<CHAPTER 07>
After the meeting with Sor, there were no more murders involving Thisbe.
But Thisbe could not just laugh.
This was because I knew very well that the lull was not the end of the storm, but merely the calm before a full-blown storm.
‘In the original work, the only thing that came out about the circumstances of Thisbe’s murder was Lunette Youngsik.’
It also comes out in quite a bit of detail. Since it was a major incident that brought Thisbe into trouble, it was described to some extent by revealing the truth.
The date was the day after the temple issued an official document correcting who the real saint was.
And, the location is a black market auction house.
Looking at it this way, the exact date and location are somewhat unclear until just before that day arrives, but fortunately, Thisbe had one more clue.
‘It was said that the reason Lunette Yeongsik died was at the auction house where Mariette’s cursed ring was put on the shelf.’
And about two weeks ago, Thisbe found an advertisement in the newspaper with the cursed ring on the front page.
No, to be honest, it wasn’t an advertisement that said it was a cursed ring.
-Look at this, Sor. Isn’t this ad a bit strange?
-What do you mean?
-The advertisement photo is of a ring, but what is written is… … No matter how you look at it, it’s a cat’s desire.
No matter how I thought about it, it was a strange article about a cat’s aspirations.
A combination of letters that seem to have nothing to do with advertising.
The answer was given by Sor, who was with him.
-This… … It’s encrypted content.
-Can you solve it?
-of course. It’s not a very difficult password.
He took a pen from a servant, wrote down the letters of ‘Cat’s Desire’ side by side, and broke them down.
Then he put them together again and held them out in front of Thisbe.
It had become a completely different word from the first time.
-… … Cursed ring?
-It’s like a description of a photo in an advertisement. Probably a product.
The cursed ring, and even going so far as to encrypt it and post it as an advertisement.
It was a typical black market advertisement.
That much was enough of an analogy.
The cursed ring is up for auction on the black market, and Estelle’s abilities have now been revealed.
Even if I wanted to pretend I didn’t know what the auction was for in the story, I couldn’t.
So Thisbe asked Sor on the spot to decipher the other phrases written in the advertisement.
Thanks to the fact that the advertisement included the date and location very clearly, it was not difficult to find out more information.
However, at least if the murder case had not occurred and the murder charges had not been brought, Thisbe would not have had to go there.
‘Of course, Sor thought I would never have to go to the black market, so he deciphered it.’
In the first place, it was an auction held on the black market, and if it was advertised with encrypted content, it was clear that the level of security would be such that entry was impossible without an invitation.
Moreover, looking at it from the outside, Thisbe would have thought so since she would never be associated with such a group.
So Thisbe quietly gave Sor a small apple.
‘Sorry, Sor.’
Actually, I already got the auction house ticket.
* * *
The original work, <Monster Flower>, is a so-called adventure story.
The characteristic of adventure stories is that the main character travels around various unknown areas and experiences accidents.
And, that means you will get a lot of helpers.
Accordingly, Estelle, the female protagonist of <Monster Flower>, also had many helpers, and among them, there was one that appeared most frequently in the story.
This is Zodiac, an information guild disguised as a cafe.
They collect all information from across the continent, and their influence on other guilds is also enormous.
There are only 5 S-rank information guilds on the entire continent.
Thisbe was the actual owner of the Zodiac.
To be precise, I should say he is the guild’s hidden owner.
According to the original work, there would have been no contact between Zodiac and Thisbe.
‘Because there was no need to leave the information of the original work behind even though it was clearly known.’
Thisbe was only about ten years old when she decided to obtain the Zodiac.
At the time, the title of saint had greater political significance than an object of direct veneration, so Thisbe would receive guests every other night.
So, the assassin.
Fortunately, thanks to the strict security of the Duke’s family, there were not many cases where they came directly under Thisbe’s nose.
Thisbe thought, an old child who, at only ten years old, had had a knife pushed to her throat for as many years as I had lived.
-I can’t live like this.
I wasn’t born as an oracle child because I wanted to, so why are there so many people who point a knife at an innocent child?
