Black Market (1)
A conversation I'd exchanged with Gwak Seung-jae not long ago came back to me.
"I hear you and Dang Gyu-young sunbae are dating."
"We're close, but it's not like that."
"I've also heard you spend quite a lot of time together."
"She's my mentor, and I'm her mentee."
And the look Gwak Seung-jae was sending my way right now seemed to carry an unspoken question: you're still planning to deny it, even like this?
Song Cheon-hye appeared to be letting the misunderstanding swell just as much — a faint flush had crept up her face, as if she were drafting an entire romance novel in her head. Han So-mi, for her part, simply kept beaming away, apparently pleased with whatever was happening.
We really aren't dating.
Since explaining myself seemed unlikely to clear anything up, I elected to exercise my right to remain silent. When I continued to absorb their stares without a word, Gwak Seung-jae swung his target back around to Dang Gyu-young.
"I was well aware the two of you were rather close, but I didn't realize you spent time together in the downtown district to this extent."
"We are pretty close, yeah."
"Might I ask what you were in the middle of doing?"
"Looking around for some mischief to get up to with this one~"
Dang Gyu-young dropped a hand on my shoulder and grinned impishly. However she'd intended that to be taken, Song Cheon-hye covered her mouth with a hand and began whispering rapidly to Han So-mi. I could practically hear the question passing between them — what kind of 'mischief'?
Dang Gyu-young asked in return.
"What about you two?"
"They still have plenty of rough edges, so I'm taking them around and training them. It doubles as a patrol of the downtown district."
"Mm, it shows. Keep at it, you two."
Gwak Seung-jae inclined his head slightly.
"I hope you enjoy your time as well, sunbae."
"Well, this is a first — Seung-jae, handing out compliments."
"I view your relationship in a positive light."
"Is that so? Much appreciated."
Gwak Seung-jae was about to move off when, oddly enough, Song Cheon-hye stepped forward.
"Pardon me for a moment."
In her hand was a device set with a glowing crystal orb. It served much the same function as the Ban Wave: if it detected the target carrying a banned item on their person or stored in their inventory, a red warning light would flare to life.
In other words — a spot inspection.
Dang Gyu-young and I both made a habit of questionable activities, so there remained the off chance we were holding banned items even now. Dang Gyu-young shrugged without a care.
"Go right ahead."
With a tense air, Song Cheon-hye brought the device up to each of us in turn.
Vmmm—
But the crystal orb merely brightened a shade; its color didn't change in the slightest.
We're hardly sloppy enough for that.
As if we hadn't anticipated a spot inspection. Dang Gyu-young had left every last banned item behind, and I had learned the Hyneum Jade Demon Finger skillbook the moment it landed in my hands. Of course nothing turned up.
Looking a touch sheepish, Song Cheon-hye withdrew, then swiftly composed her expression and bowed with perfect courtesy.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Mm, keep up the good work."
Gwak Seung-jae, who had been observing, moved off without a word, and Song Cheon-hye trailed after him, sneaking glances back our way. Han So-mi waved her hand in a bright, guileless flurry before falling in with the others.
We watched the three committee members vanish into the crowd before Dang Gyu-young broke the silence.
"Seung-jae backed off fast today. Usually he makes more of a nuisance of himself."
"Apparently he didn't want to get in the way. And..."
"You noticed it too, huh?"
I'd been feeling eyes on us since a little before Gwak Seung-jae approached. It was a safe bet the Disciplinary Committee was trying to put a tail on Dang Gyu-young — as president of the Thief Club, she was a core figure among core figures, the one who ran the Black Market. And Gwak Seung-jae trading a few pleasantries before withdrawing was likely meant to lower our guard.
The ones I took for committee members were masking their presence with stealth skills to rival any seasoned thief's, but there was something they didn't know: the Thief Club had eyes planted all across the downtown district.
Dang Gyu-young put in a call to the control tower.
Before long, Chae Da-bin's report came back.
After the connection cut, Dang Gyu-young and I met each other's eyes for a beat — and nodded in unison.
"Let's bolt."
"Bolting it is."
And we took off running at once. The Disciplinary Committee side must have been caught considerably off guard, because a flicker of startlement carried all the way to us. They'd been watching from quite a distance — how on earth had we spotted them? But seemingly deciding they couldn't afford to lose us, they picked up speed and gave chase.
Like salmon fighting upstream, we tore against the current of the crowd and ducked into an alley between buildings. As we raced down it, I flicked my gaze upward to size up the height of the buildings.
"We should go up."
"Up? That one's a bit tall, no?"
"Trust me on this."
"Fine. Show me what you've got."
"Jumping now."
We clasped hands and kicked off the ground in the same breath.
Boom!
Then, unleashing the Wind Force I had prepared in advance, we surged up a full story higher and touched down on the rooftop.
The next instant, the two committee members entered the alley.
"..."
