Chapter 33
Episode 33
[I thought you might know someone there? You spoke as if you were familiar with the capital.]
"I don't know anyone at all."
[Hmm. So you're telling me to figure out how to sell this unproven medicine to nobles since you have no connections... Is that what you're saying?]
"Exactly."
Logan's nonchalant reply left Philip momentarily speechless.
[...If this goes wrong, I'll definitely be the one who dies—not you.]
"It'll be fine."
[You say that so easily because it's not your neck on the—]
"What was that?"
[N-No, nothing! Hmm. If you want to build connections with nobles, parties are the best way.]
"Parties? Parties, huh..."
[Yes. But I'm a commoner, so I can't attend noble parties. That means at least you should—]
"Me? You want me to go to a party?"
The MacLaine family, who couldn't possibly afford such frivolities, had naturally never attended one. Even in his past life, the only "parties" Logan had experienced were rowdy victory celebrations with mercenaries and a handful of knights.
That alone was already a troublesome request, but it didn't end there.
[Even if you attend parties and make connections, it'll take time for those relationships to deepen enough to be useful for business. And you can't just start peddling goods at a party.]
"Huh? Direct sales? Oh-ho!"
[...Just to be clear, you absolutely cannot do that. Not only would you be ruined in high society, but the entire MacLaine family would be blacklisted.]
"No, I don't mean selling. As long as I'm not the one selling, it's fine, right?"
[What?]
Philip's voice trembled with unease as he sensed something ominous brewing.
"Hmm. You just gave me a great idea. Let's meet in the capital."
[Me too? But I still have work here—]
"You'll arrive in a week. Meet me inside the West Gate of Gran in the morning, one week from now."
[Wait, Logan. Are you even listening to—]
Bzzt.
Click.
Despite Philip's desperate protests, Logan strode out of the communication room with noticeably lighter steps, already lost in thought.
***
"You're leaving again?"
"Yes. After experiencing such a major incident, I need time to calm my shaken spirit."
"...You?"
"Yes."
Patrick sighed at his eldest son's absurd excuse for requesting an audience.
"Sigh... Fine. Where do you plan to go?"
"I was thinking of visiting the capital."
"The capital?"
"Yes."
"You're going to a bustling city to 'calm your spirit'?"
"To broaden my horizons."
"...You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
Patrick stared at Logan's shamelessly straight face, unable to hide his disbelief—but his son's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
'I can't exactly tell him I'm going to the capital to sell stamina potions.'
No matter how profitable the product, if Logan admitted he planned to personally peddle it (?) rather than going through merchant guilds, his father would never allow it.
'He'd start lecturing me about noble dignity and stop me.'
So in situations like this, it was better to brazenly push forward.
"Fine. I'm sure you have your reasons. Go ahead."
Surprisingly, permission was granted much more easily than expected.
Fortunately, the reputation he had built through his achievements still held strong.
The capital—a place he was visiting for the first time in this life.
A noble scion traveling alone without attendants, hauling nearly 2,000 crates in a carriage, did raise some eyebrows within the family.
But thanks to his wartime accomplishments, no one dared oppose Logan's near-forceful insistence.
Thus, Logan found himself preparing for a rare night of peaceful stargazing by the roadside, using the night sky as his blanket.
"Can't be helped. Rick has work to do."
If Rick—who was toiling daily in the warehouse with increasingly dark circles under his eyes—heard this, he'd lose his mind.
Since Logan wanted to keep the connection between Karok meat and this "medicine" as hidden as possible, there was no choice for now.
He simply didn't have any other subordinates he could fully trust.
"Still, I do feel a little guilty..."
Logan wasn't completely devoid of conscience.
"Alright. From now on, your name shall be Impo-Rick."
He christened the towering stack of crates—the fruits of Rick's labor—with Rick's name.
'Impotence-curing Rick. Perfect!'
At that very moment, Rick, who had just managed to drift into an exhausted sleep, shuddered from an inexplicable chill.
***
The crowd packed so densely before the city gates that there was barely room to step.
Even from a distance where people looked like mere specks, the grandeur of the gates and walls was overwhelming.
It was a sight that made them seem like tiny figures entering a giant's castle.
Such was the majesty of Gran, the capital of the Millennium Kingdom—a fortress city boasting overwhelming scale.
The towering walls, standing at a staggering 20 meters tall, had endured for a thousand years without crumbling or eroding, thanks to periodically renewed protective magic.
Stories claimed that even an aura user's strikes could barely leave a scratch on them.
'That part's an exaggeration, though.'
Having witnessed those very walls crumbling helplessly in his past life, Logan found their imposing presence oddly discomforting—a reminder of the Empire's terrifying might.
That discomfort only grew as the walls loomed closer and the bustling crowds came into full view.
'A permanent population of one million, with over two million transient souls—the greatest and largest city in the eastern continent.'
To the people of the Grandia Kingdom, the capital Gran was the very symbol and pride of their thousand-year history.
An ancient fortress city unmatched even by the Ares Empire.
But Logan's feelings as he gazed upon it were entirely different.
Staring silently at the gates, visions of their collapse and the countless deaths that followed unfolded like a panorama before his eyes.
"Ugh..."
The memory of leaving the already-burning MacLaine estate behind as he raced madly toward the capital.
And the beloved face he saw at these very western gates—his body battered, collapsing atop a mountain of enemy corpses.
'...Ronian.'
And the helpless agony of watching his younger brother dragged away in chains, powerless to intervene.
Grit.
'Never again...'
Neigh—!
"Eek!"
