Chapter 151

“What on earth is the meaning of this!”

A giant yellow duck floating in the middle of the Han River.

It looked like a cute rubber balloon from the outside, but that was just a disguise; inside was the command headquarters of the Special Unit.

I opened the zipper on its wing and stepped inside, and there, the root of all evil sat with her legs crossed, sipping coffee.

It was the ‘Minor Justice,’ or rather, the ‘Little Tyrant,’ Ha Yeri.

“Why is Norkel writing a Special Unit enrollment application!”

“Hayan gave this to me before leaving, so I made contact. Just because Patel has disappeared doesn’t mean I can lose track of demon movements.”

She twirled a pink smartwatch around her finger.

It had been my mistake to leave it on the desk, overly engrossed in acting the part of a ‘spy who has started feeling the sting of conscience.’

“It should have been locked… how did you open it?”
“I tried a few times and it worked. The password was ‘1q2w3e4r’—how utterly sloppy.”

That wasn’t me, but Norkel who had set it, but regardless, the important thing was that a demon was currently roaming in the middle of Seoul.

“I’ve prepared for contingencies, so don’t worry too much. Besides, those who accepted my invitation belong to the moderate faction within the Council.”

Well, to be precise, I should call them the minority faction.

I pinpointed one question from Ha Yeri’s words as she sipped her coffee and glanced at the CCTV.

“Them? Did you call in forces other than the nightmare demons?”

“They came to find me first, somehow. They said they were managing a guild combination of some sort?”

—Welcome to the Cherry Blossom Festival with the Special Unit and Citizens! Welcome to the Talent Market auction! Oh my~ I never dreamed I would get to MC such a glorious event.

It’s Rubietta…!

She must have also seized the access rights to the Witch Trade Association through my smartwatch.

The nightmare demons were merely a minority within the Council, and witches, in particular, were lowly beings not even permitted to sit at the lowest seats.

Yet, paradoxically, they were those who had inflicted the least damage on humans, making them the easiest people to form an alliance with.

“If they help expel the other demons, I plan to publicly reward them through proper procedures.”

“Specifically, how?”

“It would be best to guarantee their status and then create an autonomous district for them to relocate to. Hmm… how about Busan?”

That devil…!

We might join hands because our interests align, but demons are still demons.

It seemed she intended to chase them out of Seoul once they had taken control of the Council, as she didn’t know what kind of danger they might pose.

To boot, she was even keeping Busan in check—a city that had recently emerged as a new hub in Asia due to political and security stability, and which had begun dreaming of becoming an international English city again.

“Busan’s recent movements are unusual. The agents dispatched from Division 1 are currently carrying out their missions, but since we don’t know what kind of conflicts might arise with them in the long term, it wouldn’t be bad to plant a bomb or two.”

“My goodness… wasn’t Busan our ally?!”

“In the international community, there are no eternal allies or eternal enemies. Mayor Park Mak-rye, who can annihilate the entire city of Busan at any time through the treaty, is a dangerous figure. Isn’t it a good thing if we can wipe out the demons as a bonus in the process?”

Even though Mala-nim occasionally mistakes my name and calls me a demon, the real devil was right in front of my eyes.

I had to inform the ‘Iron-Blooded Monarch,’ Grandma Park Mak-rye, that the Commander of Special Unit Division 2 was preparing for a cold war as quickly as possible.

To do that, I had to first save the nightmare demons and the witches to stop Ha Yeri’s plan.

Even if they were once in the same boat, I couldn’t let them be toyed with by the hands of that cruel little monarch.

“I’ll do it. Give me the mask back.”

“Now? Weren’t you sick of acting as a spy?”

“I said give it to me quickly, didn’t I?”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t throw it away. Here it is.”

I retrieved Patel’s mask, using up the wish coupon I had received when I rescued Yoo Se-byeol from the mansion.

It felt as though she had anticipated this situation and handed over the mask immediately, but that must just be my imagination.

The familiar texture that clung to my hand.

I wanted to put it on right then and there to rescue the nightmare demons and witches, but I had to participate in the auction first.

Before leaving the duck base.

Realizing there was one thing I hadn’t received back from her, I held out my hand.

“Give me my finger too.”

“Ah…!”

“Commander Ha Yeri?”

“About that…”

She, who always wanted to look down on me with dignity but was forced to look up due to our height difference, averted her eyes.

She didn’t throw it away, did she?

“Where is my finger?”

“The, the Commander-in-Chief held the Talent Market rather suddenly, didn’t she? She said it was fine to put up any item, but since I wasn’t prepared…”

“Don’t tell me…”

At that moment, coinciding with the start of the auction, Rubietta’s voice introducing the items reached me from across the river.

—The first item on the auction block is a ‘Living Finger’! According to the seller’s description, it hates baths, so to wash it, you have to fill a basin with water and dip its tip in, and it will come on its own.

—Oh~ It’s writing something after being placed on the paper! ‘I will become the new King of Tentacles?’

—Hahaha, what an interesting little fellow. I will start the initial bid at 100 Talents!

I rushed over to place a bid, however small the amount, but because of the nature of the fast-paced auction, the finger had already been sold.

My efforts to discover its whereabouts were also in vain.

I heard that a mysterious woman with long hair had won the bid, but her characteristics were somewhat unique.

Color, scent, sound, and atmosphere.

It was the common testimony of witnesses that they seemed like a dangerous person who didn’t fit in with the peaceful festival grounds.

Even the Talent tickets they paid with showed clear signs of being forged, and while the guards rushed to chase them, they couldn’t be found anywhere.

They had disappeared with the goods.

