WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 106: Do I Look Like a Sucker?

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“The culprit was apparently the Liberation Brigade’s ghost.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Rimon nodded once.

Tilting the teacup in his hand, he took another sip.

Li Qing-yu tilted her head at his utterly indifferent, almost flat reaction.

“You do not seem very surprised.”

“I’m not young enough to be startled by every little thing.”

Once you had lived long enough, you learned to take it in stride whether a bomb went off beside you or a king met an untimely end.

Showing off his age like the old fossil he was, Rimon added one more thing.

“I had more or less expected it, too.”

“...So you knew from the beginning that the culprit belonged to the Liberation Brigade?”

“I didn’t know. I merely suspected it.”

“As expected, you are sharp.”

“What’s so sharp about it? It would be stranger not to notice.”

Rimon gave a faint snort.

As a former PAB agent, Rimon was practically an expert on criminal Players.

He had even predicted their next target. There was no way he would fail to notice how similar the characteristics of the culprits, including Ryu Gang-cheol, were to those of the Liberation Brigade.

[Well, like you said, there were plenty of clues.]

Yoo Na-gyeong readily agreed.

To begin with, it was rare for high-level Player criminals to band together outside the Liberation Brigade.

The Liberation Brigade was unusually difficult to track, but normally, the more criminals acted together, the easier it was to find clues through information Skills or Prophecy Skills.

And when every one of them was a lunatic with either a military background or military training?

Finding culprits other than the Liberation Brigade would have been harder.

“That is true.”

Li Qing-yu, who had also figured it out fairly early, nodded.

Then she murmured as if she found it quite strange.

“But Clan Head Wang did not notice.”

[Come on, no way.]

“No, it is true. Clan Head Wang only began suspecting the Liberation Brigade after I deliberately had the Seven Dragons Society drop a hint.”

Li Qing-yu said it with a laugh, as though it were a joke.

But Rimon, who could tell she was serious, made a dumbfounded expression.

“Didn’t Clan Head Wang hire a whole bunch of Tracers? And none of them pointed it out?”

“Cases involving the Liberation Brigade are not something one encounters often. I believe most of them gave up once their Skills failed, claiming there were no clues.”

Rimon’s expression grew even stranger.

Cases involving the Liberation Brigade, which had so many criminal Players, had generally been handled by the PAB.

But because of Rimon, most of the PAB’s core agents had died, the organization had fallen apart, and the remaining agents had scattered.

It was understandable that there were no Tracers in the country who knew about the Liberation Brigade now.

Understandable, yes, but...

“...Those idiot Tracers cannot do anything if they cannot use their Skills.”

“It is not entirely their fault. The Seven Dragons Society’s masters likewise failed to find any connection to the Liberation Brigade.”

“The problem is that Tracers who make a living at this are being compared to amateurs.”

Tracking Arts were already an obsolete discipline.

Even masters who had learned them were merely amateurs who practiced as a hobby or carried on a traditional art.

Tracers, on the other hand, were professionals.

The fact that people whose job was investigation and tracking did not know even this proved they had neglected basic intelligence gathering by relying solely on Skills.

[Well, unlike the old days, all you need now is to be good with Skills.]

“That is exactly right.”

It was not something they could blame them for alone.

In this era, where using Skills alone let people handle every task easily, quickly, and accurately, an expert was someone who could use superior Skills better. Any other technique or method was merely an inefficient waste of time.

“Besides, even if Clan Head Wang had noticed sooner, it would not have changed anything.”

“That is true, but...”

Rimon clicked his tongue, yet agreed.

He knew that recognizing them as members of the Liberation Brigade would not have helped catch the culprits.

That was why he had given Wang Gi-neung clues without directly telling Wang Gi-neung to investigate the Liberation Brigade.

Still, he had not expected Wang Gi-neung to miss it until they caught Ryu Gang-cheol.

“What matters is not their affiliation anyway, is it?”

“You mean their reason?”

“Yes.”

Li Qing-yu nodded readily.

Then, refilling Rimon’s empty cup, she continued calmly.

“Though the Seven Dragons Society is not a pro-Player faction, the Liberation Brigade has never attacked us this directly before.”

“That was because they did not want to die.”

Rimon snorted.

“Yes. Knowing they were at a disadvantage for now, the Liberation Brigade must have avoided conflict with us.”

Li Qing-yu readily agreed.

No matter how many high-level Players the Liberation Brigade had, that was all they were.

The Seven Dragons Society, on the other hand, was the mastermind that had nearly overturned the world several times, and a corporate giant that still controlled all the world’s wealth.

The Ten Great Guilds might have been one thing.

But for the Liberation Brigade, a mere criminal organization, to pick a fight with the Seven Dragons Society was nothing but suicide.

“Then why are they attacking us now?”

At Li Qing-yu’s question, asked with a slight tilt of her head, Rimon raised his teacup and answered after a sip.

“Well, isn’t it one of two things?”

“What do you mean?”

“First, they may have gained the confidence to believe they can take on the Seven Dragons Society now.”

“No, that cannot be it.”

“Isn’t that a little too definite?”

“Perhaps in about ten years. But right now, the Liberation Brigade does not have that kind of strength.”

“Hmm...?”

Rimon looked at Li Qing-yu with a strange expression for a moment.

Then he nodded, agreeing with her opinion.

The Black Dragon Clan’s subsidiaries were suffering now only because this was not their homeland, and the culprits were striking in small elite groups before retreating.

