079 – Security (4)
Felen thought deeply and opened her mouth.
“Morita? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s a guy I met recently. They say he had both hands amputated in a duel with Tigris last year. It is said that he was abandoned by the Griff family and has been living as a beggar for several months.”
“Then the ‘feeling’ towards Tigris will be enough.”
“We’ll have to meet him to find out, but it’s probably highly likely. I think he is a good candidate for now.”
Feira, the one who shreds anger.
Pelen, the slayer of pride.
Oslo the Sloth Slayer.
Tempe the gluttony eater.
Kyra, the one who shaves off lust.
They have in common that they belong to the Arphem family, but at the same time they have one thing in common that they were raised as opponents of ‘some object’.
These people are inherently weak or do not have the talent to grow alone, but if they have strong ’emotions’ towards a specific target, they can grow quickly.
If Morita also has certain feelings that are close to obsession with Tigris, she will be able to quickly become stronger.
“But, as I just said, it is almost impossible to get him into our side right now. Because Arfem-sama’s body hasn’t gotten better yet.”
“Know. I have to meet Morita anyway, so there’s no rush. Maybe we can find someone else.”
Tempe, who was listening quietly, opened his heavy mouth.
“Pelen. Can’t you deal with Tigris yourself?”
“I myself?”
“Yes. It is dangerous for him to grow beyond this. Do you think it would be better for you to come forward without the process of creating an adversary?”
Levis looked at Tempe with a puzzled look.
“Sometimes your stuffy head annoys me. If it were that easy, I would have killed Tigris myself. And both Bergang and Bastian must have killed the Inquisitor’s Hydra.”
Currently, Rota and Arpem look very advantageous, but they are still at a disadvantage.
The land mass of the continent is vast, and the total number of people is uncountable.
If they unite against Lota and Arphem, how long it will take to devour the Empire is unknown.
“Do you know why the Demon King of Extinction couldn’t swallow the continent? Because the guy was arrogant. It’s true that his skills are amazing. But didn’t geniuses like Pereira appear and seal the Demon King of Extinction? There is so little to learn from history.”
It is not an individual like Tigris that Rota and Arfem are checking.
A group called the Lucet Empire.
Whenever they face a crisis, the second Tigris and the second Bastian will appear to press Rota and Arpem.
“The best weapon we have is the invisibility. Of course, the Chimera Lab is exposed and the Empire is keeping the Gillion Empire and the Lux Church in check, but our identities have not yet been fully revealed.”
So, secretly raising the adversary.
The Black Meister, Berggan, is in charge of Oslo.
Colin, the head of the Welf family, is in charge of Feira.
The sage Bastian raises the adversary just like Pelen is in charge, and when the opportunity comes to kill him without revealing his identity, he will deal with it at once.
As an added bonus, you can get comrades who will agree with you, so there was an effect of one stone and two birds.
“So if you’re going to say something stupid like that, just keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?”
“·················ogue.”
Tempe said nothing.
It was very rare for Levis to be truly angry.
“But Tempe’s opinion is not entirely wrong. Tigris is growing at an unusual rate. Besides, I have been teaching quite a few decent students.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“It means that you might have to kill him, even at the risk of being revealed. Of course, this is not an immediate decision. However, it is true that it is a topic worth discussing with Arfem-sama and other comrades.”
Levis sighed at Pelen’s words.
“Then we should all get together in one place after a long time.”
“Since time is time, it was time to meet at least once. I want to check the research results as well.”
Levis thought for a moment and nodded.
“i get it. But what will Faira do? There’s really no chance he’s coming, right?”
“You might be interested to hear that the black soil has become noisy again recently. That’s what I do.”
Levis said looking at Tempe.
“Tempe. Take good care of your family members who are imprisoned in the Empire. There really is no answer when they start running rampant with blood.”
“i get it. I will take care of that.”
Levis stood up.
