The figure who took up the wooden table by themself appeared suspicious at first glance. Their face was hidden behind a white cotton cloth, they wore a head covering that looked like a hood, and their body was wrapped with a weathered drapery that could be a robe or a cape. For some unknown reason, it seemed the person was very reluctant to expose any part of their body.
“I’m sorry, boss. What happened was…” Nangnang whispered in a flustered voice. Hearing what he said, Chi-Woo realized that all of Zelit’s predictions had been perfect.
Under the current system, the only one who could officially assert their authority was those starting from gold rank. Even if many people flocked together and moved in groups, no one recognized them as an official organization unless they established a clear and proper goal, environment, and rules.
But what if one organized an ‘unofficial’ group in advance before they reached gold rank? Of course, not many heroes were foolish enough to follow anyone who recruited them before the person reached a high enough rank. However, there were exceptions like the Celestial Lights.
All the heroes naturally thought the Celestial Lights would reach gold rank before anyone else and establish their own factions. That was one aspect of it; each of the Celestial Lights also carried great weight and value wherever they went due to the name they bore alone. This was the advantage the Celestial Lights held that Zelit had talked about. And knowing the advantages they had, the Celestial Lights got to work to capture promising talents for their factions.
Originally, Ru Amuh was the unrivaled top candidate every Celestial Light wanted. However, once he declared that he was going to form his own group, all the Celestial Lights lost interest in him, and their attention naturally shifted to the next best things: those at the silver rank. Ru Amuh might have been exceedingly talented, but currently, the silver ranks were also a very rare and valuable group of talents.
It was no surprise that Nangnang would receive many offers given how close he was to reaching gold rank. Hearing this, Chi-Woo glanced at the silent, mysterious figure in front of him. First of all, Chi-Woo now knew why Apoline had kicked the door on her way out in great fury. Being part of their previous expedition, she must have been eyeing Nangnang’s value and tried to recruit him with her position as a Celestial Light.
‘She wouldn’t have gotten so angry if she succeeded.’ It seemed the Afrilith family name had proven insufficient this time. That probably meant Nangnang was approached by another Celestial Light. Chi-Woo began to feel more nervous. He recalled Nangnang telling him that the person who gave him an offer told him to give his answer right away.
Nangnang received Chi-Woo’s message after the mysterious recruiter made an offer. Thus, he asked for more time to think about the matter, but the recruiter demanded an answer on the spot. This was the reason why Nangnang asked Chi-Woo to meet him in this place; he couldn’t go to Chi-Woo instead. It was such a one-sided demand, but Nangnang didn’t find a problem with this behavior. As Nangnang struggled to come to a decision, the recruiter also seemed worried.
“Can I sit down first?” Chi-Woo asked.
“Yes! Of course!” Nangnang shook his head fervently. It seemed he would turn away and leave if the recruiter didn’t permit this either. The recruiter must have come to the realization, and they remained silent.
“You must have already figured out the reason I asked to meet you today. I want to recruit you into our group, Mr. Nangnang.”
“Hm, then, are you perhaps…?
“Yes, I’m planning to join hands with Mr. Ru Amuh. Of course, I came with new conditions to offer you too. Will you like to hear them?”
“Yes, please. I will listen.”
Seeing Nangnang focus on him, Chi-Woo felt a bit of hope.
***
After an hour, Chi-Woo silently inhaled and exhaled while sitting on his chair. He was the only one at the table that had been occupied by three. Both Nangnang and the figure he supposed must be one of the Celestial Lights were gone. Nangnang had seemed tempted when Chi-Woo told him how they managed to extend their time to settle down by a month. He really seemed to be deep in thought and conflicted then. And after pondering about the matter for a long time, Nangnang asked him a question.
[Every group has a leader. I get that your group gathered around Ru Amuh, but I want to ask you something just in case.]
[Who’s going to be the head of the group? You, boss or…]
“Of course it’s Mr. Ru Amuh,’ Chi-Woo answered, and it was then Nangnang settled his conflicted feelings.
[If that’s the case…I won’t accept your offer.]
