Chapter 53
“Mmm…”
When Max, who had fallen asleep holding Usagi in his arms, opened his eyes in bed, Usagi had already finished her shower and was sitting at the vanity.
It seemed she was following the makeup routine that the Association staff had taught her yesterday, step by step.
‘Her concentration is incredible.’
Max, who, with only his upper body raised from the bed, was blankly watching her do her makeup, opened his mouth when he saw Usagi finish one of the steps.
“Nelly. Good morning.”
Her rabbit ears perked up at his voice, and she looked at the bed.
Usagi met his eyes for a moment before looking down to avoid them. She mumbled before giving an answer.
“…G-Good morning.”
“Did you sleep well? The hotel bed wasn’t uncomfortable?”
“Yes. I slept soundly. What about you, Hon… ey?”
“I completely passed out too. I’ll go wash up really quick.”
Max grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom.
Usagi blankly watched his back, only resuming her makeup after hearing the sound of water from the bathroom.
“Honey, I’ll be done soon, so please wait a little bit.”
“It doesn’t matter if you take your time. We have plenty of time anyway.”
Max, who woke up late, finished getting ready first.
All he had to do was throw on his coat and put on his shoes when leaving the guest room.
It couldn’t be helped since Usagi’s preparations took a long time, starting from her makeup to her hairstyle, outfit, and accessories.
“…”
Max sat on a chair in the guest room, drinking water and glancing around.
He couldn’t leave the room just like this. There was something he had to do.
‘the smartphone is hidden. I need to retrieve it soon.’
He had to be mindful of the fact that there were cameras.
Having formulated a plan of action, Max moved immediately without hesitation.
“Hmm, the floor is a bit slippery.”
Max muttered to himself and threw the towel he used to dry his body onto the floor, dragging it with his foot as if wiping up moisture.
He naturally approached the place where he had hidden the item, and the moment the towel touched it, he used Psychokinesis to pull the smartphone under the towel.
Usagi, noticing his intention through Max’s magic power, chimed in with a word as she finished her makeup.
“Thank you. I was actually thinking it was a bit slippery.”
“Right?”
He continued dragging the towel, approaching the clothes he had worn and taken off on the first day of the party successfully.
After pushing the smartphone with Psychokinesis into the pile of clothes, he bent down and lifted them up in a bundled state.
To finish, he roughly shoved them into his suitcase.
‘Good.’
At this moment, Max was grateful that he had a talent for Psychokinesis.
It would be perfect if they left just like this.
“Should we first load the suitcase into the car before filling our stomachs with breakfast?”
“It’ll probably get crowded quickly once the party ends, so that sounds good. Let’s just check out entirely.”
Usagi caught the intention Max threw out and played along perfectly.
The two finished their preparations and stood in front of the door with their suitcase.
“Nelly, you aren’t leaving anything behind, right?”
“I checked earlier, and there’s nothing.”
“Then we shall go.”
The moment Max grabbed the doorknob to leave the guest room, Usagi pulled his sleeve.
“Honey.”
“Yeah?”
“Your tie… is crooked.”
Usagi straightened it out with a gentle touch.
“Wow, I don’t know how I’d live without Nelly. Appearance is important in business, after all.”
Acting out his affection, he held the suitcase and turned the doorknob.
Usagi linked arms with Max’s empty arm, just like yesterday.
“Phew!”
“Haa…”
Coming out into the corridor, the two let out a long breath at the same time.
They looked at each other and chuckled. It wasn’t acting, but a genuine laugh.
They were sharing the sense of relief they felt upon escaping a room full of cameras and listening devices.
If they hadn’t noticed the tail and the intruders, the commission would have already ended in failure.
“Let’s go~”
After finding the car, putting the suitcase in the trunk, and coming up to eat breakfast, they had a tail attached to them immediately.
Usagi must have noticed too, as she sent a signal through Max’s arm that she was holding.
