The Dwarf's Craft and the Contract of Vengeance

The moment I completed the mission and dashed away without a word, I could feel my companions' eyes on my back. A-rin scratched the back of her head with an apologetic look, staring fixedly in the direction I had gone without even blinking. Honestly, if anyone should feel sorry, it was probably me, but I wished she wouldn't act like that.

I arrived in front of the building and waited for my target in front of the parking lot barricade. Helen had told me that a man visited this house every two days at exactly eight in the evening. That was why we had rushed straight here despite our exhaustion.

Vroooom— Right on cue, a man drove in. I channeled both mana and my senses into the Gliding Cloak, wrapping it tightly around my body. Then I sprinted after the car and leaped onto its roof. The mana detection equipment at the entrance and the state-of-the-art barrier failed to sense me, concealed as I was by the cloak, and simply let me pass through the barricade.

It was a similar application of sensory transformation to when I had previously severed Apex's [Surveillance] ability. I didn't fully understand the exact principle behind it. It was just a trick I'd discovered while running various tests during my spare time at the White Knight Guild. Of course, it wasn't invincible. If a high-level barrier specialist or mage had been present, things might have gone differently.

Screeech— When the man parked and stepped out of his car, his appearance took me by surprise. A dwarf? The characteristic features weren't strongly visible, but I could easily guess from the unique structure of his mana.

'Not the kind of man I expected.'

I had assumed he would be a spawn or some guy who would simply soothe her depression, but I'd been completely off the mark. And once you connected a dwarf with a wealthy hunter who'd lost limbs, it wasn't hard to figure out what they were doing.

'He's making prosthetic hands and feet.'

Losing a hand—the primary channel for mana flow—was a fatal blow for a swordsman. It was said to be nearly impossible to restore a severed mana pathway. Still, I'd heard that basic physical functions could be recovered up to eighty percent of their original capacity depending on the blacksmith's skill. I wondered how capable this particular blacksmith was.

Step. Step.

This man would be my guide today. The operation proceeded smoothly without any interference. Naturally, detection barriers had been running nonstop since the parking lot, and I could see a low-grade mage patrolling with the guards in the distance, lazily casting Detect Magic to earn his pay. But there was no significant threat.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠followed the man into the elevator. Since I had switched to the Rune of Levitation, my footsteps made no sound at all.

'As expected, the mana drain is...'

My mana was dropping rapidly. It was at least three times more than my usual stealth consumption. Operating mana alongside my senses came with a massive cost.

Click—

I followed the man to the front door of Heo Min-sol's home. Surprisingly, the entrance had no special security measures. Clinging to the ceiling, I slipped inside the instant he opened the door.

The skill [Adhesion] had never leveled up even once, but it had been incredibly useful from the very beginning until now. Crawling across the ceiling like this made me feel like I'd turned into some kind of bug, but as long as no one saw my embarrassing state, the human mind somehow found pleasure in it. Not that I was human, of course. Anyway.

I had managed to get inside the house, but there was one problem. A mage was standing right in the middle of the living room.

'There was no mention of this.'

Judging by his attire, he didn't seem like someone who stayed here all day... Could he be visiting a sick friend?

Just then, Heo Min-sol appeared from the left side, riding an electric wheelchair.

'Bingo.'

Fortunately, the mage left the house immediately. He looked to be around the same age as Heo Min-sol. Unless he was constantly maintaining detection magic, there was no way he could have noticed me. Come to think of it, even someone like Heo Min-sol had friends who would visit her while she was sick. Birds of a feather, I suppose. I should remember that girl's face.

The man who had entered the house with me immediately got to work. Seeing him pull out all sorts of tools from his inventory, it looked like he was about to start a major operation.

'He's already made this much?'

The prosthetic hand and foot he took out looked like weathered, dried-out wood at first glance. But the moment they touched Heo Min-sol's arm and leg, they began fusing with her as if they were alive.

'Whoa... First time seeing them actually being equipped. Those must cost a fortune. This dwarf doesn't seem ordinary either. Heo Min-sol, just what the hell did you do to earn that much money?'

I was dying to know the secret. Like the dwarf, I had my own objective to carry out, but I was so shocked that I froze for a moment. Of course, even after fusing like that, she wouldn't be able to use them like her real hands and feet right away. Even after getting used to them and training again, reopening the severed mana pathways would be an arduous process.

Still, with this level of full support and a woman harboring this much venom, she might just overcome those incredibly low odds.

