Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Useful Scoundrels
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"President Baal, we've received a report from our informant inside the Agrasander Group."
"What? What are those drug-peddling bastards up to now?"
"They're suddenly gathering mercenaries, all their usual drug-dealing underlings and subordinates are going inside and arming themselves, they're searching for something... the situation seems serious, it's not like usual."
"Are they trying to start another fight? That bastard Malek, did he take some of his own product?"
Baal was a middle-aged man with a long beard and a stern look, wearing glasses.
He was the head of Baalas, one of the organizations in the Teal slums, and as he operated various businesses, his title was 'President'.
Anyway, hearing that another organization sharing the Teal slums was suddenly arming itself, he couldn't just sit still and knew he had to prepare immediately.
But first, he needed to confirm why they were arming themselves.
"What's the reason? Did our informant have any other reports?"
"There was a report. Some unknown alchemist brought a 'new drug manufacturing method'... they held a banquet the day the first batch was produced, and that night, the alchemist seems to have been kidnapped."
"...Ah, so that's why that drug dealer is pissed off. Someone snatched the alchemist... To anyone looking, that's Darktis's doing, isn't it? Frankly, it wasn't us."
"No, sir. But we've tried to steal their business several times because we were jealous of the bastards making more money than us right in our own territory."
Baalas operated taverns and brothels as their businesses, and their relationship with the drug dealers was inseparable.
Of course, there was enough suspicion, as they often eyed each other's positions, resenting the other making huge profits from the venues they cultivated to attract customers.
"Hoo~ Damn it, we're definitely not involved, right?"
"We can't say we're completely uninvolved. If the lower ranks or subordinate organizations did it..."
"Tsk! First, put all our venues on alert. Then we need to talk to that bastard Malek. There's nothing good for either of us if blood is shed. We're eating and living well as it is... damn it!"
"What if he doesn't listen to talks?"
"We'll have to prepare for that too. First, we'll negotiate with the mercenaries we have connections with. We need to fill our numbers too, we can't just stay idle like this. And we'll send someone to Darktis to discuss countermeasures with them as well. Who knows what that mad dog might do."
Baal hastily began to move in response to the sudden 'Agrasander Group incident', and this development was simultaneously relayed to the Darktis side.
At the same time, in Darktis's territory where the thief and assassin guilds were located, the executives were also gathered holding a meeting.
They had no single leader; it was a system where five executives decided matters by majority vote. All executives wore masks and black robes, gathering in a form where they didn't know each other's identities, exchanging requests and information.
"Could someone explain what's going on? Number Four?"
Still, they needed to distinguish each other, so Darktis's executives referred to each other by the numbers written on their masks.
"I already came prepared, Number Three. Agrasander's Malek hired a wandering alchemist, and he produced a new type of drug. But this morning, that guy disappeared. Malek, having essentially lost a new money-maker and the new drug manufacturing method, is furious and pouring all the money he has into preparing for war."
"Now I understand why the mercenary guild has been in such an uproar since morning. So?"
"He probably suspects us or Baalas as the cause of the alchemist's disappearance. However, our intelligence network hasn't picked up any trace of that alchemist either, and we're checking if any other subordinate organizations went outside, but there's no sign at all."
"Damn, then he'll obviously suspect us."
In a missing persons case with no trace to be found, other organizations would 100 percent suspect 'Darktis'.
In truth, not all disappearances in the world were their doing, but to maintain their reputation and instill fear as a thief and assassin guild, they sometimes bluffed, acting as if it was their work.
"What do we do now?"
"Well, I don't know, Number Two. But there probably aren't many options. The best would be for us to find that alchemist and return him to Malek... Do you think finding him will be easy? Number Four."
"It's impossible to slip past our intelligence network in this city. But the fact he's missing now... means it won't be easy, I suppose."
"So, ultimately, there's no way to stop that drug dealer Malek? Then we also need to prepare for war. Or, could it be Baalas's doing? They've always looked down on those Agrasander bastards selling drugs in their venues, haven't they?"
"If they did it, it would have been easier to discover. Sigh~ Where on earth did that alchemist disappear to... If we don't get him back, Malek won't stop this war."
Having lost the goose that lays the golden eggs, which would have yielded enormous profits, it was as clear as day that he'd be enraged and his blood pressure would rise.
Ultimately, they needed the alchemist, but since he couldn't be found, no solution to the situation was in sight.
"Anyway, if there's no way to stop Malek, we have no choice but to join hands with Baalas and eliminate Agrasander."
"That's a possible method, but the problem is what comes after, isn't it? If Agrasander disappears, we'll be eyeing that market, right?"
"We should just give it to Baalas. Wouldn't that be maintaining the order of the Teal slums?"
"What if the Earldom steps in then?"
"Hmm... Let's think about such things later. First, let's talk with Baalas, combine our strength, and try to stop Agrasander. If there are no objections, let's move to action immediately."
Nod.
The executives of Darktis all nodded as if agreeing with this opinion, then scattered to carry out their respective duties.
