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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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He seemed to think I would be troubled by this.
A pointless thought.
‘It’s not like they’re concerned about me.’
“We’re just passing through Doriem anyway. Just take care of the commission.”
“So, becoming an authorized warlock is your goal. I see.”
Eryan nodded in understanding.
“Come this way. Ah, the down payment is half the reward.”
Considering there was no trust between us, it was only natural.
“It’s a promissory note. Since I said I would officially accept the request through the guild, we’ll settle it there.”
I took out the Tinairo Merchant Guild’s promissory note and showed it to him. Eryan’s eyes wavered at the sight of the 100-gold note.
It seemed he had chosen the safe profit instead of risking a confrontation, knowing that we weren’t pushovers.
With the deal concluded, I boarded the carriage with my companions.
“Let’s go, Geonun. Just follow them. They’ll take care of us.”
He drove the carriage, and Eryan and his companions cleared the path, welcoming us into their territory.
“Some of you stay behind. You know what to do, right? Stop anyone who comes this way.”
“Are you sharing it with us?”
“Thank you, boss!”
“We’ll do our best!”
Just moments ago, it had been a tense situation, but the atmosphere changed instantly as they received a large sum of money.
‘As expected, money is everything to mercenaries.’
I could see their loyalty deepening thanks to the money.
“Then let’s go! Follow us closely!”
Led by Eryan, several mercenaries surrounded the carriage and began escorting us.
It looked like surveillance, but judging from their cheerful faces, the atmosphere was amicable.
“…I didn’t expect this to be resolved with money.”
“They’re mercenaries. And it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“That’s true. 50 gold… it was an unimaginable sum before I met you.”
“Even most knights would have been swayed.”
“Knights too?”
I chuckled at Kayla’s words.
She was both right and wrong.
‘True knights wouldn’t be swayed by something like this.’
Knights from established families who had served their masters for generations wouldn’t be swayed.
However, newly appointed knights or those from insignificant, impoverished territories would be easily tempted.
Therefore, I understood Kayla’s words.
The knight order she had belonged to must have been an unusual place.
‘At the same time, she must have seen true knights who would never betray their masters.’
Otherwise, there would have been no reason for her to aspire to become a knight.
She would have been disillusioned instead.
“Not all knights are the same.”
Athena muttered softly.
‘Well, since Kayla was a former knight, she would be Athena’s standard for knighthood.’
Although Athena had seen other knights, Kayla was the one she had spent the most time with.
And since she had been trained by Kayla, her image of a knight must have been quite impressive.
Perhaps Kayla had said those words to break that preconceived notion.
We would soon be joining a noble family, a prestigious one at that, so there was a high chance we would encounter knights directly.
It was a kind of preemptive education.
‘Of course, the situation we’re going into is the worst possible.’
And since we would be entering into a deal with them, we would be nominally under their command, but we wouldn’t be at their mercy.
We engaged in small talk as we headed towards the castle in Baron Jutus’s territory, and we arrived there shortly.
‘Because the territory is small.’
Doriem was a large viscounty, while Jutus was just an average barony.
In a direct confrontation, Doriem would naturally be stronger than Jutus. However, Doriem was surrounded by other territories, so they couldn’t easily reveal their ambitions.
We entered the castle with Eryan’s help, of course.
Following his guidance, we entered the Jutus Mercenary Guild branch and officially submitted the request.
In the process, we also learned about our destination.
“Hmm, it’s not that far.”
It wasn’t far once we passed through Jutus’s territory. But if we had to take a detour…
‘There are no proper roads, and there’s the risk of being ambushed…’
If they had decided to be openly hostile towards us, they would have probably attacked us if we hadn’t hired them.
But since we had hired them, they were now our allies.
The mercenaries inside the guild were surprised to learn our identities, but thanks to the scale of the request and the fact that Eryan was the one who accepted it, there was no major conflict.
“These stares are unnerving.”
“Just bear with it.”
Eryan responded to Athena’s complaint.
But he didn’t just tell her to endure it.
He had his fellow mercenaries give them warning glares.
‘It seems he’s quite influential.’
Under the watchful eyes of Eryan’s companions, or rather, his subordinates, the other mercenaries looked away one by one.
‘Well, this is normal.’
Skill alone wasn’t enough to receive the guild’s guarantee. It meant he had the reputation and achievements to match, which naturally translated into influence.
We rested for a day at the lodging he introduced us to (I paid for it, of course), and as soon as the day changed, we headed towards Baron Iklemba’s territory.
Naturally, the escort continued throughout the night.
It was a natural consequence, as it also served as surveillance.
“…From here on is Baron Iklemba’s territory.”
“We’ll come back here on our way back.”
“I’ll leave one person behind.”