After watching Heo Min-sol's prosthetic fitting process for a while, I spread out my senses and began my real work. Soon, I located the most heavily guarded spot in the house. It was a room located midway down the hallway after making a wide turn to the right from the living room. This was probably Heo Min-sol's bedroom. The pink-painted door was firmly locked.

At least she had secured her own room. If I turned this doorknob without preparation, hunters from the security company would swarm in like a pack of dogs.

Humm—

I gathered mana and senses together to cover my hand, then placed it on the doorknob. As expected, the security device didn't react. I carefully turned the handle and entered.

Click—

It was a nice house, so even the door made a soft, pleasant sound. I almost wanted to open and close it again. The room, like the door, was covered entirely in pink. It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decorated to the brim with all kinds of dolls and lovely accessories.

'What the hell...'

Outside, she committed atrocities terrible enough to drown a person, yet she decorated her room like this... It was truly ironic.

I strode straight to Heo Min-sol's bed and reached for the drawer right beside it. Hmm... It wouldn't open.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Hmm... Do I need to put in more mana?'

The mana consumption increased depending on the strength of the barrier. Only after pouring in seventy percent of my remaining mana did the drawer finally open.

'She's really invested in this.'

My possessed mana had dropped below 50, so it recovered to maximum. The power of a top-grade mana circuit. Hehe...

Inside the drawer was a small pink box, which also had a barrier similar to the drawer. For a moment I tensed up, wondering if opening this box would reveal yet another box inside, but fortunately that didn't happen.

'Phew... That was a bit nerve-wracking.'

As expected, the box contained a contract that clearly outlined the mutual agreement between Heo Min-sol and Apex. The faint glow around it confirmed that a mutual oath had been placed on it as well.

Hmm... I could definitely feel Heo Min-sol's mana signature. Although she had lost her mana discharge channels, the mana vessels inside her body hadn't disappeared, so she could still use an oath document.

I examined the contract briefly. It detailed Heo Min-sol's demands quite specifically.

It even stated that if they brought her the ears that symbolized A-rin, she would pay extra.

'This fucking bitch?'

For a second I almost stormed into the living room in rage. Maybe I should give her exactly what she'd written here. It was I who had turned her into that state, yet she was directing her arrows at A-rin. It seemed to reflect a seriously twisted mindset.

After taking a moment to calm my breathing, I checked the contract payment.

'Three billion won?! Are you insane...?!'

What shocked me was the scale of the down payment. No matter how good a hunter's earnings were, three billion was... While it made some sense if you considered it the price for killing a promising rising star, it was still excessive. If I'd known she was this rich, I should have just taken her money instead of cutting off her hands and feet.

'Women really are terrifying.'

I left the room and returned to the living room. The two were still working on the prosthetics. At this point, she could barely twitch her fingers. The dwarf beside her had connected a long tube from the prosthetic to his own hand and was continuously encouraging Heo Min-sol while quickly jotting something down on paper.

'……No signs of a second awakening.'

There were cases where people received a massive shock and underwent reawakening, but it was fortunate that didn't seem to be happening. I was also glad to see that her mana signature had clearly diminished compared to when we'd met in the dungeon. If left unused, her mana vessels would shrink quickly.

Even if she got used to the prosthetic and miraculously restored her mana pathways, how long would it take to recover her original combat strength? At least two years, I figured. By then, we would be so far above her that Heo Min-sol might feel an even greater sense of despair.

Wasn't that what true revenge looked like? Killing someone easily was what amateurs did.

Now that I'd obtained what I came for, all that was left was to leave the house. There was an open window...

'Ah, I can just go out through there.'

I didn't want to stay any longer, so I carefully opened the door leading to the terrace and slipped out. Heo Min-sol and the man were completely focused on their work, so they didn't notice the slowly opening door.

In truth, with my abilities it was nothing special, but sneaking into someone else's house made me feel strangely nervous and guilty, so I wanted to get out quickly.

Whoosh— Flap—!

I threw myself outside and glided back to where my party members were waiting. Having completed the mission rather cleanly, I even felt a little excited.

There was an empty seat saved for me at the table on the second floor of the cafe. Yeonhee must have noticed me first, because her body gave a big twitch. At some point, she had become able to sense me even when I was in stealth. I couldn't understand how it was possible without any magical means, but it must be one of the privileges of a summoner.

Bae Jua saw Yeonhee giving the signal that I had arrived and whispered unnecessarily toward me as I sat down.

I didn't know why she was speaking like she was in the middle of a drug deal, but I gave a small click of my teeth to signal affirmation.