We spent half the day roaming around, but in the end, we didn’t find so much as Dardan’s shadow.
Part of it was that the city was fairly large, and there were still districts where the mood was so tense that wandering around carelessly was difficult.
Whenever the soldiers saw a conspicuous group, their eyes went straight to them, and the status of being mercenaries became both a weapon and a shackle.
“…Can we really find him like this? What if he’s already left the city?”
Sailun grumbled from behind.
“Maybe.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think he would’ve left already.”
I muttered, letting my gaze drift toward the outside of the city.
The inspections had noticeably tightened since before and after the war.
Dardan, that sloppy bastard—could he really have slipped through all this chaos and gotten out of the city?
No matter how capable a swindler he was, there was no way a criminal could have gotten out in one piece under circumstances like these.
“No, I told you, I’m not the one who sold it!”
An outlying district, a narrow alley behind the workshop quarter.
Voices rose in what had been a quiet space.
Thinking a fight might have broken out, I stopped for a moment—but that voice sounded somehow familiar.
“…No way.”
I halted and cautiously poked my head past the alley.
There stood a short man, waving his arms at someone as he protested.
A ragged coat, an unknown pouch slung across his back, and eyes that held an utterly unbelievable kind of slyness.
Dardan.
“Ah, that bastard!”
Behind me, Baldik cursed under his breath.
Sailun looked like he had no idea who it was, and Aileen quietly tilted her head.
“Is that really him?”
“It is. No matter how I look at him, that’s Dardan. His voice, his gestures—they’re exactly the same.”
Baldik muttered through gritted teeth.
I pressed my lips together and glared at Dardan.
“…We have to catch him before he runs.”
The argument in the alley was still going on.
Dardan was flailing his hands, pleading with his whole body that he had been wronged.
We’d take advantage of that opening.
I said quietly,
“Let’s go now.”
Baldik clenched his fist and nodded.
Sailun followed along without knowing what was going on, and Aileen came one step behind.
Now, at last, we might be able to grab him before he fled.
With the resolve not to let him get away this time, I stepped into the alley.
“This son of a bitch stole my stuff!”
“I told you, it really wasn’t me—ugh!”
Thwack!
Dardan’s body went flying backward.
To be honest, the sight was rather satisfying.
“…He could stand to get hit one more time.”
Baldik muttered beside me, and I found myself nodding for no reason.
Dardan, clutching his shoulder as he sat sprawled on the ground, seemed to finally grasp the seriousness of the situation. He hurriedly raised his head and looked up at the other man.
“W-wait! It’s a misunderstanding! Really, it wasn’t me this time!”
“You said that last time too.”
“I really am innocent this time! I’ll even swear on my fingers!”
At that, Baldik snorted.
“So this is how that bastard usually goes around.”
“It’s true that I’ve done that until now, but this time I really—!”
“……”
“……!”
Dardan’s eyes met mine.
His mouth fell open, and the familiar look in his eyes was filled entirely with the emotion of, I’m screwed.
I raised a hand slightly.
“Long time no see, Dardan.”
“…Uh, uh. Uhhh?!”
“You were thinking of running just now, weren’t you?”
“No!? Absolutely not! What are you talking ab—”
Baldik stepped forward.
“First of all, let’s start by tying up that damned tongue of yours.”
“Mmph!?”
Dardan was seized by the scruff of the neck as if being dragged off.
This time, he absolutely wasn’t getting away.
“Huh? Who are you lot? That guy is—”
The man who had been holding Dardan by the collar glared at us and opened his mouth.
But his words didn’t continue for long.
His gaze shifted to Baldik and the weapons in my hands, and after a moment, he shut his mouth on his own.
We had our weapons with us, and including Aileen and Sailun, there were four of us.
On top of that, it was painfully obvious Dardan was deeply entangled with us in some way.
The man shot us a sidelong glare, then grumbled and stepped back.
“Tch, damn it… Take him or don’t. I don’t care.”
Then he roughly bumped shoulders with Dardan and left.
Dardan, left behind, still held by the collar, stared at us with a blank face.
“You sa-saved me—”
“How should we kill this one?”
“What?”
At Baldik’s words, Dardan recoiled in horror and tried to back away.
“Hey, do you know where the information guild is?”
Dardan stared at me with a dazed expression, then froze solid at those words.
“Y-yes…? Why would you…”
“If you pretend not to know, we’ll bury you for real. Do you have any idea what we went through because of you?”
Baldik slowly uncrossed his arms and approached. Dardan flinched and took a step back.
“W-well… I’ve heard of the information guild, yes. But, you see, it’s not the kind of place just anyone can go…”
“Do you at least roughly know the location?”
“I do know! It’s true! A while back, I followed someone who was trying to make a deal with them! The, uh, northern outskirts. I saw them make contact behind an old beer warehouse there!”
“…The words just come pouring out when we ask.”
Baldik let out a nasal snort and shook his head.
He sighed and released Dardan’s collar.
“Don’t even think about running. We’re not the type to go looking around just to meet you again. It’s easier to just kill you on the spot.”
“I understand! Trust me, this time for real!”
He gave a hollow laugh and waved both hands.
“Good. Then guide us there. If it’s true, we’ll let you go in one piece.”
“Y-yes!”
And so, with Dardan serving as both meat shield and guide in front of us, we began heading toward the northern warehouse district.
“Why the hell is that guild hiding itself so much?”
“Well, since they’re an organization that deals in information, I’ve heard they receive a lot of pressure from all sides.”
It made sense.
As far as I knew, even the thieves’ guild—the guild that Corwin, who died in the dungeon, had belonged to—wasn’t this bad.
That side was also fairly underground, but I’d heard it didn’t feel all that different from the mercenary guild.
