Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Aegert's Sword and Western Shadows
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After parting ways with Olaf, I handed the purchased gifts to Ymir and sent her back to the lodging, then decided to wander around on my own.
Due to recent events, Ymir had developed something like an obsession and strongly opposed me going out alone, but I managed to persuade her somehow.
“Arandal, huh….”
This city served as a relay hub connecting the northwest and northeast of the continent, so commerce was extraordinarily advanced.
Slaves weren't being sold on the streets for no reason.
Metalworking technology was also highly developed, thanks to the abundant mineral deposits in the Rest Mountains to the west of Arandal.
That was the context behind the Bekavia army recapturing the Biyan Mountains using tunnels.
Those tunnels were mine shafts.
I decided to inquire among blacksmiths who handled metal type. To build a printing press someday, I needed to pick up the relevant knowledge in advance.
But there were no major gains. Arandal's blacksmiths made weapons, cart wheels, and jewelry engraving their main trades, not things like that.
I was about to head back to the lodging when a familiar face caught my eye.
“Not buying? Then get lost!”
“Ow! That uncle's got a nasty temper! I was really gonna buy it, but you killed my vibe! Now I won't buy from your side!”
“You don't have the money anyway! Get out right now!”
“Tch! Let's see how your business does!”
It was Aegert, bickering with the armor shop owner.
“Man…. What are you doing?”
“Ah! Handsome Captain!”
Aegert approached with a bright smile.
“By any chance, are you here to buy weapons too, Captain? Makes sense—you lost your spear and sword back then, right?”
Aegert struck an exaggerated pose mimicking the Chester Style, then scratched the back of his head vigorously and laughed.
“Same here. Lost my sword, you know.”
“Less 'lost' and more 'I used it.' Stuck it right in that monster's heart.”
“Kaha! What a way to go—even that cheap sword would be satisfied. Anyway, Captain. Wanna look around together? You need a weapon too, right?”
“Not really. The military issues me good ones. Even if not, my aides handle it.”
“Huh. So that's how it is when you're a unit captain.”
“Still, I'll keep you company.”
It seemed like it could kill some time.
I toured the armor shops with Aegert.
Aegert examined the items with meticulous care. His shabby attire made the shop owners uncomfortable, but since I was with him, they didn't try to chase him off.
They seemed to take us for some noble and his slave.
“Hmm, hmmm!”
Finally spotting something he liked, Aegert let out a groan.
Even to my eye, it looked decent.
The meter-long blade gleamed with polish, its edge keen enough to slice at a mere touch.
Above all, it looked sturdy. That seemed to be the part Aegert liked.
“Captain. What do you think of this one?”
“If I were using it, it'd be a bit much.”
It was too long and thick for my taste.
“Suits you, though.”
“Right? Truth is, this was the first thing I spotted when I got here. But haa….”
The reason for his earth-shattering sigh was simple.
“Not enough money.”
The price was 200,000 silan. No jewels inlaid, yet priced like that—it had to be top quality.
Aegert checked his money pouch and let his shoulders slump. From the corner of my eye, it looked like he barely had 10,000 silan.
“Guess I'll get this next time. For now, stuck with Uncle Dillas's cheap sword.”
“I'll buy it for you.”
“What?”
“Wasn't that the point of bringing it up?”
“N-no!”
Aegert waved his hands frantically.
“Didn't mean it like that, Captain!”
“Intention or not. I'm buying it.”
“…”
Aegert clamped his lips shut, as if holding something back.
“No can do. A sword… I swore I'd only take one from the person I'm serving. Can't accept from anyone else.”
“The person you're serving? You have a lord?”
“Not exactly yet…. But I owe him a debt.”
“Didn't know you had such principled thoughts. Did he save your life or something?”
“Nah, it was the uncles I'm close with. Uncles with pregnant wives. They got captured as POWs and were about to be sold into slavery when he saved them.”
“What a meddler. Who is this guy?”
“Wade.”
“…Huh?”
“You don't know Wade? The legendary Wade! He's super famous!”
“Uh…. Yeah, I know of him.”
Did I pull something that nosy? Didn't ring a bell.
Could've been some imposters using my name.
“So you're gonna serve this Wade as your lord?”
“Not sure about 'lord,' but gotta repay the favor! Figure I'll become a great general and help him out a few times. After that, who knows. Hehet!”
“Huh….”
“So no need to buy this! Whoa, time's up already. Uncle Dillas'll chew me out. Catch you later, handsome Captain!”
Aegert dashed off.
I watched him go for a moment, then turned to the shop owner.
“I'll take this. Give me the scabbard.”
I'd been planning to reward Aegert for his battlefield merits from the start.
He wouldn't take it from the captain, but if it was a gift from Wade, that'd be different.
*
*
*
After about a day of rest, my body started feeling a bit better. Maybe Ymir's brutal health food regimen had helped.
