Chapter 426

Esther remained with her arms crossed, lost in thought. As the silence stretched on, the blond Korean standing before her once again held out the item.

***

How on earth did things end up like this?

By now, the Guild Master of the Korean Magic Tower was probably thinking exactly that.

'I didn't use magic to check, but even an archmage can usually sense these things...'

In that case, it seemed like it would take quite a while before she gave me an answer. If only to hide the awkwardness of keeping my hand extended, I decided to take the opportunity to rummage through my memories.

'Let's see.'

First of all, with all sorts of world-class artifacts—including the [Hydra]—about to be unveiled, S-rank hunters had gathered around this building.

That meant that simply hanging around near the lobby made it easy enough to run into the foreign hunter I was looking for again.

Excuse me! Sir with the glasses over there, I hope I'm not being rude, but could you spare me a moment?

Hiik!

Ah, what an overreaction. Honestly, you're making me want to use my powers from the very beginning.

After reuniting with the suitor, a few minutes of ordinary conversation followed.

Hunter Esther, I'd like to save the method I came up with for as long as possible. I'm sorry, but for now, could we try talking things out first?

Oh, if our Giryeo-ssi says so, then of course...

In fact, even that brief and stiff greeting had only happened because I suggested it. But in any case, as far as I remembered, there hadn't been any problems up to that point.

The trigger that made the situation deteriorate came immediately afterward.

'From what I've heard, that woman was willing to forgive him as long as she received a proper apology.'

Right after meeting the suitor in the black-rimmed glasses, Esther insisted that she had never placed a [curse] on him and that the only reason she was suffering now was because of the rumors he'd spread.

But...

As you can see, the result wasn't good.

The foreign man who had once proposed marriage to her stubbornly maintained his position, saying, "Even today, something unfortunate happened that makes me suspect a curse," and showed no intention of backing down.

How can a person be this rude! I was told South Korea still places great importance on manners as an Eastern country, but apparently that's complete nonsense.

What did you say?

I didn't even do anything to harm you. I made one mistake, and now you're making things this difficult? Listen—every single time we were in the same country, a taxi accident happened like clockwork. If that isn't a [curse], then what is?

If it's not a [curse], then it's just terrible luck. Why are you asking me about something I know nothing about?

No matter how long they talked, they couldn't reach an agreement.

And given the circumstances, it was only natural that a verbal clash would eventually break out between them.

Everyone, please don't fight.

It was around then.

Please don't fight and just listen to me this once.

Standing quietly beside them, I decided it was time to use my last resort and finally stepped into the conversation.

Then I rummaged through the pocket of my jeans and pulled something out...

'If only I hadn't been unlicensed, I could've confidently stored it in an item box.'

I remembered it clearly.

That was around the moment the [Fairy's Promise] appeared right here.

'Artifacts that require mutual consent are unlikely to become lethal even if they fall into the hands of someone who can't use magic. At least, not on their own. That's why anyone can buy them just by paying the price, without needing to meet any special qualifications.'

In fact, I had quietly purchased this item here without telling my Korean companion.

And as for why I had rushed to buy tourist bait that cost a full 100 million more than the average market price...

Well, there was no need to explain that in detail.

'Hmm.'

Come to think of it, the reason those Earthlings were fighting ultimately came down to just two things.

First, neither side wanted to open their wallet because they'd feel wronged if they suffered a financial loss despite being innocent.

Second, the biggest obstacle was that the truth about the [curse] still hadn't been revealed.

But what would happen if a third party like me suddenly offered up my own money—and even went so far as to put this powerful promise item around my own neck?

'Most of the causes behind the dispute so far would disappear.'

The only problem was that my F-rank days had lasted a little too long.

People like me, who had accumulated years upon years of experience in the soul, already understood the power of money all too well.

[Fairy's Promise].

This black collar, which cost less than one-tenth of the Ushtia rental fee, was an unequal magical tool in which only one party had to pay the price.

Because of that, it wasn't normally used for mutual promises.

However, compared to other contract items, it had the advantage of allowing the penalty for breaking the agreement to be freely determined.

Well, that's just how life works.

'Now I don't even care about being frugal, and this amount isn't much anyway. I can always earn it back. So I'll use it whenever I need to.'

Me.

