noveldrama
Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Chapter 200
A whistle echoed through the air. The hum of the filter machine, the splashing of fish vigorously flicking their tails, the shouts of merchants calling out to potential customers—amidst all the noisy chaos, the sound of footsteps blended in naturally.
With each step, dark blue hair swayed. The young man wore a simple white shirt, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The shop owners he passed raised their hands to greet him, their faces familiar.
“Hey, where are you off to?”
“A customer’s waiting for me~”
The young man waved back with a smile, moving quickly. Soon, amidst the glittering signs hanging from the ceiling, he spotted a familiar one: *Jangmi Fisheries*. With a bounce in his step, he hopped in front of the store.
“Ta-da! I’m here.”
At that moment, Mrs. Jangmi grabbed his ear and pulled.
“Why are you so late? They've been waiting for ages!”
“Ow, ow! It hurts!”
“Hmph, stop pretending! It doesn’t even hurt.”
She snorted, giving his broad back a sharp smack with her large hand.
“Hurry inside, and don’t even think about starting any power struggles.”
“Power struggles? I’m late because I had real work to do... Alright, alright.”
The mackerel kicked off his polished loafers and knocked on the door with the back of his hand. A low voice responded, “Come in.” As if he had been waiting for this, he opened the door and stepped inside.
Two men, dressed entirely in black suits, sat side by side in the room. One wore sunglasses and was head-to-toe in black, while the other had a striking, carrot-orange hair color.
The mackerel quickly scanned them and entered with a playful smile.
“My apologies for being late! A customer wouldn’t let me go.”
“You’re thirty minutes late,” the man with the orange hair, *Romantic Opener*, grumbled. The mackerel responded cheerfully.
“Yes, yes, that’s entirely my fault for misjudging the time. Don’t worry, I’ll make up for it with extra service.”
With a sharp snap, he adjusted his shirt collar, then placed a cushion across from the two men and sat down, resting his chin on his hand with a smile that revealed neat teeth.
“Well then… we’ve got regular customers today, huh? I thought the Guild Master himself would come.”
*Tiny Miracle*, Minggijeok, placed his water glass on the table and responded clearly.
“The Guild Master is too busy.”
“Ah, of course, of course,” the mackerel leaned forward slightly, whispering.
“I heard he’s been playing *catch me if you can* at the company? The Guild Master.”
Romantic Opener, who was drinking water, nearly spat it out, coughing in surprise. As he turned to cough, Minggijeok remained expressionless and replied.
“Is that so? That’s news to me. Perhaps you’re confusing us with another guild.”
“Come on. Lots of people saw it happen. Besides, J stayed with us for a while. Can’t pretend otherwise, can you?”
Minggijeok raised an eyebrow and replied.
“J stayed here? That’s surprising.”
“Oh, don’t play dumb. You think I don’t know? J was here, and you came to the fish market more than once to check things out. Just admit it, Lee Sayoung sent you.”
The mackerel’s blue eyes gleamed, and Minggijeok’s sunglasses caught the light as well. He lifted his eyes deliberately and retorted.
“You must be mistaken.”
The mackerel pouted and shrugged his shoulders.
“Playing dumb with someone who already knows everything.”
“I truly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on. Your carrot-headed friend here already gave it away.”
Romantic Opener blinked and pointed to himself.
“Huh? Me?”
He glanced back and forth between the mackerel and Minggijeok, looking confused. Minggijeok averted his gaze, while the mackerel chuckled softly.
“If you’re going to pull a con, you’ve got to be in sync, don’t you think?”
“Well, I think there’s plenty of room for improvement. Now, let’s cut to the chase.”
Minggijeok pushed up his sunglasses.
“We’re here to collect the information the Guild Master requested. You’ve prepared it, I assume.”
“Of course.”
The mackerel licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. He made a circle with his thumb and forefinger.
“By the way, this information doesn’t come cheap. You know it’s payment up front, right?”
Minggijeok, with his fingers casually holding a card, let his sunglasses glint as he asked, “Can I pay by card?”
With a sigh, the mackerel shook his head.
“Why are you acting like this when we all know the rules? Card payments come with extra fees.”
