Chapter 123
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Acanthus (2)
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“Is it really okay to just kill off nobles like that?”
No matter how out of touch Maya was with the ways of the world, it had been quite some time since she'd started following Jun around.
Of course, she'd overheard all sorts of things from those around them, and even if she pretended not to care, Maya had always kept her ears open to her surroundings.
Naturally, she knew well enough that nobles weren't the sort of people you could just casually kill.
Only then did Jun clap his hands as if the thought had just occurred to him.
“Ah, I must've cut it too short. I didn't mean for you to get blood on your own hands.”
“Then should I throw a dagger at them?”
“It's not about killing them from afar... I meant politically and socially.”
No matter how much fame Jun had earned, even he couldn't just casually kill nobles up here on the surface.
He could do it, sure, but why create unnecessary weaknesses?
“We'll kill them following Imperial law.”
“Does the law really work that well?”
Maya knew better than most how flimsy the law could be.
Especially for powerful people like nobles, who often wielded it like a weapon themselves.
“You're surprisingly well-informed...”
“I didn't wanna know.”
She'd only pieced it together bit by bit from all the times she'd heard it from Braden, the head of the Black Forest Mercenary Guild branch.
“You're not wrong. But the law's a double-edged sword. You never know when it'll turn on you.”
“...?”
Maya didn't quite get it, but she nodded anyway.
These were the kinds of things Jun had always handled well in the past!
Aiden followed along behind Terdin, the captain of the Blackguard Knights, doing his best to calm his racing excitement.
This was the chance Jun had secured for him.
He couldn't let his own mistakes ruin it.
But seeing the knights he'd always admired from the Imperial Family up close with his own eyes was thrilling enough on its own.
As Aiden walked with a spring in his step,
“Tch, they're looking down on you.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Those words came from Eleanor, walking beside him.
Aiden snapped to attention.
“Look at their eyes. They're dismissing you just 'cause you're a mercenary.”
“Ah...”
Terdin might be unusually approachable for a knight captain, but knights were generally a prideful bunch.
Of course they wouldn't take kindly to a mercenary like Aiden joining their operation.
“I hear you've racked up quite a few achievements.”
“Rumors are just rumors. And it's not like that kid did it all alone.”
“I hope at least half of them are true.”
Skilled mages or priests got some respect, sure.
But warriors who hadn't walked the path of knighthood were dismissed like this on the daily.
Only now did Aiden recall how Colton had eyed Blackguard members suspiciously at first sight.
“That's pretty normal, actually.”
“Really?”
“The knights you've met so far have just been unusually nice. Not everyone's a saint.”
Thinking back, Giovanni the fortress commander, the Sword Ghost Aden, Terdin—they all had experience or broader perspectives.
But Aiden didn't look deflated or anything.
One would think he'd be hurt if the people he admired scorned him.
“Doesn't it bother you?”
“I'm used to it. Even back at the academy.”
“Ah...”
“And above all, I'm a mercenary.”
“True.”
“So I just prove myself with results.”
Eleanor eyed Aiden anew.
The first time she'd seen him in the Black Forest, he'd looked like some grubby kid with just a single sword.
Now he seemed pretty mature.
'That mage's influence too, huh.'
Recalling who Aiden's mentor was, it made perfect sense.
“Not bad.”
And Eleanor didn't mind watching someone grow like this.
The two soon ignored the stares around them and focused on Terdin's briefing.
Chiles, leader of Requiem, gazed out at the vast backyard of the mansion.
'Acanthus's Fang has returned.'
The founder of Requiem, the master revered by every past leader. The legendary assassin Basai.
The man who'd slain an imperial count, a legend among assassins.
Now his secret technique, Acanthus's Fang, had reemerged into the world...
But Chiles couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.
'Of all times, why now?'
He knew what lay beyond that opulent facade of the disgusting mansion all too well, and he sighed inwardly.
It was ironic for an assassin like Chiles to think this way.
But he had no choice.
Requiem had originally banded together as an anti-noble organization.
Yet now, they groveled like dogs under one noble's thumb.
He couldn't be glad in this situation.
'If only we hadn't lost the Dagger of Vengeance.'
There'd been a traitor in the organization.
They'd dealt with him quietly, but the Dagger of Vengeance had already fallen into enemy hands.
And that enemy's identity was none other than...
“You're here.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Viscount Bedron.
A slave trader in the underworld, he held his position among the Imperial nobles by funding their faction.
“The report said Acanthus's Fang has appeared. Is it true?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm...”
Deep-set eyes. But Chiles sensed greed burning within them.
'Bastard.'
He instantly knew what his master was thinking.
'He plans to discard us like a worn rag.'
Combine the Dagger of Vengeance and Acanthus's Fang, train his own direct subordinates, and swallow Requiem whole. That was the scheme.
'This is bad.'
If things continued like this, his own position was at risk—not to mention Requiem's outright dissolution.
'How do I deal with this guy...'
As he pondered,
“I just read the report you sent. Annoying bunch got their hands on it.”
“Yes.”
The White Whale Mercenary Corps.
They were the hot topic among those in the know lately.
And with rumors of their survival after slaying the Orc Lord spreading to the public, they were only gaining more buzz.
But fame came with restrictions on rash actions.
“You put my hair as bait in the commission to them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then just beef up the mansion guards. Now, who did you bait for them?”
“McGray Caravan Master.”
“What...? Pfft!”
How ridiculous.
The McGray Caravan wasn't on the viscount's level, but they'd skyrocketed recently with a massive deal.
But Viscount Bedron laughed for a different reason.
“That idiot really screwed up.”
“...”
The McGray Caravan Master was none other than one of Viscount Bedron's own puppets.
He'd handled all sorts of backroom deals under him for years.
One letter from Bedron, and he'd come running like a dog.
“No need for tricks.”
They had to infiltrate with his hair as proof, breaching countless guards.
But Bedron could fulfill the commission with a flick of his finger. What kind of matchup was this?
'But would he really not know that?'
The thought flashed through Chiles's mind.
A man who'd gained that much fame in such a short time.
According to their intel, he even had Gilenoi Merchant Guild backing.
They wouldn't go down this easily.
“Bring McGray by morning. You stay here too.”
“Understood.”
“Prepare in case they come tonight.”
“Yes.”
But Chiles's hunch missed the mark.
The next morning.
“What?”
Viscount Bedron's servant trembled under his furious glare.
“M-McGray Caravan Master left for Bandran Seas the morning before last... by ship...”
A six-month voyage? Bedron erupted.
“What nonsense is that?! Why the hell would he go that far?!”
“A huge deal came in, so he left in a hu-hurry...”
“A deal? Even so, without reporting to me?!”
Viscount Bedron had no idea.
That the man he treated like a dog had long prepared to betray him at a moment's notice.
This was the first snag signaling things were going wrong.
“Hm. Going smoothly.”
Jun nodded faintly after reading the letter from Cloi.
McGray Caravan Master had set off for the Bandran Seas as requested.
“Sending the enemy somewhere else entirely? Leader's so wise.”
“It works, but I never planned to actually send him all the way to Bandran Seas.”
“Why not?”
“McGray knows too much.”
Couldn't risk sending a guy like that across the ocean for real.
He had a key role in this operation, after all.
Instead, one of his hired navigators would lead him astray.
“That navigator from Gilenoi Merchant Guild too?”
“Sharp as ever. Yep.”
“...Leader. You're scary.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
“But we just gonna hold him? Or interrogate?”
“Interrogate, yeah.”
“He'll spill easy on a hit to his own neck?”
“Not with normal methods.”
Mind magic wouldn't work smoothly either.
These types usually had mental protections too.
“But he'll sing about all his backroom deals with Viscount Bedron on his own.”
Why? Because Jun had already written down every detail and passed it to Gilenoi's people.
'[Exceptional Memory] comes in handy for this.'
Those deals predated Jun's influence in this world—no variables from him.
So he'd transcribed everything from the game straight to paper.
The moment that list hit McGray, he'd confess everything to save his skin.
He'd realize Viscount Bedron's ship was sinking.
“Just sweet-talk him with a promise of leniency, and he'll spill it all.”
“Hmm...”
“What?”
“Leader, if I mess up, just tell me straight. No hard feelings.”
“Haha.”
Maya preferred a straight fight over these mind games.
Even thinking about it gave her a headache.
And she wasn't the only one with a headache.
“What the hell kind of bullshit is that?!”
Viscount Bedron was so enraged, his head felt like it might explode.