Intersecting Triangles (1)

Inside the auction hall, the entire room was currently in agony over a two-person combo play.

"Big bro, don't you want that thing?"

"Mmm, isn't it a little too expensive, though?"

"Oh, come on. It's totally worth that much! We poke at it a bit, and if it doesn't work out, we just bail~"

"Jeanne. What do you think, Jeanne?"

"I think it's good, too."

"Then it's decided! Twenty-five hundred!"

The three of them carried on like a well-rehearsed stage performance. And at the end of every act, Siara would blindly jack the bid through the roof.

"Is that thing really worth that much?"

"Hmm... if an S-Class hunter wants it, it's probably a genuinely valuable artifact..."

"Still... they've been at it this whole time, haven't they?"

Murmurs rippled all around the hall. The two siblings' rampage, rubber-stamped by Jeanne's approval, had already inflated every single lot that had come up so far to more than two and a half times its expected price.

"No further bids? Then I will close with a third call."

The auctioneer swept his gaze across the room as he spoke.

"Twenty-five hundred. Twenty-five hundred. Twenty-five hu—"

"Twenty-six hundred!"

"We have twenty-six hundred."

The one who had jumped in was Baek Seo-in, vice guild master of Scalpe. At her bid, Siara and Timothy exchanged a brief look.

Push it higher? Or let it go here?

"I will close with a third call."

Yeah. This is far enough.

"Twenty-six hundred. Twenty-six hundred. Twenty-six hundred. Sold!"

Murmur, murmur—

What Baek Seo-in had won was a bracelet-type artifact. It lightened the wearer's footsteps, raising agility and erasing the sound of their steps. It was certainly not bad... but it was not worth that price.

"She's going to feel that one come out of her own paycheck."

"At that amount, probably. I almost feel sorry for her, honestly."

Siara and Timothy were executing the mission Lee Jun had left them to perfection. What he'd assigned them was... bid on every single lot, drive the price up, then drop out. If any of them accidentally went through, he'd cover it out of his own pocket. He had also instructed them to make it look, publicly, like the money was coming out of Jeanne's personal funds. That way, no one would pick a fight over it.

"Honestly, I didn't expect this to actually work."

"This place is practically your Hyung's home turf. Of course he has it mapped out completely."

The auction hall had been a den of chaos since the third lot went up. These were people who knew exactly what mid-to-high tier artifacts were worth. Everyone understood that none of the lots so far could possibly command these prices.

Even Siara and Timothy had been skeptical when Lee Jun first gave the order. Would people this shrewd really fall for a stunt like that? To that question, Lee Jun had given a one-word answer:

Absolutely.

And then he'd added: Because Jeanne's here.

The truth was, artifacts like these were a bit like scratch-off lottery tickets. There might be a hidden ability lurking inside. In rare cases, a cheap artifact had suddenly awakened and shot all the way up to legendary or even transcendent grade.

—People come into these auctions hoping for exactly that one big score, but they still set their own limits on price beforehand. How much I'm willing to spend, or how many items I'll buy today. Limits like that.

What Lee Jun had ordered was... to shatter those limits. Once an auction hall got swept up in the fever, it would run wild all on its own.

"Everyone knows Jeanne's eye is anything but ordinary."

"True. If she can see souls, who's to say she can't see other things too?"

Except Jeanne could see souls and souls only. The role everyone was imagining was actually Timothy's.

"Hmm-hmm~♪ Next lot's a ring, isn't it?"

"Ooh, Mystique-grade. Not bad at all."

"Nice. Shall we start this one at two thousand?"

The two of them were utterly drunk on irresponsible pleasure—overspending that cost them nothing.

And yet even in the middle of all that, Jeanne sat quietly, lost in thought. The thing that kept nagging at her: having no soul meant her combat power had plummeted. Jeanne's abilities depended heavily on her unique gift.

"Still bothering you?"

"Yes, oppa. Just in case."

"I don't think it's a coincidence either... but Hyung went out to check, so we'll hear something soon."

Timothy knew Lee Jun hadn't left the auction hall just to use the bathroom. He'd seen the way his Hyung's eyes had swept the room—checking for anything out of place, while being careful not to look like he was on guard.

One more person tagging along was a wildcard... but he couldn't exactly call them oblivious, either. Seo Yoon and Choi Jeong-hyeon didn't even know the auction itself was suspicious in the first place.