“Ah, I was just joking. You never know.”
“Your jokes aren’t funny.”
Minggijeok gave a signal. Romantic Opener grumbled as he pulled out a shabby, crumpled box from his inventory. On the side of the box, written in bold black letters, was *Seaweed*. The mackerel quipped.
“Did you pick that up from the street?”
“Ms. Jangmi provided it.”
“……”
The box hit the table with a heavy thud. Minggijeok opened it with a flourish. Instead of seaweed, dried seaweed, or blue-green stacks of cash…
“Hmm, this will do.”
…it was full of mana stones.
The box was packed with a variety of large and small mana stones, each glowing with different hues. The mackerel picked up a dark blue stone and rolled it around in his hand with a grin.
“Thanks. This will help cover the maintenance.”
“And the documents…?”
“Oh, here they are.”
The mackerel touched his temple, and a koi fish the size of a forearm emerged from his mind. It swam gracefully through the air and landed in Minggijeok’s hand, transforming into a thick stack of papers.
“I’ll also send it to you via private messenger, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you for the transaction.”
Minggijeok gave a small bow, and Romantic Opener followed suit. A few fish carried the box and disappeared through the wall. The mackerel stood up and dusted off his pants.
“You’d better get going. Things are pretty tense these days, with the Assembly coming up.”
“We’ll do that.”
“Alright then…”
The mackerel, standing by the door, turned back and winked at Minggijeok.
“Oh, by the way, can you pass along a message to my brother?”
“Brother?”
“J.”
“What message?”
“Tell him to be careful of everything.”
“……”
Minggijeok stared at him expressionlessly. The mackerel raised the corners of his mouth, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Something big’s about to go down… sometimes, muscle alone won’t solve everything, you know?”
“……”
“You’ve got to use your head.”
“……”
“Well, just pass it along. If he doesn’t get it, that’s his problem. Consider it a friendly warning.”
The mackerel waved his hand dismissively and disappeared. Silence fell over the small room. Minggijeok signaled to Romantic Opener, and they both stood up. The moment Romantic Opener rose, the two of them melted into the shadows. Moments later, they reappeared in front of an old truck.
Minggijeok climbed into the driver’s seat, and after Romantic Opener settled into the passenger seat, he finally spoke.
“The customers who didn’t let the mackerel go were probably Hunter Gyu-Gyu and Honeybee.”
“Huh? Seriously? How did you know?”
Minggijeok pointed to his nose.
“The smell.”
“Huh?”
“Think about it. After he offered extra service, he dusted off his collar, didn’t he?”
Romantic Opener frowned as he tried to recall. The mackerel, who had strolled in with a grin after making them wait thirty minutes, had indeed dusted off his collar. But what did that matter? Wasn’t it just a peacock-like move to show off? Minggijeok, adjusting his seatbelt, continued.
“When he did that, a distinct smell hit me. He must’ve sprayed deodorizer on himself, but underneath that, I caught a whiff of the cologne Gyu-Gyu frequently wears. Honeybee’s cologne was mixed in, too.”
“Wait, you can remember all these different smells?”
“They both wear very strong colognes.”
“And they called that 'extra service'? If that’s their idea of a favor, I sure didn’t get it. I mean, I didn’t even realize!”
“Well, that’s just how they are. If you don’t get the hint when they offer their 'service,' then they’re telling you to get lost.”
“Man, their personalities are something else.”
With a loud rumble, the engine roared to life like a thunderclap, shaking the old prayer beads hanging from the rearview mirror. Romantic Opener, fastening his seatbelt, grumbled.
“When are you finally going to replace those beads?”
“Why? Don’t they bring you peace of mind? At this point, they’re practically family.”
“Your definition of family is really broad.”
Minggijeok didn’t respond. Instead, he began flipping through the thick stack of documents. The more pages he turned, the more his expression shifted. Romantic Opener, putting in his wireless earphones, noticed the change and looked at him curiously.
“What’s up?”
“……”
“Minggijeok?”
Minggijeok spoke calmly but with an underlying urgency.
“We need to see the Guild Master. Now.”
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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!