C149: the Silver Land
Arnold quickly changed the topic to divert Davis's attention.
“Do you recognize this?” Arnold asked, producing a crisp white card from his pocket and placing it on the table. The card bore an engraving of a small island topped with a triangular flag.
Davis's eyes widened. As if completely forgetting his previous doubts, he suddenly rose from his seat, slammed his hand on the table, and leaned closer.
“H-H-H-How in heaven's name did you obtain that?!” he hissed, before remembering his surroundings. He lowered his voice, but even then, his words still trembled.
“A membership token of the Silver Land!” He leaned in closer to the card, his breath hot, his eyes fixed greedily on the card “Junior, by what means did this fall into your possession?!”
Arnold frowned beneath his bandages. That gaze made him uncomfortable. He pulled one side of his coat aside slightly, revealing the dagger at his waist.
Davis startled, his face going pale.
“My... my apologies,” Davis muttered, raising his hands in a defensive gesture before sitting back down, though his frame still trembled.
Arnold looked down at the white card with growing concern. 'So this token is indeed precious. Why did that old man suddenly give me this?' He lifted his gaze. “What is the Silver Land?”
“Hhh?” Davis stared at him, utterly stunned. “Junior, ya are ignorant of the Silver Land, yet ya hold their token?” He clenched his hands, his fingers shaking as he struggled to contain his disbelief. “Heavens, this is absolute madness! How can fortune smile so brightly upon a ya?!”
“...” That reaction was a bit excessive. Arnold did not know how to respond to it.
“Egh… egh.” Davis lifted his tankard and took a long drink before sighing. When he spoke again, his voice had lost some of its enthusiasm, though his eyes still occasionally flickered toward the card.
“The Silver Land is… in essence, similar to the Golden Land at its core. Both are founded upon the maxim: ‘Gold is divine, and to accumulate gold is to walk the path of the divine.’”
He thought for a moment, then continued.
“This is the rumor that circulates within the underworld, so pray take it with a grain of salt. The reason for their division, despite sharing the same core maxim, is quite complicated.” He paused dramatically, leaning forward.“Unlike the Golden Land, which focuses on the accumulation of coins, the Silver Land places its emphasis upon the experience.”
“The experience?”
“Indeed, junior. The experience of earning coins. They value the process of labor, the hard work, the transaction, the reward, and the meaning behind it. They harbor a disdain for shortcuts.”
Davis picked up another strip of the salted beef and tossed it into his mouth, chewing the tough meat noisily.
“The Silver Land and the Golden Land were once a unified organization known as the Fortune Association.”
“However, an internal schism occurred.” He swallowed the meat before continuing.
“One member of the high council within the Association despised the cruel and forbidden methods employed by his peers to generate wealth, deeming such shortcuts a disgrace. Conversely, the remaining council members grew weary of his rigid ethics, declaring him weak-willed and unfit for their grand schemes. Thus, they broke apart.”
“Hoh.” Arnold listened with interest. “So you mean the Silver Land represents the more righteous one?”
Davis hesitated, tracing the rim of his tankard. “I... I should hesitate to label them as righteous, though one might perceive them as such. They do not employ the extreme measures of the Golden Land; they reject the trade of humans, do not approve of slavery, and restrict the sale of Cursed Artifacts to those they deem suitable.”
He put one leg onto another and leaned back in his chair. “By virtue of their strict adherence to their ethical codes, they are permitted to operate within almost all major municipalities, and have established themselves as an official organization within the Conquestia Kingdom.”
'So the Golden Traders are hunted as outlaws, while the Silver Traders are welcomed as legitimate merchants,' Arnold analyzed. To be frank, the political landscape of the underworld was fascinating.
Arnold’s gaze fell back onto the white card.
Inside his mind, Izzy crossed her legs upon the plush velvet seat of her crimson theatre, staring at it through Arnold’s eyes while deep in thought.
‘So Otto is from the Silver Land?’
That old man certainly had a unique aura around him. He had appeared ordinary at first glance, but everything about him felt deliberately hidden, like a tree whose roots stretched beneath the entire village without anyone noticing.
‘Why did that old man give this to me? I don’t understand his motive.’
Otto had personally handed this precious card to Arnold face-to-face, even suggesting that he should go to a bigger town to use it.
‘We have never met, nor have we been acquainted in this loop.’
Yet Otto’s words had contained an underlying familiarity toward Arnold, as if the old man had known him far longer.
Izzy’s eyes narrowed.
‘Does he retain memories from each of our loops?’
That was the most logical deduction she could formulate.
‘Hold on…’
Then could she use this card to her advantage at this moment? Could she use the membership card to demand Otto's active assistance? If that old man truly belonged to the Silver Land, then it should be possible to use the card at Otto’s shop, right?
‘Should I ask for his help?’
She wanted to try, but at the same time, Izzy remained skeptical.
She knew better than to trust anyone randomly.
Even if Otto belonged to the Silver Land, he was still a trader by nature. He would certainly ask for payment, whether in coins, goods, favors, or something stranger. Worse, this might simply be a careful plan to get closer to her.
Izzy could not forget her real identity. “She,” or “Isidora,” was a Curse. An anomaly.
The Silver Land refused the trade of humans and rejected slavery, but the critical distinction lay in the specific term: “human.”
That meant there remained a high probability that this was a thorough strategy to capture and study her, a Curse.
