Chapter 88

“Come on now, everyone, let’s keep things orderly, okay?”

“Yes, Chairwoman!”

“This place is very, very scary, you know. If you’re not careful, the Apostle of the Outer God might come snatch you away.”

“Kyaaa! Kyaaah!”

The woman who entered after them was Rubietta, the chairwoman of the Witch Trade Association.

Her sculpture-like face was the same as the last time I’d seen her—except her mouth was now torn in a grotesque slit.

It was the price she paid for standing up during the last council session without being granted the right to speak in order to defend me.

Being able to seat Flauros as the representative of the Seat of Flame had been thanks to her help as well.

I hadn’t forgotten.

But after the restoration of the Gyeongbu Line, I’d been busy with all sorts of matters, and more importantly, there was simply no way to contact the witches.

I thought I’d only see her again once the next council meeting opened, yet here she was, visiting me directly.

I was glad, but first, I couldn’t help but ask how she’d even found this place.

“Such an enviable hideout. The headquarters of the Apostle of the Outer God, set right in the heart of an Archduke’s legacy… not only humans, but even most demons wouldn’t be able to locate it easily.”

“How did you find this place?”

“Oh my, didn’t Velada tell you? You subscribed to Heretic Daily this time, and she listed this location as the delivery address.”

“…”

It was… a surprisingly ordinary method.

I thought she’d tracked me through black magic or something.

I would need to speak with Velada later.

Unlike me, she and Flauros could end up in danger if other demons discovered their location.

Rubietta was right—this wasn’t a place just anyone could reach, but still, caution never hurt.

“Don’t worry. Our lips are heavier than they look—we sink quite easily.”

“That depends on where I decide to drop you.”

I placed a chunk of mana stone in front of smiling Rubietta.

It was leftover material after paying the construction balance.

A witch’s lips opened and closed freely depending on the price of the lock you put on them.

Even if you threw them into the water, unless you tied stones of this weight to their ankles, they’d float right back up.

“Hush money. This should be more convenient than the local currency.”

“You really do understand witches too well. Did you trade with us back when you were in the Black Tower?”

“Your reason for coming?”

“How cold. I came to deliver this.”

She handed me a sheet of parchment.

When I opened it, I found a catalog listing various items sold by the Witch Trade Association.

As expected of a business whose main customers were black mages and demons, they sold cursed artifacts and rare demonic creatures that were hard to obtain in the Demon Realm.

Among the highest-priced items were even crude incarnate vessels and fragments of dimensional cores capable of opening a one-time gate.

Did they even pawn from an Archduke?

Truly, the witches had remarkable business instincts.

“Was Belle Époque your shop too? The clerk didn’t look like a witch.”

“We set up a specially crafted doll there with permission from the Chairwoman. Many customers don’t want our dirty witch hands touching the expensive fabrics and leathers in a boutique.”

“Even though only mental bodies can enter inside the council’s interior?”

“Well, it’s a matter of feeling. It’s our strategy to meet customer preferences as much as possible.”

I’d asked after seeing the shoes I’d bought for Velada, and Rubietta answered with a laugh.

Demons shunned witches for being stingy enough to sell even their souls if it meant profit—but that had nothing to do with me.

For someone like me, who could produce an infinite number of tentacles, the potential uses for their shop were endless.

I almost regretted only now being able to make proper use of it.

“Please continue to patronize the Witch Trade Association~.”

“It would’ve been nice if you’d given this to me earlier.”

“My, I worked quite hard, you know? You’re so elusive that if you hadn’t been here this time, I would’ve had to wait until next year.”

She explained that she’d originally planned to hand me the catalog after the last council meeting, but Flauros refused to let me go, so the timing was delayed.

To be fair, that had been when Division 3 got caught in that trap and I was barely keeping myself together.

After we finished talking, I handed each young witch a tentacle lollipop before sending them off.

Just before she prepared her spatial transfer, Rubietta suddenly turned back and asked me:

“Right, Lord Patel. After your battle with Her Highness, the Archduke of Flames… do you know where the Apostle of the Outer God went?”

Why was she asking that?

I asked without much thought.

But Rubietta’s reaction was far more dramatic than expected.

“Are you planning to trade with the Apostle of the Outer God too?”

“Of course not! If we tried approaching him, he would ravage everything we have!”

No, I’d pay full price for my purchases—

…was what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice it.

Back when I had wandered the Demon Realm, I might not have ravaged them, but I would have just beaten someone up and taken whatever item I needed.

I’d chased witches off on their broomsticks like they were flies more times than I could count, so it made sense they’d hold some hostility.

“W-We witches would never act against the council’s decisions!”

“Huh?”

“It would go against the will of our Chairwoman, who owns everything we are! And if we were to break our blood pact even once, we would fall into the River of Death and drown for eternity…!”

As I fell silent in thought, Rubietta must have assumed I was doubting her loyalty. She instantly dispelled her spell and dropped to her knees.

Her sudden movement startled the young witches, who dropped their candies onto the ground.

So the witches were Trishy’s subordinates.

