Chapter 3 - The Shameless Bastards

"... I thought Sword Masters only existed in history books."

"No surprise. These days, even the PAB has shunted him off to a dead-end post."

Officer Kim looked puzzled by Sergeant Hwang's matter-of-fact answer. "A dead-end post?"

"Yeah. I hear they treat him like a child they've given up on."

"But why? You'd think everyone would be falling over themselves to recruit a hero like that."

Kim's question was only natural. Even setting aside his past fame, the skill he'd shown in destroying Seo Yong-chan's summoned creature in an instant was extraordinary. Whether it was a guild or a government agency, someone that capable would be prized anywhere.

Hwang asked flatly, "You've done a group project before, right?"

"Of course."

"How did you feel when you got a group member who did nothing but complain about everyone else's ideas without doing any work?"

"Annoyed."

"Now imagine he had no money and a rotten temper, but was older than the professors and had such a good reputation you couldn't just kick him out."

"I'd be pissed as hell."

"Same thing."

"Huh?"

Kim stared blankly, clearly not following. Hwang lowered his voice.

"That man is a Sword Master, not a player. He can't enter dungeons."

"... Oh!"

"Now do you see why everyone avoids him?" Hwang clicked his tongue.

High-level players weren't valued for their strength alone. The treasures they brought back from dungeons generated enormous economic, technological, and social benefits.

"What good is being stronger than a high-level player if keeping him around gets you nothing?"

In that respect, Limon was the perfect white elephant. He couldn't enter dungeons, so he brought no benefit; he was an anachronistic swordsman who knew nothing but how to cut people down. Yet he was a hero of the previous age, so treating him poorly was difficult. Few people were more troublesome to deal with.

"Back then, they needed his strength, so they put up with him. But now we've got the mighty Monarchs. Who'd want to take in an old blowhard who does nothing but nag?"

"... I suppose so."

"Then get moving. We've got plenty to sort out here."

"Yes, sir."

Kim sighed as he looked at the road, shattered where Limon had kicked the bull into it. Whoever had Limon as a subordinate, he thought, had his sympathy.

* * *

BANG!

"What on earth have you done?!"

His neatly pressed suit, expensive watch, gleaming hair, and ample belly all marked him at a glance as a middle-aged man of experience and standing. Director Kang Jeong-su slammed a hand on his desk and roared. Yu Na-gyeong blinked her large eyes at him.

"Do you mean when I requisitioned the tea leaves and cake from your secretary's office without permission?"

"Not that! Wait, Accounting has been complaining that my refreshment expenses have shot up lately. Was that you?!"

"Um...could you think of it as petty corruption to make ends meet?"

"Do you hear yourself?!"

"I have a condition that makes me feel unwell if I don't eat sweets. On that note, it would be nice if you gave our team a refreshment budget too."

"Why, you...!"

A vein bulged on Kang's forehead. After a moment, he pressed his fingers to his temples and forced himself to calm down. There was something more pressing he needed to question her about.

"Never mind the refreshments. Explain the mess you caused yesterday."

"What mess?"

"This! I'm talking about this!"

Na-gyeong looked as though she had no idea what he meant. Unable to contain his frustration, Kang pointed to the report on his desk.

"Oh, you mean yesterday's bull incident?"

"Yes! You went out without authorization and caused a disaster like this! How do you intend to clean up the aftermath?"

Kang was beside himself. Any other agent would have shrunk back at the sound of his shouting. In the workplace, the rule was to read your boss's mood even when all he did was clear his throat, and civil servants lived by that rule more than anyone. But working under a rather unusual boss had dulled Na-gyeong's sense of what was normal. Instead, she looked confused.

"Director, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean."

"What?"

"At the PAB, standard procedure is to act first and report afterward. What authorization did we need?"

"..."

It was a fair point. The PAB existed to keep players who caused trouble in check. Emergencies often called for an immediate response; there was no way its agents could seek approval from their superiors every time.

"Besides, all we did when we responded was prevent people from getting hurt. How is that a disaster?"

