Chapter 135

Chapter 135

After obtaining the information that the Scavengers were connected to the East District, Mandy returned with a grave expression.

This was not connected to just anywhere, but to the East District.

No matter how much Mandy was a Supervisor directly under the city hall, she could not dare to touch the East District.

The East District had an especially bellicose disposition, and its power was so great that it was not something a single Supervisor could handle.

She had to report it to her superiors and wait for their decision.

After Mandy returned, peace came for a short while.

Briel went back to her room, saying she would research alchemy or something, and Zeon sat on the sofa in the living room.

Beyond the red neon sign, he could see the city hall.

Even in the darkness of night, the city hall shone brightly like a lighthouse.

The city hall was the symbol of Neo Seoul.

To everyone living in Neo Seoul and the slums, the city hall was a signpost and the goal of a lifetime.

If the city hall collapsed, the hope of the people living in Neo Seoul would collapse as well. That was why it had to continue standing in the future.

“Whew!”

Zeon sighed and shook his head.

The more he thought about it, the more complicated his feelings became.

At that moment—

“Brother!”

Levin burst through the door.

Zeon rose from his seat and said,

“You’re here?”

“You were home? What about Briel?”

“She’s in her room.”

“I see.”

Levin nodded and approached Zeon.

A faint crease appeared between Zeon’s brows.

He had seen red stains on Levin’s clothes.

It was clearly blood.

Feeling Zeon’s gaze, Levin gave a faint smile and said,

“It isn’t my blood.”

“Did you fight?”

“With Scavengers.”

“They really are spreading like a virus.”

Levin also shook his head as if he was sick of them and answered,

“I have no idea where so many Scavengers were hiding. It is disgusting how they are all coming out as if they were waiting for this.”

Scavengers never targeted high-ranking Awakened.

The method to distinguish whether someone was a high-ranking Awakened was simple.

Their clothing and equipment.

The higher the rank of an Awakened, the more heavily armed they were with good weapons and items.

Scavengers never touched people like that.

They thoroughly targeted only the weak.

Ordinary people, or Awakened who did not seem particularly strong, were their targets.

Among them, the ones Scavengers persistently targeted were low-ranking Awakened.

The appropriate level of weapons, armor, and miscellaneous items worn by low-ranking Awakened were what they were after.

Levin, too, looked like an ordinary low-ranking Awakened at a glance.

Because of that, he had become a target for the Scavengers.

Of course, all the Scavengers who had recklessly charged at him had died by Levin’s hand.

Levin grumbled,

“Because of the items flowing out from the White Bear Caravan, the Scavengers have lost all fear. The Grade E and Grade F Awakened they are targeting are in a complete state of emergency.”

“I suppose so.”

Zeon nodded.

Because of the Scavengers, the slums had fallen into great chaos.

Eaton, the ruler of Sinchon, had tried to wipe out the Scavengers, but it was beyond his power.

Zeon was about to open his mouth.

THRUM!

Suddenly, an intense wave pulsed from the desert.

At the strong sensation that shook his heart, Zeon looked toward the desert.

“What is it, Brother?”

Levin looked at Zeon with a puzzled expression.

Unlike Zeon, he had felt nothing.

The powerful wave vanished in an instant like a mirage.

It was so subtle that no Awakened could feel it unless they had reached Zeon’s level.

Even Levin, who had now reached Grade C and whose senses had grown sharper, had not detected it at all.

‘What was that?’

The place where the wave had come from was the fortress of the White Bear Caravan.

Zeon put on his robe.

“It seems this will not do.”

“Are you going out?”

“I’m going to the Dokkaebi Market.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“You too?”

“It is better for two people to go than one.”

“Let’s do that.”

The two went outside together. But the atmosphere in the slums was unusual.

Most of the people moving through the streets were on edge, and the air was thick with vigilance.

Although the people of the slums generally rejected others, they had never been this fiercely wary of one another.

The rise of the Scavengers had changed the atmosphere of the slums in many ways.

Zeon and Levin passed through the slums and entered the Dokkaebi Market.

The atmosphere of the Dokkaebi Market was no different from that of the slums.

Because there had been an explosion not long ago, the mood there was even more ominous than outside.

A thorough inspection was being conducted from the entrance, and people whose identities were not certain were forbidden from entering at all.

Naturally, the number of people visiting the Dokkaebi Market had decreased. Even so, the merchants did not complain.

Zeon went straight to Yoo Se-hee’s office.

“Welcome! What brings you here?”

Yoo Se-hee, who had been looking at something, greeted Zeon.

“I just came to see what the atmosphere in the Dokkaebi Market was like.”

“As you can see, it is a mess.”

“It is.”

“You came at the right time. Will you take a look at this?”

Yoo Se-hee waved the paper in her hand.

“What is it?”

“Read it yourself.”

Zeon accepted the paper from Yoo Se-hee and read it.

“This is......”

“Exactly! An invitation. An invitation sent by the White Bear Caravan.”

“It says they are holding an auction.”

“They are bold bastards. They scattered dozens of invitations like this.”

Yoo Se-hee looked dumbfounded.

The items that had been released so far alone had thrown Neo Seoul into chaos. She had no idea what kind of even more extraordinary item they were planning to sell that made them scatter invitations so publicly like this.

“Who received the invitations?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They scattered them to everyone in Neo Seoul who has some degree of power.”

“It looks like they are determined to make the board as large as possible.”

“The problem is that the board they are trying to expand may shake Neo Seoul to its foundations.”

