Chapter 139
Chapter 139
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: A Deal for Information
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 139
From a very positive perspective, Isabel was quite an attractive woman.
Her bubbly personality and pretty features often captured men's attention.
‘The problem is that she’s excessively prim.’
Her life at Venderford had been nothing short of difficult.
Of course, Isabel was also a talented individual who had completed ten years of rigorous training, so she had no trouble keeping up with her classes.
It was just that all the privileges she had enjoyed as a member of the main family had vanished.
Assassins were always destined for solitude, but this was a completely different kind of pressure.
To put it simply…
‘She lacks social skills, I suppose?’
That seemed to be the most fitting description.
A person who was always on the outskirts because she didn't know how to make friends.
That was why Isabel had been a loner throughout her time at Venderford.
Just look at her now.
Not a single person was asking about her well-being.
Except for the blue-haired oddball from the Ties family.
“…Are you serious?”
“But do you know her? No matter how much I asked around, I could only find out that she’s a direct descendant of the Rantzverger family.”
“You should have asked when you were at Venderford.”
“I didn’t have the courage back then. And we didn’t run into each other much.”
“And now you’ve found the courage to face her?”
“If he’s a man acknowledged by Prince Elington, wouldn’t that be alright?”
No, what on earth did Elington say to him to give him this kind of baseless confidence?
I shot Mac a dubious look.
Still, introducing him to my half-sister felt a bit…
‘It feels… off?’
A matchmaker never makes an introduction they’ll get blamed for.
But the thing is…
From what I’d gathered, Isabel had a rather hysterical personality.
“Wait a minute, don’t tell me…?”
“Why are you dragging out your words like that?”
“Are you the type who enjoys being dominated?”
“What??”
As I raised an eyebrow and posed the question, Mac Ties waved his hands in exasperation.
His flustered denial that he wasn’t *that* depraved only made him seem more suspicious.
Well, his tastes were none of my business.
“Anyway, you just need me to introduce you to Isabel, right?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. I’ll make it happen one way or another, so hand it over.”
“…Hey.”
I answered confidently and held out my hand, but Mac subtly backed away.
His eyes were now filled with distrust.
“What, you don’t trust me? Me, the top student of Venderford and the first student council president?”
“You have quite the track record, sir. You were ranked number one among the people you should never trust on campus.”
When in the world did they conduct such a survey?
And who conducted a survey without the student council president’s permission?
How pointless.
Though I was momentarily flustered, I quickly regained my composure.
I wore a confident expression and beckoned with my finger.
“My family runs a pawn shop… no, a trading post in the 4th Autonomous District. We’re pretty close with your family.”
“Really?”
“Of course. We even do business with Black Scale Island.”
“…Very well.”
“See? You should always trust me.”
“I’m only entrusting this to you because I have no way of contacting Lady Isabel. There was never any trust to begin with.”
“I get it, just hand it over.”
My goal was the information Mac had gathered anyway.
Whether he trusted me or not didn’t matter in the slightest.
“Thanks. I’ll send the letter right away.”
“You will, right?”
“Ah, have you only ever been deceived in your life?”
*Snatch.*
I retorted glibly and snatched the booklet from his hand.
Then I trudged toward a secluded corner of the fortress.
‘Seriously, is this fortress some kind of maze?’
No matter where I looked, there was no suitable place to rest. I wore a bitter expression.
At this rate, I’d end up sitting on the fortress wall to take a break.
“Where are you going, anyway?”
“To rest. I should’ve asked for directions from someone up top…”
I trailed off and looked at Mac’s quizzical face.
Wait a minute, now that I think about it…
I designed this fortress, and he built it, didn’t he?
As if sensing my questioning gaze, Mac Ties sighed deeply and said.
“How can the designer get lost?”
“Hey, there were so many modifications, I couldn’t help it.”
“I constructed it almost exactly as you designed it. Don’t make shameless excuses just because you’ve forgotten everything, alright?”
“*Ahem!* So, where’s a decent room to rest?”
After I coughed and chided him, Mac shook his head and pointed behind me.
Only then did I notice the hallway hidden by an optical illusion.
“Whoa! This is amazing.”
“Let me repeat, you designed this, Sir Ray.”
“It’s really amazing!”
“Are you even listening?”
“Amazing!”
“How can I possibly trust a man like this with an introduction!”
I heard Mac Ties yelling from behind, but I completely ignored him and entered the fortress hallway.
Now I remember.
I designed it this way to make it difficult for intruders to find the entrance, right?
After passing through the hallway and descending a few flights of stairs, I saw soldiers bustling about.
Among them, I spotted Frixon, working diligently.
‘Of course, I should get my room assignment from the quartermaster.’
He looked incredibly busy, but I paid it no mind and approached him with a cheerful greeting.
“Yo, Frixon. I’m here to get a room.”
“I’m busy as hell, which bastard is complaining about their room?”
“…”
I had offered a friendly greeting, but what came back was a stream of raw profanity.
As I stood there, frozen, Frixon finally turned his head, his face twisting in shock.
“Uh… when did you get here?”
