I picked up my finished cup of coffee and passed by the boy as I headed to the cafe counter. The boy tried to look natural, but his actions had countless flaws.

  The little boy left the cafe happily, and I went to the young man who was feeling his entire body as he searched for his wallet and said, "Are you looking for this?”


  "Ah! That’s right. That wallet belongs to me. Thank you. I must have dropped it by mistake.”


  What a stupid person. No, should I say instead that he’s someone who’s unaware of the ways of the world? Such clothes naturally attract those stupid little boys. In those cases, it’s not the young man who gets harmed; it’s the stupid boy.

  "Is your name Den? I’ll give you a reward for picking up my wallet."

  I realized that I was wearing my civil servant ID card.

  I responded as I naturally stowed away my civil servant ID in my inside pocket. "That’s okay. I just found it on the floor first. It would be too shameful to expect a reward for such a thing."

  "No, no need to refuse. It seems like you are a civil servant, so I’ll buy some refreshments for you to share with others."

  The young man opened his wallet and looked at the menu. I closed the suddenly opened wallet while covering its opening. The slight gap inside the wallet showed that it was filled with a gold shine.

  What is this lunatic trying to do by opening a wallet full of gold in a place like this? Did he want to die quietly in a back alley without anyone ever finding out?

  Actually, when I looked closely and saw the sword on his hips, the bracelet, and the belt, I noticed that his body was essentially covered with magic tools. With these, he probably wouldn’t get killed quietly. Rather, the robbers going after the wallet would probably get killed one after the other.

  "It’s really alright. I actually received a bit of money to buy some snacks."

  When I was getting his wallet back from the boy, I had also taken another wallet from his pocket. This wallet was probably one that was stolen by that pickpocketing boy anyways. I’m sure it was fine to accept this as payment for keeping his wrist.

  When I opened the boy’s wallet, it was quite full. It seems like he was a pretty good pickpocket.

  As I took out a few bronze coins from my wallet, even this stupid noble finally realized that he only had gold coins in his wallet and became flustered. "Uh, mmm. I, I see. If that’s the case, it would be rude for me to keep insisting."

  He may not know the ways of the world, but fortunately, he seemed to have common sense. Following through with my story, I bought cookies in bulk from the cafe. I could share it when I got back or just shove everything in my pocket space. I’d probably eat them all at some point.

  Since the pocket space was a complete vacuum and was not a suitable environment for microorganisms, dehydrated foods like the cookies would not rot. Also, I didn’t think it was a bad idea to keep it as emergency food. With both hands full of cookies, I tried to say goodbye and leave the cafe.

  "Wait."

  When I stopped walking and turned around, the young man looked embarrassed, and his face turned red as he said, "By any chance, do you know what direction the imperial palace is located? I am unfamiliar with the roads here."

  "If you walk straight along the market street, you’ll find a three-way intersection. If you go right from there, you will see a wall that is far away but surrounds the palace. If you can see the palace wall, you can just roughly walk in that direction by following the main roads. You’ll be able to see many civil servants preparing for the New Year’s Festival. I don’t know your destination, but after that point, you can just ask anyone for further directions."

  At my kind explanation, the young man bowed his head. "Thank you. I will definitely return this favor later."

  I didn’t know when he planned on seeing me again to return the favor, but I simply nodded. He appeared to be a high-ranking noble, but given that he bowed, he seemed to have been well educated at home.

  Leaving the cafe, I put the cookies in my hands into the pocket space and headed toward the adventurer’s guild.

  I stopped by the cafe to take a break, but it didn’t feel like a break for some reason.

  * * *

  In the middle of the dark chamber that didn’t allow even the smallest bit of light to enter, five people dressed in black sat around a large table. The only source of light in the dark room was from five candles lying in front of the five people in black.

  Libra was wearing a half black and half white mask and spoke with his characteristic voice that was indistinguishable from an old or young person. "It seems there are five people at the meeting again."

  Scorpio, wearing a red mask, smiled and agreed, "Oh, seems so. Huhut."

  Libra glanced indifferently at Scorpio and looked at the old man in a pure white mask sitting next to her. "I don’t know why you bother holding these meetings if it’s just going to be like this, Sagittarius."

  The old man called Sagittarius laughed pleasantly, "Keuhaha! I know, right? Just who decided to hold such meetings!?"

  At Sagittarius’s laughter, Libra slammed her hand on the table. "Isn’t it always you who calls these meetings? And what about when you never attend the meetings!?"

  "Ara? Did I do that? Jeez, they do say that you should die when you get old. I must be getting forgetful. Keuhaha!"

  When Sagittarius laughed loudly, Libra clenched his fist with a look of genuine annoyance.

  Scorpio was sitting next to Sagittarius, and she crossed her legs, saying playfully, "Oh, weren’t these meetings originally an option? Isn’t that right, Virgo?"