Nangnang was very apologetic.
[I’m sorry! Really sorry boss! I know it’s a rare opportunity to work with a hero like you, and my progress is all thanks to you. But…I really can’t turn down this person’s offer. I’m really sorry.]
Hearing this, the mysterious recruiter left, and Nangnang followed with his head low.
Chi-Woo smacked his lips. He didn’t really blame Nangnang. Although Nangnang had benefited from him, it was the same for Chi-Woo. Nangnang had always acted professionally and gave his best more than anyone else. In the end, he made the decision that was best for him; this wasn’t a world that revolved around affection and loyalty alone.
It would be a lie if Chi-Woo said he didn’t feel any regret. It also made him curious about what kind of offer Nangnang had received and how good it must be that he would turn down Chi-Woo’s offer.
‘As I thought, the Celestial Lights…are really not easy to deal with,’ Chi-Woo wondered if he should’ve tried flicking the mysterious recruiter’s robe to reveal their identity.
‘Who could it have been…?’ Although they hadn’t spoken a word, Chi-Woo felt the recruiter’s eyes on him so piercingly throughout his conversation with Nangnang; it unsettled him many times. It felt as if the recruiter had been carefully observing his face from behind their face covering. They were clearly not a Nahla or an Afrilith. That meant they were either Mariaju, Estititia, or Ho Lactea.
‘Uh, I don’t know.’ Chi-Woo shook his head. It didn’t work out, but he found consolation in the fact that he had succeeded in recruiting everyone else on the list besides Nangnang. He got up thinking he should update the rest of his group when he heard a familiar voice.
“Yo, my boss!” It was a cheery exclamation. Chi-Woo turned around and was surprised to see a familiar young man waving at him.
“Mr. Eval Sevaru?”
“Hey! It’s been a while!”
“Yes, it’s really been a long while.”
“Well, I finally managed to track you down,” Eval said while quickly taking a seat near Chi-Woo, and Chi-Woo had no choice but to sit back down.
“I haven’t seen you around for quite a while. When did you come to Shalyh, bro?” Eval asked.
“Yesterday.”
“That’s late. But we should really register each other’s names first. Do you know how long I went around looking for you?”
“Me? Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’? I’ve got something to give you.”
Chi-Woo wondered what it was.
“Let’s get to business for now.” Eval Sevaru fake-coughed and placed a heavy pouch on the table.
Clank! By the sound it made, it seemed the pouch was quite heavy.
“Here, take it. It’s your money, boss.” Eval knocked on the pouch lightly, and sparkling gold coins spilled out. Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. If his eyes weren’t playing tricks, each of the coins had the number 1,000 engraved on it.
“I think it amounts to 19,000 royals. I split the earnings in half exactly as we agreed upon, so don’t worry.”
“What? 19,000 royals?” Chi-Woo’s voice rose automatically. “No…why and how did you get…?”
“Hm? Do you not remember the deal you made with me?”
‘Oh’. Chi-Woo gasped and finally recalled the weapons, equipment, and other items he scraped up at the Salem Academy. At that time, Eval said that he wanted to try doing business with the items, and Chi-Woo gave him permission to do so. But that didn’t answer everything. A good-quality sword was worth 1,700 royals. And although Chi-Woo had collected dozens of items at the academy, many of them had significantly corroded in quality and value as they were made a very long time ago. Each of them would’ve probably been worth less than half of 1,700 royals. And yet Eval just handed him 19,000 royals, which meant he’d earned at least 38,000 royals before splitting the profits in half. It wasn’t a small amount by any means considering his brother had given him 30,000 royals, especially at the current time.
“Ah, you are asking me how I managed to get so much? I suppose I can say that I changed my target customers,” Eval answered Chi-Woo’s question.
“Did you not sell them to the heroes?”
“I tried to at first, but when I thought about it, I didn’t think that would earn me much. Every one of them was so busy living their own lives. Yeah sure, there’s the currency, but it was so unreliable. The situation was so dire that I basically had to give stuff away for free.”
“Yes, it was.”
