Chapter 37: Marcel – 2

Erme suggested we investigate Marcel.

And the place she dragged me to.

Was the back alleys.

“Here, wear this.”

She handed me a mask.

Then, she gave me a black robe as well.

“…It suits you perfectly.”

She looked at me with awe, almost moved by the sight.

I should be the one thanking her, so why did she look so emotional?

I didn’t bother asking.

I didn’t want to ask.

I put on the robe and mask.

The mask was white, with a black, grinning expression drawn on it.

“This time, we need to hide our identities—so you can’t do anything that gives you away.”

“…No archery, and no showing my violet aura?”

“Eh? You can control that?”

Erme looked at me, genuinely surprised.

‘Shouldn’t I be able to?’

Even Fatal Allure could be turned on and off.

I closed my eyes and willed my violet aura to fade.

I felt something inside me click—like a switch turning off.

‘So, I can suppress it.’

I took off my mask and called Rishiel.

‘Rishiel, what do my eyes look like?’

—Still violet.

‘…So that doesn’t change.’

The violet stood out too much.

But with the mask on, it should be less noticeable.

Wearing the mask gave me a strange feeling.

Like it was… oddly familiar.

Still, I had one question.

The sun was still high in the sky.

“Is it really okay to visit the back alleys in broad daylight?”

“It’s fine. The back alleys will get dark soon enough.”

Erme smiled playfully at my question.

“The back alleys will darken soon enough.”

Darken?

“I told you before, didn’t I? The Cradle has everything.”

She had.

The Cradle wasn’t just a labyrinth—it was a place built to prepare for the worst.

The labyrinth had existed for a thousand years.

And for the last five hundred years, people had come to see it as safe.

Over time, countless facilities had been built.

Empires had fallen.

Kingdoms had collapsed.

But the Cradle had never once fallen.

Maybe that was why.

It became a place where everything gathered.

On the surface, it had an Adventurer’s Guild, training centers, and blacksmiths specializing in weapons made from monsters.

But beneath that.

“There’s also a place called the Black Market.”

Erme chuckled.

She seemed oddly familiar with this place.

We had never come here together.

If she had just arrived in the Cradle, then.

‘That means she’s been here before.’

I moved closer to her.

Better to stick right next to her.

The moment I did, her movements slowed.

“Th-this is a bit… too close…”

“…?”

Was it really that uncomfortable?

Maybe she wasn’t used to being around people either.

I was a considerate person.

I took a step back to give her space.

“…But if you move too far, I won’t like that either.”

…What was I supposed to do with that?

With that, Erme and I entered the back alleys.

Even though it was called a back alley, it felt sinister.

A few vagrants lurked in the shadows.

‘…That could have been me.’

If I hadn’t met Erme—

If I hadn’t gotten my ridiculous Gifts—

Maybe I’d be one of them.

Thinking back, I’d had a lot of close calls.

Lucia was dangerous, but Han Ul had been worse.

And Rishiel—if I hadn’t had Absolute Theft, she would have been deadly too.

The Rebellion assassin—the one who specialized in martial arts—had been dangerous too.

I pulled my hood lower over my face.

There was no time to get lost in thoughts.

I—we—needed to find out whether Marcel was an enemy or an ally.

Erme kept leading us deeper into the back alleys.

And eventually.

We entered a space with a strange atmosphere.

The vagrants, the thieves, and the women selling themselves.

They were gone.

Instead, the place felt even darker.

The streets were cleaner, but something about the air.

It reeked of danger.

If this was the case, then the Black Market Erme had mentioned must be nearby.

Then.

I felt something off.

Just a moment ago, it had been daytime.

But now.

“…Night?”

“This is the entrance to the Black Market,” Erme explained.

I looked up at the sky.

I had no idea how it worked, but somehow, day had turned to night.

“Don’t be too surprised. It’s the power of a special relic—a space created for those who take the correct path to the Black Market.”

“A relic, huh?”

“Like the talisman we got from Viola. No one knows how they work or why they exist, but anything with unexplainable powers is classified as a relic. They’re remnants of an ancient era—things we can’t create anymore.”

“I see.”

So it was best to just accept that these kinds of items existed.

“There are a lot of interesting things in this place,” Erme continued.

“We call it the Black Market, but it’s not completely lawless.”

“Not completely?”

“That means they don’t capture people to sell as slaves, or force them into gladiator death matches for entertainment.”

There was an undercurrent of disdain in her voice.

So this place didn’t allow those things.

Which meant that other Empires or Kingdoms did.

Erme walked forward with confident familiarity.

Even though the market was filled with rare and unusual goods.

She didn’t pause to look at anything.

She just kept walking.

Eventually, we arrived in front of a lavish building.

Up until now, all the architecture had been Western-style.

But this building.