"Let's trust Hyung. Like we always have."

"...Yes."

Seo Yoon, who had been quietly listening to that exchange, rose from her seat.

"I'll step out to the restroom for a moment as well."

Her expression as she walked out was stiff. It seemed... slightly different from her usual blankness.

"So? Feeling a little better now?"

"...If I let my guard down on purpose, oppa will scold me, you know."

"Aw, come on. Can't you look after your biological oppa first, Jeanne?"

"Timothy's right here. And Jun-oppa... he never takes care of his body anyway."

With Jeanne's worried murmur hanging in the air, Seo Yoon slipped out of the auction hall.

"Hey! Thirty-two hundred!"

And Siara... was far too busy perfectly carrying out Lee Jun's orders.

Lee Jun made his way to the restroom at the end of the corridor. Since he'd come out with Choi Jeong-hyeon, he shouldn't act like anything was too strange. Nothing was confirmed yet, and he had no desire to plant unnecessary anxiety in anyone.

But there really was nothing particularly unusual. Partly because the auction was in full swing, so very few people were walking the halls.

"Well, no news is good news."

Just as he was thinking that, he spotted someone passing by in the distance—the first person he'd seen in a while. Judging by the clothes, not an auction participant. Staff, most likely.

"How about asking that person something?"

Lee Jun considered Silhouette's suggestion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a moment, then left a text for Choi Jeong-hyeon. Told her he'd be walking around the building a bit, so give him a call once she was out of the restroom.

"There we go."

Having sent the text, Lee Jun headed in the direction the staff member had disappeared. About a minute of walking later, he saw the employee turning a corner far ahead. He quickened his pace and caught up.

"Hey there, hard at work, I see. Busy stretch lately, isn't it?"

Lee Jun's sudden appearance startled the employee badly.

"Oh! V-Vice Chairman, sir—!"

"Ah, come on, I retired. 'Vice Chairman' doesn't really fit anymore, does it?"

"Then..."

"Just call me Lee Jun. Nice and easy."

Despite his easy manner, the employee didn't loosen up one bit.

Ah, right. Being somebody's boss really is a thankless job. Still getting the cold-shoulder treatment even after quitting.

"Lots of merchandise up today. Must be rough managing it all?"

"Oh no, honestly, just working in this industry is rewarding enough. It's work that helps society, after all."

"Ha! Love it. We need more people who think like you. How long have you been doing this?"

"About a year, sir."

Oh, that's actually a long time. Practically since the auction house first opened, wasn't it?

That settles it, then. Lee Jun, putting his real objective aside for the moment, cast a line about today's auction.

"Then let me ask you about the lots. Is a fragment of Sacratine really coming up today?"

"Ah... that's something I really can't..."

"Hm, very thorough. Keep working with that attitude and you'll go far."

Lee Jun nodded at the employee, whose guard had ticked up a notch.

That's that done. Next... the hook.

"Haha, that was just me fishing about the merchandise. Actually, the thing is... I noticed something strange."

"Strange, sir...?"

Thanks to his regression, Lee Jun knew all sorts of things about Liberation. Now he was going to use them.

"I saw someone in a black robe, you see."

"People can wear robes, surely?"

"Hahaha, it was such an odd robe it stuck in my memory. You're right, of course—robes are wearable. The problem is that their behavior was suspicious."

"Pardon? A suspicious individual?"

"Exactly. They kept glancing around like they were searching for something. And they seemed to be fiddling with something inside the robe, too."

At Lee Jun's words, the employee nodded with a grave expression.

"...Understood. I will make certain this reaches the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠security team. Do you happen to remember any further details about their appearance?"

"A black robe with a purple pattern on it. They were mixed in with the crowd, so that's all I caught."

"Thank you. We'll look into it immediately."

Yes. Just feed it out like that.

And one more thing. That exchange had confirmed everything.

"Oh, right. One more thing."

He called out to the retreating employee. Smiling, Lee Jun gave his shoulder a couple of friendly pats. Then he whispered in his ear.

"Is Kapman here too?"

Thud—

Crash—

Pressing down on the man's shoulder, Lee Jun simultaneously drove a savage kick into his ankle. The man's stance collapsed instantly and he went down to the floor.

"Kgh—?!"

The unknown assailant—almost certainly a Liberation operative—was subdued before he could even react to the ambush.

