Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 86: Lend Me Money

Someone once said: propitious intuition will steer by, but ominous foreboding is always spot on.

Limon scratched his head at the document in his hands.

“Tsk. I had a bad feeling… Couldn’t even last a week.”

For the past months, attacks were consistent. Each time, even though the criminals evaded capture, there was barely any damage done thanks to Limon’s correct predictions. The Black Dragon Clan stabilized, and the number of clients Guardian had increased. It was as if each attack was carried out just to build up Limon and Guardian.

That was until a few days ago.

“[Your predictions were wrong, boss.]”

“Yeah, and they’ll continue being wrong.]”

A subsidiary completely outside Limon’s predictions was attacked. Thankfully, military forces were able to arrive before too much damage was done. Unfortunately, Guardian’s reputation fell back to rock bottom before it could even see the sunlight.

Though, the company’s reputation was of no concern to Limon as he clicked his tongue.

“[Is this the flaw you mentioned, boss?]”

“Yep,” Limon nodded. He was troubled. “These fucks have started picking their targets randomly.”

“[How?]”

“I don’t know. Maybe the nut-fucks rolled some pencils or drew some lots.”

“[That’s baffling! I can’t believe they would stray from your predictions just like that…]”

“‘Baffling’? It’s obvious.”

Limon could only predict the criminals’ targets because he had thoroughly analyzed their thought processes and patterns. He couldn’t predict something random. No matter how well he could psychoanalyze a person, he wouldn’t know where a dart would land if he was blindfolded.

“That’s why I said this was just a niche ability.”

“[I meant that you could have used it to catch criminals earlier instead of being lazy!]”

“I would if I could. What am I supposed to do when these bastards have a fuck load of luck on their side?”

He didn’t just lock himself in a room pretending to be a shaman for the past month. He did what he could, going out and about to look for the criminals and even lying in ambush near the predicted subsidiaries.

But whether it was luck, or if they had a skill like [Threat Evasion], the criminals kept attacking wherever Limon wasn’t. And in the case of tracking them, he had even less luck.

“I would have at least gotten a trace of them if I had some support… Tsk.”

“[I told you you should’ve managed your rep better. How bad did it have to be for every single one of them to get in your way instead of helping?]”

“You think that’s my fault? That’s all thanks to that Wang bastard making such a fuss.”

The issue was the Black Dragon Clan’s refusal to cooperate. Despite receiving Guardian’s help, there were many instances where they would purposely interfere with Limon’s efforts to capture the culprits.

It wasn’t completely irrational. Elbows only bend inwards. With the Shanghai Royal Family already going after the criminals, Limon looking for them as well could be seen as an attempt to leech off their efforts.

“The best case scenario would’ve been for that Wang bastard to catch those criminals before my tactics stopped working.”

“[Manage your expectations. What did you expect from those spooky rag tags?]”

“‘Ragtag’ is a bit mean, don’t you think? They are still masters from the Shanghai Royal Family.”

“[So what if they are? They’re worse than the rookie detectives we had.]”

“That’s PAB standards.”

Limon clicked his tongue again. The ‘rag tags’ were comparable to high-level players and weren’t people to underestimate. However, they were masters of psionics, not investigative work.

Sure, they were better than the average Joe. Maybe they could cast a tracking spell or two. But compared to PAB agents, who focused on detective work and investigating high-level players, it was only natural that the martial artists would lose.

“[The problem is that even the PAB would have difficulty catching these people.]”

“That part I agree with.”

It was only natural that Limon and Yoo Na-kyung would lack faith in Wang Ki-neung’s abilities when they knew better than anyone else just how hard it was to catch a high-level player who used their skills maliciously.

The problem Limon faced was that he wasn’t a complete third party in this matter.

“What a headache…”

Limon furrowed his brows.

They had no information on the culprits, and now they couldn’t anticipate future attacks. Limon was getting stepped on with both his hands tied. It wasn’t a matter he could gloss over.

And so they sat, with Limon deep in thought and Yoo Na-kyung streaming out nonsense after nonsense as he grabbed her and spun his arms around.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

‘Tsk, what is it this time?’

It was rare for his phone to ring when few knew his number.

But upon seeing who the caller was, his expression changed. It was someone completely different from who he was expecting.

“< Hi. >”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“< That’s such a boring question. Nothing needs to be up for us to keep in touch, is there? >”

“You think so?”