“Just now.”
“Ahaha! This was just about something else. My apologies.”
“What was it about?”
“Some guys were writing petitions to change their rooms. I just finished thrashing one of them.”
“Oh! That’s some serious nerve.”
That was tantamount to picking a fight with a quartermaster already stressed out from overwork.
If it were me, I would never do such a thing…
‘Wait a second, wasn’t I doing the exact same thing?’
Of course, I was asking for a new room, not a change.
Either way, it was an awkward situation.
“*Ahem! Ahem!*”
As I cleared my throat repeatedly, Frixon’s expression turned peculiar.
It seemed he had noticed my embarrassment.
“Hey now! Is Ray Carter, the Guardian of Foben and a war hero, the same as some worthless baron?”
“Right? You’re a man who understands.”
“Besides, you’re a friend of the Quartermaster, Sir Frixon. That settles it, doesn’t it?”
The thought that this was the most useless reason of all rose to the tip of my tongue.
But the authority to assign rooms in Ermac Fortress was Frixon’s alone.
‘For your girlfriend’s sake, I’ll let this slide.’
I nodded, picturing Reina, a beauty with a slender figure and refreshingly sharp features.
“The fortress structure is what it is, so the rooms won’t be that great. You can’t compare them to the new dorms at Venderford.”
“Of course not. What kind of idiot expects a luxurious life on the battlefield?”
“…”
I agreed with the all-powerful Frixon and started walking.
But then, our great quartermaster suddenly stopped.
His face was even flushed.
“What? Huh? Don’t tell me…”
“It’s not true!”
I shot him a suspicious glance just in case, and a sudden shout erupted.
Look at this guy.
What does a strong denial mean?
“A definite yes. Hey, let’s see your room first.”
“Ahem! How dare a mere soldier try to rummage through the quartermaster’s quarters?”
“I’ll tell Elington.”
“W-wait… Isn’t that a bit cheap?”
“If you don’t want to get screwed, lead me to your room right now.”
“Agh! Damn it.”
Frixon grumbled but obediently turned around.
Just as I expected, his quarters were quite nice, even considering it was a fortress.
It was small, but it had everything one could need.
A room like this during a war was an incredible luxury.
“Wow! Isn’t this better than where the top brass is sleeping?”
“Even so, I made sure all the key officers were well taken care of. I have my standards, you know.”
“By the way, that Mac kid is amazing, isn’t he? The interior is even better built.”
“I was shocked watching him build it, too. He handles stone so freely. Spirits are really something else.”
“I should send that letter soon. As a sign of praise, I should grant his request first.”
“I don’t know what his request is, but isn’t the greatest praise the name you gave it?”
“The name?”
“The name of this fortress is Ermac. They say it was named by combining the names of His Highness and Mac.”
“I thought it sounded a bit familiar.”
I nodded and sat down on the plush bed.
‘This is killer. People really need to sleep in a good place.’
Ever since crossing into the Corinth Kingdom’s territory, I had been sleeping outdoors as a matter of course.
And it wasn’t like I was on some leisurely trip.
‘It was a grueling time.’
The price for annihilating the leadership of the Corinth Kingdom’s army, including Krol Karim, was terrible.
His lieutenants, blinded by vengeance, had swarmed to kill me.
I barely escaped using Soul Shadow Evasion, but the real problem came after.
The Corinth Kingdom’s search was relentlessly persistent.
With my internal injuries and depleted aura, I could no longer maintain my stealth techniques.
It was only a matter of time before my location was discovered.
The enemy’s encirclement was closing in day and night.
‘If I hadn’t caught them off guard, it would have been dangerous.’
I deviated completely from the path the Corinth Kingdom army had anticipated.
I went deep into Railharsch territory before crossing into the Empire.
The journey took quite a long time, but safety was the priority.
In any case, the story of my escape was one best told over drinks.
It wasn't something to ramble on about right now.
Besides, while my internal injuries and aura had recovered, I was utterly exhausted from the journey.
I tossed a single remark at Frixon, who was standing there blankly.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Shouldn’t you be getting back to work? You seem to have a lot of free time.”
“Ah! Crap, I can’t fall behind on today’s work.”
“Then you’ll have to pull an all-nighter.”
“Damn it, see you later.”
As Frixon scurried away, I finally found a sense of peace.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to sprawl on the bed and sleep.
A more important task had fallen into my hands.
‘No matter how tired I am, I can’t resist my curiosity.’
I pulled the small booklet Mac had given me from my coat.
Then I glanced at Calipe, which I had tossed carelessly onto the table.
Judging by Mac Ties’s confident demeanor, the information was likely accurate.
I would be able to learn the details about the Dark Spirit King, Alkheim.
‘Alright. I’ll kick that bastard out and claim the complete Calipe for myself.’
The legendary treasured sword used by the founding emperor of Vertos.
Just thinking about it sent a thrilling current through my entire body.
But at the very moment I was about to open the booklet from Mac…
A slick voice struck my mind.
—You think you can do anything to me with some paltry information? Hehehehe! Dream on.