Chapter 27: You have to take care of yourself (2)

Chapter 27: You have to take care of yourself (2)

***

Looking at the sign of the Merchants of Beto, Ruel could see people with grim expressions crowding the front.

“A lot of people are here.”

Ruel smirked.

He had heard a lot of people saying there were no winners in a gang fight. However, thinking of the two monsters he had following him, he could only say it was a laughable idea to even think they could measure up to them.

Ruel went inside without even looking at them.

“What do you think?”

Ruel asked the two people. The only answer that came was a snort. Ruel was satisfied hearing the meaning that it was not worth dealing with.

“Will it be okay?”

Aris was the only one who was scared.

It was understandable.

He didn’t know those monsters well, so Ruel understood how he felt.

“It’ll be okay.”

Ruel gave a light answer.

After recognizing Cassion’s face, a guild member guided them to the owner.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, nobleman. I am called Jirie, the upper owner who runs the Merchants of Beto.”

“I won’t say much, who exactly am I dealing with?”

A cough followed.

Ruel sat roughly before Jirie answered.

He had a slight headache because his fever had yet to go away.

Every breath he took made a sound.

Aware of what he looked like from others’ perspective, Ruel looked into Jirie’s eyes and grinned.

Ruel laughed.

Jirie was truly a merchant by nature.

Even though he knew Ruel was a nobleman, he was already putting a price on him.

“It’s the Merchants of Ribone.”

“I mean, being vicious is not the way of a merchant. You insist that I give you the merchant even though I’ve already bought it?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s not funny.”

It was a voice full of sincerity.

It was not a merchant’s job to threaten someone to revert what had already been done.

A person who does such things is a thug.

“Oh, no! Go back!”

It was noisy outside.

“Get out of here.”

Bang!

The door opened violently along with the sound of a curious voice.

A man tall and big enough to reach the top of the door came inside.

“It’s a disaster to see a junkie crawling in.”

Ruel looked at the man and criticized him.

“What?”

He approached Ruel with a harsh sneer. But he couldn’t get close.

Cassion’s aura pushed him to stop walking.

“If you don’t want to lose your neck, don’t come any closer.”

“Hahaha! That’s funny.”

The man’s smile was directed at the coughing and spouting sick man.

“Is that the sick bastard who just barely hung on? Jirie!”

“It’s noisy, Cassion.”

“I apologize, I’ll take care of it quickly.”

In a blink of an eye, a dagger was already in Cassion’s hand.

It only took a step forward.

Rolling.

The man’s neck fell off the smile still on his face. It was not long before the body collapsed, spouting blood.

Blood poured out but not a single drop spilled toward him.

It was a very neat kill.

Ruel peeked at Aris. He was calmer than he thought.

“Ganien, if you’re bored, you can go out and play. I still have some things to say.”

“I finally have a chance to fight.”

Ganien squinted at his sword, complaining about not being put to action.

“At first, I was just trying to keep things clean. But the plan has changed.”

Ruel looked at Jirie and smiled.

“You’re going to be punished for touching a noble.”

Ganien stopped at Ruel’s words and asked, as he was about to go outside.

“Other than that, wasn’t everything outside already dealt with? Where should I go?”

“Merchant of Ribone. Tell him that I’ve taken one of their men’s neck because they dared to touch the nobleman.”

“Are you selling my name?”

“That’s right, if you act like how you are now, you can deal with it. There must be some pretty strong people at the merchant’s side.”

“Haa.”

Ganien sighed.

So far, Ruel’s words had been unambiguous, but this one was a bit vague.

It is true that he was part of the aristocracy, but he was a knight.

There was no justification for killing as a knight.

“Jirie.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me straight what Ribone’s superiors have done. No lies.”

“They are a merchant guild that’s famous for being messy. They’re related to the underworld, and we can’t mess with it, so everyone’s hands are tied.”

After hearing Jirie’s story, the Merchants of Ribone seemed to have deeper roots than expected.

There was nothing missing in the underworld check list, such as drugs, kidnapping, and human trafficking.

‘It’s hard, the underworld.’

Ruel looked sideways at Ganien, who was angry at him for justification, and soon gave Cassion a look.

“It’s okay. You can touch them.”

“Why?”

“Did you go out for a drink last night?”

“... !”

“I cut off their necks.”

What he did last night for a drink was to get rid of the boss of the underworld.

It was work done in one area, but it was still quite large.

Ruel asked calmly in contrast to his surprised heart.

“Who’s the second in command?”

“Are you going to meet them?”

“Later.”

There must be an uproar since the boss died suddenly. It made no sense to go now.

“Ganien, how are you now? Are you ready?”

“Where is the location?”

“Cassion, let him know.”

Ruel spoke and looked at Aris. When he made eye contact with the boy, he smiled warmly.

Aside from being used to seeing death, an escort had to be cool anytime, anywhere.

Aris stood beside him like a tree, still without receding.

While Cassion and Ganien were out, Ruel asked Jirie a question.

“How much am I worth you?”

“Noble, if you don’t mind, may I ask who you are?”

“Ruel Setiria.”

Like those with gold in their hands, Jirie’s eyes glinted with the classic greedy gaze of a merchant.

Ruel could not get any closer and grabbed his chest.

