Chapter 26

“I’ll buy you a meal.”

Najin looked at the girl who had reached out her hand to him.

A girl who seemed about his age.

Her light brown hair, common and unremarkable, didn’t catch the eye, but the girl’s eyes, glittering with desire, did. The rare, golden-yellow color of her eyes was unusual.

Some might see the gleam of gold coins in those eyes, others might think of a snake’s gaze.

Eyes that blatantly revealed intentions without any attempt to hide desire. The emotion in the girl’s eyes was interest. Najin, after staring into her eyes, looked down at her outstretched hand.

A hand clad in white gloves.

Najin took her hand and stood up. He followed the girl, who walked ahead, his own hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

-It seems suspicious. Are you sure about following her?

She’s offering a meal.

Though he muttered this inwardly, Najin didn’t let down his guard. Yet, despite his caution, the girl genuinely led him to an ordinary restaurant.

A restaurant in Cambria’s central square.

Upon entering the seemingly upscale restaurant, what greeted Najin was not a deadly weapon but the appetizing smell of food, making his hungry stomach scream in protest.

“Please sit there.”

Even as he sat down, Najin didn’t let his guard down. But he couldn’t maintain that attitude in front of the plates of food served one after the other on the table.

…Gulp.

Food he had never seen in the Underground City. In front of warm and fragrant dishes, Najin involuntarily swallowed. His hand, which had been resting on his sword hilt, was now reaching for the fork on the table.

“You must be hungry.”

The girl, watching Najin, smiled.

“Shall we eat first and then talk?”

What had seemed like a sinister smile filled with ulterior motives, now seemed no different from the smile of a benevolent gentlewoman. Najin took his hand off the sword hilt and grasped the fork.

It was delicious. Really.

Even considering it was his first proper meal in days, it was a truly moving experience. When chewing on a piece of well-cooked meat, Najin almost shed a tear.

So, the people from the upper levels eat this regularly?

In the Underground City, a feast meant dried meat of unknown age or dishes made by frying leftovers from animals butchered above ground. Even such meals were only tasted when Ivan held large events in the city…

‘It’s a different level.’

The food of the upper levels was tender, not dry, greasy, and filling. Najin genuinely admired it. He felt a similar emotion to when he first ate a proper meal after being noticed by Ivan while rummaging through trash as a child.

After finishing the meal, Najin was cleansing his palate with water when the girl sitting opposite him finally spoke.

“Tastes good, doesn’t it? It’s one of my favorite places.”

Najin nodded vigorously.

His wariness had already dissipated. Regardless of her intentions in treating him to such a meal, Najin was very open to considering them positively.

Najin adjusted his posture, ready to listen. Seeing that Najin was prepared to hear her out, the girl began to speak.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Let me introduce myself first.”

She took out a business card from her pouch and handed it to Najin. Having learned to read and write the standard script of the Empire from Ivan, Najin found it easy to read the card.

The card belonged to the owner of the Dieta Trading Company, with the names of high-ranking officials recognizing the legitimate authority of the company. At the top, there was a name that seemed to be the girl’s.

Dieta ■■■■■.

The letters written afterward were unreadable. It seemed more like someone had deliberately scratched off the letters with a knife rather than just wear and tear. Puzzled, Najin handed the card back to the girl.

“My name is Dieta.”

Receiving the card back, she began.

“As written on the card, I run the ‘Dieta Trading Company’ here in Cambria. I’m quite well-known in this city but…”

She glanced at Najin.

“It seems you’ve just arrived in this city?”

“I arrived today.”

“You haven’t gotten your ID card issued yet?”

“I don’t have the money for it.”

An ID card was necessary for formally accepting quests and operating in the city. However, obtaining an ID card required money.

And Najin had none.

The travel money Offen had given him for escaping the Underground City had been used up on the way here.

“You really came to this city with nothing, huh?”

“I have quite a story.”

“It’s harder to find someone without a story in this city.”

Dieta tilted her teacup.

After taking a sip, she opened her mouth as if to get to the main point.

“It seems you’re in a tough situation… Would you be interested in making a deal with me?”

“A deal?”

“Yes, a deal. I have a problem that’s been troubling me lately.”