Seo Esther.

The failed suitor.

If I tied all three of us together using the [Fairy's Promise], confirming the truth would be fairly simple.

Esther would take the role of 'master.'

The magic would be placed around the neck of her acquaintance—me.

Then she would answer, as one of the contract clauses, whether or not she had placed a curse.

That was all.

'This way, no one has anything to feel uneasy about, and the truth can be revealed without any complications, right?'

As expected, I'm a genius.

That was the exact moment I raised my head with a sense of pride.

'...Aren't I?'

For some reason, the atmosphere was still awkwardly silent.

Then a sharp voice suddenly cut through it.

"I don't want to!"

It was a single statement from Esther.

The only problem was that all the color had drained from her face, as though she had just witnessed the climax of a horror movie.

"How could I possibly dare use an item like that on you, Giryeo-ssi?"

"Hmm."

"Please take better care of yourself, okay? Contract penalties apply equally even to S-ranks."

The word 'dare,' huh.

At first, I thought she was exaggerating.

But when I considered it more carefully, perhaps it actually made sense.

I was the one who had given up my own food even when I was on the verge of starvation.

And when that trio of beasts appeared, I was the one who stood firm and protected Korea.

That must have left quite an impression.

Honestly, the name Kim Giryeo—the name belonging to this very body—was one worthy of respect.

So perhaps it was only natural for Esther to feel uncomfortable about putting some otherworldly leash around my neck.

'Besides, I've even been tutoring her lately. Strictly speaking, that makes me her special summer-break lecturer, doesn't it?'

Naturally, it might be different if you were dealing with some shameless teacher who demanded bribes.

But even so, how many people in this world would willingly harm their benefactor?

"Ugh."

"You don't want to?"

A moment later, the guild leader explained that she hated causing harm to another person over something so personal.

More than ordinary social ethics, it seemed that her high pride simply couldn't accept such a solution.

But I spared no effort in persuading her if it meant resolving the situation.

"But there's no way the penalty will actually be triggered, right?"

That was precisely why I'd gone so far as to bring the curse specialist herself here just to verify the truth.

Of course, since everything was being done through a simple question-and-answer exchange without using a single spell, there were still some lingering uncertainties.

'It would be pretty funny if it suddenly turned out that she'd actually cast the [curse] after all.'

Well, even in the worst-case scenario, there was still a way out.

'If that happens, I'll just pretend to be in pain, act like the artifact affected me, and stop associating with her...'

It was a somewhat extreme thought.

But if she'd continued deceiving everyone until the very end despite being given so many chances, then the justification for siding with the curse specialist would weaken considerably.

"Hmm."

Besides, I'd gone on and on in my head, coming up with all sorts of future plans...

But with the instincts I'd developed as a great mage, there was little chance my intuition was wrong.

That primitive sorcerer had almost certainly been telling the truth.

'In this planet's slang, I think they call it 'experience'.'

With that, I brought my brief thoughts to an end.

Then, with an air of 'don't worry about it,' I casually handed her the artifact's controls.

"Do you trust me that much?"

In truth, it wasn't so much about trust as it was about being fully prepared to pretend I didn't know her at any moment.

Still, there was no need to ruin the atmosphere.

I simply nodded in silence.

"Hmm..."

For reference, Esther had been panicking and refusing to use the artifact for quite some time already.

Thanks to that, the situation had naturally begun to look credible even to Leo, the foreigner.

I didn't expect this, but you're definitely right.

A few words followed through the translation device.

The closer and more important the relationship between the people involved, the heavier the significance of an item like the Fairy's Promise becomes.

Leo continued.

So, Ms. Seo Esther, what do you plan to do? Don't tell me you're going to reject the proposal entirely just because there's a possibility the artifact might activate?

The foreigner, who had been the one to propose, had already given a positive response.

And after hearing those words, the purple-haired Awakened reluctantly nodded as well.

Now, all that remained was one final check before using the item.

Hmm.

Hey, my friend, I'll buy you a meal later. So could you cross-check this just once and make sure the artifact is genuine?

So you're asking me to use my [Appraisal] skill.

Exactly!

In other words, you're trying to pay me off with a single meal in exchange for using a high-level technique officially certified as a Class S skill under international standards?

