“Such an absurd metaphor. Fine, I’m the demon lord—but how on earth is lanky, handsome Joo-o the princess?”But instead of taking issue with her analogy, Muhae played along.“Damn… you’re right. I’m not actually from the intel division. I’m just handling assignments that get shoved onto me. I’ve got some debts to settle, you see.”“I thought so.”“If I’d known it was that obvious, I wouldn’t have gone through the awkward act. What a waste of effort.”“Should I consider this a one-off meeting, then?”“Highly likely, yes. Let’s hope so.”Olga fell silent, as if pondering something. After a brief hesitation, she gently touched the ring on her left ring finger.Muhae’s gaze followed her movement, and her lips twisted into a slight smile.“Does this ring bother you?”“Uh?”Her eyes drifted upward, as though staring at an imaginary sky. Watching the holographic clouds, her faintly smiling face somehow looked bitter.After opening and closing her mouth a few times, Olga finally got to the point.“You know, if you do me one favor, something else might occur to me.”“A favor?”“Actually, this is part of a set with a bracelet. But I lost the bracelet some time ago.”Olga held out her hand to show the ring. A slender platinum band set with a starburst motif—an unremarkable piece of jewelry.For someone who would give a gift, it was a modest token. Could it really be a matching ring from her partner, as speculated?“I tried to find it myself, but it was useless. I searched everywhere I thought I might’ve dropped it, but it never turned up. All I know for sure is that it disappeared somewhere in the shopping district. Someone might have picked it up. Who wouldn’t covet ownerless jewelry?”“So you want me to find it?”“You don’t have to actually bring it back. Just let me know where it is or who has it, and I’ll handle the rest.”In other words, she was putting the bracelet on the wanted list. Its unremarkable design made it difficult to track down.She had the means to pay handsomely, and her look said, “Just tell me who has it.” Olga was certain someone else already possessed the bracelet.“It might not happen in a day or two.”“That’s fine. I don’t mind how long it takes—just locate it for me.”She pressed her lips together as she spoke, biting the inside of her cheek.So it was more treasured than she let on. Muhae nodded calmly, putting on a trustworthy expression.“Shall I report this request?”“There’s no need for that. I’ll contact you again soon.”With her face finally clearing, Olga sketched the bracelet and sent the image on the spot.As expected, its design was plain—almost crude. Apart from the recessed starburst in the center, it could have come from any street vendor.“It’s platinum.”Hmm. It might be more valuable than it looked. Muhae gave her his contact information and began outlining his plan in his mind.Jewelry typically passed through reputable jewelers. If someone had found and sold it, a quick inquiry could trace it.But if none of the city’s jewelers had seen it, then the bracelet had vanished into the underground market.“Pawnshops or fences in the back alleys,” he thought.Fortunately, Muhae had good instincts for that world—mercenaries tended to fence valuable finds rather than return them to unknown owners.“It shouldn’t take too long.”Muhae reassured her as though it were a trivial matter. Perhaps the task would be easier than he feared.…Four days later, his confident words rang hollow.“Shit.”He hadn’t even caught a hint of the bracelet’s whereabouts.He’d circled through all four residential zones and even Central, discreetly questioning jewelers—without a single promising lead.A recent platinum bracelet—no reputable dealer could overlook that.He’d visited sizable pawnshops and fences dealing in jewelry, only to receive the same dead-end replies.‘Are you sure it was lost just a few weeks ago?’‘Well…’Only then did he realize: Olga had said she lost it “recently,” but never gave an exact date. Normally, that implied a month or two ago at most—but who knew? She might have intentionally omitted the details.Considering her impeccably strict routine, her vague request now struck him as odd. As the thought hit him, Muhae speculated that finding the bracelet might be no less genuine a goal than she claimed.Her earnest expression that day had seemed impossible to fabricate. Perhaps she’d lost it long ago and simply turned it into a job for him.Framing it that way eased his frustration somewhat. Chasing a phantom is worse than tracking a real lead—there’s a world of difference between zero and a tangible ninety-nine.‘I’ve been in this game over twenty years. Even if you eat pure gold, you won’t swallow platinum. Whoever owned it must’ve been a decent type—wouldn’t risk their life for a pawn shop if they planned to live long.’‘But someone must’ve sold it. Where did they fence it off?’‘Just because I wouldn’t swallow it doesn’t mean others wouldn’t. Thieves who fence hits don’t do it just once. If they weren’t thorough, they’d have been busted with the thief by now.’Through a pawnshop near Starlight Avenue, he got a promising tip.Muhae expanded his search to include anyone with a history of fencing stolen goods.Near the end of his list was a tout for a tattoo shop at a makeshift station outside the city limits.Armed with a carton of premium cigarettes—always tradable for cash—he approached a scruffy man who grinned to reveal missing teeth.