Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Black Market (4)
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A dilapidated building towered over the northern market.
Five mercenaries knelt here.
"......"
They watched the three women standing solemnly in the center of the rooftop.
Owners of overwhelming power that one could hardly encounter even once in a lifetime.
"C-Captain. What should we do?"
"Shut up. If you don't want to die without a trace..."
The veteran mercenary Alter scolded his subordinates.
Fortunately, the two intruders were focused solely on 'Derek's wife'.
Opening their mouths here and getting in the way would turn them to dust in an instant.
So for now, they decided to stay quiet on their knees.
"Those women... They're Swordmasters or beyond."
"Y-Yes...? 'Derek's wife' already feels like a seasoned Swordmaster, and you're saying those two are even stronger?"
They were definitely whispering quietly.
Yet Anje and Myoran both turned to the subordinate who had uttered a single word.
"Gasp..."
"Sorry! Please continue your conversation. We'll stay right here!!"
Alter immediately slapped the cheek of the subordinate who had spoken out of turn.
And with the most innocent smile in the world, he showed consideration to the women.
"......"
Only then could the Saintess and Sword Sage refocus on Conan.
Among them, Anje spoke first.
"Northern Commander, was it?"
"And those are Berryhill Prison inmates."
Conan responded calmly.
Even facing two opponents where handling one would be overwhelming, she showed no sign of faltering.
A mental fortitude befitting someone from Intelligence.
"You. What's a woman like you doing impersonating the warden's wife?"
"I've never done that."
Her purple ponytail, tied back, didn't sway as she stated it flatly.
In response, Myoran, leaning against the railing, shot back coldly.
"Playing innocent? We saw everything."
"Calling each other wife and husband, flirting like that."
Conan flinched at the mention of their embarrassing role-play.
She covered her mouth with her fist and cleared her throat.
'They even saw that disgrace... Just how capable is their intelligence network?'
"There were circumstances. It was just a way to navigate the black market smoothly."
"Who disguises themselves as newlyweds? Especially with your workplace superior."
Anje elegantly crossed her legs.
Red holy power rose around her body.
Normally, holy power appeared white, but when the wielder was overwhelmingly strong, it could take on a unique color.
Yet even knowing that, Conan didn't back down an inch.
No matter how strong a prisoner might be, a soldier couldn't afford to flinch.
"Who knows. Maybe I'm just that comfortable to be around."
"......"
Conan, their workplace superior, claimed to be more comfortable than they were.
Anje let out a scoff at the absurd statement.
"Fine, let's say that's true. Then how do you explain this?"
Conan lifted her head proudly, like a pure unicorn.
Anje, with her contrasting red eyes, smirked.
"Earlier, I saw you two sharing some fine medicine before bed."
"It boosts a man's stamina at night and improves a woman's hip swivel, right? What else could sharing such embarrassing words and medicine mean?"
The teenage Myoran pressed her with a slightly louder voice.
At the shout, even Conan hesitated for a moment.
"What vulgar talk is that!!"
Beautiful features and an overbearing presence.
But the conversation atmosphere didn't match.
"......"
The mercenaries kneeling there peeked around like meerkats.
"Captain, how's this atmosphere going...?"
"I don't know exactly, but they all seem firmly on Derek Minster's side."
Alter swallowed hard amid the suffocating aura of the women locked in a battle of wills just by looking at them.
"I was a fool. I should have realized when we crushed the Walter Group... This was beyond what we could handle."
"You're right. Derek's wife is scary enough, but what the hell are those two? They're not even his wife, yet why are they... Gahk!!"
As the irritating two syllables kept coming up, Anje raised a single finger.
The loose-lipped subordinate clutched his throat.
"Quiet."
Anje tightened his airway just enough to instill discipline.
In the past, she would have made them all commit suicide, but lately, she'd become much more lenient.
"......"
Perhaps because she refrained from killing, Conan calmly explained the situation to the saintess, who seemed to have some morals.
"That hip swivel thing was from yesterday's sparring. We exchanged feedback on our shortcomings and shared medicine, that's all."
The Northern Commander took a deep breath.
She fiddled with the tight strapless top clinging to her figure and muttered.
"And as for bedroom medicine... I had no idea it was good for that. Derek said it permanently boosted his stamina, so I took some."
Her blunt words silenced the rooftop for a moment.
Myoran glanced at Anje, signaling her to peer into whether those words were sincere.
As if responding, Anje stared piercingly at Conan's face.
"Why's a woman like you wrapped head to toe in magic, blocking me from reading your true thoughts?"
"Isn't that obvious? Why would I share my info with you?"
Myoran, listening, snorted in disbelief.
"What? So it was a lie after all?"
"No. At least what she said with her own mouth is true. But she seems to have other thoughts too."
Anje looked at Conan's golden eyes with utter disdain.
At first glance, she had seemed like a steadfast, righteous soldier.
But now, an inexplicably feminine aura flowed from her.
The maturity that only comes from having a family.
Sensing it, the Northern Commander crisply raised her hand.
She pointed alternately at Anje and Myoran as if raising an objection.
"By the way, aren't you two currently prisoners? Why are you out of the prison?"
