Chapter 81: Clan (3)
After that, a series of busy days passed.
Creating a clan was not as simple a matter as it had seed.
Above all, the registration process was quite complicated. When I asked Sis about the reason, she replied that it was to prevent it from degenerating into a violent group like a gang.
“So the paperwork is kind of complicated.”
When I casually brought it up as if asking for help from Kang Da-hee, she nodded as though she understood exactly what I ant.
“This kind of thing is my specialty.”
“Really?”
“I did paperwork day in and day out in grad school and at Podvig.”
“Still, it probably feels a bit different.”
“The basics are the sa. Go ahead and give it to .”
Perhaps because of her ticulous personality, she showed expert-level skill in this sort of work.
In the end, most of the clan founding paperwork passed through Kang Da-hee’s hands.
‘From now on, I can leave the administrative side to her.’
As if she had read my thoughts, she began efficiently preparing not only the registration process but also the future alliance with Sis’s clan.
That said, it wasn’t as if I had nothing to do at all.
Aside from the paperwork, there were piles of things to decide as the leader.
The clan’s direction, its area of activity, internal details like loot distribution—among all of those, there was one thing that mattered most.
“The Silent Arbiter Clan.”
“…….”
It was deciding the clan’s na.
“How is it? Doesn’t it sound strong and cool?”
A quiet café located inside the Hwayang Hotel.
At Betty Barosi’s suggestion, everyone fell silent.
“That’s from so novel again, isn’t it?”
“……!”
When Diesel jabbed her with that remark, Betty flinched in surprise.
“Yes. It’s the na of a shadow organization that appears in Detective of the Data Backstreets.”
When Kang Da-hee affird it, Betty started stamring.
“B-but it’s not bad!”
“Uuum…… Herja thinks it’s okayyy……!”
“Right? I knew only our Herja would understand her unni’s heart.”
“Anyway, no.”
“Ah, whyyy……? Is it really that bad?”
“It’s just that I had sothing else in mind.”
“Huh? What is it, what is it?”
Diesel pulled up a holographic docunt and wrote down a na.
‘It’s a little unusual, but…….’
A single word dredged up from an old mory of his older brother.
That man, despite appearances, was the type to harbor a lot of idle thoughts, and he had once stashed away a na he swore he’d use if he ever ford a group.
「Aguiggun」
“Aguiggun……? What does it an?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Hmm…… The Aguiggun Clan…… The sound isn’t bad. It kind of feels like it has sothing to it.”
Perhaps back then, it had been rejected because teammates of various nationalities found it hard to pronounce.
Maybe that lingering regret was why, the mont Diesel began thinking about a na, his brother’s mory surfaced.
‘That guy was the type to quietly hold onto things like this.’
It felt like he should ease that regret, even if only in this way.
After deciding even the most important matter—the clan’s na—they all went together to see Madam Isabel.
“The Aguiggun Clan, huh…….”
Isabel reviewed the docunts, then smiled.
“It’s a good na. It suits all of you very well.”
As the madam looked over the Ghostcatchers in front of her, she spoke toward Diesel.
“Do you know what the final procedure is?”
“I know.”
The one who beca the leader had to recite the code of conduct before the clan mbers.
To do that, Diesel stepped forward before everyone.
“Our clan’s code is simple.”
He looked at each clan mber standing before him.
First was Betty Barosi, a half-elf, half-dragon.
Though her personality was a bit unpredictable, there was no mber more loyal and upright than her.
“To train each of your combat abilities to the absolute limit.”
Next was Kang Da-hee, reborn under the na ‘Yubin.’
Though their first eting hadn’t been very good, it had now beco an irrelevant past.
Up to now, her outstanding knowledge and abilities had been a great help to Diesel—and they would continue to be necessary.
“There is only one reason we grow stronger.”
Lastly was Herja, descendant of the Valkyries once called the Shadow Sword.
Though she bore the frightening alias ‘Valkyrie of Desolation,’ she was never an evil person.