If they fought head-on, it would have ended long ago.

If this had been the Zhonghua Seventy-Seven Federation, they would have been caught within a week no matter what tricks they tried.

“Then it must be the second.”

“You mean they are after something the Seven Dragons Society possesses, as you said before.”

“Right. I do not know what those lunatics want badly enough to risk an all-out war with you.”

“At least it will not be money or territory.”

“Because the cost-benefit calculation does not work?”

“Yes.”

It was a reasonable deduction.

Fighting the Seven Dragons Society for nothing more than money or material gain was like burning down a house to light a candle.

“Hmm. Then it is highly likely they are after something special that cannot be measured in money, perhaps an individual. And something acquired recently.”

“If it had been around for a long time, they would have acted sooner.”

“Right. They may have only learned about something that was already there, but if we consider every possibility like that, there will be no end to it.”

It was good to keep an open mind, but they needed to make some speculation now, even if it was a little far-fetched.

Rimon spoke calmly, then asked abruptly.

“So, does anything come to mind? Any recent changes within the Seven Dragons Society?”

“Well, there have been some, but...”

“Why do you look like that?”

Li Qing-yu trailed off slightly.

With a somewhat troubled expression, she continued.

“The biggest recent change in the Seven Dragons Society was that the Sword Duke entered into a betrothal with me.”

“Me?”

Rimon blinked without thinking.

Scratching his cheek, he asked.

“Are you saying they are doing all this because of me? Because I destroyed one of their bases?”

“That cannot be it either, can it?”

“Of course not.”

[If the Liberation Brigade pulled something like this to avenge their comrades, they would not be called a bunch of lunatics.]

Li Qing-yu, Rimon, and Yoo Na-gyeong.

The two people and one bird unanimously agreed that revenge was unlikely.

Some criminal organizations treated blood vengeance as an ironclad rule, but the Liberation Brigade was a group that disregarded comradeship and loyalty altogether.

“There are limits even to madness. Does it make any sense for people who cannot handle the Seven Dragons Society to come after me?”

[Wow... That is unbelievably obnoxious, but it makes sense, which makes it even more obnoxious.]

“Could they want something from the Sword Duke other than revenge?”

“I do not know. Other than a sword, all I have is this chicken-pigeon and my body.”

[Ah, damn it! I told you not to call me a chicken-pigeon. If you keep doing it, I am calling you a stuffy old geezer with nothing but a pretty face!]

Rimon caught Yoo Na-gyeong and spun her around.

Li Qing-yu chuckled for a while as she watched, then suddenly spoke.

“There is something that bothers me.”

“Something bothers you?”

“Yes. The Liberation Brigade is an organization of the Players, for Players, and by Players.”

“Why does that matter?”

Rimon was puzzled that she was pointing out something so obvious.

Li Qing-yu looked at him with eyes as deep and dark as obsidian, then asked quietly.

“If the influence of Players grows, are Players truly the only ones who benefit?”

At that moment, Rimon made a strange expression.

After a short silence, he asked abruptly.

“...Do you have any basis for that?”

“For now, it is only a suspicion.”

“Somehow, that sounds more frightening than saying you have evidence.”

“It is that kind of matter.”

Rimon and Li Qing-yu nodded as they exchanged those oddly indirect words.

Like a pigeon thrown into a garbage dump along with its cage, Yoo Na-gyeong blinked without being able to follow their conversation, then asked uneasily.

[Excuse me, but I have no idea what you are talking about.]

“It is nothing particularly serious.”

“Yes. Without clear evidence, it is ultimately no more than a simple conspiracy theory.”

[Hmmm?]

Yoo Na-gyeong crossed her wings over her chest and made a suspicious face.

Rimon and Li Qing-yu continued their conversation as calmly as ever.

“I suppose there is no choice but to ask directly.”

“Well, if we could, that would be the best method, but...”

Rimon folded his arms and asked with an expression no less suspicious than Yoo Na-gyeong perched on his head.

“Do you think that Wang bastard can make that son of a bitch Ryu Gang-cheol talk?”

“No, not at all.”

“Why are your answers always so decisive?”

“It is information from a spy in the Shanghai Wang Family whom I recruited.”

“...You really are thorough.”

“Being prepared for every eventuality and handling spies skillfully are basic virtues of a good bride.”

Perhaps pleased by Rimon’s praise, Li Qing-yu smiled shyly.

Yoo Na-gyeong stared at her in disbelief.

[Absolutely not! Being prepared is one thing, but ordinary brides do not plant spies to extract information in the first place!]

“Really? But I understand that housewives usually spread certain information disguised as rumors or pry out secrets whenever they gather.”

[That is communication between neighborhood women! It is not a spy network!]

“Is there a difference?”

[Of course there is!]

Yoo Na-gyeong was beside herself.

Li Qing-yu tilted her head at her, then spoke again.

“Anyway, even setting aside the spy’s information, it is certain that Clan Head Wang has had no notable results.”

“Why is that?”

“Clan Head Wang applied to use the torture chamber.”

“...That Wang bastard applied to Leviathan to use the torture chamber? To have Leviathan torture that son of a bitch for them?”

“Yes.”

The moment he heard that answer, Rimon raised one eyebrow.

Then he set down his teacup and spoke in a cold voice.

“I left them alone because I couldn’t be bothered beating them to death, and now that fucking bastard thinks I am a total sucker?”

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