‘Ha. It seems we really don’t have human rights…’ Izzy smirked bitterly. Who would have thought?
‘The Golden Land and the Silver Land evidently hold deep mutual animosity, yet both of them exist in the same village.’
Otto desired to conceal his presence from the eyes of the Golden Trader, which explained why none of the locals were aware of his true identity. And from his passive behavior, it seemed he preferred to remain on the sidelines, watching the tragedy unfold without any active intention of joining the conflict.
Both the Golden Land and the Silver Land dealt in the trade of Curses. If so, what fate would await 'Isidora' should she be captured by either organization?
Would they sell her to the highest bidder, forcing her into servitude like the Demon of Dispute Order, or would they secure her and deliver her to the custody of the Institution?
Now that she contemplated the matter, what exactly did the Institution do?
“What about the Institution?” Arnold asked. According to the information recorded in the black monument, the Institution dealt with Curses.
If the Silver Land sold Cursed Artifacts, did that mean they imported them from the Institution?
“The Institution…” Davis paused, his finger tracing slow circles across the wooden table as he organized his thoughts. “They are the architects who devised the classification codes used to categorize every Curse. Their primary mandate is to…”
‘Contain, capture, exterminate,’ Izzy thought, her thoughts aligning perfectly with Davis’s next words.
“I am not familiar with their internal ranks, so I cannot speak with certainty, junior.” Davis scratched his head, glancing down at his empty tankard. “I have heard reports that the Institution supplies Cursed Artifacts to most organizations, but I do not dare claim that as fact.”
‘I see. So they are the ones who categorize Curses.’ Izzy tapped her chin.
‘Benjamin is connected to the Golden Trader. Therefore, if I’m to be captured by the Golden Land, I will be sold to the Demon of Dispute Order.’
‘And if the Silver Land captures me, I will probably end up contained under the jurisdiction of the Institution.’
Both outcomes all sounded terrible. But if she had to weigh which path was more agonizing, Izzy would state with certainty that the Demon of Dispute was the far worse outcome.
At least under the Institution, she would not be subjected to a ritual of slavery; She would only be contained and treated as a highly dangerous object.
‘If the situation turns worse, then I have to appeal to Otto for assistance.’
By that, she would likely end up surrendering herself to the custody of the Silver Land.
This was their last chance, their final iteration. If she died, it would be game over.
If she were forced to choose between the two evils, she would undoubtedly choose the Silver Land and the Institution over the Demon of Dispute Order.
Naturally, Izzy would prefer if neither scenario happened at all, and she could escape this place without being captured, sold, dissected, sealed, enslaved, or classified as someone else’s property.
‘The future is surely bright.’ Izzy smirked and shrugged her shoulders, forcing herself to release some of the pressure coiling inside her.
‘Well, it is what it is.’
At least, for now, her plans were still progressing with efficiency.
She returned her focus to Arnold’s perspective.
“Hmm.” Arnold tapped his chin in thought. “One more question.”
Davis knocked on the hatch and ordered another tankard of ale. A moment later, he turned back toward Arnold, waiting for the question.
“You claimed those Golden Traders are greedy and very cunning. If that is indeed the case...” Arnold narrowed his eyes. “Why does the Tear Drop continue to conduct transactions with them?”
Davis reached toward the hatch to receive the tankard, but his hand paused midway.
“Why...?” Davis frowned. After a short silence, he took the tankard into his hand.
“It’s because… Madam introduced him to us, along with the stimulants,” he said, hesitating over his words as he stared down at the ale. “Since the transaction was witnessed by both her ladyship and the priest, we naturally believed their judgment...?” Although he spoke the words, his voice did not sound confident.
“Hmm.” Arnold tapped his chin again, leaning back into his chair while thinking.
If Arnold did not know the dark secrets of the village, he would probably trust them as well. After all, the highest authorities in the village had openly vouched for that Trader.
Yet, because he already knew of the impending doom destined to consume the village, he knew with certainty that the Golden Trader could not be trusted. In fact, the Golden Trader was a variable that Arnold had missed until now.
The Golden Trader. They undoubtedly played a hidden role in the conspiracy within this village.
“I think Tear Drop has something to worry about,” Arnold leaned back to the table, one arm resting upon its cold surface, and addressed Davis directly.
“Pardon?”
“Do you really think they can be trusted?” Arnold asked.
Needless to say, Arnold was merely an outsider. He could only offer limited assistance, since he didn't know the full details of the agreement between Tear Drop and Golden Trader.
“I…” Davis lowered his gaze. “We of the Tear Drop owe an immense debt to Madam for permitting us to shelter within her village. Thus, we trust her. But...” His words trailed off.
“We have actually not met her for a decade. We always assumed she was consumed by grief and guilt, ever since the passing of her friend.”
‘Depression for ten years? That’s a new record.’ Izzy snickered to herself. Outwardly, however, she ensured Arnold maintained a perfectly serious expression.
“Junior, though I am considered the most clever among our group, my understanding of these matters is rather limited,” Davis said, scratching his head as his face flushed a light crimson in the dim light. “Might you offer us your assistance? I still hold our contract in mind.”
“Sure.” Arnold nodded.
Arnold was curious as well. And since he also needed to deal with this Golden Trader eventually, he hoped the Tear Drop would help him out.