Chapter 8

— Anonymous Constellation: Wow! Look at our girl’s harvesting skills! Isn’t she perfect?

— Anonymous Constellation: But you can’t use them like that, can you?

— Anonymous Constellation: Didn’t you watch channel 32? She bought a building doing that.

— Anonymous Constellation: She probably knows more about cores than we do.

“I’m done!”

I pulled the last core from the monster’s body and rolled my stiff shoulders.

Perhaps because they’d been dead for a while, their hides were incredibly stiff.

‘I should have done this yesterday…’

I was in such a state back then that I didn’t even think to collect the cores.

In my past life, harvesting a monster immediately after killing it was standard practice.

The Hunter would first take anything valuable, and then the cleanup crew would sweep away the rest.

The fact that the monsters were still completely intact after a whole day was nothing short of a miracle.

‘Though it’s probably because people don’t know the value of monster corpses yet.’

I checked my inventory.

[Items: <5,000 Points>, <Jean Blanc’s Royal Dessert Whole Cake Voucher>, <Damaged Monster Cores (13)>]

If the currency in my past life was the ‘won,’ the currency in this world was the ‘ruan.’

The problem was, I had no idea what one ruan was worth.

“How much is one ruan? Does anyone know?”

— Anonymous Constellation: Based on channel 32, it’s 1 won.

Ah, so 10,000 ruan is about 10,000 won.

“It’ll take a fair bit of magic to restore all thirteen cores.”

In my past life, I would have paid a fee to a mage-rank Hunter to do it.

But now, not only did I not know who the Hunters were, I was also completely broke.

“I should go to the Magic Tower.”

— Anonymous Constellation: To sell them?

— Anonymous Constellation: Isn’t your dad a duke? Why do you need money????

— Anonymous Constellation: Didn’t you see the clip? Her dad’s the villain.

— Anonymous Constellation: What! He’s a villain? I invested in him ㅜㅜ

— Anonymous Constellation: Me too ㅜㅜ Can’t resist a silver fox.

— Anonymous Constellation: Isn’t the fact that he’s her *dad* a bigger problem than him being a villain…?

It was true I needed to earn money, but I wouldn’t need a huge amount.

Just enough for a room and living expenses would do.

I’ll move out first, and I can earn the rest slowly. That’s more than enough.

‘The important thing is getting out of this damned house.’

That’s why my reason for going to the Magic Tower wasn’t just to sell the cores for money.

‘I need to earn points more than money. I can’t rely solely on sponsorships…’

To do that, I needed something that could earn me points.

“Ugh, what a life.”

Back to being a slave to points.

I squatted down and opened that damn hell-shop again.

A sea of minuscule text spread out before me again.

I had 5,000 points left. I had to find the best formula I could with this.

“Ugh, I feel sick.”

Fighting back my nausea, I sorted the magic formula items by point cost.

Starting with magic formulas, countless other types of formulas followed.

“This is insane. At least let me set a price range… Huh?”

I was scrolling quickly through the items when an unexpected name caught my eye.

[System: <Barrier Formula — Core>, available for 100 points.]

[Exchange] / [Decline]

My eyes flashed as I shouted.

“Exchange! Quick, before someone else snags it!”

[System: You have acquired <Barrier Formula — Core>.]

“Haaa…”

I collapsed onto the ground.

I was so anxious that someone would snatch it away in that brief moment.

The formula for creating a barrier with a core is a hidden gem. It was the most necessary item, yet one nobody could ever find.

‘Who would have thought such an important item would only cost 100 points?’

Now that the core barrier formula was in my hands, no one else would ever be able to find it.

It had vanished from the shop entirely.

‘This is why they say finders keepers.’

Even though I felt nauseous, my spirits were soaring. Thinking about breakfast, I was even on the verge of humming.

“…Damn it.”

But that good mood didn’t last long. Duke Ruthius had appeared on horseback.

‘Creepy. It’s so early, yet not a single hair is out of place.’

Like his perfectly styled hair, his suit was also free of a single wrinkle.

Sitting picture-perfect atop his saddle, Duke Ruthius looked me up and down.

“I heard you were out in the middle of the street at this hour, acting like a madwoman… It seems it was true. What are you doing in such a state?”

Behind Duke Ruthius followed his aide, Collin, and the butler, Frank.

When I glanced over, Collin flinched and avoided my gaze.

