“W-What… No, pardon?”
The man covered in blood stammered in confusion.
It was understandable. The man who had been threatening him had suddenly collapsed, only for someone in a navy robe to appear with the voice of a child.
But Terlo had no mercy to spare on helping him understand.
He did not have the time, and acting kindly in a situation like this would gain him nothing.
“I’ll ask one last time. Tell me what they said they were making.”
“W-Well….”
At the man’s hesitation, Terlo summoned black energy.
The man squeezed his eyes shut and shouted,
“A-A potion! They said it was a potion!”
“A potion?”
“Y-Yes. I don’t know the details…. They said they were going to make it into a potion and asked me to keep quiet until then…. I swear it’s true!”
The man’s blood-covered face looked utterly desperate as he shouted.
“I’ve told you everything, so please spare me…. My family has done nothing wrong, so please….”
He kept repeating his plea in a daze.
Terlo was about to question him further when voices began coming from outside the tent.
“Move faster! You’re slow as hell. Tch.”
At the sound, Terlo brought an index finger to his lips.
Judging by the multiple sets of footsteps, the fallen man’s companions seemed to have arrived.
As the footsteps drew closer, Terlo hid beside the entrance.
The tent flap soon opened, and a woman and child bound with rope were brought inside.
The bloodied man’s expression collapsed at the sight of his family.
“Y-You…! El….”
“Mmph….”
“Shut up. I told you to keep quiet—”
The man entering behind them with a wooden club spotted his fallen companion.
Before he could even turn his head,
THUD!
THUMP.
A sphere fired by Terlo struck him, and he collapsed.
The last man to enter at least had the sense to try raising a shield.
“Black Shie—!”
THUD!
THUMP.
But he could not match Terlo’s speed.
‘Why are all of them so underwhelming?’
Their carelessness had probably played a part in how easily they fell.
They had never even considered that someone else might come here.
After all, only they had used this tent for a long time.
Terlo clicked his tongue and turned his gaze.
The woman and child trembling beside the bloodied man entered his sight.
‘I wanted to finish this before they were brought here.’
They had arrived sooner than expected, so the situation could not be helped.
Terlo did not like it, but he still had to learn what he needed to know.
As a small consideration, he offered them a condition.
“Answer my questions properly, and I’ll let you go.”
But his consideration only deepened their fear.
A child whose hood revealed nothing but a small mouth had taken down two black mages in an instant.
Then that same innocent voice claimed he would release them.
Even the captive child found it difficult to believe.
Yet they had already been driven to the edge of a cliff and had no other choice.
If they failed to give him the answer he wanted, they would end up like the men sprawled across the floor.
“…Y-You truly will let us go, yes? I’ll tell you everything I know, so even if it isn’t enough….”
“I promise. So what are they making into a potion? And who asked you to keep quiet until it was finished?”
“…A certain medicinal herb. I heard that even a tiny amount of its root has powerful preservative properties. The alchemist at the shop where I work is developing a potion with that herb…. He had already been receiving threats, so he asked me to keep quiet. But if I’d known they would drag me here like this….”
Regret filled the man’s face as he looked at his family.
But Terlo did not understand.
An alchemist developing a potion from a new ingredient was nothing unusual.
He could not understand why the black-robed organization had gone as far as abduction and assault over it.
“They threatened you over nothing but that herb?”
Fearing that he might have displeased Terlo, the bloodied man hurriedly answered.
“T-That isn’t just some herb. They said it can no longer be obtained. That must be why those bastards kept targeting it….”
“Then where did they obtain it in the first place?”
“As I understand it, the owner of a nearby fruit shop brought it in and sold it. He found it because it looked unusual, and apparently the fruit crate he stuck the herb into remained perfectly fresh without rotting even as time passed….”
“I see. I need to know where that fruit shop is.”
“I can tell you, but… even if you go there, you won’t meet the owner who sold the herb. The shop changed hands some time ago. I heard he had done business there for years, but for some reason….”
‘The owner changed.’
Terlo felt strangely uneasy.
The black-robed organization’s interest in the herb was suspicious enough, as was the fruit shop owner’s sudden disappearance.
Moreover, had the people imprisoned beneath the building they infiltrated several days ago not also been connected to shops?
The bloodied man before him was a shop employee as well.
‘There seems to be some connection.’
Deciding it needed investigation, Terlo learned the location of the shop where the man worked.
Then, just as promised, he untied the captives.
They thanked him with expressions of disbelief and hurried toward the entrance.
‘They’re going on a trip running like that.’
Terlo watched them flee at nearly a run, then turned his attention to the three unconscious members of More.
“Should I take one with me?”
Through the bloodied man, Terlo had learned what More was after….
But he still did not know why they wanted it or how it related to the people imprisoned underground.
Still, the man who had been conducting the interrogation might know something.
“Right. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Having decided to take him, Terlo summoned a skeleton.
Then he pointed to the black mage who had hit the floor first.
“Tie him up with rope and lift him. We’re taking him with us.”
CLACK! CLACK!