They swept their surroundings and spread their senses wide, but never once suspected we were watching from above. The building was a touch too tall to leap up in a single bound, so the thought likely never crossed their minds — and Dang Gyu-young's shadow magic was smothering our presence besides. After combing the area a while longer, one of them clicked their tongue under their breath.
"Tch."
Then, as if abandoning the pursuit, they left the alley.
"Wind magic does come in handy at times like this."
"It's not all bad, you see."
"Mm. The bad one here is you."
Dang Gyu-young jabbed a finger into my cheek. I answered with one cheek still squished flat.
"Looks like their side is warming up its engines, too."
"Mm."
The Disciplinary Committee openly beginning to surveil us meant their primary objective had shifted from keeping the peace downtown to the Black Market itself. And before making their move, they were marking the key players. Which made our most pressing task figuring out what move they intended to play.
When Dang Gyu-young contacted the control tower again, Chae Da-bin asked:
Chae Da-bin shared several feeds one after another. Every screen showed committee members, all converging on Exchange B and tightening the encirclement by the minute. Yet even seeing that, Dang Gyu-young showed no great surprise — if anything, her attitude was closer to it was bound to happen eventually.
"About time one got caught."
We'd been adding exchange after exchange since morning; unless the Disciplinary Committee were fools, they should have sensed something off by now. This was the Disciplinary Committee, after all — an organization stacked wall to wall with elites.
This was also precisely why we'd prepared as many as six exchanges in the first place: we had always expected the Disciplinary Committee to catch on sooner or later, and wanted sacrificing two or three of them to cost us little. Besides, stepping out to defend one would only deepen the losses — hence Dang Gyu-young's order to withdraw every member from Exchange B.
Once the link to the control tower was cut, Dang Gyu-young handed me a few objects that looked something like fireworks — signal flares, the kind you activated by feeding them mana.
"Here, hold onto these."
"These are the ones the Disciplinary Committee uses, aren't they."
"Swiped 'em, yep."
Dang Gyu-young flashed a grin. Handing over stolen Disciplinary Committee flares could only mean one thing: put them to use as decoys.
From the rooftop, we fixed our gaze on the direction of Exchange B.
"Supposedly they're all gathering over there..."
"They'll be scattering to the four winds soon enough."
The moment Exchange B was secured, they would fan out in every direction to hunt down the next exchange. And our job, as the reserve force, was to throw a wrench into that search.
"Should I fire one off early?"
"Knock yourself out."
Dang Gyu-young shrugged, and I channeled mana into a flare. A brilliant streak of light shot skyward.
Fwoooosh——bang!
In that very instant, presences came rushing toward us. No need to look — Disciplinary Committee, obviously.
"We're bolting."
"Bolt."
We flung ourselves toward the next building.
"We've lost them."
"Is that so."
Gwak Seung-jae nodded impassively at the report. He had quietly attached two committee members to shadow Dang Gyu-young, only for her to sense them like a ghost and shake them off without a trace. If she had nothing to hide, she would have had no reason to run. So the 'mischief' Kim Ho and Dang Gyu-young were up to was, as expected, connected to the Black Market.
Pursuing them, however, was not the current priority. Gwak Seung-jae turned his head toward Han So-mi and Song Cheon-hye.
"Hellooo! We're gonna do a quick little inspection!"
"We ask for your cooperation."
The two of them had been stopping passing students and holding the crystal orb up to them to check for banned items. But the moment Gwak Seung-jae beckoned, they halted the inspections at once and came over.
"Yessir?"
"We're returning to the office."
The instant he released the incantation, a wooden door erupted from the ground with a deep rumble. Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi followed Gwak Seung-jae through, and in the next moment they stood inside the Disciplinary Committee room.
"Welcome back."
Oh Se-hun, the Disciplinary Committee Chief, greeted them with a genial smile. He and a number of other committee members stood near the wall, studying the large map pinned there. Red marks dotted the map in scattered clusters — the locations where members had caught students carrying banned items during their spot inspections. Taken together, the marks traced out a red circle, and near its center sat a single building.
A second-year committee member reported the results to Gwak Seung-jae.
"We identified one of the exchanges used for the Black Market. However, we failed to breach it."
"Why."
"A powerful formation has been laid down. We can't advance any farther."
"Did you attempt to dismantle it?"
A third-year committee member answered that one. He had a fair degree of expertise in formations, but the scowl on his face made it plain things had not gone smoothly.
"It was beyond what I could manage."
"I see."
If even a third-year couldn't take it apart, that meant a practitioner of a higher order had been involved. Oh Se-hun's crescent eyes curved gently.
"It seems Dang Gyu-young prepared quite thoroughly."
Retaining a graduate must have cost her a pretty penny. It spoke to a fierce determination to make this year's Black Market a success. But whatever her determination, a violation of academy rules was still a violation — they could hardly stand by while banned items were traded out in the open.
Besides, graduates were not a resource exclusive to the Thief Club's side. Oh Se-hun bowed his head toward the woman seated quietly on the sofa.
"We would ask for your assistance, sunbae."
[172] The Support Ate it All