“Now, now, ‘hey’ is hardly appropriate. We're about to become business partners, so you should at least show some respect—”

“Clench your fucking jaw.”

“Pardon?”

[... Oh, crap.]

The moment Moon Cheon-yeop looked puzzled by that out-of-the-blue remark, Yu Na-gyeong covered her face with her wings, Limon uncrossed his arms, and a tremendous sound rang out.

THWACK!

“...?”

For a brief moment, Kim Seung-jun and Mr. Jeong couldn't understand what had happened. As merely mid-tier players, they had registered exactly two things: a loud noise, and Limon and Moon Cheon-yeop vanishing at that same instant.

But the sight that met their eyes next forced even the two men, who had been blinking blankly, to understand the situation perfectly.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

“Gah, ghrk, hhk, ugh!”

A blow to the jaw snapped his head up, only for a strike to the top of his head to drive it back down. Both cheeks were battered, and teeth spilled from his mouth. With every swing of a fist, his body jerked as though dancing, his legs staggering like a marionette's.

Whenever he started to collapse, he was hauled upright by his hair. A strike to the solar plexus churned his stomach, followed by a blow to the throat that forced him to swallow his vomit back down.

Was removing his sunglasses the barest act of mercy? Or was it so his eyes could be pounded too?

Only one thing was certain: a man who had been perfectly fine moments ago was now being beaten to a pulp by Limon.

“Uh, th-that...”

Kim Seung-jun and Mr. Jeong could only open and close their mouths. They didn't even dare think of intervening. Quite apart from having no way to stop the dazzling barrage of blows flying faster than their eyes could follow, Limon's menacing presence had frozen them in place.

[Team Leader, Team Leader! Stop! You're going to kill someone again!]

In the end, the one who stepped in for them was a tiny baby bird. Only after Yu Na-gyeong clung to his head and repeatedly slapped his forehead did Limon finally stop swinging his fists.

THUD!

Only once the beating stopped could Moon Cheon-yeop finally crumple to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Looking down at him with icy eyes, Limon spoke coldly.

“Run your mouth again. Who plagiarized whose song, and who should look for a nice way to settle it?”

“U-ugh...”

Naturally, no answer came. Insensible and swollen all over like a steamed bun, Moon Cheon-yeop could do nothing but groan and squirm like a bug.

There was only one thing Yu Na-gyeong could do at that sight: heave a deep sigh and contact Wei Ling telepathically to ask her to send an ambulance.

* * *

[If memory serves, you asked me to handle this as smoothly as possible, sir.]

“I did.”

[Which is why I told you that everything related to the lawsuit had already been dealt with, and that I had spoken to the judge.]

“Yes, I know.”

[... Then why have I now been given the additional task of covering up your assault case?]

“Because I beat that bastard half to death.”

[...]

She fell silent for a moment at his brisk, clean-cut answer—just what one would expect from a Sword Master slicing through a radish. Finally, Wei Ling spoke again, her voice about three times colder than usual.

[I've dealt with the police for now, but be prepared for complications if Midas gets involved, never mind WIM.]

“All right. Don't push yourself too hard.”

[... Say that when you stop creating situations that force me to.]

“I'll try.”

Perhaps it was because she had been struggling to clean up Limon's mess the moment personnel from the Wang family of Shanghai joined Guardian. Beneath Wei Ling's coldness lay unmistakable exhaustion.

Letting her words go in one ear and out the other, Limon hung up and murmured nonchalantly.

“Hmm. Money and power really are wonderful. Everything gets sorted out without even having to bother going to the police station.”

[Nothing's sorted out! You've made a huge mess! Just look at the mood in here!]

“What's wrong with the mood?”

[How can you say that after looking at those two?]

Yu Na-gyeong protested passionately, and with good reason. Mr. Jeong and Kim Seung-jun were gloom personified. If the place had felt like a funeral parlor before Limon arrived, it now felt like one that had been trashed by a gangster before a debt collector took all the condolence money.

The way they hastily averted their eyes for fear of meeting his gaze said it all.

[Why did you start throwing punches out of nowhere? Punches! You said you didn't like showing off your strength, Team Leader! Huh?]

They had gone to all the trouble of preparing to settle things quietly. Why had he thrown all of that away? As Yu Na-gyeong demanded an answer with her feathers bristling, Limon replied shamelessly.

“Showing off my strength and beating down a son of a bitch are two different things.”

[What difference does that make?!]

“You can let a dog brag about how big its turds are. But if the son of a bitch starts shitting everywhere to show them off, you have to beat it down. That's the difference.”

Limon spoke decisively. Then he continued, looking coldly in the direction Moon Cheon-yeop had been carried away.

“If he played with other people's lives however he pleased, trusting in his paltry strength and power, shouldn't he have his own life toyed with at least once?”

[... It would be easier if you weren't so good at talking back.]

Though she grumbled briefly, Yu Na-gyeong couldn't bring herself to argue any further. Even their cursory preliminary investigation had shown her that Moon Cheon-yeop had ruined more than a few lives.

For Limon, merely trying to talk to such a man first had been an enormous concession. Of course, that concession had ended the moment Moon Cheon-yeop smugly threatened him.

[What are you going to do now?]

“About what?”

[The fallout. You can't expect this to just blow over.]

