Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Dungeon Exploration Team
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After stopping by the safe house in the northeastern part of the empire, I returned to the scene of the incident with a few agents.
Since the target was dead, I had to collect definitive evidence to avoid any future trouble.
In the process, the cause of death for Vice-Commander Herbert and the Felton knights was perfectly fabricated.
The new story was that I had arrived just after Zimmerman slaughtered them.
Even if the Felton Sword Family dispatched an investigation team, there would be nothing for them to find.
"Ha! You arrived a week early, and it's a mission failure?"
Deputy Chief Deltron let out a short sigh, his eyes darting between my face and the report.
He looked as if he'd never expected me, with my 100% success rate, to fail.
I immediately launched into a tirade, passionately pleading my case.
"Ah, to be precise, it's not a failure. Isn't it their fault for rushing things and messing it up?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
"We were supposed to meet three weeks after I accepted the mission in the first place."
"Tsk! Right. You have to hand it to those Felton bastards for being so impatient."
Deltron nodded readily, as if in agreement.
I didn't stop there, putting the finishing touch on my alibi.
"In that case, you should give me some of the pay…"
"The client fee won't even come in if this is the case. Does that make any sense?"
"I went through hell, going all the way up to another branch's jurisdiction, didn't I? I even hauled their corpses down. So, isn't there something for me?"
"You want it recognized as an accomplishment, is that it?"
"Exactly. I knew you'd understand."
"Ugh…"
The deputy chief let out a long sigh and pressed his temples as if his head was throbbing.
He then looked up at me with a weary expression and said.
"You think that'll work?"
"Ah, why not!"
"Chalk it up to bad luck and go take a break. If you want to earn money, take on another request."
"Forget it. I'll just rest."
"If you slept on the road while traveling, you must have a lot of your expense money left, right? Return it before you go."
"Give me a break."
I gave Deltron's desk a light kick and stormed out of the office.
With that, my alibi was solid.
Now that my dream of owning a home was half-shattered, I wasn't too attached to the performance bonus.
Money would come as I completed missions, and the empire's housing prices would eventually fall.
Today, I had only pretended to be obsessed with my pay and performance.
It was all an act to divert suspicion.
No, deep down, I had hoped he'd give me at least a little something.
It was a mission I took on by giving up my break, after all.
*I should get something out of this, too.*
I handed over the remaining mission funds to the accounting team and left the branch.
My steps felt much lighter, since my back pocket had swallowed half of it.
Though, it was still just pocket change.
"Should I take a break?"
Having handled a summons and two consecutive missions, I had six weeks of rest.
If I added my vacation days, I could even take a long-distance trip like Dusk.
Of course, to get promoted quickly, I couldn't use all my rest days.
Still, I wanted to rest soundly for at least a few days.
My encounter with Zimmerman had left my mind in a bit of a tangle.
*I thought he'd wiped them all out, but quite a few survivors remained.*
If I had my way, I'd head to the Railharshe Kingdom right now and search for this Tomb of Swords.
But the risks were far too great.
Railharshe was close to the Felton Sword Family, and I might be under surveillance for a while after taking on this request.
For now, it was time to lay low and act as if I had no connection to it.
A long-distance mission, like guarding Prince Raul, might come up eventually.
I was walking down the street, heading for the safe house reserved for special agents.
Suddenly, I noticed dozens of people gathered in one place, murmuring amongst themselves.
It would have been enough to pique the interest of ordinary people, but the individuals gathered there were also quite heavily armed.
Passersby also kept glancing over, curious about what was happening.
*A mercenary guild. Looks like a big recruitment notice was posted.*
Pennant City was the most prosperous city in the eastern part of the empire.
As such, large-scale notices for things like monster subjugations or bandit exterminations were common.
I initially thought it was something similar and paid it no mind, but a tent set up next to the building caught my eye.
The mercenaries in line would enter the tent one by one and then come back out.
"All you need is a mercenary tag, so why are they testing our skills?"
"Heh heh! Seeing how pissed you are, you must have failed."
"And you passed?"
"If I had, would I be waiting here for you? I'd have already joined that group."
"Ah, what rotten luck. Let's go get a drink."
Even a mercenary who looked to be around Tier 7 had failed. This was rather strange.
For a large-scale subjugation, they usually accepted everyone except complete rookies.
*Now this has piqued my interest.*
I was originally going to just walk past, but after hearing the mercenaries talk, I felt a strange pull.
I pushed through the crowd and read the notice posted on the outer wall of the mercenary guild.
—Dungeon Exploration Team Recruitment. Small elite team, interview required. Profitability guaranteed by Sophia, the eldest daughter of the House of Marquis Pennant and a disciple of the Blue Tower.
"Hoh… The Blue Magic Tower."
It was a magic tower located at the northwestern tip of the continent.
Famous for its unique water-attribute magic, it held significant influence in the Veldam Alliance.
*Come to think of it, they said there was a dungeon around here, right? Seeing as the House of Marquis Pennant is behind this, it fits perfectly.*
I recalled what Viscount Huey had said about the ruins in the villa district.
