episode_0129

Right after sending Ray away.

‘Let’s see.’

First, we decided to look for Eslock and Lillian inside the bar.

Lillian was already found, since she was with Johnny and Lina.

Eslock probably looked like a giant mole, wandering around.

“Oh, there it is.”

Now that we had their locations figured out, it was time to get moving.

As I was heading towards the claim, Johnny greeted me.

“Sister, I thought you had some fun with those machine guys earlier?”

“Oh, the traffic light guys?”

Johnny laughed heartily, probably liking the fact that I referred to the platoon leaders in the Metal Sight office as traffic lights.

“What did you talk about?”

“Well, I asked about the Gear Hunters office, and what the differences are between there and those guys.”

“You did some research on the information, didn’t you?”

Lillian speaks as if it’s unexpected.

“Why? Did you really think I was just playing around?”

“…Chris. It looked like that on the outside.”

Ahem….

“No, and I had my own harvest.”

“What is it?”

“Hologram Business Card!”

He shouted, jumping up on the chair on the claim side.

Both Johnny and Lillian seemed to know something about holographic business cards.

“Why did those guys do that?”

“I think I have an acquaintance who runs a business card company. I said okay because he said he’d do it for free.”

“You must have decided to look good to Chris somehow. It must have been more than just a few pennies.”

“Really?”

I don’t know the exact price either. They said they would do it for free in the first place.

But listening to Lillian, it made sense.

Hologram ‘business card’.

It was natural that a hologram was used for each item distributed to others.

“Well, it’s good since I saved money anyway.”

“Then, then. That’s right!”

I waved to Lillian as I clapped my hands to Johnny.

“Lillian, can you bring Eslock inside?”

“Okay.”

There was no question raised about my request.

I got down from the chair first and headed inside. Then Eslock and Lillian appeared through the open door.

“Chris, I heard you called.”

“Yeah, I was hesitant to ask earlier because there were other office guys there too. I have to confirm something.”

***

As soon as I finished speaking, Eslock and Lillian waited for what I would say next.

“Have you ever heard the story about the 2nd place trying to become the wise man of the north?”

“…Huh?”

An expression that is clearly visible on the face.

No matter how well he praised her, it seemed like she was hearing about it for the first time.

“Chris, I don’t think I can help you because I don’t have access to that information like he does.”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

The important thing was Eslock.

Unlike Lillian, who was just a member of the tribe led by Eslock, he was the leader of a tribe who personally led the tribe.

“What about Eslock? Have you heard of it?”

“No. …I think I’ve heard that before.”

“Really?”

“But it’s a story I’ve never heard of recently.”

It seems that such opinions have been expressed or such topics have come up before.

Just in case, I added a few questions.

But there was no answer that could be said to be just that.

“Okay, I think this is enough.”

Both Eslock and Lillian had their own roles to fill at this bar.

Detaining two more people is an act that disrupts the normal operation of the bar.

So I quickly told them both to return to their respective positions.

“Hmm….”

In the inner space, the two of them crumpled their expressions as if they were afraid of each other.

‘It feels more complicated than before I knew it.’

Thinking like that, I called Lia through the terminal.

“Lia, can you come down to the first floor for a second?”

“Yes, please wait a moment.”

I looked around the inner space until Lia arrived.

Things like material management or alcohol inventory didn’t seem to be something I had any say in.

In the first place, it seemed like Sylvia and the other bartenders would be able to do it well.

“….”

I was just sitting there blankly, all alone…

Before we knew it, Laia had arrived.

“Chris, I’m here.”

“Huh?! Oh, surprise.”

“I kept calling you.”

“Oh, I have something to think about.”

“Is it related to the reason you called me?”

Leia’s anxious gaze and pupils.

Maybe he thought I made a bad decision regarding David.

“No, there’s another reason I called Laia. I asked Eslock and Psylocke too.”

“They both have something in common, being the former clan chiefs.”

“That’s right. Leia was a buji wave leader.”

“….”

“Have you ever heard of the story where the second place tries to become a wise man himself?”

“…No. First of all, I am the branch manager, but I always attend important meetings with the branch manager.”

“From what I know, Lia… has she never heard of such a story?”

***

Leia nodded calmly, yet definitely.

Becoming a wise man of the North was not an easy task and was a very serious matter.

But how could the two branch leaders and one sub-branch leader not know about such things?

The first priority was to determine where the information for numbers 1 and 5 came from.

“Liao, wait a minute.”

I used the terminal I had used to call Leia earlier to call number 6.

….

….

The signal was clearly going, but the 6th person did not answer the phone.

They say that even dog poop doesn’t exist when it’s needed, and the same goes for the machine arm dog poop.

“Chris?”

“Wait a minute!”

This time I called Malcolm, the subordinate of the vampire hunter Uncle Frank.

Malcolm, unlike number 6, answered the phone right away.

“Oh, Malcolm. Hello?”

“Chris. What’s up?”

The sound of a choir singing could be heard from beyond the terminal.

“Can you… tell 5th place something?”

