Chapter 125. Dark Merchant (2)
The lord and count of Asern, Count Dohonek.
In public, he was known as an arrogant noble, but of course, he did not show such an attitude to everyone.
His plump cheeks trembled violently as he spoke.
"Y-you know well enough what the situation is, don't you, Cland? If this goes wrong, I could very well lose my head."
"I'm sorry, but I too have my own circumstances..."
A man wearing a bowler hat, with a burn scar on his lower jaw, Cland, smiled softly as he politely declined the count's request.
Even so, the count could not bring himself to shout or threaten.
For in this place, the one holding the reins was none other than Cland.
"I too would like to help Your Excellency if it were possible. But you know, don't you? How chaotic this side of the world has become because of Calia. If I lend a hand clumsily, I too may not come out unscathed."
Count Dohonek was not a noble who backed the Union. He did not support the Third Prince either.
But he was still a noble of the Kingdom of Estiria. Corrupt, on average, just enough.
He might not have touched illegal slavery, but tax evasion was basic, and he had committed countless illegal acts to fill his own belly.
It was in the midst of this that White Steel Calia caused a stir.
She suddenly raided Count Plishr's villa, confirming the existence of illegal slaves. The same with smuggling and drugs.
Of all things, turning citizens into illegal slaves was more than enough to provoke the upright Marquis Esperanza.
The nobles supporting him willingly took part in tearing the Union apart, and even the Second Prince and First Prince, rivals to the Third Prince, were biting them with glee.
On top of that, even the Church of Luas was enraged and lending its support.
'If my luck runs out, I too will be swept away.'
Erase all traces, and keep one's head down until the turmoil subsides.
That was why he needed Cland. The only one who could soothe Count Dohonek's anxiety was the black market merchant before him.
The count gripped his own knees tightly.
He did not go so far as to kneel, but his appearance was utterly servile.
"So, isn't it just a matter of not doing it half-heartedly...! With your ability, it should be more than possible."
"It's not impossible, but it is extremely dangerous... hmm. Normally, I should refuse outright, but since I've known Your Excellency for some time, it is difficult to say it so firmly."
"Then...."
The count's face lit up.
That was certainly not a refusal.
Then, Cland raised four fingers.
"Four times the price. Only at that rate would it be worth the risk."
"F-four times?"
An outrageous sum.
To pay that much, the count would have to suffer immense losses. He disliked that.
Sweating profusely, he tried to haggle the amount down.
But he could not shave off even a single coin.
"I am risking my life in making this offer. Yet if our opinions differ this much..."
Cland trailed off.
It was a signal that unless the condition was met, he would leave at once. In any case, the only one to suffer from a broken deal would be the count.
"...ah, very well."
In the end, Count Dohonek paid in cash, feeling as though he were weeping blood.
Cland, pocketing the money, leisurely left the count's residence, a sneer lingering on his face.
'For a count to have so little resolve.'
If he was going to be that anxious, he should not have done anything to be caught in the first place.
If a petty commoner inherited the rank of a noble, it would turn out like this.
Utterly pathetic.
Cland, strolling along the street of Asern, stepped into a shabby shop.
This was one of Cland's trading houses, found in every city. As he removed his bowler hat and coat and hung them on a rack, the shopkeeper approached.
"Mr. Cland, a guest is waiting."
Cland did not like strangers.
Even so, anyone who sought him out was either someone who disregarded him, or someone with whom an appointment had already been made.
And recently, there had been just such a person.
Perne.
Cland went further inside.
On the table lay fine castella cake and warm black coffee. Seated in front of them was a man with blue eyes. Seeing him, Cland smiled faintly.
"A celebrity has come to visit."
***
A burn scar running from the left jaw to the neck.
Black hair streaked with strands of gray, belonging to a middle-aged man, the black market merchant Cland.
His appearance matched exactly the description Perne had given.
But...
"Celebrity?"
"Yes, celebrity."
Cland sat down across from Verden.
"The savior of the information broker Perne, who was on the brink of ruin after clashing with the Union. And one of the very people who dragged the daughter of Marquis Esperanza, White Steel Calia, into this world and turned it upside down."
And that was not all.
"On top of that, a mage of the fourth tier who wields high-level attributes, and so on. With so many rumors that draw attention, how could you not be called a celebrity? Ah, thank you."
The shopkeeper brought refreshments.
Cland took a sip of his milk coffee before continuing.
"And I've also heard your looks are good. At first, I thought it was just talk—after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—but... indeed, the rumor isn't baseless. May I ask your age?"
"Must I answer?"
"No. In this world, nowhere does age matter less than here, does it? I only asked to ease the air since it's our first meeting."
Cland's speech was smooth.
From the way he naturally guided the conversation, one could tell he was a seasoned man.
Cland cut a piece of castella with his fork and picked it up.
"Now that the awkwardness has eased a little, shall we get into the real talk? Thanks to someone turning muddy water into downright sewage, I've been very busy."
"Let's."
"Good. Then let's start with the matter of the auction house."
He popped the castella into his mouth.
He savored the sweetness briefly, then swallowed it down.
"When I first got a call from Perne about trading the Black Market auction house list, I thought he had lost his mind. It was no different from asking me if I wanted to die."
But then.
"He offered a very interesting piece of information as the trade. Truly, it was so very Perne. Not only did he casually discover what I was secretly looking for, he even obtained the information before I did.... Honestly, it gave me chills."
Cland set down his fork, and reached a hand toward Verden.
"But I can't believe it until I see it for myself. So, may I take a look first?"
