Volume 3 Chapter 112 Yelmar’s Proposal II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Who do you want to meet?”
Kian furrowed his brow.
”Who could that be?”
”I’m not supposed to say the name.”
”What? Who is it?”
Kian tilted his head, and Yelmar nodded, saying “Well, that’s the reaction you’d have,” then scratched his head roughly.
”It’s my client. We’ve been dealing since I helped build the new Storm Herd. They’re secretive and very hard to please. I don’t really know what they’re thinking. But apparently, they want to meet you and talk. They didn’t tell me what they want to say, though.”
”So, it could happen that we go to meet them and get surrounded by assassins, then all get poisoned at once──?”
”That’s possible. But knowing the client’s personality, they wouldn’t do something so roundabout. They’d just tell us directly ‘Kill him.’”
Yelmar’s new Storm Herd, unlike the original, also takes on assassin jobs targeting individuals.
Certainly, if they just wanted Kian dead, they wouldn’t bother summoning him secretly──better to tell Yelmar and crew to kill him outright.
Or, if he didn’t trust Yelmar and wanted to kill Kian himself, he could fake a merchant identity and make a suitable offer.
Not revealing the name and just making a meeting isn’t trustworthy ── Kian would probably refuse. That makes it poor as a lure for an assassination.
Most likely, Yelmar’s client truly wants to meet and talk with Kian.
But they can’t reveal the name.
They’re hiding it because revealing it would make Kian refuse to talk.
(This feels like a similar pattern as before.)
Last time it was in Châtillon, where Priscilla approached Kian with this kind of offer.
In the end, the one waiting for Kian was Demete, a dark elf magician and close confidant of Kian’s father Umar.
(Surely Demete had escaped from Guy and was fleeing Châtillon. I also feel like he said he wanted to talk to me again)
”Is Demete the one who wants to see me?”
”Who’s that?”
”He’s a dark elf magician. Works for the Twelve Divine Generals──Umar Vahid.”
”No, wait, that’s not him.”
”…I see.”
Maybe he’s mistaken.
But if it’s not Demete, then who could be so eager to meet Kian?
Thanks to Maribel, Kian’s name is now known across Izerland, so if it’s not Demete, then it’s impossible to tell who’s after him.
”Kian, what do you think?”
Sarah asks.
Kian hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
”Alright, let’s meet. But if what you give us is useless info, that’s the end of it.”
”I don’t think it’s useless. I told you, right? You’re looking for a missing comrade, right? I’ve got info on her. A high elf adventurer called Vestacia, Rank 1.”
Serena quietly gasps beside Kian.
Serena looks up at Kian, seeming to say “You should accept.”
Kian nods, then gives Sarah a quick glance.
”Where is Ms. Vestacia now?”
”Oh, before that──sign this.”
”…a magic contract?”
Kian takes the sheepskin parchment handed to him by the wolfman youth.
On it, the contract details are written in Azrael language.
The contract is between Kian and Yelmar.
It states that Kian cannot refuse to meet the person who presented this magic contract, but Yelmar will give useful information related to the Quest──specifically, about Kian.
”The format of the contract is perfect. Typical of Azrael’s style. Made within the last month. The section about Yelmar is blank, but there are signs it was written in afterwards.”
”I added that part. Anything wrong with that?”
”No, I think there’s no problem. It should be fine, right, Sarah?”
”I don’t have any issues with this contract itself. But I’m concerned about when it was made.”
”What do you mean?”
As Kian prompted, Sarah looked up from the contract.
”The other side might have created this contract even before you left Izerland.”
”Before I left Izerland? No way… do they know the future or something?”
”Or maybe, there was a spy close to you leaking information.”
”────────”
Becoming famous draws the attention of the powerful.
It was something I knew, but it still felt bad.
It’s true that Maribel and the Guild leaders wanted Kian to go north. We couldn’t lose Rean and the others, and anyone who knew the Adventurer Guild’s insides would understand that no one else was suitable for the search.
He doesn’t know who leaked the information.
It could be anyone involved with the Guild, or even a spy within Maribel’s government office. There are hundreds of suspects.
But no matter how much he think, he can’t identify who it is.
And since the magic contract was written in Azraelian, it’s most likely that someone from Azraelian who wants to meet Kian is behind this.
If it’s not Demete, then who?
Almost no one from Azrael is trying to contact Kian.
