Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: A Bundle of Bills
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At first, he thought it was something serious.
Q had called him over saying there was something to discuss, but surprise.
Out comes a leather tote bag, perfect for striking a pose.
What the hell? He wasn't into fashion anyway.
Maybe give it to Kalifa as a gift.
Since it was handed over, Jin accepted it.
Then the colonel, lounging in his rocking chair, shot him a knowing glance and spoke up.
"Not gonna check it out?"
"Hm?"
What's inside?
Jin unzipped it fully.
And blinked in confusion.
"Huh?"
Back in Jin's hometown, there's this tradition—or superstition?—when gifting a wallet: you stuff it with cash first.
Obviously, 50,000 won bills beat 10,000s.
And crisp new bills trump worn-out old ones.
But more than that, it's the sentiment.
That warm wish for the wallet to always be full—that's the true value tucked into every bill.
A bit dramatic, but it's the Korean spirit.
So even a single 1,000 won bill (debatable, sure)
makes the recipient nothing but grateful.
A fat stack of crisp bills filling the bag?
The payout's bigger than expected?
"Whoa. What is this?"
Jin lifted the bills casually.
But the color was unfamiliar.
And forget crisp—aren't there too many zeros?
Ten hundred thousand ten million hundred million.
Whoa, a million-credit note? These things exist...
Exi... exist... whoaaa.
Sudden linguistic regression.
Jin's pupils (Model 2) glazed over blankly.
The bundle, wrapped in a translucent band, was the standard hundred bills.
1 million times 100 equals 100 million.
Eight zeros, yeah.
His hands trembled.
He hadn't shaken like this even facing the Face Collector.
"Wh-what is th-this?"
"What else? Your pay. Forgot already?"
As the colonel replied with surprising clarity, Q looked impressed.
Jin stared at the universe in his palm.
100 million was this light?
No, heavy.
Weight of 40,000 hot dogs, right?
And here's the scary part.
Eat 40,000 hot dogs at once, and even the Face Collector dies.
That dangerous.
"Hey, you listening?"
The colonel's voice anchored Jin's drifting mind.
As his floating consciousness settled, Jin carefully tucked the bundle back into the bag and spoke.
"You're really giving this? Even though we didn't catch the Face Collector?"
"What we asked from you was neutralizing Taha. Luring out the Face Collector was just the bait. You did your part. We just failed."
Q's answer.
Casual tone, but it must sting like hell inside.
Letting a years-long target slip away right in front of them.
Figured grinning too hard in front of them would be rude.
Jin zipped it up and said,
"Can I ask one thing?"
The colonel nodded readily.
"If I can answer it."
"Who was the Face Collector's last face?"
Maybe from messing with the status window so much.
He had a hunch.
This bastard shoving his face in your grill means something big.
Not now, but they'd cross paths again someday.
So he needed to know.
Especially the one who boiled the city agents alive and vanished.
"Thea Florence."
"Colonel."
"What's the harm? Kid already saw everything at the scene."
The colonel waved off Q's worried look and turned back to Jin.
"The strongest Esquire of the Florence family."
"Ah."
Jin made a face like he totally got it, but inwardly he was lost.
He heard the answer, but now he had two more questions.
Florence family? Esquire?
"...They handle spirits."
Q sighed heavily and filled in the blanks.
Sharp as ever—not for nothing he's the adjutant.
"Esquire means collaterals who awakened abilities and were formally inducted into the family."
Esquire.
Not nobility themselves, but descendants of nobles or social elites treated as such.
So, born commoners who earn noble-equivalent status.
Fitting usage.
Genius collaterals recognized for talents and absorbed into the main family.
Hm. Could I...?
Jin thought that, then asked,
"Must've been a big deal to be called the strongest Esquire."
"Folks were saying she'd be the first Esquire family head. And yeah, she had the family's full backing."
"Rumors even flew she was the head's bastard. Granting a family surname to an Esquire is super rare."
The colonel and Q took turns answering.
Jin put on an "aha! Now I get it" face. For real this time.
Explaining it like that makes all the difference.
Though it wasn't over yet.
"Thea Florence contracted a top-grade fire spirit before adulthood. You saw it too."
"The Flame Giant's right arm. Or left?"
"Agni. Only seen it in books myself. First time live, so not much to say."
"Why just the arm, though? You guys strong enough for that to suffice?"
