Chapter 170: Chapter 170: The Merchant Trip (1)

I had a strong suspicion that something was amiss.

Of course, they could be starting as a small merchant group to establish a new organizational foothold in the empire.

It had been a year since the empress’s assassination. It was about time for them to start settling in the capital.

But the timing was suspicious. Moreover, there was someone I knew.

Celeb. He was quite a skilled swordsman. But not as strong as Pelia or Arniel. A few levels below me.

Probably above Aron and Jofor, and similar to Namir.

The important thing is, he’s completely specialized in combat. He’s not the type to move alone.

It means there’s a brain somewhere. Personally, Blancheot didn’t seem to be that kind of person.

‘There’s likely someone else doing the thinking.’

Seeing Celeb here, it was highly probable they were plotting something through the Blancheot merchant group.

From my research before coming, the Blancheot merchant group had been established in Chenarus for about 3 months.

There had been several merchant trips. I thought they might have been trying to build up their reputation.

In other words, even if this current trip isn’t the issue, they could be planning something for the coming-of-age ceremony.

‘It would be good if I could use these guys as a connection to dig deeper.’

Suddenly, I feel a gaze. Celeb was looking at me. He had noticed that I was out of the ordinary.

While I could hide my aura, it was difficult to make it seem weaker than Celeb’s. It’s better to reveal a little bit rather than that.

Since it would be strange to pretend not to notice, I turned my head as if I had felt the gaze. Our eyes meet.

I shrugged, and he smiled and greeted me with his eyes. I did the same. A strange tension lingered.

While maintaining eye contact with me, Celeb whispered something to Blancheot. I immediately moved my Winds.

-Where did you find these guys? They seem quite skilled. Not the level of ordinary mercenaries.

-Is, is that so?

-Have they done anything that might cause problems?

-No. I swear by the father of the darkest place, nothing like that. I called them through a broker.

-Hmm. Try to sound them out.

Through their conversation, it became clear. Blancheot was a subordinate. There was definitely someone else besides Celeb.

Blancheot, after the conversation, approached me with a smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Blancheot. You seem to be the leader of the Anues mercenary group?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Anues.” (+)[1]TLN: BTW, the name isn’t Anues literally, instead it’s “아누스” which can be translated to “Anus”. …yeah, that’s why I changed it to Anues.

“You look a bit tired. Did you go to sleep late last night?”

There’s a slightly sharp tone in his voice. He’s indirectly asking if I drank before an escort job.

Chronic fatigue is hard to hide even with makeup.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In fact, I’m trying to hide it even now, but wearing lenses doesn’t change my eyelids.

I smiled confidently.

“I often hear that I look tired. I didn’t drink last night. You’ll see after a few days.”

“That’s good then.”

Blancheot nodded stiffly.

“I came to ask for your cooperation. We have our own guards, but there are only two, so I’m a bit anxious.”

“Don’t worry. We may not have a reputation, but our skills are certain.”

Blancheot grinned.

“I believe you. To be honest, I was a bit worried before seeing you. Thinking I might be wasting money hiring unskilled people.”

“Is that so?”

“But our guard said your aura is extraordinary. He said he didn’t expect such strong people to take on this kind of job?”

“We’ve just started in Chenarus, so we need to build our reputation.”

“Were you somewhere else before?”

I nodded.

“We were in the west.”

“Ah, the civil war?”

“Yes. We’re all people who met on the western battlefields and got along. We decided to start in the empire just as we were getting tired of the war.”

“…Is that so?”

A delayed response. It was a subtle sense of dissonance that would have gone unnoticed if I hadn’t been paying close attention.

This guy is definitely not a key figure. He’s a bit clumsy.

“Yes.”

“Which side were you on?”

“Karanta. It’s a place below the Ash Harbor district.”

I answered without hesitation. This was what I had agreed upon with Casmak when leaving the southwestern plains.

We decided to prepare the disguised identity from the western side, which was in the middle of a civil war.

His subordinates would have acted as mercenaries under the name Anues, and operated a small merchant group under a different name.

“…I see. You must have been through a lot. You look quite young to have already experienced war.”

“For mercenaries like us, life is pretty much the same everywhere.”

“Anyway, I look forward to working with you. It would be nice if we both become famous and meet again later.”

“Yes. I hope for that too.”

“It seems everything is ready. Let’s depart.”

After smiling and moving away, the journey began. There was nothing particularly unusual. There were no issues with the goods either.

It was all fabric.

Well, there’s no reason to smuggle anything out of the capital. If we were to check, it would be on the return trip.

There were six guards in total.

Two from the merchant group and four of us. The three I had seen earlier at the merchant group seemed to have agreed to guard the empty merchant house.

The two guards from the merchant group took the rear, while our four were on alert at the front. There was no need to show excessive seriousness.

We were mercenaries to begin with, and the merchant group people had started chatting among themselves. We were the same.

“But big brother, I’m not sure if it’s okay.”

“What? The merchant trip?”

“No. Sister Rina.”

It was an unexpected comment from Aron. I tilted my head. I couldn’t understand why he was suddenly worried about Rina.

Did she say something I don’t know about since she’s close with Aron and Mary?

“What about Rina? Was there a problem?”

“Not exactly. It’s because of Big Brother Denif.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sister seems to be comfortable with Mary, me, and you, big brother, but she seems to dislike brother Denif.”

“Rina does?”

What is he talking about now?

“She often glares at him fiercely.”

Aron tilted his head. I realized he was making a strange misunderstanding.

“She doesn’t dislike him.”

“What?”

From my perspective, Rina’s looks at Denif seemed to indicate some level of interest.

There was a slightly subtle atmosphere at Arachne’s base.

