Chapter 141: There Are No Evil Dragons in the World (13)
Cathy is a shopping enthusiast.
Whether she's happy, sad, or just feeling indifferent, she delights in buying all sorts of things through various means. Lately, her impulse purchases have been frequent, driven by her recent sadness and depression. She was increasingly worried that her employer might actually be considering retirement. Though he constantly complained about not wanting to work, once he started, Min-jun was almost a workaholic.
If he retired, their employment relationship would likely end. The connection between them would be weakened significantly. Noticing this possibility and feeling disheartened, Cathy had been spending more and more money on shopping recently. She even bought a live alpaca while heavily intoxicated a while ago and was horrified when it was delivered to her door the next day. Since then, she had been more restrained.
Now, Cathy was in the shopping mecca of Hong Kong.
"No cars can get through beyond this point."
After handing some cash to the taxi driver, Cathy got out of the car and walked.
She was filled with enthusiasm after a long time. Few things are as enjoyable as shopping with someone else's money. The items Cathy was buying in Hong Kong were not for herself. She had been scouring the city for days, purchasing things on Min-jun's orders.
She walked through a narrow alley.
The atmosphere changed drastically as soon as she moved a few steps away from the luxurious shopping street of Tsim Sha Tsui. An orc, adorned with fake Rolex watches hanging from his wrist, approached, trying to promote his goods in broken English. Of course, she wasn't interested in such things. Ignoring him, she continued on her way. She passed a spot where the live-in maid Baliens, who had been chased out of their homes on weekends, had spread out boxes and gathered together. As she entered an alley with significantly fewer streetlights, the atmosphere changed once again.
The noise diminished, and the gloomy aura became even thicker. The drunkards and beggars who had been lying on the roadside were now gone, meaning she had entered an area too tough for them to endure.
The eyes of the street vendors grew more sinister, and their goods had transformed from dubious aphrodisiacs and unidentifiable erectile dysfunction pills to even more dangerous-looking white powders. Instead of displaying their wares on stalls, they subtly approached and showed their items from their hidden pockets.
Cathy ignored them and continued forward. She navigated through a maze-like alley without hesitation. Even in the tangled web of streets, her steps were firm.
"Hey, what are you looking for?"
At that moment, as she was about to turn a corner in a stinking alley, someone blocked her path. This meant that from here on, even if someone was attacked and their corpse was carried out, the police wouldn't be able to track it. Cathy realized she was almost at her destination. At the same time, she spoke in a cold tone.
"Move, I'm busy."
Young humans with lustful eyes. They looked like nothing more than amateurs.
The real power behind the organizations controlling these streets wouldn't recklessly mess with someone like Cathy. Wandering alone in such a dangerous place meant one of two things: Either she was a suicidal person with nothing left to lose or someone with a hidden advantage. In either case, she wasn't a valuable target.
In other words, they were idiots who couldn't even recognize that much.
"I have plenty of time."
One of them grinned and said. He then took out a knife from his pocket and aimed it at her. He thought this would be enough of a threat. How laughable.
They surrounded Cathy, blocking her escape route.
"Don't you know you shouldn't be wandering around here alone at this hour? Didn't anyone teach you?"
"If you're stupid, your body will suffer. Or do you enjoy this kind of trouble?"
"Now, let's see you hand over everything you've got…"
They continued talking with snickers.
"And then we'll slowly discuss what to do next?"
They were even worse than she had anticipated, despite not having any backing. Cathy easily recognized the characteristics of drug addicts on their faces. They had no intention of letting her go easily even if she threw her wallet at them.
Of course, she had no intention of doing so.
Cathy decided to stop wasting time. What she had just said was not a lie. She was indeed very busy.
"······!"
Her lips parted, and she muttered something. Even the stupidest of them understood the meaning of that action.
Although Min-jun had judged Cathy's magic as unimpressive, it was only according to his standards. It wasn't enough to deal with aliens, but it was sufficient to protect herself in a place like this.
"W-Witch!"
"Shit! Stab her!"
At that moment.
Whoosh!
"Argh! My eyes! My eyes!"
She set their eyes on fire just as Min-jun had taught her.
'When dealing with numerous enemies, start by burning their eyes. That's the most direct approach.' Her employer's teachings were always right. The thugs screamed and panicked, wildly swinging their knives. They lost their balance, fell, and rolled on the ground, flailing about.
Although their eyes appeared to be truly on fire, they didn't realize the temperature was absurdly low. The area they had never touched anything hotter than a towel soaked in hot water was their most sensitive spot, making it feel even hotter than the actual temperature. Fear completely scrambled their senses.
Leaving them behind, Cathy calmly walked out of the alley. She was confident that those hiding and observing her had seen the scene clearly. She had proven she was not just an average passerby.
Thanks to that, when she finally reached her destination, no one appeared to block her way or conduct a 'verification.'
