Chapter 86: |
Drythorne County, Vista.
Two frowning men stood facing each other at the entrance of an alley.
“My goodness. Isn’t this labor abuse Young Lord?”
Alter let out a pained sound and thumped his shoulder. He knew his obvious faking of being weak wouldn’t work on Calyx, but he still had to protest.
It wasn’t difficult to be the assistant of Radwiell’s heir, Calyx Esther. Since the Count spent a lot of time on the front lines, Calyx mostly managed the estate, and what he could do from there was limited. As such, Alter’s duties were like running on a treadmill: constantly moving around but never really going anywhere.
It’s been a long time since Alter’s duties freed him from that endless cycle. Ever since Rosaline went missing during the hunting competition, Alter’s smooth and easy life was torn apart. Eventually, Alter had to let go of the comforting nickname, ‘salary thief’, he had put on himself.
When Rosaline left for the capital with Calyx after recuperating at Drythorne Castle, Alter stayed behind in Vista to search for mages. It’s famously known that mages who did not leave for Balta settled in areas with frequent battles. Even if Calyx hadn’t said he met a pickpocketing mage on this street, Alter would have been on the lookout in Vista.
However, there was a problem. Mixed in with the ‘demons’ that must be here, there were also people with demonic appearances and a demonic amount of strength all over the place. Amid a crowd of mercenaries and brawlers, Alter could not distinguish between them and real demons. He didn’t get much information even if he ran around himself, so Alter had no choice but to keep delaying his report, asking for a little more time via letters that he sent to Calyx every other day.
‘Where did you leave your usual calm personality?’ Alter looked at his master’s face, which he had not seen in a long time, and sighed deeply.
Ever since the Shadowless Night festival, which celebrated the day when the first White Night and Black Moon occured, the nights of the Illavenia Empire shone brightly day after day. Even today, cute lanterns of various colors still illuminated the streets.
The two were in the back of a narrow alley, where the festival lights barely reached, because Calyx, wearing a grayish-brown hood, was too conspicuous in the all-white colored street. And if he removes the hood, his dark hair would also stand out too much.
Alter grumbled all day, looking at the bright street contrasted with the narrow, dark alley. He complained about the exploitation of his labor and how he can’t properly rest.
“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have followed him,” he whined.
“Alter. Did you hear that just now?”
“Huh? Hear what?”
Calyx looked into the distance and tilted his head slightly. Alter pricked his ears, wondering if there was any unique sound that could break through the noise of the street and reach his master.
Calyx lowered his hood and spoke in a low voice. He raised an eyebrow.
“The sound of your salary going up.”
Ah, the exciting smell of money! Alter trembled with emotion. ‘Y-Young Lord. Did I ever tell you that I’d do anything you tell me to?’
“Have I ever told you that you can exploit my labor whenever you want?!”
“Stop talking nonsense and get to the point.”
“Kuh… Anyway, as expected, my Lord, this is just simple business! Even a clock won’t be as reliable as me, Young Lord!”
“Just stop it already.”
Alter smiled and pulled out a few crumpled sheets of paper from his pocket. Calyx quickly unfolded it and read.
The information, written in bad handwriting, was fragmented, incomplete, and covered with symbols such as ‘?’ and ‘△’. In summary, some parts were questionable. Calyx stared at the salary thief with a cold gaze.
“I’m not a mage, so how can I confidently identify them? There are some that I suspect, but since there is no evidence, it is impossible to confirm.”
It was as Alter had said. Even if a mage used his superhuman strength or ability in front of Alter, Alter couldn’t confirm he was a mage unless he checked if they had magic power. Only a mage could accurately pinpoint and circle other mages on this paper. Calyx carefully read through the pages. A butcher shop at the crossroad, a weapon shop, a mercenary corps, an illegal arena…
“And so, this is the best target I can find.”
Alter pointed to the largest triangle drawn on the paper. Below that, the words [Illegal Arena] appeared smudged because of Alter’s saliva.
***
It was a shabby, half-collapsed building, so calling it an illegal arena was fitting.
It was a secret place you could only access through a hidden door at the end of a maze of alleys. A scream echoed from inside the dilapidated building. You could also hear the sound of chains and blades clashing intermittently.
