Chapter 292

Chapter 292
Chapter 292

“That sound…”

Turning around, Lion wore a puzzled look.

Just as he thought, Jack was leaning against a trunk, a grin plastered across his face.

The only strange thing was that he had ditched the clothing of the merchant leader ‘Jade’.

“Did you come out here to keep His Highness safe?”

“Huh? Oh, well… as an elder sibling, I naturally want to watch over him, but.”

Jack let his words trail off, casting a sideways glance toward the Second Prince, who quickly fired back.

“Unnecessary.”

“As you can see, he is having a grand time.”

What a deeply unpleasant personality on that kid, just manifested differently from everyone else.

Did he just effortlessly diss Rickshel?

Wait, honestly, compared to Kyle, isn’t Rickshel practically a saint?

Sure, he has thin skin, but where else could you find someone that mild-mannered? What is he even going on about?

“Then what brings you here?”

“Me? Oh, I’m just putting in an honest day’s labor.”

Jack fixed his gaze straight on Lion as he spoke.

“…No way.”

“Ha-ha. You catch on fast, right on schedule!”

Pushing himself away from the tree trunk, Jack strolled over leisurely, while Lion let out a heavy sigh.

Wait, the guide this whole time was Jack?

Then the place where he was supposed to handle the contamination…

‘It’s the Criminal Underworld.’

One fact stood out clearly: Grandfather had made a monumental call.

To be fair, it was a practical decision.

‘Everything has to happen under total secrecy, so honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better venue.’

He had no clue how the old man managed to persuade Jack,

yet if the family was on board with it, Lion had zero issues going along with it.

After all, carrying a live ticking time bomb inside his chest that could detonate at any moment wasn’t exactly a picnic for him either.

“Things get a bit complicated with too many prying eyes if we move out in our current state, don’t you think?”

“Sharp as ever, but there’s nothing to fret over. Would you mind holding this for a second?”

Jack extended a scroll and dropped it right into Lion’s palm.

It was unmistakably a warp scroll engineered to transport someone straight into the most heavily guarded sector of the Criminal Underworld.

“Go ahead and check it out. Now, if you’ll pardon me for a moment.”

Flashing a business-like grin, Jack vanished right off the spot.

Instantly.

Rustle.

Leaves fluttered wildly through the dense canopy as a few crisp branches snapped in half.

Following that, the volley of poisoned darts previously raining out from the dense brush suddenly ceased entirely.

-Oh, he’s got more tricks up his sleeve than that royal brat.

Tiamatrak murmured with mild admiration, sidling closer to peer down at the scroll.

-So we just head straight to these coordinates!

-Sss… that’s going to take a bit of travel time, won’t it?

She seemed to be planning ahead, likely because she had been left completely by herself the last time they utilized a warp scroll.

“Can you keep up?”

“Naturally.”

Even though Grandfather had given the green light and Jack was officially classified as a ‘collaborator’—meaning nothing disastrous should happen—

having at least one dependable entity by his side felt much safer.

And…

‘To be completely honest, she’s surprisingly helpful.’

The chatty Tiamatrak kept pointing out details Lion would have otherwise missed.

Granted, ninety percent of the time she was just running her mouth because everything amused her, but extra intel never hurt anyone.

“The Criminal Underworld…

If Lady Luck is on my side, I might even get the chance to check out that item Former Jack handed over to that guy.”

“He’s got a toxic streak, but you can count on him.”

Kyle, having seemingly finished off the beast blocking his path, casually flicked the residual blood off his blade and stepped closer.

“At the very least, he honors his bargains without pulling any cheap tricks.”

“Fair enough.”

“And despite his awful attitude, it looks like he doesn’t actually despise you all that much…”

“Alright, time’s up! Since we’ve cleared away the audience, shall we get this show on the road?”

Jack reappeared out of thin air as if cutting them off, casually brushing off his palms.

Despite handling quite a few combatants just moments prior, his garments and hands remained completely spotless.

“I couldn’t present a messy spectacle in front of such an esteemed guest, could I? What if I gave you a fright?”

His tone dripped with mockery, yet Lion remained completely unbothered.

I didn’t care to look at bloodshed anyway.

Sure, his life had taken some wild turns lately, but prior to body-swapping, he was just an ordinary citizen whose exposure to trauma maxed out at a bloody nose.

“Your service standards are impressive.”

“…Well, I am collecting a hefty paycheck.”

Jack looked mildly let down by Lion’s deadpan reaction.

For a guy playing the role of an underworld kingpin, he sometimes acted no more mature than a mischievous elementary student.

‘Wait, did he actually hate me?’

Given how wildly unpredictable he was, maybe he had grown fond of Lion without even realizing it.

“Well then, I’ll fill you in on all the particulars once we’re settled somewhere quiet and sanitary. Ready to roll?”

“Let’s move.”

“Ah, hold on just a second before we do.”

Reaching into his coat pocket, Jack pulled out a small potion vial and handed it over with polite formality.

“We wouldn’t want you dealing with nasty motion sickness now, would we?”

Inspection revealed it was unmistakably a travel-sickness remedy, closely modeled after the one Lion had originally brewed.

And the creator signature read…

[Disciple’s Warp Motion Sickness Prevention Potion ( )]
-A tonic painstakingly crafted by a devoted disciple for her master.
-The efficacy lags slightly behind the original formula, but it remains entirely dependable for continental transit.

It was Freyania.

So this was what she had been pouring all her sweat and tears into.

No wonder she had locked herself away in her laboratory, unusually silent ever since that prior incident.

‘It even has a star rating attached.’

It felt like only yesterday she was struggling to brew zero-star mixtures.

A sudden, unjustified wave of pride swelled inside him.

Glug.

The moment Lion drained the vial, Jack snapped the warp scroll in half.

“Don’t fret about things back here, and safe travels.”

“Understood. Take care of things on your end too, Your Highness.”

The Second Prince gave a light chuckle and turned around, and the very next heartbeat, both Jack and Lion dissolved into thin air without a trace.

Lion blinked his eyes open.

Luckily, Freyania’s concoction did its job exceptionally well; he felt zero motion sickness whatsoever.

And…

‘So we landed right here.’

This was a space Lion recognized instantly.

The very room he had witnessed deep inside Former Jack’s final memory.

Back in that faded timeline, it had struck him as quite an extravagant chamber, but experiencing it live made it look tenfold more opulent.

Dazzling and excessive.

Even soft, soothing melodies drifted out from a high-end magical sound device.

Anyone walking in blind would mistake it for the private quarters of a dragon-level billionaire rather than the supreme boss of the Criminal Underworld.

Except for one glaring omission.

‘No windows.’

Countless ornate decorative panels hung where glass should be, yet not a single sliver of natural sunlight or moonlight managed to pierce through.

Because of that structural layout, even while standing right inside it, figuring out the exact geographic coordinates was completely impossible.

“Welcome. This marks the first occasion I have ever personally extended an invitation to such a distinguished visitor. Normally, my guests are dragged in kicking and screaming.”

Scenes from old mobster films flickered across Lion’s mind.

‘Grandfather…’

No matter how intensely terrified you are about your grandson tearing things up, how on earth do you lock him up inside the private suite of the Criminal Underworld kingpin?

And Rickshel actually signed off on this?

“This is getting ridiculous.”

Then again, if roles were reversed, Lion probably would have pulled the exact same stunt.

‘Plus, they knew I wouldn’t fold just because of a creepy environment…’

Objectively speaking, Lion wasn’t your run-of-the-mill eccentric, nor was he the type to cower under pressure.

Let’s just lean into it completely.

I can probably write off any madness as “just Lion being Lion,” right?

“He was genuinely terrified you might die of sheer boredom.”

Before Lion could formulate a reply, Jack smiled cordially and gestured toward an armchair.

As Lion sank into the surprisingly luxurious cushions, Jack poured a cup of steaming, freshly brewed tea and handed it over.

The liquid was clear with a slight bitterness, bearing a flavor profile reminiscent of green tea.

It was likely another specialty brew harvested from rare tender leaves.

“Marquis Asteri explicitly instructed me not to let you wither away from idleness, you see.”

“My grandfather possesses a rather unique method of expressing affection.”

“Not quite. He warned me that leaving you with nothing to do would only invite an even larger disaster.”

“…Well, he isn’t wrong.”

Facing Lion’s shameless concession, Jack’s eyebrow gave a faint twitch.

‘Good grief, what am I supposed to do with this menace?’

He was treating the guest with maximum politeness and gentle hospitality, but internally, Jack felt like his brain was short-circuiting.

Then again, things had been this way ever since his very first partnership negotiation with Petrick Asteri.

‘Contamination.’

Even someone like Jack, who had seen the absolute best and worst filth the underworld had to offer, couldn’t suppress his shock.

For starters, the simple fact that a human being was walking around breathing while harboring active contamination felt like a biological miracle.

‘And completely asymptomatic.’

Yet what baffled him even more was:

“It can actually be cured.”

Petrick Asteri had stated that with absolute, unshakable confidence.

No ordinary person could ever purge contamination.

Even high-ranking clerics could only suppress very mild strains temporarily, right?

The sole historical remedy was surgically severing the infected limb entirely.

And even then, survival odds were slim.

‘Anyway, one of our primary pact conditions was keeping him wrapped in bubble wrap because if this young lord went off the rails, the contamination might rupture everywhere.’

Petrick had laid down three strict demands.
Strict confidentiality.
A secure, hidden sanctuary.
Keeping Lion Asteri in peak physical condition.

The first two requirements were a walk in the park.

The last one, however, was a nightmare.

Judging by the look in this guy’s eyes, he looked fully prepared to march out that door and turn the entire underworld upside down at a moment’s notice.

‘Fearless to a fault, just as rumored.’

If only he were the cooperative sort you could actually intimidate into staying put.

Jack stifled an internal sigh before offering Lion a concise schedule breakdown.

“So, once the required materials and my medical assistant arrive, we’ll initiate the procedure immediately, and the moment we confirm your condition has stabilized, you’re free to check out.”

“Got it. Perfect. Sounds like I won’t have enough spare hours to get bored anyway. Ha! I made sure to stack up a mountain of alchemy texts for you, too.”

Jack motioned toward a towering stack of thick volumes resting near the bedding, but Lion merely melted deeper into the sofa cushions with a look of pure apathy.

“Already read them. I keep a decent personal library back home.”

Jack responded with a silent, tight-lipped smile.

This young master—correction, his lordship—had evaluated his current predicament with crystal-clear clarity.

“Since I’ll apparently die of boredom until those people show up, how about taking me out for a guided tour of the neighborhood instead?”

“What if I politely turn that down on the grounds of health and safety?”

“I’d completely understand your concern, which is why I’d just sneak out on my own.”

“…Fine! But I can’t afford to let a VIP under my direct protection wander off unsupervised. Where would your highness prefer to start? The Black Market, where you can buy literally anything under the sun? Or perhaps the Fight Club? Just name it, and I’ll hand you executive VIP clearance.”

Grandfather must have slipped this guy a massive pile of funding.

Despite trying hard to mask his reluctance, Jack’s cooperative attitude shone right through.

‘I’d genuinely prefer to sit here and do nothing…’

Still, when would Lion ever get another golden opportunity to tour the real bowels of the underworld?

Might as well extract maximum value from the trip.

‘Sss… I feel like I’ve had this exact conversation back at the hotel.’

And he probably experienced the exact same internal debate near the Great Barrier, too.

…Oh well, whatever!

“Shall we kick things off with the Black Market?”

Lion elected to exploit his VIP underworld privileges to the fullest extent possible.

Simultaneously.

“Your Grace, the Archbishop.”

Leaving the administrative burdens of the Imperial Palace in Rickshel’s hands for the time being, Petrick made his way to the temple entirely alone.