Marvel Magic Case Files.

Chapter 92 Mutual Performance

"Really, it's nothing. I mean it. I've already talked to Nick Fury. I know the insurance company won't pay; they always have an excuse. So Nick Fury agreed to pay for the car, after all, he's the one who caused the trouble." Salomon sat in the back seat of a Quinjet, talking to Cassirios on his cell phone. "Is His Excellency angry? No? Okay... not even a hint of that? No..."

"I knew it. Don't bother the Venerable One with any rotten fish or shrimp. I definitely said that."

"Who am I talking about? Isn't it Nick Fury?"

"As for schooling, of course I'll continue. That was one of my conditions. Eton's objections are useless, and the Cabinet's are even less useful. Who doesn't know who's in charge in Britain? I still have blood on my royal cape! Even the royal family only goes to school by helicopter, but I go by Quinjet. I'd like to see which idiot tries to cause me trouble."

The agent sitting in the pilot's seat had an indescribable strange expression. He was unsure whether to report this to his superior, since someone was speaking ill of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, he abandoned the idea, not only because he and his colleagues also spoke ill of the Director in private, but also because there was another agent of a higher rank and position on the plane.

After a long while, Salomon finally hung up the phone, looking at the woman sitting opposite him with a gloomy expression. Well, or rather, a woman pretending to have a gloomy expression.

"Who are you?" Natasha Romanoff asked. She had been in Washington when she directed the operation, taking leave while Pepper Potts was discussing Stark Industries' operations at the Washington building with real estate developers. She had assumed the operation would be flawless, but bizarre events had taken a turn for the worse. Now, their London-based agents had retrieved the dead and seriously wounded agents from the London police. While Salomon was talking to Nick Fury, she had carefully reviewed the autopsy and crime scene reports; she simply couldn't believe a rapier could pierce the roof of a bulletproof car.

"I suppose... you have no right to know. You only know my name. Agent Natasha Romanoff, your curiosity makes you want to pry into things you shouldn't know." Salomon subtly gripped the rapier (or rather, the cane-like one) resting on his lap. He had already reached an agreement with Nick Fury, and the Vishanti contract had been signed after certain clauses were added. But now it seemed Nick Fury was still up to his old tricks, wanting to send his agents to probe and see if they could find out more information.

Salomon agreed to let Nick Fury provide him with information about dark magic creatures, and S.H.I.E.L.D. assured him they wouldn't interfere in magical events. However, Nick Fury still asked Salomon to notify S.H.I.E.L.D. in the event of a large-scale disaster. While S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't intervene in the fighting, they could at least help evacuate people—a huge favor for Kamar-Taj, and Salomon had no reason to refuse.

At the same time, Salomon also revealed his bottom line. If S.H.I.E.L.D. leaked the secret of Kamar-Taj's existence, or if someone attacked a Kamar-Taj sorcerer (or sorcerer's apprentice), Nick Fury would have to give Salomon an explanation. Otherwise, Salomon would target the United States—the officials in Congress and the White House come and go, and even if Salomon killed them all, there would be another batch. So Salomon would kill until someone gave an explanation. No one could stop him; even the Venerable One would agree to his actions, because attacking Kamar-Taj was tantamount to rebellion—as for the human rights, democracy, and freedom that the US government proclaimed—sorry, that approach wouldn't work on Kamar-Taj.

As for taking Nick Fury to see the Abyss, that was postponed indefinitely. He didn't want anyone tampering with his head, even in a dream. Salomon respected Nick Fury's wishes and planned to take him there personally after he died.

"But you killed them!" Natasha Romanov stared at Salomon and said, "You know very well what you're doing, don't you?"

"Poor woman." Salomon didn't answer her question, but instead stared directly into her eyes without hesitation. He said, "After your mind has been shattered and rebuilt so many times, can you still distinguish who you are? Or is this the key to becoming a top agent?"

Black Widow simply stared at Salomon, trying to discern something from him. Now it seemed he was just as arrogant a bastard as Tony Stark.

"I know how despicable the profession of espionage is, and you, a top agent, have paid a heavy price to climb to this position. Every thought of yours allows you to lie calmly and wholeheartedly, to dedicate yourself to a mission, and to easily turn on someone when the mission demands it most. Perhaps you yourself see yourself as a monster," Salomon said frankly. "But believe me, if anyone criticizes you, it's because they haven't experienced what you've experienced. You've done the best you could; the fact that you're alive and sitting here is proof enough. Anyone who accuses you of being a spy doesn't know your outstanding achievements and abilities."

