Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Translator: Penny
Chapter 28
Upon returning to his fief, Agron immediately headed to the Adventurers' Guild.
Having completed their mission, Agron and Baek Woon were promoted to E-Rank.
"Wait! Human female, make me E-Rank like Master too!" Elena shouted at the guild staff, her voice ringing with command.
"Um... Lady Elena hasn't completed the required number of missions yet..."
"I don't care! If that incompetent brat is E-Rank, why should I remain F-Rank?! Mmph! Mmph!"
"I apologize. My companion is just a bit impatient," Agron said, hastily covering Elena's mouth and offering a quick apology.
Elena was generally well-behaved, but her occasional displays of blind loyalty could be quite troublesome.
"I-It's alright..." the guild staff stammered.
"By the way, I have a question."
"Yes, please ask, Adventurer Agron."
"Do you know any adventurers who are well-versed in local news or rumors?" Agron asked.
The Guild staff member hesitated for a moment before quietly pointing to a corner of the lounge. "Do you see that middle-aged man with the bushy beard over there? His name is Branchev. I'm not entirely sure, but I've noticed local adventurers occasionally asking him about things."
Agron followed her gaze. He spotted a man sipping beer from a wooden mug.
"Hmm, thank you," Agron said. He discreetly slipped a silver coin into her hand before slowly walking toward the lounge.
Given the late hour, the Adventurers' Guild lounge wasn't crowded. As a result, Branchev's attention naturally turned to Agron and Elena.
"...What is it?" he asked, glancing at Agron, who was about to sit across from him.
"I have a question."
"...I don't know anything."
"Just answer what you know."
Agron placed a silver coin on the table.
The man hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and pocketed the coin.
"What is it?"
"Do you know anything about a group called 'Six Fingers'?"
Agron and Elena noticed a flicker in the man's eyes at that moment.
"H-hm! I've never heard of them before. Is it a restaurant name or something?"
Agron meticulously analyzed the man's physical reactions: his trembling voice, dilated pupils, and accelerated blood flow.
The man was terrified.
"No, it's the name of an organization. If you know anything, even a little, tell me."
"I... I don't know anything."
"Speak, human male."
"What?!"
At that moment, Branchev met Elena's eyes and realized that an unprecedented excitement and daze had taken over his entire body.
It was an irresistible pleasure.
"I... I don't know anything about the 'Six Fingers.'"
He answered with glazed eyes, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"Tell me only what you know, human."
"Ah, maybe... if it's them, they might know."
"Them?"
"It's a back alley bar called 'Night Alley'..."
Agron and Elena exchanged glances.
Their next destination had been decided.
"Understood. Now, grow up."
With a light tap between his eyebrows, Branchev collapsed onto the table as if he had fainted.
Jacob and Wolf, the Knight Commander of the family, were chosen to go to the Night Alley.
This was to prevent anyone from recognizing Agron and spreading rumors throughout the fief that the Count was frequenting back-alley taverns.
Baek Woon was too conspicuous to go, and Elena, despite her formidable Charm skill, was deemed too dangerous. The back-alley taverns were likely filled with vile men, and there was a risk she might kill them all.
Of course, Elena herself would have preferred staying by Agron's side to visiting such a filthy place.
Jacob and Wolf spent approximately five days gathering information.
They knew that asking direct questions from the start would make people clam up, so they took their time to befriend the tavern patrons before subtly extracting the information they needed.
"Hmm, well done."
"Thank you, Your Excellency!"
While Jacob was understandable, Wolf was the Knight Commander of the fief, yet the fief residents didn't even recognize his face.
It turned out he always wore cavalry armor and a Zizek Helmet, except when he was inside the mansion.
Agron instructed Jacob to remain in the room while telling Wolf to go rest.
"Did you gather any information?"
"Yes, I did."
Jacob nodded and continued, "We couldn't even enter the Night Alley from the start."
"It's just a tavern. Shouldn't we be able to walk right in?"
"I thought so too, but it turns out it's a tavern that requires a recommendation just to join."