"You really have to ask?!"

"Yes."

"Y-you...!"

Kang's face flushed and darkened. By now, she ought to have apologized. Instead, Na-gyeong looked genuinely curious, as if she truly didn't know, and he was too dumbfounded to speak.

"You! Just how have you trained your subordinate to make her turn out like this?!"

In the end, Kang changed targets. Rather than deal with someone he couldn't get through to, he would chew out her superior. If he scolded the boss, he could scold the subordinate in the bargain. It was such an obvious tactic to him that he'd made a habit of it.

"What? You?"

But the moment her superior spoke, Kang clapped a hand over his own mouth. In his anger, he'd forgotten why he hadn't been able to chew the man out in the first place.

"You weren't talking to me just now, were you?"

The white-haired young man had been lying on the sofa, yawning as if the director's office were his own living room. At Limon's quiet question, Kang swallowed hard. Then he scraped together every last bit of courage and spoke sternly.

"Y-you? Is that any way to address your superior...?"

"Jeong-su."

"Ah, um. Come to think of it, I have an urgent meeting. I really ought to leave right now."

"Kang Jeong-su."

"... Yes, sir."

Kang stuffed the courage he'd so painstakingly mustered right back down. One look into those cold golden eyes told him that if he didn't change his tone immediately, he might never have to worry about saving face—or anything else—again.

With Kang subdued, Limon asked casually, "How old are you now?"

"... Forty-six, by international age."

"Really? You've grown up so fast. Feels like yesterday you wet yourself because you were scared of me."

"Pfft!"

"Ahem! S-sir, must you bring up that old story...?"

Seeing Na-gyeong behind him covering her mouth as she struggled not to laugh, Kang bitterly regretted his decision. Disaster or not, he should have pretended he hadn't seen the report. Why had he called in this old blowhard with a young man's face, only to humiliate himself?

"Oh, enough. Anyway, remember how your grandfather introduced me when we first met?"

"... He said you saved his life, and that I must always remember what I owe you."

"That's right. I saved that man's life at least three times on that battlefield. If he'd died, you wouldn't even have been born."

"Th-that's true, but we still have to keep personal matters separate from official—"

"And yet you called me 'you'? Is that what your grandfather taught you? Shall I call Kang Deok-jin right now and check? Hm?"

"I'm sorry! I misspoke!"

Kang deflated at once. What good was it being the all-powerful director of the PAB when he was facing a man even his war-hero grandfather had tiptoed around? If Limon told Kang Deok-jin—his father—about today, he might get his legs broken at this age.

"Tsk, tsk. Young people these days." Limon clicked his tongue, planted his feet squarely on the table, and propped his chin on one hand. "So what's the problem?"

"Pardon?"

"Something must have happened for you to be throwing this fucking fit since morning."

"... Yes, it has."

"So what happened? I haven't got a clue."

"Neither do I."

Kang seethed again at Limon's brazen answer and Na-gyeong's quick agreement. But the two of them weren't playing dumb. They really didn't know why he was upset.

'We didn't destroy any buildings this time, did we?'

'And you didn't beat the suspect half to death and drag him in like last time, either.'

It was true. For Limon, leaving a building half-demolished was routine. He even had a habit of beating up suspects he'd already arrested. Compared with that, he'd resolved this incident rather gently, so neither of them could see the problem. Kang would have wept if he'd known their reasoning. Fortunately—or unfortunately—he had no idea what they were thinking, and reluctantly spoke.

"You destroyed Mr. Seo Yong-chan's summoned creature yesterday, didn't you?"

"Who's that?"

"You know, the drunk who was riding the bull you kicked yesterday, Team Leader. He went flying with it."

"Oh, that bastard?"

Limon nodded. The brass bull had made such an impression that he'd forgotten about its rider. Now that he thought about it, there had been some guy pinned under it, screaming.

"What about him?"

"Mr. Seo Yong-chan has demanded compensation from the PAB for what happened yesterday."

"What?"

Limon stared at him in disbelief. "What the fuck is he talking about? What did I break?"

