Chapter 44: Chapter 36: Kim Dokja, King in a Kingless World (9)

A/N: So, I regret titling these chapters. The arc is going on for longer than I thought it would take. On another note, I'm already cringing at my previous chapters, but we keep going. :)

"So what is it that you requested an audience with me for?" 

Three cups of tea were set down on a simple table. Naturally, Min Jiwon, the one who asked the question, was sitting at the head of the table.

"Yes. I'm sure that you have an idea that there are other kings beside yourself in Seoul?" I spoke as Jung Youngho sipped on the tea from beside me.

"Go on." Min Jiwon encouraged me to continue.

So I did.

"Therefore, I came here with intentions to sign a non-aggression pact not only between us, but a few other kings that I'll disclose later if you agree. After all, it's better to have allies than enemies. What do you think?"

Min Jiwon nodded her head, however, something about her smile was calculating. That could have been my personal conception, however, as Min Jiwon's expression was perfectly gentle.

"How about I make my own proposal instead?" Min Jiwon offered.

I felt like something difficult was coming.

"Sure." I replied calmly, even while feeling uneasy inside.

But how could an actor like Min Jiwon not catch the small facial cues? Well, even if she did, Min Jiwon didn't do anything.

Instead, she said,

"Seeing as you came to me first, it seems you've heard something about me. And, you came with the intention of asking for help in mind, yes?"

"Not exactly-" I wanted to correct her words, but Min Jiwon didn't let me.

"My proposal is this then. Let's merge our two clans. In this way, you can also have some protection under my rule, and this is also the result that you wanted, right?"

Drawn into Min Jiwon's charm for a moment, I considered the proposition seriously for a moment.

No, that's not it.

But just as I was about to retort, Jung Youngho smashed the cup onto the table hard, drawing our attention.

"Oy, fetch your attendant to get me more tea. Better yet, do you have any beer?" Jung Youngho's loud and obnoxious voice rang out through the room.

Why did he interrupt?

While I couldn't find a reason for Jung Youngho's sudden outburst, Jung Youngho continued to run his mouth,

"Man, too slow. Lady, you sure you're a competent ruler? Tsk, tsk, women these days."

What the f- are you saying?

[Constellation, Great King Heoncheon Hongdo Gyungmum agrees with his incarnation.]

[Constellation, Lady of the Brocade Sleep, is looking at Great King Heoncheon Hongdo Gyungmum with hostility.]

I stared at Jung Youngho with widened eyes and turned my head at lightning speed back to Min Jiwon.

Oh man.

Her face, still maintaining an elegant façade, looked like the most terrifying thing at the moment.

I had to stop this or we might fail.

"...Sir hero, I am giving you a warning-"

"Bah, stop with the Sir hero. I much prefer Sir Legendary Magic King." Jung Youngho cut Min Jiwon off, picking his ear with his finger.

Okay, that's it.

"Jung Youngho, leave." I looked at Jung Youngho with narrowed eyes, silently warning him.

Jung Youngho looked at me, rolled his eyes and got up.

But just as he did, Min Jiwon quickly interjected,

"Y-you said his name is Jung Youngho? The one with that sponsor?"

There was a crack in her acting mask at her shock.

"The one and only." Jung Youngho waved his hand and bowed with condescension.

"...!"

It took a moment for Min Jiwon to regain her composure, because she turned to me and suddenly changed her conditions.

"I can agree to the non-aggression pact. But only on one condition."

It appeared Min Jiwon had already heard of who Jung Youngho was from her constellation.

Jung Youngho gave Min Jiwon a side glance to show he was listening, while I nodded.

"I need you to get an item. The Golden Crown. To be more precise, the Golden crown is located in Gyeongju National Museum."

The words repeated in my mind before I soaked it in.

Just as I was about to reply, a question suddenly caught up with me.

Hold on, isn't that...in Gyeongju, not Seoul?

As we were currently undergoing scenarios in the Seoul domain, we couldn't get out of the city, not to mention entering a different domain that took more than three hours of a train ride.

Min Jiwon caught me looking at her with a questioning gaze, and pin-pointed what my concern was.

"If you cooperate with me, I'll be able to get us there." Min Jiwon reopened her fan and lightly moved it against her mouth, her eyes squinting in a pleasant smile.

I fell into thought again.

The reason Min Jiwon was up and about on the surface was probably something to do with trying to get out of Seoul domain, but it appeared she hadn't succeeded.

Second, Min Jiwon never got the crown in any of the regressions I read about in the novel, so that meant that this was a very good opportunity for us to establish a good relationship if I and Jung Youngho were to help her.

Still...

I looked at the smiling Min Jiwon suspiciously.

Since Min Jiwon never obtained the crown, then the process of getting it must be very difficult.

What should I say here?

Getting impatient once again, Jung Youngho scratched the back of his head furiously and spoke up,

"Hey, it's a simple yes or no at this point. Why are you hesitating?"

I glanced at Jung Youngho.

Well, it was true there was no use burning my feeble brain over it. I wasn't an omniscient and smart protagonist, after all.

No risk, no gain.

"We agree to the condition. Happy cooperation. However, there are a few things I would like to ask, and another few conditions I want to add." Coming to a decision, I stretched out my hand.

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The action was reciprocated by a mutual handshake.

"Go ahead." Min Jiwon nodded her head at me.

