activates.]
The instant Red Blade finishes, the penalty triggers.
At the same time, Blue Lake’s goons flood in through every entrance of the factory. Maybe a hundred? Very heavily armed.
And at the very rear, Chae Taewon, staring at me in silence.
A stranger steps to the front and speaks. New hire of Hyeona’s?
Of course I don’t know his face—where a head should be, he’s got the snapping maw of a crocodile.
“Ke-he-he—scammer mage. You crawled right into a trap.”
“Oh, a trap?”
I say it and glance at Red Blade on the monitor.
He waves.
— Kim Sinhwa. If you get out alive, let’s meet again.
The monitor goes dark.
Well, this is the schedule I expected. But there’s one thing I want to check first.
“Wait.”
“Wait?”
The crocodile-headed guy stares, ropes of foul spit dangling from his open jaws.
“A trap’s a trap, but let’s ask one thing before we start.”
“Question? A question? Ah—I get it. Yeah. Red Blade sold you out. Naive mage.”
“No, man. Even I can see that. I mean your face. That crocodile. Is that... a mask?”
