Kim Seung-jun knew he still had a lot to learn. If KTB hadn't been short on talent, and if his predecessors hadn't caused trouble and left one after another, he would never have been put in charge of a show at all. Getting blindsided by WIM over the contract was exactly the sort of mistake an experienced producer would have avoided.

Still, inexperienced as he was, he could say one thing with certainty as a producer: these two would succeed. The music he'd just heard, the fantastic harmony of song and instrument that he doubted anyone could even imitate. The mysterious aura peculiar to the finest musicians, visible to him because he possessed the skill 『Eye for Entertainment』, yet unlike any he'd ever seen. Above all, the emotion they'd stirred in him. Together, they gave him a conviction bordering on foresight.

'These two can do it. No—it has to be these two!' Limon and Eugene could more than fill the gap Claire had left. Perhaps they could even achieve something beyond that.

"If you belong to a guild or agency, please let me know. I'll send over a contract with the best terms I can offer."

Of course, it was only his intuition. If he brought in these unknown musicians as replacements after Claire's appearance had fallen through, people would think he was crazy. The division chief, who already disliked him, would practically eat him alive. But Seung-jun pushed ahead.

Ever since Chief Moon had stabbed him in the back, the show had been as good as dead. And that meant KTB would go under too. If the end result was the same either way, he wanted to trust his instincts and take a gamble. 'If it doesn't work out, I can always quit being a producer!'

"Hmm..." Perhaps Limon sensed the resolve in his eyes. He studied Seung-jun seriously, then, after a long silence, spoke.

"I'm not interested, though."

"... Pardon?"

"I said I'm not interested."

"W-why not?!"

Seung-jun's shock was understandable. KTB might be a small cable station, but this was still television. A spot on a show originally meant for a top singer like Claire was an opportunity even fairly popular entertainers and musicians would jump at. How could Limon turn it down?

"If you think I'm a fraud, I can take you to the station and prove who I am."

"I don't particularly doubt you."

"Then why are you refusing?!"

"I don't have any particular desire to get famous or make money through music."

Seung-jun had miscalculated one thing: Limon wasn't an unknown musician. Far from it. In terms of fame, he was a Sword Master who had saved the world several times. As for money, he was the future husband of Li Qingyu, who was plotting to swallow the entire Seven Dragons Society whole. What reason did he have to covet a scrap of fame or a little pocket change?

"Well, don't give up just yet. I said I'm not interested, but that doesn't mean my friend feels the same way."

"You mean...?"

Seung-jun's face brightened at once. Limon glanced toward Eugene.

"What about you? Sounds like he'd offer you pretty good terms."

"...?"

"What's with that look? You look like you've just heard a dark wizard's curse."

Limon was taken aback by Eugene's reaction. They'd been beaming just moments ago, and now their expression was strangely hard to read. Eugene tilted their head at him.

"Partner, you just said you don't want to get famous or make money through music."

"That's right."

"Then why ask me?"

"... Isn't asking the normal thing to do?"

"No!"

Eugene held up one hand, wagged a finger from side to side, and declared, "You ask other people what they think. We're partners whose souls are in tune. We think alike, so my answer's the same as yours. No need to ask!"

Eugene said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Limon blinked for a moment, then checked Seung-jun's anxious face and Yu Na-gyeong's telepathic response, which might have been laughter or a groan. He hadn't misheard. Scratching his cheek, he asked:

"So you're saying you're not interested either?"

"Of course."

"Why not think it over before you decide? It'd be a good opportunity if you ever want to debut as a singer."

"That's why I don't want to."

Limon stared at Eugene, puzzled by that answer, then asked in disbelief:

"You're turning it down because you don't want to debut?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Not really. I'm just curious."

It was Yu Na-gyeong, rather than Eugene, who looked surprised at that. ["What's gotten into you, Team Leader? Since when do you pry into things like that?"]

Limon rarely took an interest in the details of other people's lives. It was a habit born of his long years meeting and parting with all kinds of people. He hadn't even learned that Yu Na-gyeong was an orphan until they'd worked together for years. Yet here he was, curious about Eugene after meeting them only twice. Yu Na-gyeong was more than surprised. She felt a little hurt.

Limon gave her a simple answer. 'It'd be a waste.'

["What would?"]

'Letting that talent go to waste.'

Limon clicked his tongue inwardly. Since learning the violin, he'd listened to plenty of music and observed plenty of musicians. That was how he knew Eugene was a genius whose potential rivaled that of the world-class violinist Julia. It simply hadn't blossomed yet.

'It's a shame to see a flower that could bloom so beautifully, if given the chance to grow, stay a bud forever.'