Anyway, what’s done is done; it can’t be helped.

I waited briefly until the end of the first part of the auction, successfully bid 3 Talents for Alexei’s Kandu mirror ball, and then approached Rubietta, who was resting behind the stage.

Her red pupils widened slightly as she saw me wearing the mask.

“Oh? Patel!?”

“It’s been a while. Rubietta, have you been well…”

“How I’ve missed you!”

“…?”

It was a sudden embrace.

Were we that close?

I didn’t remember ever being close enough with her to share kisses on the cheek in a dark place behind the stage, let alone Norkel.

The scent of mugwort and herbs drifted from her hair, tickling my nose.

Come to think of it, the nightmare demons had at least offered up all the funds they collected in their smartwatches to me, but these guys hadn’t given me anything in particular.

If I cooperated with the humans, should I make them go up to Mount Cheonsan at night and dig up wild ginseng or something?

The moment I thought that, I felt a small sting on the back of my head.

“Ouch.”

“Everyone was in a total panic because you suddenly disappeared after the Great Invasion. And what happened in Thunder Rain Valley? I heard you appeared in a place where there were two Transcendent-level Awakened, so I thought you must have really died this time… I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Rubietta.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you just pull out some of my hair?”

“Oh, no? Not at all.”

Despite her words, she quickly tucked the hair she was holding into a ziplock bag.

She didn’t forget to write ‘Flauros’s’ in pretty handwriting on the label with a quill pen and vacuum-pack it using magic to remove the air inside.

“Anyway, why haven’t you been coming to the Council lately?”

“I had some busy work.”

“The Seat of Flame is almost on the verge of war right now. If Patel doesn’t mediate, we might all perish together…”

Strictly speaking, aren’t you guys on the side of the Seat of the Abyss?

“Ahem, that is why I came to Rubietta. Make sure to follow my instructions well.”

I immediately started clearing things up.

I decided to meet Bella and Flauros separately to make appointments with them.

If I could just resolve the blood pact issue, there would be no reason for the two of them to fight.

I would like to split my body in two if I could, but since that’s impossible, I have no choice but to coax them well with words.

And I also had to make the nightmare demons and the witches move under my command.

“It is better to refrain from making contact with the Special Unit. If there is anything, please go through me.”

“Oh my, do you have connections with the Special Unit side as well?”

“What do you think is the reason I was able to bring this out?”

When I showed her the watch I received from Norkel, Rubietta nodded with eyes full of respect.

It was fortunate she didn’t know that Sae Hayan and Patel were the same person.

It seemed the witches’ information network couldn’t penetrate the security of the Counterintelligence Unit either.

If so, one more thing.

There was something I had to ask her.

“In the second part of the auction, a Special Unit member named ‘Sae Hayan’ will come up as an item.”

“Let’s see… yes, it’s there. It says they voluntarily sold their body to pay for their sick younger sister’s medicine. It also says they will serve the pretty, kind, and rich master who purchased them for their entire life.”

“The latter is absolutely not true. Doesn’t Rubietta have the Talents?”

As with all auctions in the world, the organizer receives a certain percentage of the commission as payment for selling the items.

Since the Special Unit, which only gives 150 won in life insurance, would never actually hand out real money, it was obvious that the amount paid to the Witch Trade Association would also be in Talents.

“Yes, I have quite a lot.”

“How much?”

“About 10 billion.”

“Good, you can use all of that to purchase the agent I just mentioned.”

By doing this, I would be set free, the Seat of Flame would not be divided, and the nightmare demons and witches could escape from the evil clutches of Ha Yeri.

The problem was that even if it was money that would turn into scrap paper after the festival ended, I didn’t know if Rubietta, the owner of the association covering the entire Demon Realm, would use such an astronomical amount as I said without any complaints…

“I will do that.”

“Are you sure?”

Unexpectedly, she readily agreed to spend 10 billion—over 100 billion won in Korean currency—with her hand hidden behind her skirt, caressing the bag containing my hair she had just plucked.

“Yes, because I have gained something much greater than that.”

“What on earth is that great gain…”

“Do you want to know?”

“…”

“Patel?”

“It’s nothing. You must keep the part I just mentioned.”

There’s a saying that sometimes not knowing is bliss.

After receiving her promise, I took off the mask and moved to the waiting room.

It was called a waiting room, but it was a warehouse where the items to be auctioned were piled up.

While I was alive and breathing among all sorts of goods, my turn finally came.

—Then, let’s resume the auction! The item announcing the start of the second part is this!

As I went up on the stage following the staff’s guidance, I saw Cheon So-baek’s bright, smiling face from afar.

She immediately raised her picket at my starting bid of 100 Talents and bid an astronomical amount.

“7 billion.”

“I have 7 billion! Is there a higher bid?”

Since it was money that would go toward the building payment anyway, it would actually be a problem if it were bought low.

But it’s no problem.

I have loaded up bullets worth a whopping 1.5 times that.

No matter how rich Cheon So-baek is, Talents are not cash but are paid out according to the contributions made to the Special Unit so far.

It meant she couldn’t just pull them out of her wallet infinitely.

“Me, me!”

“Yes, the little de… girl wearing the party hat over there!”

With this, I can throw off the shackles and be free.

“One, two, three…”

But then.

Before the little witch, entrusted with the Talents by Rubietta, could raise her hand, the person sitting next to her raised the picket first.

“Fourteen…”

“Fourteen billion.”

“Pardon…?”

The identity of the woman who had doubled the amount while glaring at Cheon So-baek with half-dead eyes was none other than Yoo Se-byeol.