"Thank you for understanding, really." A hint of doubt appeared in Black Widow's eyes.

Salomon was right. Her broken mind was indeed one of the keys to her becoming a top agent, and the graduation ceremony in the Red Room made her feel like a monster. Even within S.H.I.E.L.D., she sometimes felt like an outsider. But where did Salomon Damonette get the information? Even if Nick Fury trusted him and showed him the agent's files, these weren't in the records.

"Don't worry, Nick Fury won't make you a scapegoat. He still has some humanity when it comes to his best agents," Salomon said. "When you look me in the eye, you should be careful that I don't see into your mind."

"So this is your ability, mind reading? Our intelligence was all wrong?" Natasha Romanoff feigned composure and shifted her gaze, her thoughts wandering elsewhere. She didn't know how to deal with a mind reader, but this might be useful. Even she herself didn't realize that her tone towards Salomon was becoming increasingly gentle, and she felt no anger whatsoever at Salomon's mind-peeping.

This wasn't some particularly difficult magic, and its effect wasn't even as good as "charming humans," but the "friendship spell" didn't seem as abrupt as it appeared. Facing an agent, any action would arouse her suspicion.

"You can think of it that way," Salomon said, "but regardless, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence is always wrong, even if you corrected my file, if S.H.I.E.L.D. has my file."

"Could it be magic?" Natasha Romanoff remarked casually, but Salomon remained silent. What was this? A woman's intuition? Black Widow looked at Salomon—oh wow? Was I right?

"Think what you want, really, until Nick Fury is willing to reveal the secret to you." Salomon put on the slingshot and cast a spell, and the Quinjet, which was flying at supersonic speed, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an instant and arrived in London. This change made the pilots scramble, but the good pilots still managed to stabilize the aircraft, hovering the Quinjet over Eton College, and then slowly descending.

Salomon said to Black Widow, "But you don't know until you need to know. You don't need to know this to determine whether you need to know or not. What you need to know is what you don't need to know, and you won't know what you need to know until you need to know."

"What?"

"Eatton's specialty, long and complicated English sentences, a gentleman's prerogative." Salomon paused on his rapier (cane) and said, "Besides, it's not surprising that I said those things. I'm not some kind of chauvinist. The most capable people around me are all women, which is why I understand you. You need a therapist, but I'm not an expert in that area. I trust S.H.I.E.L.D. will find one. Now, I should get off the plane; I'm still a student."

"Wait a minute." Agent Natasha stood up and took a laptop from a bag beside her. "A gift from Nick Fury. Every high school student at Eton needs a laptop for homework, don't they?"

"No problem." Salomon took the laptop and said, "I know S.H.I.E.L.D. installed a backdoor in it, so Nick Fury can rest assured, I won't use this computer to watch porn, much less masturbate in front of the screen. If possible, remember to remotely control this computer and have that cybersecurity guy do my homework for me."

"You already know, so what's the point?" Black Widow said with a smile, completely unaware that her attitude towards Salomon had softened, and she couldn't even recall Agent Coulson being interrogated.

"At least this gives me time to order some older students around to serve me tea and water. Besides, this is England, and Eton is a full-day school, so the atmosphere is a bit strange. I'm not interested in men's 'prison wallets,' but I'd really enjoy ordering them around. You can't even imagine what disgusting images I'm having," Salomon said. "Although I've never been there, I'm sure the toilets must be really interesting."

"Okay, goodbye, little gentleman." Natasha Romanov opened the hatch and watched Salomon get out. "I was wrong. You're completely different from Tony Stark. You're not that much of a jerk."

"You finally noticed. I thought I had to do even more." Salomon nodded to her. "Goodbye, Ms. Romanov. Have a good day."

When the Quinjet's canopy closed again and Salomon disappeared from Natasha Romanov's sight, the faint smile that had been on Black Widow's face also vanished. She shook her head slightly—Salomon's spell effects were long outdated, and all her expressions and dialogue afterward were just a performance to elicit more information.

In retrospect, her work has been quite effective.

You probably won't believe what happened to me. I woke up suddenly this morning, only to realize it was Saturday, so I relaxed and went back to sleep. When I opened my eyes, it was already dark—oh man, another day gone! I quickly finished writing and posted it! Please vote!

(End of this chapter)