Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Golden Goblin (2)
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A week had passed.
All preparations were perfect. Ignis's Fang brimmed with my aura, Aaron's groundwork was complete... and above all, I had perfectly concealed all these facts from Yuria.
...One might wonder why it was so crucial to hide from Yuria that I was sneaking off to the capital.
But this was truly a grave matter.
It wasn't just me who knew I'd be slipping into the capital in secret to rob a black mage's merchant caravan.
Aaron, the key accomplice in the plan; Karen, who shadowed me like a ghost; and Jevella, who effectively ran House Zahav.
Three people besides me knew. It was necessary that way.
However, everyone agreed we had to keep it airtight from Yuria. The reason was clear.
"Ouch! It was great sneaking away with Oppa’s panties, but it's such a shame they're washed..."
"Y-You're insane?! Please be quiet, Yuria! Keep that to yourself...!"
Maykin, who had just returned to her training site from the mage tower only to be heading straight back to the capital now that things had settled there.
As her roommate Yuria put it, Yuria was too thoughtless... no, too honest, unable to distinguish what should be said from what shouldn't.
Yuria's attitude toward most things, barring a few special cases, was refreshingly straightforward.
If she wanted to do something, she did it. If she wanted to say something, she said it. If she was sleepy, she slept. If she was hungry, she ate. And if she saw my face, she got clingy.
Anyone would think she lived purely on reflex.
That was Yuria.
...Still, she's a good kid.
Probably.
Being that kind of person, if we'd told Yuria in advance, she wouldn't have kept it hidden and would have blabbed it all over town without realizing.
At the very least, she needed to stay in the dark until I reached the capital—ideally until I'd emptied the black mages' coffers.
"Ugh... It only smells like soap and sunlight..."
...Thanks to that, I also learned Yuria had swiped one of my underwear.
You're in for it later, seriously.
I was shaking my head at Yuria's voice drifting from the cargo hold beyond, where we'd crammed in with a magic detection disruptor artifact courtesy of Aaron.
"Ugh, Yuria? I swear there's no weird meaning behind this, but you suddenly brought up Grand Duke Zahav's... you know."
"Yeah? I'm not lending them out until I get permission from Oppa, so give up."
"That's not what I meant at all?! Besides, you didn't even get permission yourself, Yuria!"
"No, I did."
"...Really?"
"Really really. Back at the academy, I told him I'd like something to think of him by, and he happily handed them over."
No way she'd lie like that here? The nonsense flowed so naturally from her mouth without a hint of hesitation. Was it that inexplicable brazenness?
Maykin actually bought it, responding in a dazed voice.
"I see... Even if you're only half-siblings by blood... No, since you basically just met this time, maybe it's fine? I heard House Zahav is like that anyway..."
Maykin, flustered by her friend's bold incestuous (not) declaration yet trying to accept it somehow.
She's a good kid too.
...She must be smart since she became Ignis's youngest disciple, though she has this issue of being airheaded in weird ways.
Well, that's probably why she gets along with Yuria.
The Grand Duke Zahav's little sister and the Archduke Ignatus's youngest disciple, both like this.
The empire's future looks bleak. Or maybe the academy is seriously messed up.
I sighed deeply for a moment, but Maykin's next words made me abandon all hope.
"A-Anyway! This is just curiosity, not some weird thought..."
"Spit it out already."
"Grand Duke Zahav's underwear size. How big is it?"
"...?"
"Ugh, I mean his thing. Purely academic curiosity, don't misunderstand. Yeah, they say Zahav's Bloodline Ability maximizes masculinity."
"Maykin..."
"...Don't look at me like that. Honestly, I'm not that curious; Master made me ask..."
"If you want to know, ask him directly and honorably! Don't come to me for it!"
"..."
"After exams are over, wanna go ask together? Jevella sis might scold us... but it might hurt less if we're together!"
"...I regret learning magic. Hng."
With Maykin's whimpering voice as the finale, I tuned out the chatter from beyond the wooden partition.
The road to the capital was long.
I'd made various preparations, but hiding in a cargo hold for days hadn't changed, so no need to waste energy.
It's been a while. Right after escaping the alchemist's workshop, I hid and moved around like this a lot.
Back then, being young and small, I could crawl into all sorts of places.
...That's how I met Ellis, one of the orphan pack.
She couldn't hold out and bolted, becoming a wanted criminal, she said.
If only she'd waited a bit longer...
Unlike me or the others, she was weak physically but sharp-minded. I still don't get why she did it.
Say what you will, the empire is strong. Life on the run from it isn't comfortable.
If I'd found her first, I'd have quietly brought her to House Zahav.
I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes, hoping she'd at least been eating well.
Elysium.
The imperial capital, known as the continent's heart.
Glittering and beautiful, it drew countless people and goods, becoming the center of every trend.
...But like anywhere, behind the bright and bustling facade lurked an equal darkness.
Elysium's back alleys, commonly called the underworld, teemed with those feeding off the capital's refuse.
