The Wicked Employer
“B-be careful going in, Lord Jace.”
“Ah, yes. You be careful as well, Saintess.”
“Oh my, thank you!”
“Tsk.”
I glanced sideways at the Hero, who clicked his tongue. His expression really is terrible, as expected.
He looked displeased because the Saintess was being kind to me. His narrow-mindedness hadn’t changed one bit. Of course, today his face looked even worse than usual. I knew exactly why.
The Hero had taken quite a blow to his pride today. He was probably in an absolutely foul mood because of it.
Pfft. That’s what he gets for trying to control even break time.
Today, the Hero had been forced to go back on his own words. In the end, he’d changed his stance to say that using the gallery during breaks was acceptable. Even the Hero couldn’t withstand the concentrated fire from the community. More precisely, it seemed to be because of the bait I had laid out.
No matter how much of a Hero he is, having the image of picking up paper to sell it must sting.
Everyone except the Hero was happy, of course. Naturally, the community was filled with praise for me—the Trickster. Especially during break time, posts praising me poured in. Many of them still stuck in my memory.
-(StrongestGenius): It’s our victory!! We finally defeated the Hero!!
-(AcademyStrongestBeauty): It’s all thanks to the Trickster! Thank you!
-(ManaIsMyFriend): Does this mean we can use the Study Gallery even during lectures now?
-(FishHero): Did you see the Hero trembling? I thought I was going to die laughing.
-(KingdomsHandsomestMan): Impressive, Trickster. To pull off such a delicate move…!
-(RavensIronFist): Haha! Trickster! I acknowledge you as my rival! Magnificent!
-(StylishVermin): Guys, let’s still give the Hero some credit. Changing what he said isn’t an easy thing to do.
Of course, the Hero kept trying to defend himself to the very end. In a way, he really was something else. Still, it had been quite an entertaining memory when I thought back on it. Watching everyone excitedly posting during break time had been rather satisfying.
Anyway, I ignored the Hero, whose expression had soured, and headed toward my house. If I provoked him any further, a real fight might break out. And that still wasn’t the best option.
It happened just as I approached my house.
I stopped in my tracks. The smell of blood.
Blood was coming from inside the house. A thick, heavy scent of it. My expression instantly turned cold—the same look I used to wear on the battlefield. The moment I caught the scent of blood, my old habits surfaced naturally.
I walked slowly toward the house. There were bloodstains in the front yard. The trail led straight to the front door.
The door is open.
The front door stood wide open. I had paid close attention to security. No ordinary person should have been able to open that door. I had even applied various magical protections. Yet the door was open.
My expression grew serious. The community server was inside. If anyone saw it, they would immediately realize I was the one who created the gallery.
Who could it be? I don’t sense anyone inside, though…
I drew the dagger I kept hidden. Shing. This wasn’t an ordinary opponent. I couldn’t sense their presence at all. I approached the door quietly. Step. Step. I was careful with my footsteps too, spreading mana around my feet to muffle any sound.
Soon, I stepped inside the house. What came into view made my eyes widen.
“Huh?!”
It wasn’t because some great existence was present.
“Robin!”
Surprisingly, Robin was inside the house—collapsed and bleeding. I rushed over to him immediately and checked his condition.
He’s been stabbed in the side. And he’s lost a lot of blood.
Fortunately, he wasn’t dead. I placed my hand over his wound and cast a healing spell. Whoosh—! My hand glowed brightly, and Robin’s injury began to close little by little.
As I healed him, I thought, Did Robin open the door? Well, I did give him a key.
He had to keep distributing magic paper, so I had given him a special house key. It wasn’t an ordinary key—it had been magically treated. He must have used it to open the door. Sure enough, a faintly glowing blue key lay near Robin.
At least that’s a relief…
No one had broken into the house. It was fortunate that the interior hadn’t been discovered. If the community server had been found, it would have been disastrous. That much was lucky. Of course, this wasn’t the time to feel relieved.
Robin had ended up like this because of the job I gave him. I needed to take responsibility and treat his wounds. I poured more mana into healing him while thinking about the culprit.
It probably wasn’t that merchant. He’s just an ordinary civilian. He wouldn’t have the skill for this. Robin had likely been discovered while investigating the merchant’s backers.
I focused on treating Robin’s wound. It wasn’t a shallow injury, so it required concentration. After some time had passed—
“Mmm…”
Robin’s eyes slowly opened.
“You’re awake?”
“Wh-where…?”
