When he went outside, the busy scenery of Yoshiura unfolded beneath a sky reddened by the setting sun.
On the street, where tavern employees and tourists tangled together in a dizzying mess,
Gale checked his appearance while looking at the tin sign attached beside a shop.
“The quality is a little poor because I got it in a hurry, but this much is fine.”
Gale was dressed in clothes that some noble’s child might wear.
After checking his appearance, he finally attached an expensive leather pouch to his waist.
He did not forget to loosen the drawstring so it would come off easily.
“Whew… From now on, I’m a noble’s son who lost his escort.”
After casting that suggestion over himself and completing his preparations in his own way, Gale began walking through the streets of Yoshiura with an anxious look.
He had no talent for acting, but from the entrance of the main road to the front of the back alleys, as he kept going back and forth, he gradually began to get used to this nonsense.
When he had made about three round trips, the pouch at his waist shook.
‘Got a bite. But not yet.’
Gale feigned ignorance and continued strolling through the street.
Had about five minutes passed?
A sharp sensation brushed past his waist, and the pouch hanging there disappeared.
Looking at his now-empty waist, Gale smiled.
“They’re quite skilled. For now, this means the preparations are complete.”
The bait had been cast.
Now all that remained was to wait for the fish that had taken the bait to react.
Gale went to find the shop Nike had often mentioned.
[Dwarf’s Goblet]
In Yoshiura, which was filled with high-class taverns, it was a shop that stood out in a bad sense.
But somehow, its shabby exterior felt as though it suited him better.
Gale went inside and ordered a simple meal.
The food he had ordered came out, and just as he carefully took one bite, a woman sat down across from him and said,
“You look pretty relaxed.”
Pale-yellow hair, snow-white skin, and alluring red eyes.
It was Nike.
Behind his chilled back, he felt a sharp blade.
Two of them?
A 1st Tier mage and a physically strong man.
Gale calmly set down the fork he was holding and showed both palms.
“Is this any way to treat a guest?”
“If you know me well enough to lure me out this way, you must be someone who knows me. At the very least, I don’t know you.”
Nike poured the leather pouch she had stolen from Gale onto the table.
Inside were some silver pieces to give it weight, and a note.
The note contained personal information about her and a meeting place.
Since she lived on the streets of Yoshiura, Gale had judged that, using this method, he would be able to meet her easily.
That was his aim.
“And you chose a shop I often visit as the meeting place…. What are you, some kind of stalker?”
“No. I merely picked up bits and pieces here and there.”
“Unfortunately, I’m a cautious person. If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better tell me the truth.”
A new blade was pressed against his neck.
Nike leaned forward as if she had seized the advantage.
A strange atmosphere flowed from her eyes, which were filled with interest.
“So answer me. What do you do?”
“I’m Gale. I belong to the Imperial Army.”
At that, her eyes widened.
From the very beginning, Gale had not intended to lie to her about his identity.
His strategy was to show the cards he had first and earn her trust.
“It doesn’t seem like a lie…. Why is the Imperial Army looking for me?”
“I want to buy information.”
“What, information?”
At that, Nike looked away as if all the tension had gone out of her and muttered, “What the hell?”
“You scared me. Sorry, but I don’t deal in information. If you want information, try going to Hermes across the street.”
Hermes was the name of an information guild spread throughout the entire Empire.
Gale also knew of their existence, but because their prices were absurd and the quality of information one could receive varied depending on one’s credit, they were unsuitable for obtaining important information in a short period of time.
“I know you don’t deal in information. But if there is a reward worthy of it, isn’t it something worth considering?”
At that, Nike smiled coyly and nodded.
“I don’t know who you heard it from, but you really do know me. Right. I like money. But whether you have that kind of money is a separate problem. On top of that, you’re Imperial Army, so this feels awfully suspicious.”
She flicked the silver on the table.
Gale also smiled faintly, following her lead.
“Before we get to the main point, I’d like you to put these away.”
“Oh? What if you suddenly attack me?”
“If I intended to kill you, I would have done so already.”
“…….”
When Nike gestured, the blades threatening him withdrew.
Gale took the family proof token of House Schulhauser out of his subspace pouch.