Besides, it wouldn’t be unfair if he actually turned out to be an oracle’s child.
-I go through all of this hardship, and Estelle is the one who enjoys it later!
Of course, it wasn’t really Estelle’s fault either, so I had no intention of passing the blame on to her.
However, wouldn’t it be okay to use only a few helpers that need to be returned to Estelle in advance?
There was just a temptation to do so.
So Thisbe immediately took over a cafe.
The reason was simple. Because Malone, a beggar boy taken from that cafe, will grow up to become the leader of an S-rank information guild in the future.
She decided to make friends with Malone by playing the game in advance.
‘Somehow, I got so good at it that I ended up becoming the guild’s hidden powerhouse.’
Thanks to this, I was able to get a ticket to the auction house, so this isn’t a bad result.
Thisbe put on her robe and looked around.
She was now at the auction house that would be the scene of Lunette Youngsik’s murder.
Because the auction had already started some time ago, the auction house, which had been noisy just a moment ago, was extremely quiet except for the stage, like a theater after the curtain rose.
The only difference from the theater is that everyone here is wearing the same black robe to hide their identity.
This may be natural as the auction is conducted so secretly that encrypted advertisements are displayed.
‘It’s still quiet so far.’
Thisbe’s gaze stayed in the direction where Lunette Yeongsik was. I had already found out where he would sit through Zodiac.
However, there is still no sign of murder.
It’s almost pointless that he even used sleeping pills to put the maid, who was in charge of surveillance, to sleep.
As Thisbe looked around, Malone, the man next to her with his short hair covering his neck tied in a ponytail, suddenly raised his head and asked:
“Why are you doing this? miss.”
“Hmm, somehow it feels like nothing is happening.”
“Usually that’s normal. And it seems to me that nothing will happen today.”
Zodiac’s guild leader, Malone, was the one who brought Thisbe the auction house ticket, so he knew why she came to the black market today.
He was also one of the few helpers who knew what Thisbe was planning.
“So, can I just stop observing the target and buy something?”
“No, no.”
Of course, there are occasional disagreements.
Malone grumbled a little at Thisbe’s stubborn attitude.
“Why are you saying I can’t be the only one? “The young lady was also possessed by the grimoire earlier.”
“that.”
Thisbe was speechless. Because what Malone said was true.
The moment the grimoire was put up on the auction stand a little while ago, Thisbe momentarily let go of reason and called out his number.
“It can’t be helped. “It’s almost impossible to obtain a grimoire in Korea.”
“I know, but wouldn’t you like to have some items that are nearly impossible to obtain domestically?”
“I understand your feelings, but the purpose is not to buy things.”
Even if it was him, it would be a little difficult if Malone who was directly watching Lunette Youngsik, turned his eyes.
“I was distracted earlier, so now I really have to keep my eyes peeled. “There will be murder.”
“But in my view, it seems unlikely that there would be a murder in the middle of an auction house with so many people. “I will follow what you say, but I am not very trustworthy.”
Malone was right. If he were a normal person, he wouldn’t try to kill someone in the middle of the auction house.
But surprisingly, Thisbe in the original does that.
There is only one reason why I chose a place with a lot of people.
Because of the fact that if you kill in a crowded place, no charges will be brought against you.
Moreover, it is dark here and everyone is wearing robes, so it is not easy to immediately notice if something happens next to you.
But it’s difficult to explain all that to Malone.
Thisbe roughly put the money bag in Malone’s mouth, made him quiet, and then sent him to Lunette Youngsik’s side.
With instructions to stop immediately and call yourself if you notice anything strange.
‘It really shouldn’t be a big deal.’
While I was arguing with Malone, the auction was already approaching its end.
Because of this, Thisbe’s tension was becoming increasingly tense.
The reason it has been quiet so far may be to kill it off at the climax of the auction, when the last auction item comes out.
The host on stage shouted loudly.
“Okay, here’s the last product of the day! Mariette’s cursed ring!”
And a very brief moment when the light shines on the stage and the son-in-law becomes brighter.
“… … Thisbe?”
Sor appeared in front of her.
