Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 20

“Hmm~ Smells good.”

Bumseok muttered to himself, rising from his seat and heading towards the kitchen. There, his elves, wearing aprons, were diligently preparing breakfast, chopping and dicing ingredients.

The savory aroma of Doenjang-jjigae [Korean soybean paste stew] wafted through the air. Knowing it was Bumseok’s favorite, Reimi had searched for a recipe online and prepared it. It was her first time, so a bizarre dish might have been expected, but the flavor suggested otherwise. During their three years at the Elf School, the elves learned various skills to serve their masters, in addition to writing and painting. Among these, cooking was the most emphasized subject. Naturally, a poorly made dish was out of the question.

Thump. Clatter.

“Kyaa!”

The pot fell, scattering rice grains everywhere. The culprit was Oscar. She had grabbed the scalding pot with her bare hands, causing the accident. In the past, during her time at the Elf School, she had received elite swordsmanship training from a coach sent by the Dragon Knights director, so she hadn’t mastered other subjects. As a result, she wasn’t good at anything except swordsmanship.

“Does this mean we’re only having Doenjang-jjigae for breakfast today?”

Not at all. Reimi was already heating bread in the microwave, which she had prepared in advance.

“Don’t worry. I made bread at dawn to eat today.”

At those words, Bumseok ran a hand over his face. Some foods just don’t go well together. Doenjang-jjigae and bread were a terrible match. Of course, there might be people in the world with such strange tastes, but he certainly wasn’t one of them.

However, if he told them the truth, they would cry and apologize profusely, making a fuss. So, he decided to adjust his preferences, at least for this morning.

“Sure, whatever. I’ll watch TV, so call me when it’s ready.”

“Yes. Please relax.”

Bumseok gestured towards the TV, and a screen appeared in the air. Just then, a TV program ended, and commercials were playing. He changed the channel but stopped at the next advertisement. It was for Walking Auction Mart, announcing that the auction would start at 10 a.m. and asking for support.

‘Walking Auction Mart? Is that where the Dragon Knights team director was going to send Reimi?’

A few days ago, while talking with Reimi, he had heard about Vincent and the fact that he had tried to send her to Walking Auction Mart. It was a market where sports clubs and public organizations sold aging and obsolete elves to the general public and various organizations in an auction format. Sometimes, elves with useful abilities could be found there. Curious, Bumseok called Reimi, who was working in the kitchen.

“Reimi, come here for a moment.”

Anxious, Reimi left the cooking she was in charge of to Oscar and hurried to the living room.

“Master, what is it?”

“Do you know much about Walking Auction Mart? It’s opening today, and I was wondering if we could go.”

“Ah, Walking Auction Mart. As I mentioned before, it’s a market where aging elves are sold. They also sell used AI-equipped machines and flying cars. In other words, anything used that can work and make decisions on its own is sold there.”

“Hmm. Are there really good elves there?”

Reimi nodded without hesitation. Walking Auction Market was the dream stage for elves belonging to all sports clubs, so she knew a lot about it.

“Yes, they occasionally appear.”

“Why? Clubs wouldn’t put good elves on the market.”

“That’s true. But our elves can think and make decisions like humans. So, when they reach a certain age, they use their wits to go to Walking Auction Mart. They pretend their strength or stamina has decreased, or they frequently complain of injuries. Then the club decides they’re no longer useful and sends them to the market.”

It was understandable to some extent. Sports clubs never sold their affiliated elves to the general public to maintain their teams. If they did, all the affiliated elves would try to find a master by any means, based on that example. However, keeping useless elves for life was not good for either the club or the elves, so an exception was necessary. That was the clause that allowed them to be sold to Walking Auction Market after a certain age. The criteria varied from club to club, but it was roughly between 30 and 45 years old.

What kind of behavior would elves approaching this age exhibit? It was obvious without even seeing it.

“I see. Elves consider serving a master as their greatest task.”

“But it’s rare for elves with good abilities to appear.”

“Why is that?”

“The clubs know what you and Master Bumseok know. So, if their physical abilities suddenly drop sharply below average at that age, they investigate from various angles to determine the truth. Most of them fail and remain on the team.”

“Hmph. Well, clubs would go through such tests unless they were stupid.”

“Still, it’s not bad to check it out once. Really smart and meticulous elves prepare step by step from years ago and eventually achieve their goals.”

Bumseok seemed to have made a decision and jumped up from his seat. He might be able to find a good elf, so it wouldn’t hurt to go and take a look.

“Okay. Let’s eat and take a look. Come on, let’s eat quickly.”

