Chapter 60

Episode 60. The Priceless (2)

***

Pobia. A feminine form of Phobos, who in Greek mythology is the god of defeat and retreat.

Daemos is the god of terror. The two gods, Phobos and Daemos, are sons of the god of war, symbolizing the fear of war and defeat.

Did Pobia and Daemos choose their own names, or are they some kind of stage names? What’s their relationship?

Before even considering their relationship, I can’t even grasp their ages. I’m curious about a lot, but there’s no way to find out. It’s also a bit awkward to ask.

Pobia handed me a bottle of alcohol. It seems she brought two bottles in case I didn’t drink wine. I accepted the bottle.

Pobia and Daemos pulled out another bottle from somewhere and started drinking together. I don’t know much about wine. I have no idea how much it costs.

“……”

“It’s Romanée-Conti. Sorry, this isn’t anything too special, just around 10 million won.”

“Ah, okay.”

Pobia laughed.

“See, isn’t it nice to have a drink? What was I saying again?”

“You were talking about how much the wine costs.”

“Sorry. That small change isn’t important right now. If you have any supernatural phenomena to dispose of or need any, feel free to contact us anytime.”

How much money do these company people have? Judging by their spending, it seems they don’t even consider anything below a billion as money.

I still can’t afford Häagen-Dazs at the convenience store these days. Though it’s more out of habit than actually being broke.

“Understood.”

“Or, if you need anything else, just let us know. As I said earlier, we’ll prepare anything that can be bought with money.”

I nodded.

Pobia slid a small booklet toward me. I opened it. It was a catalog of supernatural phenomena currently sold by Pluto Limited Company.

“Hoh.”

Pobia smirked arrogantly.

“It’s a bit boastful, but this catalog isn’t given to just anyone. Other customers don’t even get to see this list. They usually just buy what we offer.”

I skimmed through the list.

This is a rip-off. These lunatics are selling supernatural phenomena for 50 billion each? They’re pricing things in units of 10 billion.

It’s an unmanageable amount. Even though the Foundation has money, the budget allocated to my facility isn’t in the tens of trillions.

With Facility 82’s budget barely in the trillions, there’s no way I can divert hundreds of billions to buy supernatural phenomena.

Doesn’t this mean I can’t even be a customer?

“If buying is difficult, you can sell. If selling supernatural phenomena is too burdensome, high-tech items are fine too. Ah, but ordinary weapons won’t do. They don’t have enough added value.”

I let out a small sigh.

So, this is their true intention.

“You can receive payment in the Foundation’s account, the Director’s personal account, or even in-kind transactions.”

“Thank you for the offer, anyway.”

I tried to get up, but Pobia quickly reached out to stop me.

“Wait a moment. Flip to the back of the booklet. There might be something that catches your eye…”

I flipped to the back.

“Wow, damn.”

At the back of the booklet…

There was a list of humanoid supernatural beings for sale.

“I know it looks strange, but don’t worry. Even though we’re buying and selling humanoid supernatural beings, it’s very humane. We don’t do anything the Foundation wouldn’t do.”

“……”

Things the Foundation wouldn’t do, huh? I’m not sure if there’s anything the Foundation wouldn’t do as long as the purpose is clear. But with that said, I’m at a loss for words.

“The prices are steep, but that’s because the service is solid. Didn’t we provide a lot of materials for Project Blue Rose too?”

There it is again, Project Blue Rose. Am I the only one who doesn’t know what that is?

“Just think of us as an outsourcing company. We’re just doing some of the work the Foundation would do. But if the Foundation doesn’t buy them… who knows where they’ll end up?”

“I told you, we don’t have the money to buy supernatural phenomena at these prices.”

Pobia gave a salesperson’s smile.

“Sell us your supernatural phenomena or high-tech items. We’re not bandits. We just sell high because we bought high.”

“……”

“Think about it. If you can sell miscellaneous supernatural phenomena to buy humanoid ones, wouldn’t that be good for both the Director and the Foundation?”