Jacob and Wolf, having been turned away at the entrance of the Night Alley tavern, headed to another tavern down a different alley.
Inside, they pretended not to know each other, quickly befriending patrons by buying drinks and food for everyone.
During their five days of investigation, they didn't even return to the Mansion, instead staying at a cheap inn near the tavern. By day, they frequented gambling dens, and by night, they hopped from tavern to tavern.
"Looks like you managed to find a sponsor after all."
"Yes, thanks to Wolf. Before being knighted, he used to work as a mercenary, roaming the back alleys. He's well-versed in the underworld and can easily mingle with people."
"Where did you meet the sponsor?"
"I ran into someone at the tavern tonight who I'd gambled with earlier at the casino. By sheer coincidence, he turned out to be a member of the Night Alley."
"Impressive, both of you. Very resourceful."
Baek Woon, who had been listening nearby, praised Jacob's quick thinking.
If Agron had been assigned this mission, he would have stormed into the tavern, demanding, "Are you a warrior?" and testing everyone in sight.
Instead of gathering information, he would have likely forced the tavern to close down overnight.
Sensing Agron's strange gaze, Baek Woon turned to him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Your face just seems particularly radiant tonight."
"I'm sorry, Elder, but I don't have those kinds of tastes."
"Neither do I, you bastard!" Baek Woon roared, but Agron, looking vaguely uncomfortable, scooted his chair back a bit before settling back down.
"Continue."
"...Yes. Anyway, we were lucky enough to have that person become our sponsor, and that day, we entered the Night Alley for the first time. But it wasn't just an ordinary tavern."
"Not an ordinary tavern?" Agron asked, and Jacob replied with a serious expression.
"It was a Dark Guild."
"A Dark Guild...?" Agron's eyes lit up with curiosity as he heard about an organization he had only read about in books.
Elena remained expressionless, as if she had no particular thoughts on the matter, while Baek Woon frowned at the unexpected organization.
"Does such a guild still exist?"
"Master Daoist, the Dark Guild will never disappear. The more we reject them, the deeper they sink into the shadows."
Jacob himself had once been active in the Dark Guild during his younger days, exploiting his Vampir nature to operate as a clandestine assassin.
"What exactly does the Dark Guild do?" Agron asked.
"It's just like any other guild. They take commissions, assign tasks to suitable members, and pay them upon completion. The difference is that their tasks aren't ordinary escort missions or monster exterminations. They specialize in assassinations, kidnappings, blackmail, and human trafficking."
"Things that can't be eradicated, then."
Agron nodded in agreement with Jacob's assessment.
Eliminating one broker wouldn't eradicate assassination or human trafficking from the Kingdom.
The more they tried to suppress it, the deeper it would burrow into the shadows, becoming even harder to find.
"This organization is far more deeply rooted and formidable than we imagined. It's best not to antagonize them. I kept my ears open and eavesdropped carefully on their conversations. They said the 'Six Fingers' are one of the Kingdom's most notorious assassination groups."
"Hmm, that's strange. I heard the 'Six Fingers' are in charge of Ananta's Veilain Branch... Are they really an assassination group?"
"I found it odd too, so I subtly probed them. It's confirmed—they are indeed an assassination group."
Jacob deliberately pretended to be drunk, occasionally muttering about wanting to kill someone.
As he grew closer to the bartender, he bluntly asked, "Who's the best assassin I can hire?" The bartender had replied, "The best is Six Fingers, but you can't afford him."
"So either Ananta entrusted this region to an assassination group, or Ananta's organization evolved into one. It must be one of the two."
"That seems like the simplest explanation."
"Good. Wolf will now work inside the mansion, so he'll stop external investigations. Jacob, can you investigate the organization alone?"
"If you give me the order."
Agron hmmmed, falling into thought.
Baek Woon and Elena were too conspicuous to send, and his own involvement would face strong opposition from others.
Looking back, Agron himself wasn't exactly ordinary-looking either.
"It would be nice to have someone to help with this work."
Knock, knock.
At that moment, a servant knocked on the study door.