“< Aren’t we partners till death? >”

A cheerful greeting rang from the other end of the line. It wasn’t a pleasant voice, but it was the voice of someone who sounded quite heavenly while singing.

Limon chuckled at the performer he’d exchanged numbers with a month ago—Eugene.

‘What a guy.’

They had only met once, yet here he was, acting like they were lifelong friends. He was stubbornly amiable. Despite how that sounds, Limon felt entertained by his presence. Perhaps it was due to how much of the little bird’s stubbornness he had to endure.

“< So… partner. I have a favor to ask you as my soul friend. >”

“What’s that?”

He could already tell what the favor was going to be. There was only one thing Euegene would ask of him out of the blue. A perfor—

“< Lend me some money. >”

Beep.

Limon instinctively hung up.

The phone rang again, and after a long stare at ‘Eugene’ on the screen, he slowly turned away.

“Na-kyung.”

“[Yes?]”

“This is truly shocking. There are people more stubborn than you in this world.”

“[Excuse me, boss?!]”

***

***

Gulp gulp—

“Slow down there, will you? You’re going to upset your stomach.”

“That’s all right. I’m a healthy guy.”

“People who say that usually kick the bucket first.”

“Then I’ll eat more. If I’m dying anyways, isn’t it better to die full than hungry?”

“What kind of prison proverb is that?”

Limon watched as Eugene mindlessly dug away at his food and clicked his tongue.

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t you say that you were a freelancer last time?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why don’t you have any money to feed yourself? Were you a freelance security guard in your own home or a professional beggar?”

Limon eventually caved after the unbearable number of calls he received. What waited for him was a guitar, Eugene, and his growling stomach in the corner of some street.

Limon wasn’t intending to lend him any money, but he looked so miserable that Limon dragged him to a restaurant.

“Stuff happened.”

“What stuff?”

“I got in debt.”

Limon’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you a gambler?”

“Of course not. I don’t do drugs or gamble. There wouldn’t be any soul in my music if I got into that kind of stuff.”

“Then, how did you get into debt? Did you get scammed?”

“Uhm, I actually don’t know. I was just playing songs like usual and working here and there. Then I found myself in debt.”

“Just like that…?”

It didn’t take long before Limon went from feeling doubtful to staring at Eugene pathetically. He had a rough idea of how Eugene got into debt.

“[Tsk, tsk. Must be unemployed.]”

‘Are you employed?’

“[It’s called being a cute, adorable little pet.]”

‘…I’m sorry I asked.’

Limon reflected on his naivety. He couldn’t believe he thought that anyone could be more stubborn than that chicken head.

Unbeknownst to Eugene, Limon was deeply apologizing to him in his head. He looked at Limon, amused.

“Partner. I was always curious. What’s up with the bird?”

“This chicken head? Hm… If I had to say, she’s probably an annoying pet.”

“Why ‘probably’?”

“I don’t know if I should call this a pet or a brute.”

“[A brute? What kind of brute is as cute as I?!]”

Eugene smiled, even though he couldn’t hear the telepathic wrath of Na-kyung.

“All right… So a mascot?”

“How’d you come to that conclusion?”

“Because a mascot is cute when their team wins, but just becomes a brute when they lose.”

“I think that’s completely different.”

“That’s fine. We can use it as our band mascot. It looks cute enough to be one.”

What an unbelievable statement. Limon and Yoo Na-kyung were both baffled by Eugene, but Eugene went cluelessly on.

“But partner. Why didn’t you bring your instrument?” he said as he bit into the apple that came as dessert.

“What instrument?”

“Don’t you remember? You said you’d bring your own instrument the next time we perform, partner.”

“I didn’t come here to perform. I came here to kick your begging ass.”

“Huuuuuh?”

“…Why do you have that look on your face like when dark mages watched as the demon god died?”

“Because you and I met, partner! It doesn’t make any sense for us to not perform!”

Eugene argued like he was explaining the fundamental laws of the universe.

“The way I see it, it makes even less sense for someone in debt to go around playing music.”

“That’s all right. Great music comes from suffering and adversity.”

“That’s an excuse jobless, dirt poor ‘artists’ say.”

“But it’s not an excuse! Suffering and adversity add to the soul.”

“I’ll believe you when you can objectively measure souls and prove the rate of growth.”

Eugene clicked his tongue and wagged his finger.

“Partner, soul isn’t something you believe in. You gotta feel it.”

——

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