“Then I’ll finish the story roughly and I’ll just get up. I heard that Teho had made an appearance in the border area.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Of course, we have to stop him from coming to the Empire. Just by looking at the fact that the Empire sent the Golden Knights and the Iron-Blood Magic Corps, you can roughly predict what will happen.”
At first glance, it seems that they are trying to establish peaceful relations with the beast people, but then things get really complicated.
We must do everything we can to stop Teho from ascending to the Empire.
“I hope the next time we meet, good stories will come and go.”
* * *
Tigris and Trisha arrived in Halkis, the capital of the Marquis of Baros.
The atmosphere of Halkis was quite different from that of the emperor.
“I feel more drab than when I was here before.”
If the capital Victoria is a modern city that clearly shows the future of the empire, Halkis is a city that feels like a prison with walls on all sides.
The high turbid gray walls surrounding it made people cramped, and the blood-red flags placed on every road made the viewer feel intimidated.
Moreover, when knights wearing cloaks with the words ‘Halkis’ written in red passed by, the people trembled in fear and swerved to the side.
The reason why the Marquis of Baros had such a coercive atmosphere was simple.
This is because from the past, Marquis Baros served as the commander of the South to protect the Empire from the Beasts and the Kingdom of Gillion.
And since this area has been in frequent conflict with the beasts and elves since the time of the Demon King of Extinction, the people of this area had a strong atmosphere of rejection of other races and took it for granted to follow the command of the soldiers.
Trisha tilted her head.
“························································································································································································“
Tigris ignored Trisha’s words and took the lead.
“Follow me. I have to find a hotel to stay in today and tomorrow.”
Tigris headed for a luxury hotel that didn’t look too bad.
Although it was only seven stories high, it looked much better than other shabby inns.
“Do you have suites?”
The hotelier looked at the IDs of Tigris and Trisha and carefully opened his mouth.
“Sorry, but suites can only be reserved for members of the Marquis Baros family.”
“to? Where is that?”
Trisha was going to say respect for a moment, but quickly changed it to a lower one like a nobleman.
“sorry. No matter how noble you are, it is impossible to reserve a suite room. I’m really sorry.”
Tigris and Trisha are both barons.
No matter how low-ranking aristocrats, the hotelier bowed several times to say that he was apologetic because, if caught in this job, he would get tired and lose his job if he did it wrong.
“done. Are there any lower grades other than suites?”
The hotelier rolled his eyes.
“yes. There is one room of superior class. If you choose the Superior class, I will inform the general manager so that you can receive the suite class service.”
“Then do that.”
“yes. Okay. thank you!”
The hotelier bowed his head saying thank you, and Tigris handed over a silver coin as a tip, received the room key, and boarded the elevator.
“A suite can only be reserved by members of the Marquis Baros family. What are all these things?”
“Unexpectedly, the more remote the province is, the stronger this tendency is. There are many facilities that only local maintenance and nobles can use.”
“yes? Why are you doing that? Don’t they want to make money?”
“Because the easiest way to make yourself special is to discriminate against others. Even if they are aristocrats, people from lesser-known aristocratic families often experience such humiliation.”
Rich bourgeoisie like Baiton didn’t just throw money away and donate.
How much discrimination would the commoners suffer, even if the baron was the same?
They say that money makes more money than nobles, but because there was a wall of status that they could not overcome for the rest of their lives, they did whatever it took to become nobles.
“I had no idea that such discrimination would exist even among the aristocrats.”
“So you keep trying to get a high rank.”
When the elevator door opened, Tigris opened the door to room 601 and entered.
There were not as many rooms as a suite, but there was a dressing room and a bathroom where you could change your clothes appropriately.
Without saying a word, Tigris and Trisha took out a detection artifact that could detect up to 5 circle magic from the subspace pocket and scanned every corner of the room.
It was checked to see if there was any magic for recording or monitoring.
When there was no response to the artifact, Tigris and Trisha put the artifact in the subspace pocket.
Tigris looked at the wall clock.
