Tales Only the Dead Can Hear (2)
The words hung heavy in the air like a chill I couldn’t shake off.
My spine prickled with sudden unease.
Were those elves truly “the dead,” or was this the opening act of some far more dangerous conversation yet to unfold?
Either way, I couldn’t resist the urge to flash a smirk.
“How intriguing.”
Noris rose from his seat as I watched him, eyes narrowing slightly.
With a single flick of his wrist, the magic circle inside the room flared brighter, almost painfully so.
“Allow me to demonstrate properly.”
He raised his hand toward empty space, and glowing numbers materialized above it like living creatures.
“As you can see, this is the stock price fluctuation graph for Ruby Company. Steady upward movement over the past six months.”
The numbers changed constantly, almost hypnotic in their motion.
“But that’s only the beginning.”
Noris waved his hand again, and another window opened.
Thousands of account numbers and transaction records filled the space with ruthless precision.
“Jacob’s members are exceptionally loyal. They happily hand over their accounts.”
His lips curled into a thin smile.
“Do you know the true secret of the stock market? Retail investors always move in clusters. When one buys, others follow. When one sells, they follow right behind.”
He pointed at the records as he continued.
“We simply… nudge the wave a little. What if four thousand accounts bought at the same time? And when the price rises, what if another four thousand sold?”
I nodded slowly.
“Perfect arbitrage, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. But this is just the start.”
Noris opened another window, revealing an even more complex structure.
“If we anticipate a price drop, we buy through our members’ accounts to create support. In a rising market, we sell slowly at our desired price.”
The more he explained, the clearer the true face of Jacob Department Store became.
As expected, they were far from simple distributors.
They were a massive price manipulation syndicate using members’ accounts to control the stock market.
And then there was more.
“As you can see… every single member account belongs to us. Accounts made from their blood.”
[Illegal blood account transaction confirmed. Evidence of blood-based multi-level marketing scheme.]
Noris’s gestures made the numbers even sharper.
“Every day, over four thousand members offer their blood. And through their accounts…”
The transaction records danced in the air.
“If we sense a drop, we buy through Jacob members’ accounts. When it rises, we dump it on the market. The profit flows straight into our pockets—perfect system.”
Noris swept his hand across the records, and more intricate charts appeared.
He zoomed in on a specific transaction.
“Here’s the fun part. Look at the flow of this money—it’s rather peculiar, isn’t it?”
Two transaction records showed identical patterns.
“The pattern mirrors that of an investment institution under the Imperial Treasury.”
The Imperial Treasury’s investment arm was a special agency of the empire. It could trade stocks but followed strict pre-declaration rules.
To trade, the items and quantities had to be pre-reported to the Stock Exchange and Treasury.
And in the trading window, a thick golden line marked transactions differently from ordinary graphs.
Anyone could immediately tell it came from the Imperial Treasury.
Yet the manipulation syndicate’s graphs matched the pattern exactly?
I fixed a sharp gaze on Noris.
He still wore that gentle smile.
“That’s why I wondered… Who in the Imperial Treasury… shares our way of thinking?”
I answered calmly.
“Secret trading lines, then.”
Noris laughed with satisfaction.
“Wherever money moves, opportunity always follows. And this opportunity doesn’t end with simple price manipulation. There’s a larger picture. Everything here is merely a tool for something far greater.”
He stopped abruptly, the words hanging unfinished.
* * *
A brief silence followed.
“It might be time to stop here. I want to confirm your sincerity first, Brother Evan.”
Now he called me “brother.”
The records above began to dissolve one by one.
But I had already seen enough—illegal account trading, price manipulation, money laundering.
“So, what do you think of all this?”
Noris tossed the question casually, yet it held a trap.
He wanted to see how I would respond.
“Time to test whether you truly stand with us.”
The air in the room froze instantly.
Was this where the real tale of the “dead” began?
At Noris’s gesture, the half-naked elves rose as one.
They moved like a single organism, forming a perfect circle around us.
Marian gripped her bow tightly, hiding it in her lap with visible tension.
“As you see, these sisters are no longer alive. But they move exactly as I wish.”
Noris stroked the hair of the closest elf woman and snapped his fingers.