There had been many conflicts in the Teal slums, but it was rare for one organization to commit all its capabilities so decisively, making swift measures all the more necessary.
And around this time, Beonald was disguised as a mercenary from another city, watching the situation from inside the mercenary guild.
The Agrasander Group had sent people first and were continuously hiring mercenaries. With rumors of work available, mercenaries were also arriving from other regions, making his presence not strange at all.
"Alright, alright! Form proper lines. We all need to exchange trust, so we must write the contracts correctly, right? So let's proceed in order."
"Here! Those who wish to be hired by the Baalas side, please come over here!"
...This is a peculiar sight too. Both sides that will have to fight each other are choosing from the same mercenary guild.
He rarely had reason to enter a mercenary guild, but as he said, at this moment, the clients from Agrasander and the clients from Baalas were lined up side-by-side gathering mercenaries, making it inevitably strange.
Because he was seeing mercenaries joining one faction while simultaneously signing up with the opposing side.
And that was becoming a factor determining the mercenaries' fighting attitude even before the battle began.
Although outsiders were coming in, ultimately, since the Callermain Earldom's territory was the largest around here, rumors gathered and reputations about the strong inevitably spread.
"Look at that. It's 'Troll Slayer' Zainel. Damn! He got hired by Agrasander? That's big trouble. I got hired by Baalas... I'll have to be careful if I see him on the battlefield."
"Hmm, you think so? I heard the famous Lightning Brothers got hired by Baalas? Something about President Baal's connections?"
"Lightning Brothers? You mean the pair of the 3rd-class mage and the excommunicated paladin? Then it won't be easy either."
The mercenaries' chatter, if heard casually, might sound like children comparing comic books or novels, but for them participating in the war, it was a conversation where their lives were at stake.
However, Beonald, unaware of their mindset, was greatly troubled trying to hold back laughter at the conversation that seemed to explode with childishness.
It's so childish it's driving me crazy. Still, to grasp the situation, I have no choice but to listen... since I'll be participating in this chaos too.
After collecting some information about the mercenaries participating in the Teal slums' minor conflict while listening to their childish chatter, he immediately went to the Baalas organization's client to register for employment himself.
"Let's see... A rookie, and you look quite young? Then it might be better not to take this job... Have you ever killed anyone before?"
"Yes, I have. Don't worry about that. I'll just earn some money here and leave right away anyway."
"Hmm, well, for a mercenary, as long as you can work and earn money, that's all that matters. Alright, sign this contract here. Since you're a rookie, you're at the lowest rank? Then the hiring fee is 20 silver coins, with an advance of 10 silver coins. After that, depending on your contributions on the battlefield..."
"Lowest rank, yes... But what about this?"
"What about this? What do you mean... uh... ugh!"
The client from Baalas was startled by the dagger Beonald presented.
The dagger, enveloped in a violet mana, was shining sharply.
The client looked with disbelieving eyes and tried to scream, but Beonald had blocked it beforehand, preventing his scream from spreading through the mercenary guild.
"Shhh~ It won't do any good if others hear, right? Now~ relax~ I just came as a wandering soul wanting to earn some money. You understand now, right?"
"Ugh! Ugh!"
The client could only nod affirmatively under Beonald's killing intent.
And internally convinced that a hidden card, crucial for this war, had just been born, he immediately took out a special badge and gave it to him.
"What's this?"
"A mark indicating a special request target. It's given when a person appears who is utterly beyond my capacity to deal with. If you go to the entertainment district and show this to the guards at the building with a sign depicting two devil horns, they'll understand."
"Good. I'll do that."
Beonald put the badge into his pocket and headed straight for the place described by the Baalas request manager.
There stood a rather proper five-story building for a dump like this slum, with two burly, mean-looking men standing at attention at the entrance.
And next to it, a sign with two devil horns drawn on it, fitting the motif of the name 'Baal', was visible.
"Who are you? You don't look like an expected guest?"
"Let's say I came because of this."
"...A special request. Alright, go in. Show that on the first floor and ask to be guided to the President's office, and they'll guide you."
When Beonald approached, they were momentarily wary, but as soon as they saw the badge, their attitude changed and they made way.
An attendant even followed, leading him up to the fifth floor, then into a room marked 'President's Office'.
Inside, a middle-aged man with a thick beard was scanning through parchments and wooden boards piled up from everywhere with an irritated expression, a cigarette in his mouth.
"Damn it! That drug-peddling bastard Malek! He's really determined. Is he trying to start an actual war? This is going too far! ...Huh? Who are you?"
"They gave me this and told me to come here."
"That, that is? Oooh!"
When Beonald presented the badge, the President, Baal, sprang up and rushed over to him.
Special request target. He had instructed them to send such individuals—monsters beyond the realm of ordinary mercenaries—to him, and finally meeting one, he ran over in welcome.
With all the major mercenaries already swept up by Malek, the appearance of a monster-level individual was no different from salvation, so he immediately began negotiating with Beonald.