Najin sensed it. This was the main point.

The meal wasn’t just a kind gesture but something with a motive, an expectation. From Najin’s perspective, this was more comfortable.

Pure kindness is hard to comprehend.

But the latter is intuitive and easier to understand.

Still, there was something troubling him. Why would someone like a company owner need him? The more Najin listened to Dieta, the narrower his eyes became.

“So.”

Najin, having listened carefully to Dieta, spoke.

“You want me to catch a group messing with your company’s ledgers and punish them. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Exactly. They meddled with the ledgers and hid in the alleyways, didn’t they? I reported it, but the city guards here aren’t very reliable.”

“But why me?”

Najin’s question was natural.

If the company was as large as it seemed, they could hire private soldiers or even mercenaries without relying on someone untested like himself.

“Is the reason that important?”

Dieta responded briefly to his question.

“What matters is that I’m offering you a good opportunity… and accepting this request won’t be a loss for you, right?”

It doesn’t matter why.

“You don’t have to accept it. Don’t worry, I’m not the type to say, ‘Pay for the meal!’ if you refuse my offer.”

Dieta smiled as she did at the beginning.

Although her smile was highly suspicious, Najin decided not to delve deeper. As she said, there was nothing for him to lose in this proposition.

Certainly, an attractive offer.

The amount of money Dieta promised to pay for capturing them seemed quite substantial, even to Najin, who had a less developed sense of money.

-It’s not a losing proposition. But don’t you have one thing to check?

Merlin’s voice rang in his ears.

Najin answered inwardly. It seemed Merlin was thinking the same thing.

‘Just need to confirm if the people she wants me to catch are actually criminals.’

Otherwise, it could be a trap.

In the Underground City, where Ivan was the law, acting recklessly could turn one into a criminal in an instant. Najin was aware of this.

-You’re not clueless, are you?

Satisfied with his response, Najin nodded.

“Do you have any descriptions of them?”

“Just pick from here. You don’t need to choose them all, just as many as you want.”

Dieta laid out several wanted posters in front of Najin.

She spread out about six. Looking at the posters, Najin suddenly smiled.

Out of the six wanted posters, three.

They were individuals who had apparently hidden in a very familiar setting. Najin pointed at those three posters.

“I’ll take these.”

“…All three?”

Dieta seemed a bit surprised. Najin, holding the detailed information and descriptions of the wanted individuals, stood up.

“One last thing.”

Najin asked Dieta before leaving.

“How capable are the targets? Do they handle mana… or emit Sword Aura?”

“…?”

Dieta’s face, which had remained expressionless, showed a significant change at Najin’s question. She looked as if wondering whether she really had to explain that.

But then, she composed herself and answered.

“If they knew how to emit Sword Aura, they’d be Sword Experts… then I’d hire a knight or a professional mercenary group, right? And the cost of the request would include a few more coins.”

She explained calmly.

“I heard they hired a few bodyguards, but they’ll just be at the level of handling weapons. People who know how to emit Sword Aura aren’t hired cheaply.”

“Is that so?”

“Have you been living deep in the mountains or something? This is almost common knowledge.”

Deep in the mountains, huh.

Najin chuckled and nodded.

“Something like that.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’ll visit you again soon. And thank you for the meal. It was quite satisfying.”

Just as he was about to leave the restaurant, Najin’s gaze lingered. It settled on a man sitting in a corner of the restaurant. The man had been observing Najin and Dieta since the moment they entered.

Their gazes met.

Despite the man’s penetrating stare, Najin didn’t look away but rather stared back directly, as if to challenge him. After a brief clash of gazes in mid-air, the man chuckled and turned his head away first.

Leaving the man behind, Najin exited the restaurant.

He didn’t forget to take note of the restaurant’s sign and location before leaving, thinking he must return once he earned some money. With these thoughts, Najin moved on.

A short while after Najin left the restaurant, a man approached Dieta, who sat alone sipping her tea. It was Pasion, a knight who had been circling around her, providing protection.

The only knight who followed her when she almost ran away from the Arbenia House. Pasion, who owed a debt of gratitude to her mother, now lying cold in the grave, glanced at Dieta before speaking.

