Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Deals and Purposes
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“However, the payment is upfront.”
Just as Lee Si-woo was about to relax, thinking he’d secured the deal with ease, he gave a bitter smile. *Just as I thought.*
“One Circle Potion upfront as a deposit. The other, after the job is done.”
“Both of them. Upfront.”
At the Pillager's unreasonable stance, Lee Si-woo shifted his posture.
He was a pillager through and through—not just shameless, but armed with an insatiable greed.
“Should we call off the deal?”
The moment he heard the sharp edge in Lee Si-woo’s voice, the Pillager immediately backed down.
“My apologies. Let's pretend I never said that. Fine, one upfront, one after.”
Lee Si-woo quietly clicked his tongue at the Pillager's lightning-fast shift in attitude.
He knew the man had been testing the waters, trying to see if he was a pushover.
Making such a bold gamble in a deal involving Circle Potions?
He might have been the only other human at the tea party, but he was by far the most difficult and unyielding of the attendees.
However, he needed to learn.
That when it came to having a foul temper, he was dealing with an equal.
Lee Si-woo leaned back in his chair and arrogantly crossed his legs.
“Both of them. After.”
“Hmm, it seems I've struck a nerve... Is there any need for us to get emotional and cause losses for both sides?”
“It seems to me you were the one who started it.”
“Yes, I admit it. It was my mistake. But we don't know each other well, do we? So I think a mistake of this level is something you could overlook just once.”
“If you don’t know me, you should have been more careful. Or else, pay the price for your reckless words. Don't forget. A hundred villains or a connection to the Wilderness Magic Tower are things I can find without you, but there's no one else but me who would give two Circle Potions for a job like this.”
The Pillager nodded, as if to say the point was well-made.
“You're right. Fine, I accept. Both Circle Potions after the job is done. However, since I'm also taking on some risk, I'd like to ask the Lord to act as a guarantor...”
The Pillager, having quickly grasped Lee Si-woo's disposition, immediately admitted his mistake and, fearing the deal would fall through, dragged the Faceless Lord into it.
It was a cleanup as decisive as his initial gamble.
At his words, everyone's gaze turned to the Faceless Lord, seated on the throne of the audience chamber.
The Faceless Lord always sat silently in that spot, in that same posture, like a part of the chamber’s background, but his presence, like the humidity of a jungle, slowly suffocated the participants.
Being in the same room with the Faceless Lord for too long made one's chest feel tight and their breath shorten, as if they were sitting in a sauna.
‘That bastard Pillager. Why the hell is he dragging the Lord into this? Damn it! I already feel like I'm going crazy.’
Whether it was her imagination or not, Isabelle found it increasingly difficult to be in the same room as the Faceless Lord with each passing day.
With every tea party, she felt the air around the Faceless Lord grow heavier.
Unaware that as Lee Si-woo grew, his intimidating presence as the Faceless Lord was also evolving, Isabelle could only feel the overwhelming pressure.
While everyone held their breath at the Pillager's sudden proposal, the Faceless Lord gave a slight nod.
A positive gesture.
But even at that tiny movement, the participants' hearts sank as if the floor beneath their chairs had suddenly given way.
The Pillager, who had audaciously asked the Faceless Lord for a guarantee, seemed particularly affected, clutching his throbbing chest.
As the Faceless Lord pointed his index finger at the Pillager and Pierrot Lee Si-woo, the tips of their own index fingers split open, and a drop of blood fell from each.
The two drops of blood rolled like beads to the center of the table, mixed together, then transformed into a blood-red contract that flew to the Butler.
The Butler, after confirming the contract's contents, spoke.
“The Lord has guaranteed the transaction between you two. You may both proceed with the deal in confidence. Should either of you break the contract, you will pay a fitting price.”
Satisfied at the mention of a fitting price, the Pillager sank silently into his chair. Lee Si-woo, who had orchestrated the situation using his main body on the throne, turned to the orc, Paris, as if his business was not yet finished.
“Paris, I heard you frequent the Infinite World.”
