010 – Night Fox
The continent was still not kind to mankind.
Monsters live in places that are not often touched by humans, magical phenomena that cannot be understood have appeared, and there are mysteries, dungeons and labyrinths that attract people.
Even a noble family that had lasted for hundreds of years was not so common that lifelong employment was considered a joke in a wild continent that was vanished due to monster waves and war.
That’s why the world still needed freelancers, mercenaries and adventurers that were easy to join and break.
They naturally flocked to the ecliptic Victoria, just as rivers all gather to the sea.
It was because they knew the truth that to get a job easily, you had to go to a place with a lot of people.
Tigris walked the Gold Bridge connecting Middle Town and Treasure Town.
As we passed the Gold Bridge, a strange sign appeared.
On the official sign that originally read ‘Red Town’, someone drew a large X with a red brush, and ‘Treasure Town’ was written on it.
Treasure Town, one of the small districts of Victoria, originally had an official name of Red Town, but it was an unusual case where the name was changed as adventurers and mercenaries gathered.
As the free temperament of adventurers and mercenaries began to appear in the city, the square roads became crooked, and the buildings were low and varied in shape as they were built with cheap or used materials.
Irregular appeared in Treasure Town, where uniqueness rather than innocence became commonplace.
A cute appearance, a neat coat and gold strap, and a neat gait reminiscent of model walking.
Tigris, a combination of words that did not match any of the Treasure Town, walked through the Treasure Town as noble as a crane walking among chickens.
– Are you an adventurer by the fact that you’re wearing a coat?
– Are you all adventurous just wearing a coat? He looks like he’s from Uptown.
– Why do you come here from Uptown? Don’t you usually do it?
– It looks like he’s trying to accept a difficult request. Wait a minute, but the long sword seems to have leaked inside the coat?
– uh? Aren’t you an adventurer then?
– I don’t know.
Everyone paid attention to Tigris’ coat.
The coat was no different than the symbol of an adventurer.
The coat was perfect for adventurers who like to pack or hide a lot of stuff inside.
The reason why Tigris wore a coat while being misunderstood as an adventurer was simple.
It was because it was against the etiquette to show the sword in casual clothes.
To wear a sword, you must wear a military uniform or light armor worn by knights, because Tigris had not yet been appointed as a knight and did not have an instructor uniform.
Tigris headed to the ‘Adventurer’s Building’, where the adventurers’ offices are concentrated.
Everyone was nodding their heads saying that their guess was correct.
The inside of the Adventurer Building was very dizzy.
The entire first floor was a pub selling light food and alcohol, so it was full of people drinking beer in broad daylight.
Tigris remembered the words of the night fox.
– Doesn’t everyone sitting here look like they have nothing to do? They’re all office workers upstairs.
If you buy a drink from the bartender and entrust it with a request, the bartender will call out suitable office people and introduce them to you.
It was common to make some bargains on the spot, sign contracts and exchange detailed information in the office upstairs.
Tigris approached the bartender.
The bartender wiped the cup and glanced at Tigris.
“I look like an adventurer when I see him wearing a coat, but seeing that he came to me, I think he’s a client?”
Tigris took out his identity card.
The bartender put down the glass when he saw the wolf pack, the symbol of the Norbert family.
“This is a valuable guest who came directly. You usually send people… Anyway, what kind of request do you want?”
His mannerisms and demeanor also became polite.
No matter how new the adventurers were, it was natural for them to be in good shape in front of a great aristocrat like Tigris.
“I came to the night fox.”
At the word “night fox”, the bartender coughed and opened his mouth.
“If you have come to her because you have bad feelings, you have come to the wrong place. This is a place that only accepts requests, not a place to resolve personal grievances.”
The night fox was an adventurer, but was an unusual adventurer who did not take risks.
She mainly steals and collects information, especially stealing items from nobles or finding weaknesses of nobles and selling them to other nobles.
To the nobles, she was a woman they wanted to tear and kill, so the nobles would often come and call out the night fox.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with the Norberdians and the Night Fox.”
“Nevertheless, night foxes do not normally talk face-to-face with nobles. furthermore···”
The bartender glanced at Tigris’ long sword.
“Because you even brought a sword… I’m sorry, but if you tell me, can I proceed in the way I deliver it for you?”
Tigris didn’t like to wrestle in such a dirty place, and he nodded because he already knew that night foxes were reluctant to speak directly with the nobles.
“Then just tell me. One gold coin. After that, depending on the level of achievement, we will pay additional compensation from at least 10 silver coins to 5 gold coins.”
“Are you talking about gold… gold coins?”
One gold coin is enough to buy a small apartment on the outskirts of the capital.
Considering that the average request fee of adventurers was 10 silver coins, it was a huge amount.
Tigris took a family check and a family ring from his pocket.
And Tigris stamped the family ring over the check.
The seal magic enchanted on the family ring was manifested, and a wolf pattern was left on the check.
“If you are willing to accept it, bring this check and have it come to me.”
“Uh… where are you going…”
“If I can’t find where I am, it wouldn’t be a night fox. Tell them you’ll be waiting for two hours.”