“How was it, Sir Pasion?”

“Not bad. He noticed us.”

“…He noticed?”

“Yes. He seemed to be hiding his presence, but he caught on. He stared for quite a while before leaving.”

Pasion laughed as if it was absurd.

“He seems like a bold kid.”

“Any peculiarities?”

“His eyes seemed sharp, but other than that, nothing notable. But…”

Pasion sighed.

“As I always say, please refrain from dealing with those entrenched in the back alleys. They are unpredictable.”

“That’s what makes it interesting, Sir Pasion. You don’t understand.”

Dieta chuckled.

“It’s fun to find shining things in the dark. Sometimes you find a gem or two in the alleys. Just one meal can give a good impression to talents? It’s a win-win deal.”

“You’ve treated nearly 40 people so far, and only two have paid back. Quite a worthy investment.”

“Now it’s three.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Including the boy who just left. Three out of forty isn’t bad, right?”

She spoke with conviction.

“……”

Pasion silently observed his mistress.

Although she belonged to the Arbenia family, she did not possess the family’s characteristic golden hair. Strongly inheriting her mother’s genes, Dieta lacked the luminescent blonde hair of her father’s lineage.

But those eyes.

Those sharp, yellow eyes, piercing through people’s worth like a snake, were reminiscent of the head of the Arbenia family. Observing the sometimes spine-chilling gaze of his mistress, Pasion inwardly sighed.

When his mistress was this confident, there was usually something special about the other party.

“It seems you took quite a liking to that boy just now.”

“Well, he’s good-looking.”

“…Is that the reason?”

“There are other reasons too.”

Dieta trailed off.

“It’s not something I can explain. Just a feeling.”

Thinking back to the boy, Dieta propped her chin up.

He had the sharp edge of someone who clawed their way up from the bottom. Yet, his eyes were different, uncorrupted, carrying a clear light.

Eyes that contrasted with the atmosphere he exuded. Dieta felt intrigued by those eyes. The boy, still dirty, marked by the world, and a greenhorn just stepping into the city, had something.

“There’s something about him. Not sure what it is.”

“A hunch?”

“Something like that.”

Dieta chuckled, propping her chin.

“Sir Pasion, want to make a bet?”

“On what exactly?”

“Whether the boy will complete the task and return in a few days. How long will you bet on?”

After a moment of contemplation, Pasion spoke.

Pasion bet on a week, while Dieta bet on four days. This was a positive assessment of the boy. Even the week Pasion mentioned was a tight timeframe for an average bounty hunter.

Dieta had not lied to the boy.

In reality, the targets the boy chose posed little threat in terms of force. The problem was their escape skills. Coming from the back alleys, they moved through the city’s maze-like alleys as if it were their own home.

Finding them might not be difficult…

But capturing them was no easy task.

-It’s not a trap.

“Seems like it. Suspicious, but…”

The task proposed by the girl named Dieta.

Having confirmed that the targets of the task were wanted criminals, Najin was now heading towards the alleys. Dieta had marked a street where they were known to appear.

Stepping into that street, Najin took a deep breath. The stale air of the back alleys was familiar to him. The alleys were dark, without sunlight, but this too was no issue for Najin.

Living in darkness, he was accustomed to seeing in such dim light.

“It’s an opportunity I can’t deny.”

Indeed, it was a good opportunity.

To establish a footing and grow in this city, Najin needed some initial capital.

Money was necessary for lodging, for food. He didn’t need a lot, but at least enough to not struggle.

“Let’s earn a solid start.”

-Right. At least you won’t have to rummage through trash.

“I told you that was a joke.”

Ignoring Merlin’s grumbling, Najin steadied his breathing. Merlin whispered in his ear as he loosened up his body.

-But do you have a plan? It’ll be hard to find them in such dark places. Why those three, specifically?

Najin just smiled at that question.

The three wanted posters Najin had chosen.

The places where those three fugitives were seen were none other than the city’s shadowy alleys. In other words, environments very similar to the Underground City.

“Well.”

A familiar stage.

And a familiar job.

“This is my area of expertise.”

The former hunter of Ivan’s organization smiled. Hunting down those who ran off with money had always been Najin’s specialty.