“Is that all the information on me? By any chance… what crime was I arrested for?”
“…?”
I couldn’t see his expression because of the mask, but his puzzlement was obvious.
Well, it would be strange for someone not to know their own crime.
But from my perspective, this was a fairly important issue.
“Suspicion of using forbidden magic, violation of the Class 7 Mage Law…”
He stared at the ledger for a long while, then tilted his head.
“That’s what it says here.”
“…Pardon?”
Forbidden magic, violation of the Class 7 Mage Law?
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“Does that happen to refer to some kind of crime…”
“If it’s a violation of the Class 7 Mage Law, then it would likely mean something like the use of forbidden magic.”
“…Forbidden magic?”
He quietly nodded.
“As this clause was enacted directly by the Magic Tower, I don’t have the authority to view its exact contents. It’s a law that’s almost never applied to outsiders. Which also means that there was some kind of problem within the Magic Tower.”
I looked back at the ledger.
Blue Magic Tower, permanent expulsion.
And violation of the Mage Law.
“…Is it a serious crime?”
“It depends on the circumstances, but generally… a death sentence is handed down.”
…At those words, my heart sank.
It meant I hadn’t simply been kicked out, but that I was someone who had committed a crime worthy of death.
The fact that I was still alive now… should I call that a miracle?
But soon, a question rose in my mind.
If it was truly that grave a crime, why wasn’t I executed right away and instead sent to a dungeon?
“Do you have any information on Karhal?”
The words I’d heard earlier. The Nightmare of Karhal.
That phrase had been circling in my head ever since.
“Do you mean… information about a dungeon?”
“Yes. Do you have any?”
The other man laced his fingers together and tilted his head, as though thinking for a moment.
“Since the phrase Nightmare of Karhal came up, it’s probably a dungeon record.”
Then he turned a page of the ledger and showed it to me.
As I read the contents, my brows furrowed without me realizing it.
[Entity Name: Parasitic Mimic]
[Dungeon Location: Karhal Village, Barony of Frontain]
[Danger Level: A+]
[Record Summary: Total annihilation of Karhal Village, complete wipeout of the exploration party, estimated to have consumed at least 100 people, confirmed changes to dungeon interior structure]
It was definitely the one we’d encountered in the dungeon.
That mimic had ended up attacking the nearby village too?
The moment Cowin died before my eyes came back to me.
A horrific scene that sometimes revived even in my dreams.
“It likely wasn’t an ordinary mimic. In the case of malformed mimics, most are usually exterminated immediately if discovered early. But… rarely, exceptions occur.”
I remembered what Drek had said.
A mimic that had already eaten several people.
That meant it was the cause of this situation.
But why had something like that happened?
I’d heard it was a dungeon that had been created long ago.
Did the lord’s side really not know there was such a monster inside?
Before I knew it, my head was throbbing.
Probably because too much information had been poured into me all at once.
I had definitely gained a lot this time.
Even so, for one gold coin, it still felt somewhat lacking.
Maybe he knew that, because he had answered my other questions as though throwing them in for free.
Still, no matter how you looked at it, one gold coin wasn’t cheap.
Slide—
Without a word, he reached out and pushed the gold coin back toward me.
“Since you seem to already know a certain amount of the background, I’ll simply provide this as a service.”
“…Thank you.”
This was an unexpected jackpot.
“It would be best to stop here for today. Time is up.”
“Is that so? Understood.”
I hadn’t been told there was a time limit.
Well, there was probably nothing good to be gained from asking more for no reason.
At this point, I’d gotten everything I could.
I quietly let out a sigh and rose from my seat.
***
“Where’s Baldik?”
“He said he was going to buy something. But you came out sooner than I expected.”
When I came out into the space called the lobby, Sailun and Aileen were waiting there.
It seemed Baldik had left to buy information.
…Did that bastard Dardan already run off?
Our goal had been this anyway, so it didn’t particularly matter.
Thanks to that, I ended up spending a little more time here too.
“When did he go in?”
“He went in right after you did. Wouldn’t he come out around the same time?”
“Well, I suppose. It’s not like information is cheap.”
“Is it that expensive?”
“It’s not that I couldn’t buy it… but it was a bit much.”
Putting aside everything else, I hadn’t expected my information to be that expensive.
It wasn’t a good sign.
Just what in the world had the original owner of this body been doing?
“What kind of information did you get for your expression to look like…”
Aileen furrowed her brows slightly, looking worried.
Did my face look that rotten?
“…It’s nothing.”
I tried to speak as if it were no big deal, but there was no strength in my voice.
I noticed it myself.
“Anyway, why isn’t he coming out?”
As if deliberately changing the subject, I turned my head and looked around.
Baldik. What the hell are you taking so long to look at?
Speak of the tiger, and it will come.
From the far side of the corridor, a small figure appeared along with the sound of a door opening.
A familiar silhouette slowly walked toward us.
…He was finally out.
His steps were slow, but his expression was more serious than usual.
The look on his face plainly showed that something was weighing on his mind.
“You’re later than I expected. Did you find anything?”
At my words, Baldik kept his mouth shut for a moment.
With his lips pressed tightly together, he turned his gaze away for a second, then let out a quiet sigh.
“Damn it… betrayal, of all things.”
“…Betrayal?”
“There was a guy who talked me into doing the work I used to do. I thought he’d been caught with me last time, but he hadn’t. When I looked into it… that bastard was the one who sold me out.”
“…That was related to holy water, right?”
Baldik nodded and smiled bitterly.
That smile was mixed with emotions that couldn’t be put into words.
“When I said I knew how to make liquor, he taught me how to make liquor with holy water and tempted me into doing a job together. But later, it turned out he slipped away, and I was the only one who took the fall. Thinking about it now, the whole thing was rigged from the start.”