Eugene simply hadn't bloomed yet. With proper instruction and steady training, they could rank among the top singers within a few years. Yu Na-gyeong looked rather sulky as she listened to Limon lament that wasted talent.

["... Team Leader, you've never said anything like that about me."]

'Huh? You had talent?'

["I was quite promising, you know! They'd never seen a genius like me at Hanbit Orphanage!"]

'I'll admit you had talent if you can honestly call yourself a once-in-a-century genius.'

["How is that fair?!"]

'Why wouldn't it be? When I was master of the Sword Tower, at least a dozen geniuses like that came knocking every year.'

["Was the Sword Tower the Chamber of TiX and SpaXe?! How could you have so many once-in-a-century talents?!"]

A quiet question from Eugene pulled Limon out of his bickering with Yu Na-gyeong. "Partner, do you really want to know why?"

"Yeah. People in the arts usually like getting famous and making money."

Most people did, in fact. Few people disliked being recognized and becoming famous, artist or not, and even fewer disliked money. Artists simply paid a little more attention to fame because, in their line of work, fame translated directly into income.

"I like making money too. But I don't want to sing for money."

"Why?"

"Because then there's no soul in the song."

The answer seemed to come out of nowhere, but Limon wasn't thrown. He merely gave Eugene a curious look and asked again.

"You're saying art should be an end in itself, not a means to an end?"

"I don't know about anything that complicated. I just want to sing the songs I want, when I want to sing them."

"I see... I understand."

Eugene shook their head as though they had no idea what he meant, but their answer had been unwavering. Limon gave a small laugh. Now it was Eugene's turn to be surprised.

"You don't think I'm strange, partner?"

"Why would I? By that standard, I'd be strange too."

Limon shrugged. He wasn't just saying that. When it came to living life doing only what he wanted, Limon himself was the undisputed champion.

Eugene gazed at him for a long moment, then finally chuckled.

"Well, you really are strange, partner."

"You're one to talk."

Watching Eugene giggle and Limon smile, Yu Na-gyeong asked uneasily, ["... Um, Team Leader? I don't get it at all. What's this about soul? Is Eugene trying to preserve the purity of art?"]

'If you don't get it, let it go. Even if I explained, that birdbrain of yours wouldn't understand.'

["That's species discrimination!"]

Limon merely smiled at her outburst. He didn't bother explaining that Eugene simply disliked being tied down; this had nothing to do with some lofty belief in the purity of art. That was why he'd stopped pressing Eugene. No matter how great a person's talent, he believed nobody had the right to force them down a path they didn't want to take.

Then a tentative voice spoke up. "Um, did your discussion go well?"

"Huh? Didn't you hear what we just said?"

"Well..."

One look at Seung-jun's embarrassed face told Limon enough. He nodded and clapped a hand on the producer's shoulder.

"I'll pay for the meal."

"Pardon?"

"It's going to be tough, but hang in there. Keep working hard and your day in the sun will come eventually, won't it?"

"..."

Seung-jun stared at him with a sour expression. Limon had already decided he was in for a hard time and was offering him a perfunctory consolation. Then Seung-jun clenched his fist and shouted:

"Say what you like, I'm going to book both of you for my show! I swear I will!"

"Well, go ahead and try if you can."

Like any old man accustomed to watching young people burn with misplaced passion, Limon let Seung-jun's words pass without a fuss. But neither Limon nor Eugene nor even Seung-jun himself knew that his burning determination would eventually come to fruition in a way none of them expected.

* * *

While Seung-jun was burning with that misplaced passion, others were mired in a despair several times deeper, though for an entirely different reason.

"So." In a lavishly decorated office, Wang Gi-neung stood with his back to the others, contemplating a shattered mural. The middle-aged man stroked his splendid mustache as he asked, "Is that the end of your report?"

"..."

"How remarkable. To tell me so boldly that you've accomplished nothing."

One of those wearing a grim expression, the Wang family of Shanghai's intelligence chief, replied cautiously, as if making excuses. "It's not that we've accomplished nothing. We've already cast a dragnet over every suspicious movement. All we have to do is wait for them to get caught in it."

"A fine answer indeed... Or is it just my imagination that you gave me the same answer last week?"

"That..."

"Ah, forgive me. I'd forgotten you gave it the week before that, too."

The sarcasm in Wang Gi-neung's voice left the intelligence chief no choice but to shut up and make himself small. It had been over a month since the Wang family of Shanghai had mobilized all its resources, yet they hadn't found the killers or even picked up their trail. As the man responsible for the family's intelligence, he had no excuse.

"Does anyone have a plan besides that damned dragnet?"