  Scorpio directed her words towards the woman in a light pink mask. Yet, the woman called Virgo just shrugged her shoulders and did not answer. One could say she agreed with Scorpio since she didn’t attend the last meeting either.

  "Keuhaha! Don’t nag me too much, Libra. I had something come up during the last meeting, so I couldn’t help it."

  The blue masked man who was sitting next to Virgo sighed at Sagittarius. "Was that something plundering the Crow Tribe’s sacred land?”


  Sagittarius winked and laughed pleasantly. "Correct, Aquarius. Puhaha!"

  Aquarius grabbed his forehead as if he had a headache, while Sagittarius smacked the table again as he rose from his seat. "Is it your fault that the Crow Tribe Chief is running wild in the demon’s territory?"

  "Yes. Hehe, he was stronger than I expected by several levels."

  Libra exploded in rage at Sagittarius, who made a gesture like he was embarrassed. "You bastard!"

  When Libra looked like he was about to jump at Sagittarius immediately, Scorpio, Virgo, and Aquarius aimed their respective weapons at Libra. Aquarius held a sword against Libra’s neck, allowing him to cut Libra’s throat at any moment.

  "Private battles are not allowed here,” Aquarius said.

  Aiming her double swords at Libra’s heart and forehead, Virgo agreed with Aquarius. "Your actions are crossing the line, Libra."

  Scorpio had instantaneously moved behind Libra, and she laughed while pointing her staff at him. "Well, I do like to fight, but since this is what Sagittarius had decided, we should follow it, right?”


  Feeling strong pressure from all sides, Libra relaxed his clenched fists and raised his hands. "All right. I got a little too excited this time."

  When Libra surrendered, the three masked individuals put away their weapons and returned to their seats. Even as they turned around and went back to their spots, the three masked individuals did not show even a single opening. There were no gaps at all, as if they had eyes on the back of their heads.

  Libra sighed and buried himself deeply in the backrest. "But Scorpio, didn’t the Crow Tribe Chief running amok in the demon’s territory also cause you a great deal of damage?"

  When Libra glared at Scorpio, she pretended to dig her ears with a pinky finger. "Who knows? It is true that my home base is within the demon’s territory, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say there was damage."

  "You’re saying there was no damage?" Libra was dumbfounded by Scorpio.

  "Yes, of course. As long as I’m not the one not receiving the damage, it’s fine.” Scorpio’s red lips smiled cruelly.

  "Ha, you’re one to talk when your fellow compatriots might die at the hands of the Crows."

  "Who knows? We will have to see about that. Well, it’s not my business whether my fellow compatriots die. Hohoho."

  Hearing her terrifying, mischievous laugh, Libra thought Scorpio wasn’t a woman who should be associated with and looked at Sagittarius. "Sagittarius, hey you. Since you were the one to gather the 12 Zodiacs, how about you show a little interest?"

  Sagittarius laughed cheerfully at Libra’s criticism. "Hahaha! Did I create this organization? Didn’t you guys get together on your own?"

  Despite his demeanor, Sagittarius’s eyes were not smiling at all. Libra felt instinctive fear at Sagittarius’s cold eyes. Although Libra felt a sense of dread akin to a predator turning into prey, he shuddered more because of his injured pride rather than fear.

  "If you all gathered here on your own, you should handle things on your own. You shouldn’t pass it on to others."

  Sagittarius was not wrong. He had only gone around saying things like, “I wonder what it’d be like to make an organization like this.” Although one could argue that he had gathered them, in the end, the 12 Zodiacs had gathered because of their own personal decisions.

  In reality, this meeting was just a gathering of the leaders of organizations who had their own agendas.

  Then, with his chin in his right hand, Aquarius spoke, "But since Sagittarius was the one who called this meeting, I don’t think Libra is necessarily wrong."

  Sagittarius laughed joyfully when Aquarius sided with Libra. "Ahhahaha! Is that so?"

  "Even though Sagittarius is the one who’s calling the meetings, can’t you count the number of times he’s attended them on one hand?"

  Sagittarius shrugged at Aquarius. "Well, if Aquarius says so, it’s likely true."

  At Sagittarius’s playful smile, Libra clenched his fists so hard that a drop of blood fell from his fist. However, this time, he had no choice but to curb his anger. It was clear that if he showed his fury again now, he would lose his neck to the three masked individuals.

  Libra asked in a sharp voice, "So what is the purpose of the meeting this time?"

  Sagittarius smiled at Libra. "Not much. Don’t you think you should show your face at least once at my request?”


  Libra frowned, but it was impossible to see his expression below his mask. "Okay, then I’ll tell you my affairs just once."

  Libra rose from his seat. "None of you interfere with my work next time."

  After snappily saying his business, he picked up the candle that laid before him.

  "Worship our God! Prosit!"

  Then he blew out the candles. However, it was unknown whether those who gathered here had the same objects of worship.