By Zephyria Collapse
Whistle, a whistling sound rang out. The whirring of the filter, the vigorous flapping of the fishes’ tails, the shouts of the hawkers… The sound of shoes naturally blended into the boisterous noise.
With each step, his dark blue hair swayed. The young man was lightly dressed, with his white shirt rolled up to his elbows. The surrounding shopkeepers, dizzyingly mixed up, raised their hands in greeting.
“Hey, where are you going!”
“A customer is here~”
The young man smiled brightly and waved back, hurrying his pace. Soon, familiar letters appeared among the glittering signs hanging from the ceiling. Rose Seafood. The young man jumped to a stop in front of the store.
“Ta-da. I’m here.”
At the same time, Jang Mi-sook-ssi grabbed the young man’s ear and pulled.
“Why are you so late? Those people have been waiting for ages!”
“Ouch, ouch! It hurts.”
“Tch, what a fuss! It doesn’t even hurt.”
She snorted and smacked his broad back with her large hand.
“Go in quickly. And don’t even think about having a battle of wills.”
“A battle of wills? I was really late because I had something to do… Okay~”
Mackerel, who had kicked off his neat loafers, knocked on the door with the back of his hand. A low voice answered. Yes, come in. He opened the door as if he had been waiting, lifting the curtain hanging in the doorway.
Inside the room, two men in black suits were sitting side by side. One man was all black from head to toe, even wearing sunglasses, and the other was a flashy man with orange hair like a carrot.
Mackerel, having quickly scanned them, entered with a playful grin.
“Oh my, I’m sorry I’m late? I had a guest. They wouldn’t let me go.”
“You’re a full thirty minutes late, you know?”
Orange-haired Romantic Opener retorted grumpily. Mackerel replied smoothly.
“Yes, yes, it’s my fault for miscalculating the time. I’ll provide service to make up for it, so don’t worry.”
He dusted off his shirt with a snap of his hands, straightened it, and sat down on a cushion opposite the two men. His neat teeth were revealed in a smiling face, his chin resting at an angle on his hand.
“Anyway… We have regular customers here. I didn’t expect the Guild Master to come himself?”
Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo put down his glass with a thud and replied clearly.
“The Guild Master is busy.”
“Ah, I know, I know.”
Mackerel leaned forward slightly and whispered.
“I heard… you were having a friendly game of tag at the company? The Guild Master, I mean.”
Romantic Opener, Choi Goyo, who was drinking water next to him, spat out his water with a “Ptoo!” While he was coughing with his head turned away, Min-gi Seo replied without any change in expression.
“Is that so? I’ve never heard of it. You must be mistaking it for another Guild’s story.”
“Come on. So many people saw it. Besides, J stayed with us for a while. How can you do this?”
Min-gi Seo raised an eyebrow and retorted.
“J stayed here? That’s also surprising.”
“Oh, don’t be boring. Do you really think I don’t know? How many times you came to the fish market while J was staying here. Tell me honestly. Lee Sa-young ordered you to, didn’t he?”
His dark blue eyes sparkled. Min-gi Seo’s sunglasses lenses also sparkled in response. Min-gi Seo conspicuously looked up and replied.
“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else?”
Mackerel pouted and shrugged.
“We all know each other, so stop pretending you don’t.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Even if you play dumb… the carrot-head over there has already answered everything.”
Romantic Opener pointed at himself and blinked.
“Huh? …Me?”
He looked back and forth between Mackerel and Min-gi Seo with a bewildered expression. Min-gi Seo turned his head away, avoiding his gaze. Mackerel grinned.
“Fraud needs to be well-coordinated. Don’t you think?”
“Well, I expect you to improve day by day. You have endless potential. Let’s stop this cat-and-mouse game and get to the point.”
Min-gi Seo pushed up his sunglasses.
“We’ve come to receive the information the Guild Master asked for. You have it ready, I presume.”
“Of course.”
Mackerel smacked his lips and rubbed his hands together. He made a circle with his thumb and forefinger.
“By the way, this information is a bit pricey. You know it’s pre-payment, right, customer?”
Min-gi Seo, with a card between his index and middle fingers, asked, shining his sunglasses.
“Do you accept card payments?”
Mackerel sighed and shook his head.
“Why are you doing this when we all know each other? Card payments have a separate fee.”
