Chapter 67 – Awakening Madness (12)
“Arthur. What are you going to do with that human?”
Tirsi asked, pointing to the leader, the only survivor of the thieves.
I knew what Tyrsi wanted to say. The leader of the bandits is a great clue to track us down. Isn’t it an unspoken rule that was repeated every day in martial arts sites?
A mysterious assassin who suddenly appeared to the thief in prison!
Assassins of that type would interrogate the thieves to get information, then kill them and run away.
Throughout the scene, it was narrated from the third point of view, not from the main character’s point of view, and at the end, ‘All the prison guards found the next day was the cold body of the bandit leader…’ In the same way.
It’s better not to turn this guy over to the guards to get rid of trouble.
It seems that the guards would sell that young statue to a stranger even if it was for one silver coin instead of 30 silver coins. Because that thief is not the Messiah.
“I have a question for you. Could you please wait a moment?”
“Shall we block the ears of the children?”
We quickly shared our thoughts with each other. Screams would harm children’s sensory development.
“I’ll do it from a distance.”
After putting down my luggage, I took the fainted boss to a secluded place. Even if you screamed, if you shut it up properly, the children wouldn’t hear it.
Quite a bit of time has passed, but the boss shows no signs of waking up.
“〈 Water Creation〉.”
Chow ah-.
A stream of water created by magic was poured over his face. As water entered his nostrils, the leader woke up with a sigh.
“Huh uh uh uh uh!!”
The boss, who was up and coughing, looked into my face with his arms and legs tied and seemed to have finished his grasp of the situation. He lowered his head while looking at me.
“All, all, you… ?”
“Did you forget me?”
Are you going to claim that this bastard has short-term memory loss? I’m sorry, but the Norse constitution doesn’t tolerate a commutation of a sentence for infirmity.
But now that I think about it, the effect of the mask may have prevented me from thinking that I was the one who raided the lair.
‘Should I continue imitating Tabula?’
A good way. Even if I get caught saying I’m a fake, there’s an overwhelming difference between this bastard and me. All I have to do is make the boss answer my questions.
“From now on, answer my questions. I will break one finger for each objection.”
“Yes, yes!!”
I touched the tightly bound leader’s finger. The thief, who understood the language, obeyed while head-banging.
“Is kidnapping and selling children your main source of income?”
“Oh, no. They steal anything that makes money.”
“Where did you get the children?”
“From Haysbent, uh, I picked up the kids who were out at night.”
“There must be a wall? Did you find a dog hole? Where is it?”
“Yes, yes. Well, there’s a general store that’s closed down Northwest Street in Haysbent…”
I started with questions that the guards would ask. The boss didn’t wonder why he was asking this. Seeing how they poured everything, including their own business tools, it looked pretty tight.
I additionally practiced the interrogation method I picked up in the movie. I asked him a different way of asking the question I asked earlier and checked to see if this bastard broke the gura, but his words were straight forward.
‘It’s blowing gently.’
So now to the main point. I took out the dagger used by thieves and whirled it around. It was a threat meant to behave well.
“Do you know how hostages who are sold out are treated?”
He rolled his eyes as if trying to find out what he was saying. So that he couldn’t think of an excuse, he kicked his stomach.
─Puck!
“Geuk!!”
“Don’t roll your eyes, answer me. I’ll cut off one of my fingers every time you take more than 3 seconds to answer. Ask again Do you know how hostages who are sold are treated?”
“Mo, I don’t know!! We only came to Sargadis because you said you were buying hostages for a higher price!!”
This is what I heard while clearing up the thieves. Did you come here without knowing anything about money? If so, there is no point in further interrogation. I put the dagger back in and asked.
“Who was the original buyer?”
“That, that, were men wearing robes. The one who made a deal with us was the one who seemed to be the captain, and there was one fat guy and one skinny guy behind him, probably escorts.”
“What kind of guys were they?”
“Oh, that, that. The tone was a little awkward, so I think it’s probably a foreigner. Ha, but the man in charge of the transaction was overflowing with confidence. He’s probably a trader who’s used to things like this.”
Perhaps they were illegal slave traders. He must be better at hiding his identity than I am, so I’m sure he wouldn’t know if I questioned him.
