Chapter 52 : Chapter 52
Chapter 52. The Unseen Threat
I slowly exhaled a hot breath and looked at Bryn. Both of his eyes were full of bruises. The area around his mouth was so torn and swollen that I couldn't recall its original shape.
‘Should I have gone easier on him?’
I beat him up as I pleased, and now the kid was a wreck.
“He’s lucky he’s not dead.”
“That’s right. Phew.”
Armand and Serena each added a word. The same people who were crying life and death from afar during the fight were now standing next to me with pitiful expressions.
“Aaargh! Uh!”
Bryn strained his eyes and looked at Armand.
“What’s he saying?”
“I think he’s saying… ‘Armand! You!’…”
Serena translated Bryn’s words with an unconfident voice.
In response, Bryn nodded.
“Can’t we just kill this guy?”
“Aaargh! Refenge! I will get refenge!”
Bryn reacted to Armand’s words. So, Armand and I looked at Serena.
“‘Armand! Revenge! I will get my revenge!’ I think that’s what he’s saying… probably?”
This time too, Bryn nodded.
Good. Judging by his condition, it seemed he had no problem hearing and speaking.
“From now on, you’d better answer my questions properly. Got it?”
“……”
Bryn’s chest heaved up and down in rapid succession. He seemed quite anxious.
“I won’t kill you. As long as you answer well.”
“……”
“Answer.”
“…Eh.”
“Good. Then, here’s the question. Do you know of the Amirios?”
Bryn’s lips quivered, unable to answer properly. His pupils were shaking violently.
‘He looks like he knows something.’
In that case, I needed to apply some pressure.
“Three.”
As I threw out the number, Bryn’s Adam’s apple bobbed significantly.
“Two.”
This time, his breathing became extremely rough.
“One.”
“Heard! I onry heard the name. Just the name. Rearry! Rearry!”
Bryn spewed out words frantically. But it was hard to understand him easily.
I looked at Serena.
“Name! I’ve only heard the name. Just the name. Really. Really.”
“Only heard the name, huh. So you’ve only heard the name. You haven’t seen the Amirios in person. Right?”
Bryn nodded his head vigorously, showcasing his struggle for survival.
“How did you come to hear the name?”
“……”
“You’re silent. Well then, shall we see how long you can keep your mouth shut?”
Screeech.
I drew my sword. The blade, bathed in moonlight, glittered with unusual brilliance.
“Hoho! Hoho Merrant Gwild! Hoho Merrant Gwild!”
“Hoso? You don’t mean you entrusted the job to the Hoso Merchant Guild?”
Armand, who had been listening from the side, asked in a surprised voice.
“No, the Hoso Merchant Guild… you wouldn’t remember.”
I knew the name. Chris had mentioned it in passing before. But I didn’t know the nature of the guild. So I needed to find out a bit about it now.
“What are they like?”
“They’re guys who do dirty work. On the surface, they’re called a merchant guild, but what they actually do is dirtier than gangsters.”
Armand said, glancing at Bryn.
“Dirty work.”
It was such a common, everyday thing that I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
‘Nothing ever changes.’
Trash-like nobles who only chase after the coattails of the powerful, seeking out things that shouldn’t be done. The kind of people who, not wanting to get their own hands dirty, give the work to others, thereby bringing about even more cruel results.
It was truly sickening.
“So you’re saying the Hoso Merchant Guild was the one that gave the job to the Amirios Clan? Is that right?”
Bryn, asked the question, nodded his head.
“Where are those bastards?”
“Don’ know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yeah.”
“Then how did you give them the job? They wouldn’t have figured it out on their own.”
“If you wan’ to… contac’…”
Bryn, in the middle of speaking, grimaced and shut his mouth. It seemed difficult for him to speak because of his swollen lips. But that was none of my business.
“Bryn.”
Bryn, his name called, raised his head to look at me.
“For someone who’s been beaten so much, your teeth are still remarkably straight.”
“……”
“How about you use those straight teeth to speak properly? That is, if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life making whistling sounds.”
I showed Bryn a very kind smile.
At this, Bryn swallowed, then seemed to choke and coughed uncontrollably.
“Stop coughing and answer the question. How do you meet with people from the Hoso Merchant Guild?”