Tigris headed straight for Uptown.
Uptown was a neighborhood where nobles mainly lived, so there were a lot of high-end tea houses.
Tigris headed to a place called ‘Reviola Tea House’.
After drinking tea there for exactly two hours, a woman appeared.
It was a woman with black hair tied in a horsehair braid and with a flat stomach.
She wore a coat to prove that she was an adventurer, and the coat was very thin as if it were just a decoration.
There was only one woman dressed like that in early winter.
This woman was the night fox.
The night fox said with a dissatisfied expression on her face.
“There must be a nobleman who passes a blank check to the bartender. No matter how much I don’t know about adventurers, isn’t this too much?”
“Did something happen?”
“That rotten bastard was trying to bounce with a blank check and got caught in me and broke the back of his head, so what must have happened?”
“Right.”
The night fox furrowed his eyebrows.
“What is so bold? You almost lost your money.”
“Didn’t you come here knowing there was a problem with the check? If you’ve done a lot of check trades with nobles, you’d know for sure, right?”
The night fox sat across from Tigris with a smirk.
“You didn’t sign the check on purpose.”
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Just because a check has a family seal on it doesn’t mean it can be used.There, Tigris’ autograph was absolutely necessary.
The check was valid only when the signature matched perfectly with Tigris’ handwriting kept in the bank.
“I thought I would be able to talk directly to the night fox by doing that.”
“Are you really 19 years old? Are you as skilled as you know me and have shared quests with adventurers a few times?”
“Okay, are you thinking of accepting the quest?”
The night fox crossed her legs bewitchingly.
“Well, to think about it after hearing the quest.”
“good night.”
Tigris turned the vase on the table clockwise slightly.
Click!
A wave of magic energy spread around the vase with the sound of something clicking.
It was an artifact that could activate the sound block magic that prevents the sound from spreading out and the recognition inhibition magic.
“I didn’t come to Leviola’s teahouse for nothing. Well, I can be at peace here.”
The Leviola Teahouse was a place where nobles chatted in secret.
It was a place where sensitive matters such as politics and diplomacy and secret transactions between families took place.
Of course, the cost of renting a table was exorbitantly expensive.
“So, what is the content of the request?”
“It’s a tracking and observation request.”
“who?”
“Morita D. Griff.”
The night fox tilted her head.
“That drunkard? The Griffs have absolutely nothing to do with the Norberts and have no personal resentment.”
“The grudge arose a while ago. Because I cut off Morita’s arms.”
The night fox blew a whistle.
“Wheew, you were a very hot person. Did something happen?”
“I insulted the family. And there was a duel.”
The night fox nodded as if understanding.
“I think I understand why you want to entrust me with the commission. Do you have no intention of stopping there? I wanted to kill him, but for some unavoidable reason, he didn’t seem to be able to kill me?”
Nobles are more tenacious than you think.
Even after winning the duel, if resentment remained, he pursued him until the end and bullied him.
However, what bothered the opponent who had lost the duel was that it was neither worthy of dignity nor honorable, so he secretly ordered someone to do it.
“I never knew you were so stubborn.”
“There is no sediment left in him.”
“okay? Then what?”
Tigris doesn’t know exactly how Morita became a jealous person.
Morita had met Lota’s mouth Levis, and only knew that Levis had introduced him to Arfem.
I didn’t know the important time and place.
So the role of the night fox was important.
Very few of Tigris’s knowledge of the Slayers or of Rota’s body’s superior sensing abilities are capable of stealth.
Only one of the dogs could be bought with money this night, the fox.
“Someone will come to Morita. Few people will help Morita, whose arms have been cut off and abandoned by the family, but only one person will actively help Morita. If you find him, report it to me immediately.”
“Who is that person?”
“The name doesn’t matter. After all, the man will deceive his name and face.”
“With that said, how am I going to decide if that person is the person you want or not? Anything more specific?”
“A person who is human, but not like a person.”
The night fox furrowed his eyebrows as if in a funny way.
“What? A person who is human but not human? Who the hell are you looking for?”
“I can’t tell you now.”
“This is really… It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a client say that they’re behind their backs openly.”
Tigris signed the check placed on the table.
And I put 2 gold in the column where I write the amount.
“2 gold as the starting fee. After that, I will give you up to 10 gold coins depending on the achievement level.”
“Ummm…”
The night fox closed her eyes and was very troubled.
2 gold is really big money.
Besides, the completion amount is 10 gold.
It was the highest amount of quests that the Night Fox took.
The night fox saw Tigris.
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Judging by Tigris’ strict expression, it doesn’t seem worthwhile to haggle any further than this.Even if I ask for more information, I don’t think they’ll give it to me.
“I have a question. How do you know the person I’ve found is the one you’re looking for? If I see someone tossing a coin at him, can I report it right away?”
“Perhaps you will recognize who I am looking for right away.”
“Do I notice right away? how?”
“Because that person will smell dangerous.”
“Hey, how can I tell if I’m not a dog or something like that?”
