Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Golden Goblin (3)
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"My back doesn't hurt anymore."
Muttering that in admiration to myself, I quietly slipped out of the luggage compartment.
When I was a kid, my body was much smaller than it is now... but even then, hiding for hours on end inevitably made my back ache.
Chuckling to myself at the old memory for no particular reason, I quickly crossed the stables toward the main street. Lingering around nearby was just asking for trouble.
The moment I stepped out a short distance...
"Whoa..."
My view opened up wide, and the full panorama of the capital, Elysium, unfolded before my eyes.
Tall buildings spiked upward. Colorful signs beckoned customers, and the people walking the streets were dressed even more vibrantly.
Guards in gleaming armor passed by, robed mages chatted idly, merchants haggled, and even rare non-humans from the south and west appeared occasionally.
So vibrant and varied.
That was my first impression of Elysium.
"Well, makes sense."
House Zahav was a bulwark against dungeon monsters before it was a grand ducal house.
There was a reason Jevella had been tearing her hair out over wall repairs. House Zahav prioritized practicality over aesthetics, like a fortress, and had long been inhabited solely by humans.
Elysium was different. Monsters didn't pop out periodically here; it was where all the empire's goods converged.
Naturally, more people focused on aesthetics than utility.
And where goods concentrate, people follow. A higher proportion of non-humans was inevitable too.
"Never thought I'd see it like this... but it's nice."
Not as an exile from House Zahav, but as its patriarch visiting the capital.
I smirked briefly at the fantastical streetscape I'd only imagined in my head.
But whether I came as an exile or as patriarch, one fact remained: I had to hide my identity for a while. Remembering that, I pulled my hood low first.
From the sidelong glances I felt, my golden hair and tanned skin stood out as unusual, but no one seemed to recognize me as the Grand Duke of Zahav.
That was only true for commoners, though. Black mages would flip out at the sight of me, just like I did with them, so parading my face around was a bad idea.
That was the whole reason I'd snuck in to begin with.
...Hurry up and finish this so I can sightsee the capital.
With my hood up, I headed to a nearby street vendor.
"Hey. Know where I can find the Krsalis Merchant Company?"
"..."
"Oh, and grill me a skewer too."
Saying that, I pulled a silver coin from my pocket and flicked it lightly.
You don't get info like this for free, after all.
The vendor snatched the silver from the air and grinned before finally speaking.
"A guest from out of town? Lately, lots of people have been asking about Krsalis."
"They're famous for ballooning in size recently, right? Bound to have job openings. Especially for heavy lifting—I'm confident there."
"Heh heh."
The vendor chuckled dryly as he skillfully grilled the mystery meat and slathered on sauce, shaking his head.
"Sorry to disappoint, but that might be tough."
"Huh?"
"Heard around lunchtime today that Ellis Family members are guarding the Krsalis company."
"Ellis Family?"
"You might not know them. They're the group that's recently taken over Elysium's back alleys. Not just street thugs—they command several skilled mercenary bands."
"Sounds like stiff competition."
"Pretty much. I once saw from afar the Ellis Family clashing with another group... so many of those rough southern mercenaries..."
"Southern mercenaries?"
People I'd once planned to recruit. Might as well gauge their skills now.
I'd seen mercenaries in Calypso Territory a few times... but now I knew how abnormal that place was.
Checking them against outside standards wouldn't hurt.
...And the name Ellis nagged at me a bit.
The first member of that orphan gang I'd met. Weak in combat but sharp-minded, indispensable outside of fights.
Her name was Ellis too.
But it couldn't be the same person. Even for an Ellis, sneaking into the capital to evade a wanted poster and unifying the back alleys in just a few months? Impossible.
For now, while crushing these black mages, I'd scout the general mercenary level as a bonus.
Especially the southern ones—see if I could pull them to my side.
As I sorted that out in my head, the vendor handed over the finished skewer.
"Here you go. And Krsalis Merchant Company is..."
"Gotta at least try for an interview, right? If not, look for something else."
"Fair enough."
The vendor shrugged and gave detailed directions to the Krsalis company.
I took a big bite of the skewer and headed that way.
By the time I swallowed the last piece, a large building came into view in the distance.
[Krsalis]
"Must be the place."
Pretending to be a passing pedestrian, I drew closer and confirmed it.
A black mage hiding their identity was inside.
Most wouldn't notice... but after so much exposure, I'd built resistance to black magic power. I could sense it.
The faint, unpleasant aura unique to black magic power wafting out.
The black mage was here. Still in this building somewhere, unable to escape. Certain of that, I headed for the front entrance.
Were these the Ellis Family's mercenary affiliates the vendor mentioned? Two burly giants flanked the door.
