The Suspiciously Wealthy Golden Sun
"Hey, people can make mistakes. Are you still mad?"
To correct Lucia's words, I wasn't mad. Even though that Geumtaeyang with her head full of perverted thoughts had labeled me a pervert. Would I really get upset over something like that? Ridiculous.
I definitely didn't want to see her acting all cute beside me, saying things like, "Aww, come on, cheer up!" Just a little. The only reason I was pretending to be upset was to stimulate her guilt just enough to make her spend money without hesitation. It was a bit scummy, but that's why I was deliberately acting this way.
"So where are we going anyway? Are you planning some kind of surprise?"
Yes. Right up until we were about to arrive at the black market where Grayson was waiting. As we kept winding through the complicated alleys, Lucia must have gotten bored because she kept talking to me.
"Lucia."
But from here on, it would be better to stay quiet.
"Hic!"
Lucia let out a hiccup, startled that I—who had been walking silently without a word—had suddenly called her name. She kept hiccupping, apparently quite surprised. Was it really that shocking…?
"You need to follow me quietly. And no matter what happens inside, don't be surprised."
We were almost at the entrance to the black market now, so any careless reactions could be poisonous. This place was already crawling with scum. If a delicate-looking woman started squeaking and gasping, she'd be an easy target.
Of course, this girl probably wouldn't fall for something like that…
Lucia's strength was no joke. She wasn't someone half-baked street thugs could handle. Still, drawing attention and exposing her face wouldn't do any good. I might be from a powerless baron's family in the outskirts, but Lucia was the daughter of a marquis. With her Geumtaeyang looks, there were bound to be people who could recognize her.
I pulled the hood of the hoodie she was wearing over her head to cover her face.
"Whoa! What are you doing!"
She glared at me fiercely, but when I silently pointed at the wall, that ferocious gaze quickly turned to confusion.
"…A wall? What's there… Hiiik?"
And when I walked straight through the wall, she stepped back in shock.
Well, I hadn't explained it to her, so it was understandable that she'd be surprised. I seemed to be seeing her startled face a lot today. Passing through a wall without any device really was strange, even to me—like Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
"This is the entrance. It's an illusion, so don't be scared. Just come in slowly…"
"Are you… are you taking me somewhere weird? What kind of place needs an entrance like this?!"
When I demonstrated by sticking my hand in and out of the wall a few times, Lucia shook her head and backed all the way to the far end of the alley. From her perspective, this was a deserted back alley where a guy she wasn't even that close to was trying to push her into a suspicious wall… Huh. Come to think of it, the fact that she hadn't run away yet was a miracle.
"Hoo…"
It wasn't a good thing, but I'd been putting off explaining my purpose as much as possible. But now that things had come to this and she was this anxious, I had no choice but to tell her. I'd have to package it as nicely as possible. If I just said I'd brought her to a slave market, she definitely wouldn't listen.
"Ugh… Don't come any closer…"
"Please help me, Lucia!"
I suddenly bowed my head deeply before she could even react, begging her. Right now, Lucia's suspicion toward both me and the mysterious wall was at its peak, so I had to humble myself first.
"Uh… huh? What?"
"My precious friend is trapped inside there, but I don't have the money to save him! Please, help me!"
I carved the most desperate expression I could onto my face and grabbed her clearly flustered hand, continuing.
"I've been trying to raise the money for months, but my father opposes it, and it's hard for me to find work to earn it myself. If not for you, Lucia, I have no more hope of saving my friend…"
"O-okay, I get it, but first get your face away…"
Ah. I'd gotten too immersed and ended up pressing too close without realizing. When I finally came to my senses, the distance between Lucia and me had become so close it could be called intimate.
"S-sorry."
When I awkwardly stepped back with an embarrassed expression, Lucia seemed to catch her breath before speaking.
"How much are we talking about?"
Her words carried a positive tone—as long as it wasn't too high, she'd help. Now I had to choose my words carefully. Like buying something at an auction, I needed to negotiate as much as possible…
"I can provide at least 80,000 gold right away. How much is it?"
"…Pardon?"
One gold was roughly equivalent to 1,000 won in Korean currency. In other words, this person was saying she could casually drop 80 million won on me in one go.