“Isn’t that a fox, not a dog? As far as I know, it’s a fox, right?”
At that moment, the fox’s expression turned cold at night.
Her nails grew longer and her pupils began to tear vertically.
Above all else, concentrated life flowed through the air.
“you···. how did you know that I am a beast.”
“It’s a secret.”
“Come on, tell me!”
bang!
I hit the table, but it didn’t break.
It wasn’t that the night fox was so weak that it couldn’t break the table, it was just the power control.
It was because he knew that breaking the table would dispel sound block magic and desensitization magic.
“Name Nemesis. He is a black fox beastman and belongs to the beastman liberation group ‘Liber’. The purpose of infiltrating the Empire is to rescue the illegally distributed beauties. His main abilities are stealth, stealth, and information gathering, and he has a very good nose. and···”
“stop!”
The night fox, Nemesis, stared at Tigris.
“I like lemon sherbet.”
“…who else knows that I am a beast other than you?”
“none.”
“Then if I kill you, you won’t know I’m here.”
“Are you trying to break the non-aggression pact between the Beast and the Empire? I am the heir of the martyr. If you kill me, the Empire will surely retaliate.”
Nemesis growled.
“If I kill you and throw it in the sewer, how do you think you know who killed it?”
“Do you think you can kill me without a word in this cafe now?”
“Do you think I can’t?”
Tigris put down the teacup he was holding.
“If that’s the case, it would be less self-objectifying. Stop getting excited and talk more.”
“Don’t make a fuss. You and I are done here. Take good care of your neck in the future. If the world suddenly turns round and round, I’ve blown your head off.”
“Then you will never know when and where the black market will be held.”
“···What?”
Tigris said, looking at Nemesis with ease.
“The black market of the nobility where beasts and various illegal relics and artifacts are bought and sold. I know when and where it will be held this year.”
“…how the hell?”
“It’s a secret.”
Nemesis grinded his teeth.
“I didn’t know that the Norberts had anything to do with that dirty black market.”
“I can’t stand the insults against the family, so please be quiet. The Norbert family has nothing to do with the Black Market.”
“Then how did you know?”
“I’ll tell you when the time comes. ‘Cause it’s too early now Both for you and for me.”
Tigris still couldn’t trust Nemesis.
Currently, the relationship between the Beast and the Empire is getting worse day by day.
The families located on the border of the jungle pretended not to see the beast hunters, and some even acted as brokers.
The central government dispatched investigators to prevent this, but various operations were carried out, such as bribing the investigators or obstructing the investigation.
In this situation, if Tigris tells Nemesis that he has returned from the past, he will be treated like a madman.
Even if he believed him, he might have sold this information to Rota or Arphem.
That’s because Nemesis hated humans, especially nobles.
Tigris and Nemesis needed trust.
“Then tell me when and where the black market is held. I’ll check it out.”
“There is a risk of information leaking while checking. I will let you all know before the black market opens.”
“What do you believe in? It could be fake information.”
“I am Tigris di Norberd, heir to the Norberd family. I am by no means a liar.”
“Isn’t there a nobleman who spoke like that?”
“So are you going to miss the black market information?”
Nemesis grinded his teeth.
The current situation was absolutely against Nemesis.
Although the source is unknown, he knew the information on the Black Market, and Tigris also knew that he was a beastman belonging to River.
The obvious option is to cut the guy’s head and run away, but in that case, it will inevitably be discovered that the Beast Man killed the nobleman.
Already, while the southeast aristocrats are carrying out various political maneuvers that the beasts are dangerous, public opinion in the empire will get worse if they openly kill the nobility in the imperial capital.
‘What do we do···.’
My mind is complicated and I can’t make good decisions.
“Calm your mind. Since we have time, wouldn’t it be better to build trust with each other through this quest?”
“Trust is bullshit. Even if I can hand over your information to the person you are looking for?”
Tigris shook his head.
“You can never do that.”
“You don’t trust me too much, do you? If I’m wrong, I can throw anything and everything.”
“no. The moment you smell the guy I’m looking for, you’ll know right away that he’s your enemy. The smell of the blood of the beast people will vibrate from him.”
“···What? Does that mean he’s going to be a guy who kills beasts?”
“He’s worse than that.”
Lota’s Mouth Levis is a maniac who enjoys experimenting with beast chimeras.
The moment he smells the blood of the beast race that is oozing out of his body, Nemesis will have an intuition that he has no choice but to board the same boat as the Tigris.
“I understand that the request has been accepted. My advice is to use your nose instead of approaching it for nothing. If you ever come to visit me, please approach me through the Imperial University side.”
“The Imperial University? Come to think of it, you weren’t even 20 years old yet. I’ll be attending next year, so I’ll see you often.”
Tigris cleared his collar and opened his mouth.
“It is not admission. Inauguration.”
“inauguration? What are you talking about? Did I learn the imperial common language wrong? Isn’t it correct to say that a student is admission?”
“Students are eligible for admission. But I am not attending the Imperial University as a student.”
Tigris turned the vase to dispel the magic.
“I am the swordsmanship instructor at the Imperial University.”