‘Is it the same guy from yesterday?’
Max first approached the attendees he had met at the party yesterday to exchange greetings, and then enjoyed breakfast with Usagi.
To digest his food, he strolled along the promenade with Usagi.
Seeing the guards already stationed there from yesterday, he gave a light wave, telling them they were working hard, and continued walking along the path.
There, Max had a question.
Not about the tail, but about Usagi.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
She kept rapidly changing her expressions on her own, sometimes clinging tightly to him and then subtly pulling away a little later, repeating the process.
He wanted to ask if something was wrong, but the timing and location weren’t good to reveal that something was off.
··
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Even before lunch, at 10 AM, the social party was held once again.
As Max and Usagi just entered the amphitheater, the party was beginning with the auctioneer’s greetings and item introductions. The atmosphere was similar to yesterday’s.
─ The auction item to announce the start of today is…! The tachi Marunomi, crafted by the swordsmith Umetada! With its sleek blade and uniquely patterned scabbard, it is a masterpiece that cannot help but captivate──.
Max withdrew his interest in the auction.
He circulated the tables once again, greeting people.
‘As expected, the item the Association wants isn’t coming out.’
The items the Association had requested him to purchase were pharmaceuticals.
Elixirs were a given, along with tonics, blood-replenishing agents, digestives, narcotics, and so on. If it was a drug, it included everything without discrimination.
‘The auction items are more wholesome than I thought.’
Since there were a large number of people with thick wallets, he thought narcotics would commonly appear, but only luxury goods poured out endlessly.
However, just as the Association president had said, it was certain that the information Max could infer had increased.
The line of attendees at this social party had been revealed to be Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals.
If he started his deduction, he would arrive straight at a single conclusion.
“Nelly. Cheers~”
The moment he drank champagne with Usagi.
Max continued the deduction he had briefly put off while focusing on the commission.
‘Does someone behind the association president… want to try to break down the drugs made by Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals or its affiliates?’
His thoughts followed one after another, because there was only one group that could commit such a bold act and remain unscathed.
‘Genesis Bio.’
There might be corporations that coveted technological prowess, but the only one the Bohemian Mercenary Association president would follow, bearing the possibility of making an enemy of Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals, was Genesis Bio.
The probability that a high-ranking official or a founding family of Genesis Bio existed behind the Association president became blatantly clear.
‘If we only consider the premise of whether they can handle making an enemy of Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals, megacorps like Vector Mobility or Asahi Technology would also be in the candidate pool.’
But they have no justification, because a corporation values the realization of profit.
There is absolutely no reason to wage an unreasonable war against a big shot that has already taken root in the pharmaceutical industry.
Besides, from his memories, Vector Mobility and Asahi Technology were guys who stably devoured only the fields that touched upon their own technological prowess even Before Regression.
It meant they weren’t groups reckless enough to covet a complete stranger’s territory.
‘Assuming the client has the background of Genesis Bio, it might mean that the issue isn’t technological prowess, but the ingredients of the drugs.’
Would Genesis Bio tear apart drugs coming out as auction items coveting Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals' technological prowess?
This was a different case.
‘They even commissioned us to take videos of the people standing in the Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals line.’
Is the client then a person from Crimson Howl? Or Clements? Ezra?
Max’s information advanced greatly, narrowing down the candidates.
‘That’s enough for now.’
Max led Usagi and moved to wrap things up.
By filming all the attendees who only showed their faces on the second day and the companions who weren’t on the list, he finished the action that carried the most weight in the commission.
Just thinking about what kind of result this would lead to was exciting.
“Honey. It’ll get crowded once the party ends, so shouldn’t we head back slowly?”
“True, I’m all out of business cards too. We’ve said our greetings, so shall we head back? There’s no room to squeeze in anyway.”
Even if they couldn’t carry out all the requests asked of them, they had cleanly finished the essential ones.
“Nelly, should we do some shopping on the way back?”