At his urging, Reimi immediately went to the kitchen to finish the rest of the cooking. Soon, the table was set with a hearty Korean meal, starting with Doenjang-jjigae, kimchi [fermented cabbage], seasoned vegetables, Neobiani [thinly sliced and grilled beef], braised croaker, and Bulgogi [marinated grilled beef]. The elves had worked hard to suit Bumseok’s taste. However, having to eat bread as a staple with these side dishes was a hardship.

They sat around the table and finished their meal before leaving the house. However, their intended directions were different. Bumseok naturally went to Walking Auction Market, but Reimi and Oscar separated and headed to Demon Sports Center. Reimi hadn’t been able to quit the sports center yet. Initially, he had tried to get her to quit to train Oscar and Venus, but the center director strongly opposed it. Students had come to see her reputation, and if she suddenly left the sports center, it would greatly disrupt the operation of the combat specialty class.

In the end, Bumseok negotiated with the center director to give free lessons to his elves in exchange for her teaching until the following month.

– This is Ellington City, the final destination. Please check to make sure all passengers have their belongings and disembark safely.

The place Bumseok arrived at was the express bus terminal in Ellington City, the central city of the Deloy Metropolitan Government. The reason he came here was very simple. The Walking Auction Market was being held at the Civic Culture Center in this city.

“Hmph. It’s crowded.”

He clicked his tongue as he watched the countless flying buses taking off and landing and the crowds of people. Restaurants and souvenir shops lined both sides of the sidewalk leading out of the terminal, and in the distance, hotels and buildings with hundreds of floors soared into the sky. As a bustling area of a city where 10.4 million people lived, this scenery seemed natural.

Pushing his way through the crowd, Bumseok arrived at the outer sidewalk and took out his electronic notebook, starting to operate it. He was entering location information to call a flying taxi. Soon, a yellow flying taxi landed in front of him.

“Ellington Civic Culture Center.”

– Understood, sir.

Inside the taxi, Bumseok kept glancing at his watch with an anxious expression. The Walking Auction Market opened at 10 a.m. There were less than 30 minutes left. Well, with the speed of a flying taxi, it would only take a few minutes to arrive, no matter how long it took, but it wasn’t enough to just participate in the auction. It was very important to take the time to carefully examine the elves before the auction to find a good one.

– Sir, we have arrived at the Ellington Civic Culture Center. The fare is 32 krang [currency].

Bumseok pressed the button on the settlement menu that he had opened in advance and quickly jumped out of the car.

He entered the Ellington Civic Culture Center and looked around to find the auction hall. However, there were many other convenience facilities for citizens here, so it was not easy to find its location. Inevitably, he walked to the desk in the center of the lobby.

An elf in a uniform, who was watching the information desk, got up to greet him.

“How can I help you?”

“Do you know where the Walking Auction Market is being held?”

“There is an elf sales market and an artificial intelligence industrial goods sales market. Which one would you like me to guide you to?”

“The elf sales market.”

The elf guide pointed to one side of the hallway with both hands.

“Go straight this way and turn left, and you’ll see it right away.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Bumseok lightly returned the greeting and quickened his pace into the hallway that the guide had pointed out.

“Here it is.”

Two signs appeared in front of Bumseok. One was the Elf Auction Hall, and the other was the Elf Waiting Room. Bumseok, who was thinking of checking the elf’s abilities before purchasing, turned towards the waiting room.

“Alright, alright. Please line up in order.”

As he listened to the office worker in a brown suit giving instructions, Bumseok’s eyes took in the wide lobby inside the waiting room. There, about 100 elves were sitting in seats with numbered tickets, and the area was crowded with auction participants looking at them.

The elf sitting at the first place he arrived at along the line was assigned number 103. He immediately opened the information window to check her abilities.

‘What? She’s completely washed up.’

She looked like she was in her early 20s, but she was a 46-year-old elf. Considering that the average lifespan of an elf is 100 years, it could be said that she had lived almost half her life. Moreover, her abilities were low, making her extremely unvaluable.

She was pretty, but Bumseok moved on to the next one without looking back. The reason he came to this Walking Auction Market was to buy a useful gladiator to participate in combat matches, not to buy a kitchen maid.

‘Not her either.’

The next elf, number 102, was a former professional basketball player. She was 39 years old, younger than the previous elf, but her abilities were mediocre, and crucially, she wasn’t a gladiator, so he rejected her. It was impossible to newly teach swordsmanship to an elf of that age and put her into combat matches.

‘Seriously. Why are they all like this?’

As the numbers decreased, disappointment filled Bumseok’s face. Most of them were old and had decreased stamina and strength, making it difficult to send them to combat matches. Occasionally, if they seemed decent, they were invariably specialized in other sports or were office elves from public organizations.

As Reimi said, it seemed difficult to find a useful gladiator.

————–

I decided to pour all the remaining amount today. Then please enjoy it.