16. The VIP Exchange and Wind Cutter (1)
A pale face with blond hair. A nervous-looking young man. I and my group stared at him.
I remembered that face.
'Dmitri Vorobyev.'
People with names as difficult to remember as this one were common among the Slavia Kingdom and the Russian Federation, but this guy knew me.
An A-rank hunter. Just like Soso, who had dominated the guards earlier. Of course, Soso had simply been unable to participate in missions for a while due to her limit line issue. She was a hunter who would become S-rank soon.
I remembered the faces and names of all the major hunters above B-rank. Hunters were beings who might turn villain at any moment.
And even if they didn't turn villain, Red Lake's collaborators would naturally exist. But this Dmitri was someone with a slight connection, just as he had recognized me.
“Who are you?”
I pretended not to know Dmitri. I had no desire to be close to the guy anyway. As expected, when he realized I didn't recognize him, he flared up.
“Tsk. Korean commoners. You don't even remember what happened three years ago. How foolish.”
At those words, I saw Soso's hand reaching toward the hilt of her sword. I grabbed her hand under the table and calmed her.
Dmitri noticed the murderous intent but didn't care. He glanced at Soso's face.
“Oh? Such a beauty...”
Ever since entering the VIP exchange, every man's gaze had been on her. Soso was a beauty enough to make even a Slavian person lose their mind.
But seeing her icy face, he hurriedly turned away. Dmitri was a mage. A swordsman of Soso's caliber was his natural nemesis.
“Hmph. Anyway, I forgot your name, Lee Minsu. Disappointing. After that intense duel three years ago in the academy tournament.”
As he said, Dmitri was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Slavia and affiliated with the White Mage Tower, the same foundation.
And judging by his current arrogant attitude, he was from a noble family of the Slavia Kingdom.
'The son of a count.'
Using the Korean concept as a comparison, he was like the son of a wealthy family or a congressman's son. Of course, he had nothing to do with me.
As he said, we had only met in the academy tournament. The guy I had encountered in the high round of that tournament where I paired with Yuri.
“It does ring a bell.”
“Tsk. Well, since you remembered now, it's fine. But, you. I haven't heard your name in years. Yuri, the lady who paired with you... no, Count Yuri, she made her own guild and turned it into an S-rank guild. I heard she's an S-rank hunter now too. But why are you...”
While saying that, he casually picked up his smartphone as if searching for something. It was probably the Hunter Association's hunter database.
“Wait a second. C-rank hunter affiliated with Flame? No, recently promoted to B-rank. And operator? Haha, so that's what it was.”
Dmitri let out a leering laugh.
“The hotshots from the academy days. The real problem is that many can't adapt to the field after graduation. The actual field is on a completely different level from the low-level dungeons or villain extermination they practiced in the academy. That's why there are many like you who get scared and become operators. Was joining Flame because of your closeness to Count Yuri?”
“Well, I heard there are cases like that. But not me.”
I said it irritably and waved my hand.
“Enough. I have nothing to say to you.”
“Right. Once you were so arrogant about winning the academy tournament. But you lost to me, an A-rank hunter and member of the Snowfield Knights. How interesting the real world is. Haha.”
My hunter license was currently B-rank. Originally C-rank, but it had risen due to high performance and results in the intern program.
A one-rank promotion in a month was nearly impossible, but Dmitri had no way of knowing the details. I was starting to get annoyed with the guy.
“If you know, then stop.”
Actually, arguing with the guy wouldn't matter much, but Soso's atmosphere was terrifying. If Soso beheaded Dmitri here, it would cause problems.
After all, the guy was an A-rank hunter affiliated with the Snowfield Knights. And most importantly, I didn't particularly care about him today.
'Well, the thing I'm doing today is on the level of the sun of gold.'
An Ancient Gear that chooses its owner with its own will. This guy who dumped so much inferiority complex on me had skill. So I was planning to buy the A+ rank gear, Wind Cutter, from him.
Noticing that I had no intention of dealing with him, the guy finally returned to his seat.
And to stop Soso from causing a scene, I had no choice but to keep fiddling with her hand under the table.
Soso's face was flushed. Of course, it wasn't from alcohol. She had tightly clasped my hand.
***
The auction began. All items being traded were A-rank gears.
The number for the Wind Cutter I was targeting was at the end. Pyotr spoke.
“You said it was nothing special, but that Dmitri guy is quite a famous rookie hunter. Not as good as Soso or the Flame Guild Master, but...”
“Well, I know that. So Andrei the Grand Duke must have sent him here.”
I recalled the episode where Wind Cutter appeared in the original novel, Aca Hunter. In the original, Yuri joined the Snowfield Knights instead of Si-woo's guild.
In an S-rank dungeon exploration mission of that Snowfield Knights, Dmitri was assigned as the wind shuttle.
The guy had B-rank combat sense in a cold, calculated way, but he was a mage with a significantly large mana heart capacity.
At the time, he was also a mage who mainly learned wind-attribute magic.
'That fact hasn't changed even now.'
Wind Cutter had chosen him as its owner simply to absorb his mana.
In the original, Dmitri never awakened the potential of that Wind Cutter and had it stolen by a villain. That episode of hunting the villain had also existed on Yuri's side in the original.
'So it's a precious item for this guy to use.'
