Chapter 10
Seth was an extreme homebody.
That meant he hadn’t stepped foot outside his trash-strewn attic-like home for an entire day.
Hiding under a messy blanket—who would’ve thought? I had assumed he’d left his vagrant lifestyle behind for good!
“I’m dying here! Why isn’t anything showing up? There has to be something… Could this really be a waste of time?”
He sighed heavily, as if the ground itself had swallowed him.
-Click.
The door of the dilapidated house creaked open, and Seth peeked his head out.
With a worried expression, he glanced around, yet his steps led him somewhere.
“Let’s follow him!”
After spending a night outdoors together, Chuk, Ricky, and I had grown reasonably close, and we trailed Seth like little mice.
A little while later, Seth arrived at…
-Knock knock knock! Knock knock!
“Aaron! Aaron! Open the door! It’s me, Seth!”
It was the house of Aaron, a fellow from the same hometown. I narrowed my eyes.
‘His behavior seems suspicious for someone just visiting a hometown friend.’
Aaron’s reaction upon opening the door was unusual too.
He rubbed his face, looking exhausted.
“Seth, you brat! I told you not to come here except when I visit!”
“B-But… you didn’t come yesterday.”
Aaron shot back sharply at Seth’s flustered voice.
“I still told you to wait without a word. Since when were you in a position to tell me that?”
“And, I-I was scared.”
“Scared?”
“B-But Chuk came too. With… a strange woman…”
…Could that “strange woman” he just mentioned be me?
‘This guy? Calling a perfectly fine person “strange”? That’s… a bit insulting.’
I glared at Seth with my eyes narrowed like a flounder.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have come to me.”
Aaron coldly shoved Seth away. Seth stammered, unbelieving.
“I-I told you… a strange woman came!”
“You ran here scared over a mere woman? Are you kidding me, coward?”
Seth staggered in place, looking wounded.
“W-What? How could you say that to me? Aaron… I didn’t know you were this kind of guy…”
“What exactly do you expect from our relationship? You make me sigh.”
Something about their conversation felt off. I rolled my eyes around as the two of them continued their argument, lightly shoving each other.
“You said you’d take responsibility for me!”
“When?”
“At first! When you… when you tried to coax me!”
“Ha, I’ll only take responsibility if it’s something worth taking responsibility for. Now get off my doorstep, Seth.”
“A woman I didn’t know approached me… How could this not be a big deal? It’s too much!”
“Stop babbling nonsense.”
“Our evidence was exposed to that person, so I couldn’t just stand by. That woman even stole a piece of mine!”
“What? She stole it? Why are you telling me this now, you idiot!”
“Aaron!”
Aaron grabbed Seth by the collar and growled, bringing his face close.
I blinked at the scene.
‘…Could it be what I think it is?’
This was completely unexpected.
I bit my lip and whispered to Chuk.
“Could it be that the reason they left their hometown was love? And this wooden coin was hidden as a symbol of their love?”
Chuk furrowed his brow at my comment, clearly having a lot to say.
He let out a deep sigh before speaking.
“Listen, miss. Those two…”
* * *
Chuk slammed two large files onto the table. The dusty smell that wafted off them revealed them to be the settler registry of the Ashen Fortress.
“We can’t catch those who travel illegally through the fortress, but we can definitely track who has settled here.”
From the outside, the Ashen Fortress might seem like a lawless wasteland, but it was surprisingly organized.
“Anyway, look at this!”
Chuk spread both files and pointed to each entry.
“These two came in at completely different times. It wasn’t some love escape, I tell you.”
“Hmm.”
I checked the resident registration years next to Chuk and Aaron’s names. There was a four-year difference.
“They hadn’t known they were from the same hometown for long. And they are absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not in that kind of relationship. I can swear from my investigation. If they were lovers, you and I would probably already be married. That’s about the level we’re talking.”
If Chuk was that sure, then they really weren’t lovers.
I laughed and lightly tapped Chuk’s arm.
“Too bad. Then there’s only one type of relationship they could have.”
Seth, carving fake gold coins out of wood.
After the investigation, Seth, unable to resist his anxiety, went to the one person from the same hometown: Aaron.
The kind of relationship that could create such a strong link between the two.
‘Definitely accomplices.’
Chuk growled like a bear, banging on the table.
“You tricked me knowing that! Anyway, it’s true their relationship is suspicious. But linking it to the counterfeit coin case is difficult.”
“No, there’s enough of a connection.”
I declared firmly.
“I found a clue that ties the two to the counterfeit gold coins.”
“You found it? How?”
“Obviously, the stars told me. Don’t you know I’m an astrologer?”
I smiled broadly and laid out the papers containing information on Seth and Aaron.
First, I placed the wooden coin I had sneaked from Seth’s house on top of his profile.
“As we all know, Seth makes wooden carvings shaped like gold coins. Very intricate.”
“But it’s wood, not gold.”
“Exactly. So what’s the next step here?”
I picked up the wooden coin and moved it onto Aaron’s profile.
“What’s needed here is to turn the wood into gold… And everyone, Aaron is an alchemist. A person capable of making gold.”
“What? Aaron is an alchemist? I had no idea.”
Chuk frowned and counted off on his fingers.
“Aaron has been settled here for years! Nobody around ever said a word!”
“But it’s certain Aaron is an Awakened. I saw—no, I heard it myself.”
I remembered the keyword “Alchemist” clearly displayed on his profile.
At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it, but connecting the dots with Aaron made him a prime suspect.
“Wow… how did he hide such an incredible ability?”
Chuk clicked his tongue, and I shrugged.
“Even if he’s an alchemist, what they create isn’t real gold. So it’s not that impressive. It’s not enough to make them rich.”
Alchemists’ creations revert to their original state within days or years, depending on the alchemist’s ability.
‘Which is why the distribution of alchemists’ gold is strictly prohibited… But Aaron forged coins and even made fake gold. Quite a scheme.’
From the start, forging Empire coins, which are more valuable than normal gold, showed clever intent.
‘Looks like he planned to extract as much profit as possible in a short time and run.’
From the way he treated Seth, he probably planned to pocket all the money himself.
‘Seth’s a bit dumb, so he might not even realize he’s being used…’
The combination of a foolish criminal and a cunning criminal—classic anywhere.
Meanwhile, Ricky, who had been listening eagerly to our conversation, jumped up from his seat.
“Then this isn’t the time to just sit here!”
His eyes sparkled, his body practically itching to dash outside.
I raised my fist high and shouted:
“Let’s go catch the culprit now!”