“You should know very well what this is.”
At that, she said with an incredulous face,
“Imperial Army, and House Schulhauser too. You don’t seem ordinary.”
“100 gold for every answer to my questions. Does that make you feel like making a deal?”
In that instant, wariness appeared on her face.
100 gold was an amount equal to about half the annual salary of an imperial worker.
Since he had casually offered such an amount, it was only natural that Nike would be wary as well.
“I don’t know how grand a question you’re going to ask, but…. I’ll hear you out for now.”
Gale smiled.
As Gale placed the proof token back into his pouch, a green magic circle floated over his palm.
‘Air Barrier.’
In an instant, a faint blue Barrier spread around the table.
Air Barrier was a form of the existing mana Barrier spell covered in a thin layer of air. It was a spell that created a vacuum state around the Barrier so that sound could not leak out.
At the suddenly formed Barrier, her confidants looked momentarily flustered.
Nike also spoke with a flustered face.
“I had some idea you were a mage, but I didn’t think it would be to this degree….”
“If you want, I can show you more.”
She raised both hands as if giving up.
“…I get it. You’re impressive. So what do you want to ask?”
“I need information about Miguel Wiseburn.”
At that, she said with a stiff expression, “What? I misheard you, right?”
Gale looked at her with a serious gaze.
“You’re insane. Completely insane. I’m not doing it. I’m leaving.”
Gale grabbed Nike’s wrist as she rose from her seat.
“Is asking about him that serious?”
“Of course it is! If I’d known you were going to ask about him, I wouldn’t have come here.”
Nike continued, bursting out in frustration.
“Listen carefully. You seem like you don’t know because you’re an outsider, but in Yoshiura, no one goes against Miguel. It’s only natural that I don’t want to make an enemy of someone like that.”
“It is only a conversation. Why are you reacting so strongly?”
With a frightened face, she said,
“Anyone who knows what that man has done would act this way.”
A strange light settled in Gale’s eyes.
“That story. I’d like you to tell me a little more about it.”
Nike looked at Gale with trembling eyes, then seemed to make up her mind and said with an awkward smile, “300.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to ask about that man, I need at least 300 gold per question. My life is on the line here.”
Looking at her clinging to money until the very end, Gale thought that it was just like her and smiled faintly.
“Very well.”
“You’re really going to do it?”
“Is there a problem?”
Seeing Gale agree even though she had deliberately inflated the amount in order to refuse, Nike looked dumbfounded.
“Ha…. How did I end up getting caught by someone like this?”
She sat back down, crossed her arms, thought for a moment, then continued.
“…What, should I start from when that man first came here?”
“In as much detail as possible, please.”
Nike began speaking about Miguel and continued in an uneasy manner.
To summarize her words, Yoshiura had originally contained powers called the three major factions.
At the time, public order in Yoshiura had been so poor that it could be called a lawless zone.
“Then one day, Miguel appeared.”
Immediately after he was appointed here, he gathered the leaders of the three major factions in one place.
At that gathering, where at least a hundred people assembled, including their subordinate members, Miguel said, “From now on, Yoshiura belongs to me, Miguel Wiseburn. If anyone has a complaint against me, they may draw their sword.”
In an instant, the place became a scene of carnage, and Miguel killed most of the executives there, including the leaders.
The story was that after that day, he unified the three major factions and had reigned as the king of Yoshiura.
“Well, whatever the case, thanks to fewer pieces of trash wandering around, it became easier for small-time citizens like me to operate.”
“Then why did Miguel not eliminate the three major factions and only unify them?”
Strictly speaking, Miguel belonged to the Imperial Army.
Gale already knew from his experience in his previous life that Miguel was not righteous.
Even so,
eliminating all the existing forces would have been better for solidifying his position in the Imperial Army and raising his honor. Yet he had deliberately not done so, absorbing the existing forces and placing them under him instead.
At Gale’s question, Nike spoke as if he had asked something obvious.
“Well, that must be because of the distribution network the existing three major factions had.”
“Distribution network?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know. Here in Yoshiura, what’s more common than alcohol is illegal drugs. He probably didn’t want to give up the profits that came from them.”