I pressed my temples.

These aren’t ordinary opponents. Just 10 minutes of conversation, and I can see why they’ve survived this long and hold such power.

I took a pen from my inner pocket and tossed it to Pobia. It’s a supernatural pen that can’t be lost and never runs out of ink.

“How much would you give for this? It’s a pen that can’t be lost and never runs out of ink.”

Pobia thought for a moment.

“Hmm. I’ll be generous and give you 1 billion. It’s still just a pen, so I can’t go higher than that.”

This… is overwhelming.

“Sigh.”

“Well, you must be busy, Director. We’ll take our leave now. If you need our services, feel free to contact us anytime. We’re on standby.”

Daemos finally spoke as they were leaving.

“Take care, Director.”

Pobia and Daemos left the hotel lounge. I just stared at the wine bottle on the table. This is really not going anywhere.

***

As I was spacing out in the hotel lounge, Nanami, who had been guarding outside, came in.

She sat where Pobia had been.

“Dr. Kim. You look troubled.”

“I just heard a ridiculous proposal.”

I showed her the back of the booklet. Nanami’s expression didn’t change, but she clicked her tongue softly.

“We can’t raid a prison we don’t even know the location of, and even if we did, there’s the issue of cleanup. Not to mention, we don’t have the money to pay their ransom.”

“Right.”

“Let’s just notify the Foundation headquarters and move on.”

To the Foundation headquarters, a few hundred billion might be nothing. I rubbed my eyes. Nanami looked at the wine bottle I had been staring at.

“That’s expensive wine. Can I have some?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s trustworthy.”

Nanami got up.

***

Compared to the time and effort invested, the meeting with Pluto Limited Company wasn’t very fruitful. If anything, it left me uneasy.

I don’t have the ability to pay such amounts, and I can’t just stand by while these lunatics buy and sell humanoid supernatural beings.

But exterminating them isn’t feasible either.

How are we supposed to catch a hundred people scattered across the globe? Even if we successfully exterminate them, the global economy would collapse in the process.

“Let’s go back.”

These guys are a real pain.

For now, I’ll clear my mind. There’s nothing I can do immediately. Turning the Foundation into a money-making machine by buying supernatural phenomena doesn’t sit right with me.

This is a problem that requires more thought. For now, let’s focus on what we can do. First, I need to meet the new staff.

“Ah, Dr. Kim! You left the wine bottle.”

A hotelier chased after me.

“Ah, that… consider it a tip. Take it.”

I know it’s good wine, but I don’t feel like drinking it. It’s the wine Pobia and Daemos were drinking. For no particular reason, it just feels unpleasant.

I boarded the helicopter with Nanami. The rotors slowly started spinning. I have a feeling this isn’t the last time we’ll see those guys…

***

[Report on Encounter with Hostile Groups]

[Author: Acting Director Kim Bari]

[Hostile Group Encountered: Pluto Limited Company]

[Today, we encountered two employees of Pluto Limited Company. The conditions they presented to us were simple.]

[Minor artifacts for tens of billions. Important artifacts for hundreds of billions, and humanoid supernatural phenomena for trillions.]

[Of course, this is beyond the budget of Facility 82. For now, we’ve returned without a solution.]

[We initially considered extermination and retrieval, but extermination doesn’t seem feasible, and there are concerns about our relationship with the hostile group.]

[We’ve sent the catalog they provided to the Foundation headquarters.]

[The Foundation headquarters will decide if the supernatural phenomena are worth securing at such costs or if they should be retrieved by force.]

[Personally, it feels like a waste of resources.]

[They mostly operate behind the veil of ignorance, and since they don’t cross any major lines, openly exterminating them feels off.]

[They don’t seem to possess any particularly significant supernatural phenomena, nor do they meaningfully hinder the Foundation’s activities.]

[Anyway, Facility 82 won’t spend time and money hunting them down. We’ll revisit this if issues arise.]