On the second day of leave—the last one—I headed for Arandal's underbelly.
Yesterday I'd seen the city's bright side; now it was time for the dark.
This time, with a specific goal in mind, I planned to go alone, but for some reason Eo looked utterly shocked.
“Aren't you taking me with you today…?”
Eo blinked at me like an abandoned puppy.
She must've seen me take only Ymir yesterday and assumed it was like handing out snacks one by one in turns.
It was awkward to say otherwise, so I decided to bring Eo along.
I pulled on a hood to conceal my face and slipped into Arandal's back alleys.
‘As expected, military spies are crawling all over the place.’
Given the situation, intel agents were out in force.
After prowling the streets for a while, I finally made contact with my target.
He wore traditional Bekavia garb. At a glance, he passed for a local, but look closer and his hat was deliberately on backward.
Above all, the outfits of the men hovering around him as bodyguards were strikingly foreign.
“I want to buy information.”
At my words, the man lifted both corners of his mouth in a chilling grin.
“What kind of information are you after?”
“Information on the West. That's why you're here peddling it, right?”
People will sell anything that turns a profit.
This guy was likely one of the info brokers operating in the West.
His homeland or origins didn't matter. He'd come all the way from the West to Arandal because the money was good here.
“Heh heh heh. I like a man who gets straight to the point. What do you want to know?”
“First, about Fischer Partin.”
“500,000 silan.”
“…”
It was a hefty sum, but I paid up.
The man rattled off his answer smoothly.
“One of Haneman's Five Dragons: the Yellow Dragon, Fischer Partin. Ace spearman ranked first-grade in Garand Style. His position in the military is Ninth Division.”
“Ninth general? That's pretty low down.”
“Add another 500,000 silan, and I can elaborate.”
“Tch. You money leech.”
I handed over the coins. He glanced around, then spoke.
“Thousand Guests Haneman Noirus. Rumor has it he commands hundreds of vassals, each one a match for any general. Makes for a very complex hierarchy. Even so, Ninth Division's Fischer Partin ranks among the top ten—so he's no slouch.”
“Haneman Noirus….”
In the game, he'd infiltrated Byullang as a spy. I was curious about him too.
The man picked up on my interest and pressed on.
“You're wondering about Haneman, eh? This part's on the house. Haneman is the successor to the Erevenia Kingdom.”
“Erevenia Kingdom?”
“That's right. The northern kingdom destroyed in its power struggle with the Penzilon Empire. Haneman's a descendant of the Erevenia royals exiled to the West.”
“And the Erevenia Kingdom's homeland was…!”
“Exactly. Right here. The old Elenia.”
Arandal's former name. Capital of the Erevenia Kingdom.
“So it's no coincidence that Haneman's leading this expedition.”
“Heh heh heh. Only the Western bosses would know for sure.”
The Western bosses. The info broker tossed me some bait. That was probably what the 'service' was for.
“If you're curious about the other bosses, just 1 million silan and I'll explain.”
Tempting info, but I didn't need it right now.
“Something else.”
Crossing would've dug this up already anyway. My real goal was elsewhere.
“Anything on Iliya Anpei?”
“…!”
My unexpected question made his eyes go wide.
“Why her…?”
“You called her 'her,' so you know something. Spill it.”
Iliya's master had a connection to Fischer Partin.
I had no choice but to suspect her origins.
‘She was a total non-issue until now.’
I'd vetted all my retainers pretty thoroughly.
Lutger hailed from Albad and had a sickly daughter.
Anton was from Crossing; complicated family history led to losing his father, and he'd sworn loyalty to me over it.
Ymir was a slave born in the arena; I knew her entire history after that.
Olaf was from Europe, an oddball fixated on beastman rights.
Eonia had been a knight captain in the Kurabel Holy Kingdom, but really just a spoiled princess raised like royalty.
Gaspar's origins and movements were mostly unknown, but he was Ymir's father.
Iliya's master, though?
No idea on origins or pre-joining history.
I'd trusted her anyway.
But if she was from the West, that changed things.
‘If my master's a Western plant….’
Not sure about now, but it would explain her game actions.
The seven retainers who followed Als.
In hindsight, she had the shakiest justification of the bunch.
It was just said she couldn't accept Als's fate and led mercenaries to his aid. Barely any prior ties to him.
‘Master a Western spy? But….’
Then it was weird that Fischer Partin so casually dropped her name.
‘Unless he was confident he could kill me right there to silence me….’
As if answering my doubts, the man whispered.
“1 million silan. Pay up.”
“Here.”
He pocketed the money and nodded gravely.
“Iliya Anpei. Warrior attached to first-grade Chester Style….”
His next words only deepened my suspicions.
“Top disciple of Three Great Generals Guderian Chester.”