“About the remaining payment, you know, right?”
“Yes. We’ll receive the balance the moment you re-enter Doriem’s territory. So make sure you come back safely.”
If we didn’t return within the timeframe, they would collect the balance from Doriem.
“Don’t worry and just wait.”
“…See you later.”
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“Oh, welcome.”
We were greeted by one of Baron Iklemba’s servants.
He was a rather fussy and strangely sly-looking man.
We were all a bit taken aback, not expecting to be greeted by someone like him.
He welcomed us, offered us a meal, and provided us with rooms.
And he immediately brought us the requested ancient book.
“…Isn’t this telling us to leave right away?”
“I agree.”
Athena and Baldur expressed their opinions in turn.
“You’re probably right.”
Kayla answered for me.
“Why? Isn’t this a royal request? Even though it’s disguised as a merchant’s request, they know, don’t they?”
“That’s right. But outwardly, it’s a merchant’s request. That’s why.”
At least externally, it had to appear that way.
And the ones carrying out the request were mercenaries and a warlock.
Therefore, the baron wouldn’t meet us personally and wouldn’t want us to stay in his territory for long.
“It would damage his pride.”
He probably thought he couldn’t afford to be ridiculed, especially with his weak territory.
He seemed to consider it beneath him to personally greet mercenary warlocks.
‘And the fact that I’m from Doriem must have played a part as well.’
Although not as severe as Jutus, their relationship with Doriem wasn’t good either.
“…I don’t like this.”
“Don’t worry about it. We just have to complete the request and leave.”
From my perspective, this wasn’t a bad situation.
But there was something I needed to know.
“I’m planning to search the area where this ancient book was found.”
“It’s certainly worth a try, but do we have the time?”
“We will.”
“…You seem confident. Was it marked on the map, or is it ‘that’?”
I just smiled instead of answering.
I called the servant and asked him about the location where the book was found and who found it.
It was a simple, perfunctory information gathering process, and I didn’t know the exact location.
‘I know the approximate location… but unlike my previous life, there hasn’t been any excavation, so it’s just a forest.’
And there were no distinctive landmarks like last time.
Therefore, I needed information.
“Ah, that? It was found in the unexplored forest area. A hunter from the village stumbled upon it in a deer habitat.”
When I asked about the location, he gave me a lengthy explanation, adding unnecessary information.
And he added at the end.
“It seems like you’re looking for a ruin or an ancient dungeon, but we’ve already searched the area. We concluded that it was part of a traveler’s belongings.”
In addition to the ancient book, they had also found clothes and other belongings that seemed to belong to the book’s owner.
It was true that someone else had found it and brought it out.
‘But it’s also true that there’s a ruin nearby.’
Their claim of having completely searched the area was an exaggeration.
Baron Iklemba’s territory lacked the resources to conduct a thorough search.
‘He said it was a deer habitat, but there are a lot of monsters there.’
There were no safe places around here where only animals lived.
That deer habitat was also part of the monster-infested forest.
Doriem, Jutus, and Iklemba were all territories bordering the monster-infested forest.
Iklemba had managed to protect their territory with their limited resources because the area they bordered was relatively small.
‘They must have received help from Jutus.’
They would have needed any help they could get to defend against Doriem.
It wasn’t for nothing that Iklemba had a strained relationship with Doriem.
Anyway, since they had also found belongings, they had probably just skimmed the surface.
I didn’t know if they had done it just in case, or if they had taken preemptive measures to prevent others from causing trouble under the guise of searching.
“Can you introduce us to that hunter?”
The servant looked a bit reluctant, but when I handed him a silver coin as an introduction fee, his expression immediately changed.
“Certainly!”
He pocketed the silver coin with a subservient bow, and we were able to speak with the hunter.
“You want me to guide you… It’s not a difficult task, but…”
Money talked everywhere.
The hunter happily agreed to our request.
“This is the place.”
“Hmm… I see. Thank you for guiding us. You can go back now.”
His job was done once he brought us here.
There was nothing more to show him, and I had no intention of doing so.
He returned, overjoyed.
“Hmm, but do you think it’s really here?”
“It’s worth investing a day. We have plenty of time.”
We had hired Eryan, and we hadn’t been attacked in Doriem.
Therefore, we had plenty of time.
“I don’t think that book was brought here by a traveler by chance.”
“…Well, the location is certainly strange. A traveler in a monster-infested forest…”
There was enough reason to be suspicious.
‘It’s not for nothing that a ruin is discovered here later on.’
Someone must have been suspicious like me and conducted a similar search.
‘Or maybe this ancient book was a clue.’
I had already learned through two experiences that rumors weren’t everything.
“Let’s split up and search.”
Three teams.
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