Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Heading to the Northern Kingdom (2)
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‘Since it was mentioned that she’s a mercenary woman, Lutia is likely part of a mercenary group right now.’
The problem was figuring out which one.
I needed to know that to find her.
The issue was that mercenary groups often moved from region to region, so there was a good chance they weren’t in Nabez.
‘In fact, the odds are they’re not here.’
If they were in the capital, the tavern owner would’ve known.
After pondering for a moment, I turned to Maria.
“Maria, do you know which guild holds the most power in Aintban?”
“The Mercenary Guild, right?”
As expected, Maria was well-informed, like any good merchant.
Aintban Kingdom’s mercenaries were skilled enough to rival knights.
Why else would they send a mercenary to represent Aintban?
“That’s generally true.”
“Generally?”
“Yeah, but the guild with the greatest power isn’t the Mercenary Guild.”
This was info Riya had casually slipped me when I said I was heading to Aintban. No matter how tightly Aintban guarded its secrets, they couldn’t stand up to the Empire’s intelligence network.
“There’s a Thieves’ Guild in Aintban.”
“What? Didn’t that disappear ages ago?”
“You’re right. It’s tied to illegal activities, so most countries have stamped them out.”
But in Aintban, it survived—hushed up, but alive.
The reason lay in the nature of Aintban’s Thieves’ Guild.
“The Thieves’ Guild here deals in information. And they control it.”
“……Ah! So that’s why info on Aintban doesn’t leak out easily.”
“You catch on quick. Most information flows through the Thieves’ Guild.”
Maria’s eyes sparkled at my words.
If they controlled most information, going there meant I could get what I wanted.
“Where is it? I’ll handle the negotiations.”
“I’d hand it off to you for a normal guild, but this one’s different.”
“Huh?”
I chuckled at Maria’s rare show of confusion, her expression plain on her face.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
* * *
Maria and I left the bustling streets and headed toward the outskirts of Nabez.
Unlike the lively center, the outskirts were dark and dingy.
“Slums usually form in the outskirts everywhere, but…… this is especially bad.”
Maria murmured, her face slightly tense.
I agreed.
I’d visited a slum in the Empire before, but Aintban’s was on another level.
[The Empire’s slums were just where the poor gathered. This place is a den of crime.]
‘One wrong glance, and you’d get stabbed.’
I pulled Maria close, ready to protect her, and scanned our surroundings.
The slum dwellers watched us with cold eyes.
Show the slightest opening, and they’d plunge their daggers into us and rob our belongings.
[I’ve never been here either. Good call skipping it.]
‘Aren’t saints supposed to save people like this?’
[I could, but it’s a hassle.]
I was inwardly surprised by Gransesia’s nonchalant reply.
‘You can?’
[Beat them until they turn good, and they’ll reform on their own, right?]
That figures.
Always solving everything with her fists, the simple brute.
[I’m not a brute!]
‘Then use a more refined method.’
[Ugh, uuu.]
Ignoring her odd groan, I stopped in front of a rundown eatery.
A weathered wooden sign bore a vividly drawn picture.
‘Bright red stew, with a black knife stabbed upside-down in the center.’
It was the mark Riya had mentioned.
I exchanged a glance with Maria, then stepped inside.
“Welcome. What’ll you have?”
An old cook greeted us without looking up, still scrubbing dirty dishes.
“I’d like a bottle of wine.”
“What kind?”
“Glaphric Mountain Red.”
I said it calmly to the old cook.
“Glaphric Mountain Red…… Fine stuff. Which vintage?”
“The ’57.”
“How many glasses?”
“Twelve, please.”
At that, the cook’s eyes changed. The flat gaze of a killer, betraying no emotion.
“This way.”
He turned slowly and headed into the wine cellar.
Maria and I followed quietly.
Clunk!
The door shut behind us, and a massive barrel rolled aside.
A small door stood where the barrel had been.
“Didn’t expect someone from out of country.”
The cook led us under the small door as he spoke.
A dim passage came into view, lit faintly by glowing magic stones. We followed slowly.
“To think it’s Clay Banheart, hero of the Founding Festival. Quite an honor.”
“You know me?”
“Who wouldn’t? The hero of the Founding Festival, wielder of a sword from legend.”
Impressive intel, as Riya had recommended.
Even with my rising fame, I hadn’t expected instant recognition.
“Come in.”
The cook opened a creaky door to a room painted deep crimson.
Inside: three black chairs, a large table, and a bottle of red wine in the center.
