—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Losing this momentum now would be a huge loss, especially since I had obtained a dimensional rift and could properly store the dragon’s corpse.
‘I could just leave her be for now and deal with her later…’
But then Annelise would struggle desperately to survive, and if I dealt with her after becoming a recognized warlock, I would face strong distrust and suspicion from the royal family.
And as I said before, I had no intention of making enemies of the Demihuman Alliance.
Instead of explaining all that, I simply said I didn’t want to lose our current momentum, and Kayla quickly countered.
“As I said, time is on our side.”
“Well, I don’t necessarily agree with that. For example, there’s the Holy Empire, who will try to bite us if we show any weakness.”
Just by looking at the two disguised priests and the paladin, I could tell that they were trying to eliminate me.
It would definitely become troublesome if I gave them an opening.
“We can handle that much.”
“For now, yes. But who knows what will happen in the future? We’ve already made enemies of them. We don’t know what they’ll do. But if we seize this opportunity, we won’t have to worry about that.”
The kingdom would protect us. Growing stronger under their protection was a huge advantage.
The point was whether the risk of keeping Annelise alive was greater than the benefit.
Kayla was in favor of eliminating the immediate threat and planning for the future, while I was in favor of seizing the current opportunity, even if it meant taking risks.
After a few exchanges, Athena intervened, siding with Kayla.
Baldur, perhaps thinking both sides had valid points, said he would follow whatever decision we made.
This could be seen as the first time the two had openly disagreed with me.
But I wasn’t offended.
They were speaking out of concern for me and the entire party’s future, and they were wary of having someone they couldn’t trust join our group.
It was a healthy discussion, and in the end, they couldn’t change my mind.
Or rather, I persuaded them.
“…Do you really think this opportunity is worth more than the risk of keeping Annelise, a ticking time bomb, with us?”
“Yes, I have to seize this opportunity. And I need this to bring Thea back.”
“Don’t worry about that. We have to survive for Thea to survive.”
“Don’t worry. And don’t forget that there are significant risks associated with killing Annelise. We’ve made a clear enemy of the Holy Empire, or rather, the Goddess Religion. We can’t afford to have a strained relationship with the royal family in this situation.”
“…I understand. I’ll accept your decision, Master. However, it will be difficult for me to get close to Annelise.”
“I don’t expect you to go that far. But please refrain from acting like you did before. Especially you, Athena.”
“…Alright. I’ll at least try not to provoke her.”
“That’s enough.”
After our discussion ended, I finally looked at Annelise.
She had witnessed the entire process, and she finally realized that she had been given the chance to join my party, just as she had requested.
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
Annelise quickly shook her head at my question.
“Thank you for trusting me and giving me this opportunity. I will never, ever betray you. I will do my best to contribute to this party.”
Athena openly frowned at her words, and while Kayla didn’t show it, she didn’t seem to believe her either.
However, she didn’t say anything to Annelise, as she had promised not to provoke her.
Annelise must have wanted to intervene in our conversation countless times.
It was only natural, as her fate was at stake.
But she had endured until the end and finally earned her chance.
“This opportunity was given to you out of necessity. We’ve accepted you into the party, but as you’ve seen, it won’t be easy to earn our trust.”
“I understand it’s my fault, and I’ll accept the consequences. I will do my part and atone for my past mistakes.”
“You better keep your mouth shut. If you’re caught talking carelessly, I won’t forgive you, even if Master tries to stop me.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Kayla warned Annelise, and she replied without hesitation.
She knew she had to say this, having earned this opportunity, so I didn’t stop her.
“Now, let’s clean up and head back.”
The others quickly began to move at my words.
“You’re late. We’re cutting it close to make it back on time.”
“It’s fine. We had some success.”
“…Success?”
Geonun, the coachman who was waiting for us in the village, widened his eyes at the mention of success.
Normally, I wouldn’t have to explain the situation to a mere coachman, but he was sent by the royal family.
Therefore, I decided to give him a brief explanation.
Of course, I had no intention of telling him everything.
“We found ruins. It wasn’t anything special, but we found quite a few ancient books.”
“That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
“And there were some unfortunate incidents.”
“Unfortunate incidents…?”
“We were attacked. Some mercenaries from Jutus and Doriem secretly formed an alliance.”
“Oh my…!”
Even though he was sent by the royal family, he knew about the relationship between Jutus and Doriem.
Geonun had a disbelieving expression, and I said nonchalantly,
“It’s fine since we survived.”
Kriang would handle the aftermath. And honestly, I had gained more than I had lost, and the royal family’s request was more important right now, so I didn’t elaborate further.
“But it’s true that we’re short on time, so let’s head back as soon as possible. We’ll head to Jutus first, but we’re not sure how Eryan will react, so we need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.”
“…That would be very dangerous.”
“We could be relentlessly attacked by Doriem and Jutus. But don’t worry. We’ll make it to Doriem safely, even if we’re late.”
“…I understand. I’ll do my best to get you back to Doriem.”
Geonun said resolutely.
We set off on our return journey without proper rest.
In Baron Iklemba’s territory, they didn’t try to stop us, even though we announced our immediate departure.
It was as if they didn’t care at all.
Thanks to that, we were able to move as quickly as possible and reached the border of Baron Jutus’s territory sooner than expected.
“Oh, you’re back.”
Eryan himself was waiting for us there.