The skeleton clicked its jaw in acknowledgment and began tying the man up.
As he watched it secure the ropes thoroughly, Terlo checked his next destination.
Since More had selected its abduction sites for efficiency, most of the places Terlo needed to visit that day were nearby.
That made things convenient, but traveling around with a skeleton carrying a black mage posed a problem.
It would become troublesome if another member of the organization spotted them.
“Hmm. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere suitable along the way.”
Then he could order the skeleton to hide there.
Terlo nodded and left the tent with the skeleton carrying the black mage.
***
Since the area saw so little traffic, there were more hiding places than Terlo had expected.
Among them, he chose one as far from the abduction sites as possible.
That seemed like the safest option.
After ordering the skeleton to remain hidden there, Terlo arrived at his next destination.
This time, it was a crumbling abandoned house.
‘Beneath that window should work.’
After searching for a suitable position, Terlo quietly moved beneath the window.
Compared to the conversation in the tent, the exchange inside was remarkably calm.
“Come on! Why are you acting so cold when we know each other?”
“You know me? Tch. Don’t you dare act like we’re equals.”
“I only meant…! It was a figure of speech. I already make my living from information I pick up while wandering around. Can’t you consider helping me out and spare me a small amount of money?”
“I’m saying I’ll put the money I would’ve given you to better use. So just tell me quietly and leave. Can’t you understand a simple sentence? Do I need to beat some sense into you?”
A whooshing sound followed, as though someone were swinging a club through the air.
“Ah! No, of course not. What could be more important than my own skin? You’re asking about the whereabouts of that holy mage, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. Stop wasting time and spit it out.”
“Of course. According to what I’ve heard…!”
THUD!
THUMP.
As expected, the members of More fell to a single attack from Terlo.
After confirming that the man had no companions, Terlo entered the abandoned house.
Beside the fallen member lay a cloth pouch and a shifty-looking man.
“Eek! W-Who are you?”
“You don’t need to know. Is this the money you were supposed to receive?”
Terlo picked up the cloth pouch from the floor and checked inside.
It contained several gold and silver coins.
“That’s right! It was supposed to be my payment for the information, but that bastard was trying to steal it from me.”
“Finish what you were saying.”
“What I was saying? Ah, are you curious about the whereabouts of the fugitive holy mage too? Then, perhaps… will you give me that if I tell you?”
“This?”
When Terlo held up the cloth pouch, the shifty-looking man’s eyes gleamed, and he nodded.
“I’ll decide after I hear what you have to say.”
“Yes, sir! Piecing together everything I heard… I believe that holy mage is hiding in the Gereti Kingdom. There were reports from followers of the Aidrin faith around the kingdom who claimed to have seen him. If you trace his movements from those reports, the most likely place is the Gereti Kingdom!”
“The Gereti Kingdom? Why is that holy mage on the run?”
“Who knows…? The internal affairs of the Holy Kingdom are known only to them. But one thing is certain: that holy mage is supposedly highly capable in many ways. Perhaps that’s why they’re trying to find and eliminate him? That part is only my guess. That is everything I can tell you, but I hope you understand that even his location is considered top-secret information….”
His gaze drifted toward the cloth pouch.
“Here.”
Terlo tossed him the pouch.
The man caught it with remarkable skill and immediately checked inside.
“Wow. You really do keep your word. I live as a wanderer, so I don’t know whether we’ll meet again… but I hope we have another chance to do business. Then I’ll be on my way.”
He dipped his head slightly and quickly left the abandoned house.
‘A holy mage from the Holy Kingdom is on the run.’
Now that’s something I haven’t heard before.
In his previous life, Terlo had paid little attention to anything outside the Doiten Kingdom.
Since he had lived only within the Krauber Territory, he had never felt any particular need to know more.
Because of that, he had understood only the general flow of events across the continent, nothing more and nothing less.
But this life was different.
There were many places he needed to visit to regain the complete power of <Connect.>.
The locations of the seals recorded by the recorder included both the Holy Kingdom and the Gereti Kingdom.
‘So there’s no harm in learning news like this.’
The more information he possessed, the better.
No one knew when or where a fact learned this way might become useful.
Knowing was always better than ignorance.
BUZZ. BUZZ.
Just then, something inside Terlo’s robe vibrated.
It was the communicator Ina had given him.
Terlo pressed what appeared to be the answer button.
—Young Master. Can you hear me?
Hook’s voice came through.
“Yes. What is it?”
—A larger transaction than expected has come up on Ina’s side, and it appears she needs support. Your area is closer to hers than mine, so I contacted you. Are you currently in a position to go?
“Yes. I just finished my second task.”
—I see. That is fortunate. Did you obtain any useful information from either of them?
‘I did, but there’s no reason to tell him.’
“No. They were just pointless threats about finding people who ran away after taking on debt.”
—Is that so? In that case, since our objective is to interfere with their operations anyway, it would be best to skip the places remaining among those assigned to you today. A transaction is far more likely to yield something than such worthless information. Then I will leave it to you. Ina’s current location is…….