“So… you asked the information broker?”
“Yeah. I confirmed his name and his movements. Apparently, he’s now serving under some noble. Seems he handed over all the brewing techniques and is living the good life.”
“…”
Baldik’s shoulders trembled faintly.
It wasn’t so much anger as it was a tremor closer to emptiness.
“So, what do you want to do now?”
“…I don’t know. At first, I was so furious I thought I’d go mad, but now it just feels like everything’s pointless.”
I see.
They must have been quite close.
If not, he wouldn’t be feeling this empty.
“Later, if I get the chance… I’ll see his face first. If he acts shameless, I’ll smash his face in. If his apology sounds sincere, I’ll have a drink with him and let it go.”
At those words, a laugh slipped out of me without meaning to.
Even in the middle of all that, he was talking about liquor.
“…So, have you decided where we’re headed?”
Baldik asked, raising his head slightly.
Well, according to what we’d heard before, our next destination had already been decided.
The Radin Plains. And a village called Veldor at its entrance.
“For now, I’m thinking of going to Veldor. They said mercenary requests start from there.”
“Veldor? That was to the west, right?”
“Yes. From what I heard, the work over there is less dangerous.”
“Really? Then let’s get ready and go.”
As if he’d been waiting for those words, Baldik headed toward the exit first.
He seemed like he no longer wanted to stay inside.
“Come to think of it, what happened with your horse?”
I asked Sailun, who was beside me.
“My horse? Fortunately, the treatment is done. It has gotten a bit better, but… I don’t think it can be pushed for a while. I might have to get a new one.”
“Hmm… Then you go get one.”
“Pardon? Me?”
“What, were you planning to follow along with nothing at all? You should at least do that much, punk.”
Sailun waved his hands as if wronged and started saying something, but when Aileen, who had been watching from the side, gave him a cold sidelong glare, he finally lowered his head as though resigned.
“…I guess I’ll have to start by checking the nearby stables.”
“Do you have silver?”
“I have a little left. I did save some.”
Sailun shook the pouch at his waist.
“I don’t know if that’ll be enough. I heard horse prices have gone up quite a bit lately.”
“Still, I’ll look as far as I can. If I find any decent horses, I’ll let you know.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. As long as you can ride it properly.”
Sailun nodded and glanced around.
I could sense his determination to head to a nearby stable soon.
Preparations for travel were only just beginning.
***
“Really? That place is in complete chaos?”
At Baldik’s words, I nodded and answered calmly.
“Yes. Apparently, even the village near that dungeon was completely wiped out.”
Before leaving for the village, we were busy gathering the necessary supplies.
Baldik and I quietly continued talking while going over the news we’d heard earlier once more.
“So, how serious is the situation?”
“I don’t know the exact scale yet, but from what I heard, it seems more than a hundred people died.”
At those words, I let out a sigh. If we weren’t prepared, we could easily get caught up in it too, so we had to move carefully.
“We won’t have any reason to go that way, but if we do, we’ll have to be careful.”
Baldik nodded in agreement as well.
A strange heaviness lingered inside me.
The soldiers I’d seen when we escaped back then.
They were all dead.
But what could we do? It was hard to say it was our fault, and in the end, we had no choice but to run.
It was a little bitter, but there was nothing to be done.
“Ah, right. I asked about that too.”
“That? What was it?”
Baldik answered with curious eyes.
“Drek. I asked if they could find out where that bastard was.”
Ah, right.
I’d meant to ask that too, but I hadn’t had time and couldn’t properly bring it up.
“So? What did they say?”
I asked carefully.
Baldik’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“Well, you know what those guys said?”
After pausing for a moment, he suddenly laughed loudly and said,
“They asked for fifty silver coins!”
“What?”
I asked back with a blank expression.
Fifty silver coins… Just what the hell had that man been doing?
Honestly, as someone whose own information cost one gold coin, I wasn’t exactly one to talk, but it still made me think that man had some problems of his own.
There was definitely a lot hidden there.
Of course, there were parts I’d already guessed to some extent.
What I’d heard when I first met Dardan back then.
Judging from that, he was probably someone connected to a place called the Drake Mercenary Corps.
“What kind of person is he for them to ask for that much?”
When I asked, tilting my head, Baldik spread both hands as though dumbfounded.
“Exactly! I thought that guy was hiding quite a bit too… Well, I guess that’s why a price like that is attached to him.”
A brief silence passed before I cautiously asked again.
“So, did you pay?”
Baldik snorted and shook his head.
“No, I just didn’t.”
At that, I couldn’t help but laugh.
With that amount, you could hire a decent skilled mercenary for ten days. Paying it just to hear a single line of information would truly break your back.
“You did well. At that point, it’d be better for us to look for him ourselves.”
“Right. I walked away before I ended up feeling like I’d been scammed for nothing.”
Even as Baldik said that, there was still something uneasy about his expression.
I could understand that feeling too.
The more someone had to hide, the more you became curious about their movements.
“There’s no reason to go digging around behind his back like that.”
“That’s true.”
It was then.
Hurried footsteps came from the direction of the shop entrance.
We turned our heads at the same time.
Two soldiers came rushing into the shop, out of breath.
Their faces were drenched in sweat, and they couldn’t even properly catch their breath.
“Mercenary Liv, you’re here, correct?”
They called my name precisely.
Feeling tension fill me in an instant, I quietly nodded.
“The lord wishes to see you at once.”
“…Me?”
Without any further explanation, the soldiers approached me with heavy gazes.
From those gazes alone, I could tell this wasn’t a simple summons.
Baldik muttered softly.
“Here we go again.”