“Yes. That is all I have to ask.”
“Well, in that case——”
─Puck!!
Beast Regression triggered by Shadowless Spear strengthened only his right arm and slashed the top of the head. It was easy to fit because I had made it bald beforehand.
─Blow up.
After falling over, he untied the rope of the dead boss and left it there. This will make you look like a thief who died while running away from the lair.
Woo woo woo-.
I didn’t feel any change in the beast return that was activated on my right arm. Even if he absorbed Tabula’s mana, would there be a big difference?
‘──No.’
There was a difference. I sensed it instinctively.
─Sureung!
As I focused my consciousness, a change occurred at my fingertips.
Green mana, which was like thick leather covering the body, gathered sharply at the fingertips. The green mana changed its form like a claw of a beast. It seemed that he was able to pull out his claws like felines.
I picked up a stone from the floor and scratched it with my fingernail.
─Kagagak!
I scratched lightly, but the stone dug deep with an unpleasant sound.
It’s fucking sharp. Isn’t this sharper than my sword? It’s short in length, so you won’t be able to use it often, but it was a benefit to have one more trump card.
‘Shall we go back?’
I killed the boss, so I got rid of all the aftereffects. I broke and scattered the stones I scratched with my fingernails and joined the group.
***
The first place I stopped by after returning to the city was the Transport Guild.
“Father!!”
“Son!!”
We went to the back door of the guild and watched the thrilling father and son reunion. Wearing a mask, I waited for their tearful reunion to subside before speaking.
“As promised, we have subdued the bandits and rescued your son. Excuse me in the midst of thrill, but could you pay me?”
“Yes! I’ll give it to you! Don’t give it to me!”
Crying, the bald merchant A-jae brought me some money. Only 10 silver. The amount was exactly as promised.
“Ten silver. I definitely got it.”
I said seriously as I returned the contract that had completed its role.
“But, guild leader. Regarding this matter, there is something you two should know.”
“Yes? What is it?”
The bald merchant who received and folded the contract listened to me. It’s the words of the person who rescued his son, so he’ll be concerned.
Looking straight into his eyes, I spat out the words I had thought of beforehand.
“As a result of interrogating the leader of the thieves, there was something behind the kidnapping of his son this time.”
“Bae, behind the scenes?! Are you saying someone is after my son?!”
The bald head of Gyeongcheondongji. I folded my arms and nodded solemnly.
“The boss confessed that he was instigated by someone, including the children he kidnapped together. They were a trio of people who hid their identities by covering their faces, and the representative who proposed the deal was said to be a merchant-like man.”
“Merchant…”
“That’s right. It means that someone unknown was aiming at your son. The bandits moved with their limbs.”
Isn’t it Gura? Yes, no I don’t know who they are, but there were some bastards who wanted to make a deal with the thieves to buy hostages.
So it’s not gura. I left out the tabula’s black organization, but it’s 100% true.
Maybe if it wasn’t for Tabula, the one-armed youth and children would have been sold to them.
“Thank you for the warning. Be sure to be careful.”
The two merchants, the father and son, took my words seriously.
Conscience was not pricked at all. It’s true that I saved his life, and it’s good for those people if you’re always careful. I didn’t do anything bad. In response, I am correct.
“I’m glad you understand. By the way, can I leave the stolen goods recovered from the bandits and the treatment of the children to you guys?”
I asked as I stroked the heads of the children I rescued with me.
“I’m sure these kids will follow your son over there more than us or the guards, who don’t know much.”
“Yes. To us——no, leave it to me.”
At my words, the one-armed young man beat his chest and boasted.
“I will hand over the stolen items to the guards and make sure these children are taken home. These are the children who trembled in fear together in the den of bandits. I will treat you like my own child and take responsibility!”
“Mister!!”
The children were thrilled and rushed at the young man. He hugged the three children with tears streaming down his face.
Even though he was a man with only one arm, he had no problem holding children to his heart.
“Yes, yes. You said it in the cave too, right? He said he would make sure to meet her mother and her father.”
Hehe!!”
Crying children hugging each other and a one-armed young man. This time, it was a really moving scene, so my nose went a little cold.
