The Price of Oil and the Weight of a Crown
Jung Da-yeon sat on the sofa and crossed her legs.
Then, with a faint smile playing on her lips, she looked at Kim Hwang-je.
“There was once a man who painted a monster egg red and tried to pass it off as a Legendary Phoenix Egg.”
“What happened to him?”
“We buried him in the backyard.”
“The whole person?”
“Not the entire body. About half?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I am.”
Jung Da-yeon leaned forward.
“But the oil is real, yes?”
“It is.”
Jung Da-yeon stared at him blankly for a moment, then slapped her forehead with a loud smack.
“Now that you mention it, you gave me something to appraise before, didn’t you? It was called Grim, right? Now where did I put that…”
“Hold on. Don’t try to escape reality. I really need an FP… what was it again, Secretary Seo Jun-seo?”
“FPSO. Floating Production Storage and Offloading.”
Wow, that pronunciation is perfect…
What would you even call that in Korean?
Marine refining platform?
“Right, anyway, I need that and a drillship. Get them for me. How much will it cost?”
“…”
Jung Da-yeon bit her lower lip and looked at Seo Jun-seo. Her eyes asked, Is this guy for real?
Seo Jun-seo didn’t avoid her gaze.
“It’s true, ma’am.”
Jung Da-yeon held her hand up to the sunlight streaming through the window.
“Ah~ What a beautiful world we live in.”
Her tone was pure theatrical melodrama.
“The day before yesterday he killed an evil spirit~ The day before that he brought back a material that doesn’t exist on Earth~ Yesterday he stopped a meteor~ And today someone found an oil field~”
She sang the words in a surprisingly melodic voice.
“Surely tomorrow will bring another perfectly ordinary day, won’t it?”
“Well, if we’re being technical, finding the oil field took quite a while.”
“Ah, so it did take a long time?”
“Yeah. About two days.”
There was no malice in his words.
He simply wanted to tease her a little.
Jung Da-yeon trembled.
How can becoming rich be this easy? Why on earth did I bother giving this man a lecture on stocks?
This absurd fortune…
Is it because his name literally means Emperor…?
“…”
“Anyway, having oil is good, right? I heard crude oil prices have gone completely insane lately.”
“I don’t even have the energy to be shocked anymore. Fine. Take this first and we’ll talk.”
Jung Da-yeon pulled out an expensive-looking metal case.
When she opened it, a rainbow-colored shimmer rippled across the interior.
Inside lay a smooth orb the size of a songpyeon rice cake. It was Grim.
“The analysis concluded it is an object that does not exist on Earth. At present, its purpose, structure, and composition are all unknown. Furthermore, it doesn’t react to mana at all.”
It had been in the staff room—the same room that had once been the Chamber of Oaths.
That was where Kim Hwang-je had asked Jung Da-yeon to appraise the Grim he obtained after killing the evil spirit-class Manta.
“Is this expensive too?”
“This has no value.”
“No value? That can’t be…”
“Correct. It has no market value. Yet.”
Kim Hwang-je now knew exactly what this item was used for.
If given to the royal palace, it could power powerful magic or monster-derived technologies.
It could also drastically shorten construction times.
In short, it was a crafting material.
With just thirty of them, he could instantly build the Mysterious Creature Exchange.
It was basically the same as the gems used in mobile games.
But on Earth, no one knew what it was?
A treasure that hides its own worth.
“Take a look at this.”
Jung Da-yeon pointed at the CCTV monitor.
On the screen, an ogre corpse was being dismantled inside a workshop. Machines were slicing through ogre flesh and extracting yellow fat.
“We still don’t even know all the hormones produced by ogre fat cells. There could be incredible new pharmaceutical materials hidden inside.”
Jung Da-yeon shook her head.
“Yet almost no one is investing in that research. Everyone’s too busy turning it into biodiesel. That’s the immediate market value, the fastest way to make money. This is the broken, half-ruined Earth we live on.”
She shrugged.
