novelraw Chapter 158 : The Arrogant One (1)
Chapter 158 : The Arrogant One (1)
Chapter 158: The Arrogant One (1)
The day broke.
I went with Kerom to a shop on the street in front of the Royal Capital.
There, the shop’s owner, Davik, had been waiting.
“Have you arrived, Charoen.”
“Have the items I mentioned come in?”
“Please, come this way.”
Inside the shop, there was a space larger than the storefront.
He opened the door and entered, then pulled aside a curtain hanging against the wall.
At that moment, various weapons hung on the wall revealed their gleaming forms.
“These are quite good.”
There were roughly over twenty swords. Their shapes and lengths all differed.
Setting aside the fact that I was the Branch Leader of the Black Crescent Moon Mineta Branch, I was also a swordsman who had reached the realm of Swordmaster.
Naturally, I knew more about swords than ordinary people.
“I selected only pieces crafted by the best artisans with the finest materials. Especially, the swords crafted by the dwarves of the Edina Triste region are the best among them.”
A length of 1.5 meters, about 5 centimeters thick. A blade of silvery tone with a faint gold hue mixed into the black leather hilt.
It looked incredibly luxurious, yet carried weight.
Even the way the light reflected off the blade was no ordinary sight.
“How does it look to you?”
“Judging by the mana I feel from it, it seems to be mithril.”
“Correct. The entire blade is made from mithril mined from the Triste Mines. It’s of the highest grade.”
Proudly, Davik raised the sword and showed it to me.
Standing beside him, Kerom looked at it as well, admiring it.
“At this level, shouldn’t you be the one using it, Branch Leader?”
My current sword was already quite good, but the sword before me surpassed it in material, sharpness, and balance that fitted perfectly into my hand.
Even well-established trading caravans and merchant groups couldn’t easily obtain such a sword.
Honestly, it was tempting.
“It’s truly excellent. Is this the only sword of this level?”
“There are a few more of similar quality. Here, take a look. A sword made from fifty percent mithril from the Dekelan Raberi region, mixed with iron, Stilla Wood, and small amounts of adamantium. And here is one crafted from Blue Mithril, which can only be obtained from the Dolkin Secury Forest.”
“Blue Mithril? But isn’t it extremely difficult to acquire in large quantities?”
Normal mithril had an exceptional balance of durability and mana fluidity.
On the other hand, Blue Mithril had far weaker durability—extremely so. Instead, its mana fluidity was more than twice as strong.
If used by a swordsman beyond Swordmaster-level, its amplification of aura applied fully.
These two swords were just as rare as the first one.
“These are the pride of our Trading Company! These swords are the finest among what we acquired this time.”
“The price won’t be cheap.”
“A sword exists to be sold, one way or another. Do any of these appeal to you?”
My gaze repeatedly swept over the three swords.
Since I wasn’t searching for a sword for myself anyway, I had no reason to deliberate long.
“I’ll take all three.”
“An excellent choice. Shall I have them wrapped and delivered to your residence?”
“No, I’ll take them immediately. Kerom, carry them.”
Upon my words, Davik placed all three swords into their scabbards and handed them over.
After that, Kerom placed a heavy pouch onto the table to settle the payment.
“100,000 gold. Is that sufficient?”
A sum equal to half a year’s budget for a provincial territory. Terrifying for the price of three swords.
“Mm… My apologies, but it’s a bit short.”
“Is that so? How much?”
“You’ll need 50,000 more gold.”
At that reply, I felt slightly awkward, then took out another heavy pouch.
Davik checked inside, and his expression brightened.
“That should be correct.”
“You didn’t even count it?”
“As someone born a merchant, I know by feel.”
“Good. Then we’ll take our leave.”
Kerom and I left the shop at once and boarded the carriage.
By then, the sun had risen high, and people were walking through the streets.
As the carriage continued forward, we passed a familiar alley.
“Hmm…”
“You’re looking at the place where the Blue Sunset used to be?”
The tavern that had been the hideout of the Eye of the Moon.
Naturally, Kerom knew it well.
When the faction split, the members of Blue Sunset disappeared.
The Black Crescent Moon had tried to track them in its own way, but so far not a single trace had been found.
“Where in the world did they vanish to?”
‘Blue Sun,’ the greatest information organization on the Phalon Continent.
Even the assassination faction, the Black Crescent Moon, had acknowledged that fact more than anyone, which was why the two groups had joined forces long ago.
But the history they had built together collapsed in an instant.
In the silent struggle where each side coveted the other’s strength, the organization split apart.
“They were merely an information-handling group. They know better than anyone what happens if we catch them. So they’ll be hiding simply to survive.”
“True, they can’t move by intellect alone. But we can’t take them lightly either. Because of them, our eyes and ears have been sealed.”
All that remained were fragments of Blue Sun.
With only that, we barely collected information that came through the Black Crescent Moon scattered across the continent.
And the information had become shallow and narrow—vastly different from before.
“A waste… such a waste.”
The carriage passed the tavern street and headed for the Royal Capital.
.
.
.
Davik, the owner of the Trading Company who had just sold the swords, finished cleaning the disordered display.
Afterward, he left the store to the employee and entered his office.
He glanced outside carefully until the door fully closed.
“Why so cautious?”
Startled, Davik jumped at the voice of a man coming from inside the office.
“When did you come out?”
