Chapter 58: Tessing Underground Auction (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: Tessing Underground Auction (1)
Jet doubted his own ears.
Had these greenhorns, who were clearly in Akin for the first time, suddenly lost their minds? Still, a guest was a guest. He decided to try a more refined approach first.
“Customer, why the sudden outburst? Haha, even if you are a guest, it’s a bit difficult if you start hurling insults out of nowhere—urk!”
Crack.
Murakan closed the distance in the blink of an eye, his left fist shattering Jet’s ribs. Jet reflexively gasped for air, but before he could even register the pain, a follow-up stomp crushed his shoulder.
Now, he had no choice but to doubt his eyes as well as his ears.
I—I’m a 5-star knight!
Though he now lived the life of a common thug, Jet was once a seasoned mercenary who had seen his fair share of battles. A 5-star knight rarely found themselves so utterly helpless. This was the first time in a very long while that Jet was on the receiving end of such a one-sided thrashing.
“Lord Murakan! What are you doing all of a sudden? You’re going to kill the innkeeper!”
“That’s the point, Strawberry Pie. This piece of trash spiked our drinks with poison.”
Fortunately, Jet was quick-witted, had no qualms about changing his tune, and possessed an unbreakable attachment to life. He knew all too well that in a situation like this, the best course of action was to prostrate himself immediately and beg for forgiveness.
“That, cough, hurk, gasp!”
Of course, Murakan didn't give Jet any time to apologize, continuing the beating without pause. While his mouth spewed profanities—calling him a lowly creature, trash, and a dead man walking—his expression remained utterly blank.
It was that very lack of emotion that fueled Jet’s terror.
Jet, you look pathetic. It’s a good look on you.
Seeing his nemesis from his past life getting pummeled mercilessly satisfied Jin down to his very marrow.
However, the man was too useful to waste. If Jin didn't stop Murakan now, Jet would soon become a cold corpse.
“Murakan, stop. Let’s hear what he has to say first.”
“You want to talk to a guy who tried to drug us? Kid.”
Murakan paused his assault. Jet’s eyes gleamed as he threw himself at Jin’s feet in a deep bow.
“Aieee! My lord! Please spare me, please! I’ll make up for my crimes somehow, I swear!”
His ribs were broken and his nose was half-smashed, but his obsession with survival made his pronunciation surprisingly clear.
Before anyone knew it, Jet had crawled over and grabbed the hem of Jin’s trousers. Murakan snorted, but when his contractor of a thousand years spoke, he had to listen.
Slap!
“Let go. You’re getting blood on me,” Jin said, crouching down and slapping Jet across the cheek.
“Yes! I’ll let go! I’m sorry, please just spare my life…!”
“From now on, I’m going to ask a few simple questions. Lie, and you die. Tell the truth, and you live. My judgment will be based on my feelings and gut instinct. Understood?”
Nod, nod!
Every time Jet nodded his head, droplets of blood splattered across the floor.
“Good. What are you?”
Normally, one would first ask if he really spiked the drinks or why he did it. This was a more fundamental question. Thanks to that, Jet realized that Jin was no ordinary person.
With this type of person, clumsy attempts to evoke sympathy wouldn't work; he needed to state the facts as objectively as possible.
“I—I am an innkeeper and an informant. I also act as a pimp, and I… have a bit of a reputation in human trafficking. I-if you spare me, you’ll find many uses for me, my lord! I know everything there is to know about Akin.”
Gilly’s expression contorted at the appalling self-introduction. Murakan just shook his head as if to say, I knew it.
“Don't add unnecessary fluff. So, you’re a comprehensive piece of trash. Then, the reason you tried to drug us was to sell us off somewhere?”
“Regrettably, that is the case…”
“Where?”
“Pardon?”
Snap!
Jin grabbed Jet’s pinky finger and bent it backward until it broke. Jet didn't even dare to scream, instead shouting, “Tessing! Tessing!”
“The Te-te-te-Tessing Underground Auction House!”
“Explain.”
“Yes! The Tessing Underground Auction House is run by a dark organization called Tessing… They mainly deal in slaves, drugs, smuggled goods, and stolen artifacts!”
“I’ll send someone to heal you before evening. You know what you have to do after that, right?”
“Of course! Oh, thank you, my lord. Thank you!”
Sensing he would survive, Jet looked ready to kiss the top of Jin’s foot.
He would be a good tool during their stay in Akin. Jin despised Jet, but he highly valued the man’s ability to get things done.
Jin sent Jet upstairs. For now, the ‘Find Jet’ part of their mission was over.
“Kid, wouldn't it be better to just bury this trash in the back hills rather than spending money on his medical bills?”
“I agree, Young Master. He’ll surely stab us in the back if we let him live.”
“A dark organization, an underground auction house… What better opportunity to build our reputation than by taking them down? We can kill him after that. It won't be too late.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Let’s trust him for now. We needed a guide for Akin anyway.”
The two didn't argue further. To ensure a smooth journey, they had to support the party leader’s decisions.
While Murakan and Gilly kept an eye on Jet, Jin left the inn to find a healer.