Even if you tell me later that you want to eat an entire truffle whole, I'll buy it for you, so just hurry up and do it.

After all, there were few professions in the world that needed appraisers as desperately as S-rank hunters did.

'Looks like he already knew someone here.'

Well, if they'd gone so far as to bring in an expert for cross-verification, then I supposed...

"Th, the auction's about to start, so let's finish this quickly."

What followed was a truth verification so anticlimactic that it barely needed explaining.

To put it simply, we proved her innocence with something along the lines of:

'If Esther really did use a [curse], then Kim Giryeo will burn his hand over a fire.'

"Did you see it?"

Yes. No matter how many times I check, the item is genuine... and even after Miss Esther made her declaration, no penalty was triggered.

To think the proof became this simple just because a single alien got involved.

By the way, is that Korean guy out of his mind? What could possibly make him trust someone enough to stick his own neck into a high-penalty artifact like that...

Y, yeah.

In a way, perhaps this was the fate of modern society, where trust between neighbors had completely collapsed.

But the affairs of Earthlings like that weren't particularly important to me right now.

'How many hundreds of millions were riding on that one exchange?'

Smrk.

After confirming that the contract mark had disappeared from my neck, Esther belatedly began asserting her rights.

Now that it had been conclusively proven that she hadn't cast the [curse], she demanded full compensation from the party responsible.

Hmm.

However, I had expected the suitor to resist at least a little at this point...

Understood.

Things went even more smoothly than I had expected.

The Awakened man with the black-rimmed glasses gave the long-awaited apology.

He even proposed an unexpected form of compensation.

"He's even offering to reimburse the money I spent buying the [Fairy's Promise]?"

He'd been acting so stingy just a moment ago.

The reason I kept picking apart every single proposal for verifying the truth was entirely because I was afraid.

"Afraid?"

When I imagined that someone might have secretly placed a curse on me... suddenly, you, Esther, started to seem like such a cunning and terrifying Awakened.

"Huh, really."

No matter how much you tried to prove the truth, I kept thinking that when the time came to answer, you'd alter your wording ever so slightly in order to deceive me.

"Me?"

I was consumed by endless suspicion.

That's why I kept saying I couldn't lightly agree to pay anything.

But now that things have turned out this way, I suppose I can no longer avoid taking responsibility.

As the other party lowered his stance, Esther's expression softened slightly.

'Well, at least this won't end in murder.'

Fortunately, it seemed she'd only written the character for 'patience' twice so far.

I apologize.

"Even for daring to speak ill of me when I'm innocent?"

Actually, that part was distorted as the story spread overseas. I truly had no malicious intentions.

"Then why did the rumor spread?"

Because if you die from a [curse], there won't be any traces of foul play. I only told my acquaintances so that, if something happened to me, they'd make sure a proper investigation was carried out...

"You've really got some nerve."

"You're really doing all sorts of things."

Then the misunderstanding has been safely resolved.

Everything that happened until now was simply the result of actions I took out of fear.

I never tried to make things difficult for you out of resentment over being rejected.

"Alright, understood. Anyway, don't forget to use all your SNS accounts and whatever else you have to correct the false rumors."

Yes... Uh, wait a moment. But if you didn't use any skill, then all the misfortunes I've been experiencing lately... What on earth were they?

"Maybe you got possessed by a ghost or something."

Gasp!

"Do you know any shamans around here?"

A... a medium?

While the two parties remained engrossed in conversation, I quietly looked over at the foreign Awakened who had been at the center of the [curse] misunderstanding.

Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed I no longer had to worry about another criminal record being added in Korea.

"Then, can I start focusing on my own interests now?"

Sssk.

'Later, if I end up alone with that person, I should ask why, out of all the hunters in the world, he chose to propose to Esther.'

I must have stared a little too intently, because it seemed as though he was beginning to notice my gaze.

Still, it wasn't the right time to speak.

'Even books don't really teach you things like this properly, and I'm genuinely curious about what traits Earthlings find attractive in others of their own kind.'

A rare case of a mammal extremely eager to form a family.

'It's information I don't personally need, but for the sake of my former acquaintances, perhaps it could become useful knowledge someday...'

Our countries might be somewhat different, but if we're both human, there should still be something I can learn from it.