She had simply never had an adult to teach her what was right.
“To survive.”
“…….”
“To do that, grow stronger.”
Diesel knew well that the power they possessed was anything but ordinary.
And he knew what could be done with that power.
After finishing the not-quite-a-speech, he looked over them once more.
Then, suddenly, Betty started clapping.
“A-amazing.”
Next to her, Herja also busily moved her small hands, making clapping sounds.
“Waaah…… It’s so cool, Diesel-nim……! No, I guess I should call you Leader nowww……!”
“…….”
When even Kang Da-hee joined in the applause, Isabel beside them also moved her hands with a smiling gaze.
“Ahem, ahem. What’s with all of you.”
As he awkwardly approached the madam, she extended her hand for a handshake.
“Congratulations on founding your clan, Leader Diesel.”
When he grasped her hand, the applause grew even louder.
“Waaahhh……!”
“Good work.”
“We’re eating sothing good today, right?”
“at……! Herja likes attt……!”
“Yeah. Let’s go eat at, at!”
“Have a safe trip.”
“Please don’t overdo it.”
A few days later, in front of Room 2046 of the Hwayang Hotel.
Betty and Kang Da-hee each said a word to Diesel, who was dressed in a suit.
“Herja wants to go toooo…….”
Below them, Herja poked out her small face and pouted.
“No.”
“Hiiing…….”
“Be good and listen.”
“Herja always listens wellll…….”
“Yeah. Good girl. Take the dicine I left you on ti.”
“Okaaay…….”
Diesel gently patted the Valkyrie’s bright golden hair once, then handed a few yellow talismans to Betty.
“You know how to use them, right?”
“Don’t worry.”
Turning around, Diesel inspected the new bipedal cyberware he had just installed, lightly moving his ankles.
‘As expected, luxury is luxury.’
An expensive prosthetic body purchased on the recomndation of the peddler Fuzz.
High-end legs worth tens of millions of Qubit.
“I’m going.”
Leaving those words behind, he walked out lightly.
He could already feel it just from walking.
“Don’t go doing stupid things over there!”
Leaving Betty’s voice behind him, he opened the door leading to the stairwell instead of the elevator.
After climbing up several floors in succession like that, I soon arrived at the hotel lobby.
Even though I had co up quickly without resting, I wasn’t even short of breath.
“Oh, that’s so pretty nice cyberware?”
In front of the elevator at the far end of the lobby.
The Little Sister who had been waiting for smiled brightly as she spoke.
“It’s expensive.”
“Mm……. Yeah. That model is on the pricey side.”
Trailing off, Siss stared intently at Diesel and asked,
“Don’t you have anything to say to ?”
Only then did Diesel notice what she was wearing.
A glamorous dress completely different from her usual outfit.
A bold red velvet dress with a daring slit running all the way up the side.
“This is the first ti I’ve seen you in a dress.”
“…….”
Holding a long cigarette holder with a cigarette set in it in her gloved hand, Siss stared straight at Diesel.
“That’s it?”
“Do you smoke too?”
“What? Ha……. Forget it. What was I expecting from you, anyway.”
Letting out a small sigh, she flicked her hand through the air.
“Hold still. I see a few things to tweak on that prosthetic body. I’ll do so fine-tuning.”
“Didn’t Fuzz already do it?”
“He tends to consider contingencies a bit too narrowly.”
Soon, as usual, round sparrow-shaped drones suddenly popped out and flew around Diesel’s feet.
“All set. This should be better.”
“Oh…….”
Multiple pieces of information updated in Diesel’s visual interface.
【Instantaneous speed increased by 5%.
Balance control range increased by 7°.
Friction strength control function improved.
Power efficiency increased by 12%…….】
‘You can get this much improvent just from setting adjustnts?’
It had already been thoroughly tuned by a veteran peddler bot who had been active in the field for a long ti, yet she improved it even further.
It felt like watching soone squeeze another bucket of water out of a dried squid.
Soon, a ding sounded from the elevator, and the doors slid open.