"I can probably scrape together a bit more if it's not enough. So how much?"
The amount needed to fully own one worker was about 50,000 gold. However, since Grayson was currently in a state where he could barely use his power, he could be bought for around 15,000 gold. Even that was a considerable sum, but considering his true value, it was absurdly cheap.
"It's 15,000 gold… but you'll really give it to me?"
Still, I'd expected that even that amount would be difficult for a student to fork over easily. I thought I'd be lucky to get about 5 million won, but she was offering the full amount. Let's think about it—in Korean won, that was a whopping 15 million. Even if she was the daughter of one of the empire's few high-ranking nobles, handing over that kind of money so easily…
"Here, take it."
She really was giving it. And far too easily. I stared blankly at the money pouch she held out, then took it and checked the contents.
"…This seems to have more money in it than necessary?"
It wasn't just 15,000 gold. There was clearly more than that inside. When I asked hurriedly, Lucia waved her hand as if it were nothing.
"My man can't go around getting looked down on. I probably put in about 5,000 gold extra?"
Just how rich was she that 5 million won was considered 'extra' for a student? No, more importantly, there was one issue I had to address first.
"I'm not your man, though?"
"Want me to take the money back?"
"…"
It was simply too much money to refuse. She really had a variety of ways to train people, that wicked woman.
But… is she really a wicked woman…?
Looking at everything she'd done so far, she actually seemed kinder than Heidi…
What the hell am I thinking.
I lightly slapped my own cheek to snap my fuzzy mind back into focus. No matter how well Lucia treated me, a Geumtaeyang was still a Geumtaeyang. There was a high chance this was all an act to get over me. If I fell for it now, she'd probably just play with me for a while before tossing me aside like an old rag. Most people who stole someone else's lover were that type.
"Hehe."
As I was steeling my resolve, Lucia suddenly closed the distance I'd managed to create in an instant. …Her physical ability was ridiculous. It felt like she'd been five meters away, yet she was right next to me in the blink of an eye.
Anyway, the Lucia who had stuck herself to me was now wearing that seductive expression she always made when trying to shake me, and spoke.
"If you date me, I can give you even more than this. How about it?"
"…No thank you."
When I refused, Lucia took several more steps closer, as if that distance wasn't enough. Naturally, I stepped backward to avoid getting caught. I had a strong feeling that if she caught me here, something very troublesome would happen…
-Thud!
…Thud? That sound shouldn't have come out.
When I quietly looked behind me, there was no longer any path. My back had hit a dead-end wall. There was no escape route left.
"Ugh!"
I stared at the wall that was helplessly pushing me toward Lucia, then let out a pathetic, high-pitched scream as she grabbed my necktie.
"Hmmm…"
Along with that damnably pleasant lemon scent, her face came so close it was practically touching my nose.
"Hey. Do you hate me?"
Lucia gripped my necktie tightly, smiling faintly as she asked. She was clearly at least 20cm shorter than me, yet it felt like I was facing a giant.
Of course, no matter who was standing in front of me, if asked about my favorability toward Lucia, I could only answer like this.
"…I do. Obviously."
I hated her. Obviously I hated her. I wasn't confident enough to say it as definitively as before, but she was a woman I didn't want to get close to.
I'd hoped she'd look a little disappointed at my answer and back off, but instead Lucia smiled even more brightly than before, pressed firmly against my chest, and added,
"Last time I asked, you answered immediately. But now you're hesitating?"
Just as she said, what I hated more than her right now was myself for hesitating to answer such a question. It was obviously something I should have immediately answered with 'yes' the moment I heard it, so why was I hesitating?
"Then this means…"
Lucia pondered for a moment, then slipped her leg between mine to prevent me from moving and yanked hard on the necktie I'd left loose. You're choking me, you crazy woman.
"…I can assume you like me that much more now?"
"…Not at all."
While pressing me like this, she somehow managed to snatch the money pouch from my hand. She shook it and said,
"I was originally going to just give it to you, but the way you talk is so annoying I changed my mind."
Then, before I could react, she pulled me into an embrace and whispered in my ear.
"If you want this money, you'll have to be mine all day long sometime later."
…Can't I just buy Grayson with my own money?