"I'll start with the conditions. First, although we are cooperating, we're under no obligation to listen to your orders, especially unreasonable ones. Second, as we are cooperating, I would like all of us to respect each other's opinion, and listen to what each other's saying. We also shouldn't fight each other. Thirdly, as we are helping you, we should be able to get a pick at the artifacts in the museum. And lastly, I would like to be the one to decide when we leave." My voice came out strong, and gradually the thoughts in my mind came together the more I spoke.

I hadn't added anything about a life guarantee, because there wasn't such a thing in a scenario-filled world. For all I knew, I could drop dead in the next second or so.

This time, I looked Min Jiwon in the eyes without nervousness.

"All of your conditions sound reasonable, except for the last one. And, what kind of profit split are you looking for?" Min Jiwon obviously wasn't going to concede on any conditions that would give her a disadvantage or take the initiative out of her hand.

Well, here goes.

"60% for us, 40% for your profit split." I gave out a larger number than my estimate.

"90:10. I'll allow you to get a 10% profit." Min Jiwon countered.

So, I gave her my reasoning,

"The Tyrant King is more than enough to help you, and since I'm coming along, 60% is already very low."

"Pardon me, are you belittling my Silla kingdom?" Min Jiwon laughed softly with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"No. Your majesty, you certainly have a powerful force behind you. But remember who the Ty-" I felt myself building momentum until Jung Youngho burst my bubble.

"It's Magic king." Jung Youngho quipped moodily.

"...the Magic King is. If you consider that he listens to me, that says something about my ability, too."

Jung Youngho snorted from beside me and muttered within earshot, "Ability my a*s."

Ignoring that, I concluded my sentence by saying,

"Still, you are an ally. It's to my benefit if you grow stronger as well. So I'm willing to concede a little. How does a 50:50 split sound?"

"...30%." Min Jiwon looked displeased.

"Hm? You mean 70% for us and 30% for you? I didn't know you were this selfless." I pretended to be touched with my meager acting skills.

Min Jiwon's eyes met mine, silent warning on her impassive face as I acted more and more unrestrained.

"Are you not aware that you are in my territory? How audacious." Min Jiwon had a frosty look plastered to her face in intimidation.

"Guards."

Like magic to her call, we were surrounded at once by pairs of hostile eyes.

It appeared our conversation was not so private after all.

But my heart rate was still stable, and I found no discomfort at being stared at. Maybe it was something about 'fake it 'till you make it'?

"Hm, it seems you have no intention of negotiating from the start?" I questioned Min Jiwon.

"There was an intention for a ceasefire, but it's clear that the guests forgot their place." Min Jiwon stood up.

Meanwhile, Jung Youngho sipped on his refilled cup noisily through the standoff.

I was the first to back off.

"Alright. How does a 60% profit for you and a 40% for us sound? Anyways, we shouldn't haggle over this any longer since we're becoming allies. But since I conceded, you should fulfill all my other conditions?"

"..."

Min Jiwon looked at me and Jung Youngho for a moment.

"Alright. We will go with that. However, you must uphold your promise with aiding me within 7 days. No more." Min Jiwon finalized the deal.

"Now that that's out of the way, there are still the questions I want to ask." I brought up one of the things I had said prior to the handshake.

Min Jiwon first waved her hand to dismiss her people who barged in before settling back into her chair gracefully.

Lifting her chin loftily, she tapped the fan on the table, "Go on."

"How do you plan to get us out of here?"

"You'll know when the time comes." Min Jinwon replied elusively.

"What do you think are your chances of success with retrieving the crown?" I asked a question that would gauge the difficulty roughly. If Min Jiwon was the Min Jiwon of the novel, there was no way she would treat her member's lives as if they were grass, and therefore, the difficulty reflected that.

But what if she's not like what the novel wrote? A voice questioned me in the back of my mind.

"There's a 70% chance now that your forces are helping me." Min Jiwon replied.

I pushed the concerns back once more.

Still, only 70% chance even with Jung Youngho? How difficult was getting the crown in the novel? I was curious, but only in a sense that I would like to read what kind of process Min Jiwon went through.

"Okay...then what things should we be expecting at the location?" I followed through with the next question.

"You'll be informed before we set off." Min Jiwon was unwilling to tell me.

It felt suspicious, but I didn't want to think anymore.

"That's all I wanted to ask for now. Thanks for answering." I stopped the questions here.

There was still one last thing to do.

Min Jiwon didn't give a 'you're welcome' or 'no problem' in return, but that was fine.

"Then let's sign a contract together since we're in agreement." I beamed, pulling out a blank ordinary contract that I bought from the Dokkaebi bag earlier.

Min Jiwon seemed a little stunned at the turn of events.

"We should also keep in touch with Mid-day Trust since there's no social media now. I set up one for us now." I added.

"You can afford all that?" Min Jiwon looked at me with some strange distrust.

I was caught off guard a little with the strange question out of the blue.

"Uh, yes?"

At my reply, Min Jiwon studied my expression, and I noticed her lips twitched.

She looked like she had a grudge against me all of a sudden.

But that wasn't my concern since we were able to establish a deal, and went on to begin writing out the contract.

Huh?

Oh, I had forgotten.

Looking at the shining parchment paper, I suddenly realized something.

Min Jiwon's sponsor was poor.

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