Necromancer Survival

three years.”

     Only then did Moon Issak completely drop his smile.
Though his words remained insincerely professional, he had dropped honorifics.
“Bae Jaemin would kill me just for asking him about Beatrice?”

     “Yes.”

     “That line of inquiry is related to a secret that would severely damage Bae Jaemin?”

     “It’s central–the core, perhaps–to that secret.”

     “And if I tell him that you tipped me off?”

     “He’ll kill me and you.
After all, Moon Issak-ssi and Bae Jaemin-ssi are not partners.”

     Moon Issak, who had been asking questions one after the other, still had an indecipherable expression.
He didn’t seem angry at being deceived; he didn’t seem flustered either.
He simply leaned back against the chair’s backrest and placed his chin in his palm…as if he were discussing someone else’s dilemma.

     Soon after, he took out a lightly-used cigarette, lit it, and hollowed his cheeks as he took a drag from the cigarette.
I continued to stare at the investigator’s pupils which were now hidden by the cigarette smoke.

     “I thought you were a total pushover…” Moon Issak murmured.

     “…….”

     “I guess you weren’t that perverted.” 1

     His voice that wafted through the lazy smoke was unexpectedly light and amused, as if he had heard some entertaining joke.

     After that, he continued to smoke without saying another word.
Then, after rubbing the cigarette butt against my table, he completely ignored my frown and spoke languidly, “Sure there were rumors–that Bae Jaemin was suspicious.
His other guild members were all exterminated, but only he alone came back alive.
There were too many ambiguous testimonies as well.
During the first investigations, there were things that didn’t add up.
Of course there were many people that liked to chatter and make noise about that.
There were quite a few media outlets that were preparing to report on the dungeon expedition as well.”

     “……”

    “But, one day everyone’s interest suddenly cooled off.
The biggest issue, beyond that, was that the people digging into the case gradually disappeared.
Some people from the investigation team moved on to join a media company where Bae Jaemin owned 15% of the shares, some died or went missing within dungeons… Furthermore, the documentary on the expedition, which Channel H had been preparing for over 1 ambitious year, was banned from broadcasting its contents at the request of the bereaved families.
Seo Dawon’s parents included among them.”

    “……”

“The civil administrators that were requesting for a re-investigation from the Dungeon Association died within the dungeons.
The quick-witted folks probably clamped their mouths shut.”

     “……”

     “Those who truly didn’t really care about the truth of that situation, like me, weren’t really looking to question things anyways.
Even I had only recently heard about these rumors from a retiree I spent painstaking effort to contact while investigating.”

     While silently listening to Moon Issak’s explanation, I was a little shaken by the news that Seo Dawon’s parents banned the documentary broadcast of their expeditions.
However, Seo Dawon didn’t react much.

     Moon Issak took out another lightly-used cigarette, bit it with his lips, and chewed on it gently for a few minutes.
Then, he quietly asked, “HaHae, Virtuoso Workshop, and Red Dragon as well… There are so many people involved.
Are there more culprits I don’t know about?”

     I hesitated to answer, but, from all that Moon Issak had said so far, I judged the investigator had no intention of withdrawing from our mutual cooperation.
I whispered quietly, “If you’re asking about guilds, Opera should also be included.”

     “……”

     Judging from the investigator’s silence, he must have been surprised that [Opera] was involved.
Well… Considering Seo Dawon and Ryu Hyerin’s relationship before [Red Lotus]’s extermination, his confusion at Hyerin’s involvement was understandable.

     However, Moon Issak crushed the tip of his cigarette with his teeth before throwing it away.
“Hm.
Was it a Lover’s quarrel?”

    “What?”

    “I’m talking about Seo Dawon.
Was Ryu Hyerin upset bc that guy couldn’t fix his habits and returned to being a dirty dishrag…” 2

    “Of course not!” I lost my temper and bumped into the table.

     Moon Issak looked at me as if he saw something strange; I bowed my head, belatedly feeling a rush of embarrassment.