Chapter 209: 9:1 (4)

The voice pierced through the frozen winter air.

I turned my neck and saw a woman wearing a black hood, but I recognized her instantly. It was Rena. Her outfit was much more inconspicuous than before.

She said she was letting me go, so why did she come after me again? Is she here to drag away my companions too?

However, Rena was alone. And no matter how much stronger she'd become, I didn't think I would lose in a one-on-one fight. More importantly, I hadn't sensed anyone tracking me.

Did she receive word and come here from somewhere else?

I was still caught off guard when Isaac, perched on a rooftop, said, "It's her."

Her?

"The woman looking for the apostle's blood."

Isaac's words snapped me out of it. I'd momentarily forgotten what I was even doing. We'd spread the white rainbow rumor using Rubia to draw out the competition from the auction. If someone had approached, then logic said it had to be that competitor.

In other words, Rena wasn't here for me. Sure enough, her eyes were on Rubia, not me who was in stealth.

Rena pulled back her hood slightly, letting the cold wind scatter her pitch-black hair. "Even if you give bread to a kid, the boss'll just take it away. And once they realize this kind of kindness works, they'll start sending kids out in thinner clothes, in colder weather, hoping to get more."

Rubia blinked a few times.

Without even asking who Rena was, Rubia responded, "But... people don't refuse to give because of that. They just use it as an excuse. They don't want to give, nor do they want to take out a single coin from their pocket, so they rationalize it."

Did she suspect Rena was the competitor?

Either way, Rena didn't hesitate to continue. "You don't know this child, do you? Not his name, not where he lives, not if what you said is even true."

The boy gave a soft chuckle. "

Heh heh...

"

Rubia looked surprised as the boy ran toward Rena. "

Huh

?"

Rena patted his messy head lightly. "Good work, Shuni. Be sure to get that bread from the kind lady."

"But I tricked her," Shuni murmured.

"And that's why you deserve your reward. You taught her something, didn't you?"

The boy glanced nervously at Rubia before slowly walking back.

Rubia let out a small laugh of disbelief and handed him the loaf of bread. "Eat carefully, okay?"

I was reminded of the homeless girl I'd seen back in Grassmere who stuffed a letter into my pocket and bolted. Just like then, they'd already built an information network here in Aman. Rena's reach and capability had grown immensely. Somehow, I felt proud.

"So he had a job after all."

"That's right."

Rena glanced at something on her wrist, then turned her gaze toward where I was hiding.

Rena said to me, "It was you,

huh

."

Rena hadn't noticed me at first, but she'd figured it out somehow. I didn't know what had tipped her off, but I couldn't stay hidden anymore.

Just as the boy scampered away with his bread, I slowly deactivated my Stealth.

Flap!

Isaac lightly fluttered down onto a branch near me.

"Fate, or bad luck... What's with the noisy crow? Is it with you?" Rena asked.

"It's a pet," I replied.

"Excuse me?! The nerve of this disrespectful wretch!" Isaac spat.

I ignored Isaac's indignant screeching.

"Anyway..." Rena leaned lazily against the alley wall. "You don't need to go to all this trouble. You're going to win the auction anyway. I came to tell you not to waste your effort."

Rena then glanced at Rubia up and down as if studying her. "Take care of yourself, miss."

Fwoosh!

Rena leaped onto a rooftop and vanished in an instant.

Rubia stood staring blankly after her. "What kind of person is she? I feel strangely irritated, but she also seems... kind of familiar."

"Familiar, my ass. Either way, the bait worked. She took it. We're done," Issac said sharply.

I was still sorting through my thoughts, but in reality, it wasn't strange for Rena to be the auction competitor. Lurium wasn't something commonly known in the Empire. I didn't even know what it was until I got involved with T&T and with Naneow.

Before my death, Rena had possessed eight vials of Lurium. Then, Naneow replaced all the blood in her body with the stuff. T&T was one of the few groups that understood the value of Lurium. With them here, it would've been weirder if they weren't the other bidders.

As I mulled it over, Rubia commented, "She said we were going to win the auction. That must mean they're backing out. She also knows it's just us and them in the running."

"Then... why tell us that?" I asked.

Suspiciously backing out of an auction like that...

In a previous life, maybe a high Affection Rena would've done something like this for me. Now, her Affection had practically been reset. It didn't add up for her to help me just because she saw me in a dream. I knew from countless lifetimes that Rena wasn't the kind of person who'd just give something up.

"Could it be a trap? What if we don't raise our bid, and then they make a high offer and scoop it up..." I murmured.

Isaac shook his head. "

Heh heh heh...

They're not the kind of people to play coin toss games. If there's a better, more certain option, why would they risk anything? Go back and lower the bid."

"Lower it?"

"I'll explain later. Just go."

"Alright..."

Still unsure, I did as he said and headed for the auction house.

"

Hm

. Here to raise your bid this time?" the broker asked.

"No. Lower it," I replied.

"You're here to lower it?"

The broker was visibly shaken, probably because Rena's side had already withdrawn their bid. Maybe Isaac was right after all.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

I was slightly worried.