“Yes, I was just joking. Just in case.”
“Your jokes are really not funny.”
Min-gi Seo gestured. Choi Goyo grumbled and took out a shabby, crumpled box from his Inventory. On one side of the box, the words “Sea Mustard” were written in large black letters. Mackerel joked.
“Did you pick it up from outside?”
“Jang Mi-sook-ssi provided it.”
“……”
When the box was placed on the table, it made a heavy thud. Min-gi Seo opened the box as if to show off. What was inside, filling the box, was not sea mustard, dried seaweed, or even money as blue and flat as seaweed…
“Hmm, this should be enough.”
It was Mana Stone.
Large and small Mana Stones filled the box, each shining with a different light. From pebbles to fist-sized, the sizes and types varied. Mackerel picked up a dark blue Mana Stone and fiddled with it, grinning.
“Thank you. I’ll use it to cover the maintenance costs.”
“The data…”
“Ah, here it is.”
Mackerel put his finger to his temple, and a koi carp the size of an arm popped out of his head. The koi carp swam leisurely through the air and settled in Min-gi Seo’s hand. Soon, the carp turned into a thick bundle of papers.
“I’ll send it to your personal messenger as well, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you for the transaction.”
Min-gi Seo bowed his head, and Romantic Opener bowed his head along with him. A few fish carried the box and disappeared beyond the wall. Mackerel got up from his seat and dusted off his pants.
“Shouldn’t you be going quickly? The atmosphere is quite uneasy these days. With the General Assembly ahead.”
“We should.”
“Alright, then…”
Mackerel, who was lifting the curtain with his arm at the doorway, turned around. He winked at Min-gi Seo.
“Oh, by the way, could you pass on a word to my Hyung?”
“Hyung?”
“J, I mean.”
“What should I tell him?”
“Tell him to be careful of everything.”
“……”
Min-gi Seo stared at Mackerel with a blank expression. Mackerel raised the corners of his mouth. His dark blue eyes sparkled.
“No, I just feel like something big is about to happen… Sometimes there are things you can’t solve with just strength, right?”
“……”
“You have to use your head, your head.”
“……”
“Well, just tell him that. If he doesn’t understand, it’s his fault. This is purely out of goodwill.”
Mackerel waved his hand casually and disappeared. Silence fell in the small room. Min-gi Seo gestured to Romantic Opener and got up from his seat. The moment Romantic Opener stood up, the two melted into the shadows. A moment later, they reappeared in front of an old truck.
Min-gi Seo got into the driver’s seat of the truck. Only after Romantic Opener sat in the passenger seat did he open his mouth.
“The guests who wouldn’t let Mackerel go were probably Gyugyu Hunter and Honeybee Hunter.”
“Huh? Really? How did you know?”
Min-gi Seo pointed to his nose.
“The smell.”
“Huh?”
“Think back. He dusted off his collar after saying he would provide service, right?”
Choi Goyo frowned and racked his brain. Mackerel, who had been smirking and entering after making them wait for thirty minutes… He did dust off his collar. But why? Wasn’t that just a peacock-like action to show off his appearance? Min-gi Seo continued, checking his seatbelt.
“That’s when the smell wafted over. He must have known it himself and sprayed deodorant, but the scent of perfume that Gyugyu Hunter often uses was hidden beneath the deodorant. Honeybee Hunter’s perfume was mixed in too.”
“No way, you remember all those smells?”
“They both use strong perfumes.”
“But he gave that as a service? What if we didn’t understand? I didn’t understand?”
“What can you do if that’s his personality? He’s saying if you can’t take the service even when he gives it like that, then get lost.”
“Geez, what a nasty personality.”
Vroom, the engine started with a thunderous noise. The rosary hanging from the rearview mirror also dangled along with it. Romantic Opener, who was fastening his seatbelt, grumbled.
“When are you going to change that rosary?”
“Why? Doesn’t it bring peace of mind? It’s like my family now.”
“Geez, your family boundaries are wide.”
Min-gi Seo didn’t reply and began to flip through the thick bundle of papers one by one. And, as the number of pages turned increased, his blank face gradually began to change. Romantic Opener, who was putting a wireless earphone in his ear, looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“……”
“Min-gi Seo-ssi?”
Min-gi Seo said calmly.
“We need to go to the Guild Master right away.”