Whoops, he realized too late.
Did he just bruise their pride?
Soldiers' pride is national pride.
Wait a sec.
What had the city government done for him anyway?
Then the colonel spoke.
"Doubt it. Probably her limit for now."
"Oh, that so?"
"If stealing let you use it perfectly, it'd be cheating. Defies the natural order."
Jin nodded along.
Yeah, can't have that.
"You'll be busy for a bit. Unexpected face and all."
"It's messy, sure. But that's our problem. Don't worry about it. More importantly..."
The colonel trailed off, stretching his arm sideways.
Snatched a bottle from the table, popped the cap with his thumb—pop!—and chugged.
Then added,
"Ever thought of working with us?"
"Nope." "Colonel!"
Jin and Q spoke in unison, eyes meeting.
"That hard a no?"
"Your common sense is... Wait, why refuse?"
"...?"
Whose tune was he supposed to dance to?
Jin shot the colonel a pouty look.
"Forget it. My military days ended at Cheorwon."
"Cheor... You were in the service?"
"6th Division, Cheongseong."
Jin proudly thumped his left chest.
The colonel narrowed his eyes.
But only briefly.
"Unique rejection style."
Chuckling to himself, he blew more smoke.
Clearly didn't buy it.
Jin felt wronged.
"Got it, your call. Unbound life's not bad. Not sure it's 'free,' though."
The colonel set the empty bottle down.
His smile faded slowly as he looked up—not his usual lax gaze, but a sharp, fitting stare at Jin.
"Normally I'd wait for you to join the Law Inducers, but... I slipped up before, so here it is."
Why the sudden gravity?
As Jin twitched an eyebrow, it continued.
"You've breached the wall already, but you're still in the shell. Hasn't the sky changed? Step out. Second world's a few steps away."
Q looked shocked,
while Jin stood quietly, pondering.
So that molting back then really happened.
And he realized,
not crystal clear, but this was precious advice.
"Thanks."
Jin flashed a bright smile at them both.
"I'm out. Catch you next time opportunity strikes. If you haven't nabbed the Face Collector by then, I'll help cheap."
He turned and left without lingering.
In the now-empty room, Q muttered softly.
"...Patronizing kindness. Fresh."
"Just kindness. He's not the overthinking type."
"What was that about, though? Second hierarchy?"
"Literal. He seemed lost, like someone else broke his wall for him. Just a nudge. He'd have found it anyway."
The colonel chuckled at the closed door.
"Jin Evernight..."
The group saw Jin off.
Five of them, no less.
Even Den staggered out.
When Jin asked why push so hard,
they said it was natural, which touched him a bit.
Naturally, he'd gotten their numbers already.
Just to be sure, he unfolded the crumpled paper and checked one by one: "This your number?"
Albus shook his head, exasperated at the primitive display.
"Back up your data ahead of time. Gonna repeat this every time your terminal blows?"
"Backup where?"
"Solo intranet, your account. Wait, I gotta explain this?"
"Still a noob. But my level matches Fenrir's."
"...Why the sudden bullshit?"
Fenrir narrowed his eyes.
But couldn't retort to Jin's grin, just offered a hand.
Jin clasped the scar-riddled palm and said,
"So when you heading back?"
"Gotta clean up TB remnants."
He'd decided to stick around Mute Town helping the resistance.
Jin didn't pry into why.
Taha's old comrade, right?
Everyone's got secrets. He respected that.
"Stay healthy, old man."
"It's Felix, how many times? Fe-lix. Say it. Fe-lix."
Seeing Felix flip out, Jin thought he'd tease him more in future, patted his shoulder, and turned to Grace.
"I'm off."
"Oh, Jin. I thought about it."
She pushed up her nose-perched glasses, leaned in close, and whispered,
"For efficient energy during reconstruction, how about calorie capsules? Might not help normally, but could quench sudden major injuries."
"Got it. That secret-worthy?"
"Uh... not?"
"Beats me."
Jin shrugged past his former doc to the last companion.
"No thanks speeches."
Albus chuckled dryly.
"Drop by sometimes."
That was it.
Backing away with a few waves, Jin turned abruptly.
A few steps later—flinch!
Eyes wide, he bolted—thud thud thud.
Shit!
Manticore!
Hoping the bike left untouched for half a month was fine—heartless?
This moment, Jin ditched conscience.