What if he refuses to sell at too low a price?

Despite my worry, the broker agreed surprisingly easily. "Do as you please. The auction runs until tomorrow. You can change your mind anytime."

Is there some rule that says that the listed info has to be sold no matter what?

"Can I lower it to one seiron?"

"Accepted."

I thought they were just greedy profiteers. I didn't realize the auction system allowed for this much flexibility for buyers to lower their bids freely. Perhaps they prioritized disseminating information over generating profits.

I stepped out of the tent and returned to the inn where Isaac and Rubia were waiting.

"You're back."

I held up the returned bar of silver as proof. "He didn't say much. Just let me lower it."

"

Heh...

He's probably fuming inside. Anyway, we're done pretending. Now hold still for a second," Issac instructed.

"Hold still?" I asked.

In the cold and darkness, Isaac's black eyes flashed red as he looked me over.

"Chains, reveal yourselves..."

The moment the spell activated, I felt a faint vibration deep near my tailbone. It was a place that was hard to see and hard to reach.

"What... is this?"

"

Heh heh...

What do you think? A tracking device, obviously."

A tracking device?

I was still stunned when Isaac continued, "You walked right in with this thing strapped to you. Had to be planted by whoever's looking for the Lurium. What kind of idiot lets that happen?"

"..."

I thought back to when Rena checked me. No wonder it had felt too easy; something about it had been off. To me, the three of them felt strangely familiar, but there was no way they felt the same toward me.

This tracking device... it couldn't have been Rena's idea alone.

From the beginning, it had all been a performance. Rena been able to pinpoint my hidden location because of this tracker. I wanted to believe the dream part wasn't a lie, but maybe even that had been part of the act—feigned, despite having no memories of me.

Whether out of shame or for some other reason, I suddenly felt light-headed. "You could've told me about this earlier."

Isaac coldly snapped, "Idiot. If I had, you would've blown your cover even worse. You definitely would've panicked and made a mess of things."

I looked at Rubia, hoping for some backup. "

Um...

You're amazing, Mr. Skeleton, but... you're actually kind of easy to read. It just kind of shows."

That stung more than anything Isaac could've said.

"So you knew from the start..." I murmured in defeat.

"Of course I did," Rubia replied.

"..."

"They'll be following that tracker now. They're probably planning to swoop in and grab the apostle's blood at the very last moment."

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Isaac pointed at Rubia with his beak. "While you were off bumbling around, I already had her buy a few horses. After we leave the city, we'll attach the tracker to one of them. Later, when they're chasing some random horse grazing out on the prairie, they'll be fuming.

Hehehe...

"

Issac laughed as if it were no big deal, but I couldn't help but be impressed just seeing the tracking device attached to me. The whole plan had already been set while I was sitting around like an idiot. Everyone else had been busy thinking two steps ahead.

***

That night, Isaac went off for a stroll around town, saying he wanted one last look before we left. Rubia had already fallen asleep in our room. I sat quietly by the window, my Detection skill active.

Suddenly, I sensed a presence.

Swish.

I turned toward the source just in time to see something flicker past the window at high speed. Someone had definitely been watching me a moment ago.

Who is it?

Tension surged through my nerves.

A swordmaster? One of the Emperor's assassins? No... it isn't killing intent. Just... a gaze.

A sharp, sweeping gaze had scanned me, but I wasn't completely sure.

The presence moved quickly and fled into the distance. I bolted outside to pursue them. A figure dressed in black was leaping across rooftops and alleyways at an incredible pace.

Fwoosh!

They cleared a two-meter wall with a single touch, then scaled steep walls like a bird in flight.

They're fast, but not fast enough to escape me.

Sprint.

[Skill: Sprint Lv. 7 activated.]

Boom!

My foot slammed into the stone pavement, launching me forward in a blur. It didn't take long to corner them. I trapped them in a dead-end alley with five-meter-high walls.

"There's nowhere left to run."

As I closed the distance, I finally got a look at who it was. "Why were you watching me?"

If they were only trying to track the Lurium, there was no need to spy from the window. The tracker already did that job.

So why?

The masked figure shot me a strange smile. "

Hmph

."

I caught a glimpse of light brown skin above their lips. It overlapped ever so slightly with the Rena I knew from a former life.

I stepped toward her. "Why did you..."

Something soft in my chest urged me forward.

Click!

A grappling hook shot out from her sleeve. A long, black chain was attached to it and latched securely onto the rooftop above.

Rumble!

In an instant, the chain tightened and pulled her upward. It was an acrobatic move, flawlessly executed. I could have cut the chain, but I didn't feel like it. Rena stood under the pale moonlight and glanced back at me one last time. Then she leaped from rooftop to rooftop and disappeared into the distance.

"..."

What was her intention?

Well, at least it wasn't some imperial soldier or assassin. I felt silly for having taken Isaac's swordmaster warning so seriously.

I returned to the inn to see that Rubia was still asleep.

As dawn approached, someone knocked on the door while I was beside Rubia.

Knock knock.