Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Yu Se-hee looked at the Black Lion with an expression of disbelief.

“So you’re saying Goran is dead?”

“Judging by the circumstances, it seems so.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“......”

“You’re saying it’s true?”

Yu Se-hee’s eyes trembled.

Even the Black Lion, who was giving the report, looked as though he found it hard to believe.

Goran had gone missing, and Zeon, who had fought him, had returned home.

What that meant was clear.

Zeon had won.

“Then is Zeon going to rule Shinchon?”

“That does not seem to be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“He met Eaton. Afterward, Eaton went around Goran’s establishments and began handling the aftermath.”

“He won the war, but he won’t rule?”

“It seems so.”

“Haa! What a troublesome man.”

Yu Se-hee let out a sigh.

Someone like Goran had actually been easier to deal with.

He was full of desire, and he did not hide the desires he possessed.

Because of that, everything about him had been clear.

As long as she acted in a way that did not obstruct Goran’s goals, there would be no problem.

But Zeon was different.

Everything about him was unclear.

Not a single thing had been grasped, from his past to his present.

He was like someone who had dropped from the sky.

After taking charge of the Goblin Market, she had met countless people, but this was her first time meeting someone like Zeon.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Se-hee rose from her seat.

“Are you going out?”

“I need to meet Grandfather.”

“I will escort you.”

Under the Black Lion’s escort, Yu Se-hee left the Goblin Market.

The place she headed to was an area crowded with shops.

Yu Se-hee walked toward one of them.

“What brings you here?”

An old man who had been busy preparing for business discovered Yu Se-hee and made a puzzled expression.

Yu Se-hee put on a prim expression.

“Is it strange for a granddaughter to come see her grandfather?”

“It is strange. Suspicious, even.”

“Grandfather!”

At the old man’s reaction, Yu Se-hee shouted.

“My ears are going to fall off. How does your temper stay the same no matter how old you get? Sit down.”

The old man offering Yu Se-hee a seat was none other than old man Clexi.

Yu Se-hee sat down and said,

“You handed your granddaughter such a troublesome position and now you’re living happily.”

“Does this look like living happily to you?”

“Yes!”

“I cannot exactly deny it. Well, it is true that I am living more enjoyably than ever.”

“Tch!”

Yu Se-hee pouted.

Old man Clexi and Yu Se-hee were grandfather and granddaughter.

The Goblin Market she ruled had originally been created by old man Clexi.

Of course, it was entirely Yu Se-hee’s achievement that it had expanded to its current scale, but old man Clexi had been the one who started it.

For some reason, old man Clexi had left the Goblin Market in Yu Se-hee’s hands and lived as a street vendor himself.

“So! What is it that’s making my granddaughter so troubled?”

“Can you see that?”

“Haven’t I told you over and over? You must never reveal what’s inside.”

“I am doing that.”

“Then why can I read you?”

“That is because you are......”

“It is because of Zeon, isn’t it?”

“......”

At old man Clexi’s words, which struck the mark, Yu Se-hee pressed her lips shut.

She prided herself on having grown quite a lot, but in front of old man Clexi, everything about her was read.

“There is no need to feel so disheartened. Even I have not fully figured Zeon out yet.”

“I need to know more about him. Tell me everything you know.”

“The truth is, I hardly know anything either. It has been eight years since I last saw that boy here.”

“What was he like when you first met him?”

“Back then, he was a little clueless. He probably thought he was hardening his heart in his own way, but that made him even easier to fleece.”

“You fleeced him?”

“Heh-heh! Of course.”

“You really are wicked.”

Even at his granddaughter’s scolding, old man Clexi did not so much as blink.

“Back then, it was definitely easy to read what was inside him. But now he has become a slippery snake.”

“So even you do not know what is going on inside his head?”

“I hate to admit it, but yes. I do not know what kind of experiences he had over the past eight years, but he knows how to hide what is inside him thoroughly. Be careful. If you make a mistake, even you could be devoured by him.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am serious. The Zeon I met eight years ago and the Zeon now are completely different people. That is why I am also trying to understand him again from the beginning.”

“Hmm!”

“Goran was definitely defeated by him. Even after mobilizing all of Argos’s Eye, we cannot find Goran’s whereabouts.”

Argos’s Eye was one of the organizations old man Clexi had created along with the Goblin Market.

It was an intelligence organization created to protect the Goblin Market, and its eyes were spread throughout the entire slums.

Old man Clexi had not yet handed Argos’s Eye over to Yu Se-hee.

That was because he thought Yu Se-hee’s ability was still insufficient to operate even Argos’s Eye.

He intended to hand Argos’s Eye to her once she had grown further.

Yu Se-hee let out a sigh.

“Haa! Just what is his true identity?”

“Who knows? I want to know too.”

---

Zeon looked down at the sofa with an exasperated expression.

Briel was sprawled on the sofa.

Her pointed hat had fallen to the floor, fully revealing her pointed ears.

With unfocused eyes, Briel stared blankly at Zeon.

Zeon let out a sigh.

