Chapter 124. Dark Merchant (1)
Information manipulation?
No, that couldn't be. There was simply no reason for it. Who in the world would arbitrarily tamper with what was printed in a newspaper?
'If that's the case....'
Perne slowly turned her gaze.
The very person whose name was clearly written in the newspaper, was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, calm as ever.
It was always like that.
Even in his daily life, he was often lost in thought like this.
Yet that alone was enough to make him enigmatic.
His appearance, strength, personality—nothing about him was ordinary. And the short trail of deeds he had left behind since meeting Perne was the same.
'Could this really be true?'
Most likely, it was. Not only because of the source of the information, but because everything Perne had seen of his actions and bearing so far made it all the more credible.
Of course, it was still circumstantial evidence... but there was a way to confirm it.
By asking him directly.
That was the fastest and simplest solution.
Gulp.
Perne swallowed hard, then quickly made up her mind. She carefully moved her steps and slowly approached Verden.
With trembling hands, she laid the principality's newspaper on the table.
"Um... may I ask you just one thing?"
"What is it?"
Verden opened his eyes.
Those clear blue eyes fixed squarely on Perne. She, with shaking hands, nudged the newspaper toward him.
"Is, is this perhaps you, Sir Asher?"
What was this about?
Verden tilted his head slightly and picked up the newspaper. The overall design looked familiar somehow...
'Ah, this must be from the Duchy of Riviant.'
Checking the press mark, he saw it was published in Lorian, the city where Verden had subjugated the Soul Tree.
Page after page was densely filled with fine letters, and as he skimmed, he caught sight of familiar topics— the Soul Tree, the principality's main agency, the Marquisate of Gardran.
'So this is what it was.'
Perne knew very little about Verden.
So her reaction was more than understandable. Indeed, the incident Verden had resolved in the duchy was no trivial matter to be brushed aside.
If it had been anyone else, they would have taken pride in it for the rest of their life.
But for Verden, it was different.
To him, collapsing the power source of the magic tower—something no one else had ever done, something no one had even thought possible—perhaps that could be considered an achievement. But this? This wasn't worth boasting of. At least, not to Verden.
And from the beginning, Verden was not the kind of man to parade things around, nor to paint his own face with glory.
Proof of being a great mage.
That wasn't about convincing others through words, but about forcing the world itself to acknowledge you, with power so overwhelming no one could deny it.
That was Verden's creed.
He put the newspaper down.
Perne held her breath, waiting for an answer. There was no need for a long explanation. A single nod was enough.
That subtle nod, tantamount to a confirmation, made Perne scream inwardly.
'Pale, who on earth did you send me?!'
She had known Verden was no ordinary mage, but to think he was such a giant of a figure.
Hic.
Though she had steeled herself in her heart, realizing the truth anew caused a hiccup to slip out before she could stop it.
She quickly covered her mouth, holding her breath to stifle the sound.
At the same time, Perne recalled the matters concerning Verden—more precisely, the information he had commissioned.
The whereabouts of Oesu, Linus Voltimoog.
Interpretation of an unknown relic.
An invitation to the underworld auction house.
What was the common thread?
Perne was Verden's information broker. That was their agreement, and she fully intended to uphold her responsibility to the letter.
That was why there was one thing she had to know.
A moment later, her hiccups stopped.
Drawing in a deep breath, Perne spoke cautiously, with a resolute face.
"...What is your purpose, Sir Asher?"
It was a fundamental question.
Not something trivial like payment, but what he sought to achieve in the kingdom.
To that, Verden replied.
"Power."
Just one word.
But for Perne, it was enough.
Enough to understand not as a mere information seller to a client, but as the sole information broker devoted to one man, what she needed to do.
***
What does a mage need in order to become stronger?
If one were to ask that, mages would answer this way: knowledge, equipment, and training.
"Training, Sir Asher will handle himself, and knowledge cannot simply be arranged by me, so..."
That left only equipment.
From that perspective, Perne neatly organized, in sequence, the information Verden had commissioned and the circumstances surrounding him.
First, the invitation to the underworld auction house.
That was tied to the Blue Cloud Merchant Guild. Though a clash with the Union's dark mages had erupted in Mildruen, that was already resolved.
Second, the relic interpretation.
A few days ago, he had directly met with relic exploration Seekers and signed a contract. She had heard they were searching for ruins connected to relics, but that would take time.
Not something to worry about right now.
Third, the search for Oesu's whereabouts.
She was trying, but not even the smallest scrap of information had surfaced yet. That too could be set aside for now.
Lastly, fourth, commissions.
At present, he needed more commissions. Which meant, most likely, he needed money.
Laying it all out like this, Perne could see more clearly what Verden needed and desired.
