novelraw Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Chapter 53
He was a person who had not appeared in the original work.
The reason he was certain it was a white-haired old man wearing a plague doctor mask was because the hand gripping the gun was filled with wrinkles.
“Customer? The way you talk tells me you’re a rude bastard.”
“That’s not something a cranky old man who shoves a gun muzzle in someone’s face out of nowhere should be saying.”
Smoke was thickly exhaled from the puffing pipe, filling the already narrow pharmacy interior.
The muzzle still showed no sign of leaving him, and because of that, Jin Crow had no choice but to gauge it inwardly.
‘At this distance, even a superhuman wouldn’t come away without damage.’
Of course, there was no way a mere firearm could kill a Triple Gear–class superhuman.
If that were possible, why would superhumans be treated as such critical strategic resources?
However, the problem was that this place was inside the Black Market, which could be considered a paradise of illegal procedures.
“……Hmm.”
Even if there were a Terminator inside that face puffing on a pipe beneath the plague doctor mask, it wouldn’t be strange in a place like this.
Hadn’t he already run into one or two ripperdocs on the street with arms hanging off their shoulders or implants mounting Thompson submachine guns in their thighs?
Rather, the strange thing was that he could act so relaxed with nothing more than a single submachine gun.
“A merchant called Nickel said you were unrivaled on this side, so I came. If not, I’ll leave.”
“Nickel? Ah, you mean that big oaf who’s nothing but size.”
At Jin Crow’s words, the old man seemed to ponder for a moment, drawing deeply on his pipe. Soon after, he slowly lowered the muzzle and spoke gruffly.
“Well then, I’ll treat you as a customer. Come in.”
Weren’t they both equally ill-mannered?
Jin Crow forcibly brushed aside the phrase ‘old man assault’ that flashed through his mind and stepped into the pharmacy.
Tak-.
The old man sat back down, pulled the pipe out from where it had been stuffed into the beak, gave it a light shake, and then asked without even sparing a glance.
“So, why has our customer come?”
“Pentacle. Do you have it?”
“Oh my, you’re looking for something nasty.”
However, the moment the word ‘Pentacle’ spilled from Jin Crow’s mouth, the old man turned his head as if he’d never been uninterested at all and clicked his tongue.
Naturally, it wasn’t with positive intent, and just as Jin Crow was about to question him, the old man put liquid into the tip of his pipe instead of tobacco and spoke.
“So, do you have money?”
“I’m not broke.”
“Good. Then I can treat you as a customer even if I speak casually. Heave-ho.”
Rising from the old chair he’d been sitting on, he soon opened a worn door deeper inside the pharmacy.
The sight was so much like opening an ancient bookcase from a martial arts novel that Jin Crow watched closely—only to end up letting out a hollow laugh.
“What are you doing? Turn your head.”
“Heh.”
What filled the inside of the utterly old wardrobe, draped in cobwebs and thick with dust, was paradoxically a massive safe exactly the size of the wardrobe itself.
A pipe that was actually an electronic cigarette, and a state-of-the-art safe installed inside a shabby wardrobe.
It was truly a nasty taste that induced cognitive dissonance.
No—perhaps it was only natural in order to survive in this harsh den of demons.
How long had he turned his head and waited like that?
The heavy door of the safe shut with a clack, brushing past his ears, and soon the old man took out a container holding some black pills and spoke.
“I don’t sell people-killing drugs like Pentacle that are nothing but a mass of side effects, so if you want this instead, take it or leave it.”
“This is?”
“Something I made as a hobby. Still, it’ll be far more usable than some Pentacle or panty-string nonsense that gets stamped out without thinking about the people who take it.”
The old man’s words were calm, without much rise or fall, but precisely because of that, they inspired unexpected trust.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could just swallow it outright.
Risking his life on a bet was already more than enough on battlefields he’d been forced into.
He stared at the pill for a moment, then looked at the old man and spoke.
“Can it be refined separately? For example, added to cigarettes or alcohol.”
“It’s not impossible.”
As if there were no shortage of people who asked such questions, the old man calmly spoke as he once again shoved the pipe through the slightly opened side of his mask.
“However, the efficacy will drop a bit and the price will go up. Is that fine?”
“How much?”
“Three hundred million dollars.”
“…….”
Even for the Black Market, it was a price that made one forget what to say.
The work had never gone into detail about how the fictional dollar compared to real-world exchange rates, but even if one simply equated one Composite State Dollar to one won, it was still three hundred million. Converted to actual U.S. dollars…… how much would that be?
He couldn’t even properly estimate it.
Because of that, after a brief deliberation, Jin Crow opened the lid of the container the old man had handed him and swallowed a single black pill as it was.
Gulp-.
After it slightly melted in his saliva and a bit of bitterness rose, there was no other taste to speak of.
And when he saw the recognition information that appeared before his eyes afterward, he had no choice but to admit that no further deliberation was needed.
■ User_ Jin Crow
□Rank : Major
□Service Number(S.N) : SMCO55-1113027
□Gear(Gear) : Triple(Error)
□Health Status : PTSD, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, drug addiction(2hour), paranoia, anger control disorder.
‘Two hours?’
That wasn’t all.
Even when he waited a few more minutes just in case, all that happened was a sense of bodily stiffness far lighter than the oppressive pressure he’d felt when injecting Pentacle.
……He had no choice but to admit it.
Even if the old man were to ask for not three hundred million but a billion dollars, it was something he would have to buy even if it meant going into debt.
“I didn’t tell you to sample it. Well then, how is it?”
“Is this everything?”