"The auction house list is..."
"If it's really the information I've been searching for, then I'll give it to you, without fail."
The direction of this deal depended entirely on Cland's intention. Since he had planned to show it anyway, there was no reason to waste strength refusing.
Verden handed over a sealed envelope.
Cland tore it open right away and checked the contents.
A bundle of five sheets of paper.
Cland's eyes moved busily, and with every shift, his expression changed from moment to moment.
As if sorrowful, as if joyful.
"So... so that's what happened. Burned half to death and abandoned in the slums. That's why no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find you. Of course, your appearance would be nothing like what I remembered.... To think you were still alive, alive all this time."
He muttered in a low voice, then suddenly broke into a broad grin and laughed heartily.
"Hahahaha! It's real indeed. As expected of Perne. No, almost dying seems to have made you even more remarkable. Yes, this is more than enough for a trade."
Cland carefully tucked the documents into his coat, as if treasuring them.
"I'll have the auction house list ready in a few days. It'll take me some time to compile it. Until then, I'll be staying in Asern, so you can rest assured I won't eat and run. Well, even if I tried to escape, Perne's information network would catch me anyway."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"So now only the commission remains. Conveniently, Asher, I have a lucrative request that suits you perfectly."
Verden asked.
"What is the payment?"
"Asking about the payment before the content? Quite the confidence."
Cland raised four fingers.
"To put it bluntly, the reward is 400 million Elk. The request is to retrieve three items, ones that are quite connected to you. They're related to the Union."
The first, [Ore Detector (Steel)].
As the name suggests, it was part of a series of magical tools that detected ores, and among them, a rare one that detected only steel ore.
If placed in a tunnel of a certain length for a day, it would automatically analyze the surrounding terrain and show the overall distribution of steel ore.
In short, it allowed one to estimate the value of a mine in advance.
"You must have heard that Count Plishr's villa was raided, and Beken, one of the Union's operators and the master of the Twilight Merchant Guild, was captured, yes? Because of that, the guild was shattered. Its executives scattered, each searching for survival. The Ore Detector is in the hands of one of those executives."
And the second, [Blue Diamond Necklace].
It was merely an ornament, but recently, Blue Diamonds had become scarce. In the current situation, if one found the right buyer, it could fetch more than twice its usual price.
"It's a heirloom of Baron Napold, a vassal of Count Plishr for decades, who received it as a jewel necklace. But with this incident, all nobles tied to Count Plishr are being completely ruined. They were so filthy that they don't even have the chance to escape investigation."
The downfall of nobles and guilds.
Verden once again realized the scale of Calia's influence.
Because she had moved, or rather, because Verden and Perne had drawn her into this, the kingdom was being overturned from the ground up.
'It's like watching a snowball grow larger and larger in an instant.'
Well, it was something to welcome.
No matter how large the snowball became, it was not Verden who would be struck by it, but those who stood in his way.
"Where is the necklace now?"
"One of the baron's knights ran off with it. And lastly, the third item, I want you to bring me that knight's sword."
"The sword? Is it a magical item?"
"It's a sword with about twenty percent damascus steel mixed in. Compared to the other two, it's not particularly rare. Truth be told, I owe that man a debt."
A debt.
"Though he is a knight now, a few years ago he was trash who loitered in the underworld. One of those who tried to steal goods from me. He failed, of course."
Cland snorted.
"There's no need to kill him. That sword he cherishes will be enough. Bring it back along with the necklace."
Three items for 400 million Elk.
A simple commission, requiring only two people to be found, but it was obvious it would take some time. After all, they could have fled in opposite directions.
Then Cland smiled.
"Fortunately, there's no need to worry about that. As it happens, they've gathered in one place."
"...?"
"They're with a smuggler named Padreld, a man through whom the number of illegal immigrants passed already numbers in the thousands. Conveniently, those two are trying to escape the kingdom through him."
The source of the information was none other than Padreld himself.
Business always wins over loyalty. Especially when it came to abandoned executives of a shattered guild and a baron's knight.
"Now, you must be wondering, if I know their location, why is the payment as high as 400 million Elk? The reason is simple. Padreld sold the information not just to me, but to others."
As the Union's power collapsed, blood and flesh were spilling everywhere, drawing beasts eager to devour them.
The Union had many enemies, and those men were fleeing with precious goods. They were nothing less than delicious prey.
"So my task is simply to break through the smugglers and those beasts, and take the items?"
"Exactly. By numbers alone, it won't be easy, but... if you truly possess the skills that rumor says you do, it might prove to be a relatively simple request. In this world, the strong bow before the stronger, and trample the weak."
Cland spoke in a low voice.
"Well, what do you say, will you take it? By the time you return, I'll have the payment and the auction house list ready, and we can exchange them neatly."
There was no need to hesitate.
Verden nodded.
***
Near the border of the Kingdom of Estiria.
Mounted on a horse atop a cliff, Verden gazed down at the distant valley below.
Through the Exceed, empowered by the Ring of Rune, his vision caught sight of the gorge hidden between the mountains.
Men in thick leather coats guarded its entrance.
'So those are Padreld's smugglers.'
Moments later, several carriages approached, and armed men emerged. They spoke briefly with the smugglers, then disappeared into the gorge.
Those must be the beasts Cland had spoken of.
'If I dawdle, it might be too late.'
Verden dismounted.
He tied the reins tightly to a stone pillar shaped by terrain manipulation.
His presence and form faded faintly.
Then, Verden took to the sky, heading for the smugglers' gorge.