The Human Brokerage House of the Demonic Alliance
Lee Kang fell silent for a moment, then deliberately lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"Then I’ll just buy this slave and be on my way."
All three gazes turned to him. Lee Kang kept his voice as steady as he could.
"I don’t want to get dragged into anything dangerous. Please, all of you, handle your own business."
A brief silence settled over them.
Jang Ori blinked. Cheong Jangmi frowned. No Hyeonjin simply watched Lee Kang without speaking.
And then.
"Hohoho. As expected, the Black Moon Sect Leader can’t be ignored. This old No will grant you all a special opportunity, so move as you see fit."
With that one line, the atmosphere changed.
Everyone had already understood what was going on. Whenever the Black Moon Sect Leader, Lee Kang, spoke of a plan, he had a habit of hiding his true meaning and saying the opposite.
So no one here took his words at face value. Nobody believed he really meant he would simply buy a slave and leave because he didn’t want to be swept up in a dangerous incident.
What they understood instead was this: he would buy a slave, then use the chaos of a dangerous incident to seize his opening.
That was how everyone read it. And then No Hyeonjin laughed and answered him in kind, which was as good as openly admitting he was about to stir up a major disturbance at the auction.
Jang Ori stroked his chin.
"Sect Leader No. Sounds like you’re planning something big."
"As you get older, your eyes do grow dim. One has to look closely to see clearly."
"That’s dangerous."
Cheong Jangmi said it coldly, this time stopping him outright.
No Hyeonjin laughed.
"In this world, what isn’t dangerous?"
"It’s the Demonic Alliance."
"Hohoho."
Cheong Jangmi closed her lips. No Hyeonjin did not seem inclined to listen to her, and from her point of view, that was enough to make her sigh inwardly.
No matter that Mangwon Market was a fringe district the Demonic Alliance didn’t pay much attention to; it was still the Demonic Alliance.
Among the martial artists stationed here, there might even be a first-class expert. If luck turned sour, there could be a peak master. If even one such person moved, No Hyeonjin’s head would be coming off very easily.
Jang Ori knew that too. The roguish smile that usually sat on his face thinned a little.
"Sect Leader No. Are you really sure about this?"
No Hyeonjin lightly planted his cane on the ground.
"What choice is there if I’m not? This body is already old."
"That’s not something you brush aside with a joke."
"The Golden Sect Leader worries far too much for a man your size. You should learn to watch for openings like the Black Moon Sect Leader."
Jang Ori snorted.
"The reason I’m still alive is because I worry. And besides, Lee Kang always hides what’s on his mind under layer after layer. I can’t just take him at his word."
Lee Kang watched the exchange and thought,
Lucky, maybe.
Thanks to No Hyeonjin drawing the attention first, Lee Kang’s own behavior had become natural by comparison. Even his decision to buy the mud-covered girl no longer seemed strange.
He didn’t want to get caught up in a dangerous auction, so he’d buy a decent slave and leave.
That line now worked as cover.
And since he had already announced that he would buy her, Jang Ori would not go out of his way to interfere with that slave now.
He would be wondering what No Hyeonjin or Lee Kang were really after, and more likely than not, he’d decide there was something larger to gain by taking advantage of the chaos than by fixating on that girl.
Jang Ori was greedier than anyone here.
He wasn’t the type to obsess over some incomprehensible slave worth only eight hundred fifty nyang. If No Hyeonjin’s promised disturbance really was a chance, he would move accordingly.
It’s just a game of using each other, that’s all.
No Hyeonjin laughed his way through a farewell, turned, and began walking toward what looked like the auction hall.
His cane tapped the ground.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Somehow, the sound was unnervingly clear.
Jang Ori watched him go, then slowly curled one corner of his mouth upward.
"Hmm. This is turning out to be interesting."
Cheong Jangmi said sharply, "Are you planning to get involved as well, Golden Sect Leader?"
"Not involved. Just watching. Besides, I was planning to attend the auction anyway."
Jang Ori chuckled heartily and strode off in the direction No Hyeonjin had disappeared. His massive back soon vanished into the crowd.
That left only Cheong Jangmi and Lee Kang.
Lee Kang turned as if nothing had happened, as if none of this concerned him. Like a man simply on his way to buy a cheap slave, he started toward the Demonic Alliance merchants, when footsteps followed behind him.
Shff, shff.
He did not stop.
Shff, shff.
The footsteps followed again.
Lee Kang sighed inwardly.
Of course.
It was Cheong Jangmi. She was following at a measured distance behind him.
Without turning his head, Lee Kang said, "Lady Jangmi."
"Yes."
"Why are you following me?"
"I’m not following you."
"Then what is it?"
"I happen to be going the same way."