“Kheuk. Suck… !”
Looking around, the bald merchant man was also squeezing juice, looking at his son wondering when he had grown up like this.
Yes. Sons and daughters who seemed to be children all their lives would someday become adults and take the position of taking care of their children.
“Thank you for listening to my request. I will also pray that the children can be entrusted with a good future.”
I said holding back my tears. Because the only place I can spill my heart’s copper is in front of my loved ones.
“Yes!! Enter with caution!!”
That’s how I left the guild with the things the transport guild bought—things like mana potions—as compensation.
For reference, I also bought the bandits’ drop items from the transport guild.
Including the promised remuneration, the cash alone was a whopping 14 silver and 30 copper.
“Hey, Ash. Here it is, as promised, 30% of the payoff. Take it.”
I shared this reward with Tyrsi. Tirsi and I split 3:7, 5 silver 30 copper and 9 silver.
Tirshi smiled lightly without even checking the envelope. It must be because he watched me leave from behind holding back tears.
“If I divide 14 silvers and 30 coppers by 7 to 3, isn’t my payoff 4 silvers and 29 coppers? At this rate, I will receive 1 silver and 1 copper more?”
“Uh hmm. Well, the change is for the wound healing potion I drank.”
“Oh. The price of a potion that was less than 50ml is 1 silver? That’s a lucrative business.”
“You should also consider the value of the broken potion. If you include that, Ash is a loss.”
So, I gave Tirsi another bottle of mana potion.
The stolen goods that were not worth money were left at the transport guild, so the only additional income was 8 mana potions. There were 10 bottles, but I used 2 bottles because I was fighting.
We shared 4 bottles of this equally. If you sell it, it’s about 1 silver per bottle, but I plan to carry it as a spare.
“Arthur? After changing clothes, would you like to have dinner together?”
At that time, Tyrsi invited me to eat.
Ah, I’m sure now that we’re bare-faced, we can have a meal together. However, Fran was waiting for me, so it was a difficult invitation to accept.
“It’s a nice offer, but we’ll do it next time. There is someone waiting for you.”
So I declined the offer. It would have been difficult to decline if there was a feeling of temptation, but I was able to refuse without hesitation because it was really just a meal.
“It’s a pity.”
Tyrsi accepted my rejection without much sadness.
No, I thought so.
“Ah~. Lucy also went outside saying she was going to meet her boyfriend today. Then today, I’m going to sleep alone in the dormitory, spreading jam on bread and eating it.”
“Kuhm-hmm.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just cleared my throat.
I’m so sorry that Tirsi, who almost died because of me, complained about hiding her identity.
All that Tirsi got after following the thieves’ hideout was roughly 10 million won in compensation. 10 silver is a lot of money even for a wizard, but if you ask if it’s worth risking your life for, well? I don’t think so.
“Hey, isn’t there a restaurant in the guild?”
“Whoops. It’s a joke, so don’t be so flustered.”
When I didn’t know what to do, Tyrsi said as if it was a joke.
“Including the joke I just made, I count it as compensation. I must have earned money today, I will eat delicious rice at a restaurant.”
“Haha. Please do Next time, I will recommend you first.”
“Thank you for the kind words. I will expect?”
Tyrsi put his hands behind his back and leaned forward. He pulls the scarf under the hood, slightly revealing his face.
“Arthur. Next time we meet, please call me by my real name, not Ash. Except for Mr.
“If Ash would do the same.”
“Like. The deal is done.”
Tirshi walked into her back alley with frequent steps. Like me, is she thinking of taking off her scarf and her hood and going back to the guild?
“Then goodbye. See you again, driver.”
Stepping into the alley, Tirshi poked his head out of the corner of the building and gave a wink. Then, in an instant, as if embarrassed, he disappeared in front of me.
‘Knight?’
Ah, did I mention that I was also a knight when I gave away Earthrate?
Romania is a country with many libraries, so Tyrsi might like that kind of story too.
After seeing Tirsi off, I walked tiredly like an office worker returning home.
Then I realized.
“Ah.”
Fuck. I forgot to leave the recovered thesis with the transport guild.