"If you're going to infiltrate a place, shouldn't you brush up on your background knowledge?"

"Damn it... I didn't make a single mistake!"

A mistake? Well, nothing about his little performance had been off. He'd simply overlooked one fact.

"I know the face of every single person who works at this auction house. If you wanted to slip in, you'd have been better off claiming you got hired after the Vice Chairman retired."

"That's ridiculous...! There are over five hundred employees here!"

"It takes at least that many to walk around with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Vice Chairman's name attached to it."

The claim of working here for about a year had told him everything he needed. And frankly, if someone had worked here a full year, he'd remember them among all those faces.

This bastard was an outsider, no question.

"You're Liberation, aren't you?"

"How do you know that name—!"

"Sorry, but I have my ways of knowing everything. So why don't you confess and turn your life around? I asked whether Kapman came, didn't I?"

"I can't say anyth— Gaaagh—!"

Lee Jun drove a shadow-forged dagger deep into the man's shoulder.

"All that screaming over one little stab? You're awfully amateurish."

"Ugh...! I'll never... talk...!"

"I know."

"...What?"

"I said I know. You're not going to talk, are you? Can't say whether they've given you a self-destruct spell too, but if I pierce that spot, getting what I want gets a lot harder, doesn't it?"

The suicide bombs these people planted took the form of a laid formation. Which meant that piercing it with Silhouette's shadow-laced blade... neutralized it.

"So you're going to be a good little prisoner and let yourself be hauled off. To the security team you were so eager to send me to."

"......"

The man said nothing. Was he trying to cast something with an incantation? That would be a little hurtful, honestly.

Crash—

"These cuffs have cut off your mana flow. I'd skip the pointless theatrics."

Grrrk—

"Ghhh—!"

As he locked the mana restraint on, Lee Jun gave the man's wrist an extra twist for good measure.

Okay, that was a bit much, even for me.

"Tch. Quit the melodrama."

A terrorist who can't even take this much? He was mid-thought when he felt it: the back of the man he was pinning down was growing hotter by the second.

Don't tell me—

"An enchantment?"

"Did you think dismantling the formation left you without options?"

Insurance—a second enchantment woven into the clothes themselves. The spell primed to fire... a self-destruct, obviously.

"...You maniac."

KA-BOOOOOM—

A colossal explosion. At its epicenter, smoke and fire billowed thick. Through the haze, one human corpse blasted beyond all recognition, and one person standing relatively unscathed beside it.

"Haah... genuinely thought I was dead."

Thank goodness he'd thrown his shadow out at the last second—otherwise he'd simply have been blown to pieces. Silhouette's shadows could shatter a simple magic circle, but not something as sophisticated as an enchantment. And since Lee Jun couldn't do what Yelena did—cut off mana or reverse-engineer a spell mid-cast ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to nullify it—in situations like this, his only option was to eat the hit.

Maybe I should've brought Timothy along after all.

"These bastards are unbelievable when it comes to destroying evidence."

Lee Jun dusted the dirt off roughly and looked around. The explosion had been so violent that the corridor had collapsed entirely.

"Tch. Guess I'm taking the long way back."

"That's not the problem here! Your body? Is your body okay?!"

"Perfectly fine."

He wobbled—

"Ugh..."

"See?!"

"...Such a fuss."

Perhaps because the blast had been so powerful, the recoil had come through even the shadow shield. The shock had left his head a little dizzy. He steadied his breathing. His mind settled; his heart quieted. Yes. That was better.

Riiing— riiing—

Right on cue, his phone rang. The screen said Choi Jeong-hyeon.

From Liberation's perspective, this would be a plan gone off the rails. But what could they do? The guy had already self-destructed. Once they finished assessing the situation, they'd likely move straight to executing the plan.

I need to warn Jeanne, and fast.

He was just about to hang up on Choi Jeong-hyeon when someone appeared ahead of him. And at almost the same moment, she spoke.

Wait.

Yes. Something was wrong. Blatantly wrong.

"...Jeong-hyeon. Is what you just said true?"

"No. Not that."

Silently, smoothly, Lee Jun drew his right hand behind his back. Hidden from view of whoever stood ahead. And without taking his eyes off the figure waiting not far away—not for an instant—he said:

"Seo Yoon is... there too, you say?"

She was here, on this side, as well.

The Seo Yoon who was supposed to be with Choi Jeong-hyeon.