The Most Important Thing in a Lie
What is the most important thing in a lie?
After his emotions had withered away, Kang Yoonsoo had reduced his speech to the absolute minimum.
The memories of passionately arguing with anyone had grown faint.
Yet even his hardened tongue needed to roll smoothly this time.
From the moment he stepped into the office of Twilight’s Glass at dusk, he had recalled every last detail about Lefman.
Lefman Akern. A middle-aged man with several children. More than four women he could call wives, though he rarely returns home. His teenage children are currently becoming addicted to the drugs Lefman himself distributes. He is unaware of this fact. Quick with profit calculations and deeply greedy. Methodical but poor at improvisation. Turns pathetically servile in front of the strong.
What came next was easy.
All he had to do was play the most vicious villain from Lefman’s point of view.
Kang Yoonsoo twisted his posture and sharpened his gaze.
He lowered his voice into something threatening.
He casually displayed the back of his right hand so the black tiger tattoo was clearly visible.
He might as well have been wearing an invisible mask.
“What do you want?”
Lefman tried to hide it, but his voice trembled faintly.
Kang Yoonsoo felt satisfied inside, yet kept his slouched posture perfectly as he spoke.
“Hand over five times the amount you usually tribute to our clan every month.”
“Are you joking right now!”
Lefman slammed his fist on the desk.
Bang!
His face flushed crimson with rage, and his fist shook violently.
“I can’t even accept the word itself. Tribute? Are you saying Twilight’s Glass is some underling that gets pushed around by the Black Tiger Clan?”
Lefman ground his teeth.
“And five times the usual trade amount? Don’t make me laugh! If you were actually a merchant, you would have realized how stupid that demand is!”
“Too bad. If you truly understood our boss, you would have paid the tribute without me saying a word.”
Kang Yoonsoo kept his legs crossed and raised his right hand.
Thumb and middle finger pressed together.
It was a clear sign he was ready to trigger an explosion at any moment.
Lefman gnashed his teeth audibly.
“You think you’ll walk away from this safely?”
But Kang Yoonsoo answered calmly.
“If you want, go ahead and retaliate against the Black Tiger Clan. Boss Yushido is confident he can crush the likes of you without breaking a sweat.”
It was practically a declaration of war.
For the Black Tiger Clan, which was rapidly expanding its power, ending their dealings with Twilight’s Glass would be fatal.
Of course, the Black Tiger Clan had no intention of cutting ties with Twilight’s Glass, nor had they demanded five times the trade amount.
From the beginning, the Black Tiger Clan had maintained a good relationship with them, and both sides had reaped enormous profits.
Naturally, this entire scam was something Kang Yoonsoo was carrying out alone.
Yet everything was turning in his favor.
Lefman believed Kang Yoonsoo was a member of the Black Tiger Clan.
Even if he sought revenge, the one who would suffer was not Kang Yoonsoo, but the Black Tiger Clan.
Take every advantage for yourself and push all losses onto others.
That was the ultimate goal of this scam.
Lefman groaned and clutched at his hair.
No matter what he tried to say in protest, it was difficult to provoke the man who could detonate explosives at any second.
The initiative in the conversation belonged completely to the other party.
“Five times the trade amount… we don’t have enough cash on hand right now. I’ll pay it after we finish our current drug deal with Arc City.”
“A pathetic excuse. The Arc City transaction was scheduled for two months from now. And you’re telling me a merchant group this size is short on cash?”
Every word Kang Yoonsoo spat carried poison.
It went beyond provocation and began clouding even Lefman’s rational thinking.
Lefman broke into a cold sweat, as anxious as the countless drug addicts he himself had created.
“Believe me. We really are short on cash. The Black Tiger Clan already knows we’re converting every gold coin into drugs because of a major deal, right? We could maybe manage twice the usual amount, but five times is simply impossible right now.”
Like a true merchant, even when cornered he still managed to say his piece.
But Kang Yoonsoo showed no mercy.
“Then supply it in goods.”
“Goods?”
“If you don’t have cash, you must have goods you were going to trade.”
Lefman thought for a moment before answering.
“You mean the drugs?”
“No. Potions.”
“What kind of potions?”