Babbling about plans that wouldn’t even happen, Max exited the amphitheater with Usagi.
On the way to the parking lot, the tail dropped off. Max felt his shoulders become lighter.
‘So I get to finish without a scratch too.’
Did that mean this commission was easy? Not at all.
From the tail, a guy with decent skills, to the guys who secretly infiltrated the guest room, there was a risk of death if they let their guard down for even a moment.
Even if it was a very small camera, shoving it in everyone’s faces and filming wasn’t an easy task either.
They arrived like that at the parking lot.
Max whistled and opened the trunk.
‘The suitcase is safe and sound.’
There were no signs of the items being touched.
He immediately headed for the driver’s seat.
Vroom!!!
As Max started the engine, the classic muscle car spat out a heavy engine sound.
They followed the road and exited the Vertigo Hotel at that moment.
Someone landed on the roadway and blocked the path.
SCREECH!
Max stepped on the brakes and stopped the car.
“Chris Garland.”
Geum Jong-Hwa, who hadn’t been seen at the party, was standing on the road.
The bald guy with cyberware who had been tailing them landed right behind him.
Max left Usagi and got out of the car.
“Ah! I kept trying to greet you at the party, but I didn’t know where you were… I’m glad I can greet you again before leaving!”
Receiving the greeting, Geum Jong-Hwa tapped his scabbard and threw a question.
“What do you think about the realm of intuition?”
“…By intuition, you mean?”
“I’m asking if you trust your own intuition.”
Geum Jong-Hwa had a smiling face as he threw the question, but Max felt an ominous foreboding.
‘Did he just come from killing someone somewhere?’
It didn’t feel like he had killed just one or two people.
A thick scent of blood rode the gentle breeze and pierced his nose, as if he had committed a massacre.
“I’m too stupid to properly understand what you’re saying.”
“I’m on the side that highly trusts intuition. Even without physical evidence, I often decide my actions based on circumstantial evidence.”
“…Haha, I’m in a position where I can’t move without physical evidence, you see. You are truly bold.”
Emphasizing the fact that he was the fourth son of a struggling corporation’s chairman, Max let out a pitiful laugh.
But Geum Jong-Hwa’s momentum didn’t change. It looked like he would draw his sword at any moment.
“Tell me just one reason why I, Geum Jong-Hwa, shouldn’t kill you right here.”
“Excuse me?”
What is this crazy psycho bastard saying.
“You know that saying you’re innocent doesn’t serve as an indulgence in Haze, right?”
“Why… would you…?”
“Unsurprisingly, it’s my intuition. I made up my mind while having a change of pace until dawn.”
It was a statement telling him to prove his worth, not his grievance and innocence.
It also meant that he would kill him based on intuition, even though he hadn’t dug up anything by putting a tail on him.
‘My acting was perfect, but he’s just going to kill me based on his mood? Is this right? Anyway, Cheonmyeong Pharmaceuticals is like this all the way down to its lackey bastards.’
Max lamented and realized at the same time.
Geum Jong-Hwa had no intention of letting him leave alive.
HONK! HOOONK!
Because Max had stopped his car on the road, the halted vehicles honked their horns loudly.
It was perfect timing.
“Oh my, how noisy… I’ll go move the car out of the way first.”
Max got into the car and smoothly turned into an alley.
He sensed Geum Jong-Hwa and his lackey following at a leisurely pace, keeping their eyes fixed on him. He could feel their confidence that they could catch him even if he ran away like this.
“Honey? What’s going on?”
“Get ready. They have no intention of letting us leave alive.”
Usagi’s expression changed.
She threw off her high heels, pulled out her hairpin, and tore the side of her dress. Her thighs were exposed, making it easier to move.
“Can you drive?”
“I don’t have a license, but it’s no problem.”
“Who cares. How many people in Haze even have a license anyway?”
Max immediately loaded his Unique Magic.
[Sword of Damocles]