“If it’s platinum, what kind?”“Supposed to look like this.”“Can’t even draw worth a damn.”“I didn’t sketch it myself. Focus on what I’m asking.”Ha. The man lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, then exhaled the smoke through his mouth.His appearance didn’t match the description, but after losing his slum dwelling and enduring hard times, he looked every bit the part.“Yeah, the star shape rings a bell. Bought it cheap from a merc out of town.”“Really?”“There was something else in it—so I told him to weigh it. Turned out it wasn’t solid platinum, just plated. I haggled him down to a tenth of the price. Ha!”He boasted of past exploits as he puffed away. At last, when his smoldering cigarette had burned to the filter, he flicked the butt against the wall with a longing look.“But I couldn’t sell it for much. Around that time, Giseok got pinched for fencing, so I didn’t want more evidence. I sold it to a guy running errands to Seogyeong City for about two thousand dil.”“Do you remember who that was?”“Why would I? But most folks shuttling to Seogyeong then were either labor contractors or traders. If someone could buy that, probably the latter.”He pocketed the cigarette pack as if it were treasure and eyed Muhae like a scavenger. As with survivors of this world, his instincts were razor-sharp.“Why? Need the exact date? That’ll cost extra.”No sooner had he spoken than colored envelopes spilled at the man’s feet. Joo-o had dumped them from his bag.Inside each palm-sized packet were three or four pieces of dried fruit—real fruit, not artificially flavored. Hard to obtain even in the Jaegang Zone, and expensive.“You want me to scram just for snack money?”“That’s for Jigu.”Joo-o hugged his bag and replied deliberately. Hearing the name Jigu, the man snapped his mocking grin shut.Unswayed by Muhae’s frown, he scooped up every envelope and stuffed them into his jacket and pants pockets.“Around late February, I think? I got dragged in early March.”“What year?”“Let’s see… sixteen years ago? No, seventeen years ago. I was thirty-six then, so fifty-three minus thirty-six is seventeen. Right?”A trader on a Seogyeong City run seventeen years ago, in late February. By now, Muhae could almost pinpoint his target.He elbowed Joo-o as they left the dank room.“Where’d you get those? And who’s Jigu?”“Bought them while walking. Jigu is Jigu.”What mischief had Joo-o been up to without him knowing? It was unsettling, but for now, finding the bracelet mattered more than scolding him.‘“Recently,” huh?’Muhae stifled a sigh and quickened his pace. That damned bracelet—by now, it might have been lost immediately after Solar City fell.He adjusted Joo-o’s barely clinging cap and strode toward Goryeo City’s entrance.The bracelet’s new owner lived in Taeul Zone. He’d worried it might be in Central, but thankfully it wasn’t.Unfortunately, he couldn’t get a contact number, so Muhae straightened his bangs to cover his forehead and rang the doorbell at a random house at the right time.He made sure to plant Joo-o by the intercom, too. Though prone to disaster when speaking, Joo-o gave the best first impression of any candidate.Beep—“Hello. This is Park Su-chan, I’ve come on business.”“Who told you that? Move aside. Excuse me, are you Mr. Park Su-chan’s family?”―…Who are you?Hearing the name, the door cracked open. A white-haired elderly woman peered out through the latch.Despite the stranger at her door, her eyes held a faint welcome rather than wariness.“Ahem, do you perhaps know our Su-chan?”Because he was someone she longed for even at the sound of his name. Seventeen years ago, her eldest son had brought her an expensive bracelet from a business trip outside the city.He later died young in an accident, but his family remained at the same address, cherishing his memory.Muhae quickly skimmed the old woman’s wrist through the door gap. For some reason, there was no bracelet to see. An ominous sign.“I’m looking for some belongings left by my late father. Since his accident occurred outside the city, some items went missing. I believe some ended up in Gaeseong City and then to him.”In the kindest, most polite voice he’d ever used, Muhae wove his fabricated tale.A shared sorrow in losing a loved one. A poignant bond ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) over the lost heirloom.Whether his ploy worked or not, the woman glanced at her own wrist. Only a wristwatch remained, but she clearly knew about the bracelet.After a long silence, she clicked the latch and swung the door wide open.Stepping forward, she wore a reluctant expression.“You’re asking about the bracelet, right?”“Yes. Something like this… If it’s alright, could we talk about your son’s belongings?”“It’s not difficult to explain… hmm.”Pausing briefly, she clasped her empty wrist and continued.“I don’t have that bracelet anymore. I disposed of it just a few weeks ago.”

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.