Chapter 58
Chapter 58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Gently Scratching the Itch (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If I left this tavern, someone would surely tail me.
They'd be dying to know how I figured out she was suffering from that illness.
Of course, I planned to satisfy that curiosity.
Just not in the way they expected.
"Well, if you put it that way, what choice do I have?"
I raised both hands in mock surrender.
The woman slipped her wrists free from the loosened bonds.
"But that's not the only reason I'm here."
As she said that, she reached toward the table.
She pulled all the utensils pointing away from me to my side.
Then, scraping the edge of the plate, she looked at the woman.
"I want to talk to the boss."
The woman's expression changed.
My gesture was the standard signal for placing a request with this guild.
Her pale blue eyes scanned me carefully, now tinged with a different light.
"I see."
Her tone shifted slightly.
"The boss is over there."
She lifted her free hand to point at the counter.
The man counting money there shot me a sharp glare.
"Talk to me, sir."
I snorted derisively, as if that was absurd.
"Didn't you hear me? I said I want to talk to the boss."
"Yes, so he's right over..."
"You're the boss, Elice."
A bizarre silence fell over the tavern.
Of the three who froze like statues, the counter man moved first.
*Shing!*
A dagger flew at me from who-knows-where.
But it never reached its target, ending its flight midway.
*Crash!*
Thanks to the glass I hurled at it.
"-!"
The eyes of all three widened.
Unlike the other two, who openly showed their shock, the man at the counter merely twitched his eyebrows to betray his feelings.
That didn't make him the boss, though.
"Is throwing weapons at customers how the Vendetta Guild says hello?"
I asked the woman standing rigid in front of me.
The middle-aged clerk and her unassuming appearance made her seem unimportant.
Countless visitors had dismissed her and gone to the back room to deal with the man at the counter.
But the real boss of this tavern—no, the Vendetta Guild—was Elice, standing right here.
She stared at me with a face stiff as stone.
"......"
Silence blanketed the tavern.
The clerk who had drawn his dagger and approached me.
The boss at the counter, shoulders tense as he watched us.
All awaited Elice's command, eyes fixed on her.
"Hoo."
With a low sigh, Elice relaxed her rigid stance.
"You really..."
Her voice began to change bit by bit.
"...know quite a lot, don't you."
From the low timbre of a middle-aged woman to that of a young maiden.
"Did you look into my background?"
Her final voice was fresh and lively, like beads of dew rolling brightly.
I let out a smirk.
"Feeling like talking now?"
"Who knows."
Elice sat primly and replied coyly.
"Women don't like men who drag their secrets out in the open."
"But you didn't choose that disguise. So it's not really a secret, is it?"
I gazed steadily into her blue eyes.
"Besides, your eyes are still beautiful."
"......"
Elice bit her lip and glared at me.
She seemed to think I was still toying with her.
Those vivid eyes didn't match her wrinkled face at all.
It really drove home that her true age was in her twenties.
"Enough joking. Let's talk business."
Elice gestured to the chair opposite, inviting me to sit.
I nodded toward the man beside me.
"After he puts away his weapon."
"Dexter."
At Elice's commanding call,
"Tch."
Dexter clicked his tongue loudly and sheathed his dagger.
"Better now?"
"No."
I shook my head with a chuckle.
"Tell that guy to put away all the hidden weapons in his hands too."
My gaze was fixed on the man at the counter as I spoke.
"-!"
The man startled and stiffened.
He looked to Elice, pleading with his eyes for guidance.
"......William."
When Elice called his name, William let out a small sigh.
His arm moved faintly.
*Click.*
The sound of metal sliding back into place brushed my ear.
A noise no ordinary human could hear.
But my hyper-attuned senses picked it up clearly.
No one in this room could dominate the space better than I could.
"Good."
Only after sensing the hostility drain from both men did I turn to Elice.
"First, why don't you reveal who you are?"
Elice tilted her head slightly.
Her upturned eyelids framed blue eyes that gleamed coldly.
Without those wrinkles, she'd be quite the striking beauty.
*Melina's got nothing on her.*
Honestly, this was more my type.
Not that I had a thing for older women.
My tastes ran a different way.
I responded leisurely.
"How long have you been cozying up to the clients?"
"Well, it doesn't matter who the client is."
Elice toyed with her nail tips as she answered.
"But if they know too much about me, that's another story."
"Yeah?"
I lifted my robe slightly.
Elice's eyes flicked to my exposed jawline.
Holding her gaze, my lips moved.
"How about a guess? Who I am."
"Hmm."
Elice lowered her eyes softly and propped her chin, deep in thought.
"Your voice sounds young, and from what I can see, you're quite handsome."
"......"
"You wear a sword, so you know how to use it. And that fabric—it's premium weave from the central region."
I nodded for her to continue.
"Your posture and speech suggest high-class upbringing. Given your age, you're probably some noble family's young lord."
Not bad.
Elice was closing in on the truth faster than expected.
"But there's a western accent in your speech. Someone coming to the capital right now..."
I curled my lips in amusement.
"...a knight from the Ovest Knight Order?"
"......"
My lips pressed into a straight line.
Damn, figures. No one would suspect the Ovest family's wastrel of coming to the capital with his father's seal.
My interest plummeted, and I changed the subject.
"Whatever. Let's talk about the request."
"No, you have to tell me if my guess is right."
"Is that important right now? The request is."
Elice let out an exasperated laugh at my retort.
"I've run this guild for years, but you're a first."
"I get that a lot."
"So, you won't tell me how you know about me?"
*I've seen you in the original story.*
I stared at Elice's slightly sulky face.
I wondered what she'd say if I told her I'd seen her in the original.
Not that I needed to.
She wouldn't even understand.
So I deflected vaguely.
"You'll figure it out naturally once this is over."
"That's inconvenient."
Elice irritably brushed back her hair.
Her once-bright blonde locks were now streaked with silver from premature graying.
"But... I can't deny my curiosity outweighs it."
Elice raised both hands in surrender.
"Fine, you win. Tell me about this request in detail."
"But what I want isn't a request."
Elice's face twisted in confusion at my words.
"Then what was all this about?"
"More precisely..."
I parted my lips and murmured softly.
"I want the Vendetta Guild."
Silence fell over the tavern once more.
This time, it carried a heavier weight.
Dexter, standing frozen and blinking, muttered,
"He's totally insane..."
*Pop!*
He didn't finish.
I'd flung a fork from the table, shattering the bottle beside him.
Glass shards exploded outward, scattering liquor and fragments everywhere.
"Ugh!"
Dexter clamped his mouth shut and scrambled back.
He looked at me with wide-eyed dread.
"What kind of strength..."
He realized no normal force could smash a bottle with a dull *thud* like that.
I gave him a chilling smile.
"Your staff has loose lips."
Elice furrowed her brow.
"Understand our position. This is unprecedented."
"Unprecedented? A guild like yours can't be that peaceful."
"Not that."
Elice sighed loudly.
"We've had plenty of rowdy drunks.
But no one's ever made an absurd demand like this."
She beckoned Dexter, who grumbled as he fetched cleaning tools.
"Stop breaking the shop's stuff. You're not paying for it all, are you?"
"You attacked first."
"Sigh, whatever."
Elice shrugged and continued.
"Our guild doesn't deal in buyable or sellable things.
Information is our main commodity, so trust among members is key.
That's why outsiders..."
"Hey, no beating around the bush between pros."
I felt the need to be blunt.
"The Mare Guild has a hidden real owner too."
"......You really do have top-tier intel. That's closely guarded info."
"Not bad for someone from the western territories?"
Elice shut her mouth as I piled on.
She realized I'd half-confirmed her guess and cleared her throat awkwardly.
"So, like that owner, you want to own our guild."
"Yes."
The Mare Guild.
With branches across the empire, word was any territory's event reached the guild master's desk in a day.
Like a massive vein pulsing through the empire, its leader was known as an elderly man.
But even he was just running it for the true owner.
*The real owner is Cain's father, Carlo Sud Ardante.*
He'd built the Mare Guild with his vast wealth, hoarding info to manipulate the empire at will.
*Why couldn't I do the same?*
The Vendetta Guild.
I planned to grow it into a rival for the Mare Guild.
"By the way."
Elice, pondering my words, spoke up.
"What do you plan to do with our guild?"