The moment he stepped out, Jin felt a sense of liberation. Moving alone in Akin, he could use his knowledge as a regressor as much as he pleased.
Akin was a city whose development had been stunted by Tessing’s tyranny. Most of the facilities and organizations Jin knew from before his regression should still be in the same place.
It didn't take long to find the healer with the tightest lips. The magic shop of ‘Maltrang’—a man who would treat even a top-tier fugitive as long as he was paid—was still in its usual spot.
“I heard you’re quite skilled at illegal healing.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Does it matter? I’ll pay you handsomely.”
Though he should have been fifteen years younger, Maltrang looked exactly the same as the pot-bellied, middle-aged man Jin remembered. Maltrang rubbed his belly, contemplating for a moment.
“...What’s the patient’s condition?”
“A couple of broken ribs and a dangling finger. Not much blood loss.”
Ting.
Jin flicked a well-crafted ring, letting the sound of its quality ring through the air. Maltrang stood up immediately upon catching it.
“It’s a lucky day. Let’s go.”
As expected, Maltrang was a skilled healing mage. Within five hours of entering the inn, he had completely erased all traces of the beating from Jet’s body. The way he sweated while performing the healing magic made him look almost like a respectable priest.
“The Magic Federation really lives up to its name,” Gilly whispered, having watched the entire process. Since she had spent her life in Runcandel, she rarely encountered magic and seemed particularly fascinated.
Jet seemed deeply moved. As soon as the treatment was finished, he bowed repeatedly.
“My lord, though our first meeting wasn't pleasant, I swear my eternal loyalty to you from this day forward. Please accept it.”
“We’ll see how you behave. Healer, is it finished? His bones aren't going to fall apart again in a few hours, are they?”
“That’s a poor joke. I’ll be going. Call me again if there’s an emergency. If the condition isn't serious, I’ll treat him for free once. I’m a man who gives people their money’s worth.”
“Excellent service. Farewell.”
Maltrang departed.
Jet carefully studied the expressions of the three people sitting side-by-side, sipping black tea.
No matter how I look at it, these people… they smell like big shots. I need to sharpen my intuition; I should have recognized them from the start! Why on earth did they come to a backwater like Akin?
The man who beat him was incredibly skilled, the maid seemed completely unfazed by such scenes, and the boy he had mistaken for a spoiled young master ordered them around like his own limbs.
They were a type Jet had never encountered before.
Successors of a major martial family? Or perhaps… the Viment Special Task Force? Either way, if I stab them in the back, they won't even leave my bones to be buried.
After a moment, Jet concluded that Jin’s group had to be the Viment Special Task Force. He even deluded himself into thinking that their coming to find him was a calculated move. Thinking that way, it made sense how they had brought an elite healer he’d never even heard of within an hour.
They must already have every scrap of information on me. Their plan is to use me to get into the Tessing Underground Auction House and carry out some mission…
Then, once the mission was complete, he would be discarded like a hunting dog after the hunt.
Reaching that conclusion, Jet grit his teeth and made a resolution. He would become so indispensable that they couldn't kill him. And he would show them a corresponding level of loyalty.
No matter how great Tessing’s influence was, that only applied within the small pond of Akin. The Viment Special Task Force, on the other hand, was a group with a worldwide reputation. There was no need to think twice about which side to join.
Jet spent the next several minutes pouring out information about Tessing and the underground auction. Since he was providing it under the assumption that they were the Special Task Force, it was full of valuable details.
“The public face of Tessing is a man named Salka, but the real boss is someone else. Salka is just a figurehead. Among us, the real boss is known as ‘Spider-Hand Alu.’”
“Is that so?”
“Unlike me, Alu is an extremely dangerous individual. Rumor has it he has connections with the pure-blooded Runcandels across the sea, and it’s highly likely to be true. And as for the underground auction…”
It was all tedious information that Jin already knew, but he let Jet keep talking. That way, his companions would also gain the information he possessed from before his regression.
By the way, a connection to the Runcandels? I guess false rumors like that were circulating about Alu. I don't think any of my siblings would associate with thugs from the Lutero Magic Federation…
As the thought crossed his mind, something occurred to him. Jin set down his teacup.
The one who tried to curse me. If it’s that person, it’s possible. This is the Lutero Magic Federation, Zipple’s land.
He couldn't jump to conclusions. A curse like the Delusion of the Blade could only be cast by a top-tier mage, and a group of thugs wouldn't have such a mage in their ranks.
But he had to grasp at any straw. He had spent ten years at Storm Castle and five years at the Garden of Swords trying to find the culprit behind the curse, but he had never found a single clue.
“Is the explanation finished?”
“Yes! Even after we arrive, if there’s anything you need, just say the word. I, Jet, will explain everything with all my heart and soul. I swear it on my son.”
“You have a son?”
Jin asked, though he had been quite close with Jet’s son in his past life. Unlike his father, the boy was incredibly kind and gentle.
“Yes. Since I’ve decided to devote my loyalty to you, my lord, please see my son’s face before we depart. It’s to show you that I have no intention of betraying you.”
The boy would be about two years old now. To use his own small child as a tool for an oath… Jin once again shook his head at Jet’s character.
“Forget it. Let’s just go.”