“Hm, hm! Hmmm! With a, a carrier pigeon. I set up a meeting with a carrier pigeon.”
Bryn, having forcibly cleared his throat, conveyed an earnestness as if begging for his life.
I needed to verify the truth. So I looked at Armand.
“It’s probably not a lie.”
Armand replied.
“So you just write down when and where to meet in a carrier pigeon message and send it?
Then where do you send the carrier pigeon?”
“You can’t send it directly to the Hoso Merchant Guild.”
What was this all about now? What could they possibly do without even meeting?
“There’s a designated place to leave messages. If you leave a message there saying you want to meet, a carrier pigeon will fly in two days later. That’s when you find out the time and place of the meeting.”
Bryn explained the specific details.
“To give and handle jobs like that, you must be spending quite a bit of money, right?”
“The unit price is a bit more expensive compared to other jobs.”
“Is that so? Then how much did you spend on this job?”
“30 million Gold.”
As soon as I heard the price, I let out a hollow laugh. He spent the price of a standard house on a request to have someone killed.
“Is Hans connected to that job?”
“That… I can’t say.”
Bryn bit his lip as if he absolutely couldn’t answer.
I looked at Bryn silently.
‘Is he okay with dying?’
I could feel a certain resolve in his eyes. It seemed he had judged that if he was going to die whether he spoke or not, it was better to die with his mouth shut.
So I nodded. That kind of gaze and determined silence was a sufficient answer in itself.
“Who the hell are you to go this far for Maxim’s business?”
Bryn, who had only been answering, asked as if he could no longer bear it.
Instead of an answer, I just sent him an indifferent gaze.
“Armand. You know, right? Who that person is?”
“No, I don’t. And I am not Armand.”
What was I to do with that idiot? Who would accept that if he said it like that? ‘Oh! I see!’
“Do you think I’ve only known you for a day or two? From your voice to your build, anyone can see it’s you, Armand.”
“No! It’s not!”
“It is you.”
Screeech.
Armand drew his sword.
I sighed and grabbed Armand’s hand.
“Don’t do anything useless. Just find a way for me to meet with the Hoso Merchant Guild.”
“……Did you hear that?”
Armand passed his task on to Bryn.
At this, Bryn opened his swollen eyes as wide as he could and looked back and forth between me and Armand.
“I, I can’t do that. It’s impossible for me to cooperate with you next time either.”
Bryn waved his hands, vehemently refusing.
I let him go just to get some information, and it seems he’s feeling well enough to live now.
“Do I look like I’m asking for cooperation right now?”
“It’s imposs…!”
I drew my sword and slammed it down next to Bryn’s face.
Bryn looked at me with startled eyes. A thin line was drawn on his swollen face, and blood trickled down.
“Hiccup.”
“Do as you’re told.”
“Hiccup. No. Hiccup. It’s not that I can do it just because I want to. Hiccup.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Hiccup. For the time being. Hiccup. There’s no way. Hiccup. No way to contact the Hoso Merchant Guild.”
Again, I looked at Armand for confirmation. He had taken off his mask and had a serious expression on his face.
“Hey, don’t tell me the ones who wiped out the class this time… was it the Hoso Merchant Guild’s doing?”
“I couldn’t confirm, but probably.”
“You crazy bastard. What were you thinking, going that far?”
“……It’s not what I wanted. I just told them to clean up the failed job… and things turned out that way.”
I had a feeling, but it was true.
The failed job was likely the attempt to kill me using the Amirios Clan, and the cleanup was likely an attempt to deal with me by creating a situation where I was isolated.
To do that, they committed the crazy act of manipulating a state institution. The Hoso Merchant Guild, they’re a crazier bunch than I imagined.
“That aside, why is there no way to contact the guild?”
“After they pull off a big job, they completely disappear for a month at the shortest, and up to three months at the longest. Since they pulled a big one this time, there’s no way to contact them for at least two months.”
They are overly cautious. And that makes them even more dangerous. They have influence, money, power, and also caution. I don’t know who the master of the Hoso Merchant Guild is, but I can tell they’re smart.
‘These kinds of guys are not ordinary.’
To protect the guild, they must have a lot of strong people with them. And they will try to use those guys to eliminate me.
At least two months, at most three months.
An unseen threat is approaching.
