Chasey hesitated before answering my question.

“Actually, I’m more interested in druid decks than assassin decks… Of course, I know the assassin deck has tremendous value!”

“A druid deck?”

It was unexpected. The way she said it, the assassin deck didn’t even seem to be on her radar.

Did that mean her purpose in seeking me out wasn’t the assassin deck?

“Of course, I’ll compensate you! Item combination formulas aren’t mine to give, so that would be difficult, but anything material—whatever you want!”

Chasey’s words carried earnestness, but she looked quite confident—likely because she had plenty to offer.

What exactly did she think I’d demand?

“Hmm…”

Teaching her a deck suited to her level wouldn’t have been difficult.

But my goal wasn’t to teach her about druid decks—it was to spread the assassin deck far and wide. The direction of our conversation simply didn’t align.

‘I should decline.’

“If it’s too difficult, I’ll grant you a favor first! How about that?”

But perhaps sensing my intentions, Chasey urgently leaned in closer, and a faint scent of roses brushed past my nose.

Swish-

Having no immunity to women, I subtly created some distance, wary of getting swept up.

Chasey too belatedly realized what she’d done, and her ears turned slightly red.

‘Grant a favor first, huh…’

I didn’t need money urgently, so there was only one thing I could ask of her.

“Has the culprit who killed Hans been identified?”

“Uh…”

Chasey, who had expected me to ask for money at most, wore a flustered expression.

She knew absolutely nothing about the incident.

If there was someone who might know about this…

“Ah! My older sister might know. She said she’d be arriving here soon—could you wait until then?”

Ariel the Adjudicator, who had been in charge of the case.

She might know something about the culprit.

“But that would be my sister helping you, not me helping you! Please think about what only I can do for you!”

Wouldn’t money be the same?

After all, Chasey’s money would come from her father.

Something only Chasey Einthoven could do…

My immediate priority was my own safety.

But having someone constantly guard me wasn’t a sustainable solution. To secure my safety fundamentally, I had no choice but to eliminate the risk factors I carried.

I wanted to quickly dispose of the Hardcore Assassin deck—a burden that was nothing short of shackles to me.

“Then could you spread the information?”

“The information?”

Chasey tilted her head.

I explained my purpose to Chasey, but upon hearing my words, she was startled and tried to dissuade me.

“No… why would you!”

It must have been incomprehensible to Chasey as well.

Her interests were solely focused on druids. Besides, this wasn’t the kind of information that should be spread so easily.

But I shook my head firmly.

“To be honest, the assassin deck isn’t all that valuable to me. It’s a deck with inherent limitations, after all.”

“That may be true, but…”

Chasey knew this to some extent as well. The Hardcore Assassin deck was utterly powerless before the name “Tank.”

However, the assassin deck had the tremendous advantage of being able to counter the gunslinger deck, which was the current meta.

In other words, it was extraordinary information with the power to shift the battlefield meta.

Chasey pondered for a moment before carefully speaking up.

“So what you want, Mr. Shin, is to spread the information, right? Then there’s a more efficient method, even without me personally doing it.”

“A more efficient method?”

I had simply been trying to get help from the Einthoven family, but Chasey went a step further and found a solution.

It would have been impossible on my own.

But with Chasey Einthoven’s name and influence, it was entirely feasible.

“I know a newsletter company! They have branches not just in Luteran but in every region, so spreading the news wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

Perhaps elated by having found something only she could do, Chasey began planning the situation even more proactively than I had.

“If the goal is simply to spread information, we might not get full price, but we should still receive a fairly decent reward.”

Supplying the information as an exclusive would give the newsletter company sufficient profit, making it a viable arrangement.

“A player without a single combination formula defeated Chasey Einthoven in a Private battlefield? And now they’re revealing the deck they used. What could possibly generate more interest than that.”

Chasey offered a self-deprecating smile as she said it.

I weighed the pros and cons for a moment, and the method Chasey proposed did seem like my best option.

But there was one thing that bothered me.

“Would it be alright to include Hans’s name?”

Hans’s assassination within the Luteran territory was essentially a stain on the Einthoven family’s reputation, so I asked to be sure.

“Of course. If we lay out the truth behind player Hans’s death along with the information about the assassin deck under a title like ‘The Truth of the Incident,’ it would draw enormous attention!”

Chasey showed no change in expression. If anything, she seemed to have no reservations about openly discussing Hans’s death.

‘Is it not a significant matter to her?’

A momentary sense of disconnect washed over me.

It seemed her perspective on accepting Hans’s death differed from mine and the public’s.

Reading my expression, Chasey added an explanation.

Wearing a look of genuine regret.

“The death of a Bronze Tier player isn’t even gossip material in the Empire. On the contrary, if we cover Hans’s death and the deck becomes famous, wouldn’t people pay more attention to his death? You and Hans were friends, Mr. Shin.”

“Friends, huh…”

I looked at Chasey with surprise.

Chasey wasn’t insensitive to Hans’s death—she was willing to shoulder the shame the Einthoven family would face, for my sake.

She had seemed like nothing more than a naive noble young lady, but she had a surprisingly thoughtful side.

Chasey turned her head away, looking embarrassed.

“Ahem—let’s make the informant an anonymous player. That’ll create more of an air of mystery.”

A concrete plan flowed from Chasey’s lips.

It was a remarkably polished plan, hard to believe she’d come up with it on the spot. Yet Chasey seemed unsatisfied with something.

After pondering deeply for a moment, she opened her mouth again as if she’d found the answer.

“No, rather than anonymous, let’s give them a nickname. There’s no need to miss out on the name recognition that comes with spreading information this valuable.”

“A nickname?”

