Only the Dead Can Hear the Tale (1)
My tail twitched on its own.
Was that how a centaur acted when nervous? I had no idea. Better calm down first.
“I came to welcome you, as my guest.”
Noris Molton smiled gently.
It seemed he had contacted me right after showing the VVIP invitation to the security agents.
“I find it truly fascinating. A bloody spell and an auction….”
“Was there anything else impressive?”
Noris’s eyes sparkled with interest.
He was clearly asking if I had seen the blood-sucking spectacle.
Denying it here would mean nothing.
I nodded.
“It was quite shocking.”
“Anyone would feel that way the first time. Shall we go?”
He offered a kindly smile.
The security staff appeared and surrounded Marian with care.
Curious onlookers began to gather.
We walked back down the black corridor.
Pressing a deep crimson mage-stone lamp on the wall caused the surface to ripple.
An elevator door slid open.
“How did you manage this?”
“I have skilled subordinates. This is my private elevator. By the way, who is beside you?”
Noris glanced at Marian.
“She is my girlfriend. We plan to marry early next year.”
“I see. Congratulations. I must prepare a splendid gift.”
Marian bowed her head, fingers twisting through her hair with unusual force.
Ding! The elevator doors opened.
I still had no idea how many floors remained.
The panel displayed no numbers.
“We’re going down.”
I followed Noris from behind.
Behind us, the security agents continued their watchful encirclement.
An atmosphere unlike any other floor hung in the air.
It felt as if an aristocrat’s mansion had been transplanted here.
A sitting room held the finest leather sofas, beyond which stood a heavy, solid door.
Before it stood an elf woman. Her appearance was unmistakably exceptional.
She stroked documents inside her robe—those prepared by Assistant Pierce.
A balance sheet packed with enormous figures, hastily compiled past investment records, and a legitimate investment trading license.
Pierce had worked hard on this.
He had uncovered even more.
- Sir, something’s wrong. The company’s cash reserves are nearly depleted.
Despite the steady sales growth of Jacob Department Store, liquid assets have hit rock bottom.
Bankruptcy is imminent.
A solid business running out of cash…
‘That means the cash has drained into an untraceable place.’
- And Jacob Department Store has thousands of stock accounts under its name. Thousands!
These must be illegal accounts created by members through the blood-sucking process, stirring the stock market.
Yet the pockets of those profiting from the gains are empty—proof that far larger black money flows in.
And all of it ends up in Noris’s pocket.
I must uncover how black money enters Noris’s pocket and direct evidence of falsified stock trades using ruby stocks under Jacob members’ names.
A woman’s voice spoke.
“What beverage shall I prepare for you?”
She was the elf. Noris Molton’s secretary.
“Evian, please.”
I never ate the food provided here. Transparent bottled water was the only exception.
Marian nodded as well.
Noris opened the door and stepped inside.
“Please come in.”
Noris’s soft voice flowed from within the room.
The moment the door opened, a chill ran down my spine at the scene inside.
“……!!!!”
We had just stepped into the mouth of something.
* * *
A man with skin as transparent as white jade and hair like a bright silver river shining with starlight.
Elves are hard to judge by appearance alone, but I could not tell whether this man was thirty or three hundred years old.
He extended his hand with unrealistically bright blue eyes.
“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Noris Molton, an old acquaintance of Jacob.”
“…….”
The man before me carried a clear aura as he introduced himself as Jacob’s friend.
Yet I could not offer my hand—the scene inside the office stopped me.
Women in clothing so thin and revealing it was embarrassing to call it attire knelt in two lines.
“……!!!”
All were elves of exceptional beauty.
They sat with heads lowered in pious postures, as if receiving the Holy Spirit.
Marian’s eyes filled with shock as I quickly offered my greeting.
“Eric Brant. Close friends call me Evan.”
The kneeling elves rose and chanted my name in unison.
“His Excellency Noris-nim.”
“His friend Evan-nim.”
“Noris-nim grants the meeting with his friend Evan-nim.”
“What… what is all this?”
Marian asked in alarm. Noris replied in a clear voice.
“It is giving you strength. Pure and clear aura.”
At that moment the door opened and a mage in a deep robe entered.
A flash of red hair appeared beneath the robe— the same mage from the auction.
Her aura was completely different from any ordinary magician’s.
Even Marian, who had witnessed countless extraordinary mages at the Imperial Magic Tower, trembled at her unnatural presence.
“Something is off. We must be careful.”
Her presence was pure brutality.
A corrupted magic power swirled around her, unlike that of the imperial mages.
The mage stood silently behind Noris.
“If it does not trouble you, I shall join.”
Noris regarded the mage.
His gentle smile lifted clear eyes.
The gaze was clear, yet an unpleasant aura lingered somewhere beneath.
Like a blade hidden beneath thin silk.
“No, it does not trouble me.”
The mage in the deep robe stood behind him.
The air inside the room grew suddenly cold.
Marian, sensing the strangeness, pressed close to my side.
The mage fixed her gaze on me. Her pupils contracted slightly beneath the robe.
“May I see the derivative product plan you explained?”