Lee Kang suppressed another inward sigh. This was, in a way, his own karma.
When he had been settling near Mangwon Market, he had saved Cheong Jangmi a few times. Or more accurately, he had slipped in and helped whenever she ended up in a tight spot.
The day some thugs tried to corner her in an alley. The day orthodox sect trash had hunted modern people through the streets like prey. The day a fight had broken out at a food exchange stall.
Each time, Lee Kang had secretly cut a rope, made a sound, thrown a stone from behind, or opened an escape route for her.
It hadn’t come from any great sense of righteousness. The reason was simple.
She was pretty. And Cheong Jangmi had second-class talent.
At first, he had assumed she was just a naive modern civilian. He had even thought that if he played it right, he might lure her into the Black Moon Sect.
That was before Lee Kang raised her affection level enough to see the unlocked status window.
He hadn’t known she was actually a third-class martial artist. Nor had he known she had already founded a sect of her own, Justice Sect, with about three to five people under it.
Feels like I got baited.
Lee Kang couldn’t be with her.
The reason was simple: outwardly, he was a third-class martial artist, but in truth, he wasn’t.
He was only pretending to be a sect leader and acting powerful for safety’s sake. He was not some person who had thrown himself into martial arts after the apocalypse and climbed far up the ranks.
Of course, people said the gap between ranks before peak level wasn’t that great, but who knew? He had no idea how she would react once she saw his real level.
Besides, Cheong Jangmi was the type who believed strength was everything. Since her affection had already reached seventy-two, Lee Kang had no desire to kill that affection by telling her the truth.
The number that supposedly didn’t change anymore at one hundred. Single-minded devotion.
Unless it reached that, Lee Kang had no intention of revealing anything to her.
This never needed to be this complicated.
He quickly rearranged his plan in his head.
Originally, he had intended to wait around here after listening to No Hyeonjin. If that old man caused a disturbance at the auction, the Demonic Alliance’s attention would inevitably turn to the auction hall.
During that distraction, Lee Kang planned to take only the mud-covered girl and slip away.
But with Cheong Jangmi nearby, he couldn’t do that. It was too blatant. When the auction hall erupted in chaos, if he were left outside and then vanished with a slave worth eight hundred fifty nyang, anyone would find that suspicious.
It’d be better to go into the auction hall instead.
Lee Kang reached a conclusion and began to refine the plan again.
...That’ll be more certain.
He turned his head. Cheong Jangmi was still following him at the same steady distance. He let out a short breath.
"Lady Jangmi."
"Yes."
"I’m going to the auction hall. So please..."
Cheong Jangmi’s brows shifted slightly.
"As I thought. Then I’ll go to the auction hall as well."
"...Fine. Then let’s go together. Just don’t move like we’re too close. It’ll be easier to split up that way. Otherwise, we’d just get in each other’s way if we had to run."
"Understood. I’ve watched you often enough, Lee Kang-nim, that I know what you want."
Lee Kang looked at her for a moment after hearing that.
Know what? What are you on about?
That was what he thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.
This was not the time to explain anything.
Lee Kang looked back toward the auction hall.
At the end of the road lined with red lanterns, a huge tent crowded with people came into view.
That was the auction hall.
Lee Kang moved forward at an unhurried pace.
As he drew near the entrance, he pulled a black mask from inside his robes. Most of his face was already covered with cloth, but that wasn’t enough inside the auction hall.
He flipped the mask over his head and covered his entire face and hair, leaving only his eyes exposed.
Cheong Jangmi watched him for a moment, then wordlessly took out her own cloth and covered her face as well.
At the auction entrance stood the Demonic Alliance martial artists. They wore black uniforms with red waist sashes. Their eyes were sharper than the men Lee Kang had seen outside the slave market.
These were not simply guards there to control people. These were martial artists who could cut someone down the instant a problem arose.
Lee Kang stopped in front of them.
One of the Demonic Alliance martial artists gave him a flat, indifferent look. He didn’t react at all to Lee Kang’s masked face. In a place like this, showing your face was stranger than covering it.
"Entry fee."
The martial artist spoke briefly. Lee Kang paused for a moment.
"There’s an entry fee?"
"Fifty nyang."
"..."
Lee Kang pressed his lips together beneath the mask.
What a bunch of crooks.
Still, it couldn’t be helped.
He took fifty nyang from his robes and handed it over. The martial artist checked the money and jerked his chin.
"Go in."
The atmosphere inside the auction hall was different from the start.
Inside the giant tent, a great many people had already gathered. Unlike the slave market outside, this place was far more closed off.
At the center stood a raised platform. Around it, people had gathered in a half circle.
Most were dressed much like Lee Kang.
Even so, there were a few among them who stood out for some strange reason.