Luiel's Commission
I slipped out of the room and retraced my steps back the way I'd come.
Once I reached the entrance, I raised the ritual dagger and slashed across the back of my hand again.
Bloodstone destroyed.
— Ritual released
As the bloodstone shattered, the ritual ended, and the scales sprouting across my body vanished.
My legs lost their fins too, reverting to human form.
But the webbing between my fingers and toes remained.
The effects of consuming the Siren's Tear and transforming into a sea race were still holding.
Remaining duration: 5 minutes
Time was running out.
I scanned the entrance for the golem I'd left waiting.
"……."
Pirate Captain Drake had used the Siren's Tear before me, so its effects had worn off completely, leaving him back in human form.
Having been shrunken by the siren black mage, he was out cold in a ship flooded with water, too weak even to fend off my golem.
I dismissed the golem and stored it in my inventory.
It was heavy, so this was faster.
Then I grabbed the unconscious Drake and swam out to sea.
Once we reached the beach,
"You're back?"
Beth waved as she spotted me.
Behind her stood a line of people bearing the Rockhart Merchant Group crest on their chests.
The Rockhart Knights, knights sworn to the Rockhart count family.
As I emerged from the water,
Effect released.
— Siren's Tear
The webbing at the ends of my fingers and toes melted away.
The Siren's Tear effects had expired, returning my race to human.
I handed the unconscious pirate captain Drake to Beth as I approached her on dry land.
"You actually caught him?"
Beth gave Drake a quick once-over, then gestured for the Rockhart Knights to take him.
A couple of lower-ranking knights stepped forward, secured both of us—no, just Drake—and hauled him to the transport wagon.
"Good work. Where were you?"
Beth handed me a dry cloth as she asked.
I wiped off the seawater and gave her a brief rundown on the Kraken Nest.
"… Sounds risky. Should we scrap the sea route?"
"It's fine as long as you don't get close."
"Yeah?"
The Kraken Nest required diving deep into the ocean to access, and the creatures inside never ventured out.
By the lore, the Kraken would sleep soundly in its nest for the next ten years.
The sirens wouldn't disturb its slumber, and without that, they had no reason to emerge either.
"Let's head out, then."
I followed Beth back to the village entrance.
Coachman Bruhan was waiting aboard the carriage.
As soon as we climbed in, it set off without delay.
"You did great this time."
Beth handed me a pouch of gold coins.
I took it, and she motioned for me to open it.
Inside was a pile of Imperial Gold Coins.
I'd expected around a hundred coins, but this was more generous than anticipated.
Spotting my reaction, Beth smirked and continued.
"Includes the captain's bounty too. Handle the rest like you did this one."
"Got it."
I stowed the pouch in my inventory.
"You know the remaining schedule?"
I nodded lightly in response.
Remaining Quests
☐ Day 3: Rock Cliff Dock — Completed
☐ Day 5: Crow's Nest
☐ Day 6: Arman Abandoned Mine
Of the three planned sites, Rock Cliff Dock was a success—the Rockhart Merchant Group had seized it.
Rest tomorrow, then Crow's Nest on day five.
"Oh, and."
Beth pulled a letter from her bosom.
"Made contact with that imperial mage from the Empire I mentioned. We're heading there now—follow me."
Before coming to Rock Cliff Dock, we'd met the imperial mage Luiel in Labyrinth City.
She'd already set up the meeting.
"I've laid the groundwork for you."
Since last night, Beth had dug into Luiel's background in Labyrinth City and used the info I'd provided to prime things.
She'd positioned people so Luiel's investigations would naturally turn up Beth's name often—her reputation helped.
Simple as placing familiar faces along Luiel's path, and already she was requesting a meet.
I nodded in understanding and caught a quick nap.
The carriage rolled on until we reached Labyrinth City as dusk fell.
After disembarking, I followed Beth through the back door of the Rockhart Merchant Group HQ branch and up to the second floor.
"Wait here."
She led me to the innermost room.
I sat quietly, and soon the door to the adjacent room opened.
Two sets of footsteps—one heavy, one light, starkly different in build.
Then a voice rang out.
"Pleased to meet you!"
Gardan Count.
Patriarch of the Gardan family, owners of the Empire's vastest lands among noble houses.
Following his boisterous tone,
"Pleased to meet you too… Beth, right?"
Imperial mage Luiel.
Her voice carried clearly.
I held my breath, listening intently.
"You're younger than I expected. Rumors had me picturing some balding old thug from the back alleys. The big shot, right?"
"State your business."
Beth cut her off curtly.
"… I need an answer before we proceed. You're the Beth everyone's hyping up, aren't you?"
"……."
Silence blanketed the next room.
Only sounds reached me—no visuals—but a brief standoff crackled between Beth and Luiel.
The more desperate side yielded first.
"… Haa. If you're not who you claim…."
Luiel grumbled softly, then got to the point.
"I'm Luiel, imperial mage of the Empire. Lately, rumors say the Kingdom's gearing up for war. Heard anything?"
Thud thud.
A frustrated desk-tap—light, so probably Luiel.
"The Emperor and the Kingdom's second prince are thick as thieves. A prince who never even held a coronation starting a war? Absurd."
"So? Why come to me."
Beth gave nothing away, demanding answers instead.
Luiel sighed briefly at her demeanor.
"… Once you hear more, no turning back."
"I know. Out with it."
"……."
Luiel grew serious.
"Investigate those war rumors. True or false—and if false, the source."
"… That's it?"
"You joking? The Emperor wants good ties with the Kingdom. If word gets out we're chasing shadows… you get it."
The Kingdom and Empire got along on the surface.
More precisely, Emperor Zigfried was naive as they come.
Always seeing the bright side.
A pushover, basically.
"Advance payment. Double it on success."
Clink.
A heavy pouch hit the table.
"See you in a month."
"Mm! Let's wrap this up!"
They rose, footsteps retreating down the hall.
I waited until they cleared the second floor, then slipped next door.
A small room with a table and two chairs per side.
A pouch of Imperial Gold Coins sat atop it.
"Advance of 500 Imperial Gold Coins. Big spender, as you said."
Double on completion—for this? A thousand coins total.
Which meant….
"Like a test?"
I nodded at Beth's words.
She had ulterior motives but was playing it cautious for now.
"So, what now?"
She pointed at the pouch.
"We take it."
To hear more, we'd play along.
"What now?!"
"… Gardan. Voice down outside, please."
Luiel shushed him with a finger to her lips; the Gardan Count nodded vigorously in compliance.
Simple man.
But that unpretentiousness was both flaw and virtue.
Luiel strolled slowly through Labyrinth City, deep in thought.
Find the book the second prince had been reading.
Emperor Zigfried had secretly summoned her and Gardan Count with that order.
At first, hunting a mere book seemed baffling.
But the deeper the probe, the stranger it got.
Fifteen years ago.
Empire's prince Zigfried and Kingdom's second prince Roderick shared a deep bond.
One day, Roderick got his hands on an Eastern book by chance and read it.
From that moment, he changed—like his soul swapped bodies.
Contact ceased; Zigfried never saw him again.
Clinging to faint hope, Zigfried ordered probes into the book repeatedly.
None could confirm its existence.
Worse, Empire agents in the Kingdom got nabbed.
They talked their way out of execution, but bolder moves risked irreparable rift between nations.
"Watch and wait for now."
Luiel muttered as she returned to her lodgings.