Yoo Se-hee’s top priority was the Dokkaebi Market.

She had worked hard for decades to stabilize it, but now, because of a caravan from outside, the order of the slums and the Dokkaebi Market was shaking.

She did not like the current situation.

“You said they are holding an auction?”

“Yes!”

“May I go with you?”

“You want to participate too?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm!”

Yoo Se-hee stared intently at Zeon’s face for a moment.

Levin, who was standing beside him, felt unnecessarily intimidated by her persistent gaze.

“Fine! Well, you certainly have more than enough qualifications to participate.”

Yoo Se-hee readily agreed.

“Thank you.”

“Forget it. If you set your mind to it, you could get an invitation like this in no time anyway.”

“Still, I am grateful.”

If it had not been for Yoo Se-hee, it would have become quite troublesome.

At that moment, Levin, who had been watching for an opportunity, said,

“Could I possibly get a potion?”

“A potion?”

“Yes!”

“That is rather precious. What kind do you need?”

Yoo Se-hee frowned.

Potions were expensive by default.

If they were merely expensive, that would not be a problem, but they were rare as well.

That was because the ingredients for potions were extremely expensive, and there were very few alchemists who could make them.

“The potion that has recently started circulating.”

“Ah, the antidote potion.”

Yoo Se-hee suddenly gave a faint smile.

The antidote potion was an item that had begun circulating recently.

Only a small quantity had been released after strict verification, but it was popular.

Among monsters, there were quite a few that carried deadly poisons. To face such monsters, an antidote potion was absolutely necessary.

But because the quantity in circulation was so small, it was difficult for Awakened without connections, like Levin, to obtain one.

Existing antidote potions were few in number, and their effects were also weak. Even so, people bought them through tears because they needed them.

But the antidote potion that had recently begun circulating through the Dokkaebi Market was different.

Although it was expensive, its efficacy was far superior to other potions.

With only a slight exaggeration, it seemed to be about three times as effective.

Because of this, Awakened who were preparing to raid dungeons had recently become desperate to obtain antidote potions.

Levin said cautiously,

“I tried to buy one from the shops, but they were so popular that they were all sold out.”

“They are still early products, so only a small amount was made. Are you going to use it yourself?”

“I want to keep it for emergencies.”

“That is a good mindset.”

Yoo Se-hee nodded as she thought of Briel.

‘That arrogant little brat still has not told him, I see. Then I should keep the secret too.’

The creator of the antidote potion was Briel.

When Yoo Se-hee had made and verified the antidote potion according to the recipe Briel gave her, she had received a tremendous shock.

In terms of performance, existing potions simply could not match it.

It was hard to believe that such an incredible potion had been made by a little child.

As promised, Yoo Se-hee thoroughly concealed the fact that Briel was the creator of the antidote potion.

There was no reason to let the goose that laid golden eggs leak to the outside.

Because she had hidden the secret so thoroughly, even Levin, who lived with her, did not know Briel was the creator of the antidote potion.

Yoo Se-hee took an antidote potion from her drawer and tossed it to him.

“It is precious, so keep it safe.”

“Ah! Thank you. The money......”

“It is a gift, so just take it.”

“Still......”

“If you really want to give something, buy some snacks for the kid.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean Briel.”

“Then why should I buy snacks for Briel?”

“If I tell you to buy them, just buy them. Do not ask or argue.”

“Yes!”

Levin, who did not understand what was going on, answered with a dazed expression.

Seeing that made Yoo Se-hee laugh despite herself.

“Pfft!”

＊＊＊

“Guh!”

A Scavenger in shabby clothes was making the sound of someone about to breathe his last.

In truth, he was on the verge of dying.

“S-spare......”

“How ridiculous!”

The one looking down at the Scavenger snorted.

It was a woman wearing a fedora and a trench coat.

Her name was Borin Stravach.

She was the captain of the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit in the North District.

The Scavenger dying in front of her had been extremely unlucky. That was because he had chosen Borin, the captain of the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit, as his target for plunder.

He had never dreamed that the one he had attacked would be the captain of the Blue Fallen Leaf Special Operations Unit.

The price was truly harsh.

It was his death.

He had not died yet, but his death was already a foregone conclusion.

There was no one who could survive with their intestines spilling out of their abdomen.

That was the Scavenger’s current condition.

Borin murmured coldly,

“You attacked an elf walking peacefully by, and you still hoped to live? That is the mind of a thief.”

“I did not know you were an elf. Please spare me!”

“It is too late.”

“Fucking elf. Go to hell.”

In the end, the Scavenger gave up on living and spat out a curse.

Those were the Scavenger’s final words.

Borin sighed as she looked at the Scavenger’s corpse.

At that moment, her eyes gleamed.

She had noticed an object sticking out from the Scavenger’s chest.

“This is?”

After picking up the object, she looked at it in disbelief.

What she held was a necklace.

A wooden plaque engraved with an incomprehensible pattern hung from a necklace made of leather cord.

From the wooden plaque, which was shaped exactly like a coin, an all too familiar scent drifted out.

It was a scent humans could never distinguish, one only elves could smell.

It was the scent of the Cloud Tree. And the Cloud Tree grew only in Kurayan.

“A necklace made from Cloud Tree. How did this item end up in human hands......?”

As far as she knew, the only person in Neo Seoul who possessed this necklace was the Elf Queen, Serian Oliana.

An item that had never existed in Neo Seoul had suddenly appeared.

And in the hands of a human.

Borin looked toward the desert.

“Could it have flowed out from the caravan?”