Cassion glanced at Ruel and said,

“How about lowering the momentum?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a little pissed off.”

“Did they insult you?”

Ruel asked, holding onto his chest.

“Right. Exactly blasphemy against the Blue Knights. Was it a little too grand?”

“What about the boss?”

“There.”

There was only a desk where Ganien pointed.

Holding the sword again, Ganien swung at the desk.

Under the desk neatly cut with wind pressure, Ruel saw a man curling his body in a fetus position and shivering.

“... Aah! A monster, a monster!”

Seeing Ganien, he trembled, going into a seizure, bursting into bubbles and passing out.

“Ha.”

Ruel swept down his face.

“That was grand.”

“Don’t you just need the data?”

Ganien threw something at Cassion. When he opened his hand, he saw a key in his palm.

“The key to opening somewhere. I’m going to calm down.”

“Aris, follow me and talk to me so I can calm down.”

“I see!”

In pursuit of Ganien, who had gone away, Aris moved his feet.

“Cassion.”

“I’m not a thief.”

“Find something that fits the key, and I’ll be looking for the data.”

“... Ha, I see.”

“Now you’re asking me to do everything,” Cassion said, diligently moving on.

Ruel looked at the room where Cassion went and burst into laughter.

If one followed the sword path, one could see that the sword was swung only twice.

‘He must’ve been really pissed off.’

“Cough, cough.”

Ruel coughed and searched the desk Ganien cut first.

It was neatly cut, so the inside of the desk was clearly visible.

He sat down on a rather clean chair and flipped through the papers one by one.

‘There is nothing worth writing about.’

After roughly throwing it on the floor, Ruel searched the owner’s body.

He took off all the bracelets and necklaces that looked expensive, as well as the rings on both hands.

Ruel searched his pocket and found one that was deeper than it looked, so he stretched out his hand and took something out.

‘It’s smooth.’

At that moment, he felt something slipping out of his body.

He barely managed to support his staggering body, checking what was in his hand.

It was a statue made of gold.

It was so heavy that he couldn’t lift it up and had to let it go.

Bang.

Ruel’s body also collapsed because he could no longer support the statue that was lying on the floor.

There was no strength in his body. Still, Ruel laughed.

‘It’s like the magic pouch that Cassion has. It looks like it’s connected to the warehouse, right?’

He didn’t know if it’s because he was not set as the owner or if that was just how it’s supposed to be, but he knew it.

The accumulated wealth was going to be huge.

While his body was shaking, Ruel laughed.

“Haa.”

A sigh came from behind.

“What’s going on here?”

Cassion got goosebumps when he saw Ruel’s smiling face.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you pick up something wrong?”

“Magic pocket. I found it.”

Blood suddenly gushed out of Ruel’s nose.

It was similar to the symptoms that occurred when one ran out of mana or aura.

Cassion looked around and found the golden statue that appeared out of the blue.

It was taken out of the magic pocket, with its glass-like body.

“Are you crazy!”

Cassion felt his heart ache and inflated a very small amount of aura into Ruel.

“No matter how much money there is, how can you touch someone else’s magic pocket? Have you sold the face of a householder?”

Ruel’s mouth opened with his face looking as if he was about to faint.

‘Did you find a place to use the key?’

“I found it! I found it, so we’re here!”

When Cassion screamed, his heart felt like it was about to tear. Cassion broke out in a cold sweat.

If Ruel died, he would die too.

That was the effect of the Mana’s vow he took to be a loyal butler.

The aura he had been giving to Ruel stopped.

Just like the way Ruel’s body broke when mana was injected, so would the aura.

If he gave more than this, Ruel’s body would not be able to withstand it and would collapse.

The nosebleed stopped. At least the minimum amount of life he needed had been filled. Cassion was relieved for now.

“I told you not to use magic pockets.”

Whether it was mana or aura, they were like blood that sustained life.

The countdown to death would begin the moment it was depleted, and one would die if it was not filled again within a certain period of time. That was true for everyone.

“... I didn’t know.”

Ruel wiped his nosebleed and made a sincere face.

I really didn’t know. What can I do if I had already done it?

“Don’t get up. I’ll take care of it.”

Cassion put Ruel in a chair, stripped the top of his jacket and put it in his pocket.

“We’ve found a secret room. I’ve packed it with a lot of money that Ruel likes, and I’ve also packed the well-stored documents.”

“How about material for the story?”

“Enough.”

Ruel also made the impression that he had found money and evidence. But now, he felt dizzy and nauseous as if he had anemia.

“Are you going back to Jirie?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go alone.”

“No, I’m coming, too.”

Jirie was a merchant. Ruel knew he couldn’t show weakness to him already.

He had to go boldly and reaffirm his worth in Jirie’s mind.

Cassion knew that, so this time there wasn’t much protest.

“Don’t forget to make a copy before that. You should be the only one holding the original unconditionally.”

“I have them all, so don’t worry.”

“Then go ahead and sit down for a while.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Cassion handed something to Ruel and disappeared.

When he unpacked it, it was cookies made by Astell.

Ruel ate a cookie and closed his eyes.

He tried to fill up the shortage of mana by moving the power of recovery quickly even for just a moment.

Crunch.

‘I want to eat meat pie now too.’