Anje and Myoran fell silent.
Seizing the momentary quiet, Conan swiftly changed the subject.
"Looking at you now, none of you can be contained by mere prison barriers."
Just like she was thoroughly concealing her changed inner feelings.
"Especially you, Myoran. You already gave several knight commanders trouble before, and you've grown even more since then?"
The black-haired woman slightly pulled away from the railing.
Even in her teens, her sensually curvaceous figure absorbed the sunlight.
"I'm still young. Growing is only natural, isn't it?"
She placed her hand on the sword hilt at her ample hips.
"So you're here to capture me before I get any stronger?"
She was ready to fight at any moment.
Recently, handling imperial threats single-handedly had given her a wealth of experience.
She might even take down three knight commanders in one go now.
"No, nothing like that."
"So you're scared after all."
Myoran shrugged at Conan stepping back.
But soon she realized Conan wasn't retreating simply from the power gap.
"If the warden let you roam free, he must trust you."
"......"
It was clearly a defense of them.
Yet an oddly uncomfortable feeling washed over them.
"Still, try to restrain yourselves from wandering so freely. If the military catches you, it'll only trouble Derek."
The discomfort turned to certainty in that instant.
The prisoners detected a subtle familiarity in how Conan addressed the warden.
"You... Since when have you cared about the warden like that?"
"Just the other day, you suspected Derek of being Bacar's spy."
Conan hesitated under the women's sharp gazes.
She brushed back her bangs casually and responded coldly.
"I interrogated because it was suspicious, but now I know he's innocent, so I'm treating him well to make up for it."
"Treating him well... No other motives?"
The red saintess perched on the skeletal wings of a corpse flower.
She interrogated from above imperiously.
"Now I get it perfectly. You played the pure, clueless soldier to appeal to him."
"What are you talking about?"
"Be honest. Even if it was acting, why keep up the couple role for so long?"
"Ridiculous. Fine, let's do this."
Conan firmly claimed she had maintained a cool demeanor in front of Derek.
And as proof, she pointed to the meekly kneeling mercenaries.
"Hey, you lot. You've been watching me all this time, right?"
"Y-Yes...? Yes, yes!! We have!!"
Alter hastily snapped to attention and replied.
"From what you saw, did I seem to have any ulterior motives toward Derek Minster today?"
Conan glared sharply, hinting at the answer she wanted.
"......"
Alter cautiously scanned his subordinates' faces.
They all wanted to speak but held back, following their captain.
A wrong answer here meant death for everyone.
"Tch, annoying."
Anje crooked her finger at their hesitation.
"Forget it. I'll hear it myself."
She never used her powers on the warden but showed no mercy to enemies.
With her ever-growing strength, she effortlessly drew out the mercenaries' true thoughts.
"Speak honestly. What was the vibe between Derek and Conan from what you saw?"
The dazed subordinates.
Only Alter, the Swordmaster, anxiously awaited their responses.
"......They were incredibly harmonious."
"Anyone could see they were a definite newlywed couple. Holding their daughter's hand together and doting on her was heartwarming."
Cold sweat beaded on Conan's expressionless face.
Her expression betrayed a realization that she might have genuinely enjoyed her time with Derek.
"Especially the way she looked at her husband—it was beautiful... Like she truly respected her man."
"I agree. She has cold eyes, but she's gentle only with her husband, and that satisfaction is immense."
The subordinates looked utterly content, as if they'd read the happiest novel.
But the more they spoke, the more sweat gathered on Conan's forehead.
"If I ever marry, I'd want a wife like that. Tough and cold on the outside like a soldier, but with that figure and hidden gentleness... Kekeke...!!"
Anje forcibly sealed the throats of the grinning, muttering subordinates.
With a utterly murderous expression, she choked their airways.
"Guh, we're dying. Anje, we're dying!"
Myoran hurriedly shook the massive corpse flower vigorously.
Only then did Anje release the spell with a pouty glare.
"Conan Bright. Any last words before you die?"
"......"
The Northern Commander now realized she had shown such a side without knowing.
She had always maintained the image of a steadfast soldier, vowing not to let her guard down today.
Apparently, to others, she seemed very womanly.
"None, I see."
Anje couldn't bear to watch Conan's flushed face any longer.
She extended a finger toward the sky.
As if about to summon great beasts from across the continent.
But.
In the end, if she had yielded here, she never would have become Northern Commander.
"Now I know why the warden sees you as mere prisoners while viewing me as his wife."
"What?"
Anje and Myoran froze.
Conan continued confidently.
"You're too intimidating, and sneaking around peeping like this—it's almost pitiful for the warden."
"......"
Myoran and Anje tried to retort in unison.
But they soon had to rethink.
Whether the warden truly saw them only as burdensome.
"You lack humanity. That's the difference between you and me."
The Northern Commander didn't miss their momentary hesitation.
She quickly extended her hand with a proposal.
"If you want, let's form an alliance. I'll teach you humanity, and you contribute to imperial peace."
The one thing the two lacked most.
Conan declared she would teach them humanity.
"Ways to live like normal people."
The commander, versed in military cooking and housework.
She offered to pass her diligent nature to these transcendent beings.