A Deal in the Shadows
The bell jingled.
Every time the door opened, that little chime rang out, and Arteon found he rather liked the sound.
Seeing him return earlier than expected, the old man asked,
"Did things go well?"
"Well, I'll need to wait and see for a bit."
"Heh heh heh. It would be better for you not to get too deeply involved."
Perhaps because Arteon had already seen through his true identity? The old man was smiling, but his eyes held a strangely sharp edge.
Arteon approached him.
"Mind if I ask one more thing?"
"Heh heh. If the price is right?"
"Will this be enough?"
Arteon drew a single gold coin from his coat and set it on the table.
The old man burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha! You're a greedy little fellow. That kind of greed can get you into serious trouble."
"There's something from the information you gave me last time… I'd like a few more details."
"Why would a soldier take an interest in a thieves' guild?"
The old man casually rested a finger on the gold coin.
Arteon smirked and posed his question.
"At this rate, the small master's faction looks ready to collapse… Is there a good way to turn things around?"
"Making a deal with the small master? That's a reckless decision."
"I'm just asking. Or do you not know?"
When Arteon started to pull the coin back toward himself—
"Whoa, whoa. I never said I didn't know."
The old man pressed down harder on the coin and continued at once.
"There's a very simple method for that. In the end, even a thieves' guild has no choice but to operate on the logic of power."
The old man kept explaining. He clearly wanted the gold coin under his finger; his voice carried real force.
"Well? That should be enough."
"None of it sounds easy."
"Heh heh heh. If it were easy, that clever little master wouldn't be in such a bind."
"Thank you for the answer."
With that, Arteon took his hand off the coin and went upstairs. The conversation just now had completely clarified the situation.
In that case…
He had delivered the note. Now all that remained was to wait for a reply. He hoped it would come soon, but even so, it would probably take a few days. It would be quite a shocking proposal for them as well.
Anyway, I only need to leave this place in three weeks.
He had plenty of time; there was no need to rush. If anything, it was better—he could catch up on his personal training in the meantime.
Arteon sat on the floor and closed his eyes.
Woooooom!
Mana began to gather around his body, slowly coiling through the space around him.
…It's definitely slower now.
He still hadn't even reached 3-star, yet unlike the beginning, his growth rate seemed to have hit a wall. No—more precisely, the speed at which he had grown when he first started training had been absurdly fast.
His relentless effort had played a large part, but the magic circle Velkain had prepared and the freezing northern climate had further accelerated the Vargas Mana Cultivation Method.
He understood it intellectually, but the slower accumulation of mana compared to before still made Arteon impatient.
With this level of power… it's impossible.
Everyone had been astonished that he had fought a mid-tier Kar Tribe warrior one-on-one. But Arteon knew better. Beyond mid-tier warriors, there were upper-tier warriors, and above them the truly powerful fighters of the Kar Tribe.
If he clashed with those monsters at his current level… he could guarantee he would die within ten seconds. That was the kind of place the Kar Tribe was—full of monsters.
"Hoo…"
A growing restlessness pressed down on his shoulders, but Arteon maintained his composure as best he could and focused on the mana cultivation method.
And after some time had passed—sweat pouring from his body had soaked the floor, and his lips had begun to tremble faintly. Circulating mana without rest for hours demanded enormous concentration and stamina in itself. The longer he could keep it going, the more beneficial it was for mana training.
But then a presence nearby made Arteon slowly open his eyes.
"…Faster than I expected."
When Arteon turned his head toward the window, the door that had been closed was somehow open, and a woman in a black mask stood there, staring at him with sharp eyes.
And before Arteon could even react—
Swish!
In an instant the woman drew her blade and charged at him.
Whoosh!
The dagger she swung grazed Arteon's cheek and sliced through empty air. Apparently she hadn't expected her attack to fail in a situation like this; her center of gravity wavered for a moment.
At that moment—
Thud!
Arteon shoved her arm aside and flung her onto the bed.
Crash!
She landed on the bed so the impact wasn't severe, but the noise was still quite loud.
As Arteon rose to his feet, the woman quickly scrambled up, resettled into a stance, and spoke.
"Who the hell are you? Why is someone from the military looking for me?"
"I'm going to wash up. Wait here. I'll tell you my business once I'm done."
"What?"
She asked, but Arteon headed straight for the bathroom attached to the room without hesitation. It was nothing more than scooping water from a tub with a ladle to wash, but—
"Hoo."
Still, after rinsing off the sweat, Arteon roughly towel-dried himself, stepped out, and put on something that resembled a robe. The masked woman, cowed by Arteon's aura, simply watched him warily.
Arteon sat in a chair and looked at her.
