Chapter 45
Simon and Feer arrived at Arnish.
It was a city where winding residential districts formed like a spiderweb around a towering lord's castle.
Being close to the Holy Federation’s territory, and due to the rough terrain, the domain was small and the houses were old. Still, Simon felt a strange sense of familiarity.
‘Yeah, I really do prefer towns like this over big cities.’
Of all the cities he’d seen so far, this one felt the closest to Leshill.
[You! Are! So! Suffocating! Damn it!]
At that moment, Feer, who was inside the armor, began to complain. Every time he moved, the sound of metal clanking echoed.
“Just hang in there a little longer, Feer.”
[Buy a bigger one next time! This size clearly doesn't fit!]
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
Though Simon thought it was ridiculous for someone with no flesh to complain about size, he just laughed it off.
The two wandered the streets, chatting as they went.
Perhaps because of a recent unsettling incident, the streets lacked any vibrancy. Doors were tightly shut on every house, and curtains were drawn over the windows. It felt like everyone was keeping themselves hidden.
“Hmm, this is daunting. How are we supposed to find the undead here?”
[Keh-heh-heh! I’ve done these kinds of missions a lot with Richard. There are three main methods.]
Feer raised his fingers with his gauntlet, which creaked noisily from disuse.
[First, meet the client. Since the client is the lord, reveal that you’re from Keyzen and demand all the information he has! You might even get support in terms of funds or manpower.]
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
[But there’s always a reason why a client couldn’t resolve an issue on their own until now!]
Simon understood the implication behind Feer’s words. Contacting the client would introduce unpredictable variables.
[Second method, investigate by asking around. Or as Richard called it, hitting your head on the ground!]
“Ugh, I don’t know about that one…”
[But in my experience, that’s sometimes the fastest shortcut to the truth. And lastly,]
Feer raised his third finger.
[Buy information from the Thieves’ Guild.]
“The Thieves’ Guild?”
[Is that not what they call it these days? Think of it as an information guild. Any halfway decent city has info brokers dealing in secrets. No one’s more sensitive to rumors than them!]
“Hmmm.”
Listening to Feer’s advice, Simon closed his eyes for a moment to think.
“Alright. First, let’s find a place to stay, then look for the Thieves’ Guild.”
[Now that’s good news! I really want to get out of this damn armor!]
Simon and Feer wandered around the commercial district near the plaza. Perhaps because it was such a rough area, there were fewer inns than expected for the city’s size.
Still, after asking around, they managed to find one.
“Welcome, sir!”
As they opened the door, the innkeeper greeted them. He was clearly a local, a rugged-looking man in his mid-forties.
“One large, clean room please.”
“Yes, sir! That’ll be 300 silver per night. Would you like meals included? A meal of flatbread and soup is an extra 50 silver, or 150 silver if you want meat.”
‘The inn rates are steep, probably because there aren’t many options.’
Simon thought to himself while fishing through his pocket and flicked out a 1-gold coin with his finger.
“Breakfast tomorrow. Just flatbread is fine.”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened as he caught the coin. A single gold coin was worth 1,000 silver.
“Would you like change?”
“No need. Instead, I’m curious about the location of the Thieves’ Guild.”
The innkeeper’s expression subtly shifted.
“Ah, aha! You’re here to buy information, then. You seem like an outsider… may I ask how you—”
Simon slowly opened his palm.
“……?”
“You’re just asking a customer’s identity now? I’ll need to charge a gold coin for that kind of information.”
Hehehehe!
Feer, standing beside him, twisted his waist as he laughed.
[A brat with blood barely dry on his head is toying with an adult!]
The innkeeper’s face froze.
He could tell instantly. The gold wasn’t the issue, asking a question and returning that gold might just cost him his head.
‘Who were these outsiders?’
As the innkeeper pondered, he quietly tucked the coin into his coat.
“Y-You’re asking about the Thieves’ Guild’s location, right?”
Flick!
Simon flicked his finger again. Another golden coin spun through the air into the innkeeper’s hand.
“And everything you know about the ‘disappearance cases’.”
Simon's eyes glinted sharply.