"Well..."

Kang trailed off. He had no idea how to explain it—or, more precisely, how to explain it without Limon grabbing him by the collar. Fortunately, the dilemma was short-lived. Before he could speak, someone with the answer arrived.

"Please wait! You can't go in there!"

"Shut up! You said that bastard's in here, didn't you?! Are you covering for him because he's a fellow civil servant? Huh?!"

"N-no, that's not—"

"Then get out of my way, asshole!"

BANG!

No sooner had the commotion outside begun than the director's office door flew open. A young man covered in bandages shook off the secretary trying to stop him and strode inside. Seo Yong-chan swept a fierce gaze around the office. His eyes passed over a flustered Kang and a blinking Na-gyeong before landing on Limon, who looked unimpressed.

"Are you the guy who cut down my Colchis Bull?"

Seo seemed certain Limon was the one. He didn't even wait for an answer. He plopped down on the sofa opposite Limon, crossed his legs, and continued.

"Now, let's hear it. How are you going to pay me back for my bull?"

"Mr. Seo Yong-chan, what do you think you're doing?!"

"What? I paid for this sofa with my taxes. What's wrong with sitting on it?"

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

Kang's face hardened. He might have cowered before Limon, but only because it was Limon. He was, after all, the director of the PAB—a figure who could make a player's life hell. Of course he was angry when a green young upstart like Seo barged into his office and acted so insolently.

"What? Got a problem? Then pay up. Huh?"

Seo didn't so much as raise an eyebrow at Kang's anger. If anything, he leaned back and challenged him.

"That...!"

"You destroy someone else's summoned creature, then have the nerve to get angry at me? You shameless bastards!"

"Ghh!"

As Kang swallowed his outrage at Seo's demands, delivered like a debt collector collecting what's owed, Limon spoke up uneasily. "Hey, there's something I don't get..."

Normally, he would have opened with a dropkick. Limon wasn't one to tolerate anyone acting cocky in front of him. The only reason he'd sat there watching Seo's behavior was that it was too absurd to believe.

"Did you seriously come here to make me pay for that bull's head I knocked off yesterday?"

"What do you mean, 'seriously'? Were you planning not to pay?"

"I wasn't expecting anyone to demand compensation."

"Ha. You've got some nerve."

As if he were the one who couldn't believe what he was hearing, Seo shook his head. Then he glared at Limon and demanded, "Do you have any idea how much that summoned creature was worth?"

"How much?"

"Over eighty billion won! Eighty billion! You destroyed something worth that much, and now you're trying to act like nothing happened instead of paying me back?"

"Eighty billion... That certainly is expensive." Limon nodded. Even for players who made fortunes from dungeon spoils, it wasn't a small sum. An ordinary player couldn't earn that much in a lifetime. In that sense, Seo's outrage was understandable. The problem was that his demand was still absurd.

"But why are you asking us to pay for it?"

"What?"

"Under the Special Administration Act, if you use a skill without authorization, you're responsible for any resulting losses. Aren't you?"

Limon glanced aside for confirmation that he remembered correctly. "Just as you say, Team Leader," Na-gyeong replied at once. There was nothing to think about.

The other person's response was less expected. "In principle, yes, but..."

"Hm?" Limon frowned. Kang was normally a stickler about the budget, so Limon had expected him to be the first to agree. Instead, he looked troubled and avoided giving a straight answer.

"Special Administration Act? Ha, don't make me laugh. You think you can hide behind that crap and cheat me out of my money?"

Seo sneered as though they were fools for relying on such a thing. He raised his chin and said arrogantly, "Do you know who I am?"

"Who?"

"Lee Cheon-gi is my brother-in-law! Lee Cheon-gi! One phone call to him, and I can have that stupid Special Administration Act—or anything else—changed!"

In that moment, Limon understood why Kang had been holding back despite his anger, and what gave this bastard the nerve to act like this. Seo had named one of ten people known to every modern citizen, even a three-year-old.

"Your brother-in-law is Lee Cheon-gi, the Infinite Monarch?"