Chapter 11
“Know what?”
“Oh my… you really don’t know? Did you live abroad or something?”
Feeling stung, Baeksan just tilted her head as innocently as possible.
‘I should restrain myself from asking about everything I’m curious about. I don’t know what counts as common knowledge here.’
Fortunately, Agnes looked around before leaning in to whisper:
“His Imperial Majesty has no interest in such matters.”
“Then?”
“He’s too busy keeping Grand Duke Zahig in check. Because of that, Ulm’s security is left to Princess Bathilda and Marquis Lille’s knights, but honestly that’s not enough.”
Grand Duke Zahig.
Baeksan fell silent.
‘…Who’s that?’
It was a blind spot in her ability. She couldn’t get information just from hearing something.
‘I tried writing it down to read it as a workaround, but that didn’t work either.’
From Agnes’s tone, this seemed to be someone every citizen knew about.
Baeksan subtly changed her question.
“So what’s the Grand Duke doing these days?”
At that moment, Lira suddenly cut in.
“Probably doing more of His Majesty’s unreasonable errands? Using that face like that! His Majesty is just too much!”
“Shh. Lira, you’re too loud.”
“But if it were me, I’d use him for imperial flower arrangements! Being hostile is just counterproductive, right?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
From what she was hearing, Grand Duke Zahig seemed to be everyone’s idol.
Young, handsome, and capable.
And kept in check by the aging emperor.
‘A Grand Duke must be quite high-ranking, yet he gets called around to do the emperor’s bidding?’
She naturally thought of Princess Bathilda whom she’d met at the Blue Moon Fair.
Back then, the information window had described Bathilda as material for a hegemon.
‘Does that mean Princess Bathilda will become empress? Why is the emperor keeping the Grand Duke in check?’
Though curious about the inside story, Agnes’s reaction suggested this too was common knowledge for capital residents.
Actually, Baeksan wasn’t terribly interested.
‘Not like I’ll ever run into them anyway.’
She thought this as she turned her attention elsewhere.
* * *
A week later.
During lunch break, Lira approached and said:
“Mine! There’s a place that sells amazing cidre. Want to come with me?”
“With me?”
“Yeah! I want to get closer to you too.”
“With me?”
“Mine, you just gave the same answer twice!”
Lira laughed brightly.
‘I was asking seriously though.’
In her previous life, no one had ever approached her wanting to be friends.
Baeksan was sitting there blankly when Agnes came over and spoke up, snapping her out of it.
“We’re not making you uncomfortable, are we, Mine?”
“No… not uncomfortable.”
Rather, she was grateful for their kindness. Though she was naturally insensitive and couldn’t show it well.
Agnes smiled gently.
“You know, Mine. Most appraisers are either from noble branch families or magicians, so they treat administrative officers like servants. Did you know that?”
“…I didn’t.”
Baeksan’s office was on the fourth floor. She had no way of knowing how the appraisers on the second and third floors behaved.
Though they did seem somewhat cautious when she was on the first floor.
“They don’t seem to act that way in front of me.”
“Right. It’s gotten better lately because of you. You treat us as equals.”
“…? Isn’t that natural?”
Agnes and Lira chuckled.
“That’s why we want to get closer to you.”
“Come with us, okay?”
Baeksan blinked.
She hesitated a bit, but then nodded.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
* * *
Evening, after finishing work at the appraisal house.
Baeksan, who got off earlier than the administrative officers Agnes and Lira, arrived at the meeting place after asking for directions.
The tavern was called ‘The Six’s Pub.’
Arriving first, Baeksan stared at the old sign for a while.
‘…Oddly uninviting.’
Why did it remind her of the six energy drinks she’d had in her previous life?
Pulling down her robe, Baeksan opened the building’s door.
Inside was a pub with a wide space but low ceiling. It seemed to be a converted basement.
Looking around, there seemed to be more casual customers than she’d expected.
[Jaya Man]
Gold-badge mercenary. Genius-level strong. Better not approach.
[Eugene Latova]
Gold-badge mercenary. Incomparably strong. Distracted by the woman in front of him.
[Houdini]
Regular at ‘The Six’s Pub.’ Recently divorced by his wife due to alcoholism but still can’t quit drinking.
[Houdini’s Cheap Beer]
Cheap beer with almost no carbonation left. The bartender secretly mixed-in water…
Baeksan ignored the overflowing descriptions and approached the bartender.
“Cidre… no, one beer please.”
Better save the main menu for when everyone arrives.
After ordering a light beer, Baeksan headed for a corner.
She planned to wait there for Agnes and Lira. Since they weren’t appraisers, their quitting time was later than Baeksan’s.
However, after several dozen minutes, something unexpected happened.
“Mine!”
Suddenly, Agnes burst into the pub.
“Agnes?”
Agnes spotted Baeksan and rushed over in panic.
“Mine! Sob…!”
Just as everyone in the pub turned to look at Agnes, she burst into tears.
“Lira’s disappeared!”
“What?”
Agnes began explaining between sobs.
“Lira and I live in similar directions, so I changed clothes and came out, and Lira was right ahead…”
“And?”
“I-I wanted to think about something so I just followed slowly behind. But Lira headed toward a shortcut with bad security…. I was walking on the main road, but thought I should stop her, so I followed, and…”
Agnes broke into loud sobs before continuing.
“Someone appeared in the alley and covered Lira’s mouth! And then…”
“…”
Some might call her cold, but Baeksan’s first action at that moment wasn’t to wipe Agnes’s tears.
Baeksan first focused on Agnes’s system window.
[Chad Agnes]
Youngest daughter of Chad Trading Company’s owner. Works as an administrative officer at Sophs Appraisal House to avoid family interference.
Very shocked after witnessing a colleague’s disappearance. Honey water might help calm her down.
‘So Lira definitely was kidnapped.’
Only then did Baeksan pat Agnes’s back.
“The people? Did you call the police— I mean, the Security Force?”
“I screamed but no one came…”
“Then let’s go to the Security Force first.”
“I went! But they wouldn’t even pretend to listen!”
Agnes began crying more intensely.
“Even though I told them what I saw, they not only wouldn’t listen but practically kicked me out! How could they ignore it to that extent just because it’s near Meteor District, the poor area…”
“…”
Baeksan’s eyes sharpened.
Security officers who don’t know their role will always get their comeuppance eventually.
Though not right now.
“Any other clues? Conversations or…”
Though Agnes still seemed distraught, she stammered out a response to Baeksan’s pressing:
“Come to think of it, they said something about needing more people for the fighting pit today…”
‘Today….’
As Baeksan’s expression grew serious, Agnes clung to her and started sobbing again.
“What do we do, Mine? If something happens to Lira…”
“It’ll be okay.”
Honestly, it probably wouldn’t be okay, but right now calming Agnes was the priority.
“First you need to drink something to calm down.”
Baeksan turned to the bartender.
“Bartender. One honey water…”
At that moment, Baeksan’s eyes couldn’t help but go wide.
[Jurgen]
Bartender of ‘The Six’s Pub.’ Member of the Magdala gang that runs illegal fighting pits.
Hiding his surprise with an amazing poker face.
‘You bastard… you were involved?’
Baeksan’s face contorted.
Unaware of her thoughts, the bartender calmly served the honey water.
“Here’s your honey water.”
“…”
Baeksan furrowed her brow and bit her lip.
She was furious but could do nothing.
While she could see things others couldn’t, her physical abilities were completely ordinary. No, they were closer to weak.
For the first time since arriving in this world, she felt frustrated.
‘What should I do…’
Right at that moment.
Golden letters walked into the pub.