“You look like you know something. Am I right?”
“……”
The innkeeper swallowed hard, clearly nervous. Simon could almost hear the gears in his head turning desperately.
“……I’ll return the gold coin.”
As he took a step forward toward Simon—
Shhhhing!
A massive white greatsword was suddenly at his throat.
All color drained from the innkeeper’s face, and an eerie laugh echoed from the helmet of the armored man holding the sword.
It was a horrifying sound, like something out of a nightmare.
“Is something wrong?”
Simon still had his palm extended, a gentle smile on his face.
“Weren’t you going to return it?”
‘……Guh, guh-ugh!’
Trembling all over, the innkeeper dropped to the floor and prostrated himself.
“I don’t know who you are, but I’ll do as you say. Just please, keep it secret that I was the one who gave you the information.”
Simon nodded to Feer. Feer retrieved the greatsword and slung it over his shoulder.
“Get up. I’ll keep my word.”
They only had five days to resolve this case, and there wasn’t time to overthink things.
For this mission, Simon and Feer decided to take a tougher approach.
Simon listened to everything the innkeeper had to say. He was able to get detailed information on all the disappearances that had occurred so far.
“After people go missing, they’re found months later, dried up like mummies.”
“……Yes.”
“Most of the missing victims are young men, but the ones found as mummified corpses are mostly women.”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”
Simon wore a troubled expression. There wasn’t enough clear evidence to draw a conclusion yet.
“Were there… any signs that the female victims were assaulted or anything like that?”
“The lord also suspected the local gangs of sexual violence, but there were no such traces, he said.”
Simon’s headache only worsened, but Feer, standing beside him with his arms crossed, was grinning and snickering to himself.
‘……Feer?’
[Hehehehe! It’s certain! Definitely certain!]
Feer curled his lips into a grin.
[Erzebet. That bastard is somewhere in this city! 100%! Can’t believe we found her this easily! Hahaha!]
Feer had clearly locked on to something.
In that case, there was no reason to linger.
Simon stood up from his seat.
“We’ll be back in the evening.”
"Ah, yes! With all the unrest in the domain lately, be careful."
Simon and Feer stepped outside. Their next destination was the Thieves’ Guild, whose location had been provided by the innkeeper.
"Feer, how were you so sure this was the work of that Ancient Undead?"
[Isn’t it obvious!]
Feer grinned widely.
[She toys with young men for her amusement! She’s not interested in women, so she sucks them dry and kills them! That’s exactly the kind of crap that hag would pull!]
"......Do undead really do things like that? Aren’t they basically human?"
[Didn’t I already tell you? Undead are beings that can’t be understood through human logic! And the Ancient Undead, who’ve lived for ages, are even bigger freaks!]
"Hmm."
Simon stroked his chin, falling into thought.
[What are you thinking about now?]
"I'm also a young man, aren’t I? What if we use me as bait to lure that hag out?"
From inside the helmet, Feer burst into laughter with a Puh-hah!
[A brat with blood still wet on his scalp talking like that! Hahahaha!]
Feer reached out and ruffled Simon’s hair wildly. Simon pouted.
"......What’s wrong with me?"
[You're hilariously far from her type! Even if you glued on a beard, it'd still be off.]
"Ugh."
After exchanging various bits of banter, the two finally arrived at the Thieves’ Guild. At a glance, it just looked like an ordinary tavern.
The two opened the door and stepped inside.
It was a bar-style pub. A handsome middle-aged bartender was wiping glasses, and bearded men were seated at tables, drinking heavily. Unlike the empty streets outside, this place was packed.
‘But there’s no vibe of selling information. This just feels like a local pub.’
Simon and Feer found seats at the bar and sat down.
"What can I get you?"
In response to the bartender’s question, Simon drew a T in the air with his finger, then slid a silver coin forward.
"This way, please."
‘Ah, it really worked!’
Just like the innkeeper had said, it was easy.
Simon and Feer followed the bartender's lead. After exiting through the back door of the establishment, they saw a stairway and a door leading down to a basement. The bartender gave a polite bow and returned inside.