“Illegal drugs….”
Only now did it feel as if the puzzle pieces were fitting together.
Miguel was in the Imperial Army, but he did not act out of goodwill.
From the very beginning, his objective had been to unify the three major factions and place them under his command, thereby expanding his influence, while at the same time taking over their existing illegal drug distribution rights and securing a massive income.
His conduct was so disgusting that Gale almost laughed instead.
‘A person like this becomes one of the Empire’s final Twelve Generals.’
Naturally, strength entered Gale’s fist.
Gale looked at Nike.
In the current conversation, she did not seem to have any reason to lie, but nothing would be better than being certain.
“Is there any trustworthy evidence for what you just told me?”
“The fact that you came looking for me could be seen as that, in a way. And there’s no way evidence like that would exist. If you really can’t trust me, go to Oiran and ask directly.”
“Oiran?”
“Ha. You don’t even know that?”
Nike sighed and continued.
“Oiran is the most famous top-class tavern here. The building alone reaches eight floors. Its eighth floor is especially famous. It’s called Moon Shadow Pavilion because people raise their cups there together with the moonlight.”
“What does that have to do with this now?”
“They say that every month, on the day the full moon rises, Miguel meets with the key executives of the three major factions at Moon Shadow Pavilion. There are more than one or two actual witnesses, so you can believe that much.”
When Gale turned his head, he saw the moon hanging low outside the window.
A blurred, round moon.
If her words were true, then Miguel would appear at Moon Shadow Pavilion in at least two days.
And with Yoshiura’s criminals at that.
Gale judged that if he could raid that scene, he could turn the situation around.
In any case, he had obtained all the information he wanted from her.
Gale rose from his seat, took an anti-magic ring out of his pouch, and flicked it to her.
Since Gale already understood the structure of anti-magic, it was an item he no longer needed.
“If you put it up at an auction house, you’ll receive at least two thousand gold.”
Nike caught the ring, confirmed that it was genuine, and smiled.
“It really is an anti-magic ring. Amazing.”
“I would prefer that you not tell anyone about the conversation we just had.”
“I agree. My life is on the line here.”
“Come to think of it, there is one last favor I want to ask.”
Unlike before, she lifted her head with a smile.
“What is it?”
“You should know a few people at Oiran, right?”
“I do. Why?”
“And getting one person inside shouldn’t be any trouble for you?”
At that, Nike’s expression hardened.
***
The place where Gale had left.
Nike and her companions sat at the table and recalled what had just happened.
“To think he’s trying to mess with Miguel…. That guy isn’t sane either.”
When Nike said that while downing her beer, the mage who had been listening spoke.
“But his ability is real.”
“He did seem impressive… but enough for you to say that, James?”
She had not noticed it until now, but the hand James was holding his fork with was trembling.
“In my life, I have never seen someone that age control mana with that level of delicacy.”
But Nike, who knew nothing about such matters, asked with a puzzled expression, “Is that so impressive?”
“Nike. There is no age in magic. There is only enlightenment.”
“There you go saying weird things again. Explain it more simply. Then about what tier is that guy?”
James thought for a moment, then said, “He hid his mana waves so well that I couldn’t see properly, but for magic of that degree… it is certain he is at least a mage of the 3rd Tier or higher.”
At those words, Nike struck the table and stood up.
“He’s that strong!?”
Even a mage at the level of the 3rd Tier was considered a mid-level mage active in the Magic Tower.
Those who looked at mages often described them in terms of killing power.
A 1st Tier mage could face ten magical beasts.
A 2nd Tier mage could face a hundred.
A 3rd Tier mage was said to be able to face a thousand at once.
Thinking that she had encountered such an existence right before her eyes, goosebumps rose all over her body.
“To think I bargained with someone like that. Isn’t this something people will talk about for ages?”
“For a moment, I thought you had lost your mind.”
At first, Nike had also judged him to be a novice by appearance alone. But thinking back, the spirit she had felt from him was at the level of a decent knight… or perhaps even higher.
Nike felt her heart pound as she drained the rest of her beer.
‘Gale.’
She thought that perhaps he might bring another wind of change to Yoshiura.