“My house?”
“Who am I… Gah…!! I-I’m so sorry!”
The moment Robin saw me, he tried to jump to his feet. But he had only just been healed.
“Urgh!”
He clutched his side and collapsed again.
“You all right?”
“I-I’m fine!”
He seemed more afraid of me than of the pain. I found it absurd, but he was still a patient. I tried to calm him down first.
“Relax. Just tell me what happened.”
“What happened… Ah, yes, sir.”
Soon, Robin began recounting everything that had occurred.
***
Robin said he had truly done his best to tail the merchant. However, the merchant hadn’t met anyone suspicious until the magic paper ran out. Once it was gone, the merchant finally made his move.
“Naturally, he headed toward the academy, right?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
The magic paper only existed within the academy, so the merchant had no choice but to go there. But he hadn’t actually entered the academy itself.
“He didn’t go inside the academy?”
“No. I saw him enter a warehouse near the academy.”
“A warehouse…”
My expression hardened. This meant the scale was larger than expected. It wasn’t something ordinary people could pull off.
Robin continued explaining.
“I followed him into the warehouse. And there…”
“There?”
He must have witnessed the transaction. Maybe he even saw the person who stole the magic paper?
But my guess was wrong.
“I saw him go underground.”
“Underground?”
“Yes. There were three guards at the entrance, and they looked quite strong. I couldn’t go any farther in.”
Why does Trier love underground spaces so much?
Anyway, after the merchant went underground, he didn’t come out for a long time. Robin had foolishly waited inside the warehouse all day.
“How long did you wait?”
“About a whole day…”
“Haah…”
In the end, he had been discovered and stabbed in the side.
“You managed to escape, at least?”
“I’m rather confident in running away, after all…”
As expected of a former thief, he was quick on his feet when it came to escaping. Still, we hadn’t gained much useful information. Just that there was a suspicious warehouse near the academy?
“Ah, and I saw a lot of cargo being carried underground as well.”
“Wait. Does that mean…?”
A rumor that had been circulating in Trier suddenly came to mind.
“Have you ever heard of the Black Market?”
“The Black Market…? I’ve heard there’s one somewhere in Trier…”
Robin didn’t seem to know the details either. But then his expression changed.
“D-don’t tell me that place is…?”
“Yeah. Seems like it.”
The Black Market was exactly what it sounded like—an underground market. It wasn’t a place that sold ordinary goods. Drugs, illegal weapons, stolen items, rare animals, even humans and corpses were traded there. Naturally, it was shrouded in secrecy—so much so that even a skilled thief like Robin didn’t know its location.
“Magic paper showing up in the Black Market…”
The merchant had probably obtained the magic paper from the Black Market. That much was certain. And I realized one more thing.
“Someone inside the academy is connected to the Black Market. And quite deeply, at that.”
“Gasp…!”
I had never assumed the Royal Academy was clean. Wherever people gathered, it was the same. Corruption existed, and hidden secrets were plentiful. Besides, this was the medieval era. Things were bound to be worse than in the modern world.
“Can you move?”
“Huh…? Ah, yes. Thanks to Lord Marco’s magic…”
“Then you should keep working, right?”
“……!!”
Robin’s face turned to pure horror at my words. It was the expression of someone seeing a wicked employer for the first time. I averted my gaze, feeling a twinge of guilt. Still, there was no helping it. We were short on manpower.
If only the owner of the Red Rose Brothel were as capable as I hoped…
Still, my conscience wasn’t completely rotten. I held out a small pouch to him.
“Wh-what is this…?”
“A bonus. You worked hard, after all.”
His face lit up with gratitude. People who never expected kindness were always the most moved when they received it. He opened the pouch with an expectant look—then his expression changed immediately.
“One gold…?”
“Ahem, that should be plenty. What more do you want?”
“N-no, sir. I’m deeply moved. I’ll work even harder!”
When my expression darkened, he quickly came to his senses and prepared to leave.
“You need to hear your mission before you go.”
“Ah, the mission!”
I explained his next assignment.
“This time, monitor the academy. Just find anyone trying to move magic paper outside.”
“U-understood!”
“Take the key too.”
“The key… why?”
“Why else? You still need to distribute magic paper whenever you have time.”
Robin’s face darkened at my words. But what could he do?
“We don’t have enough people. What else can we do?”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
He left looking utterly miserable. I felt a pang of guilt watching him go, but there was nothing I could do. I was extremely busy these days too—busy with something very important.