The woman stepped forward like a machine.
“Their souls belong to me.”
The elf woman crawled toward me on all fours like an animal.
Noris watched the scene and summoned the transaction records again.
“These are the true records. Shall we call them ‘accounts of the truly dead’?”
My breath caught for a moment.
I had understood his meaning perfectly.
“No way…”
Marian’s muffled groan slipped into my ear.
Hearing that voice, Noris smiled and continued.
“Correct. A large portion of these accounts truly belong to ‘the dead.’ Some came to sell their blood… and will never leave here.”
His smile twisted into something grotesque.
“Now, let me make my offer. With your sturdy backing, I’d like to draw a larger picture. Beyond simply controlling the stock market…”
His eyes burned with madness.
“I will control the entire empire’s finances. And if I must…”
He raised his hand. Red light gathered at the elf woman’s throat.
“I can create as many ‘resources’ as I want.”
She would continue her trades with my blood.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“How intriguing. So what do you want me to do?”
A triumphant smile spread across Noris’s lips.
“Next month’s transaction plan. The big game I’ll win through Ruby stocks.”
The records detailed extreme price manipulation—driving the price sky-high, then crashing it in an instant.
Countless investors would go bankrupt.
“If your friends from the Imperial Treasury assist and give perfect alibis…”
Noris pointed at the record.
“We guarantee thirty percent profit. Of course, their names will never appear. Everything will be clean through our dead accounts.”
I pretended to study the record closely.
“Impressive. But at this scale…”
“Don’t worry. I already have plenty of experience.”
Another record materialized at his gesture.
It detailed transactions over the past year.
And there it was…
“Hm.”
I couldn’t suppress the sound that escaped me.
“As you see, we’ve succeeded several times.”
Noris took a step forward with a raspy laugh.
“And down the stairs, people line up to offer their blood willingly for money. Ha ha. How pitiful.”
His tone stayed calm, despite the hunger in his eyes.
“But soon, these small games will end. I need a larger picture. The Imperial Treasury official… that’s right. One day I want to escape this backwater place too.”
Desire burned in his gaze.
The moment he continued, one of the surrounding elves suddenly convulsed.
A faint groan escaped her lips.
“S-s-save…”
Noris’s expression twisted.
“Emily!”
The robed mage remained motionless, not even a twitch.
A small scar marked her palm.
Another elf woman groaned louder this time.
“Ugh…”
One by one, the others began to shake.
“Please… help…”
“Save us…”
“Please…”
Faint pleas filled the room.
Marian’s eyes darted in panic and shock, unable to look away from the horror before her.
No matter where she looked, all she saw was suffering elves.
Noris’s expression hardened completely.
“How dare…”
He raised his hand. The elves’ eyes turned red again.
But this time it was different.
Their bodies stiffened like machines. Instead of groans, eerie laughter spilled from their mouths.
“Hehehe…”
“Hihihi…”
Marian stared in terror.
I moved to her side, gripping her shoulder firmly in case she acted rashly.
“Emily!”
Noris snarled at the mage.
Her name was Emily.
A perfect coincidence. Red hair. Scar on the palm. Exact same name…
“You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you? You no longer need ‘that,’ do you?”
Emily shuddered at the word “that.”
A small sigh escaped her. She clasped her hands together.
A massive surge of power erupted from her body.
The hidden magic exploded outward, shaking the air around us.
Emily slowly opened her clasped hands.
Black mist began to seep between her fingers.
“Please… stop now.”
Her voice trembled.
The black mist thickened, filling the room.
The elves who had been laughing eerily sat down obediently once more.
“They weren’t the dead, after all.”
I stared straight at Noris.
His gentle smile twisted, and his voice came out hollow.
“Even if I leave here, they’ll remain dead for eternity.”
Noris gazed at the elves, trapped in a quiet like the dead.
I now had sufficient evidence and grounds to arrest Noris.
One issue remained: the power of mage Emily.
For now she hid it, but if we actually confronted her?
I couldn’t guarantee everyone inside this building would be safe.
I leaned toward Marian and warned her in a whisper to prepare for any contingency.
Then I stepped toward Noris.
“Noris. I am arresting you on charges of fraud, abduction of women, and false business solicitation.”