099 – Forgiveness and Reconciliation #1
The morning dawned bright at last. People's faces were filled with cheerful smiles, as if the hostage crisis from last night had been nothing but a lie.
"Who would've thought Bonnet was one of Tartarus's crew!"
"If it weren't for Jo Iseo, we all might've ended up who knows what at the hands of those rebels!"
"When Thanatos showed up, I was scared out of my wits…."
My unauthorized intrusion into the Security Bureau—something I'd done with zero plan or backup—had morphed into an operation to root out Tartarus infiltrators hiding inside.
From terrorist holding a hostage crisis to hero who drove off the terrifying god of death.
The complete reversal in evaluation made me laugh instead. After all, the top-tier folks are the ones who laugh in tough times.
"Puhaha!"
"What a hearty laugh!"
"Truly a man of valor."
"As this Crowzer said back then! Jo Iseo! Danger! I shall protect you! I believe even the god of death Thanatos flinched at my resolute cry."
Crowzer chattered away excitedly. I don't recall him ever saying he'd protect me, but at this point, distinguishing truth from fiction felt pointless.
"Who knew the Security Bureau's core guards had gone over to Tartarus. Hey, what were you planning to do with that nymph statue? Why pull off something like this?"
Nemesis from the Safety Management Team had arrived at the scene and was grabbing the skeletons by the collar, shaking them back and forth.
Clack-clack.
The skeletons dangled like wind chimes on a front door.
"W-We don't know."
"We're just grunts."
"All we did was grab the statue from the market and hand it over to the Tartarus commanders!"
Come to think of it, Thanatos had taken back that nymph statue. What did he plan to use it for?
Nemesis pressed again.
"And you mentioned a 'master' earlier. Were you talking about the commanders? Idiots like Thanatos!"
"Kehhehe, that we can answer. The commanders are just the beginning. Once the vessel is ready, the owner of the broken crown will return to the throne. Look forward to it."
Owner of the broken crown? Throne?
The tantalizing keywords piqued my curiosity, but I quickly shut it down. Digging too deep would just rack up merits I couldn't shake off.
That's exactly how I felt right now. The opposite of omnipotent. No matter what I did, it all seemed destined to lead to merits, promotions, and success.
For instance, if I kicked this dirt ground, gold veins would probably burst out.
Whack!
Sparkle-sparkle.
I absentmindedly kicked the dirt, and what looked like an unusually shiny rock popped out. Startled, I hurriedly buried it back with a quick sweep.
No one saw that, right? I glanced around just in case—and there was Achilles, the skeleton knight in golden armor, staring at me with glowing red eyes.
As I tensed up from all angles, he approached and spoke.
"To think the Venom of Resentment you carry was prepared to stop Thanatos. Jo Iseo, just how far ahead did you plan all this?"
"Plan? I didn't plan a thing."
"What a masterful liar. Even the lightest breeze of your words rings true in these ears of mine, which dismiss nothing. Without you, the Security Bureau…."
Achilles's words cut off. Prince Zagreus landed from the air, red cape billowing, and approached him.
"Achilles."
"Your Highness. It's been a while."
"Straight to the point. The Moirai sisters were kidnapped. The Security Bureau's elite agents were in league with Tartarus. That means the Bureau can't function normally for a while."
Snap!
Zagreus snapped his fingers, and familiar faces appeared from somewhere—Marquius, Paranoy, and the rest of the Safety Management Team.
"The Safety Management Team will handle stabilizing the Security Bureau's operations for now. It's agreed with the CEO, so no objections. Achilles, anything to say?"
"…No."
Now Zagreus's red gaze turned to me. He stepped close, slapping a hand on my shoulder—his palm scorching hot.
"Jo Iseo, thanks to this, the Safety Management Team's taken over Security Bureau authority. As the top contributor, I've got good news for you. Stay tuned."
"Top contributor? I was just here by chance. Take all the credit if you want. Hell, keep my presence here a secret too."
If my guess was right, the hostage crisis and Tartarus rebellion hadn't gone public yet. Plenty of room to manipulate opinion and info.
But Zagreus thought differently.
"Manipulation. Cover-ups. That's what the Security Bureau's been doing. That's how Tartarus lurked in the shadows. But from now on, the Bureau changes!"
Thud-thud.
Thud-thud-thud.
A strange footsteps echoed from somewhere. Turning, I saw nymphs swarming toward the Security Bureau.
"Muhuhu, from now on, us nymph employees will handle normalizing Security Bureau operations-dat…! No more reckless inspections…! Nymph-friendly management…! That's how it'll be-dat…!"