“Heh heh.”
Was it because his mind had cleared just a little thanks to the black pill?
Or was it instinct, telling him that he absolutely had to get his hands on this pill somehow?
Even without realizing it, the phrase ‘respecting one’s elders’ etched itself into his mind, and as if he found Jin Crow’s attitude quite pleasing, the old man let out a hearty laugh and spoke.
“It’s a shame, but it’ll be hard to make more. The materials are difficult to obtain.”
“If you tell me what materials they are, I can…….”
“They were smuggled in from the Empire’s capital, but recently all the connections I had got caught and had their heads neatly chopped off at the guillotine. Well? Care to give it a try?”
It seemed he would have to be satisfied with just the single container he’d been given now.
It was medicine taken to survive.
But still, wasn’t it unreasonable to risk one’s life just to obtain ingredients?
Brushing away a trace of regret, he spoke to the old man.
“If it’s processed so it can be added to alcohol or cigarettes, how much does the efficacy drop?”
“Hm.”
At his question, the old man puffed on the electronic cigarette shaped like a pipe for a moment, then spoke.
“If it’s processed into cigarettes, half. If it’s added to alcohol, it’d be right to say it drops to three-quarters.”
If processed into cigarettes, it meant one hour.
If added to alcohol, it meant about one hour and thirty minutes.
It would be a lie to say it wasn’t disappointing…….
‘There really isn’t much of a choice.’
No matter how free instructors at the Central Special Service Academy were with alcohol and tobacco, there was no way to pass off an unidentified black pill as a nutritional supplement.
The Military Police and Headmistress Ideale weren’t idiots, and without even needing to investigate, they’d know the moment they took it.
In that case, a form that was easier to conceal was safer.
“I’ll purchase it.”
“Alright. You can make the payment to this virtual account.”
Far from being surprised at the offer to readily pay three hundred million dollars, the old man calmly showed the virtual account number as if he’d expected nothing less.
The more one looked at him, how should one put it.
He was an old man with a peculiar impression.
After paying immediately, Jin Crow asked the old man, who was once again puffing on his electronic cigarette.
“How long will it take?”
“Two days. It won’t take any longer than that.”
“Then I’ll come back again then.”
“No need. I don’t want to see your face again, so write down the address of the hotel you’re staying at and go. I’ll send it myself.”
Judging by the slight tremble of the beak of the plague doctor mask, it was obvious he was laughing eccentrically inside.
But since it wasn’t a bad condition for him either, he silently wrote down the address and room number of the hotel where he was staying.
‘Of course, there’s no guarantee he won’t try anything funny…….’
That could be thought about when the time came.
If it came down to it, he even had spare Pentacle, and was willing to help him into a coffin.
“That’s enough. Go. Don’t come back until you’ve used it all.”
Eccentric to the end, but his mood wasn’t bad.
After giving a brief bow, he turned his body and reached for the doorknob to leave the pharmacy—when a sense of déjà vu brushed across his mind and enveloped him.
“By the way.”
“Hm?”
“What’s its name?”
Turning his head, he asked the old man who was putting on gloves as if about to begin work.
Then, the old man’s gaze—certainly unseen behind the black glass—flashed, and soon he replied with a smile that could be felt even without removing the mask.
“It’s a tonic from Hansarang Pharmacy.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
Jin Crow let out a hollow laugh, opened the door, and stepped outside.
And then.
“Ah.”
The steps of Jin Crow, just about to leave, overlapped with those of a woman just about to enter.
The moment they instinctively recognized each other, both shoved their hands into their clothes, but the old man watching them let out a short chuckle of ‘heh heh’ and spoke.
“Those who are leaving, leave. Those who are coming, come in.”
“…….”
An LED mask that was half laughing, half crying.
Jin Crow stared at her face for a moment, then withdrew the hand he’d shoved into his clothes and walked outside.
When he disappeared once more into the winding alleys of the Black Market and the woman entered the pharmacy, the old man slightly removed the pipe from his mouth and spoke.
“Welcome, Consigliere(Consigliere).”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve prepared the sedatives.”
It was a rather polite voice, unlike before.
“Did you see a guy making a fuss, wearing a mask with a skinny build and facial features all shaped like an X?”
“Hmm, I think he passed by earlier.”
Finding his secretary, Minsu, again wasn’t difficult.
“W-Where did you go! Seriously. I thought I was going to die from cold sweats!”
He felt like ditching him, but since they were already entangled, wasn’t it better to get some incidental benefit out of it?
“Do you know a decent weapons dealer?”
“Pardon? The awakening drug?”
“There wasn’t anything I liked. More than that, I want to look at some weapons.”
“Ah, is that so……. Yes, I’ll guide you.”
Clicking his tongue in regret at the part about not finding anything he liked, Minsu soon enthusiastically dragged him around and took him to weapons dealers.
The result was satisfactory.
Perhaps the Geum Young Group hadn’t intended to blatantly cheat him, because the weapons dealers Minsu recommended were all quite usable places, even if the prices were a bit high.
“I’ll go with this.”
What he chose were a military dagger that was easy to conceal and a revolver bearing the logo of Mer Corporation.
There was no haggling in particular.
The merchant glanced at Minsu’s white suit and presented a reasonable price without a word.
“I’m tired. I’ll head back.”
“Huh? You want to look a bit more—well, that’s not for me to decide. I’ll guide you!”
Thinking about it again, he was unnecessarily light.
To the point that it almost seemed suspiciously put on.
‘Come to think of it…….’
Were the owner family of the Geum Young Group pure-blood humans?