Encore 41 — Comrades (V)

Elizabeth and Myraliana dumped themselves onto their beds. They were exhausted. As of recently, their days have been eventful.

"Alpha... Who would've thought we would run into him?"

Myraliana said, taking off her equipment. Elizabeth also took her gun holsters off.

"He's as scary as they say. Right, Eli?"

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Elizabeth broke into laughter. She was pleased. Frightened but pleased.

"Eli?"

"He is scary but that's good."

"He'll get in the way of our plan though. We planned to double-cross Kim Yohan but we can't do that now. We have to give the philosopher's stone to him."

"So what?"

"What?"

Elizabeth sat up on her bed with a grin.

"What is our goal, Myra?"

"T-to kill the people that killed our parents."

"Brynhildr, Ares and Athena. A weird assortment of gods, and also a Valkyrie, but that's why we need to get stronger to kill anyone in our way. And, Kazuya, he emanated the power we need."

She clenched her fist.

"What's more, he wants to kill the gods associated with the Imperi. Our goals are essentially the same."

Myra furrowed her brow.

"Eli, you don't want to... Do you?"

"Exactly. Let's team up with Kazuya. We'll get closer to our goal if we go along with him."

·———·

The next day, I woke up early to a knock on my door. When I opened it, a hotel attendant handed me a briefcase with my name on it.

It was most likely from Mr Kim. I closed the door and opened it on my bed. It was a suit, along with a card and note.

The note said that the card was for buying the philosopher's stone. It said the pin and the amount inside the card.

"Woah... That's a lot. ¥900,000,000."

I put the suit on. It was slightly big for me but it felt comfortable to move in despite that. Though, if I ever fight in this, I'll have to take the coat off.

"I also have to make sure this isn't stolen."

I said, looking at the card in my hand. I feel so powerful with this card in my hand. Not exactly physically, but I felt like some sort of mafia boss.

There was another knock on my door. I opened it, staring at the two women in front of me. They were wearing suits too, but different ones. We got different suits according to our appearance, it seemed like.

"You got your things too?"

I asked them.

"Yeah, I'm assuming you got the money since we didn't get anything."

Elizabeth said.

I nodded, checking my phone for the time.

"It's past 10 o'clock. We should go to the auction and get good seats so we can view the auction."

I told them.

Elizabeth seemed normal around me, yet I couldn't read her thoughts, however, Myraliana was on edge around me. She didn't trust me.

Noticing my gaze, Elizabeth put her hand on Myraliana's head.

"Don't mind her. She's just not good with strangers."

"Eli..."

"This goes without saying but, you can fight, right?"

She asked me, narrowing her eyes.

"Better than anyone else."

"Good, I looked up some of the attendants of the auction and I saw a certain person that's troubling. Let's talk inside."

I invited them into my room. They sat on spare chairs in the corner of the room.

"Kullo Deliano will be attending the auction."

I furrowed my brow.

"The same violent Deliano that stormed a mafia union meeting, right?"

"The same one."

That's bad news. Someone as greedy as Deliano will want the philosopher's stone, whether it's fake or not. He also has the assets to buy it too. He'll probably be our biggest problem today. Looks like we'll have to fight our way out of it.

"Well, we'll just have to get it before him. Even if he does get it, you know we can steal it, right?"

The woman smiled.

"That's just what I was thinking."

At least we were on the same page.

"We'll discuss the rest on the way to the auction. Shall we go, then?"

I grabbed the briefcase with everything else inside it and left the hotel room, heading to the auction building.

·———·

It was now 11:30 am and we reached the auction building. Elizabeth and Myraliana followed me from behind. Elizabeth looked eager and was smiling at me the entire journey while Myraliana openly scowled.

We entered the auction building and were met with a man.

"Welcome to the Underground Auction. May I ask what your names are and who you are representing?"

I looked at the girls and they nodded at me.

I guess I'll mention the fact that we're here under the name of Kim Yohan.

"We are here on the orders of Kim Yohan."

"Hm? Kim Yohan, but..."

It seemed like there was a problem since the man had a confused expression on his face. He looked at me.

"What's the problem?"

Seemed that Elizabeth had also caught on.

"Well, someone else has registered under the peerage of Kim Yohan. A mister Kaito Hasegawa. Do you know him?"

I've never heard of him. There's no way that Mr Kim would hire people behind our backs to buy it for him. He isn't that type of person, otherwise, he would've told us. It would seem weird to split the money between clients. It would be more logical to use all of the money together.

Meaning that Kaito Hasegawa is not someone that Mr Kim hired.

"We—"

"We do know him."

Myraliana spoke, interrupting me.

"Is that so? Then please proceed to the VIP room."

We all continued walking towards the elevator. I looked over at Myraliana.

"Why did you say that we knew that person even if we don't?"

"You don't think much about profit, do you, Kazuya?"

Myraliana asked, almost as if mocking me.

What problem does she have against me anyway?

"Instead of insulting me, I'd like an explanation."

"If that person is not under Kim Yohan's hire, then we can simply steal the stuff he buys as a price of using his name. Didn't you wonder why the guard let us through without confirmation?"

We arrived at the elevator and Elizabeth pressed the button.

"That would be because there's no benefit in using someone else's name if it's a lie. The amount of money you have will be the same and if the person finds out you're using their name, then you'll suffer the consequences."

"Exactly. Auctions like this one function on trust. If someone breaks it, they pay the ultimate price."

The elevator door opened up and the three of them entered.

"I guess that course of action was good."

"Now, the auction starts in half an hour, what do we do?"

Myraliana asks.

"I highly doubt that we'll be able to procure the philosopher's stone with only ¥900,000,000. We'll need someone on Deliano."

Elizabeth pointed out.

"Why don't I do it, then?"

I asked them. They looked at me, slightly shocked.

"I feel like even though we're supposed to be working together, we're not exactly united. So, I'll take care of Deliano and you girls can take care of the stone and Kaito Hasegawa, if necessary."

I handed the card over to Elizabeth and she nodded at me.

"Let's just finish this."