“Still, I want to keep researching this. Unlike visceral fat, this is a guaranteed jackpot.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
Click.
Kim Hwang-je closed the case and handed it back.
He currently possessed nine pieces of Grim.
To instantly construct the Mysterious Creature Exchange, he needed thirty.
But if it could be useful in the real world as well, that would be even better.
“Judging by how you’re talking about an FPSO, I assume you found the oil at sea?”
“Actually, I need some help with that part too…”
“What kind of help?”
“The truth is, the oil isn’t coming from the sea.”
“Then where is it coming from?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet…”
When I summon it, it should appear right away. It’s not going to pop out somewhere weird, right?
“…Pardon?”
Jung Da-yeon looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Oh, I’m not saying there’s no oil. The important thing is that I need a cover story so people don’t catch on.”
“Ah, I see. So you need a decoy?”
Jung Da-yeon caught on immediately.
Decoy.
In other words, bait.
The oil wasn’t actually coming from the sea, but he wanted everyone to believe that it was.
The fact that she understood the implication in a single moment was impressive.
“…Your Majesty. Recently you acquired spears, armor, and food supplies. I asked you if this was some kind of Three Kingdoms scenario, remember? Don’t tell me…”
Did she figure it out?
Kim Hwang-je swallowed hard.
“You really did establish an independent nation in Africa with hunters, didn’t you?”
No.
“Hahaha…!”
Kim Hwang-je laughed heartily for the first time in a while.
It wasn’t exactly Africa, but it was indeed a country.
“Don’t just laugh… Africa isn’t even human territory anymore. How exactly did you conquer it?”
“It’s not Africa, and I didn’t conquer anything.”
“Then South America?”
Kim Hwang-je kept chuckling.
While he wiped away tears of laughter, Jung Da-yeon nodded with a sorrowful expression.
“It seems our Lost organization still has trouble earning your trust. Given what you know of our background, that’s understandable. However, my Lost will work hard to build that trust.”
Her voice was firm and resolute.
But Kim Hwang-je didn’t even understand what she meant by my Lost.
It was her way of declaring loyalty to him, separate from her organization’s own background.
He also had no idea what ‘background’ she was so worried about.
The only thing he knew was that he still wasn’t ready to reveal the secret of the royal palace to her.
Before Kim Hwang-je could ask anything, a rapid-fire stream of words poured from Jung Da-yeon’s mouth without a single comma.
“In that case, an FPSO alone won’t be enough. I’ll look into companies that went bankrupt after the monster outbreak—specifically those that had already bid on petroleum exploration and drilling rights through the ISA, the International Seabed Authority.”
She pulled out a tablet and placed it on the table.
When she twirled her finger in the air, the butler took out his phone and began making calls in rapid succession.
This wasn’t the first time they had worked together like this.
“Buying the company outright would include acquiring those rights. This way we can bypass international legal issues, preemptively block military intervention from major powers, and—”
“Um, sorry… could you slow down a little…”
Kim Hwang-je couldn’t follow what she was saying no matter how hard he tried.
Jung Da-yeon grinned.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no Japanese patrol planes come flying overhead in threatening maneuvers. We’ll also acquire a drillship and FPSO that are barely functional. That should keep the price reasonable.”
She opened the tablet and displayed an image of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific.
“I’m not an expert, but I’ll somehow secure them and sell them to you at a fair price. You can discuss the details with Secretary Seo Jun-seo, right? You’re busy, after all.”
“Whoa…”
Smart older sisters really are attractive.
She is an older sister, right?
Kim Hwang-je was still in the fresh bloom of his early twenties.
Jung Da-yeon also appeared to be in her twenties on the surface, but…
“Please don’t look at me with such sparkling eyes.”
Jung Da-yeon turned her head away.
She took out a piece of paper and began writing down everything they had discussed so far.
“So both the drillship and the FPSO should be prepared as ‘decoys,’ correct? They can be completely broken on the inside as long as they look fine on the outside?”
“Ah, the FP… that one would be good if it can actually refine oil. What I can obtain is probably crude oil.”
