The location Hook gave for Ina was quite far from Terlo’s position.
After all, the two had split off in opposite directions from the place where they first met and received their communicators.
Ina had taken the left district, while Terlo had taken the right.
But Ina was currently at the far end of the left district.
Terlo, who had been near the middle of the right district, was using Teleport to make his way there.
WHOOSH—
WHOOSH—
Since he could only teleport to places within sight, he could not cross an enormous distance at once, but the remaining distance rapidly dwindled.
At last, Terlo appeared before the waiting Ina.
“What? You got here faster than I expected.”
“You said it was a major transaction. Where is it?”
“Second floor of that building.”
Two people stood guard in front of the building Ina pointed to.
Seeing them standing rigidly without even exchanging idle chatter, it truly did appear to be an important transaction.
“There are probably more guards on the stairs besides those two. Ten people went inside earlier. There’s a limit to how many I can put to sleep with poison magic, so… I think it’d be better to use it on the second floor if possible.”
“It’d be better to use it on the guards so we can go up quietly. We need to find out what they’re trading, don’t we?”
Ina’s expression said, Do we really?
“…Don’t tell me you haven’t even tried to find out what they were trading until now.”
“Why would I need to? We only have to interfere. I can put them all to sleep at once and take whatever there is to take.”
Her confident attitude left Terlo speechless for a moment.
“…Fine. So what did you take?”
“A few sheets of parchment and some money. Oh, there was alcohol and a potion too.”
‘She did take everything worth taking.’
Now that he heard what she had collected, the nature of the previous transactions was obvious without even seeing them.
But Terlo had a feeling this one was different.
Did the situation not already show that it was unlike the earlier transactions?
And if it turned out to be as insignificant as the others, they could simply use the same method afterward.
“Fine, but this time, do as I say.”
“Ha. Are you the type who enjoys making things difficult?”
“Isn’t that better than being the type who doesn’t think at all?”
“…? Was that directed at me?”
“Let’s just go. The transaction will be over at this rate.”
With those words, Terlo moved first.
Ina ground her teeth but had no choice but to follow.
The two gradually approached the building, hiding themselves through the alleys as they went.
Once they were near the entrance, Ina released poison into the air.
When enough time had passed for it to take effect, Terlo teleported in front of the guards.
He was preparing for the people guarding the stairs to collapse and roll down them.
Any unnecessary noise might arouse suspicion.
WHOOSH—
The guards were about to shout at the unknown robed figure that suddenly appeared, but their eyes unfocused at the same time, and they collapsed.
‘Perfect timing.’
But there were more of them than expected.
The people standing along both sides began pitching forward like dominoes.
Fortunately, Terlo and Ina caught them before their weight fully shifted and seated them in place without making a loud sound.
‘Phew.’
After arranging them neatly beside one another, Terlo and Ina pressed themselves against the wall and listened to the second floor.
But only silence followed.
Just as they exchanged glances, wondering whether they had been discovered,
“I understand what you mean, but we also have to pay them properly. Even if they’re cheap black mages, there’s a limit to how much you can lowball them. Their lives are obviously on the line. Would you happily accept that amount if you were in their position? I agreed because I heard your organization has been throwing its weight around lately, but this is disappointing.”
“If that is how you feel… allow me to make another proposal. We will double the headcount to one hundred. Can you manage that?”
“One hundred? Hmm… I don’t know why you need so many, but as I said, if you pay the proper price, I’ll prepare them within the deadline.”
‘Why do they need a hundred cheap black mages?’
Judging from the talk of compensation for their lives, it did not seem to be a minor job.
That extraordinary number made it clear that they were plotting something.
But learning what that something was would be difficult.
Hook’s plan was to interfere enough to irritate them, not expose their identities and conduct an interrogation.
“Yes. Then make the preparations. Here is half of the amount you requested as an advance.”
THUD.
Something heavy landed on a surface.
For now, stealing that advance was their best option.
That alone would be enough to sow distrust between the two sides of the transaction.
“Hmm. Now we seem to understand each other. I’ll make sure everything is prepared properly. Boys, get ready to leave.”
The moment he finished speaking, a black sphere struck the back of his greed-soaked head.
The member of More who had offered the advance met the same fate.
Having subdued them with ease once again, Terlo approached and examined their faces.
After overhearing such suspicious words, he thought he might have reason to see them again.
Ina spoke while storing the money sack in her subspace.
“You blasted them in the head without hesitation, but now you care whether they’re dead?”
“That’s not what I’m doing, so make sure you take the money.”
“I already took it without you telling me. I’m leaving first. The mission is over, so there’s no reason for us to go together. Come back however you want.”
Ina swished her short hair and descended the stairs.
‘Oh. That works perfectly for me.’
He had already been wondering how to separate from her.
They had agreed to gather at Hook’s office after completing their individual assignments.
But Terlo had unexpectedly come here to support Ina.
That made retrieving the skeleton and black mage he had hidden earlier rather awkward.
He needed to return to his original district, but he had no suitable excuse.
If he left first and arrived late, would that not invite needless suspicion from Hook?
Thanks to Ina, however, he no longer needed an excuse.
‘She can be helpful sometimes.’
Now that things had worked out this way, he could follow his original plan: take the black mage to the castle, then join them at Hook’s office.
‘I’ll have to move quickly.’
He still had to return to his assigned district.
Terlo checked the fallen men once more, then hurried down the stairs.
***
Fortunately, the skeleton remained well hidden in the place Terlo had designated.
It was still holding the unconscious black mage.
There had been no need to keep carrying him, but perhaps because it was an undead, the skeleton showed no sign of fatigue.
Terlo carefully left the district without encountering any members of More and headed toward the castle.
When Bail spotted him, he made a great fuss over the bound black mage, but….
‘I told him to put the man in the basement, so he should’ve taken care of it.’
Terlo had also instructed Bail to blindfold him.
There was little of value in the basement, but nothing good would come from allowing him to see it.
Before long, Terlo had passed through the entertainment district and reached Hook’s office.
He walked through the corridor lit by the tavern district’s lights and entered the office.
“You have arrived, Young Master. I only just returned myself.”
Hook greeted Terlo while removing his robe.
“Yes. Our timing worked out. I stopped by the castle briefly on the way here.”
“Please sit over here, Young Master.”
“…….”
At Ina’s formal speech once again, Terlo silently took a seat.
Then he noticed the items placed beside the sofa.
The sack of money he had seen on the second floor was among them, so they appeared to be the goods Ina had removed from her subspace.
‘There’s more than I expected.’
Today was the first day they had divided the assignments among themselves.
Yet they had gathered this much already.
The information Terlo obtained that day was not insignificant either.
Considering how little time had passed, the results were considerable.
That also meant More committed an enormous number of deeds each day.
As Terlo marveled at the thought, Hook sat down and spoke.
“I was already aware of it, but following their trail directly has shown me that they are even worse than expected. They collect money from many places, and once I saw the amounts, I realized they have no conscience whatsoever. Even what Ina brought back amounts to this much…. In any case, I believe we can make use of what we obtained. You have no need for money, Young Master, so you may take any item you desire.”
‘So he’s saying he’ll keep all the money.’
Even so, Terlo did not particularly care.
His family was wealthy enough.
He simply disliked Hook’s naked greed.
“Yes. I’ll look through everything for anything useful before I leave.”
“I also heard that the transaction you supported concerned the procurement of personnel. Those bastards conduct so much shady business that even one hundred people would hardly be surprising. More importantly, we must consider what comes next. Their vigilance will increase with each passing day.”
“That’s true. Starting tomorrow, they won’t allow themselves to be caught like they were today.”
“Wouldn’t my side still be all right? They won’t even consider poison magic. Even the bastards I fought in the tavern thought I’d coated poisoned throwing stars with dark mana….”
Even among mages, the poison attribute was particularly rare.
Their numbers were significantly lower than those of other attributes.
Because of that, most poison mages had settled in the Empire.
It would therefore be difficult for anyone to imagine that a poison mage was present in the Doiten Kingdom.
Hook considered Ina’s words briefly before answering.
“You are correct. They will most likely assume it was mind-based black magic. Even so, remain wary in case of the unexpected.”
“Yes!”
“You must also take care, Young Master. Someone of your ability is unlikely to encounter much difficulty, but you must never lower your guard.”
Hook’s expression was deeply serious as he spoke.
It was only natural.
The true plan was beginning now.
With the success of today’s operation, had they not fastened the first button without issue?
Whether they could continue fastening every button correctly until the end depended on what came next.
“Yes. Of course. I’m serious about capturing that organization too.”
“Are you? Excellent. Then let us identify what must be improved for the next operation. To do that, it would be best to begin by discussing what each of us noticed today….”
And so they began discussing the assignments they had handled.
Because they had operated separately, the situations they faced and the temperaments of the organization members had varied.
From those experiences, they identified areas for improvement and even predicted possible situations that might arise.
As their discussion continued, the light in the office showed no sign of going out for quite some time.
***
After the long discussion, Terlo returned to the castle and headed straight for the basement.
There he found the black mage lying on the floor, apparently still unconscious.
“Hey.”
Terlo nudged him several times with his foot to check.
The man remained motionless.
“Why won’t he wake up? Is he sleep-deprived?”
Frowning, Terlo crouched and slapped the black mage across the cheek.
“Hey.”
SLAP!
SMACK!
After several more strikes, the man shook his head as though having a seizure.
“Damn it! What bastard dares slap me?! Huh? What is this?”
Still shouting, he turned his head from side to side.
Then, apparently sensing that something was wrong, he began moving his body violently.
But because he was bound tightly with rope, he could not move and instead ended up flopping around.
“Damn! Did the bastard who ambushed me capture me? What kind of—”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Gah!”
The bound man seemed deeply startled by the voice directly beside him.
He remained still for a while, apparently trying to understand the situation, before speaking.
“I-I don’t know who you are, but I wasn’t trying to insult you…. No, p-please spare me…!”
His servile voice was the complete opposite of the one that had been shouting curses moments earlier.
It was different enough to make Terlo wonder whether the same person was speaking.
He had probably decided that, since he knew neither his captor’s abilities nor strength, surviving came first.
The corners of Terlo’s mouth rose at the man’s remarkable change in attitude.
‘This conversation should be easier than I expected.’