“How can I tell if someone is from the guild?”
I needed to know something that could identify someone as belonging to the Hoso Merchant Guild.
“I don’t really know anything like that…”
Armand shook his head.
I shifted my gaze to Bryn.
“I don’t know much either. I’ve only met Gabriel outside a few times…”
“Gabriel?”
“There’s someone named Gabriel Hoso…”
“Is that so? You’ve met him? Then try to remember something.”
“Huh? No, I really don’t remember…”
I looked at Bryn, who spat out ‘I don’t know’ like a habit. The sword in my hand moved naturally and stroked Bryn’s neck very gently.
“I think I might remember something… Mi-Minotaur!”
“Minotaur?”
“Yes! He was wearing a pendant with a Minotaur crest on it.”
In that moment, the day I fought the Necromancer flashed through my mind. There was a broken pendant that looked like a bull crest back then. Perhaps the Necromancer was also connected to the Hoso Merchant Guild.
“Alright, I think this is enough.”
I withdrew the sword from Bryn’s neck and tried to wrap up the tumultuous day.
“Are you really not going to tell me who you are? Are you a mercenary hired by Maxim?”
Bryn asked, rubbing his own title.
It seems he’s not without a keen eye, but perhaps because the feeling is different from what he knew? He doesn’t suspect me in the slightest.
Anyway, people really don’t change. Even after feeling the threat of death, he keeps asking that question whenever he gets a chance.
“Armand! You’re not going to tell me either?”
Armand looked at me.
“Sometimes, not knowing is the answer. So don’t try to find out anymore.”
I imbued my fingers with mana and poked Bryn’s forehead, chin, and solar plexus.
Bryn lost consciousness without a single sound.
“Did you kill him?”
“M-murder?”
Armand and Serena cried out.
“What do you mean kill? I just put him to sleep. Don’t just stand there like idiots, start digging.”
I have no intention of killing him, but I do need to make him suffer enough to wish he were dead.
***
Hans, standing before a mirror, was tidying up his appearance. Fioren stood behind him.
“Hey! Where the hell did that Bryn bastard go?”
Hans asked Fioren, his voice full of irritation.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him for two days, is something up with him?”
“You haven’t even checked?”
“It’s the academy, so I didn’t think to check separately…”
Hans sighed at Fioren’s reply.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, my ass. Hey, what’s the point of being a good friend?”
“……”
“Phew, you idiot. If a friend is a little lacking, you should be concerned and take care of them.
You didn’t check separately because it’s the academy?”
“I’m sorry!”
Fioren bowed his waist sharply, repeating his apology.
“Apologize twice more and your back will break. And why haven’t I seen that pig Armand lately? Don’t tell me he’s sulking because of what happened last time?”
“Ah, he’s been living in the infirmary lately, saying he’s sick.”
“Sick? What’s he sick with?”
“I heard it’s a bad cold.”
“He’s the one who looks the sturdiest, so why’s he always like that? Tsk.”
Hans, done tidying his appearance, put on his coat and opened the door.
“Your Highness!”
Just then, a man with short hair was running towards Hans.
“Your Highness! Something terrible has happened.”
“What terrible thing? Hey, you reek of sweat, so stand back a little and talk.”
“What? Ah, I’m sorry.”
The man, who had taken a couple of steps back, pointed to the window next to the hallway and said, ‘Bryn was brought in on a stretcher.’
Hans looked at Fioren.
“What do you mean Bryn was brought in on a stretcher?”
This time, Fioren asked.
“If you look outside, outside, you’ll understand.”
“What’s outside…”
Outside the window, a large crowd of people had gathered. They were whispering amongst themselves as they watched Bryn being carried somewhere on a stretcher.
“What? Why did Bryn end up like that?”
“The details, I also don’t…”
“Just tell me what you know!”
Hans, who was listening, suddenly shouted.
“Ye-yes! He… was found collapsed on the main road leading to the academy.”
“Why was he collapsed there?”
“No one knows. It’s only known that Bryn was collapsed and that he has many bite and tear marks, as if he was attacked by a beast.”
At the man’s words, Hans’s face twisted into a vicious scowl.
“Hey, find them. Find the bastard who did that to Bryn!”
Hans’s voice, drenched in fury, filled the hallway.