Kim Hwang-je observed the workers busily laboring through World Observation.
They were building the Mysterious Creature Exchange, but no matter how he looked at it, it just resembled an ordinary zoo.
It didn’t seem like it would be capable of refining petroleum.
No matter what the Celestials did, it would be impossible.
“Understood. We’ll look for one capable of refining crude oil. Since it doesn’t need to be permanently fixed in place, we can go with a used unit rather than a custom order…”
“Also, the drillship needs a genuinely powerful drill. An extremely, extremely powerful one. I don’t know what’s under the sea, but it needs to be able to pierce through anything.”
The barrier would be handled by Benedict, who was currently meditating overhead.
But to break through thick bulkheads, the drill’s power had to be exceptional.
“What exactly do you need to drill through?”
At that moment, Kim Hwang-je felt a strangely fated premonition.
Though he hadn’t intended it, sorrow settled over his face.
“There’s a place that needs drilling.”
“…Then why do you look so sad?”
Kim Hwang-je wondered.
Just how is that drill supposed to reach the prison?
While Kim Hwang-je was busy planning his oil drilling operation,
Gemini was in the laboratory, researching the Book of Fissures that had been bestowed upon her.
She pushed the ash-gray Book of Fissures she held into a complex astronomical observation device.
Soon, beams of light shot out from multiple directions inside the machine. The light that passed through the book etched constellations into the empty air.
“Done… Su-ah, how’s it going over there?”
Gemini turned her head.
Several magical orbs floated in the air, radiating brilliant mana. Beneath them, long strings of crystals engraved with various runes dangled.
“Yes, unnie! The characters just appeared!”
Su-ah quickly copied them onto A4 paper and tapped away at a calculator.
When the result came out, she wrote it on a memo pad and handed it to Gemini.
Gemini seemed to memorize the formula after looking at it only once.
“Good job. Now take the phrase from crystal number 18 and calculate it using this formula. Then run it through the Dominica circuit and double-check everything!”
“Yes, unnie!”
Su-ah’s voice was full of energy, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Gemini.
After all, even if she returned to Korea, finding a job in this era was nearly impossible.
Su-ah had firmly decided to put down roots here.
During the day she taught heavy machinery operation to the knights, and at night she served as Gemini’s assistant while learning magic.
“Phew, we’re halfway done.”
Gemini grabbed a towel and wiped her forehead.
The magic she handled was so complex that she broke into a heavy sweat whenever she concentrated.
That was how much Su-ah had helped her!
In the eyes of the royal palace, there was no talent more valuable than Su-ah right now.
The kingdom, shrunken by war, had no resources left to nurture new talent.
The few surviving mages were already working in three rotating shifts just to protect the palace.
It was an incredibly precarious situation.
They needed even a cat’s paw to help.
And then Su-ah had appeared—someone who had already endured the hellish final year of high school twice.
Her mind was perfectly tuned for study, she was skilled at solving problems, and she was proficient with a calculator.
For some reason, she also possessed exceptional magical talent—particularly in Magic Resistance.
Maybe it was because she spent all day around Celestials?
Whatever the reason, she was exactly the kind of assistant Gemini had been looking for.
“Double-check complete!”
“Good… If we can just finish this experiment successfully… a lot of things will change.”
Knock knock.
While Gemini was carefully adjusting her obsidian wand one last time, someone knocked on the door.
Su-ah trotted over and opened it.
Dave was standing there.
“Oh, Your Majesty?”
“Mm. So Lady Su-ah is here as well. May I come in?”
“Please enter, Your Highness.”
“Wait here, all of you. Give that to me,”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Dave received a jar from the royal guard and stepped into the laboratory.
Su-ah soon closed the door behind him.
She was puzzled.
Why would the king himself carry it instead of a knight?
Even so, Gemini didn’t even turn around.
There probably wasn’t another court mage in the world who would treat a king with such disregard.
“She’s extremely busy with an experiment right now. Would you like some tea?”