Andrei the Grand Duke was merciless to knights who failed to complete missions properly. Especially Dmitri, who had his gear stolen by a villain. In the original, he was Gulak.
'At least, being a noble, he was spared execution.'
No matter how you looked at it, the poor guy. I didn't particularly care even if he provoked me. The kind of guy who, because of his tactless personality, would end up going to Gulak someday.
I told Pyotr.
“That Dmitri guy. I'm targeting the Wind Cutter I'm buying today. You know that, right?”
“Well, yeah. I heard the Snowfield Knights are after that item. Since Andrei the Grand Duke runs quite a large resource corporation based on his power, supporting A+ rank gears for his knights won't be difficult.”
“What’s the expected winning price?”
“Around 4 billion. The starting bid was 3 billion.”
Combining Flame's and my own funds, 2.3 billion. So the remaining 1.7 billion would have to come from Pyotr's Solaris.
“You’ll provide it, right?”
“Hrmm... 1.7 billion is not a small amount, but when it comes to investing, one must be bold, right?”
“What if it's more expensive than that?”
It would be Andrei the Grand Duke's order. Dmitri would never back down easily. But there was a way.
Pyotr smiled.
“Knowing that, you’re still asking. Are you testing me?”
“Well, not really.”
“If you needed it, I would have supported you with my authority. But this time, it might not be necessary. At the entrance, for example, but this exchange has quite a stuffy atmosphere. Talking about qualifications and such.”
Pyotr seemed to trust me quite a bit.
And he continued explaining. The trading method at the VIP exchange was unique.
They competed in an auction, but if they exceeded the set limit amount at the exchange, the auction would stop.
'Ancient Gears are weapons with wills.'
According to the Two-Nation Alliance law and international hunter law, ownership of gears by non-hunters was prohibited. Ancient Gears were not luxuries but weapons.
Even with distribution companies, transactions were only possible if there was an awakened person like me or Dmitri who must own that gear.
Ultimately, if the limit amount was matched, after that it was no longer the distributor's turn but the turn of the hunters participating in the auction. The gear would choose its owner.
“Are you confident?”
“About that Wind Cutter gear. I looked up its history and it seemed a bit tricky.”
“A gear that eats its owner, you mean?”
As I said, in the original, Dmitri was happily drained of mana by the Wind Cutter and then stolen by a villain.
“Yeah. Previously, all previous owners either gave up ownership or died because of that Wind Cutter. Still not scared?”
“If I were scared, I wouldn't have come here.”
“You have quite a bit of guts. As I said earlier about Dmitri, you've become a B-rank hunter now. Well, you're not above that level, so don't expect too much.”
At Pyotr's praise, the corners of Soso's mouth lifted slightly. Even then, Soso hadn't let go of my hand she was holding under the table.
And finally, the auction number for the Wind Cutter came.
***
The Wind Cutter auction was in full swing. Several participants had joined the race, but only two remained.
“Really 4 billion?”
“Both of them called 4 billion!”
“Who’s the distributor?”
“One is Nyaruk, the company of Andrei the Grand Duke. The other is Solaris.”
“Solaris? It was quiet in the Far East. Are they expanding beyond Europe?”
On the large screen set up in the center of the auction hall, the number 4 billion wonas appeared side by side.
Both Dmitri and my side had already satisfied the limit amount.
And people's gazes were naturally directed at Dmitri. Comments from other attendees could be heard.
“That outfit. He must be a knight of the Snowfield Knights. And from the White Mage Tower. So he's after an A+ rank gear.”
“That man. I’ve heard of him. At such a young age, he’s already an A-rank hunter. Probably the gear will go to him.”
“The other side is Solaris, the distributor. And the guild is Flame... wait. If it's Flame, is it the guild of that Yuri Tarkovskaya?”
“And Yeon Soso, the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi... wait. That person sitting with the auction participants. Is it Soso?”
And this time, the gazes turned toward Soso. In many ways, I was not in the center of attention.
“If she's the successor of the Heavenly Demon, she can aim for an A+ rank gear too.”
“So was it a rigged game? Anyway, Yuri Tarkovskaya is the daughter of Andrei the Grand Duke.”
“That’s strange. Why isn’t it Soso... Lee Minsu? Have I heard of him?”
Hearing those words, Pyotr chuckled.
“That’s right. Not angry? Being ignored.”
“What’s there to be angry about? I’m still a B-rank hunter.”
“Well, it’s the leisure of someone who believes in themselves.”
It wasn't that kind of self-confidence, but I had confidence in obtaining the Wind Cutter.
Whether it was a gear that ate its owner or a gear that was difficult to handle, if I couldn't get a gear of that level, the future would become much more difficult.
Most importantly, the important thing was whether Ruby would approve of the Wind Cutter.
'Will it be okay, Ruby?'
An Ancient Gear with a will. So in the Eins Academy days, when I evolved Ruby into two forms, we often conversed with her will.
Now she was silent. Probably, conversation was impossible after loosening the first level of sealing. But I could feel her will.
She was clearly sulking. Because I had decided to contract with another gear besides her.
She had become my mana heart, giving up finding a new owner for me. She might have been a little upset, but in the end, she had given me permission.
“Then, please come up to the stage, Mr. Vorobyev and Mr. Lee Minsu.”
It was the moment to check the will of the Wind Cutter. Dmitri, with a confident expression, went up. I followed him onto the stage behind him.