In conclusion, those four matters were directly connected to money and equipment. The relic was a little ambiguous, but still.
"So in short, the things I can directly help with are the first and the fourth, right?"
To gain satisfactory results at the underworld auction house, naturally, a large sum of cash would be required.
But he must have already spent a considerable amount of money hiring the relic exploration team.
What Perne needed to do was arrange high-paying commissions.
And if she could add anything extra to help, all the better. Suddenly, the image of a suitable client for a commission came to her mind.
"...Yes, that person will do."
Having finished her thoughts, Perne immediately set her information network into full operation.
It cost her several times more money than usual, but she didn't care. After all, it wasn't money she had earned herself, but money Verden had handed to her.
Besides, to Perne, Verden was a lifeline of salvation itself.
But now she wasn't going to just cling to the rope, she would climb it upward. That was why she had no intention of sparing anything, whether information or money.
Several days passed.
***
Perne brought a document to Verden.
"What's this?"
"Information I thought would be helpful to you, Sir Asher. Are you familiar with the types of information brokers in the kingdom of Gray?"
No.
He wasn't interested in such things.
"Basically, information brokers either handle and sell information like I do, or act as intermediaries for commissions. But no matter where you go, there are always peculiar people. The same goes for information brokers."
Perne spread the document open.
Inside, there was only a single sheet of paper, packed with information about one individual.
"The dark merchant 'Cland'. On the surface, he deals not only in information but in all sorts of items, but behind the scenes he also works to conceal information. He's someone with broad connections. And he even places high-paying commissions himself."
"He doesn't just mediate, but directly?"
"Yes. Unlike existing brokers, Cland does not mediate commissions at all. He's such an independent person, he absolutely hates moving around as a middleman."
That was certainly unusual.
The profits from mediating commissions could not be small, yet he gave that up.
A type of broker Verden had never encountered before.
Perne continued.
"The content of his commissions is simple. Usually, he gives information about rare magical items, highly valuable things, and tells people to go fetch them. Because of that, he rarely has commissions most of the time... but as you know, circumstances have changed quite a lot recently."
The Union was faltering.
And so were the nobles who had backed them.
They were trying to cut ties, but they weren't loyal knights with unwavering honor. Naturally, there was no one just sitting still waiting to die.
Those who sensed the danger were already gathering their belongings and attempting illegal entry into other countries.
In other words, Cland's commissions meant taking the wealth those people carried with them.
"And among the defectors, there are even merchant guild executives, so I heard Cland has his eyes on them in particular. If you want, Sir Asher, I can arrange a commission for you. What do you say?"
Naturally, there was no reason to refuse.
Especially now, when he desperately needed to gather money.
"I'll take it."
"Leave it to me."
Perne smiled.
"Oh, and there's another reason why I recommended Cland."
"...?"
"Cland is deeply connected to the kingdom's underworld. More than that, he's one of the associates who run the underworld auction house, and he's someone who knows what items will be put up for auction."
The auction house's list of items.
If one knew that in advance, the auction could be conducted to great advantage. There would be no unnecessary spending, and he could focus only on the things he truly wanted.
'So that means, there's a chance to obtain the list from Cland.'
It was certainly tempting.
Artifacts sometimes appeared at the underworld auction, after all.
But Verden was skeptical.
"...No matter how I think about it, I doubt he'd sell that information so easily."
If he did, the auction personally overseen by the underworld would be thrown into chaos.
"Of course. If he spoke carelessly, his throat would be slit by underworld assassins. But in the end, Cland is still an information broker. If you put before him information worth more than his own life, he won't be able to refuse."
Perne pulled out another document.
Unlike the previous one, this one was sealed not just at the entrance, but all around, as if of utmost importance.
"Is that the price of his life?"
"At least for Cland, yes."
She handed the document over.
"This contains information about someone Cland has been desperately searching for, for years. By sheer luck, I managed to obtain it not long ago. I think it's related to the underworld... I don't know the details myself, but if you give this to him, he'll surely hand over what you want."
Perne spoke with conviction.
Seeing her like this, Verden tilted his head inwardly.
'Something about her has changed lately.'
Information she brought of her own accord, without being asked.
The weariness around her eyes showed how much effort she had spent. Whatever the reason, there was no downside for Verden.
He accepted the document at once, stowed it away in his spatial bag.
"I'll gratefully accept it."
"O-oh... think nothing of it!"
Perne replied awkwardly, embarrassed.
"So when can I meet this dark merchant?"
"Tomorrow, here in Asern. I heard Cland is scheduled to meet with the Asern market chief. I'll contact him beforehand, so you can just walk over casually."
No need to leave the city, then.
'Now that I think about it, this might be the first time.'
Either way, it was convenient to have one less hassle.
And so the day ended, and the sun rose again.