“Are you suggesting I chase him down and kill him, even now?”

[Don't be ridiculous! If the Midas Guild really steps in, all those people in the Black Dragon Clan might die of overwork. They're already busy enough!]

Yu Na-gyeong pointed this out in horror. The Seven Dragons Society's wealth and power could crush most guilds, but Midas, one of the ten great guilds, was no easy opponent. Especially not for the Black Dragon Clan, which was currently swamped with cleaning up after the Liberation Brigade's attack.

“That bastard isn't a member of the Midas Guild, is he? He's just some grunt in a subordinate guild.”

[A grunt who makes good money. He's the real power in WIM, and he manages a singer as popular as Claire. Midas probably keeps tabs on him, too.]

As a former PAB agent, Yu Na-gyeong knew very well how sensitive Midas was to losses, and how relentless it could be. If this incident cost them anything, they would find a way to demand compensation.

Of course, Limon was currently using a false identity, so he could hide if he truly set his mind to it. But then innocent bystanders Kim Seung-jun and Mr. Jeong might suffer the consequences.

[You're not planning to fight Midas, are you?]

“Do I look like a mad dog to you? Why would I wage all-out war with one of the ten great guilds over something this trivial?”

Truly convincing words from a man who had even smashed the Infinite Monarch to settle the blood debt for a single subordinate. But Limon meant them.

They still didn't know how far the Liberation Brigade's roots extended into the ten great guilds. If Limon Aspelder became needlessly entangled with Midas now, he might end up having to beat down the Golden Monarch next.

Of course, beating Moon Cheon-yeop anyway despite knowing that was also very much like him.

[Then you'll have to compensate them somehow... Are you going to ask the Princess?]

“No. I have no intention of doing that.”

Limon's answer was firm. Of course, Li Qingyu would handle a problem of this size perfectly well on her own. One advantage of Midas's fixation on profit was that it forgot all grudges once compensated, and the Seven Dragons Society had money to burn.

Still, he refused for two reasons. First, simply entangling the Seven Dragons Society with Midas could give the Liberation Brigade an opening to intervene. Second, some of that compensation would go to Moon Cheon-yeop.

“I've gone to the trouble of beating down that son of a bitch. I can't watch him get a golden doghouse and live in luxury off the payout for his beating.”

[Then what are you going to do?]

How did he intend to resolve this without either fighting or paying compensation? Limon gave the puzzled Yu Na-gyeong a simple answer.

“The point is that things get troublesome if I get involved with Midas, right?”

[Right?]

“Then I just have to stay out of it.”

[... Have you forgotten that we're doing this because you're already involved?]

THWACK!

[Ow, damn it! Why are you hitting me again?]

“Why else, you brat? Because of that disrespectful look.”

Limon had flicked Yu Na-gyeong with a finger for looking at him as though he were an old man with dementia. As she covered her forehead with her wings and huffed, he spoke indifferently.

“I already told you. That bastard isn't a Midas Guild member. He's a grunt in one of their subordinate guilds.”

[I'm telling you, it's the same thing!]

“No, it isn't.”

Limon shook his head and pointed out one fact Yu Na-gyeong had failed to consider.

“When a high minister's dog dies, you have to pay your condolences. But when his servant's dog dies, you can boil it up and eat it together.”

[What?]

As Yu Na-gyeong tilted her head at the incomprehensible remark, Limon spun around and casually addressed Kim Seung-jun, who jumped in alarm when their eyes met.

“Producer Kim. Do you have the WIM guild master's contact information?”

“O-of course I do.”

“Then get in touch.”

Perhaps the sight of Moon Cheon-yeop being thrashed had left an especially powerful impression. Kim Seung-jun stood at attention to answer him. Limon gave him a cold smile and continued quietly.

“Tell them I'll give them a chance to get rid of the son of a bitch who lords it over them by clinging to Midas. If they want to stop being a figurehead boss, they'd better get over here right now.”

The desolate café held only three people and one bird. Exactly twenty minutes later, one more person joined them.

* * *

'What on earth is going on?'

A woman in her late thirties, whose understated makeup gave her a strangely approachable air despite her stylish clothes, pondered the baffling turn of events. She was Yeon-hwa, WIM's guild master.

In truth, when she first received the urgent news that Moon Cheon-yeop had been beaten somewhere and taken to the hospital, she hadn't been surprised in the slightest. She had merely thought that the inevitable had finally happened.

'I'd heard Chief Moon had been coming here frequently lately... but I never expected him to end up like that here.'

Moon Cheon-yeop caused plenty of trouble, using any means necessary to get what he wanted. He had only come through unscathed until now because of his connections to Midas and his own status as a high-level player.

But he wasn't the world's only high-level player, so an incident like this had been inevitable sooner or later.

That was why Yeon-hwa hadn't given the matter much thought. She only had to contact the Midas Guild as usual and handle it according to their instructions.

What changed her mind was a phone call that came just as she was about to contact Midas.

A call from Kim Seung-jun, a producer with little experience at the practically half-ruined KTB, was nothing remarkable in itself. Its contents, however, were very remarkable indeed—enough to make Yeon-hwa drop everything else and rush here, into enemy territory.

Yet the sight that actually greeted her at the live café was very different from what she had imagined.