Please be safe!
So frantic he ran kicking up dust.
Sewer entrance—arrived!
Skidding to a halt across the floor, his eyes locked on the Manticore.
Matte khaki body, solid heft.
But no relief.
Someone was fiddling with it.
"Thief!"
Yelling as he charged, the guy flinched and drew a pistol.
Obviously, Jin was faster.
So he recognized the face first.
"Eh?!"
Fist aimed at the face now gripped the barrel, Jin thrust the gun skyward.
Bang!
"Urk!"
Forced into surrender pose, the guy ass-planted.
As he scooted back on heels to flee, Jin shoved his face close.
"It's me, me. Jin."
"...Huh?"
Grimy face went blank.
Seemed speechless, so Jin added,
"Your name's... Ben, right? Don't you know me? I named that bike. Manticore. Was Lion XR or something."
Spilling memories worked.
Relief dawned on the resistance engineer's face.
"Y-yeah, I remember."
After that, smooth sailing.
Jin offered rations to the calming Ben,
who devoured them like possessed.
Once stuffed, Ben sighed and spilled.
"...So after base fell, hid everywhere, washed up here?"
Jin continued to the gaunt nodder.
"Got that, but no news? Taha's dead. TB's on the run."
"Know."
"Why not head back? Just gonna smell like sewage here."
"...Friends in that sewage."
Ben pointed vaguely.
Jin followed naturally.
Freshly dug and recovered dirt patch.
Spotting sewage next, he eyed the black murk.
"You fished out all the bodies?"
"Yeah."
Short word, heavy load.
Hauling those brutal corpses humans hate handling, burying them all.
Jin couldn't guess Ben's self-loathing.
So instead of lame comfort, he patted the slumped shoulders.
"Good work."
"And wasn't stealing the Manticore. My build abandoned here, just checking status quick. Why leave it? Keys in too."
"...What?!"
Jin flinched, then rubbed his nose.
"Circumstances. Sorry."
"You're the owner. No sorry. Came back, good."
Short exchange over, they stood smartly.
Jin fired up the Manticore, glanced at Ben, asked,
"Hey, you and Den—what's the deal? Den, Ben. Den, Ben. Even the scruffy beards match."
"My bro."
"...Ah?"
Jin's jaw dropped slightly.
This hood names kin similar too.
Den, Ben.
Jeki, Jenny.
Speaking of, gotta hit Rum Pump Pump Pump with them.
Jin smirked.
"Perfect then. Call your bro, join up quick. And hear about this body's exploits."
With that, Jin revved and sped off.
Vrooooom!!
Mute Town, finally behind him.
How a quest to save Albus snowballed this far was a mystery.
But ending the war(?), clearing big quests, expanding connections—Jin was satisfied.
That all?
Pocketed a ridiculous payout too—
Mood crystal clear for once.
Even blasting down the highway now.
Helmet ditched this life, wind slamming face full-force—refreshing.
Good mood makes the world beautiful.
So Jin gunned it.
Go! To Downtown...
Couldn't.
Gas ran dry.
"No. Fuck."
Should warn when fuel's low, right?
He hadn't checked himself before highway, cursing Ben inwardly.
Lucky part: found a rest stop before total stall.
Obviously, Jin wasn't fueling up and dipping.
Food joint right there—pass it up?
Fill belly first.
Straight in, no look back!
Junk food spot, but unique: cola topped with ice cream.
Coke float, they call it.
Hm. Better than expected?
Liking it, Jin ordered four more easy.
Then sank into the sofa chair, gulping the rest comfy.
Something rowdy up front.
Glanced over: obvious thugs surrounding a table.
"Said they'd cover drive? Didn't see my ride? Shanikal A33. Totally fucked. My dick's fucked too."
Sudden dick fest made Jin frown, tilt head.
Who takes that shit flirty talk?
There: icy beauty with perky nose.
Gleaming black hair cascading naturally to her chest along shoulders.
Hm. Pretty.
Jin thought, sipping cola.
Then the annoyed-scanning woman locked eyes somewhere.
Stood slowly; thugs lit up.
"About time!"
But against hopes, the tall woman crossed straight to Jin's opposite seat, plopped down.
What?
Stunned Jin blinked.
Chasing thugs blinked.
All dumbfounded.
Her obsidian eyes held Jin as full lips moved.
"I like you."