“Let’s go.”
Following Siss inside, she pressed a button for a place that felt rather unfamiliar.
‘The Aerodyne exclusive parking area…….’
A flying car—an Aerodyne.
What kind of vehicle would a high-ranking Ghostcatcher like Siss ride?
[This is the Sky Parking Area.]
A massive, cave-like space soon ca into view.
Dark, towering ceilings and walls surrounded everything, and far in the distance, the city’s nightscape shimred faintly.
“This way.”
I followed behind Siss, her heels clicking sharply.
Not long after, a single vehicle appeared before Diesel’s eyes.
‘Unbelievable…….’
Even Diesel, who had little interest in vehicles, knew what this was.
A numbered special-production model from the prestigious Aerodyne maker, ‘Angelodine.’
Judging by price alone, it was an ultra-high-end vehicle that ranked in the top ten every year.
‘That’s sothing only corporate chairn ride around in.’
The pure white body, highlighted by Angelodine’s signature flowing curves, looked more like a work of art than a vehicle.
As I approached the Aerodyne resting like a sculpture, the door slid open automatically.
“It’s Model Eleven. I don’t usually ride it, but today’s a special day.”
A special day.
Just as she said, today was a special day.
It was the day the ‘Black Market’ Siss had proposed to Diesel last ti was opening.
‘I’m already looking forward to this.’
Diesel smacked his lips inwardly.
An underground auction house rumored to deal only in extraordinary items.
There, Siss had promised to secure at least one item for him, no matter what it was.
With that swelling anticipation, I boarded Siss’s vehicle.
The Aerodyne smoothly cut through the sky.
Below our feet, the quiet nightscape of Seoul spread out.
“Pretty.”
“…….”
“If only what’s inside were as beautiful as the outside.”
Siss gazed down at the city with distant eyes.
But Diesel was more interested in sothing else.
‘Is it running on auto-navigation?’
Siss wasn’t sitting in the driver’s seat, but in a passenger seat facing Diesel.
Was she controlling it remotely?
As I passed the ti with such pointless thoughts, the endlessly spreading city lights eventually vanished, leaving behind nothing but pitch-black darkness.
‘Hong Kong…….’
Our destination was Victoria Harbour, located far away in Hong Kong.
No longer functioning properly as a port, it was instead being used for a completely different purpose.
Perhaps because of the long distance, the Angelodine slicing through the darkness gradually increased its speed.
“Want sothing to drink?”
“What do you have?”
I usually didn’t enjoy things like that much, but right now, I felt like having a glass.
“About two thousand kinds of cocktails. We also have most non-alcoholic drinks on the market.”
“Then I’ll have a Blue Soda.”
At those words, glasses automatically slid into place at the small bar installed inside, and two drinks quickly filled up.
Siss picked up a glass and handed it to Diesel.
“It’ll take a while to get there.”
“Two hours, was it?”
“About that.”
As I sipped the soda and looked out the window, a pitch-black sea began to unfold.
“If you’re bored, you can look through the Black Market catalog.”
Suddenly, a holographic list unfolded before Diesel’s eyes.
Every single item that flashed by was extraordinary.
‘What’s this now. A new shoot of the World Tree?’
When Diesel’s gaze lingered on one spot, Siss noticed and spoke.
“It’s a fresh branch of the World Tree that the Nordic Elves guard with their lives. It’s probably one of the hottest items today.”
“A fresh branch of the World Tree…….”
And that wasn’t all—every line listed sothing incredible.
Scales of Jormungandr, fragnts of a High Angel’s halo, a data chip extracted from an Electrosphere black hole, a Precambrian-era mana ancient dragon fossil…….
As Diesel flipped through the catalog, completely absorbed, Siss spoke to him.
“Diesel.”
“Hm?”
She called him, but didn’t continue.
So Diesel looked at her and asked,
“What is it?”
Then Siss turned her gaze toward the window and quietly asked,
“Do you, by any chance, have soone you’re seeing?”
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