Chapter 86 - Lend Me Some Money

Who was it that said a premonition of good luck never comes true, but a bad feeling always does? That was why Limon was scratching the back of his head as he looked down at a document.

“Tch. I had a bad feeling about this... It didn't even last a month.”

Attacks had continued throughout the past month. Even so, things hadn't been going badly. They hadn't caught the perpetrators, but Limon had kept identifying which subsidiary would be targeted next, allowing combat units to be dispatched and keeping the damage to a minimum. The Black Dragon Clan had regained its stability, and more of its members had steadily begun entrusting their security to Guardian. From Limon and Guardian's point of view, the attacks had actually worked in their favor. But that had only been true until a few days ago.

[Your prediction was wrong, Team Leader.]

“Yeah. And it'll keep being wrong.”

A few days earlier, the perpetrators had attacked a subsidiary completely outside Limon's predictions. Fortunately, the combat unit called in for support had arrived in time to stop them before the damage grew. Unfortunately, Guardian's reputation, which had only just begun to improve, had plunged again. But Guardian's reputation had nothing to do with why Limon was clicking his tongue.

[Is it that weakness you mentioned before, Team Leader?]

“Yeah.” Limon nodded, then continued with a deeply troubled look.

“Those bastards have started choosing their targets at random.”

[How?]

“How the hell should I know? Maybe those crazy bastards roll a pencil to pick their next target, or maybe they draw lots.”

[They can really get around your predictions with something that simple? That's ridiculous...]

“It's not ridiculous. It's only natural.”

Limon had been able to predict the attacks in the first place only because he'd thoroughly analyzed the perpetrators' patterns of thought. Put another way, he couldn't predict a target chosen at random. However well he understood their thinking, he couldn't predict where a dart thrown with someone's eyes closed would land.

“That's why I told you it was just a trick in the end.”

[If you knew that, you should've caught them sooner instead of lazing around!]

“I would've if I could. What the hell am I supposed to do about those bastards being so damn lucky?” Limon countered flatly.

He hadn't spent the past month or so shut away playing fortune-teller. He'd worked hard to search for the perpetrators and even lain in wait near subsidiaries likely to be attacked. But none of it had produced results.

Whether it was sheer luck or they had a skill like 『Crisis Evasion』, the perpetrators had attacked places Limon wasn't at every time, leaving all his ambushes in vain.

His efforts to track them down had gone even worse.

“If I'd had some support, I might've at least picked up their trail... Tch.”

[You should've taken better care of your reputation. Every clan member you meet gets in your way instead of helping. What does that tell you?]

“How is that my fault? It's because that Wang bastard made such a fuss.”

The problem was the Black Dragon Clan's lack of cooperation. Its members accepted Guardian's help protecting their subsidiaries, yet often subtly obstructed Limon whenever he tried to pursue the culprits. It wasn't hard to understand. People naturally favored their own. With the Wang family of Shanghai already pursuing the perpetrators to avenge their loss, Limon's efforts could easily look like an attempt to steal the credit.

“Really, the best outcome would've been for that Wang fellow to catch them himself before my method stopped working.”

[You shouldn't expect the impossible. What do you expect from that ragtag bunch of water ghosts?]

“Isn't ‘ragtag’ a bit harsh? They're skilled fighters from the Wang family of Shanghai, after all.”

[So what if they're skilled fighters? As investigators, they're worse than the rookies we used to have.]

“You're judging them by PAB agent standards.” Limon clicked his tongue.

The Wang family's experts were formidable, comparable to high-level players. They were hardly people to dismiss. The trouble was that they were martial artists who had trained in psionics, not investigators. They were better than ordinary people, of course, and they had the Seven Dragons Society's traditional tracking techniques. But compared with agents of the PAB, which was founded to investigate and arrest high-level players, their investigative skills were bound to be lacking.

[The problem is, these culprits would be hard to catch even by PAB standards.]

“I agree with you there.”

As former PAB agents, Limon and Yu Na-gyeong knew better than anyone how difficult it was to catch high-level players who made full use of their skills to commit crimes. It was only natural that they didn't expect much from Wang Gi-neung. The trouble was that they couldn't simply stand by and treat the situation as someone else's problem.

“What a headache...” Limon furrowed his brow. He could no longer predict the attacks, and they still didn't even know who the perpetrators were. With his hands and feet effectively tied, all he could do was take their blows. No wonder it gave him a headache.

He brooded until his head practically steamed, then grabbed Yu Na-gyeong when she started spouting more nonsense beside him and swung his arm around like a windmill. In the middle of it, his smartphone rang.

'Tch. What's gone wrong now?'

So few people had his number that his phone rarely rang. But after a moment, his annoyance gave way to a curious expression. The caller's name on the screen was nothing like the one he'd expected.

[“Hey.”]

“Hey. What's up?”

[“That's a hurtful question. We don't need a reason to call each other, do we?”]

“Since when are we that close?”

[“Of course we are. Partners stick together until the day they die, don't they?”]