"You've made quite a noisy entrance."
In a dimly lit office, a middle-aged man greeted her. Cathy recognized that the man was a mid-level member of the organization controlling Hong Kong's underworld. She had been meeting such individuals for days now, purely for business.
"I'm looking to buy something."
There were items only available from the depths of the underworld. Things that the dragons ruling the upper echelons of society had not paid attention to, hidden in dark corners.
Cathy, who had transformed sufficiently to not be recognized, took out the shopping item she had been diligently searching for over the past few days.
The man's face changed intriguingly.
"You've found it well."
Cathy internally cheered. 'Finally!'
But she asked without showing any expression.
"I was wondering who picked it up; so it was your organization?"
"The contractors hired for the cleanup of the ICC building ruins were part of our crew."
The man's eyes changed.
"We're taking risks by selling this. It was something we could extract because the dragons showed little interest in it, but if it's discovered, things will change. If they don't know, they don't know, but once they do, a firestorm will erupt. I'm not exaggerating; they might roast everyone connected to this thing."
The man was setting the stage before mentioning the price of the item.
"So, what's the item?"
The man turned on his tablet, fiddled with it, and then handed it to her. It showed a photo of an object that appeared to be shattered concrete debris.
Cathy focused on the red stains at the end of the debris.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I've confirmed it with magic. That's not human blood."
The man's eyes gleamed, and he said in a low voice.
"…It's dragon's blood!"
When the ICC building, where the lord had died, was being cleaned up, the dragons left the non-magical tasks to other races. They didn't need to handle trivial tasks like garbage removal themselves.
They thoroughly collected everything, including the lord's corpse and all 'remnants' before handing it over. However, some items were hidden to avoid the dragons' scrutiny. Tiny traces of dragon blood scattered among the debris were one such example. A single drop of living dragon blood would be incredibly valuable, so they would have fought hard to collect it. However, dried blood had no value as a magical catalyst. The dragons did not obsessively manage such things.
Cathy had confirmed with her own eyes that there were indeed hyenas taking advantage of this gap.
"Hong Kong's rich are burning with desire to find this. There's no better amulet."
Since the wall between reality and fantasy collapsed after 1945, the boundaries of superstition have always been uncertain. Rich old people who wished to emulate a dragon's wisdom, power, and lifespan wanted to buy stones stained with dragon's blood for a fortune. Even if magicians denied its efficacy, it was useless. People who wouldn't believe doctors or scientists would never believe magicians. They always believe what they want to believe.
Cathy was acting like one such hired pawn of the rich.
"So, how much?"
The man quoted an absurdly high price.
Cathy clicked her tongue inwardly.
"To demand the price of several apartments for such worthless bloodstains... These thieves."
Why would Min-jun want such a useless item in the first place?
She put that question aside for now. After all, her job was to complete the task given to her.
"Alright."
The deal was made.
"Yes, thankfully, both of them came to us willingly. They're already inside the mansion, so we'll inform you of the results by the end of today. As soon as this conversation ends, I will propose a deal to them."
=······.=
"No, I can't comply with that. One of them is a dragon and the son of the deceased, who is under everyone's gaze. And the other is the committee's private property. How can we deal with the aftermath if we kill them? We must persuade them as gently as possible. If that doesn't work, we'll switch to more forceful measures. But, under no conditions can we harm them!"
=······.=
"Still don't trust me? I've told you several times already! I am also a great dragon and attended as a witness in the preparation of the lord's estate list. But it was not there! Hundreds of dragons watched closely during the process of recovering the lord's corpse. And hundreds of dragons simultaneously performed the search spells on the remains where he died. Just in case any estate might be lost, inheritors and guardians burning with greed rechecked it several times. Yet, it vanished as if by magic!"
=······.=
"We've already cross-checked it. We've finished a detailed search of the rare items. There's only one place left that we haven't checked."
=······.=
"That's right. He told me that day. He said he would gift the artifact to his soon-to-be-born child. And he cast a spell on it in front of me. It was a complex formula, but it couldn't escape my senses. It was a spell reacting to dragon's blood. To a specific bloodline."
=······.=
"Endelion's artifacts are permanently bound to the user once they are marked. The spell was to avoid having it marked by another unrelated dragon before the child who will hatch gets it. The mother, who didn't like the item, might dispose of it through other means. So, only that child could be the owner of the artifact."
=······.=
"That's right. Since we can't cast a spell reacting to unborn dragon blood, we altered the conditions slightly. Only the 'child' who inherits his blood will react to the spell and receive permanent marking of the artifact. The most important part here is… a function to search for a child with such attributes nearby. Do you understand what I'm saying now?"
=······.=
"Yes, so we must get it by any means necessary."
=······.=
"Wait. You'll hear good news by the end of today."
End of Chapter 141: There Are No Evil Dragons in the World (13)