novelraw Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 - Hardeon (3)
Renoi. The fiend secretly took something out from under the shelf and held it in his hand.
I could not see it because it was obscured by the shelf, but I heard the metallic scraping sound, so it was probably a type of dagger.
I knew well what the fiend was afraid of right now.
It was because the current Hardeon Empire was an era where mages were persecuted.
‘By the way, it seems he hasn't learned magic yet.’
It was just a bit amusing that he had pulled out a mere dagger for self-defense.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m not from the Empire.”
“Wh-what do you mean, I’m scared! I haven’t committed any crime!”
Unfortunately, in this era, simply cooperating with a mage organization was a crime equivalent to treason.
The quest report also stated that if discovered, summary execution was possible.
“How about we talk after you put down what you're holding in your hand?”
“Huh?”
“I told you. I’m not here to hurt you.”
As I spoke in a calm tone, the fiend finally let out a deep breath and put down the dagger.
“Renoi.”
“...How did you know?”
“Because I’m K’s colleague.”
“K?”
For a moment, the fiend’s eyes widened.
K was the name used here by the warrior from the Gwangun Sword Family who had cleared the Hardeon quest before us.
Renoi stared at me from head to toe.
And his suspicion towards me seemed to have eased a little.
“Come to think of it, you do have a similar aura to K.”
That was natural.
Because we were both Korean.
“K told me. If I wanted to contact the organization, I should meet you, Renoi, here.”
“What do you want?”
“Isn’t it obvious? To make contact with the White Code.”
“Hmm. You’ve certainly done your research.”
Their cell-based organization was composed of a total of seven stages.
In order, they were White, Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, Purple, and finally, Black.
The report did not mention the size of this organization or who its leader was.
The last contact the Gwangun Sword Family warrior made was with the Blue Code. He had left this place after obtaining a clue for the quest there.
‘We’ll also need to make contact at least up to the Blue Code.’
Renoi was at the very bottom of the organization, without even a code.
Within the cell organization, he only knew a few of the White Code members.
And these mage organization members had no fixed residence, name, or identity.
“But you see. There’s no proof that you two came on K’s introduction.”
“Are you saying you can’t believe me?”
“Of course. That’s just your one-sided claim.”
“Even though we came to solve a request for you?”
“The policy has been strengthened. The conditions for entrusting a request have become stricter.”
I had not expected this.
There was talk that the ideological verification would become more thorough as the code level increased, but the report had not mentioned that security would be strengthened from the very beginning.
“Then what do we have to do?”
“If you two are really K’s colleagues, the method of proof might be very simple. As it happens, I’ve kept something K scribbled while he was here.”
“Scribbled?”
“Yes.”
Renoi took out a booklet that looked like a ledger.
“If you two can guess the content of this scribble, which I can’t make any sense of, I’ll acknowledge it. That you’re K’s colleagues.”
With that, Renoi presented a single word to us.
“Jjajang.”
It felt like a secret password.
“Jjamppong?”
The answer came out before I knew it.
It was because among the foods I had eaten since reincarnating as Seo Ji-han, it was the combination with the most fantastic taste.
“Correct.”
Renoi had a startled expression.
In fact, the one who was more surprised was me.
To think that a word that came out unconsciously without much thought was the correct answer.
“So, are we done now?”
“No. There are still two more left.”
With that, Renoi immediately presented another word.
“Yangnyeom.”
This time, too, there was no reason to hesitate.
“Fried.”
“Correct.”
Now that I knew the pattern, the difficulty had become even lower.
If it went on like this, the last question would not be difficult either.
Renoi presented the next word without delay.
“Then, this is the last one. Mulbok.”
Mulbok?
My thoughts momentarily stopped at the unfamiliar word.
Although I had become accustomed to life on Earth, it was true that there were still far more things I did not know.
At that moment, my eyes met Shin Ah-yeon’s.
As if she immediately noticed my predicament, she shouted in my place.
“Ttakbok!”
“That’s correct. You’re definitely K’s colleagues.”
For now, I could breathe a sigh of relief.
But even after hearing the answer, I could not understand its meaning, which made me realize that there were still many things I needed to learn on Earth.
“So is the verification complete now?”
“For my part, I’ll acknowledge it.”
The next step was Renoi’s request.
If we solved his request, we would be recognized as qualified and able to make contact with the White Code.
I could roughly guess the content of the request.
It would be to eliminate one of the gladiator factions that stood opposite the mages.
“In the next town, there’s a place called the Rade Sword Hall.”
“So we just have to take down that sword hall’s sign?”
“You know well.”
The level of the request was higher than what was presented in the report.
The scale of a place called a sword hall would by no means be small.
“You don’t have to do it if you’re not confident. An order came down not to accept any more riffraff.”
“That request. We’ll take care of it by tomorrow.”
“By tomorrow? You mean you’ve already gathered that much force?”
I nodded and pointed at Shin Ah-yeon.
“N-no way?”
“That’s right. The two of us will do it.”
“You crazy bastard!”
