Good.
"Good. First question. Why were you lurking around the outskirts of the Sky Castle?"
"..."
"You said you'd talk, and now you're clamping your mouth shut?"
"It falls under a geas. I cannot tell you."
"Then you'll just have to die."
Yujun brought the lightning a little closer.
"AAAAAGH! Please! Please! I said I'd tell you everything except what I can't!"
No spine at all—was there even a scrap of one? Electrocution was horrific, granted, but was a man who followed the Demon God really this quick to fold?
"How did you know to run? You can tell me that much, can't you?"
"I received a message. It told me to get as far from the city as possible."
"And who sent it?"
"The Or—"
The Demon God Worshipper's face suddenly contorted. The reason was obvious.
"So it's the Order. Obviously there isn't anything like a group chat. Which means there's a Demon God Worshipper sending messages, on a schedule or otherwise. That's the role he's been given."
"..."
"Guess I was right."
A geas did bind the Worshipper, but Yujun drew the information out of his expression all the same. Those granted the Demon God's blessing grew simpler than one might expect, and reading their faces was not particularly difficult.
"Thanks for the information."
"If you've gotten what you wanted, kill me cleanly."
"Kill you? You're not going to beg for your life?"
"You're obviously going to kill me regardless. I have no wish to beg."
"You know me well."
"Is there anyone in the Order who doesn't know your infamy?"
"I'm that big a deal? Well, that's rewarding."
To have left so strong an impression on the Demon God Worshippers—he could only be pleased.
"Where's the one who sent you that message?"
"Everywhere, and nowhere."
"...You want to play riddles now?"
"That is all I know."
"Everywhere and nowhere—what else could that be but the System?"
"I don't know either."
"Fine. You've done your part."
Thuck.
The man had cooperated, so Yujun severed his life in a single stroke.
Two levels at once meant the Demon God Worshipper he had just killed had been higher-level than he was. It simply hadn't looked that way, because the man had gone down far too easily.
Having dealt with the Worshipper who'd been grating on him, Yujun swept his gaze around. Someone was surely watching this as well—the moment he clashed with the Worshipper. No recording orb was in sight, so the odds were high they were using some method he didn't know.
Even so, is it actually possible to fool my eyes and keep me under watch?
If it was, then he had no way of stopping the surveillance for the time being. Then I'll just tell them to watch out in the open. They still had no means of stopping him anyway, which was why they hadn't managed any real answer yet. All I have to do is get stronger, fast. There was nothing else he needed to concern himself with. He didn't have the leisure for it, either.
He collected the equipment the Demon God Worshipper had been wearing and set off at once. More precisely, he took to the air.
By the time Yujun returned to the city, the number of angels on the streets had thinned conspicuously. A brief exchange over messenger, and he was reunited with Manuela.
"Did you catch him?"
"Yeah."
"So what now?"
"There's a message from Atradeon. From what I read, a banquet's being held in a week. A whole crowd of high-ranking angels suspected of being Demon God Worshippers is supposed to show up."
"Is the information solid?"
"Yeah. Atradeon sounded certain."
"So you're going there?"
"Yeah. There isn't really another play."
"...Won't it be dangerous?"
"You don't get anything without taking a risk. And it shouldn't be that dangerous—so long as we don't pull anything insane."
"You know saying it like that only makes it more ominous, right?"
"I know. Hearing myself, it does feel like I just planted a death flag. Kind of unsettling."
"Right?"
"I'm still going, though. That's fine, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Manuela only wanted to stay by Yujun's side.
"Yenil, what about you?"
"I believe I already said as much. Wherever it may be, I will follow."
"Okay."
Yenil's purpose was magic. The day Yujun would be clutching his head over it was not far off.
"We've still got a whole week, so if any of you have things to do, go finish them."
"I don't really have anything."
Manuela said it plainly.
"Didn't you say you were making a chimera? I thought you'd gathered a lot of materials."
"No. That needs more time, so later."
With Yenil in the picture, Manuela had not the faintest intention of putting any distance between herself and him. She couldn't spare a moment's peace of mind against whatever situation might arise. Yenil's skill in magic, above all, surpassed her own, and there was every chance Yujun would come to judge the other woman more useful. Yenil's expression was always stiff, yet her looks were anything but ordinary. Manuela could not afford to lower her guard.
"Yenil. Do you have an access card too?"
"Atradeon gave me one, so I was able to enter with you."
"Then let's stop by the market for a bit."
"The market? Why there?"
"There's something I need to buy. And someone I need to find."
A Great Merchant was said to be going about collecting Synchronization Marbles. That was the merchant he had to find—for the marbles, of course. If he could pick up a few rare items on the side, all the better.
"Master. Are you not living a touch too busily?"
At Paranet's words, Yujun let out a short laugh.
"I started later than everyone else, so I have to work that much harder."
"...Master may indulge in a little more arrogance, or a little more ease. I guarantee it."
"I just don't want to make anything I'll regret."
He had a body that needed no rest; resting would have been a luxury. What if he failed because he hadn't given his all now? What if, because of that, he couldn't even stop the Demon God? Regret then would come too late.
Seeing the resolve on Yujun's face, Paranet nodded.