“Yes, of course. But….”
“Speak comfortably.”
“It does not seem appropriate to share such matters in public.”
I glanced at the kneeling elves and said.
Noris smiled gently.
“Evan-nim, these sisters are like extensions of my own will. They hear nothing and see nothing. You need not worry.”
The women in revealing attire knelt and murmured unknown words.
“Yes. Well, then.”
I memorized the scene and pulled out the documents I had prepared.
Pierce had worked diligently. The materials contained enough rosy future to make one dream of becoming rich.
“As expected, it is splendid.”
Noris looked extremely satisfied.
“Creating an asset portfolio allows tax reductions and active response to crises. Furthermore….”
“Yes, please continue.”
“Even if the company collapses, the founder can survive.”
Noris’s eyes flickered.
I had just pointed out the financial irregularities of Jacob Department Store.
Precisely, I had made it clear that the company now had nothing left but a shell.
Noris’s face hardened.
The smile that usually rested on it vanished.
I lowered my voice and whispered.
“We shall purchase the bonds of Jacob Department Store.”
People value conversations in secret environments more, after all.
I approached with a smiling face.
“What is the scale of the bonds we can purchase?”
A smile returned to his face.
“As a friend of Jacob, I cannot sell bonds to just anyone.”
A firm refusal.
“Then I shall become your partner.”
I ignored the refusal.
I pressed the suggestion relentlessly.
“Partner… an excellent expression. But the status of a partner cannot be bought with money. If you have no intention of joining Jacob, that is.”
That heart…
“How do you prove such a heart?”
“By showing whether you can stand with us even through adversity.”
Mentioning “adversity” meant I was not seeking a simple investor.
I asked.
“You know the current state of Jacob, don’t you?”
The company’s finances had long passed the point of no return.
An investor would normally rejoice.
Yet he asked about investor temperament?
“It is merely crouching for a great leap.”
His roundabout words clearly meant he was willing to profit from the back pocket while contributing to the front.
I smiled slyly.
“Is the foundation sturdy?”
For a crouch and leap, the ground must be solid.
Noris must reveal the true basis of his confidence before a massive investment.
I could not guess; I had to draw it out.
“Whether money or business, it is done by people, is it not? People inevitably gather toward results that never lose.”
“Hmm… Does that mean I can become your person if I see that result?”
“No. I am Jacob’s friend.”
Noris smiled as if he understood or did not.
Now tell me your story.
How worldly and money-obsessed I am.
I shrugged.
“Adversity and hardship… aren’t they all because there is no money? The saying is you can buy happiness with money, but only those who lack money would say that. Money is enough for happiness? You can have anything.”
At times like this, the me who had lived on Earth had an advantage.
There was a community with countless twisted thoughts stacked inside.
I simply pulled out one personality and injected it.
I spoke the memes I had seen casually. Noris’s face brightened with satisfaction.
He answered with eyes glittering like madness.
“Haha, you can buy anything with money… quite persuasive.”
Yet Noris did not reveal his hand, cautious as always.
Then I had to throw the next one.
Not money—the greater thing he dreamed of.
“However. What I hold now is not merely money. Behind me stand former Imperial Financial Officials. People who can bury money into the ground and strengthen the foundation however they want. What they desire is not simple interest but… the secret of how you achieve perfect profits.”
I leaned closer and spoke low.
“As you know, laws are living beings with will. They become firm supports when grasped or wings when spread. The people behind me are those with will.”
Noris, sitting alone, covered his chin with his hand in thought.
I did not miss the moment and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Blood must be spilled. Only then can laws be manipulated without interference.”
He would understand.
What I offered was perfect absolution for illegal acts with living guardians.
Noris would find the proposal irresistible.
How long could he hide in the corner of Jacob Department Store, anxiously washing money?
As if reacting to my words, Noris’s expression subtly shifted.
Greed seeped into his clear eyes like black ink spreading.
The elegant smile at his lips remained, yet those eyes turned gloomy, as if gazing into a deep abyss.
“An interesting proposal.”
He slowly rose from his seat.
His movements remained elegant, yet now that elegance felt like a beast’s.
Noris brushed his silver hair with his fingertips.
“Indeed. Spilling blood… that is something we know best.”
The softness in his voice vanished, replaced by cold metal.
He flicked a light wave of his hand. Countless magic circles of a different dimension from the previous ones appeared in the air.
Blue-glowing circles wrapped around the void like living beings, slowly expanding.
They climbed the walls and ceiling, interlocking to form a hexagonal web.
No one outside the room could hear or enter. The magic circles spread instantly.
“Ancient elf barrier arts?”
Marian’s eyes widened.
The forbidden barrier techniques of the ancient elves, which imperial mages could not easily use.
Realized only through artifacts that offered their life force, they could not be dismantled by any means without matching artifacts.
“Now we are ready for true conversation.”
Noris rose.
His eyes had changed.
The clear aura was gone; only sharp eyes gazing into the depths remained.
“From here on, it will be a tale only the dead can hear.”
At his words, the kneeling elves raised their heads together.
Red auras rose from their empty eye sockets.