Even Karzos, Furcas’s underling, who always lifted his chin stiffly like a black mage, still had to show this level of deference?

For an Archduke’s followers, they were treated surprisingly harshly.

“I’m not doubting you. I was just curious. Why are you looking for him?”

“S-Solely for business! Information about the Apostle of the Outer God’s whereabouts sells for a high price among demons…”

“Really?”

“Yes! Since you, Lord Patel, knew about the fact he had a lover, we thought you might have other information as well… so we were hoping to purchase it while we had the chance… If this offended you, I apologize.”

Was that really all?

I knew they dealt in information as well as goods—but something felt like she was hiding more.

Either way, this wasn’t worth an apology.

I replaced the dropped candies with fresh ones and spoke to Rubietta.

“I don’t know right now. If I find out later, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you. Um…”

“What?”

“Please… keep this from the Chairwoman…”

“Sure, fine.”

After finishing two rounds of business meetings, I didn’t leave Ground Zero until the sun had fully set.

As compensation for overlooking her mistake, I’d been gifted a one-year free subscription to Heretic Daily plus next-day express delivery service, leaving my pockets pleasantly full.

—This is News48, bringing you this week’s updates.

—Recently, the demon clans’ activity hasn’t looked normal. Unregistered Gates that the Magic Tower failed to detect have been appearing more frequently, and tentacles have started sprouting across various spots in the city. There have also been multiple eyewitness reports claiming that anomalies from Ground Zero were observed outside the barrier—something previously considered extremely rare.

—The Ability Management Bureau believes these phenomena are connected to the currently Most Wanted Rank-1 criminal, the ‘Great Evil Patel,’ and has raised his bounty to four billion, dead or alive.

—Even so, thanks to the exceptional performance of the Special Unit, there have been no major casualties. Commander Ha Yeri of the Counterintelligence Unit announced that at dawn yesterday, they successfully cleared a Rank-1 Gate that appeared in central Seoul.

—The Gate had originally been attempted by the mid-tier guild ‘Festival of Tempests,’ but the raid failed, leaving thirteen Awakeners trapped inside.

—The Bureau immediately deployed seven Special Unit members, successfully rescued all trapped personnel, defeated the boss, and closed the Gate.

—The operation reportedly included several rising stars from each squad, such as the ‘Butcher of Bishkek’ and the ‘Spear of Lightning,’ as well as the ‘Mad Dog’ from the Busan Alliance.

—Commander-in-Chief Ha Yeri—also known as ‘Minor Justice’—briefly commented that she was relieved her first joint operation with the Alliance ended safely.

—Up next, we’ll show an interview with the Giant of Bishkek.

—In other news, the upper research circle of the Blue Magic Tower received an anonymous tip. It claimed that the ‘Clairvoyant’ Esma Miller had been forcing his graduate student to work ten months straight without sending them home. The Blue Tower strongly denied this, insisting that such a student doesn’t even exist in their registry. The Bureau is expected to launch a full investigation…

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“My name isn’t there.”

I pointed at the hospital room’s TV while complaining to Kang Ha-neul, who was sitting beside me waiting for his turn for outpatient treatment.

Since the dormitory’s heating was centrally controlled, I had come to this slightly warmer ward to hang out for the morning.

For reference, the reason his leg was in a cast was simple: he’d received a call about tentacles appearing in someone’s home, went to handle it as part of a mission, and got injured.

He said he was attacked by a black mage suspected of planting the tentacles. If I ever met that guy, I would personally deliver bloody vengeance.

“I contributed too, you know. I went inside that Rank-1 Gate and fought right next to your sibling.”

“And?”

“But everyone else gets mentioned on the news while my name is the only one missing.”

“It’s right there.”

The tip of his spear—which he kept training with even while hospitalized—pointed to the tiny captions scrolling at high speed along the bottom of the screen.

There, in letters as tiny as an insurance contract, it said: “Other member: Sae XXXXX.”

Patel, who did nothing, had his bounty skyrocketing and breaking records…

Meanwhile, Sae Hayan of Division 3—who worked himself to the bone every day—was slowly fading into obscurity.

“That’s not good enough.”

“So you want to go out there and do an interview or something?”

“I’m not asking for an interview. I’m an Awakened who can hold my own anywhere. I just want at least a little public interest.”

Star quality wasn’t just about talent—it required luck lining up perfectly.

In fact, the Special Unit normally avoided exposing their members’ identities to the public, so they disliked this kind of media coverage altogether.

But as the saying a late-blooming bamboo pole¹ went, truly gifted individuals would eventually reveal their abilities and stand out.

I had also gained quite a bit of experience since joining the Special Unit, and I felt like a flower bud waiting for spring to bloom.

The problem was that winter was drawing near, and if I bloomed at the wrong time, I might freeze to death before fully opening.

So I revealed the real reason I’d visited Ha-neul this morning.

“To be honest, I came to ask for your help with something.”

“With what?”
“Teach me how to get an epithet.”

“An epithet?”

“Yes.”

Every renowned Awakened had one—the foundational step in building fame.

Obtaining an epithet.