It was 2pm.
“By now, Captain Teho must have departed.”
“Then we should move slowly now.”
There will be no raids within the Suin Autonomous Region unless they are crazy.
Escorting Captain Teho includes not only the Golden Knights and Iron-Blood Wizards, but also the Guardians of the Jungle.
The guardians of the jungle display unimaginable fighting power within the jungle.
Beasts basically know how to use ‘disguise magic’, which hides themselves in the jungle, so it was clear that the moment they approached Teho carelessly, their limbs would be torn to death.
So, the timing they are aiming for will be the moment they cross the border.
After crossing the border, they had to pass through small villages ruled by the Marquis of Baros, and there was a high probability that a battle would take place in that village or on the road connecting the villages.
It takes about 4 days to reach the border from Albor, the capital of the Suin Autonomous Region where Teho lives, and about 2 days from the border to Halkis.
So, Tigris and Trisha can stay here for about two days.
So, for about two days from today, you have to deal with as many poachers, mercenaries, and assassins coming to Halkis to target Teho and head near the border.
“Once we gather information. Have you memorized all of your personal information?”
“yes. It’s all in my head.”
On a long journey for a full month, Trisha memorized as much as possible the personal information Tigris had given her.
It’s not the details, but at least I memorized enough to recall the name and the degree of origin just by looking at the face.
“Then let’s gather information by 7 o’clock tonight and come back.”
* * *
It was the first time in about 10 years that Trisha came to Halkis physically, and in real time, it was only 4 years.
Meanwhile, Halkis had changed a bit.
It was still a dull and hard military city, but the people’s expressions and atmosphere were not very good.
Trisha opened her ears to hear the stories of the citizens.
– He was also hanged for rebellion.
– The little one puts up the poster and eventually…
– Whoa. It’s good to be young, but why do you have to do that to hurt your parents?
– But is it real? That the Marquis Baros did chimera studies?
– Shh! this man who will listen
Trisha naturally went to the square where people gathered.
In the middle of the square were several bodies with their necks hung.
A sign was hung around their necks with the crimes of ‘insurrection’ or ‘sedition’, and crows flew and devoured their corpses.
‘······ Are these really the same country?’
I knew that the atmosphere of the city varied according to the characteristics of the lord who ruled, but it was the first time in a place with the worst atmosphere like this one.
In the square of Victorie, it is forbidden to throw a single piece of garbage in the square because it harms the aesthetics of the city, let alone hang a person’s neck.
It was really hard to believe.
Whirly Rik-!
At that moment, Trisha heard the whistle of the police officers.
“Catch him!”
Tricia thought the thief had stolen the bread, but it wasn’t, the man who got caught while putting up a poster with the back story of the Marquis Baros was running away.
The man quickly crossed the square and entered the alley, and the military and police followed the man into the alley and disappeared.
If that man is caught, he will be like that corpse hanging in the square.
However, the citizens did what they were supposed to do without paying attention to it or not.
– Buy some bread. It’s freshly baked bread.
– Beer is cheap! it’s cheap!
Trisha left the square, trembling at the brutality and control that had become a daily routine.
It certainly seemed like the wrong choice to choose Halkis as a honeymoon destination.
Trisha moved to the ‘Bear Town’ where the mercenary offices were concentrated.
The mercenaries aiming for Captain Teho would not openly exchange quests at the mercenary office, but I did not know that they might have gathered in the mercenary office to exchange information.
* * *
The closer the bear town where the mercenaries live, the more soldiers and knights were seen.
It looked like they were walking around with their eyes tight, lest they might even start a rebellion.
As if the mercenaries were accustomed to such control, the soldiers didn’t even look at them, but went out to drink or play Trump.
Trisha walked slowly while opening her ears and checking the faces of the mercenaries one by one.
– Have you seen many mercenaries lately? Have you heard any stories?
– They’re not mercenaries I’ve seen for the first time, they’re veteran mercenaries who used to be active in Halkis. They say that those who were active in the Black Soil or near the northern extremities have returned.