“Healing potions, holy water, frostbite remedy. All three must be high-grade with guaranteed shelf life and quality. Quantity should be enough for at least a thousand people. Strengthening elixirs should be top quality, enough for six people.”
Lefman closed his mouth and fell into thought.
It was true they weren’t lacking in goods.
Currently, Twilight’s Glass placed far more importance on drug sales than potion trading.
Paying with potions rather than money would be better for them in the long run anyway.
The potion trade was only on the surface; the real income came mostly from drug sales.
As long as they had enough time, there was no reason they couldn’t prepare the goods.
Especially in a situation like this, where the entire merchant group and their hostage were at risk of being blown up.
Lefman asked.
“By when do you need the goods prepared?”
Kang Yoonsoo answered nonchalantly.
“Right now.”
Lefman’s face turned ashen.
All those potions, immediately?
Even if they were only for show, he would have to cancel most of their current transactions.
Kang Yoonsoo thought for a moment, then added.
“And liquor too.”
“Unless that bastard at least buys me a drink, I won’t forget today’s humiliation.”
Henrik grumbled, leaning his back against the rear wall of a back-alley building.
Shanette, who was straightening Sally’s clothes, smiled softly.
“He was surprisingly good at acting, wasn’t he? Anyone would have thought he was a man burning with a sense of justice.”
“Burning with justice? I nearly died carrying women who were actually on fire.”
“Liar! Sally used fire that doesn’t burn!”
Sally stood on her tiptoes and shot back at Henrik.
Henrik chuckled and gently pushed Sally’s forehead.
“Little lady, it wasn’t your fire that was hot. It was my face.”
“Huh? Why is Sally a little lady?”
“Who knows. Maybe because you’re loud and a crybaby?”
“Sally is not a crybaby!”
After casually laughing off the fiercely angry Sally, Henrik turned to look at Iris.
She was sitting behind the back-alley building, quietly listening.
“Is that Kang Yoonsoo guy handling the conversation well?”
“Well… from the volume of their voices, it sounds like he’s both angering and depressing the other person.”
“He’s probably driving another person insane. I know what that feels like.”
Henrik replied as if it were obvious without even looking.
A doppelganger’s hearing was exceptional.
Iris had even caught the opponent’s whispers back in the Hanat Mountain Range.
If she focused, her hearing could pick up even the smallest sounds beyond a window.
That was why they could begin their act every time Kang Yoonsoo snapped his fingers.
The two women and child who had burned in the street were actually Shanette, Iris, and Sally.
The flames that had risen from the ground were fire created by Sally.
They looked fierce and scorching hot, but in reality they weren’t hot enough to cause burns.
Because of that, Henrik had been forced to play the part of a man drunk on justice and heroically carry the fallen women all the way to the back alley.
Though he had avoided people’s attention by claiming he was moving them to a sickroom.
Henrik looked at Shanette and Sally as he spoke.
“The two women in the world least afraid of fire pretending to burn to death. I’m seriously starting to fear that guy. Is this what scams are usually like?”
“I thought I had lived a rather rough life, but whenever I see Sir Kang Yoonsoo, my thoughts change. I’m truly curious what kind of past he must have.”
“If you’re that curious, why not just ask him?”
“Even if I ask, he won’t tell me. But someday, when the time is right, he’ll let me know.”
“Sure he will.”
Henrik sneered.
At that moment, a large carriage arrived in front of the merchant group.
Porters loaded large boxes onto the carriage one after another.
Some boxes were excessively heavy or contained too many items, so they were placed inside mass-preservation magic boxes capable of storing large quantities.
It was a carriage loaded with an enormous volume of cargo, as if departing for a major trade expedition.
The coachman whipped two large horses and drove the carriage.
The carriage approached the back alley where they were waiting.
Of course, the alley was too narrow for it to enter completely.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley.
The coachman looked at the four of them and said.
“Get in.”
“…Are all the things loaded in there potions?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Yoonsoo, sitting in the coachman’s seat, nodded.
Shanette looked astonished, Henrik let out a hollow laugh, Sally purely marveled at the carriage, and Iris tilted her head.
“What exactly is inside that carriage?”
“You can’t eat it.”
“What a shame.”
Iris wore a sad smile.
The entire party boarded the carriage.
Kang Yoonsoo cracked the whip hard and drove the carriage.