He seemed quite pleased to see us, and fortunately, he wasn’t hostile towards us.
“I would have left if you were any later.”
“Didn’t you say you would have one of your men guard this place?”
“Ah, I made some adjustments to the schedule. I was getting impatient.”
“Good. Can you guide us to Doriem as quickly as possible this time, without going through your territory?”
“We’re running out of time. Things got complicated in Iklemba.”
“Hmm. Well, I can’t refuse a request from a client who pays so generously.”
He readily agreed to my request.
‘Has he not been recruited by the Goddess Religion?’
It was unexpected.
It seemed the Goddess Religion hadn’t completely taken over Jutus yet.
As promised, he guided us to the Doriem by the fastest route, avoiding his own territory, and I immediately paid him the balance.
“I like how straightforward you are.”
Eryan smiled in satisfaction as I promptly paid the remaining amount.
“Then, this is the end of our deal. Good luck with your request.”
And then he left without hesitation.
The others, who had been tense until the very end, breathed a sigh of relief.
“He doesn’t know, does he?”
I nodded at Athena’s words.
I didn’t know why.
Perhaps he really hadn’t been recruited yet, or maybe he knew but pretended not to because of a conflict with the guild.
‘Or maybe he was excluded entirely.’
Considering what he had said about Jutus’s will… And the fact that he had publicly announced my request to the guild and handled it properly… It seemed there was a complicated situation going on within the guild.
But I didn’t need to figure it out.
Whatever the reason, it had benefited us, and thanks to that, we arrived at Doriem quickly and easily.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll arrive within two days.”
If that was the case, we would make it within the deadline. I had thought we might be late, but fortunately, things were going well.
‘This is the best outcome.’
Thanks to our quick return, Perseus’s remnants and the Moses Merchant Guild probably hadn’t grasped the situation properly.
Therefore, I didn’t expect any major problems here.
And my prediction was correct.
We had the Specter scouting ahead just in case, but there was no one watching us, and we safely arrived at Doriem.
After briefly greeting the familiar guard, we entered the territory, and I saw several people looking at us in surprise.
‘They’re from the Moses Merchant Guild.’
Some of them looked dismayed and immediately ran off somewhere.
It seemed they were going to report the situation.
We had completed the request and returned to the territory with all the facts.
It was too late for them to try and change anything.
I immediately headed to the Mercenary Guild and informed Servisso that the request had been completed.
“I’ll inform the client.”
“Is the branch manager available?”
“Yes, he’s upstairs.”
“I have something important to discuss with him. I’d like to see him right away. If you tell him it’s related to this request, he’ll allow it.”
Perhaps sensing the seriousness of my expression, Servisso immediately relayed the message.
“He says you can come up.”
As expected, the branch manager granted me immediate access, and I went to the reception room with my companions.
Colmail was waiting for us.
Perhaps because I had said it was related to the request, he was alone.
“I heard it’s related to the request. What happened?”
Colmail asked as soon as Servisso left.
“The Perseus Mercenary Group and the Moses Merchant Guild have betrayed Doriem.”
“What do you mean?”
I started from the beginning, explaining what had happened in Baron Jutus’s territory, finding the ruins, and their attack.
“Eryan…”
“Do you know him?”
“I’ve heard of him. We’re not personally acquainted.”
I added that he was someone trustworthy enough for Jutus to vouch for him.
“By the way, I heard you found ruins.”
“It seemed to be a religious site. There were altars and statues. But we didn’t find anything of significance. Just a few more ancient books. And most of the ruins were destroyed during the battle. Some of them were deliberately destroyed by them.”
“You said there were no survivors.”
“Yes, we were quite desperate.”
Instead, I presented their equipment and mercenary badges as evidence.
He seemed to understand what had happened to their bodies, considering I was a necromancer.
“Mercenary badges. With this many, they’ll definitely serve as solid evidence.”
“And… there’s a high probability that the Goddess Religion is involved.”
“The Goddess Religion?”
“It’s difficult to provide concrete evidence for this. They thoroughly erased their tracks, so we can’t reveal it publicly. But…”
“You have a strong suspicion… It’s true that the Goddess Religion has ample reason to target you, Inha.”
Colmail’s expression became serious.
“We can’t reveal that publicly.”
“I agree.”
“I need to inform Kriang. And I might have to explain the situation to the lord as well.”
Colmail seemed troubled but sighed in resignation.
The situation was too big for him to handle alone.
After thinking for a moment, Colmail said,
“Thank you for the information. I’ll invite you again when Kriang arrives. As for the ancient books, it’s your personal achievement, so we won’t interfere. But…”
“Yes, I think it would be best to hand them over to the royal family. I’ll discuss it with Kriang personally.”
“That’s a good choice. …Don’t worry about Perseus or Moses. I’ll take care of them.”
Colmail’s expression was icy cold as he mentioned Perseus and Moses.
It was a side of him I had never seen before, but it was only natural.
He was the branch manager of a large-scale mercenary guild. A kindhearted person couldn’t have reached this position, let alone maintained it.
Then, I added as if I had just remembered something.
“Ah, and about Annelise…”
“…Did she cause another problem?”
“No, on the contrary, she showed good performance. She was helpful to us, you could say. So we were going to reward her, but… she made an unexpected request.”
Colmail breathed a sigh of relief, as if glad to hear that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Your Text Here]