"This Carnoy doesn't get what's going on, but it feels like something good happened, so dancing the nymph joy dance would be great…!"
Stomp-stomp.
The nymphs started dancing.
Back at Happy Snack House after ages. Stories too juicy to ignore burst from the boxy brown-tube TV.
Less than half a day, and things were falling into place smoothly. Narcissus, the deputy, clicked his tongue at the news.
"Big fish caught in the net, and now the Safety Management Team and nymphs are gobbling up the scraps. Jo Iseo from our Audit Team was the real MVP."
"Don't forget this Crowzer's contributions! If my guitar hadn't wailed at the perfect moment, Jo Iseo's plan might've been trickier. Krahat!"
I'm gonna hurl.
Then Echo approached.
"……."
"Refill on broth?"
"No, she's wondering what gift you got from the Security Bureau warehouse. Crowzer snagged some censored sheet music, right?"
Crowzer had helped me because he was after the bushido scores. When the warehouse opened to the public, as credited contributors, Crowzer and I got first dibs on some seized docs and items.
He grabbed his target scores as planned.
"This? Old unfinished sheets I started ages ago. Too embarrassing to show anyone, so I snatched 'em quick."
"……!"
Echo flailed her hands wildly. She seemed shocked Crowzer composed music and wanted to hear it.
But he hastily tucked the sheets into his chest.
"As I said, unfinished and shameful. Not ready for the public yet. Ahem! So why didn't you grab anything, Jo Iseo?"
The Security Bureau warehouse was packed with classified intel. Snagging even one item meant scoring big info.
"Right! You should've taken something! If you'd given it to me, I'd have bought it for a fortune."
Arachne sidled up beside us, scolding my inaction. Her slit eyes narrowed slyly.
"Anyway, Jo Iseo, you pulled off something amazing this time. HQ's even talking about your return."
Return? Demoted not long ago, and already back to HQ?
Honestly, I liked market work. Running around the field felt alive. Market folk hustled without fretting over promotions or evals—echoing the 'life' on Earth I'd missed.
"So, Jo Iseo, is it true you carry the Venom of Resentment? I used to be a venomous spider myself. Good poison piques my interest!"
"This?"
Jingle.
I pulled a vial from my belt and showed everyone. Arachne gasped sharply.
"The underworld's deadliest poison, infamous by name alone. Colorless, odorless. But its effects are legendary. Only a rare few nymphs can produce it…."
"Nymphs?"
Nymphs made this? As I blinked in confusion, Arachne explained kindly.
"That's why it's called the Venom of Resentment. It's the tears of a nymph's intense grudge, bottled up. Less poison, more curse."
Nymph's resentment. Curse.
Everyone's eyes turned to Deputy Narcissus, who'd been cursed and resented by many nymphs in life.
He shuddered.
"Ugh. Horrifying just imagining it. Worst part is not knowing the effects."
Bzzzt.
My terminal buzzed—a call.
"Gotta step out for a sec."
Waddle-waddle.
I hurried to a huge, round, fluffy-looking ghost housewife. Pandora. The market's true ruler.
"Jo Iseo, you noisy young whippersnapper. You pulled off quite the stunt, huh? Turning the Security Bureau upside down to fight censorship—who saw that coming? Utterly satisfying."
"You're too kind. Pure coincidence. So, what urgent business brought you calling? Hope nothing's wrong."
Please let there be a problem!
But Lady Pandora dropped a bombshell.
"HQ sent word to reinstate you."
"What? No way. What'd I even do here to warrant that already?"
"Turning North Gate into an adventurer street. Filling West Gate with shops. Artisans in South Gate getting commissions again. More than passing grade."
What the Happy World! I don't wanna go back to HQ!
"I've still got tons to do here. Returning to HQ now would feel like leaving things unfinished."
"I agree. You've got work left in this market. So this incident will be your final test for reinstatement."
Gulp.
My mouth watered unwittingly. Final test. Sounded brutally tough just hearing it.
"What do I need to do?"
"Procure an item for me. The antidote to Venom of Resentment—said to have none."
"You're asking me to fetch something that doesn't exist."
"I want to hear again that in Pandora Market, anything can be found."
Fetch the antidote to an antidote-less deadly poison! A true impossible task.
The kind of hardship I'd longed for.
"I'll give you a week. Faster you finish, bigger the reward from me. But fail… and forget HQ—you might not even stay in this market."
"No need for a week. Give me four days!"