“…Haha, what an honor it is to have a chat with Sir Quartz.”
Adam looked at him with a forced smile and spoke. Johann thought about fixing Adam’s slightly twisted lip corner but decided to stay silent for now.
After all, it wouldn’t be too late to deal with things once he got all the fluff off.
“Hahaha! Tea time with a young hero! How delightful!”
‘Shit, what should I do?’
‘Damn…’
No matter how twisted their guts were, the two had no choice but to endure. It was obvious that overpowering the opponent in front of them was impossible from the start.
The man who returned with the head of the demon that Sabrina and her companions had barely managed to defeat long ago was a monster that could perhaps be called humanity’s strongest.
Although the situation was practically a dead end, they couldn’t just give in helplessly, so they desperately wracked their brains.
Johann casually watched the two as they tried to figure out a way to slyly exit after extinguishing the flames.
‘Shall I relieve some curiosity?’
Why Adam had planned this, why he thought of kidnapping Terry, where he procured the drugs…
There were a mountain of questions. Most were out of curiosity, but he thought he had to figure out the route of drug importation.
That was because smashing the very import route would be good for Kalon City as well.
“Did you eat well?”
“Ah, yes… I ate well.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
At Johann’s offhand comment, Adam’s complexion turned pale.
‘Could it be that he mixed drugs in the food?!’
It was a ridiculous thought logically, but there was nothing more foolish than judging the person in front of him with common sense. Thus, Adam could barely react to the statement.
“Haha… today’s menu was delicious.”
“Hahaha! Indeed! What a pity!”
Against the backdrop of their laughter, Johann tapped the table with his finger. Adam and Gross felt a chill run down their spines at the seemingly meaningless action.
‘What is it? What did he do?’
‘Is it a signal? What does it mean?’
Cough cough cough~ Lie detector Rue makes her entrance!
“Why are you so tense? I’m not even royalty. You can speak comfortably. Ah, rest assured, I’ve made arrangements to keep our conversation from leaking out.”
“How could we dare to speak recklessly to Sir Quartz? That would be against etiquette.”
“I have those who know that bothering me is a nuisance.”
With a piercing gaze, he alternated between glaring at Adam and Gross. The two trembled like wolves in front of a predator. For them, simply enduring that intense aura was exhausting.
After tormenting them with his gaze for a while, he leaned back on the sofa with his arms crossed and asked.
“Adam.”
“Y-yes?”
“It seems you want to kill Dern, the guild leader.”
Adam made a complicated expression at his question. Besides not wanting to reveal his situation, the one asking was an utter stranger.
He opened and closed his mouth several times, realizing again that he had no choice but to answer, and began to recount his story.
“I’m an adopted son.”
“I know.”
“My parents were killed.”
“Hmm.”
“The one who killed my parents… was Dern, the guild leader.”
Adam gritted his teeth.
He still saw the scene of his parents hanging in his dreams. After losing the guild, living in despair, eventually the sight of his parents hanging.
“I wandered through orphanages until I unexpectedly caught his eye and became his adopted son. It was absurd. He didn’t even recognize the heir of the guild he had ruined.”
“That’s quite an astonishing fact.”
Hmm, not a lie…
‘Revenge for a parent? Dern is also quite culpable. I should hear more from Dern…’
It was a story as typical as they come. Johann turned his gaze to Gross. Gross felt his throat tighten when Johann’s gaze landed on him. For the first time in decades, he looked at the man in front of him with a tense face.
“What’s the reason for abducting the child?”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about, but… that wasn’t me!”
That’s a lie.
“Hmm.”
Johann quietly hovered a fireball over his right index finger. The fireball, small enough to seem cute, loomed large as a rock to Gross.
“I can tell when someone is lying. You just… lied to me.”
‘Shit!’
The tiny fireball, barely leaving his fingertip, slowly approached Gross. Although it was only the size of a fingernail, the heat was as fierce as a campfire’s flame.
“Do you know what the most painful death a person can face is?”