It was a project whose profitability had been shattered because nothing had been done for over half a year.
Normally, they could have finished it when housing prices were rising and sold it for a high price.
If they cleared the dungeon now, they could still turn a decent profit.
That must be why the eldest daughter, who had studied abroad at the magic tower, was stepping up to form an exploration team.
As I stared at the notice with interest, I suddenly overheard a tempting conversation nearby.
"They say if you complete the dungeon exploration, you get 20,000 Geld per person and even the rights to a new villa. The reward could increase depending on your performance."
"That's why they're only recruiting those who can properly manifest their aura."
"What a shame. If I had just trained a little more, I'd be Tier 6 too."
"Give me a break. You're just a fresh Tier 7, stop bluffing."
"What did you say, you punk?"
Listening to the bickering mercenaries, it seemed the interview was quite difficult.
Indeed, to properly manifest aura, one had to be at the upper end of Tier 6, bordering on Tier 5.
They must have set such conditions to weed out the riffraff.
But all I could hear was "20,000 Geld" and "rights to a villa," not the difficulty of the interview.
*Villa rights?! A neeeew one?*
My ears perked up, and I squeezed through the crowd of mercenaries, gathering bits and pieces of information.
The dungeon was extremely dangerous, as several exploration attempts had already failed.
But no matter how difficult, it had to be far easier than raiding the Everdeen Governor's Office.
Once I judged it was worth a shot, my body was already walking toward the tent on its own.
*Ughhh! The new villa is calling to me!*
Despite the high bar, the line for the interview was quite long.
But I endured the wait with a beaming smile.
It felt as if a sparkling new home was already in my hands.
Then, it was finally my turn.
"Come in."
As I followed a knight clad in pristine plate armor, the interior of the tent came into full view.
A woman with stunning looks sat on a chair with impressive red velvet cushions.
Her face, as radiant as a marigold, was a perfect match for the bright yellow dress that cinched her slender waist.
The hair that cascaded over her shoulders was like a shimmering bundle of golden threads.
If Adelle, the Comet of the Ducal House, had an understated beauty, Sophia had a flair for flaunting her own.
*Oh! A beauty unbecoming of a mage. Her looks pass, at least.*
I was the one being interviewed, but I had already given her a passing grade first.
Of course, it was just a delusion confined to my mind.
"What are you doing?"
As I just stood there staring, Sophia unfolded a fan and covered her face.
*It's not like you'll wear out from me looking. Playing hard to get, are we?*
Grumbling inwardly, I shrugged and opened my mouth.
"I'm here for an interview. Should I be the one asking the questions?"
"First, introduce yourself and prove your skills…"
"What do you think is your greatest charm?"
"Isn't it my combination of intellect and beauty?"
Despite the out-of-the-blue question, Sophia didn't bat an eye and praised herself.
Oh, I like the confidence.
To be able to answer so quickly.
But you're wrong.
"No, it's not."
"Hmm?"
"Your charm is your innocent beauty."
"What did you say?"
Calling someone who had studied abroad at a magic tower an "innocent beauty" was a grave insult.
But I paid it no mind and continued.
"It doesn't mean you're simple-minded. It means that while your exterior is dazzling, your inner purity makes you appear all the more beautiful."
"Ah…"
Sophia, who had raised an eyebrow in displeasure, let out a low exclamation.
She had been completely hooked by my plausible-sounding nonsense.
*Interpretation is always better than the dream itself. But to fall for something like this, she must be a bit naive, huh?*
With just a single bit of flattery, her attitude softened considerably.
The fan that had covered her face was slowly lowered to her lap.
"Please introduce yourself. I'd also like you to prove your skills."
"I am, in fact, a professional treasure hunter."
"Oh…"
Swoosh.
Two throwing knives were suddenly in my hands.
It looked as if I had pulled them from thin air, but I had simply hidden them in a blind spot using my palm and the back of my hand.
Even a simple trick of the eye was quite effective.
Sophia's eyes widened slightly.
I continued my introduction with a relaxed demeanor.
"The Grim Vault in the Duchy of Caliburn, Corinth's Infinite Labyrinth, and the underwater dungeon that was in Railharshe."
"What about them?"
"That is a list of dungeons whose explorations I participated in and completed perfectly. I've only listed the major ones you might recognize. I have plenty of other dungeon-crawling experience besides those."
For a moment, her gaze shifted to the guard knight standing in attendance.
It seemed she wasn't familiar with this line of work and was seeking advice.
Although I hadn't personally been to the dungeons I mentioned, I knew everything about them.
They were explorations in which members of the Rantzverger Assassination Guild had participated incognito.
*Ask me anything. I'll answer it all.*
Sophia didn't press further about the dungeons.
The guard knight had given her a ready nod.
Instead, she threw out a fundamental question.
"Even if you're experienced, a verification process is necessary. How about you show me some of your talent?"
This was the part the mercenaries found most difficult—the matter of skill level.
A faint smile on my lips, I glanced at one side of the tent and extended my right arm.
A way to prove myself without even needing to summon my aura had come to mind.
"I'll show you right now."