You'll Pay With Your Body

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Once the embassy staffer had explained matters to the officer and seen him out, only four people remained in the visiting room: Han Mooshik, the embassy employee, myself, and my lawyer.

Already briefed on the whole affair, the embassy man stepped in to mediate.

"I've confirmed the entire situation through the attorney. Mr. Han Mooshik."

"You lot are all in on this together, aren't you? Huh! You think I'm just gonna sit here and take it, you fu—"

"Listen to me!"

At the staffer's bark, Han Mooshik shut his mouth.

"Haah. Really. I've already checked. I confirmed that your girlfriend, Miss Jo Sieun, went into the royal suite alone. More importantly, I've reviewed the conversation Mr. Kang Chung-sik and Miss Jo Sieun had after they were together. Here. Listen for yourself."

His eyes flicked to the lawyer, and the lawyer drew a phone from his jacket and played the file.

Han Mooshik's face twisted as he listened.

"Fuck. That stupid bitch..."

The curse slipped out before he could stop it.

After we finished last night, I had put the woman to sleep and buried my phone beneath the pillow. Then I released the magic and woke her again almost at once. She answered my whispered questions in a voice just as low. It was the sort of talk that could blow a false report wide open, but she never dreamed there was a phone under the pillow, and she was certain a hushed exchange like that could never be caught on a recording.

Once the file was done, I heard down in the lobby that the police had arrived, and I made my preparations. I sent the recording to a law firm in Istanbul and had them bring it on to Rome. The lawyer who came to the station found the embassy employee lingering outside, played him the file, and laid out the situation.

The staffer had felt uneasy about the case to begin with and wanted it buried before it grew. A sexual-assault incident between his own nationals, inside his jurisdiction, would do him no good at all.

"Look here, Mr. Han Mooshik. I can roughly guess what the two of you were thinking when you pulled this stunt, but let's end it. Mr. Kang, since it stopped here, wouldn't it be better to let it go?"

"I don't know about that. I'm the one who was falsely accused."

"Oh, come on. Why are you being like this? We're all Koreans. Let's not make a mess of it, all right? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hey, you—apologize. Now!"

"Fuck, apologize for what!"

"Do you actually want to be charged with filing a false accusation? Huh!"

"What? False accusation! Fuck! You saw that bastard's cum come out of her! If you fuck somebody else's girlfriend, you've got to take responsibility!"

Han Mooshik wasn't cowed. He snapped right back.

I turned to the lawyer seated beside me.

"In Italy, how much time does a false-accusation charge carry?"

"I'd have to confirm it, but it won't be light."

I nodded, then looked at Han Mooshik.

"Hey. You don't have to apologize. Our lawyer will be in touch. So answer your phone."

The embassy employee hurried to cut in.

"Why is everyone doing this? If they keep insisting it was rape, you'll have a hard time of it too, Mr. Kang. The recording will make it easy enough to explain yourself, of course, but you won't be able to avoid a police investigation. Let's settle this nicely, both sides. Please? For my sake, if nothing else, let it go. You look like a man of business—there will be times we can help you later, won't there?"

At his repeated pleading I backed down, as if yielding against my will. Han Mooshik, glad to dodge a false-accusation charge, quietly tucked his tail as well. Of course he couldn't help throwing a tantrum to the very end.

With that threat that wasn't quite a threat, he vanished down the street.

Outside the station, Maximus and IS-1 were waiting with the car. I climbed in with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the lawyer and handed him the envelope of cash Maximus had passed me.

"You've worked hard. Think of this as a bonus."

The lawyer's face lit up the moment he saw the envelope.

"Oh—well. Something like this..."

I drove the delighted lawyer, clutching his money, all the way to the airport. Once I watched him go inside, I had the car pull out again.

IS-1 asked, "Chairman, where to?"

"Into the city first. We need to find them."

I drew a crystal orb from my magic pouch. Before parting from Han Mooshik, I had marked his body. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I looked into the orb and triggered the spell. A moment later a red aura shimmered across its surface.

"Northeast."

"Yes, Chairman."

The car turned toward wherever he was.

A room in a three-star hotel. Han Mooshik's voice shook the walls.

"You fucking stupid bitch!"

"Fuck! How was I supposed to know he was recording in secret!"

"Why didn't you know, you crazy bitch! Huh! He was talking right in your ear!"