“Hm? Ah, you could say that.”
“Then do you happen to know of the monster species ‘Brain Hunter’ and ‘Bewitching Tongue’?”
“Know them? I run into them so often I'm sick of them.”
“In that case, would it be possible for you to capture them alive and send them to my address?”
When Lee Si-woo indicated his willingness to readily share his address, Paris spoke with an expression of surprise.
“Hmm, it's not a particularly difficult task... but honestly, isn't this a bit uncomfortable for both of us? You'd be hesitant to give me your address, and for me to do a real-world transaction like this without getting anything from you is a bit...”
Lee Si-woo threw out a line that hooked the hesitant Paris.
“I heard you need a Body Strengthening Elixir recipe.”
“...Don't tell me you have the recipe?”
“I don't have it myself, but I know someone who does. Of course, if I pull some strings, I can get it without much difficulty.”
Paris, his face brightening considerably, spoke up, afraid Lee Si-woo might change his mind.
“In that case, there's no problem! Let's make a deal right...”
Lee Si-woo raised a hand, cutting Paris off.
“If you know the value of a Body Strengthening recipe, you'll know that just capturing and sending those two monster species is nowhere near enough. So, let's make it a three-way deal. If you include the elixir ingredients the Noble Lady wants, I will hand over the recipe. As for the Noble Lady, I'll arrange my own payment from her.”
Lee Si-woo's Pierrot mask rattled.
Was it just his imagination?
The movement of the mask was unsettling, as if it were flashing a sinister smile.
Paris lightly licked his lips.
He was certain.
An unfounded certainty that if he took this deal, he would either suffer a loss or Pierrot would gain a one-sided advantage.
Lee Si-woo continued in a relaxed voice.
“What will you do? Will you take this deal?”
Paris stared blankly at Pierrot with a sullen expression.
He thought to himself that he might need to revise his assessment of this character, Pierrot.
He had thought him to be a nobody who just stood there like a prop, aside from being subtly favored by the Faceless Lord, but seeing him take the lead in the tea party, he judged him to be quite a formidable figure.
He didn't like feeling like a sucker caught in a snare, but what could he do?
In the end, the one who seizes the high ground in a negotiation is always the one who has accurately identified their counterpart's needs and come prepared.
“Tsk, I have no choice. Fine, tell me the address and the elixir ingredients the Noble Lady wants. I'll get them ready.”
***
After finishing the tea party in Barathrum, Lee Si-woo immediately met with his master, Autoreu.
“Master, I asked you before, didn't I? If you knew of any decent Body Strengthening Elixir recipes.”
Autoreu, already tipsy in the middle of the day, tilted his cup and spoke.
“So you need a recipe.”
“Yes. I need a decent one.”
“Alright, I know a good one. I'll write it down and get it to you soon.”
Autoreu didn't ask why Lee Si-woo was looking for a recipe, nor did he demand any payment for it.
He simply offered it like a father opening his wallet for a son asking for allowance, and Lee Si-woo simply accepted.
Unaccustomed to such unconditional kindness, Lee Si-woo scratched the table with his finger, a strange expression on his face.
“...Thank you.”
“My student.”
“Yes.”
“Everyone lives with a purpose. Some for ambition, some for wealth and honor. Some live for their beliefs, or for revenge.”
To his master's sudden, abstract words, Lee Si-woo answered calmly.
“That's not always the case. There are those who live simply because they are alive, and those who live because they can't die.”
“Perhaps. But you, at least, do not seem to be one of them.”
“...Is that how I seem to you?”
“The Main Dimension is a harsh place, so much so that anyone without a purpose or goal is bound to fail. But you have somehow navigated this perilous place and finally made it this far. So I've become curious. What purpose have you lived with, and what will you live for?”
“Purpose and goals...”
Caught off guard by his master's question, Lee Si-woo couldn't offer an answer for a long time.
The long wait might have been tedious, but Autoreu simply took a sip of his drink, treating the silence as a side dish.
By the time the bottle was about half empty, Lee Si-woo opened his mouth.