"I see..."
When Yujun returned to Heaven's market, he received a grand welcome. Capcom and Shoman had appeared without fail once again, and at a mad speed, as if they had been waiting for nothing but his arrival.
"That Great Merchant. You still haven't found him, have you?"
"Which Great Merchant?"
"The one collecting Synchronization Marbles..."
"We are Great Merchants ourselves, you know."
"I know. But it isn't good items I need—it's the marbles. I'm also curious why he's gathering them. Where would I go to see him?"
"He isn't the sort one finds by searching blindly, but I can at least narrow down where he is likely to be."
"You can narrow it down?"
"Sightings reach us from time to time."
"Tell me everything. I'll compensate you."
"Compensation, is it. And in what form do you intend to pay?"
"I'll sell you a good item."
"Sell an item? Not buy one?"
"Yes. I'm certain it'll tempt you."
"If you are confident enough to say so, then I suppose I may look forward to it."
"I'll show you the item first. Please tell me right after."
"Very well."
"Um..."
Shoman, who hadn't gotten a single word in, raised his hand.
"Does that mean you will not be trading with me?"
"If you have information, I will."
In truth, even if Shoman knew nothing about the mysterious Great Merchant, Yujun meant to sell him one item anyway. He had already received a Synchronization Marble from the man, and the dozens of Mythic items he'd obtained could, in a sense, be credited largely to Shoman's influence.
"Information? I may not know as much as that old man Capcom, but I will tell you everything I do."
"That'll do."
"I should like to see the item."
Capcom's cheeks were flushed; the excitement had clearly gotten to him.
Did I set their expectations too high?
But the items transferred this time stood so far above the equipment those two sold that comparison felt almost rude. He could be certain they wouldn't be disappointed.
Even so, I shouldn't show them something too good right from the start...
He showed Capcom and Shoman two reasonably modest Mythic accessories, each with a level requirement of 600.
"Hoo..."
"This is insane. You have two identical rings? The options are barely even different. Where did you get these?"
Yujun only smiled at Shoman's question.
"You could hardly have come by a thing of this caliber for nothing. It seems you've discovered some tremendous hidden dungeon."
"Something like that."
When was the last time he had even gone to a hidden dungeon? He had been moving without pause, and yet it felt as though quite some time had passed since his last one. Going to the hidden dungeons I already knew about wouldn't mean much now. The ones that rewarded equipment—those items were already in his inventory. And there probably weren't many hidden dungeons left to begin with.
"A remarkable piece you've brought out. Then of course we must trade. What price will you sell at?"
"I'm sure you'll appraise its worth properly. I trust you."
Yujun was a player who might well become a regular. This would not be a one-time deal, and Great Merchants had no business lowballing a price—least of all with Yujun, who held so many pieces of equipment with absurd options.
"A hundred billion."
The sum Shoman named was a full hundred billion. Yujun was thoroughly startled by a fortune he had never once held in his hands, but Capcom, his rival, wore a perfectly calm face, as if he had expected as much. Or perhaps, to the two of them, a hundred billion simply wasn't that much money.
If that's the case, I'm about to have one serious moment of clarity.
If they truly were Great Merchants—and ones who had been in the trade for decades—the odds were high they held an astronomical number of points.
Having piles of points doesn't mean much anyway. In the end you gather points to get good items, and I already have the items.
And so Yujun claimed a mental victory. It wasn't even wrong.
"Well?"
"Aigo. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Before anyone else could get a word out, Capcom clicked his tongue.
"I knew full well your boldness was lacking, Shoman, but I hadn't realized it was to this extent."
"What? And how much is the old man going to offer?"
"A hundred and fifty billion."
"...For a single ring?"
"Indeed. Do you think it too high? Then both rings that young man produced will be mine."
"No. I will offer a hundred and fifty billion as well."
Capcom and Shoman looked at Yujun. The meaning was plain enough: would he take the deal? Yujun nodded as if there had never been any other answer.
"That works for me."
This wasn't something to haggle over. Capcom hadn't put forward a hundred and fifty billion on the ring's price alone. It was his relationship with Yujun going forward—an investment in the future. Of course, had the item's quality not been this high, he would never have gone that far.
"Here. Take it."
"Thank you."
A hundred and fifty billion from each Great Merchant—three hundred billion points in all. Yujun smiled, satisfied. What he received for the two items did not end there. There was also the information on the Great Merchant who held the top seat in Heaven's market, and Capcom and Shoman laid out everything they knew.
"That one may have been born in the Demon Realm."
"The Demon Realm?"
"He had that distinctive air about him."
As he said it, Capcom glanced sidelong at Manuela.
"Like your lover, I mean."
"Pardon?"
The one thrown off was not Yujun. Manuela, meeting Capcom's eyes, flushed and turned her head away. Yujun denied it at once.
"She's not, though?"
"Ahem. So I was mistaken. I've spoken out of turn. My apologies. That was careless of me, unlike myself."
"It's fine."
"That aside, is there any more information? If all I have is that he came from the Demon Realm, I can't make heads or tails of it."
"Ah. There is one more peculiarity."
"What's that?"
"He goes about with an undead in tow. Just as you do."