Chapter 81
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Rocky Cliff Wharf (2)
I still had some time before my appointment with Beth, so I kept hunting in the dungeon during that interval.
My main hunting ground was Zone 7-2, the Black Altar.
Boom—
One of the stone statues crumbled with a loud crash.
That left just one stone statue remaining in the room.
I immediately manipulated the golem, ordering it to attack the stone statue.
The golem climbed up the statue's arm and smashed its neck.
The statue's head then tumbled to the floor, emitting a brilliant light—
Kaboom—!
It exploded with a deafening blast, the heat engulfing my body.
I quickly cast Inferno in front of me to offset the flames somewhat.
When I checked my wounds afterward, it was just a minor burn on my arm.
And even that healed completely in no time.
[Fanatic Stone Statue defeated.]
[Experience gained.]
[Level up!]
[Current Level: 68 → 69]
[Extracting Stone Statue circuits.]
[Current extraction rate: 40%]
The stone statue was defeated, experience points rose, and my level increased by one.
I inspected my blue robes, which had been caught in the explosion, checking for scorch marks, but they were perfectly fine.
They were worth the price, it seemed.
The robes from the Magic Tower's clothing shop had looked like they were burning even from a small flame... but that had been fire cast by a 5th Circle mage.
They could handle an explosion like this no problem.
I recovered the magic stone from the floor and exited the dungeon.
The city was shrouded in darkness.
It was now the second night since I'd visited the Magic Tower.
Tomorrow, Beth's guild would begin clearing out the back alleys.
I returned to the mansion and scattered food for the spirits in various spots around the grounds.
Since I might come back late, hiding it moderately would let the spirits find and eat it themselves when they got hungry.
Then I headed to the meeting spot.
"......"
"......"
Bruhan, the coachman from Beth's guild, Shadow Union.
The man who would take me to the guild's hideout.
Bruhan spotted me and gave a light nod.
I returned the greeting and boarded the carriage.
The carriage set off without delay.
As it climbed the mountain road under cover of darkness, a familiar mansion came into view.
Shadow Union's hideout.
After disembarking, someone came out to greet me.
"You're here?"
Beth smiled faintly upon seeing me.
"What's with the new outfit?"
"Got it custom-made."
"Just you?"
"Yeah."
"...Nice pick."
Beth twirled her dagger before tucking it away and led me inside the mansion.
The room we arrived at was the guest room I'd used before.
"Use this one. You stayed here last time, right?"
Beth then pulled a mission paper outlining tomorrow's schedule from her pocket and handed it to me.
"But you're joining all three? What changed? You seemed indifferent at first."
"Got some time on my hands."
I gave a vague answer and took the mission paper.
[Rocky Cliff Wharf]
[Occupied by Iron Hog Pirates]
The place we'd be hitting tomorrow was Rocky Cliff Wharf.
It had originally been a small fishing village, but it met a tragic fate when the Iron Hog Pirates drifted in one day and seized it.
Clearing this spot would drastically reduce the frequency of sea raider appearances, and afterward, Rockhart Merchant House would gain another route for expanding into maritime trade.
Of course, my reason for joining the cleanup wasn't that.
It was the Kraken nest hidden beneath the wharf's cliffs.
A sea treasure chest was concealed there.
Krakens were level 90 to hunt... but there were plenty of ways to snag the treasure chest and bolt.
"Checked the mission paper? We've already scouted the area, so as soon as you get in, take the wharf."
Beth pointed to the wharf marked in the corner of the mission paper.
Shadow Union had a total of eight members.
Only four were actually combat-capable.
The other four's main duties were scouting and intel gathering.
Each combat member was paired with a non-combat one, monitoring the three villages.
"Alright, I'll wake you tomorrow."
As Beth finished explaining and turned to leave, I stopped her.
"Got something to say."
"Yeah?"
I held her back.
I told her about Louisel, the imperial mage from the Empire I'd met before.
The one who'd tried to charm me to extract information.
"The Empire?"
"Yeah. Brought up the kingdom's war."
"...Got it. But you got charmed?"
"I'm fine. I resisted."
I shook my head, but Beth stepped closer.
"That's not for you to decide."
Beth pulled a small monocular from her pocket and peered at me through it.
She examined every inch of me meticulously, then nodded as if no issues.
"No signs of mental domination. No tracking traces either."
Beth pocketed the monocular.
She then called over Bruhan, the coachman who'd brought me here, and asked him something.
"...Really?"
When Bruhan shook his head, denying whatever she'd said, Beth finally seemed satisfied and reached for my arm.
"Not broken midway either? Guess you really resisted."
"Yeah."
"Impressive. An imperial mage would've been highly skilled."
"I've got plenty of experience."
High mental strength resists status ailments and curses easily.
And that mental strength grows through diverse experiences.
My current mental strength was 500.
Normally, that level shouldn't resist an imperial mage's curse, but strangely, I shook off the abnormality with ease.
I had a hunch about it.
The change that happened after visiting the auction house.
The day my mind split in two, when a massive version of myself burst out from my back.
It coincided with the day I used the body reconstruction rune, so the changes must stem from that.
"Alright, no problems there. So, what do you want to do?"
"Curious about their goal."
The Empire had long pulled back from Labyrinth City.
At most, they stationed a few knights—nothing like their past full-scale operations. Their investment and interest had dwindled.
Even the mansion I lived in had been sold by an imperial count.
So why had the Empire sent a count and an imperial mage to Labyrinth City?
"The reason... Well, if that mage comes sniffing around me, I'll know right away. That all?"
I gave Beth a sly smile at her question.
"Already tossed out the bait. Time to prep the hook."
Luiel, the imperial mage.
She was a mage who handled her affairs meticulously.
She took immense pride in her curses, placing great trust in info gained through charms.
So, hearing Beth's name from what she thought was a charmed mouth? She'd definitely come to meet Beth.
She obsessed over info she'd personally obtained and had a habit of verifying it thoroughly.
I gave Beth a brief rundown of Luiel's traits.
"She trusts info she gets herself especially?"
Beth nodded, grasping it roughly.
"So, can I squeeze her? No trouble?"
"Should be fine."
Luiel, imperial mage, was the second daughter of a ducal house.
She'd have more money than she could spend.
And if the intel checked out, no complaints.
"Got it. But I can't go solely on your word, so I'll need a few more hands."
"Don't do overt background checks. She'll catch on eventually."
"I know. She uses charms, right? There are ways around that."
Beth patted my arm reassuringly and continued.
"Oh, and from now on, casual speech with everyone. Not just me—all guild members."
She explained that less info leaked to unknowns the better.
Polite speech would immediately signal hierarchy.
I nodded slightly in understanding and replied.
"Got it."
"Good."
Beth grinned at my response.
The next day.
As soon as dawn broke, Beth woke me.
We grabbed a quick breakfast and boarded the carriage.
"I'll hop off midway, so you stay in the carriage and head straight to the village."
Beth handed me the Rockhart Merchant House seal.
"Show this at the entrance. You're a salt merchant from now on."
"Salt's a bit much, isn't it?"
"Use casual speech, remember?"
"...Isn't it too much?"
Beth chuckled and opened one of the jars in the carriage corner.
"It's fine. Only this one's real."
There were twelve jars loaded.
Only the smallest one was filled with actual salt.
This job was all about expanding Rockhart's influence, so they'd provided solid support.
"If they try checking every one, just kill 'em. Means more work, but whatever."
Beth flashed a chilling smile.
The wharf pirates had racked up bounties for sea raiding and countless murders.
Shadow Union targeted types like them precisely because there was no backlash.
"Still, if you can slip in quietly, don't stir up trouble. Got it?"
The reason for entering via carriage was simple.
To position ourselves and prevent the pirates from fleeing as much as possible.
Kicking off a ruckus at the entrance might let the inner pirates escape by sea from the wharf.
Chasing them all down would just multiply the workload.
I nodded lightly to show I understood.
The carriage raced across open fields, then entered the mountain path.
"See you later."
Whoosh—Beth leaped into the forest.
Her figure melted into the underbrush almost immediately.
No one could match her stealth, so that side was covered.
The carriage pressed on through the mountain road and arrived at the small village.
"Halt right there."
At the village entrance stood four obvious pirates on watch.
One approached and stopped the carriage.
"Which merchant house you from?"
"......"
The burliest pirate lumbered over.
He addressed Bruhan the coachman, but got no reply.
"Ignoring me? Which house, I said?"
He started peeking into the carriage.
I stepped down and approached him.
"We're from Rockhart Merchant House. Heard you might want to buy salt, so we came."
"......"
I flashed a kindly smile and showed him the salt jar.
"Our house's salt has pure crystals and fine grains—top quality. Mind if we show you the details inside?"
"......"
I delivered my prepared lines, but the response was ice-cold.
Weird.
Then the big brute at the front spoke up.
"You messing with us?"
"...?"
"This is a port village. We produce our own salt. You trying to sell us salt?"
...Oh. They make their own salt?
Didn't know that.
"And you."
The pirate took another step toward me.
"With that build, you expect me to buy you're a merchant? I ain't that stupid."
He pointed at my physique.
...Well, that's unfair.
"Don't know what business a knight has here, but coming alone? Guess we looked like a joke."
"Hey. Cat got your tongue?"
"How many knights you think we've killed? And you show up solo?"
Pirates began gathering around the carriage one by one.
They surrounded it, chuckling and tossing barbs.
A quick glance: twelve of them, gripping curved swords.
"...This is unfair."
"Keh. Don't look so bummed, knight. Coming with a sword hidden under merchant rags with that body? Makes you seem like your brain's all muscle too."
The big pirate cackled.
I set the salt jar on the ground and drew my staff from my pocket.
"...This wasn't the plan."
"Enough—kill him!"
At the big pirate's shout, the others charged me in unison.
I focused mana at the staff's tip.
Crackle—
Blue lightning engulfed the area around the carriage.
The bolt of electricity bursting from the staff tip charred all twelve surrounding pirates black.
"...What?"
A dazed voice leaked from the big pirate's mouth.
He snapped to and tried fleeing backward, but...
Thuk.
He hadn't gone far when his throat was pierced, and he collapsed.
Seemed like Bruhan's hidden weapon.
But the commotion was already made.
Ding—ding—ding—
A clanging sound echoed from deep inside the village.
...So much for an easy job.