Sally, who had stubbornly insisted on sitting on the carriage roof, could be heard from inside.
“Whoa! It’s so fast and exciting!”
While handling the horses, Kang Yoonsoo spoke in a low voice.
“Open the box in the left corner.”
Henrik was strangely quick to notice at times like these.
He went to the corner and quickly opened the box.
After checking the contents, Henrik giggled.
“This is why I can’t help but like you, you bastard.”
Inside the box were none other than liquor bottles.
And every single one was a high-class, expensive variety.
Perfectly sized glass cups had been placed there as well.
Henrik quickly poured liquor into a glass and handed one to Shanette.
It was a precautionary measure to stop her from scolding him.
Shanette looked at him with displeased eyes before speaking.
“Don’t drink too much.”
“Don’t worry.”
Henrik grinned as he continued pouring liquor into glasses.
This time he gave one to Iris.
“What is this?”
“To some it is a cure-all. To others, it is the reason for living.”
Iris accepted the glass with eyes full of curiosity.
Kang Yoonsoo and Henrik didn’t bother with glasses and simply held entire bottles.
Sally, who had come down from the roof at some point, poked her head out the window.
“Papa! What about Sally?”
“Just a taste.”
Instead of Kang Yoonsoo, whose hands were occupied with the horses, Henrik poured a very small amount into a glass for her.
Sally brought her nose to the glass with curious eyes and sniffed the aroma.
By now a red sunset had spread across the sky.
Inside the running carriage, they shared a drink while watching the twilight.
The night after leaving the capital was spent camping outdoors, and the morning sun rose quickly.
The Winterkill Ruins were still a cold and chilly environment.
Upon reaching the ruins, they unloaded the boxes containing potions from the carriage.
Kang Yoonsoo opened a particularly small box among them.
Inside were colorful, brilliantly hued potions sorted by type.
“Drink.”
“What is this?”
“Strengthening elixir.”
Shanette looked at Kang Yoonsoo with suspicious eyes.
“…There won’t be any strange side effects like with the adrenaline potion, right?”
“No.”
The strengthening elixirs obtained from the Twilight’s Glass merchant group were undoubtedly top-grade potions.
They had almost no side effects and raised one’s abilities to the maximum in a short time.
It was a shortcut to overcome the level gap with the Blood Martial Clan.
“Summon White, the White Wolf Monster.”
“Grrrrr!”
The summoned White howled, burning with fighting spirit.
Kang Yoonsoo held out a glass bottle containing the elixir.
“Drink.”
“…….”
Because they were valuable elixirs, the quantity was limited.
Before the clan members arrived, Kang Yoonsoo’s party drank every last drop of the elixirs.
Movement speed increased for half a day.
Stamina increased.
Duration: 12 hours
Attack power increased for half a day.
All muscles in the body enhanced.
Duration: 12 hours
Maximum mana capacity increased for half a day.
Duration: 12 hours
Consuming three types of elixirs simultaneously has greatly enhanced their efficacy.
Soon the Blood Martial Clan also arrived at the Winterkill Ruins.
Prepared for the ruins raid, everyone was heavily armed.
Jang Inwi spoke with a surprised face.
“You really prepared all those potions in just one day.”
Durman and the other clan members were so startled by White that they drew their weapons.
But once they realized it was Kang Yoonsoo’s summoned creature, Durman let out a sigh of relief.
“To tame such a ferocious beast as a pet… I really cannot guess what kind of person you are.”
The members of the Blood Martial Clan each received their potions from the boxes and hung them on their belts.
There was enough potion distribution that they didn’t even need to bring a separate healer class.
Next, Kang Yoonsoo extended his right arm.
“Summon 612 undead Ahinkuls.”
A group of undead was summoned.
Finally, Kang Yoonsoo checked the items in his backpack.
He took out the Holy Cross Sword he had obtained from the basement of the Castle of the Dead and hung it on his waist alongside Lavian’s longsword.
The exalted soul stone that changed one’s race and the Skeltrodon’s eyeballs used as material for the Dragon Eye Stone had no immediate use, so he left them in the backpack.
Jang Inwi approached and asked.
“Are you ready?”
Kang Yoonsoo nodded.
He took the lead.
“Let’s go.”
The cold doors of the ruins were violently thrown open.