“Just now. More importantly, did the swords sell well? The amount?”
To the man’s question, Davik let out a sigh that turned into a faint laugh.
“That’s what you ask first?”
“Of course! How much? How much?”
“I sold them for 150,000 gold. I inflated the price by thirty percent above the market, and he bought them without hesitation.”
With that answer, Davik placed the pouch of gold onto the desk.
It was so heavy that it landed with a thud.
“Ooooh―! Still, with such generosity, couldn’t you have raised it to forty percent?”
For a moment, Davik’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Do you take Charoen for a fool? I might’ve lost my head if I did that.”
“Really? Then maybe thirty-five percent at least…”
“Tsk! Fordman! Are you going to keep this up? You may be the owner here, but your greed is getting excessive.”
The man’s identity was none other than Fordman, the owner of Fordman Trading Company.
And the shop they were in was the Fordman Trading Company Mineta Royal Capital Branch.
Fordman grinned broadly as he looked at the pouch full of gold coins.
“Is that so? Hahaha! Well, you’ve got a sharp eye yourself. This seems fair enough, doesn’t it? Hahaha!”
“If you know that, will you finally give me a raise? Or at least some performance pay?”
“Ehem! Aren’t you already earning more than your previous job?”
“……Stingy man.”
“One hundred, one hundred and one, one hundred and two…”
Holding the gold coins, Fordman busied himself counting them.
It seemed he didn’t hear a word.
When he finally finished counting, a grin stretched from ear to ear.
“Perfect!”
“Were you counting just because you thought I’d be wrong?”
“Ehem, ehem! Not because I don’t trust you! It’s because I don’t trust myself! If I lose this while carrying it, I wouldn’t even know how much I lost!”
“That’s the same thing…”
Creaaak―!
In the middle of their conversation, a bookshelf on one side of the wall suddenly slid outward.
Startled, Fordman quickly stuffed the pouch of freshly counted gold coins into his coat.
“W-what’s this!”
“What’s so surprising, Fordman?”
“Sir Jade! You can’t just pop out like that!”
Standing beside the open bookshelf—like a secret door—was Jade himself.
“I came to check if the Black Crescent Moon had left. Judging by the situation, it seems they have. No issues, I presume?”
“It went smoothly. As you can see.”
Davik’s gaze turned toward Fordman, who was clutching the gold pouch with a sly smile.
He could only shake his head in disbelief.
“That’s good to hear.”
“No problems from below?”
“None in particular.”
“Let’s go down for a moment. I’ll have the owner here hold the post.”
Fordman, whose eyes were still fixed on the gold, didn’t seem to hear Davik’s words.
Davik only kept shaking his head as he and Jade passed through the bookshelf door.
Thud―.
The two descended the stairs behind the firmly closed bookshelf.
The surroundings were illuminated by magically imbued lightstones.
Soon they entered a long corridor.
It was quite a large space. Voices of many people could be heard from various directions.
“Still no information about the demons?”
“It’s difficult to obtain. Even within the Bachenan Holy Kingdom, such information is classified as an oracle.”
“Any sightings from other nations?”
“None yet. However, we’ve located areas like Netpadon, Glonia, and Poltaz of the Dior Empire where desertification is rapidly progressing.”
“Where exactly?”
“The Mitchelasl Territory, Praien of the Boluzan Kingdom, and the northern region of Espe in Prois.”
The hurried, restless voices belonged to members of the Blue Sun, an intelligence faction that had split from the Eye of the Moon.
The shop under Fordman Trading Company had taken over the place once known as Blue Sunset Tavern.
It was part of Raion’s plan.
“Did a demon really appear?”
Jade had also heard of the being who fought against Raion in Mineta.
That there existed someone who could fight on equal terms with the monstrous Raion Canel—it was unbelievable.
At first, he hadn’t believed it at all.
No, he couldn’t believe it.
“It’s true. That being led monsters and advanced toward the Royal Capital of Mineta. The outer agents witnessed it firsthand and relayed the information.”
Unlike earlier, Davik’s voice turned grave.
He was not an ordinary merchant—he was the Branch Leader of Blue Sun’s Mineta Branch.
He gathered information on incidents in the Mineta Kingdom and sent them to the newly established main headquarters in Canel Royal Capital.
“This… won’t be an easy situation.”
An enemy that even Raion couldn’t defeat.
That meant Jade, Turklan, and the other knights wouldn’t stand a chance.
Naturally, worry came first.
“How long must we keep those men detained?”
“Until Master gives the order.”
Before long, the two reached the end of the corridor and descended another flight of stairs.
This place was darker than before, with thick iron doors and bars set in place.
Beyond them were shabby-looking men.
All of them looked barely conscious.
“They’ve stayed quiet lately since we stopped feeding them.”
“Thank goodness. At first, they were unbearably noisy…”
“They were nobles, after all. Their pride couldn’t tolerate their current condition.”
Recently, thirteen nobles of the Mineta Kingdom had gone missing.
Among them, even Duke Dominus Flomen, ranked second in the capital, had not lost the glint of killing intent in his eyes despite his weakened state.
He was still biding his time, waiting for a chance to escape.
Of course, Jade was aware of it.
“We should starve them a bit longer.”
“……!”
The reaction came in the faint stirrings from beyond the bars.
When it came to hunger, there was no difference between nobles and commoners.