“But why the information guild…”
“What are you going to do with knowing that?”
At my words, Dardan gave a forced laugh and made excuses.
“N-no. It’s just… since I’m the one taking you there, I thought I should have some degree of trust—”
“Oh, shut it, you stolen-goods thief.”
Thwack!
Unable to hold back, Baldik smacked him once on the back of the head.
“Argh!”
Dardan flinched with a scream.
Seeing that, Sailun pointlessly rubbed the back of his own head.
“Ah, seriously… This is why I hate getting mixed up with mercenaries…”
“But why were you curious about it?”
I asked deliberately, in a calm tone.
“N-no. It’s just… In the past, a guy I guided leaked information and ran off. Ever since then, I got into the habit of being careful.”
“A guy like that ran off?”
When Baldik crossed his arms and leaned in, Dardan froze stiff and lowered his head.
“That was… Back then, I really wasn’t in my right mind. I apologize. I sincerely reflected on it.”
“Why does a guy who sincerely reflected talk like that?”
“I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry!”
He wasn’t someone I particularly wanted to defend, but he had been somewhat useful this time, so I decided to let him off until today.
With a generous heart, I said to Dardan,
“Don’t talk until we arrive. Breathe quietly too.”
“Yes, yes… Understood!”
And while Dardan walked with his head thoroughly bowed, the outlying warehouse district soon came into view.
“Is this it?”
“Yes, this way.”
Following Dardan at the front past several buildings, a large warehouse appeared, about the size of three or four inns combined.
The roof had half caved in, and the outer walls were faded and cracked.
The window frames were full of dust and cobwebs. Anyone could tell it was an abandoned building.
“…This is the place?”
“For now, let’s go inside.”
Creeeak—
The door opened easily.
A groaning sound spread from the rusty hinges, and the smell of dry dust pushed out from inside.
The inside of the warehouse was desolate.
So much so that the faded signboard with a wooden mug painted on it seemed meaningless; there wasn’t even a hint of alcohol.
Straw was scattered carelessly across the floor, and a few empty oak barrels had tumbled off the shelves.
At a glance, it was an abandoned building that hadn’t been touched in years.
Baldik peeked inside the door and said,
“Hey, Dardan. You’re not fooling us again, are you?”
“No, I’m telling you, it’s real! If we just go a little farther in…”
Cold sweat dripped down Dardan’s face as he gestured.
I narrowed my eyes and swept the interior again.
Was this place really the information guild’s hideout?
It was impossible to believe.
And yet, at the same time, I thought a place like this—one that aroused no suspicion at all—might actually be suitable.
“…Let’s go. We’ve come this far anyway.”
I cautiously stepped inside.
The wooden floor creaked and shook beneath my feet.
A strange tension began tightening around my whole body.
We searched here and there throughout the wide warehouse.
We placed our hands against the walls, looked under the shelves, and even checked inside broken oak barrels, but—
There was nothing.
All there was were a few startled rats burrowing into piles of straw.
“Hey, do you want to die?”
Baldik ground his teeth and took a step toward Dardan.
“There’s nothing here, you swindling bastard.”
“N-no! It’s true! I definitely heard there was a deal here—”
“Heard?”
Baldik’s eyebrows shot up.
“You ‘heard there was a deal’? So you only heard it secondhand?”
“W-well… I never had any reason to go directly to the information guild in Mondark myself.”
“…You son of a bitch.”
I let out a deep sigh.
Now that I thought about it, when he said he knew, he’d really only meant he had heard it somewhere.
He didn’t actually know anything important; he’d just dressed it up with smooth talk.
“Sigh. A warehouse like this would suit a bandits’ hideout better.”
Baldik muttered.
“What’s this? Did someone come in?”
“Hm? Someone came in?”
Beyond the old warehouse door, two shadows fell.
Their voices had a light, casual lilt.
But suddenly, I felt an unfamiliar wariness contained at the ends of their words.
“Who’s there?”
A low voice.
It didn’t hide its hostility, but it didn’t sound ready to draw a blade immediately either.
“……”
We looked at one another.
Then, without saying a word, we slowly raised our hands and stepped forward.
“We have no intention of attacking. Dardan, explain.”
When I indicated Dardan with my chin, he jumped in fright and took a step back.
But it was already too late.
The shadows by the door were approaching, and before long, they revealed themselves.
One was a tall man with broad shoulders.
Beside him stood a woman with a comparatively slender build.
It was obvious at a glance that neither of them were ordinary civilians.
Leather vests, short cloaks, silhouettes bulging as if concealing weapons.
And both of them had the eyes of people accustomed to fighting.
“…Dardan, what have you done this time?”
The woman spoke first.
With her cynical tone, there was definitely the sense that they knew each other.
“N-no, well, I was just, really, these people came looking for—”
“Shut up. If it’s a lie, know that you’ll really lose some ribs this time.”
At those words, Dardan blinked and closed his mouth.
I quietly lowered my hands and faced them.
“We came because we have business with the information guild. We didn’t specifically intend to follow Dardan here.”
The man silently looked us over, then opened his mouth.
“People interested in the information guild… Now that’s a rare kind of guest these days.”
“Are you with the information guild?”
“…That’s not wrong.”
Instead of continuing, he observed us carefully for a moment.
Then his gaze swept over my face, and a faint hint of surprise appeared.
“Don’t tell me, the mage?”
“What? A mage?”
Both of them flinched at the same time and reflexively took a step back.
Seeing them glance at my hand, it seemed they knew at least something about magic.
So the rumors really had spread.
Or was it because these guys belonged to the information guild?
Either way, it wasn’t exactly a good thing.
“…I am, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“…If you’re a mage, you’re a valued customer. Follow me.”
Saying that, he turned and walked deeper into the warehouse.