“But since I got the goods from you with the intention of selling them, I kept them safe and cared for them. I waited and waited until the right time came—it was when the legend ordered everyone to migrate to Shalyh,” Eval continued, “And you know how the Cassiubia League is. It’s one of the four big factions on Liber. Their economic situation is incomparable to ours, and everything moves so fast.” Eval made swishing motions with his hands. “So then I went to a blacksmith first. I thought the bloke there was joking when he told me he wouldn’t even pay me the same amount as metal scraps.”
“That’s understandable.”
“So, you know what I did?” Eval slammed the table and continued, “I searched the whole city to find an antique shop.”
“An antique shop?”
“Yes. Do you know what’s the easiest way to get money if our lives are infinite?”
Chi-Woo shook his head.
“It’s simple and so, so easy. You just have to go out, acquire a passable item, and keep it.”
“?”
“After caring for it well, you can just sell it a couple thousand years later. And you will gain an enormous amount of profit margin~”
Chi-Woo thought about how various items from video tapes with random figures to Viking swords made in 850 AD were sold for 35,000 to 40,000 dollars, and he nodded in understanding.
“So you sold them as antiques.”
“Yeah. Their conditions were unbelievably good for being several centuries old.”
“Wow, that’s how…”
As Chi-Woo looked at him, impressed, Eval waved his hand like he was embarrassed.
“If you really think about it, I gave them away for nothing. I should’ve gotten ten times more than what I got, but considering the current situation, I couldn’t…ah, this damn war.” Eval smacked his lips and shrugged. “But well, I did my best… Anyways, how are you doing these days, boss?”
“Busy. Probably because we’re at the starting stage.”
“Hm. I heard that you’re working with that Ru Amuh fellow.”
Chi-Woo looked a bit stunned. ‘What? Did rumors spread that fast?’ And then he answered, “Yes.”
“Wow. I know he’s at gold rank, but maintaining a whole zone must not be easy. Wouldn’t he have to pay well over ten to twenty thousand royals every month?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I bet you guys need money and are looking around for work that pays a lot,” Eval said and glanced at the pouch on the table. “…Boss,” Eval said in a serious tone, “I’m not asking for a rebate per se, but do you have any plans on returning some of the money I gave you back to me?”
“Rebate…? How much?”
“Exactly 9,500…no, about 10,000 royals. Not for free, but in exchange for a piece of information.”
“About what…?” Chi-Woo stared at Eval.
“I came to Shalyh earlier than anyone else and wandered around without a day of rest.”
“…”
“A few days ago, I finally got my hands on some proper information.”
“If it’s a request, isn’t it posted on the square’s bulletin board?”
“What— It’s not like those~ Come one, you know~ Are you pretending not to know?” Eval asked teasingly, and Chi-Woo smiled thinly.
“Can I decide after hearing it?”
“Ah~ I was planning to sell this for a really expensive price. But with you, I’m selling it for only 10,000 royals.”
“I understand. So let me hear it. I want to know what it is that it’s worth 10,000 royals.”
“Hm. Okay then…” Eval fixed his posture and looked sideways with a gulp. He gestured at Chi-Woo to crane his head forward.
***
Tap, tap. After organizing the documents, Chi-Hyun got up from his seat and left the room with an indifferent look on his face. He trudged across the corridors and reached the stairs. Then his face turned serious when he noticed that the two guards at the door had collapsed. It appeared that they had lost consciousness rather than died.
Slid. From behind him, Chi-Hyun heard light footsteps. He turned around slowly and saw a robed figure with a deeply pressed-down hood. The mysterious intruder lifted their hood and revealed their face behind the cotton cloth. Chi-Hyun’s two eyes stirred and leveled her with a cold glare.
“…” Then he turned around and kept walking as if he hadn’t noticed her.
“I saw him.” Her voice rang so clearly that it sounded abnormal. “I’m on my way after seeing him by coincidence.” Still, Chi-Hyun didn’t stop walking, and the mysterious woman called out with a small, deep voice. “…Big brother. That boy. He’s my younger brother, isn’t he?”
Chi-Hyun suddenly stopped walking.