It was Eastern-style.

A pavilion of sorts.

A sign hung over the entrance, written in elegant Chinese characters—

青華樓 (Cheonghwa Pavilion).

“If you ever need information, you can buy it here for a little money.”

“…Isn’t Rebellion supposed to be a hidden organization?”

“It is a secret group. Normally, information about them would be hard to come by…”

Erme smiled.

“But there’s a very capable friend here.”

“A friend?”

“Yuseong, have you ever heard the saying ‘There are no secrets in this world’?”

“No.”

“It’s meant literally.

There are two things in this world that completely defy common sense.

Heaven’s Gifts (Gifts) and Ancient Relics.

Both of them can do things that should be impossible.”

“Defy common sense how?”

“For example—”

Erme chuckled.

“There’s an item that can tell us, with absolute certainty, whether Marcel is an enemy or an ally.”

“…An item?”

“Simply put—if you ask a question while using it, you’ll immediately know whether the answer is true or false.”

“Huh.”

A fantasy world sure had some crazy artifacts.

But if something like that existed, it would definitely be useful.

“Wouldn’t that be expensive?”

“…It is… but we can rent it for a while.”

Erme’s hand trembled slightly.

For someone who never flinched at huge sums of money, she was visibly shaken.

‘Still, we have to do this.’

Normally, I wouldn’t bother.

But I needed to know whether Marcel was a friend or foe.

This was a necessary expense.

“I’ll help pay for it.”

“R-really? That would be—… No. I was the one who wanted to take Marcel in, so I should handle it.”

She started to smile, but then forced herself to keep shaking.

But I had a debt of conscience to pay.

“This isn’t just your problem—it’s our problem.”

“…It’s our problem?”

“Yeah. I don’t want you handling this alone.

This isn’t just your issue—it’s ours.”

“O-our problem…?”

“Yeah. Ours.”

I grabbed both of Erme’s hands.

Her cheeks were completely red, and her hands were still trembling.

‘…This kind of feels like a confession.’

It was probably just my imagination.

Maybe it was selfish, but I didn’t want to step off the bus Erme was driving.

At first, I didn’t want to be near her.

But now.

I didn’t want to leave her side.

‘I know my own worth.’

But this world still felt strange to me.

It was a world ruled by violence, where losing your head was just a normal risk.

My past life had its own dangers, but at least I never had to fear for my life like this.

This world was barbaric.

So I had to convince her.

“You said it before, right? That I wouldn’t regret joining this party.”

“Y-yes? I, I did say that, b-but…”

“Then right now—”

I tightened my grip slightly.

“…I don’t want to leave your side.”

“Uuuu… Uuuuuh…!”

Erme hung her head, muttering in a barely audible voice.

Then, quietly, she nodded.

‘Good. She’s convinced.’

—You are truly a menace. How can someone wearing a human face do something so… so vile…?

Rishiel said something weird again.

I decided to ignore her.

‘She keeps saying strange things.’

Living off Erme like some kept man did make me feel a little guilty.

But only a little.

Inside Cheonghwa Pavilion

We stepped into Cheonghwa Pavilion.

It looked like something straight out of a historical drama or a Chinese martial arts film.

A distinctly Eastern-style building.

Inside, a woman who looked like a waitress stood at the entrance.

I studied her closely.

‘…She’s strong.’

My body instinctively tensed up.

Stronger than Rishiel.

If Erme and I both attacked her at once—

She might still be able to take us down.

“Welcome to Cheonghwa Pavilion!” she greeted cheerfully.

Erme responded in a calm tone.

“We need a nighttime diary.”

The waitress’s expression shifted immediately.

“…I won’t ask how you knew about this. However, right now—”

“It’s a request from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

I kept my face expressionless as I stared at her.

A guild request?

This was our mission—did we really need to involve the Adventurer’s Guild?

‘This could be dangerous.’

The guild had suffered heavy losses recently.

If this case got buried under that chaos…

‘No, this won’t get buried.’

It was too big.

I wasn’t sure if this was the right move, but for now, I chose to trust Erme.

She must have a reason for being so confident.

“A request, huh? And from…?”

Erme’s voice remained firm.

“The Sword King’s request.”

Erme, shamelessly using Volcan’s name.

The moment Erme dropped Volcan’s title, the waitress froze.

She seemed to think for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“…You do know what that name means, right?”

“I do.”

“Then you must be Black-Violet Ghost.”

She looked directly at me.

“If it’s you, I suppose you have the right to use the Sword King’s name.”

She stared at me.

I was caught off guard.

I had changed my clothes, hidden my eye color, and even worn a mask.

Same with Erme.

‘…Is this the power of an information guild?’

It was downright terrifying.

“…So we really can’t fool you, huh?”

“Not a chance. But fine. I’ll accept a request from you. You seem trustworthy enough.”