– What did they do all the way here?
– I don’t know. Is it because of the Beast Elder’s coming to Halkis?
– You’re going to hunt the Beast Elder? Why don’t you rather commit suicide gracefully?
– Could it be? But it looks like they have the information to move them. I think it would be good to find out.
Obviously, the atmosphere in Bear Town was unusual.
When the veteran mercenaries suddenly gathered in Halkis, the existing mercenaries seemed to be greatly shaken.
At that time, there was a man caught in Trisha’s eyes.
‘Half-bald, big scar on his right eye, blonde hair… Blake Wood.’
It was a case of changing the name of a fallen knight who was caught while hunting for beasts to earn money.
If you add up the careers of mercenaries and knights in the four rings, he was a veteran among veterans of more than 20 years.
It felt like something was going to come out if I stepped on him.
Trisha followed Blake as he walked, sipping wine from a bottle.
Blake staggered for a while, then threw a bottle of wine into the corner of the alley and threw it away and entered a tavern.
[lotus]
First off, the name was odd.
The name of the tavern where mercenaries usually go in and out is made up of vulgar words like ‘Billy’s Severed Cock’.
But the lotus, the lotus flower.
It was a name that would fit into a high-end bar attended by nobles.
Besides, it was large and prosperous like the hotel where Tigris and Trisha were staying, whether they were staying at the same time.
It was certainly not a building likely to be in Bear Town, where mercenaries often came and went.
‘Hmm······.’
Trisha scanned her outfit.
It wasn’t a dress worn by a noble girl, but she wore a coat made of fairly high-quality fabric and leather boots.
Even this outfit was not lacking enough to enter that clean tavern, but seeing that Blake was wearing a lot of worn-out clothes, it seemed like he would splatter when he entered wearing such luxurious clothes.
Trisha went into a dark alley, pulled out a shabby coat from her pocket, and changed her old boots.
Lastly, the face shape was slightly tweaked using polymorph artifacts.
‘This is enough.’
Trisha entered the tavern where Blake entered.
The inside of the pub was as clean as the outside.
The attire of the employees was also quite neat, and there were no small tables to drink while bumping into strangers.
‘It looks like trash in a new trash can.’
The tavern was clean, but the clothes and faces of the mercenaries were not.
It was very strange that such dirty mercenaries were gathered in such a place.
Trisha looked up and saw the second floor.
There, knights and wizards were sitting around drinking alcohol.
‘It’s not a place used by mercenaries.’
Although Lotus was in Bear Town, it was close to the ‘Center Town’ where knights, wizards, and high-ranking officials who managed Halkis lived.
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Judging from the location, it was clear that the Lotus was a space used by high-ranking officials and nobles to secretly meet with mercenaries.‘Everyone knows a face here.’
Crucially, all the faces of the mercenaries written in the personal information provided by the Inquisitors, including Blake, were gathered here.
The fact that the mercenaries aiming for Captain Teho were gathered here meant that the breath of the Marquis Baros had worked.
‘I just had to do this. Let’s go back.’
It was enough just to get the information that all the mercenaries who were aiming for Captain Teho were gathered here.
And digging for more information here was risky.
It was because it would be very difficult to meet even the Marquis of Baros here.
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Just then, an employee approached Trisha.“Who have you been introduced to?”
“It’s not an introduction, I came in because the tavern was clean, but I think I came in by mistake. I’ll just leave.”
“Did you enter the wrong place?”
Trisha looked away from the source of the voice.
A man with red hair walking down from the second floor.
He was a wizard, as he had a luxurious wand with blue sapphires on his waist.
However, the wand did not enter Trisha’s eyes.
It was because the symbol of the ‘red hawk’, which symbolized the Marquis of Baros family, was embroidered on his chest.
There was only one person who could put a red hawk into his casual clothes.
He was a direct blood relative of the Marquis Baros.