“Kill him!”
“Die!”
“Go for the eyes and the balls!”
The harsh words of the spectators insulting each other’s mothers filtered out. The arena was not soundproof at all. Those people understand the word illegal, right? It is not that Count Drythorne cannot find this place but that she closes her eyes to its presence.
When Calyx tried to find the entrance to the building, huge men blocked his way. The scars scattered around their bodies were deep and thick, and their thick beards contributed to their fierce impressions, so the effect was terrifying.
However, Calyx had parents whose personalities were twice as fierce as these men. One of the men smiled at the visitor’s unblinking and unimpressed attitude.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen your face. Do you have an invitation?”
Calyx turned to Alter to collect the invitation. Alter had an ugly twist on his lips and shifted his gaze from side to side.
‘…This bastard…’
Calyx’s eyes grew more fierce as Alter whispered into his ear.
“I didn’t know an invitation was necessary to enter such a shabby place.”
His voice was loud. The expressions of the men, who guarded this ‘shabby place’ like a treasure trove against those without an invitation, became even worse. Calyx wanted to fire Alter.
Calyx bit his tongue and produced a gold coin from his pocket. One of the men grabbed the gold coin Calyx flipped into the air.
“Hey, I’m not talking about money. I’m talking about an invitation…”
The man laughed as if it was ridiculous. Other bandit-like men around them also crept forward one step at a time, pressuring the two with ferocious expressions. Alter broke out in a cold sweat. He had assumed it was a situation where these people would just let it slide by feeding them money.
“Y- Young Lord, I’ll just go out first…”
Calyx took a pouch out of his pocket. The bag was larger than a fist and already thickly filled with something. Everyone could roughly guess its contents. Calyx threw the pouch at the man. The clinking sound of metal pierced through the screams emanating from the building and distinctly rang in their ears.
The man softened his bandit-like face and smiled broadly.
“Well received, guest! Have a good time!”
‘…That doesn’t sound like what you said before. Well, the result is good, but…’
Alter looked at the men in this ridiculous situation. The ones surrounding Alter and Calyx opened the door wide, smiling flowery smiles.
Alter stood stunned, then quickly followed after Calyx.
***
“You asshole! Get up! Get up!”
“Break his neck! Kill him! Smash his head!”
The arena looked smaller on the inside than on the outside because it was full of people. Four wooden posts stood tall in the center, and chains and ropes were wrapped around them to secure and denote the ring. Inside, two men were fighting fiercely. One was lying on the floor, and a bleeding man was on top of him, carelessly waving his fists.
“If my grandmother was in there, she’d already have you eating dust! Are you playing house?”
Boos poured out. It was a strange sight because it was a young girl booing and cursing using her grandmother’s name while smoking a cigarette. Blood splattered, bottles flew around, and spectators fought among themselves.
In a word, this place was shit.
“Mm-hmm, this place is bullshit.”
Alter expressed his sentiments. Calyx went to a wooden box in the corner and bought a bottle of wine from the liquor seller. He took a sip of the wine and immediately spat it into his handkerchief.
He glanced at the wine with a frown and handed the bottle to Alter. Alter, who still observed the illegal arena warily, didn’t notice Calyx’s reaction and just accepted his offer. Then he moaned and spat out the wine.
Meanwhile, Calyx looked around. The place overflowed with tattoos, scars, half-naked men, and cigarette smoke. From children to old ladies: various age groups placed different bets. There were even some who wore a hood like Calyx.
‘This place… There might be mages in this place…’
People say that mages hide in the shadows rather than in the bright light, so it wasn’t a strange place for mages to hide.
“Young Lord.”
“What is it?”
“See that green head of hair in the corner over there?”
Alter pointed to a corner where those warming up for the next duel were waiting. Among the brawlers was an ordinary man who was neither unusually large nor looked unusually strong. He looked a bit fragile amid these rough people, but his weak appearance neatly disguised the scars on his body.
“He is the target marked with a triangle.”
Calyx met the man’s eyes. The man’s eyes were round and clear. They reminded one of a herbivore like a cow or a horse.
“They say he has quite a reputation in this arena— Scarecrow Gilred.”