"Lisiven, is it?"
"…I ask the questions first. Who are you?"
"Arteon of the Imperial Northern Army, First Division. I've come because there's something I'd like to trade with you."
"A trade? What kind of trade would soldiers want with people like us?"
"You give me information, and I give you a stable livelihood."
"…A stable livelihood?"
"The ways thieves' guilds scrape by are mostly obvious. They steal and sell what they overhear. But most of it is dangerous work, and hard to sustain."
They called themselves a thieves' guild to make it sound respectable, but coldly speaking, they were just bottom-dwellers of the back alleys banding together, dividing ranks, and helping each other survive. Of course, the information they obtained was often far better than expected. Especially with quite famous thieves' guilds—they sometimes even planted people in high-ranking nobles' mansions or the royal palace.
Contacting those at my current level is impossible…
More importantly, those sorts were likely already in cahoots with people who held real power in the Empire. Right now, when he still couldn't clearly identify the enemies he was looking for…
It's a bit more troublesome, but building solidly from the bottom up is what matters.
Arteon looked at Lisiven. Originally, Lisiven should already have become guild master and be struggling financially…
She's still only the vice guild master.
Moreover, Shadow Fang was currently split by conflict between the guild master and the vice master, Lisiven. Given that Lisiven would become master of the thieves' guild in the future, she was destined to win this struggle. But looking at the present situation, Lisiven and those who followed her seemed to have been driven into a corner.
If I leave them alone they'll manage fine on their own… but if I reverse the tide for them, I can put them in my debt.
"You're at odds with Pormanker, aren't you? I'll take care of him for you."
"What…?"
Lisiven's pupils trembled slightly. But she soon fixed him with a vicious glare and said,
"How the hell is a brat like you going to take care of Pormanker?!"
At best he looked mid-teens. Even giving him the benefit of every doubt, he was still a greenhorn who hadn't even hit twenty. And yet he was saying…
But that was the moment.
"…!"
Lisiven recoiled in terror and pressed herself flat against the wall behind her. If there hadn't been a wall, the sheer presence would have driven her a good ten meters farther back.
"H-h-h-how…?"
Lisiven's expression froze solid. She seemed unable even to form proper words; she stammered badly as she stared at Arteon.
The absurd killing intent that had just erupted from this boy. For an instant it felt as if someone had carved out her heart with a blade; a bone-chilling dread flooded her entire body.
And then—
"You've got good instincts."
Arteon spoke with a calm face. He hadn't even moved his mana. He had simply decided he would kill her. But that was something he had acquired over more than ten years on the battlefield… by taking thousands of lives.
With nothing but his eyes and presence he unleashed an impossible killing aura, and Lisiven gulped.
"Do you… really mean to help me?"
"I hear two subordinates are protecting Pormanker?"
"…Julan and Heirquan. The two most troublesome of Pormanker's men."
In fact, it was fair to say that because of those two, the gap in power between Pormanker's faction and hers hadn't closed.
"Both of them… are close to 2-star. They can both use mana."
"2-star?"
"…Yes."
If ordinary soldiers were unranked commoners, even a single 1-star could fight on equal terms with nearly ten soldiers. And yet there were 2-star level fighters in a thieves' guild like this.
"Just tell me where they are. I'll handle them."
"But… why would you do that?"
"What do I get out of helping you, you mean?"
Lisiven nodded silently. She looked bewildered, and also a little frightened because of the killing intent from a moment ago.
Arteon answered.
"From now on, partners who fill in what the other needs… I suppose?"
"Partners?"
For a moment the strength drained out of her. It was the first time anyone had come to a thieves' guild looking for partners. But even that reaction of Lisiven's was something Arteon couldn't help but like.
He already knew exactly what kind of person she was. Starting as master of a thieves' guild, she had become a great merchant who supplied goods to the North. She had stepped without hesitation into a place everyone else waved off as too dangerous, and she had watched their backs. If he gained her, he would have not only information but also the chance to make a great deal of money by exploiting the situations that would unfold.
Even if I leave her alone… she'll do fine on her own.
He would just pull her up to the surface a little faster. And make her his ally. Never forgetting a debt of gratitude was Lisiven's philosophy, after all.
"Don't you dare pretend not to know me later."
Arteon rose from his seat. Then he picked up Iglis from the table. The moment mana flowed from Arteon's hand into Iglis—
Clank!
Iglis gave its characteristic metallic ring and revealed its true form.
Lisiven's pupils shook.
"Mana…?"
She couldn't properly use it herself, but she was skilled enough to sense mana. At her murmur, Arteon drove the point home.
"Then let's begin."
It was time to achieve the purpose he had come here for.