“Whew.”
Simon took a light breath and descended the stairs. The sound of his steps echoed loudly against the stone floor, and the musty underground smell hit his nose.
At the bottom of the stairs, two masked men holding crossbows stood guard in front of a door. They silently stepped aside and opened it.
Creak.
The old hinges groaned as the door opened.
The atmosphere inside was quite different from upstairs. People sat quietly at tables, either wearing robes pulled down to their eyebrows or full masks.
Three middle-aged men played poker. Two young men were deep in conversation. One elderly man sat in silence, and a young woman was sipping beer alone.
Behind the bar, multiple doors were visible—presumably, the rooms where information was bought and sold. Simon and Feer chose a quiet corner table by the wall and sat down.
"Welcome."
A young madam approached them.
She wore a form-fitting wine-colored dress, and her voluminous blonde hair curled like foam.
Click, clack.
Between the folds of her dress, her pale legs were adorned with black garters, and just beside one, a faintly glimmering blade was tucked away.
Simon swallowed dryly.
"Now then."
Sitting across from them, she smiled a businesslike smile.
"What brings you to our guild, outsiders?"
"......The reason we’re here is obvious."
Simon spoke. Getting swept up in the atmosphere would ruin everything.
"We came to buy information."
"What kind of information are you looking for?"
"People going missing in the domain. Bodies dried up like mummies. Everything you know about those incidents."
The madam smiled.
"Everything? That won’t be cheap. Can a first-year from Keyzen afford that?"
‘......!!’
Simon was startled inside, but didn’t show it on his face as he responded.
"What do you mean by that?"
"A simple deduction."
She continued, her tone relaxed.
"Everyone knows the lord is desperate to solve this case. He’s asked many for help, and there’s no way Keyzen wouldn’t be among them. Still, a small domain like this couldn’t afford to summon a Necromancer from Keyzen headquarters, so they probably made the request to students instead."
She leaned slightly toward Simon. One of her knees came up onto the chair, and a rich rose fragrance wafted around them. Behind her smiling face, a tight waistline came into view.
"And right now, only first-years are left at Keyzen. That means the ones sent on the mission are those whose student protection period has ended, first-years. And right when all this is happening, someone just so happens to show up in our domain..."
With a sly motion, she pulled back Simon’s hood.
"A fresh-faced outsider."
"......."
She gently lifted Simon’s chin with her fingertip and smiled brightly.
"Am I wrong?"
...Rude.
But he couldn’t show it. That would be like willingly offering up his identity as someone from Keyzen to the information guild.
"Of course, if you’re short on cash, you could always reveal your identity. Force us to our knees right here and now, and get the information with power. The name Keyzen carries that much weight, doesn’t it?"
"......."
Simon didn’t waver.
Instead, he reached out and grabbed the thin hand that was lifting his chin.
"Interesting deduction. Then how about I try one too?"
"......Pardon?"
Simon slowly pulled her hand toward him and leaned in.
"A major incident is shaking this entire domain. The lord is in crisis, and just like you said, he’s reached out to countless organizations for help."
He tightened his grip on her hand slightly. Her smiling expression began to stiffen.
"And there's only one Thieves’ Guild in this domain. The lord, and everyone taking the request, would’ve come here to gather information. But in the end, no one has solved the case."
Simon leaned in closer. This time, she subtly pulled her head back.
"This same incident has been happening for years, and still no one knows who the culprit is. Doesn’t it seem odd how little information there is? At this point, it’s not that the information was blocked, but that everyone was misled by subtle lies embedded in the so-called truth."
Simon didn’t know what kind of reputation or influence the Thieves’ Guild held in this domain, but from an outsider’s view, none of this made sense.
Staring at her face, now frozen stiff, Simon spoke coldly.
"Am I wrong? The Thieves’ Guild, sitting right in the middle of the crime scene, couldn’t possibly not know the key details. Incompetence? No, from the look of you, incompetence isn’t the issue."
Simon’s palm gently touched the back of her head.
Then, slowly pulling her closer, he whispered,
"Before I flip everything upside down, give me the truth."
Superb.