"There was no phone and no recorder, I'm telling you! How many times do I have to say it! His phone was on the table!"

The fight dragged on, and only stopped after hotel staff came back again and again to warn them about the shouting.

"Ah, fuck! What am I even doing with a stupid bitch like that!"

Han Mooshik snatched up his clothes, stormed out, and slammed the door.

Bang!

Out of the hotel, he spilled onto the street still venting. No matter how he turned it over, the irritation would not settle. His hand went to his jacket for a cigarette and found an empty pocket.

"Ah, fuck. Left them behind. Fuck."

He glanced around, then started toward a shop across the street. Just as he was about to cross, a van parked at the curb rolled up beside him with its headlights off. Seeing the vehicle suddenly bearing down, Han Mooshik flinched back.

"You fuck—crazy bitch!"

The van that had been about to pass him braked hard. In the same instant—

Rattle!

The side door flew open, and a huge hand from inside seized his collar and yanked.

"Wh-what the—"

Before he could even shout, his body, for all his bracing, was sucked into the van. The door shut again. Only then did the headlights come on, and the van eased quietly out onto the road.

A vineyard on the outskirts of Rome. Inside the underground cellar built to store the wine, Jo Sieun sat slumped with her hands bound behind her, sobbing. Her face was already a mess of tears and snot.

Beside her, Han Mooshik lay on the floor, hands and feet tied as well. He was breathing, but his face was swollen a livid blue-black, and parts of it were badly caved in. That once flashy face—even after the bruises faded, without reconstructive surgery it would be hard to find again.

The one who had dragged him into the van was Maximus. After hauling Han Mooshik inside, he had pinned the struggling man with raw strength and driven punch after punch into his face. Han Mooshik had grown up in the thug life and was no stranger to street fights, but after nearly dying several times under Maximus's pot-lid fists, he didn't dare fight back. He just lay face-down on the floor.

A little later.

Creeeak—thud!

I came into the cellar to the groan of old hinges. IS-1, standing watch at the front, greeted me.

"You're here, sir?"

The moment Jo Sieun saw me, she begged for her life.

"Please! Please spare me! I really didn't know. Any of it. This bastard—this bastard forced me. It's true. Waaah..."

I looked down and found Han Mooshik trembling on his stomach. He kept stealing glances at Maximus beside me. Whenever he thought their eyes might meet, he dropped his head and lowered his gaze at once.

Having Maximus standing guard at my side was reassuring. A different feeling entirely from the magic ring.

"Right. I am going to let you live. Both of you."

"Yes! Please. If you spare me, I'll never talk. Never! Not to anyone!"

"You don't have to worry about that. Where you're going, there won't be a single person who can understand a word you say."

"What? Wh-what are you saying? Wh-where are you trying to take me?"

"You tried to frame me. So you'll have to pay compensation."

"C-compensation? If you send me back to Korea, I'll send it. As much as you want. If you just let me go, in Korea I'll—"

"There's a simpler way."

Jo Sieun couldn't bring herself to ask what that way was.

"You just pay with your body. Clean and simple."

The peak season had passed, but Gerona's slave market had not shut its doors entirely. If anything, the goods that had failed to sell then—the special merchandise held back to avoid the rush, and the buyers who had come for it—kept the market crowded.

With Marco already gone, I went to the merchants' association myself, applied for a temporary stall, and opened shop.

After the last affair, the Sahara Merchant Group was already the hottest name in Gerona's slave market. The moment that name went up, people gathered at once.

The auction was a success. I was no Marco, but I had picked up his tricks by watching from the side, and I used them to draw the bids out of the crowd.

In the end, Jo Sieun went to a wealthy man of Gerona for 377 gold coins.

Eighteen kilograms and 850 grams of gold. Figured at 110,000 won a gram, that came to more than 2.07 billion won.

"Not bad, for damages over a single night in a holding cell."

Han Mooshik, with his face smashed in, couldn't be sold right away. I locked him up at the Rome farm. With a Submission Collar around his neck, he wouldn't be running anywhere. I had ordered him not to leave the estate; if he set his mind on it anyway, he wouldn't make ten steps before the air was choked out of him and he died.

I had needed someone to look after the villa while I was away. And just in time, a suitable man had fallen into my hands.

I had made some rather entertaining memories in Rome. Now it was time to get to work.

I packed light and headed for the airport.