“Whew! A High Elf drunk on drugs.”

Just an hour earlier, Briel’s physical condition had rapidly worsened.

In the end, she had no choice but to take a stimulant.

This was the result.

Honestly, seeing a little elf dazed from a stimulant did not feel good.

No matter how much of an elf she was, she was still a child.

Leaving race aside, the fact that a child had no choice but to depend on medicine to live was pitiful.

If Deioden had been alive to see this sight, he would probably have laughed and said it served her right. But Zeon was different from Deioden.

His values and the way he looked at the world were all different.

Suddenly, he missed Deioden.

He had truly burned away like a flame and left no trace in this world.

It could be called an end befitting Deioden.

While Zeon was remembering Deioden like that, Briel, who had been intoxicated by the drug, slowly came back to her senses.

“Haa! Fuck!”

Briel sat up on the sofa and spat out a curse first.

The first thing she picked up was the pointed hat that had fallen to the floor.

After pulling the pointed hat down low, Briel looked at Zeon.

“It was made with cheap ingredients, so the side effects are severe. Even if it’s ugly to look at, you’d better get used to it.”

“If the ingredients are better, will your condition improve a little?”

“Probably, wouldn’t it?”

“Let’s go!”

“Where?”

“Just follow me.”

Zeon put on his robe and went outside.

After staring at his back for a moment, Briel hurriedly followed him.

After leaving the building, the two walked down the street.

The place Zeon took Briel to was the Goblin Market.

“Wow!”

At the sight of the Goblin Market, which she was seeing for the first time in her life, Briel let out an exclamation.

To her, who had only been in the damp underground, the Goblin Market was a new world.

The people walking through the streets, the goods laid out on the stalls, and the market’s unique lively air stole her soul away.

“To think a place like this exists in the world?”

Briel wore an enchanted expression.

Zeon said to her,

“If you see decent ingredients, buy them.”

“Can I buy as much as I want?”

“Yes!”

“Thank you!”

Briel excitedly ran toward a shop.

Zeon silently followed behind her.

That was when it happened.

“She’s a pretty child. Who is she?”

A familiar voice came from behind him.

Zeon recognized the owner of the voice without even turning his head.

“What brings the owner of the Goblin Market here?”

“As you can see, I’m patrolling.”

The one who answered in a calm voice was none other than Yu Se-hee.

She had appeared with the Black Lion.

Yu Se-hee asked once more,

“So who is that child?”

“She was kidnapped and held in the Crocodile Den.”

“Hmm!”

“She said she has nowhere to go, so I’m keeping her with me.”

“You’re more compassionate than you look.”

“I am quite compassionate.”

“Let’s talk.”

“Aren’t we talking right now?”

“Somewhere quiet.”

“As you can see, I need to watch that child.”

“This man will watch her instead.”

Yu Se-hee pointed at the Black Lion.

There was no one in the Goblin Market who did not know the Black Lion. No merchant would try to overcharge a child the Black Lion was watching.

Zeon nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

“Follow me!”

After telling Briel to shop as much as she wanted, Zeon went with Yu Se-hee to her office.

“What would you like to drink?”

“A glass of water is enough.”

At Zeon’s answer, Yu Se-hee poured water into a cup and handed it to him.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

“You really are an interesting man.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll ask directly. What happened to Goran?”

“What do you think happened?”

“Did you kill him?”

“Yes!”

“How?”

“Just like that.”

At Zeon’s brief answer, Yu Se-hee frowned.

She stared intensely at Zeon.

An ordinary person would not have dared meet her eyes, but it did not work on Zeon.

“So it’s a secret?”

“Even men have secrets they want to hide.”

“Fine! I acknowledge that. Then I’ll make one proposal.”

“What is it?”

“Join the Goblin Market.”

“I refuse.”

“Hey!”

At Zeon’s answer, which cut her down at once, Yu Se-hee shouted. But Zeon continued without the slightest change in expression.

“If I intended to join the Goblin Market, I wouldn’t have needed to go through the trouble of dealing with Goran. If I had simply joined the Goblin Market, even Goran wouldn’t have been able to touch me easily.”

“Ugh!”

Yu Se-hee’s face crumpled.

That was because she knew Zeon was right.

If he had intended to entrust himself to the Goblin Market, there would have been no need to handle things so inconveniently.

Yu Se-hee wanted Zeon.

If she could bring Zeon into the Goblin Market, it would definitely become more secure than now. But since he had made his refusal so clear, she could not force him either.

Excessive coercion would certainly only provoke the other party’s resistance.

“Okay! Fine. I’ll respect your wishes. Instead......”

“Instead?”

“I’ll raise your Goblin Market access grade. In exchange, when we have a request, I want you to consider it positively.”

“What benefits come with an increased grade?”

“You’ll be able to use the Goblin Market’s secret auction house.”

“An auction house?”

“Yes! Sometimes, items that are hard to dispose of in Neo Seoul appear there.”

“Is that so?”

“What will you do?”

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

The two shook hands.