“Princess, that is my sword…”

So the sword on the ground was Collin’s?

My conscience pricked me, but I pretended not to hear. My remaining points were too pitiful to buy a new weapon.

“I had something to pick up.”

“What is it?”

“This.”

I took out a core to show him, and Duke Ruthius examined it closely.

The fist-sized black glass orb glittered in the sunlight. It was so brilliant it was hard to believe it had come from a monster’s body.

“What is that?”

“A monster’s core.”

“A core?”

“Not all of them, but most monsters have a core.”

“And?”

“Those ones have to have their cores destroyed to be killed. Even if you cut off their heads or rip out their hearts, they’ll keep attacking as long as the core is intact. If you leave them be, they’ll even regenerate, albeit slowly. But not just anyone can destroy a core.”

“…So you’re saying only a Hunter can do it. Why are you only telling me such crucial information now?”

“It’s a bit much for you to put it that way. Weren’t you the one who turned and left the second I finished speaking?”

I smiled, deliberately pulling up the corners of my mouth.

Duke Ruthius’s gaze fixed on my widely curved lips.

“…You resemble her.”

“Who?”

“Never mind.”

He answered curtly, then asked in a low voice.

“I’ve looked into it. I’m told there are no other Hunters who have had a personality change like yours, or who know so much about monsters.”

“As for my personality change, I’m not sure myself. I don’t feel like I’ve changed much. Do you think I’ve changed a lot, Duke?”

“…”

He’d have nothing to say. He doesn’t know. He would have to have experienced it to understand.

“And how is it that you know so much about monsters?”

“It’s a long story. Do you have the time?”

“I’m busy, so be precise and concise.”

‘Seriously, am I his subordinate or something?’

I put on an urgent expression and exclaimed in a theatrical tone.

“Duke! Someone is constantly whispering in my head! They’re saying monsters have cores! They say you have to destroy them to get rid of the beasts!”

Duke Ruthius fell silent. I wiped the expression from my face and gazed up at him.

“If I put it that way, can you understand?”

“…”

“I’m curious. Will you see this as an ability now, or will you say I’m mad and hearing things?”

Duke Ruthius responded calmly.

“Of course it’s your ability.”

“That’s quite the quick change of tune.”

“Is it not natural? People are judged differently according to their position and the power they hold.”

“Is that so?”

“A murder by a commoner is merely the emergence of another villain, but a murder by a person of power is the implementation of justice.”

“So if I were to kill you right now, you would judge it not as an act of madness but as the implementation of justice? Shall we give it a try?”

Smiling brightly, I twirled the knife for him to see.

Duke Ruthius didn’t even bat an eye, but Frank and Collin’s faces instantly hardened.

Frank quickly stepped forward, as if to protect Duke Ruthius.

“Princess, aren’t you going too far?”

“Are you afraid of me?”

The question was for Duke Ruthius, not Frank.

Duke Ruthius dismounted and approached me. Staring down at my face, he tilted his head.

“Do you want to kill me?”

“What do you think?”

“It matters not. This life is meaningless anyway; what difference does it make at whose hands it ends?”

“…”

“But Astell, do not be overconfident. The world is run not by people with abilities like you, but by people with power like me.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re so confident. But what to do? That’s about to change. You should enjoy it while you can, Duke.”

“Will it, really?”

Duke Ruthius let out a small laugh and lightly touched my cheek. It was a gesture similar to playfully poking a baby’s chubby cheek.

‘Ugh, holy crap! So creepy!’

To do something like that with such a mechanical expression!

I lowered my voice.

“Are you senile?”

Even to my own ears, my tone was bleak enough to be off-putting, yet Duke Ruthius didn’t react.

He silently mounted his horse and snatched the reins.

“Hiyah.”

With a snort, the horse began to walk.

I stared at Duke Ruthius’s broad, straight back.

It was absurd and unpleasant, but not frightening. I didn’t even feel sad.

Because I am Astell, and yet I am not.

The only thing I was curious about was why Duke Ruthius kept provoking me like this. I couldn’t figure it out.

‘Well, it’s not so bad.’

Pretending to love me like a normal parent, which doesn’t suit him at all, would just be disgusting.

It was much more comfortable for us to show our true, ugly selves and bare our teeth like this.

I turned away from the retreating figure of Duke Ruthius without a second thought.