“I guess we can certainly prove that we aren’t riffraff.”
I looked at Renoi and smiled slightly.
I thought about asking about the zombies but decided against it.
I thought there was no reason to cause unnecessary misunderstandings when he had not yet completely cleared his suspicions about our identities.
If he was keeping scribbles that the Gwangun Sword Family warrior had meaninglessly recorded, it was possible that our every move was being reported to the higher-ups.
‘There will be a chance as we climb the code levels one by one.’
For now, I decided to focus on the request at hand.
***
The Rade Sword Hall.
While gathering information about this place, I fell into a bit of a predicament.
“Unit Leader. It's because this is a place that teaches children.”
“That’s bothering me a bit too.”
My heart had become a little uncomfortable about recklessly barging in and taking down the sign.
“Honestly, I wanted to teach the gladiators of Hardeon here a lesson. It’s fine that they gained power through the sword, but they are using that power incorrectly.”
“If it weren't a children's educational institution, you were planning to smash it to pieces, I see.”
“That's right, Unit Leader.”
“But there’s no need to get too caught up in personal feelings. No matter what method we use, the result of taking down the sword hall’s sign will be the same.”
For now, we went into a tavern near the Rade Sword Hall.
We planned to stay here tonight and start our operation tomorrow.
“Let’s have a drink after a long time.”
“Yes, Unit Leader.”
“And let’s try not to push away the drunkenness if possible.”
Actually, unlike with Ho-joong, I had not had many deep conversations with this fiend, Shin Ah-yeon.
She was always level-headed, cautious, and acted rationally, so she never had a chance to get an earful from me, and her talent for swordsmanship was so outstanding that it was true she required less attention than Ho-joong.
Before long, Shin Ah-yeon’s cheeks turned rosy red.
“I wish this journey with you, Unit Leader, would last a little longer.”
If you do not use mana to drive out the drunkenness, even a gladiator cannot help but get drunk.
“You’re drunk.”
“It’s because I want to learn swordsmanship from you for a longer time, Unit Leader!”
Shin Ah-yeon’s voice was a little loud.
Loud enough for the surrounding tables to hear.
“Anyone would think you were kicked out of Chamryongdan.”
“Now I finally understand for sure.”
“What?”
“How precious your teachings are, Unit Leader. It is thanks to you that I was able to open my eyes a little more to swordsmanship.”
With Shin Ah-yeon’s already loud voice, eyes momentarily focused on us.
A group of four who had just entered the tavern walked straight towards our table with interested expressions.
“There are no seats, so let’s share a table.”
And then they sat down without even waiting for our answer.
“And what this young lady said a moment ago was quite interesting.”
It was only natural for Shin Ah-yeon to look stern at their rudeness.
“We have no intention of sharing a table, so please get up.”
At that, the fiends started chuckling.
Leaning back crookedly in their chairs, they showed no intention of getting up.
“My apologies for the late introduction. We’re the instructors of the Rade Sword Hall.”
“It seems you don’t recognize us. Are you perhaps from another region?”
At their introduction, Shin Ah-yeon immediately drove out her drunkenness.
In an instant, her aura changed.
“Are you really the instructors of the Rade Sword Hall?”
“That’s what I said! Hey, Missy. Are you finally feeling like sharing a table now?”
Shin Ah-yeon looked at me, and I nodded.
It was because I wanted to know a bit more about what kind of guys these fiends were.
The group was still chuckling.
For instructors of a children's sword hall, they were emitting a far too delinquent aura, no matter how I looked at it.
One of them emptied his cup and asked me.
“From what I heard you saying, you seem to be quite skilled with the sword. Do you perhaps have business with our sword hall?”
“Yes.”
“Hoo!”
At my answer, the fiends made faces as if they were dumbfounded.
“Then you should answer more politely. What do you mean, 'yes.' Huh?”
“You two, you came to apply as instructors at our sword hall, right? Then shouldn't you make a good impression on seniors like us first?”
I had only said I had business at the sword hall, but I had never said anything like that.
The fiends were misunderstanding completely on their own.
I could only let out a hollow laugh.
“You two, consider yourselves lucky. Since you met us first like this, your chances of becoming part of the sword hall family have increased. Haven’t they?”
“Well, that depends on how you show your sincerity. Hehehehe.”
Villain-like laughter followed.
“Sincerity?”
“What! What’s with that innocent face all of a sudden! Don’t you know the meaning of sincerity?”
“I wonder.”
“You’d better think carefully. The income from this town’s sword hall is so good that you don’t even need to receive a salary. It’s a fact that everyone who knows, knows, right? Well, I guess you two came for that reason too. Hehehehe.”
A detailed explanation was omitted, but I could roughly guess the meaning.
“That’s great.”
“Right. Meeting us here is a very good thing. Isn’t it?”
It was a very good thing because now I could take down the Rade Sword Hall’s sign with a light heart.
“I was originally planning to take action tomorrow, but I’ll have to move it up a day.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
If I took care of the instructors before taking down the sign, the job would be much easier.
Because there would be no classes tomorrow.