“Tea? No, that’s quite all right. At this hour, it might be best not to drink that black liquid you gave me before. Last time I drank it, I swung my sword three thousand times and still didn’t feel the slightest fatigue.”
When even Tylenol acted like a stimulant, drinking coffee would mean not sleeping for two days straight.
It was one of the side effects(?) of Bestowal.
“Understood. Then I’ll bring some cookies~”
Su-ah headed toward the tower’s kitchen.
Only after she left did Gemini turn around, wiping her sweat-dampened sky-blue hair.
It would be troublesome if sweat damaged the magical devices.
“You seem busy.”
“Did you come to drape a cloak over my shoulders?”
Dave and Gemini had survived the turbulent years together since he was still a prince.
So he knew that the mere fact she answered him at all was her way of showing respect to the king.
The first time he had spoken to her during an experiment, he had nearly been killed.
But the chill in the air now was quite different.
She glanced at the door.
Using telekinesis, she slammed the slightly ajar door completely shut.
“To think you would carry out such an operation without saying a single word to me. I am wounded.”
Such an operation?
Ah, she must mean the incident where I boarded Bahu’s flagship to cut off the snake’s head.
“The result was good, so isn’t that enough?”
“It is not, Your Highness. You walked straight into danger again, like a man seeking his own death. Once more.”
Since it was true, Dave couldn’t say anything.
Ever since becoming king, he had done nothing but lose territory.
The problem was that no matter how many allies died, Dave always came back alive.
It was a survival that didn’t feel like living at all.
There had been many times when he thought it might be better to simply die…
Gemini remembered the hollow look in Dave’s eyes from back then.
“Mm…”
“Are you still having nightmares?”
“…Nightmares? Do you count the dreams one sees while awake? If so, then I have them often.”
“Still…”
“Yes. The citizens I failed to protect continue to die before my eyes.”
Dave grabbed his slightly trembling left hand with his right.
He could not let the royal guards see him like this.
They still believed in him as the King of Knights.
Gemini’s eyes grew moist.
“Your Highness. Please stop trying to bear every burden alone. I beg you. So many things are changing. It is different from before.”
“…”
“Absolutely do not do it again. If you do….”
“Ahem. Then I suppose I must not make you beg for forgiveness in place of permission again!”
Dave rose from the pillar he had been leaning against.
“I apologize. You have been an archmage since I was a prince, and I have always been indebted to your wisdom. It was my fault for not speaking up even after noticing Admiral Bahu’s betrayal.”
“Thank you for the apology.”
Dave nodded.
“You are right. I told Bahu the same thing. It would have been good if he could have heard your scolding one more time.”
“He must be resting well beneath the sea. He was such a waste of talent… If he had rescued Professor Labanus according to the original plan, the royal court might have seen brighter days.”
Gemini seemed genuinely regretful.
“Enough. Let us forget the past. In any case, I am glad the world has changed enough that I must personally bring up something like this.”
Dave chuckled and opened the lid of the wicker basket on his back.
When the magically sealed basket opened, a thick smell of petroleum burst out.
Inside the sticky oil, a round slime wandered back and forth.
Dave carefully wrapped the black slime in a cloth, lifted it out, and set it on the floor.
“Kyuu kyuu! Kyuuu!”
“A black slime. I didn’t know there were any near the palace. Was the cave very deep?”
Gemini tilted her head.
It looked incredibly cute, but aside from smelling terrible and burning well, it didn’t have much use…
Why does His Majesty want something like this?
“It was quite deep. Once the Exchange is completed, I plan to go down with the taming specialists. We’ll need a lot of workers.”
“Aren’t the people of the palace already overwhelmed just by the construction?”
Gemini sounded worried.
Dave shrugged.
“Who knows? Maybe His Majesty will send us some muscular young men in tights?”
“Ugh, I hate those perverts. I keep telling Su-ah to be careful around them too.”
Gemini was resolute.
“Haha. Is that so? Their loyalty was quite impressive, though.”
Dave laughed.