"What is it?"
"Count, a guest has arrived."
"A guest? Tell them to come in."
A moment later,
"Hey, the magnificent me has arrived!"
Third Prince Lawrence swaggered into the room with a foolish grin.
Agron glanced at him with an indifferent expression before speaking.
"Why are you here again?"
"What? You're not even going to look happy that the kingdom's treasure—a prince—has come to visit? At least offer a greeting!"
"You're hardly someone to be happy about, and the kingdom's treasure is nowhere to be seen, even if I scrub my eyes raw looking for it. Since I'm not glad to see you, I'll skip the insincere greetings."
This bastard?
Lawrence felt his fleeting excitement vanish in an instant, replaced by a cold dread.
"I didn't exactly come here because I wanted to, you know?"
"Then why?"
"...Your Majesty ordered me to..."
After news of Agron's victory over the Troll Warrior and Baron Wolfgang at the recent banquet reached the Royal Palace, King Decker realized Agron was no ordinary man.
Agron could become indispensable to the kingdom in the future, but the problem was his location in the South, near the border.
Once his name became known, the Kazandor Empire would undoubtedly resort to any means necessary to win him over.
To prevent the Empire's advances, King Decker decided to dispatch Third Prince Lawrence, who seemed to have a rapport with Agron, to the South.
Lawrence's plan was that if he became close to Agron, Agron wouldn't betray the kingdom.
"Hmm, I have no intention of betraying anyone, so get lost. You're just a nuisance."
Is this guy crazy?
Lawrence glared at Agron, his eyes burning holes into him.
"Master, if this foolish whelp is bothering you, shall I drive him away?" Elena asked, her expression slightly annoyed.
"H-how dare you! Do you even know who I am to speak to me like that...!"
"I don't care who you are. You don't know who I am either, do you?"
"..."
Why are all the weirdos gathered in this fief?
Lawrence was at a loss for how to react. A rare beauty, even by Royal Palace standards, had been spitting venom at him from the moment they met.
And as she pointed out, they didn't even know each other's identities.
"A-Agron, who is this woman?"
"It's a Vampir," Agron said to Lawrence without hesitation.
It wasn't that he had any particular reason to deceive him. He simply thought this explanation would be more effective for the simple-minded Lawrence. Besides, Elena and Jacob didn't seem to mind if their Vampir identities were revealed.
"A Vamp... what?"
"Master, this blood-soaked fool is quite dense."
"Hey! I'm a prince of this country, a prince! Do you want to die?!"
As Lawrence squawked, Elena glanced at Agron, asking with her eyes if she could kill him.
Agron shook his head and sighed softly.
"Listen, Lawrence."
"W-what?!"
"Elena and Jacob aren't citizens of this country. They belong to a different race."
"Different...? But they look human!"
"Vampirs aren't human."
"Vampir... Ah, you mean vampires?!"
Lawrence finally seemed to grasp the truth, flinching in surprise and hiding behind Agron.
"N-no way! Vampires don't exist in this world!"
"They do now. And for your information, both of them are strong enough to tear through most knights like paper."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"Who would believe you anyway? And if you spread rumors, I'll kill you instantly, so it doesn't matter."
Fucking bastard.
Lawrence glanced back and forth between Elena and Jacob, regretting his decision to come here.
"Now, where can we find someone who can help Jacob?" Agron stared at Lawrence for a moment before turning his gaze to Baek Woon.
"Elder, should we look for someone suitable at the Adventurers' Guild?"
"Hey, why do you keep muttering things while staring at me, then ignoring me again?" Lawrence demanded, his voice sharp.
Agron waved his hand dismissively. "Hmm? Oh, sorry. You just don't look like someone who'd be useful."
Lawrence clenched his fists, vowing to one day punch Agron in the face.
"Hey! I'm the Third Prince of this nation, you know! What's with the attitude?"
"We need someone who's good with people, a skilled actor, and intelligent. But you..."
"Hey! You...! What kind of role is it?! It's so dirty and underhanded, I'll make sure I succeed!"
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny