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On the very day Minho suggested checking out the Underground Market, on my way home.

“Could you give me some info about the Underground Market?”

“Sure, I’ll send it over. But before that… you’re not actually thinking of buying something there, right?”

I called Justitia and asked her to hand over the Underground Market information that the Heroes had, and she was about to comply when she started grilling me about what I intended to buy.

“No, not at all! There’s nothing I’d even want to buy there. It’s just… I’ve got some people I need to follow up on.”

“Follow up, huh? I have a bad feeling about this… You’re not planning on getting dragged into something weird again, are you?”

I understood Justitia’s worries. With just a few months until the big operation, I’d want to avoid making any unnecessary problems.

That was a pretty rational thought. But… this time was a little different.

“I can’t just back out now. I already told Minho I’d help him. And besides, there’s a good reason for this.”

“A reason, huh? I’ll decide after I hear it. If it’s ridiculous or strange, you might as well forget about any hope for my help.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

It was actually a pretty convincing story. So I went on to tell her about Minho’s theory—the existence of an Underground Market selling items that came out of the Gate.

And that it wasn’t just anywhere, but situated right within Heros City.

If they were managing to do business inside a city crawling with Heroes, it either meant they had a death wish or a pretty good reason to do so, according to Minho’s guess.

“And… who knows? The reason they can operate that dangerous Underground Market might be because they’ve bought off a good number of Heroes to just look the other way.”

When I added that little tidbit of information I had, Justitia reacted as if it was a plausible theory.

“But you have no proof. Even if that proof is with Student Minho, if that item was obtained from the Underground Market, we can’t just brush it off.”

Justitia insisted that to take any action, evidence was necessary, and even if we had that evidence, if a student had items from the Underground Market, they’d face consequences.

“Come on, give me a break. We already have evidence, remember? The bizarre android we caught during the operation to rescue Alice.”

Honestly, I was kind of stretching it with that one. I was just trying to force a connection to make it look like we had something relevant.

“Even if they had the tech to create such an android, without funds, they wouldn’t be able to pull that off. They would need a source of funding like us…”

“You’re implying that this Underground Market might be a funding source for the Evil Society, is that it?”

Justitia interpreted what I wanted with pinpoint accuracy—and also with some flair.

“I mean, thinking is free, right? I at least think it could be possible. Such a level of tech didn’t just appear out of nowhere; they’ve got to be making money somehow.”

When I thought about it, it was a statement filled with logical fallacies and leaps, but it seemed to sound convincing enough for Justitia.

Or maybe she got a little emotionally charged considering it was the Evil Society that had previously attacked me and the others.

“It sounds plausible, but… there’s not a shred of solid evidence. And even if it were true, it’s too dangerous to send only you guys in.”

“The profession of being a Hero doesn’t always require crystal-clear information, you know? Sometimes, you just throw a dart and hope it hits.”

Justitia seemed to have no counter for that, as she sealed her lips shut. I decided to push further this time, as my gut was telling me it was right.

“And, if it is the Evil Society, they’ll eventually get in the way, right? So why not prune the branches before they grow too wild?”

Even if the Liberators were currently classified as a Villain organization, if we got back on the right track, we’d end up facing off against other villain groups too.

Our goal was to take down Heros Company and guide the people toward the right direction.

Any Villains that got in our way would eventually have to be dealt with.

“Even if it’s not the case, think of it like doing a good deed to ease suspicions.”

By saying that, Justitia seemed to be softening her stance.

“That’s… true. But there’s still the risk of you getting into a dangerous situation. As your teacher, I can’t just sit back and watch.”

“That much is true. That’s why I called you, Justitia. When we investigate the Underground Market, could you come with some backup?”

“Backup?”

“Yeah. If things start to look sketchy or we need to make quick arrests, I’ll call for you. It’s a win-win for us, right?”

“I can’t say no to that, but I’m not sure how many will actually come along.”

Justitia expressed skepticism and revealed a hidden truth.

It turns out that the reason Heroes were neglecting the Underground Market was due to the Hero Association wanting to take them down in one fell swoop.

“I don’t know how it’ll go down in practice, but for now, we’re holding back a bit to ensure we can fully uproot it.”

What’s that about? Did the higher-ups get so badly chewed out by the Evil Society that they’re being dominated?

“That’s why we need to uproot it now. If we take down the Evil Society, everything else will quiet down like a mouse.”

Given that Heros City was already overflowing with Heroes, it was a rare world where ‘Villain organizations’ were scarce.

There were only the Evil Society lurking in complete darkness and revolutionaries from distant lands like the Liberators that even slightly took shape as larger organizations.

Even those were barely 5% of the overall, with most organizations being nothing more than clubs of run-of-the-mill thugs.

If word got out that a massive organization like the Evil Society had been swept out, the smaller fry would probably scatter out of fear.

Of course, what we would manage to catch would only be the trash they might discard, but even that was enough to intimidate.

They’d have plenty of discarded trash lying around.

After laying out my reasoning to Justitia, she seemed a bit hesitant but eventually agreed to look into it.

“If you’re right and they’re really just eating money and looking the other way, then don’t expect too much from this.”

“I’ll be keeping my expectations high.”

As I hung up, I pondered how to deal some serious damage to both the Evil Society and Heros Company.

The best-case scenario would be to drag the Evil Society out into the open and have it clash head-on with Heros Company.

Of course, if that actually happens, it would get pretty chaotic, and I doubt the Evil Society would allow it to come to that, so it’d just be wishful thinking.

But one thing was certain: this action would drastically cut into the confidence and power of the Evil Society.

The reason the Evil Society could run the Black Auction openly in Heros City was that they were utterly convinced they wouldn’t get caught.

I claimed that they might just be pretending to look the other way out of suspicion, but in reality, they were just being dominated by the power of the Evil Society’s leader.

Control.

Simply put, it was the ability to grab someone by the head and bend them to your will.

Even if you had a strong will, you could still get bent after about four tries—it’s a terrifying ability, to say the least.

The reason the Evil Society could run the Black Auction was mainly due to this.

Sure, there was some bribery involved, but most were actually doing their bidding like loyal subordinates.

The ones they were bribing wouldn’t last long before they’d become victims of control themselves… no wait, not victims, they’re traitors abandoning their duties.

Cough, scratch that. It’s not pity; it’s just a suitable fate for their betrayal.

Minho may not know, but I did—one of the few bits of intel I had.

The cowardly Evil Society being able to do business in Heros City was all due to their confidence that they’d never get found out or, even if they were, could dominate everyone in their way.

But now that was about to change, so the Evil Society was bound to face a significant blow.

And of course, it would also hit Heros Company hard. Watching their own Heroes being subjected to ‘control’ would send them into a real panic as they scrambled to find out who was being dominated.

It was a perfect plan where I could sit back and relax while letting everything fall into chaos.

Now, I just needed to figure out how to make sure my crew came out without a scratch.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how much I could handle. There were just so many variables, and I was starting to doubt if I could consider them all.

Gotta rein in the unpredictable Alice and Seolhwa, cover up the awkward Rafis and Ageha… not one bit of it seemed easy.

But then again, was there anything easy about what I said I’d do?

Nope, not a single thing, now that I think about it.

Oh wait, there’s one: controlling others.

“But still, there’s no helping it… Ugh, I said I’d do it, so I have to take responsibility…”

Grumbling something that nobody would understand, I tried to sketch out a plan. One that would ensure everyone could escape unharmed.

 

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