“Yes?”

Malcolm reacted as if to ask why she was contacting him.

“Because we’re from the same church?”

“No, that woman has already been expelled from the church.”

Malcolm spoke quietly, perhaps because he was mindful of his surroundings.

“It’s not official yet, right? And the 5th person said it himself. There’s no way the church would expel someone with that kind of power.”

“….”

Of course, this was only the opinion of the 5th place.

Malcolm also seemed to think so, but he couldn’t say anything.

“That’s true, but… I don’t want to continue to be the liaison between that woman and Chris.”

Hmm.

Was it because the saint attacked Uncle Frank? Or was it because of her nature to prefer to stay away from problems?

Whatever the reason, both could understand it.

“Then can you tell me the contact information or a way to contact the 5th person?”

Here I decided to take a step back.

Malcolm then asked me to convey my message once, and then to communicate with the contact information I had provided from then on.

‘I didn’t mean to, but I guess what’s good is good.’

The call with Malcolm ended, and soon after, calls started coming in with the words “Caller Unknown” on the terminal screen.

“…5th place?”

“Yes! It’s me!”

When I heard the cheerful voice of the former saint and current 5th rank, I felt a little nervous and made a fool of myself.

“Why did you block the caller ID? For security?”

“My whereabouts in the church are a bit complicated. I haven’t been officially expelled, but I’m still included in the church’s contact monitoring network.”

The church had something like a contact surveillance network.

No, I thought it was normal for a church to be like that, but then I thought of Uncle Frank and the comment section and I felt a bit strange.

***

“I heard the general idea. Shall I hear the evidence?”

“Is there a time limit?”

“Not necessarily! But I hope you know that the sooner I finish, the better for me.”

Hearing that made me want to stretch it out as much as possible.

‘But I don’t have a lot of time either.’

Laia, former deputy chieftain of the second tribe.

Eslock, former chieftain of the sixth tribe.

Psylocke, former leader of the Seventh Tribe.

First of all, I mentioned the source of the testimony I obtained.

Insider information from three tribes. The fifth was surprised to find out that they were by my side right now.

“But… Since you’re telling me this! It seems like we’re already in the same boat?”

“Think whatever you want! It’s not me!”

The 5th place person was so excited that I also answered mercilessly with a similar excitement.

No way!

Lyra and Psylocke have never heard of the plan for the second place to become a sage.

However, according to Eslock, the second-ranking official did plan something like that in the past.

These two were the most crucial pieces of information.

I also shared the point at which three people left the Lidocaine Association.

“Relatively recent?”

“Yeah, that’s right. So I guess the information there is wrong.”

“Hmm….”

When I presented some credible information, the 5th place candidate was more deeply troubled than I expected.

“Or can you tell me how you got that information? So I can investigate it myself.”

“Is that so?”

She turned out to be more cooperative than I expected.

The name of the information source obtained in this way, according to the 5th person, seemed to be a famous information source.

‘Did you hear the number 1 information from this source?’

Even if we make an exception for the famous conspiracy theorist in first place… I’m sure even the 5th place, a former saint, would be fooled.

This may be proof that he is a reliable source of information and has been without any flaws for a long time.

But then another question arises here.

By providing false information to the 1st and 5th place, he destroys the trust he has worked so hard to build.

Considering that for an information source, trust in the information is life.

Either you were guaranteed a profit that would be worth the loss… or you were also deceived by the source of the information.

The problem was that it was hard for me to figure out either way.

“You came out more cooperative than I expected.”

“Yeah. Looking at it this way, he seems like a good person.”

“….”

Lyra, who was watching me from the side, was silent.

There’s no way she, a vampire, would say anything nice to a saint of the church.

“Okay, let’s bet on 6th place again.”

Unlike before, this time the call came right away.

“Ah, 6th place?”

“What’s going on? 10th place?”

…uh?

No, why did I call number 6 and hear number 1’s voice?

“1st place?!”

Her voice continued, very calm, unlike mine, who was making a fuss.

Yeah, this is definitely number one.

“I was just talking about something.”

“Oh, really?”

As I listened to her calm tone of voice, I felt myself calming down quickly.

“Can I have a minute?”

“Please speak.”

It went through the same process as the 5th place. However… the important thing here is not persuasion of the 1st place!

1. Check the route through which the information was obtained.

Fortunately, we were able to confirm through the mouth of the number 1 that she had obtained the information from the same source as the number 5.

“…whoa.”

Well then, now I just need to get this information out there.

There was a lot more I wanted to say to the first place, but I finished quickly because she said she didn’t have time.

“So what’s going on now···.”

“Ah, I hung up.”

Although it wasn’t intentional, I ended up cutting off what 6th place was saying in a hurry.

Well, we can talk about it later!

“Lia, can you find out something about this source?”

“…Yes, it seems easier than I thought.”

“Really?”

“I’ve heard that name quite a few times.”

I guess he’s kind of famous. But what should I do?

This time, I guess I’ll have to pay the price for trading without even checking the information properly.