“Let’s make another deal later,” Erme suggested.

“How about some information in exchange?”

The waitress smirked.

“Hmm… If you want, I can tell you Volcan’s weakness right now.”

Erme’s expression changed slightly.

She said something quietly.

And suddenly, the waitress’s entire demeanor shifted.

She glared at Erme with sharp eyes.

“…How do you know that?”

“Whether you believe me or not is up to you.”

“Hah. Ridiculous.”

Still scowling, the waitress handed us three sheets of paper.

“50 gold coins each.”

“…These tiny things cost 5 billion won each?”

I felt physically ill.

Meanwhile, Erme simply smiled.

“Cheaper than I expected.”

“Why are you so eager to get close to them?”

“Oh my, our dear Yuseong has trouble warming up to people. I don’t think he’d enjoy that.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t like it. Look.”

The waitress waved her hand playfully, flashing a teasing smile.

I ignored her and stood next to Erme.

“Ooh, a cold-hearted man, huh? I like that even more.”

She smirked.

“If your info is real, I’ll throw this one in for free.”

“You’re more generous than I expected.”

“…You’re bolder than you look. You know we’re in a hurry.”

“Then we should get moving.”

“Tch.”

After a brief standoff, the waitress finally backed off.

“We’re closing up for the night. Get out.”

“Thanks. We’ll put it to good use.”

Erme grinned and waved as we left.

[Item]

Truth Paper (Consumable)

When the user holds the paper, it will reveal if a statement is true or false.

Blue glow = Truth.

Red glow = Lie.

That was the item’s description.

Erme called it cheap and bought three, costing us a total of 150 gold coins.

‘…8 billion won for three pieces of paper.’

I felt sick just thinking about it.

But this paper had been bought with valuable intel.

We needed to use it wisely.

Because right now.

Marcel was the priority.

There’s a saying—a useless ally is worse than a capable enemy.

Our situation was a bit different, but.

A hidden traitor was always a dangerous one.

At the Adventurer’s Guild

Everyone was gathered.

The party members present:

Rozanté. Theresa. Erme. Marcel.

And for some reason.

Viola was here too.

“…Why are you here?”

“N-no reason…”

Viola averted her gaze.

“…I just figured a spot in the party might open up soon.”

Marcel’s voice trembled as he looked at me.

I silently held up the Truth Paper.

“…What’s this?”

“There’s something we need to clarify.

It’s not that we want to suspect you, Marcel.”

His face stiffened.

I explained why I had gathered everyone.

“Before we escaped the labyrinth, I used the talisman I won from Viola to save Marcel.

You all remember that, right?”

“Yeah.”

Theresa nodded blankly.

“But in that process—I had to swap one of Marcel’s items in return.”

“And that item…”

I paused.

“It had the mark of a heretical cult.”

Marcel’s expression went blank.

For just a split second.

Then.

His eyes flickered with subtle panic as he looked around at us.

“…A mage’s curiosity is boundless,” he finally spoke.

“I simply picked it up to study it.

That’s all.

But somehow… things ended up like this.”

Marcel nodded.

“Truth Paper is rare. But if this can prove my innocence, I don’t mind.”

He smiled as he picked up the paper.

Then, he looked at us—waiting for a question.

“Are you a member of the secret organization, Rebellion?”

“I am not.”

Marcel answered confidently and handed the paper to us.

The Truth Paper glowed blue—then crumbled into dust.

“Blue means truth. Red means a lie.”

Erme let out a relieved sigh.

“Phew, that settles it.”

“Haha, I suppose so,” Marcel chuckled, looking at us.

But.

‘Something’s off.’

I couldn’t relax.

His words, his demeanor…

Something felt wrong.

My instincts screamed at me.

Was I overthinking it?

I weighed the possibilities.

If I was wrong, I’d be paranoid for nothing.

But if I was right…

“…One more question.”

“Yuseong, I already said—”

Marcel stopped himself and sighed.

“No, you’re right. If it helps clear things up, ask whatever you want.”

“Just one last question—and if you answer truthfully, I’ll drop this.”

“Alright. What is it?”

Marcel picked up one more sheet of Truth Paper.

“Are you the Marcel I know?”

“…”

Silence.

Then, he forced a smile—one that didn’t reach his eyes.

“H-haha! Yuseong, what kind of question is that?”

“…Marcel?”

Erme’s voice was cold as she stared at him.

Marcel let out an exaggerated sigh, shaking his head.

Then, he looked at me.

His eyes held a strange glint.

And suddenly.

He laughed.

A hollow, empty laugh.

“…Hah. I really didn’t expect it to turn out this way.”

Then, his mouth stretched wide into a twisted grin.

“Damn. You’ve got sharp instincts, don’t you?”