Their presence wasn't bad. Not knight-level, but stronger than average soldiers.
They glared intimidatingly, but since the first floor bustled with people coming and going, they didn't stop me.
A warning not to try anything stupid.
They seemed diligent in their duties. I mentally gave them points for that.
As I entered the building, one employee approached politely.
"Welcome. What brings you to Krsalis Merchant Company?"
"Hm. What brings me..."
"Sir?"
The employee asked with an innocent expression.
I ignored him for a moment and scanned the surroundings lightly.
Apprentice boys rushing errands frantically, counter staff smiling sweetly at rude customers, exhausted workers hauling stacks of documents, and so on.
I quickly took in most of the company employees on the first floor. And reached a conclusion.
"More than I expected."
"Pardon?"
That there were quite a few black mages disguised as normals.
"Never thought these lunatics could mimic ordinary people this well."
"..."
Realizing something was wrong, the guy who'd been sticking close suddenly backed away... but it was too late.
Thwack!
My casual punch exploded his head.
His body crumpled limply. I peeled off the blood-splattered hood and smirked.
"Get the manager out here!"
The head of the Krsalis Merchant Company.
Bales, also one of the black mages' funding conduits, thought:
'Chaos incarnate.'
Enoch Zahav. The plan to kill him had failed, but surveillance on his every move never stopped. No, it had intensified.
The sight of him single-handedly facing the west's calamity with monstrous strength. The miracle upon his return, arrogantly raising another sun solely for himself in House Zahav.
All observed from afar.
Thus, Bales and the other black mage leaders unanimously decided.
Forget revenge or whatever—just cut ties with Enoch.
But somehow, this time Enoch had tracked Bales down.
Just like in Calypso Territory, to beat black mages to death.
"Unpredictable, uncontrollable, impossible even to lure."
That was why Enoch's existence was always chaos to black mages.
Killing only black mages amid crowds and screams, reducing the expensive Ellis Family mercenaries to helpless wrecks—it hardly mattered now.
To Bales, one thing alone was crucial: what should he do in this situation?
In forging the sword to slay House Zahav, they'd chanced upon a fragment of truth.
The root of Bloodline Abilities, the narrow path to divinity. In other words, the key to transcendence was already in their comrades' hands.
Experiments for it proceeded in places unlinked to House Zahav, and results were imminent.
Bales looked at the subordinate black mages gathered in his room and finally spoke after deliberation.
"We die fighting here."
"...Branch leader?"
"Even if our flesh is destroyed here, if our souls can attain immortality, isn't it worth embracing?"
Enoch was a mad beast whose eyes rolled back at the sight of black mages, a calamity to divinity-dreaming sorcerers.
But once he tasted blood properly, he calmed down relatively.
Like a sated predator preferring naps over hunts.
Bales' conclusion from past experience was simple.
"We all go down thrashing as hard as we can right here. All for the Vow."
"...Yes. All for the Vow."
The subordinates nodded, grasping Bales' intent.
But one. Unlike the others, the young man—still low in attainment, retaining more human thought—differed.
Instead of replying, his teeth chattered as tremors rose from the destruction and death sounds below.
For his naive comrade swayed by needless emotions, Bales dredged up an old comforting gesture.
Tap tap.
Gently patting his shoulder, Bales said,
"Fear not. We'll meet again on the divine throne. For that, we haven't yielded even our faint divinity."
Ignatius, who had truly seen gods, would have scoffed.
But to black mages, it was the seed of divinity, the root of madness—a part of the soul.
They'd restrained the Vow, which could never sprout, to infiltrate society. Thus, it became the core material for this experiment.
The moment a comrade exploited Enoch's lapse to succeed, immortality would birth from mortality.
"So come, die with me."
The moment Bales spoke calmly...
Kwang!
A man burst through the office door, shattering it.
Golden hair like molten pure gold. Skin bronzed by the sun. Amber eyes gleamed with blind murderous intent.
A beast wreathed in roaring flames, drenched in blood, heralding chaos.
Enoch's lips curled up.
"All gathered here, huh. Saved me the trouble of hunting you down."
Bales swallowed hard at the genuinely delighted sight.
Black mages swallowed by the tragic divinity, deluded by the Vow, feared not death.
...But now, having excised part of their madness to hide in plain sight—what then?
Thump. Thump.
Bales' heart beat a tad faster than usual.
A faint emotion regained after decades.
Ordinary folk would call it fear.
Kwang!
One punch shatters the expensive lock. Revealed: a warehouse brimming with gold coins and valuables.
"Indeed. 'Life's about that one big score'—this must be what they mean."
Kill black mages and make bank?
Ka! This is living.