The cheerful greeting came from someone whose speaking voice wasn't particularly pleasant, but whose husky singing voice sounded heavenly. It was Eugene, the musician he'd met and exchanged numbers with a month or so ago. Limon chuckled.

'What a personality.'

They'd performed together only once, yet Eugene acted as though they'd known each other for ten years. It was an almost shameless degree of friendliness. Perhaps Limon found it amusing rather than unpleasant or unsettling because he'd grown too used to Yu Na-gyeong's own shamelessness.

[“So, partner, I'm trusting you as my friend for life when I ask you a favor.”]

“What kind of favor?”

Even as he asked, Limon thought he knew the answer. There was only one thing Eugene would suddenly ask of him: another performance...

[“Lend me some money.”]

“...”

CLICK.

Limon ended the call on reflex.

He gazed at the ringing phone and the name ‘Eugene’ on its screen, then slowly turned his head.

“Na-gyeong.”

[Yes?]

“Amazingly, it seems there really is someone in the world more shameless than you.”

[What on earth do you think of me, Team Leader?!?!]

* * *

Eugene chewed, swallowed, and gulped down food in rapid succession.

“Why don't you slow down? You'll make yourself sick.”

“I'll be fine. I've got a strong constitution.”

“Usually the ones who brag about their health are the first to drop dead.”

“Then I should eat even more. If I'm going to die anyway, I'd rather rob a bank for one good meal and die full than starve to death, wouldn't you?”

“Is that some kind of prison proverb?”

Limon clicked his tongue at Eugene, who had given that brazen answer without pausing the frantic chewing and swallowing.

“Hey, didn't you say you were a freelancer?”

“Yep.”

“Then why are you flat broke and starving? When you said ‘freelancer,’ did you mean something like stay-at-home security guard or expert beggar?”

Eugene's calls had kept coming until Limon couldn't take it anymore and went to see them. He'd found Eugene sprawled in a corner of the street with nothing but a guitar on their back and their stomach growling. They looked so wretched that Limon, who had no intention of lending them money, had promptly dragged them to a restaurant.

“Something came up.”

“What did?”

“I ended up in debt.”

Limon's eyes narrowed at once. “Are you a gambler?”

“Of course not. I don't gamble or do drugs. It's hard to put soul into a song when you're hooked on things like that.”

“Then how did you end up in debt? Did someone scam you?”

“Hmm. I'm not really sure myself. I just kept performing, wandering around, and picking up work like I always do, and before I knew it, I was in debt.”

“Is that so...?”

It didn't take long for the suspicion in Limon's eyes to turn to dismay. He had a fair idea of how Eugene's debt had come about.

[Tsk, tsk. Sounds like they're unemployed.]

'You're hardly one to talk, are you?'

[I have an excellent job as a cute, adorable pet.]

'... Sorry. I underestimated your shamelessness.'

Limon sincerely repented. To think he'd entertained the idea that anyone could be more shameless than this pigeon-chicken. He had plenty to reflect on.

Unaware that Limon was apologizing to himself so earnestly, Eugene suddenly looked curious. “Partner, I've been wondering for a while. What's with that bird?”

“This pigeon-chicken? Hmm... If I had to say, she's a rather cheeky pet. Probably.”

“Why ‘probably’?”

“Because I can't decide whether to call her a pet or a pest.”

[A pest? Where would you find a pest as cute as me?] Yu Na-gyeong protested indignantly.

But Eugene couldn't hear the telepathy meant only for Limon. They smiled and nodded. “Got it. So she's a mascot?”

“How did you reach that conclusion?”

“Well, a team's mascot looks cute when you're cheering for a winning team, but like a pest when the team loses, right?”

“I'd say that's completely different.”

“That's okay. If she isn't one already, we can make her our band's mascot. She's cute enough.”

Eugene really did march to the beat of their own drum. Both Limon and Yu Na-gyeong, who had abruptly been made a mascot, stared in disbelief, but Eugene paid them no mind. They simply bit into the apple served for dessert and tossed out another question.

“By the way, partner, why didn't you bring your instrument?”

“What instrument?”

“Don't you remember? You're the one who said you'd use your own instrument for our next performance.”

“I didn't come to perform. I came to kick you for shrieking at me to lend you money.”

“Whaaat?”

“... Why do you look like a dark mage who just watched the Demon God die?”

“Because you and I are together, partner. How could we not perform?”

Eugene proclaimed it as though stating a fundamental truth of life, as obvious as the world ending if a meteor struck Earth. But Limon's reply was cold.

“What makes no sense to me is that you're in debt and still thinking about performing.”

“It's fine. Great music is born from hardship and adversity.”

“That's just a pathetic excuse people who can't even earn their keep come up with so they can avoid work and make art instead.”

“It's not an excuse. Hardship and adversity really do nurture your soul.”

“I'll believe you when you can measure that soul objectively and prove its rate of growth.”

At that, Eugene clicked their tongue as if Limon didn't understand a thing and wagged a finger from side to side. Then they declared confidently, “Partner, you don't believe in soul. You feel it.”