Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Request (2)
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Leaving the mansion at 7 a.m., I headed first to the Traveler's Rest Inn.
Fortunately, since it was early morning, there was no one at the inn's counter.
'Do I just leave this here?'
I carefully placed the silver badge from my pocket on the counter. Whether this inn was connected to the Twilight Moon Clan or not, they'd handle it from there.
Next, I boarded a Valkyrie carriage and headed to the Golden Reed Forest.
This was finally the moment I'd summon all six Valkyries for the first time.
Looking at Sua, Lije, Heiji, Jaira, Elastra, and Lussera who appeared before me, I felt a swell of pride.
Anyone else who saw them would instantly recognize the immense firepower.
"Let's hunt hard again today. Once we save up enough money, we can all live together in the mansion. We can buy lots of nice clothes too."
"Got it!"
Before starting the hunt, I gave them a little pep talk to boost their morale.
The Valkyries responded loudly to my words, showing their determination.
As soon as we entered deeper into the reed forest, the battle began with Elastra's fireball.
True enough, as soon as her fireball landed, countless reed sparrows turned to dust and flowed into my status.
With that, the four frontliners scattered to begin hunting.
The most efficient were Jaira and Heiji.
With their basic attacks enhanced by AoE effects, their efficiency was outstanding.
Lussera hunted reed sparrows with her signature swift movements. Seeing that her own hunting speed lagged behind the others, Sua fell back to take out the reed sparrows heading toward Elastra.
Then, whenever Elastra recovered her mana, she'd unleash another fireball to wipe out masses of reed sparrows.
Compared to hunting with just three Valkyries, the combat environment was much better now, so even after hunting all morning, none of them looked particularly exhausted.
Only Elastra showed signs of fatigue, her mana depleted.
The gold we'd earned from the morning hunt amounted to a whopping 6 million gold.
Despite taking down an enormous number of reed sparrows, none of their levels went up.
Experience was accumulating, but not enough to meet the requirements.
Once we scraped together the remaining 150 million gold, we'd probably need to move to the next hunting ground soon.
As we left the hunting area for lunch, I spotted a familiar face waiting for me.
It was Jenellu.
"What's up? Didn't expect you'd use the silver badge so soon."
Jenellu spoke with a friendly smile. The first time I saw it, that smile had looked intimidating, but now that I'd met him once, it seemed different.
"You found me quick. There's something urgent I need to discuss."
"Heh. I can see the old you coming back."
Jenellu chuckled, his words a mix of praise and tease.
The Golden Reed Forest was great for farming gold but offered pitiful experience, so few people came here.
I wouldn't have come either if I didn't desperately need quick cash.
Pilots basically had no need for money sense.
Confirming no one was around, Jenellu spoke up.
"So, what do you need to discuss?"
I laid out everything Diana had told me.
When I first mentioned there was a mole in her knight order, Jenellu's face went pale.
It must have been quite a shock for him too.
And when I got to the part about them tasking me to infiltrate the back alleys using me, his expression darkened sharply.
"From your position, you could've just said you infiltrated the Twilight Moon Clan and called it a day. But you didn't. Why not?"
Jenellu cut straight to the core. He was surprisingly sharp for how he looked—already thinking up solutions.
"How could I betray the grace that raised this body of mine?"
Only then did Jenellu's expression soften at my joke.
"Phew... Truth is, we were shocked too when we heard you ranked up to D yesterday. Never imagined you'd grow that fast in just ten days."
"It wasn't even ten days—it would've been easy to hit D in half that time. If I hadn't been stuck rotting here buying the mansion."
I complained to Jenellu with a grimace about how crappy the Golden Reed Forest was.
"Mm. Yeah, I can see that."
Jenellu nodded in agreement right away.
"Like Diana said, a lot of clans are eyeing you now. Including the three strongest in the back alleys."
"Which three clans?"
"One's the Black Scroll Clan. They're the undisputed kings of the back alleys. They were nobodies before, but they built their power once Valkyries appeared.
Rumors say they've got ties to the royal family. That's why we and the other clans started frantically training pilots to cozy up to the knight orders— all because of them.
Next is the Blood Shadow Clan. As the name suggests, nasty bunch. They do assassinations and every dirty deed without hesitation. Getting close to them won't end well.