“The master will be here soon.”
He set two glasses on the table and left quietly.
Maria and I sat, surveying the room.
“Never imagined a place like this under that shabby eatery.”
Maria was calmer than expected.
Her usual blank face showed no change.
“You seem used to this?”
“Not particularly, but guts are the most important virtue for a merchant.”
I was impressed inwardly.
No wonder she was cast as a lead heroine.
Clunk.
The black door opposite opened, and a fierce-looking man entered.
A one-eyed brute, sharpened like a blade.
He approached the table, drew a razor-sharp dagger from his coat.
Thud!
“……Hoo.”
He slammed the crimson dagger into the table and smirked ambiguously.
“Not just any hero, huh. Didn’t expect you to stay so still.”
I said nothing, just stared silently.
Bored by my gaze, he squinted and turned to Maria beside me.
“And this little thing hiding her face. You Timons Trading Company’s miss?”
“Yes.”
“Why cover your face?”
Maria now wore a deep white hood hiding her features. She couldn’t control her ‘Charm’ yet, so it was risky in the slums.
“If you want information, pay up.”
Maria lifted her pink eyes calmly to meet his.
Her emotionless tone twisted his lips in confusion.
“You come to buy info, yet try to sell us some?”
“Honestly, if a guild doesn’t even know why I’m hiding my face, I question their intel.”
“……Cheeky bitch. We know you’re hiding ‘cause you’re pretty.”
“That all you know? Or are you asking ‘cause there’s more that bothers you?”
“Tch.”
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Then turned to me.
“Why’s the hero quiet? Unlike your girl, you get the situation?”
“What situation?”
Maria asked softly, and he grinned like he’d been waiting.
“Know why this room’s painted like this? Countless people lost their lives here.”
“……!”
“Hmph. Too late for regrets. Timons Trading? Founding hero? Doesn’t matter. Show cheek, and you die here.”
Maria narrowed her eyes at his cold words.
But not in fear.
“Still haven’t figured it out, huh.”
The man reached slowly for the dagger in the table.
Killing intent—whose, I couldn’t tell—began filling the room.
“So.”
I said quietly, arms crossed.
“When’s the guild master coming?”
“……What?”
“I get the rambling, but when’s your guild master showing up?”
He gaped at my smirk, eyes wide in shock.
“What’re you on about? I’m the master.”
“Master my ass. There’s five better ones hiding around this room. You saying the guild master’s weaker than these grunts?”
I’d sensed the assassins hiding since entering.
The settings made them obvious.
All mid-level Sword Experts, but I wasn’t scared.
“Bring the guild master now, unless you wanna test me.”
“You bastard……!”
He yanked the dagger from the table.
Five sharp daggers shot from cracks in the wooden walls, straight at me.
“Some guest treatment.”
Before, I couldn’t have stayed this calm.
I’d just become a Sword Expert, filling gaps with added settings.
But two months training Danwol Divine Sword under Damian had changed me.
Beyond swordsmanship, I’d mastered reading the battlefield.
‘And compared to Damian’s sword…… these daggers are……’
Pathetically slow, like child’s play.
Clang clang clang!
“Guh?!”
Silver Star Sword, latter half, Second Form: Self-Rotation.
I swung at the daggers’ paths, and they sparked in midair, flying back whence they came.
“I-Incredible! This doesn’t match our intel…….”
The one-eyed man stared in horror.
He hadn’t imagined my skill level.
“Like Maria said, I’m doubting your intel now too.”
I sheathed Genova slowly.
“This is your last warning. Bring the guild master.”
“Y-You’re just one guy, no matter how skilled. Think you’ll walk away after that attitude?”
“Attitude?”
I’d planned to tolerate it at first.
They were just testing us, not seriously trying to kill.
For a secretive group, caution with unexpected visitors made sense.
But we were guests. This treatment was grating now.
“If you’re a Thieves’ Guild, you’ll know what this mark means.”
I slowly removed the black glove on my right hand.
Held my palm up so they could see.
“H-Huh?! T-That crest……!”
The black dragon crest.
Symbol of the Asktalin Empire’s imperial family.
“I’m in a really bad mood right now.”
If Asktalin willed it, they could wipe out not just the Thieves’ Guild, but Aintban itself.
No guild could defy the Empire.
“All of you, get out here and bow.”
Recently, I’d learned this crest held magic to contact two people instantly.
“Unless you wanna die.”
The Emperor and Princess of the Empire.