“Before I came here, I achieved everything I set out to do. Wealth, ambition, revenge—it was all in my grasp.”
“I see.”
“But there is something I couldn't achieve. No, something I haven't yet protected.”
Suddenly, her voice echoed in his mind.
-Sometimes, I'm scared. That you'll leave me. Promise me. You'll stay by my side forever, won't you?
Lee Si-woo closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, his voice dry.
“I know that the summoning is random. So, most summoners must have come to the Main Dimension by coincidence. But... I am different. It may be an unfounded conviction, but yes, that ‘Black Hand’ definitely singled me out and brought me here.”
Inwardly, Lee Si-woo suspected the Black Hand was related to the Yellow Eyes, but a hasty conclusion was to be avoided.
As of yet, nothing was certain.
However, amidst it all, there was one thing that was certain.
“If it brought me here, it can take me back. Yes, I will go back. To the place where someone is waiting for me.”
Autoreu, having heard Lee Si-woo's intention, muttered in a low voice.
“You will be able to return.”
However, a deep shadow was cast over Autoreu's face as he said it.
Because he knew.
That among all those who wished to return, not a single one had ever succeeded.
Yes, not even one.
***
*Step, step.*
A man with long legs, walking down the corridor of a lavish mansion, stopped abruptly by a window.
Silver hair that seemed woven from moonlight, red eyes like embedded rubies.
Elegant eyelashes and broad shoulders that filled out a black suit.
The man, for whom the word 'aristocratic' was truly fitting, looked at the black-haired woman standing alone in the garden beyond the window and spoke.
“What is the status of the Graves family these days?”
The secretary who had been silently following the man replied.
“They are still in an uproar over the succession.”
“What of the eldest son, Jin Graves? Has he still not returned?”
“No. It seems something has happened to him. For instance, he may have been sabotaged by his younger siblings...”
The man twisted his blood-red lips.
“Jin Graves, taken down by his siblings? Don't be ridiculous. That man is not as easy a mark as you think.”
“But if not, there's no reason for him to be gone for so long...”
“He will return. Do not stop watching.”
At the man's firm words, the secretary could only bow his head.
“Understood.”
The man opened the window and extended his fingertips outside.
As the cold night air tickled his fingertips, the man's expression hardened slightly.
“The wind is cold.”
The secretary, realizing the man's meaning, bowed.
“I will bring her inside.”
With a slight nod, the man clasped his hands behind his back and disappeared down the corridor.
After confirming the man had left, the secretary opened a door in the corridor and went out into the garden.
He approached the black-haired woman standing alone.
“Yun. The wind is too cold for a night stroll. You should go inside now.”
At the secretary's gentle words, the black-haired woman called Yun turned her head.
She was more plain than pretty.
Freckles were shyly dotted on her cheeks, and her black eyes, as if veiled in a faint mist, were hidden behind cloudy horn-rimmed glasses.
The secretary frowned upon seeing her fogged-up lenses.
“Didn't the Young Master fix your eyesight with magic? Then why do you always wear those ill-fitting glasses?”
She spoke in a small voice, as if whispering.
“In case he doesn't recognize me.”
The secretary showed a hint of irritation at her timid voice, which was hard to hear unless one focused.
“Who won't recognize you? There's no one in the Main Dimension who would recognize a summoner like you anyway.”
“Still... just in case.”
To be honest, the secretary disliked this introverted and taciturn woman.
Thus, it was always a mystery.
Why his master, Adrian, the first in line to succeed the Vampire Family, would pay any attention to a mere human girl like her.
“Stop with the nonsense and get inside. Tsk, I don't know why you come out here at this time every day... but don't forget. Considering the Young Master's grace in saving you from being consumed as a summoner's test subject, it's not right to cause him such worry.”
“I'm sorry. I'll go inside.”
She bowed her head politely and apologized, but she did not say she would stop coming out for her nightly walks.
The secretary sighed.
He knew that tomorrow, and the day after, she would wait without fail for someone who would not come.