Last is the Black Wolf Clan. Unusually, their clan master is a woman, but she's such a bitch that no one wants to deal with them. Not wolves—rabid dogs. Rabid dogs."
While explaining the Black Wolf Clan, Jenellu suddenly shook his head like he had a headache.
"The Black Wolf Clan? What's their master like?"
"Interested 'cause she's a woman?"
Jenellu smirked mockingly, but he wasn't entirely wrong.
Since getting the yangdo system after sleeping with Isteir, handling women felt like it could become one of my specialties.
"Doesn't hurt to know."
"The Black Wolf Clan's master is a woman named Juyeon. She's pretty, but such a venomous bitch that no one wants to cross her clan. There was a clash with the Black Scroll once, and she was ready to go all out, so their master ended up apologizing."
"Juyeon...? Doesn't sound like a local name."
"Huh? You didn't know? The Hainel Kingdom's king and all—they're from another continent. It's been thousands of years, sure, but that's why the king's called Emperor Muyul."
"Ah..."
Even in the Valkyrie game, the Hainel Kingdom wasn't covered much. It was a backwater, popping up occasionally in the Kairan Kingdom-Krantz Empire conflicts.
The protagonist recruits a companion here in Chapter 2, but the kingdom itself isn't a big focus.
Just known as a merchant kingdom, maybe?
"Seriously... You really didn't know. Even with amnesia, you need to study up a bit."
"Got it."
I'd been thinking the same—even without his advice, basic knowledge was necessary to survive here.
"Anyway, I think you should infiltrate the Black Scroll Clan. They're a major player with the strongest royal ties."
Jenellu's suggestion made sense.
In the game, the protagonist recruits the Black Scroll Clan's vice master as a companion. A guy called Eunseo—not his real name, just what the clan called him.
He was clever and capable, someone the protagonist relied on, so getting to know him early wouldn't hurt.
But separately, the clan on my mind was the Black Wolf Clan.
I figured I could make full use of the yangdo system I'd gotten as a perk. Plus, with a pretty master, it was win-win, right?
"I'll go with the Black Wolves."
"You crazy... What did you hear me say? I told you not to deal with that woman. You'll ruin yourself chasing skirts."
"Ah... I've got my reasons. Reasons."
"Ha... This guy's insane."
Jenellu ranted furiously, but when I didn't budge, he clutched his head.
"Anyway, I warned you."
"How do I approach them?"
"Just sit tight—they'll come to you. No need to do anything. Staying put might even help avoid suspicion."
"O! Jenellu, you're pretty smart, huh?"
"Of course. Think I won vice master on luck and gambling?"
Jenellu puffed up at my praise.
"One tip: Hang around the southern merchant district, and you'll get closer. That's the Black Wolves' turf."
"So clans have territories?"
"Yep. Black Scroll handles the Colosseum and noble districts. Blood Shadow doesn't have a fixed area—they take commissions to fund themselves. Black Wolves cover the shopping street and collect protection money."
"What about Twilight Moon Clan?"
"Us? The inns are our turf."
"Ah... So that's why..."
Leaving the silver badge at the inn was the right call. No wonder they knew so much about lodging.
"Anyway, I've told you. Your choice, but that woman's seriously dangerous."
"Hehe. It's me, Kai. Kai."
"Yeah... yeah... I know what kind of guy you are, but... ha... Can't help worrying."
Seeing Jenellu genuinely concerned eased my mind about not reporting to Diana that I'd approached the Twilight Moon Clan.
Doing so might've forced me to pick a side eventually.
"Thanks for worrying."
"Worry? Whatever—here."
Jenellu flicked the silver badge back to me.
It was the one I'd left at the inn.
"Need anything else? Just leave it at any counter. Doesn't matter which inn."
"Thanks."
Jenellu brushed off my thanks and left.
I needed to buy clothes for the Valkyries anyway, so heading to the southern shopping district wasn't a bad idea.
But first, back to hunting.
I unsummoned the exhausted Elastra and Heiji, then summoned Garujan and Holla.
The hunting efficiency varied hugely with or without Elastra.
We earned 4 million gold in the afternoon. Barely scraping 10 million total.
I unsummoned all the Valkyries except Sua and called a carriage to head to the shopping district.