Lost in thought, Logan unconsciously clenched the reins too tightly, causing the horses to rear up abruptly.
"W-Watch out!"
"Move back!"
The startled crowd scrambled away in alarm.
"Lord Logan!"
The commotion allowed the party waiting inside to spot him a little earlier than planned.
***
"So, what's your plan?"
"First, we need a list of potential customers."
"Customers?"
"A list of nobles with erectile dysfunction. Can you get it?"
Philip stared at Logan in disbelief—though they hadn't met in a while, this was beyond absurd.
[...Do I look like I would have that?]
"Right? They'd keep it secret, wouldn't they?"
"Obviously. Those kinds of people would never... Wait, you can't possibly mean—"
"Exactly. In a city this size, there are bound to be people who sell those secrets."
This was the starting point of Logan's business strategy.
The seekers of secrets. Most "real" information guilds operated in the shadows, gathering intelligence from the light.
They were selective with clients, ready to sever ties and vanish at the first sign of trouble.
And among such guilds, one of the most renowned—Nox—had a branch in Gran.
[...How in the world do you know that?]
"Don't worry about it. Stay here and rest. I'll handle this alone."
"W-Wait! I'm coming with you!"
Despite having a safe place to stay, Philip insisted on following—his voice trembling slightly.
Yet the determination in his eyes was genuine.
As a merchant, he understood the value of information better than anyone.
Establishing connections with a capable information guild was every merchant's dream—an essential step for any aspiring magnate.
"It's dangerous. You could die."
[...I'll stay put.]
But Philip's surrender came swiftly. After all, nothing mattered more than his own life.
Logan smirked at the quick retreat before briskly setting off.
***
Despite securing a luxurious 50-gold-per-night lodging in the Inner City, Logan's destination was the slums outside the eastern Outer City.
A century ago, as the western Ares Empire's rapid rise shifted trade routes westward, the wealthy and powerful migrated en masse.
Those left in the east were the destitute—people too poor to leave.
The largest concentration of such impoverished souls formed outside Gran's eastern Outer City.
Over time, criminals fleeing from the Inner City or abroad, along with societal misfits, infiltrated these areas, creating sprawling slums.
But the corrupt upper echelons of society couldn't be bothered to lift a finger for these "trash."
The result? A complete breakdown of law and order, eventually leading to the birth of the worst lawless zone—abandoned even by the kingdom.
A place where an eerie gloom lingered even at high noon.
The ugly underbelly of Gran, hidden beneath the glamour of noble districts and bustling Outer City markets.
Nox's Gran branch was tucked away in the deepest corner of this lawless zone.
'If I look weak, they'll strip me down to my guts.'
Ignoring the stares of beggars reaching out for coins, Logan strode confidently through the slum's maze-like alleys.
Truth be told, the idea of an underworld guild staying in one place for so long was almost laughable—
'But an organization like Nox wouldn't relocate easily.'
It was an open secret.
Being the most renowned information guild on the continent meant having a steady stream of clients.
Moving headquarters every time trouble arose would make it impossible to maintain that clientele.
Fortunately, Logan's hunch proved correct.
Knock. Knock-knock. Knock. Knock.
After rapping on the door of a secluded abandoned house in a specific pattern, a small rod-shaped slit near the top slid open.
Behind it, a pair of blue eyes peered out with visible annoyance.
"What?"
"Nox."
"...Password."
"Lunai."
"Tch. Wait."
Luckily, not only the location but even the password remained unchanged from his past life.
The only difference was the wait—over an hour this time, compared to before.
Though the reason was obvious.
"Come in."
The interior of the decrepit house was deceptively spacious, and the underground area even more so.
Creak.
Stopping before one of the underground rooms, Logan pushed open the aged door to find a plain-looking middle-aged man waiting inside.
"What brings the young lord of the MacLaine family—from the remote southwestern fringes of the kingdom—all the way here?"
Though this was their first meeting, the man recognized him instantly—but Logan wasn't surprised.
If anything, the fact that Nox had uncovered his identity in just an hour only confirmed their capabilities, which pleased him.
"I came to buy information. Why else?"
"Oh-ho. And who might have told you about our branch location and password?"
"That's for you to find out."
Not that they'd ever uncover the truth.
Thud.
With practiced ease, Logan took a seat opposite the man at the table.
"...Very well. As long as the price is right, we don't care. What do you need?"
"First: a list of nobles married for over ten years without children. Second: nobles who haven't taken concubines or mistresses. Third: nobles known to frequently seek aphrodisiac foods. Capital residents only."
"...Excuse me?"
If anyone had records on impotent nobles, it would be Nox.
But information that could be used as blackmail against high-ranking nobles wouldn't come cheap—if it was available at all.
Some secrets were too dangerous to sell, given the potential backlash.
So instead of demanding direct answers, it was better to gather inferential data and deduce the targets himself.
"Is it difficult?"
"Not difficult, but... may I ask why you need this?"
"Will you deduct it from the fee if I tell you?"
"...We accept your request."
The deal was struck.
***
Nox delivered the information the very next day.
Their efficiency wasn't surprising, but the price was—in the worst way.
"900 gold for three booklets of rumors barely thicker than 1cm?!"
Philip gaped at the flimsy pamphlets in disbelief.
"That's Nox for you. They don't come cheap."
"We could've dug this up ourselves given time..."
"That's why we're paying—to save time. Now shut up and cross-reference the names that appear in all three. Check the ones in two categories too."
"...Yes."
Within hours of the former mercenary teaching the future tycoon how to utilize information guilds, their list of targets took shape.