Those in the know unanimously called Elysium the empire's second most dangerous place.
...For reference, it wasn't first because Calypso Territory was overwhelmingly worse.
Anyway, despite itsbad reputation and constant deadly turf wars, things had been relatively quiet lately. The reason was simple.
"M-Madam! Forgive me, Madam! Please show mercy... I swear I won't show my face to you again and live like I'm dead!"
"Hmph."
An elf woman called Madam had suddenly appeared and subjugated the entire underworld.
Endless underworld conflicts arise only with rival organizations.
Once all big and small groups were absorbed under one person, what reason was there for bloodshed?
Unless it was a one-sided purge.
The woman, wearing a men's coat draped over her shoulders like a cape, looked down at the groveling middle-aged man before her.
Her elven beauty and long ears were striking. Her green hair, growing just past her shoulders, looked as fresh as leaves, and the clear mana swirling around her proved fairy blood mingled in her veins.
Yet, unlike her noblewoman's refined air, her body bore countless small scars, hinting at a far from smooth life.
Perhaps from blocking a sword with her hand—her palms and the backs were etched with blade piercings.
One ear had its tip raggedly torn, as if bitten by a beast.
Her tightly covered clothes might hide even more scars.
But the deepest scar of all was in her eyes.
Her light green irises, clouded to the extreme, and her foggy pupils seemed to look down equally on everything in the world.
The Madam dismissed the pathetically begging man before her in one phrase.
"No dignity."
Yes, no dignity.
He'd been so bold when deceiving her and siphoning funds, yet now, facing death, he crawled like a worm, begging for his life.
One must bear the full weight of their choices, whatever they were. If the burden scared him, he should have at least made choices he could stand by.
But the man before her met none of that.
His shallow life shook at the whim of greed, his stupidity forgetting even what to fear.
Even now, facing retribution, he flailed to escape the moment.
"I looked into what you did with the gold you stole from me. Pathetic."
"Th-That was..."
"No sick family, no blackmail, no unavoidable circumstances. All for your own selfish greed. And I paid you well enough."
As the elf woman's voice grew icy, the pale man clasped his hands and bowed his head frantically.
"Forgive me... I'm sorry! Madam! Please, for old times' sake, just once... show mercy...!"
"Old times' sake?"
The elf woman closed her eyes briefly, then spoke in a gentle tone.
"Before I unified the capital's underworld. Before I took over the casino. Even back when I just gambled with money, you worked for me."
"Y-Yes, Madam! Few have served you as long as I have!"
"Then you know well what kind of person I am."
Her reopened eyes held not a shred of warmth, emotionless as if gazing at an object.
At that, the man realized his grave miscalculation.
She wasn't killing him just for the money. Because of their long history, because she remembered the days when she had no base...
He had learned her origins by chance.
...And tried to sell that info to an imperial prince.
After one last big embezzlement and vanishing, use the prince's backing to oust the Madam.
Then sell the neatly cleaned-up underworld at a premium to the desperate prince amid succession struggles.
Realizing she'd uncovered it all, the man's body went limp.
"Now you're not even truly sorry—just apologizing to weasel out of this."
"Madam... no, Ellis. You bitch...!"
Slash.
Before he finished, his head rolled across the floor.
The elf woman called Madam—Ellis—lightly wiped the blood splatter from her face and sheathed her drawn wand-sword.
She then pulled a long pipe from her bosom and lit it.
The rising smoke masked the thick blood stench.
"Pierre. Did I expect too much from you?"
Don't betray family. Repay kindness with kindness. Don't harass others without reason.
...Live like a human.
All teachings from one person. Words that saved her.
But to a lifelong criminal, they felt suffocating.
Having slain with her own hands her first business partner in the capital, Ellis flicked a gold coin from her bosom.
Ting.
The gold landed beside the severed head with a clear chime.
The Ellis Family, which had swallowed Elysium's underworld in mere months.
The second-in-command of a massive crime syndicate so delicately balanced with high nobles that even the imperial family hesitated without solid pretext.
The "generous" sum dropped before Pierre... was a single gold.
"Enoch. Seems I can't keep people like you."
Ellis gave a wry smile, rose with pipe in mouth.
Crack!
With the sharp tap of her concealed wand on the ground, she turned from the corpse.
She murmured now with faint anticipation.
"But we'll meet soon. Groundwork's done now."
Starting from the capital's underworld, she'd plant eyes across the empire.
All to find one person... and bring him first.
The Ellis Family boss. What Enoch called the orphan pack's weakest.
Fortunately, she had been eating well.
...Maybe too well.
Crack!
Coat tails fluttering from her shoulders with the wand's tap, Ellis strolled leisurely through her rough-faced underlings.
"Oh right. Krasalis Merchant Company? The one that recently joined the major caravan ranks. They want to officially ally with our family. They paid protection fees upfront, so send a few decent escorts."
"As you wish, Madam."
This happened three hours before Enoch's arrival in the capital.