Of course, it wasn’t noticeable on the surface. Considering Rina’s personality in the first place…

It’s understandable that Aron would misinterpret it like this.

It’s not something I need to worry about. This is something they should figure out on their own. It’s not something to discuss with the kids either.

“Forget about that. Listen without getting distracted.”

I quietly changed the subject while observing the merchant group.

“Brown ponytail. He’s a devil worshipper. But don’t be too conscious of it.”

Aron and Jofor conveyed their understanding with their eyes without turning their heads.

“There shouldn’t be any problems until Requiza. Stay alert on the way back to the capital without being obvious.”

“Yes.”

***

On the first evening, we prepared for camping at the pre-planned location. Currently, Namir is on guard duty around the area.

After everyone falls asleep, we planned to take turns keeping watch in pairs.

Me and Aron, Jofor and Namir.

The merchant group agreed to take the last shift. Of course, I had no intention of falling asleep despite this arrangement.

‘It’s going to be tiring for a few days.’

While I was resting in anticipation of the expected fatigue, Celeb walked towards me.

Having been tipped off earlier, Aron and Jofor only glanced briefly without showing signs of being on guard.

“What’s the matter?”

“I was wondering if we could cross swords, as your skills seem impressive. If it’s not rude, I’d like to request a match.”

“I’m not that praiseworthy.”

“You seem remarkable to me. So, do you accept?”

I nodded with a smile. There’s no reason to avoid it. Of course, I shouldn’t reveal my full strength.

And since I brought a different sword instead of Moonlight, there’s no problem.

Celeb’s intention is obvious. He wants to observe me a bit more while sparring.

This increases the probability that there’s something to this mission.

If it was really nothing, he wouldn’t have bothered with me. Maybe he’s worried because something feels off.

‘He’ll probably investigate me too.’

Whether he meets people in Requiza or returns to Chenarus, he’ll try to verify who Anues is in the west.

And he’ll want to gather as much information about me as possible before that.

The sparring didn’t last long. I controlled my strength appropriately. Stronger than Celeb, but in a rough manner.

Honestly, it was boring. He was about Namir’s level.

“It was a good match. Thank you.”

Celeb’s expression seemed a bit more relaxed than before, though subtly. Probably because I used the swordsmanship of a rough-looking mercenary.

“I enjoyed it too.”

***

“Load it carefully! Be careful not to damage anything by bumping!”

From early dawn, the merchant group people were bustling about. It took exactly 5 days to reach Requiza.

We arrived last night and handed over the fabric, and now we’re loading fruits in the early morning.

Nothing special happened in the meantime. There were no unusual signs.

I watched Blancheot and Celeb all night yesterday too, but neither of them left their rooms.

My eyelids were heavy from unexpectedly staying up all night. I felt a slight burning sensation in my eyes.

I pressed the area above my eyes with my thumb and index finger to drive away the fatigue.

‘There’s nothing special here either, did I think wrong?’

Even so, I was examining the cargo with my Winds. But there was nothing hidden between or under the fruits.

Is this merchant trip just to build reputation?

Or maybe they wrote something on the fabric. Words engraved on fabric can’t be detected by Winds.

I thought I should take on the next request to investigate further. We’ve maintained a good relationship with the merchant group for 5 days.

I’ve been pretending to be friendly with Blancheot too. If they don’t raise the price, we should be able to get another request.

Well, if they’re planning something and don’t hire us, we can just follow them.

While I was lost in thought, Aron approached me.

“Big brother, is that delicious?”

“Have you never eaten it before?”

“No.”

Well, he only started to appreciate food after meeting me. He must be curious about the fruit he’s seeing for the first time.

This fruit is a specialty from just below the north, where it’s not too cold but cool, so there haven’t been many chances to try it.

“Do you want to eat it?”

“Will you buy it for me?”

“Wait a bit.”

Leaving the expectant Aron behind, I approached Blancheot. He smiled as he saw me.

“You look tired today too.”

“It’s always like that.”

“So, what’s the matter?”

“About this. Could we buy one of these?”

For a moment, Blancheot’s atmosphere changed slightly. It was just for an instant, but I noticed that sharpness.

“What are you saying all of a sudden?”

“Ah, one of our members said he wanted to try the fruit.”

“As always, you take good care of your subordinates, don’t you?”

Blancheot laughed heartily and then shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve purchased exactly the agreed amount, so that would be difficult.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

I continued calmly. If there really was something, there was no need to press unnecessarily.

Of course, the suspicion in my heart was growing. Blancheot turned his head.

“I saw them selling these at the market yesterday, why don’t you buy some on the way? The price might be a bit higher though.”

“Yes. I guess we’ll have to do that.”

It’s rare for merchant trips to only prepare the exact quantity. Especially for fruits like these, they usually prepare extra.

There could be problems during transportation.

And the people receiving these take this into account too.

In other words, there’s no reason to flatly refuse my proposal. The brief sharpness I saw earlier was also concerning.

‘Is there something in the fruit? It didn’t look unusual.’

As I turned around, I moved my Winds again.

Instead of looking between the fruits and under the boxes like before, I thoroughly observed one fruit.

At first, I didn’t feel anything unusual. But then I sensed a subtle incongruity.

Between the peels of some fruits, there were tiny, barely visible cracks. It seemed like adhesive had been applied, as my Winds couldn’t penetrate inside.

‘What’s this?’

Not all of them were like this, but I found a few more like it. It means they’ve hidden something inside the fruits.

If they’ve made it this elaborate, it’s probably not an ordinary item.

I looked at the back of Blancheot’s head. He seemed slightly tense after my proposal.

Well. I wonder what’s inside these.

1. TLN: BTW, the name isn’t Anues literally, instead it’s “아누스” which can be translated to “Anus”. …yeah, that’s why I changed it to Anues.

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