“Originality. This deck will be known as someone’s deck from now on. Just like how the Holy King’s name precedes the Box Formation.”

Who was the Holy King?

It was a name I’d never heard before, but Chasey seemed to assume I knew who the Holy King was.

It made sense from her perspective—I had countered the Box Formation, which was the Holy King’s Placement Method.

“High-tier players will be able to discern the truth from a short article. That what Mr. Shin’s assassin deck actually countered was the Holy King’s Placement Method.”

The Holy King’s prominence had indeed grown after releasing the Box Formation information, so by reversing that approach, we could gain certain fame.

The easiest way to amplify an article’s impact was to drop a famous person’s name into it.

Of course, since it was information only disclosed to Silver Tier and above, we couldn’t openly use the Holy King’s name. But those who knew the Box Formation would understand the implication.

“So, would you like to think of a nickname for the article? A nickname that will become Mr. Shin’s secret identity going forward.”

A nickname…

There was a name that immediately came to mind.

The nickname I’d used since childhood. The name that had never left the upper ranks of the leaderboard.

I brought up that name for the first time in a while, and Chasey nodded.

With the plan set, all that remained was execution—but that didn’t mean it could happen immediately.

“It’ll take some time. We need to organize the information and discuss the compensation level. Well, it shouldn’t take more than a week at most.”

“That’s fine.”

Still, it was substantial help for me. It was a method I could never have accomplished on my own.

But Chasey, as if this still wasn’t enough, clenched both fists and spoke as if making a vow to herself.

“I have no intention of getting information with just this much. If there’s anything else you need going forward, just say the word. If only I could get the druid operation strategy…”

‘Good grief—this is an obsession, a genuine obsession.’

Chasey displayed a pathological obsession with druids.

I couldn’t understand why she was so fixated on the druid deck.

Objectively speaking, the druid deck was by no means a good deck.

And I couldn’t understand at all why she thought I was some remarkable player.

I had never fully revealed my abilities.

“I will definitely…”

I needed to calm Chasey down, who was thoroughly flushed with excitement.

“How about you send a message to your father first and then think it over.”

“Ah…”

Chasey’s tightly clenched fists slowly loosened.

She had homework to take care of before the druid deck.

***

We couldn’t keep talking in the middle of the street, so we moved to a different location.

Along the way, I experienced a one-minute laundry service I’d never tried before, and our destination was a high-end restaurant I’d never visited either.

‘This is going to be incredibly expensive.’

Regardless of her intentions, she had treated my injuries, so I was prepared to bite the bullet and pay for the meal.

“No, I’m the one asking for a favor, so I’ll pay.”

With Chasey’s firm words, I had no choice but to keep my wallet shut.

Dong-

“Two servings of the chef’s special, please.”

“Yes, right away.”

Seizing the opportunity, I picked the item at the very top of the menu.

The price listing seemed like it must have been a misprint, but Chasey didn’t bat an eye.

Is this the life of the wealthy?

“Phew—please wait a moment.”

Clack- clack- clack-

Chasey was busy tapping away at her Device to catch up on messages with her father, so with nothing to do, I looked around the restaurant’s interior.

‘Clean.’

The restaurant wasn’t large but was exceptionally pleasant, featuring a clean interior with a white base color.

Fwoosh-!

Perhaps to allow diners to watch the cooking, the kitchen was fully visible from the tables. This kind of transparency must boost confidence in the food.

Flap- flap-!

‘Hmm?’

Just then, I spotted something black and elongated in the kitchen—something that looked oddly familiar.

‘Is that an eel?’

It probably wasn’t actually called an eel, but appearance-wise, it was unmistakably one.

Intrigued, I watched the cooking process for a while.

Not like I had anything else to do, anyway.

Boom-!

‘Oh, tough guy.’

Buuk-!

The massive chef split the unconscious eel lengthwise, removed its innards, and sprinkled herbs and wine over it.

Getting rid of the fishy smell, I suppose.

Then he set a pot over the fire to boil eggs, while with his other hand, he appeared to be making the sauce—tossing various vegetables, herbs, and an unidentified black liquid into a grinder.

Hiss-

The chef placed the prepared eel on a grill. A savory aroma already wafted past my nose.

After a quick initial grilling, he brought out the freshly ground sauce.

Swish- swish-

He applied the sauce meticulously, constantly flipping the eel to prevent burning.

Clack- clack- clack-!

The chef placed the appetizingly grilled eel on a plate, then crushed the pre-boiled eggs with salt, pepper, and other seasonings, mixing them with a white sauce to serve as a side.

Swish- swish- swish-

Finally, he grated the peel of a lemon-like fruit over the top. At last, plates began to be set before us.

“Chef’s special featuring Black Water Eel. Please enjoy your meal.”

So it was called Black Water Eel.

Gulp-!

The finished dish exuded the rich, savory fragrance that only perfectly grilled meat can possess. I sliced the Black Water Eel into bite-sized pieces and popped a morsel into my mouth.

At that moment, I couldn’t have cared less who was sitting across from me.

“…!”

As I bit into the Black Water Eel, savory juices somewhere between fish and meat burst forth, and the rich, deep flavor combined with a sauce that was both salty and sweet harmonized on my tongue.

“…”

The intense flavor of fire that followed, along with the comforting savoriness of the accompanying eggs, arrived softly. The clean finish came from a hint of citrus and the lingering aftertaste of herbs and wine.

Gulp-!

This balanced what could have been an overly rich flavor, naturally drawing my hand back to the dish.

‘Delicious. Absolutely delicious.’

While I was lost in devouring the food…

“Phew—done.”

Chasey finally seemed to have resolved things, taking her eyes off her Device and letting out a sigh of relief.

When our eyes met again, my plate was already more than half empty.