“…I—I don’t know.”
“Burning to death, they say.”
The fireball that had been moving like a slug suddenly shot towards his face like an arrow.
“AAAH!”
His lower body got wet. It was from the fear of losing control. Johann scoffed and turned to Adam again.
“I don’t have much patience. If you want to live… think carefully.”
“Are you saying that if I tell the truth, you’ll let me live?”
“I guarantee it on my honor.”
“…I was planning to capture your attention with the kidnapping and take over the guild.”
That’s the truth?
“Good to hear you’re honest. Here’s the next question: Where did you get the drugs?”
“…From a black market dealer.”
“Hmm. If you have any, hand it over.”
Adam pulled out a small box containing the Angel’s Call from his possession and handed it to Johann. Johann opened the box, examining it with interest, and picked up a small sugar cube-shaped drug.
“It looks like sugar cubes.”
“It was mixed with sugar to make it look that way.”
“Is it worth anything?”
“…Quite a bit.”
“With this amount, what happens to the person who ingests it?”
“The amount inside is so tiny that the effects aren’t significant. However, if not taken continuously, side effects will occur.”
“Can it kill from side effects?”
“Not quite.”
Johann recalled the Dern he had found in the hospital. Could that be the case?
“That’s too bad.”
Johann dropped the Angel’s Call into the two teacups sitting on the table. The now lukewarm tea absorbed the Angel’s Call.
Adam and Gross looked on with pale faces as they shouted at him.
“Didn’t you promise you’d let us live?!”
“You said that drinking this wouldn’t kill you! Now, drink up.”
Johann observed the hesitating duo and lifted Rue, who was hanging at his waist.
“Rue. They say it’s hard for them to drink. As guests, you should really help them out, right?”
That’s easy enough!
“Just control their bodies.”
Understood!
They didn’t know what Rue was, covering their sight. But their instincts whispered to them. If they made eye contact, it would all be over.
“P-please… just… let me live…”
“Open your eyes.”
Rue’s eyes sparkled like flashbangs, and Johann’s shovel swooshed through the air.
“AAAH! My arm!”
In the face of excruciating pain, Gross’s eyes opened. And— that was the end of it.
“Shit! No! This can’t be happening!”
His arm moved against his will. Gross’s body gracefully reached for the teacup’s handle while he spewed out profanities with his mouth.
Only his mind and mouth were intact.
The teacup got slowly closer to his lips.
“Please…! Please save me!”
“Where’s that yapping coming from?”
Johann pretended to dig in his ear with his pinky as Gross, who could no longer even twitch his lips, downed the contents in the cup.
“Adam. Now it’s your turn.”
“…I’ll wait for you in hell.”
That was Adam’s last word.
Johann stood up, watching Adam struggle to take in the tea.
——————–
After Adam and Gross became drugged-up wrecks, things proceeded swiftly.
The returned guild leader, Dern, normalized the guild, appointed his loyal subordinates to positions of power, and expelled the employees who belonged to the Gross and Adam factions, tidying up the internal affairs.
And for Sif…
“Johann… thank you so much.”
After an emotional reunion with Terry, Sif was the first to express her gratitude to me. I scratched my head at her words and nodded.
“I’m glad you came back safe.”
“Gold coins 500… I will definitely repay you.”
“I don’t intend to be petty with that much money.”
Money can be earned again. I briefly looked at her before turning back to Karina, who was waiting behind me.
“Karina. I have something to say.”
“…I think I already know what you’re going to say. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
“Sif is our ally too, you know.”
“Wha-what do you mean?”
“From now on, live at Yeomyeong-gwan. So will your siblings.”
Sif’s eyes widened at my words. It must have been quite a shock to hear to live at Yeomyeong-gwan.
“Us?”
“You’re my secretary, so that would be more efficient. Plus, the owner of this mansion also permitted your stay, so just move your things over.”
“…Thank you.”
A bright smile bloomed on Sif’s face.
It was a pure smile different from her usual demeanor.
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