And most people there are just strangers or acquaintances, not close at all.
He briefly thought about Abbas Shakerdoust from the Shakerdoust family, but he was arrested during that incident in Châtillon, detained by Guy’s soldiers, and is still in prison. There’s no way he could send such a suspicious contract from inside. It’s probably not him.
But, Abbas’s subordinate, a female warrior monk named Katyusha from the Black Panther Tribe, escaped Châtillon with Demete. So maybe, this contract provider could be her.
If it’s Katyusha, she’d probably ask for some complicated favor, like rescuing the master trapped in Châtillon.
But the magic contract only says they need to talk, so even if Katyusha makes a impossible request, we can just say no. It won’t hurt us.
”Hey, hey, forget about blaming the culprit for now.”
While Kian digs through his memories, Yelmar loudly cuts in.
He looks at Kian and the others, then keeps talking.
”Whether there’s a traitor among you is your problem. Right now, just focus on whether you’ll sign this magic contract or not.”
”────”
”I’ll give you info about Vestacia. Lord Kian, you’ll meet the person who provided this magic contract and talk to them. So, decide if you’ll accept or refuse.”
”…I got it. I’ll sign.”
”That’s okay, Kian?”
”Yeah.”
Even if someone is spying on us, and wants to meet Kian, they should just come straight and say, “Stay out of this,” instead of sneaking around.
If it’s a trap, Kian’s sword skills can break through the danger.
Since there’s ‘Silver Ice’ and ‘Windsong Blade,’ it’s definitely possible to smash enemies’ schemes with power.
When Kian signs the magic contract, it glows faintly and splits into 2.
Yelmar keeps one, Kian keeps the other.
”Contract is done. Phew… Now I don’t have to worry about getting chewed out by the client.”
”And what about Ms. Vestacia’s info?”
”It’s about where she might be held captive. ──Hey.”
Yelmar signals to his allies behind him.
A Wolfman with a scar on his neck steps out (he looks rough too), handing Yelmar a big rolled-up paper.
”Take a look at this.”
”A map of the swamp area?”
”Yeah.”
”That’s big. It’ll be tough to spread out with just your hands. I’ll get a table ready.”
Sarah says, snapping her fingers.
The dirt between Kian and Yelmar suddenly piled up, forming a sturdy table.
”That helps. It looks a bit rough, but it’s a good table.”
”It’s a very detailed map. I made one of the ‘Storm Herd’ camp area too, but this one seems quite accurate.”
”Of course, it’s drawn by the Beastmen Alliance. When they learned this would become the battlefield, they gathered shamans and scouts to make the map. It was shared with boss’s ‘Storm Herd’”
”And we stole it. Hahaha.”
The wolfman with a burn scar on his neck grins wickedly.
Yelmar traces a line with his finger from the ruins of the vampire fortress Kian explored, farther north at the foot of the Dacia Mountains.
”In short, I think Vestacia’s probably being kept somewhere around here. From here to here. I’ll mark it. From this point…, here.”
”It’s pretty wide.”
”According to Natasha, there’s an ancient temple nearby with a teleportation magic circle. We’re seeing strange space-time distortions everywhere, and that bastard Barghest seems to be using Spirit Veins and these distortions for something.”
”Is the teleportation circle used to jump from the ancient temple to somewhere else?”
”Based on the flow of the Spirit Vein, Natasha says Barghest probably uses a magic gate to move from the wetlands to the ancient temple. So instead of making magic workshops all over the world from the temple, maybe the temple itself is his magic workshop.”
”What’s the evidence that Ms. Vestacia is held captive in that ancient temple?”
When Sarah asks, Yelmar stands up from the map and starts pacing back and forth.
”The Barghest vanishes once every 3 days. Ever since the boss, Glen Silverwooloo, disappeared, it’s always been every 3 days without fail. And according to rumors, before he vanishes, he loads a cart with dried meat, bread, and water from the pantry. The boss is a big eater, but now he’s sick, and it’s odd to take that much food with him, don’t you think?”
”──You mean to say, Dad’s being held captive by the Barghest!?”
Serena bristled her tail and pressed close to Yelmar.
Yelmar tensed his shoulders.
”Didn’t you hear, Serena? After Ozeas was killed, the boss suddenly changed course north and ordered us to hunt the Bloodsucking Kind. The flock was saying that Glen went mad over Ozeas’s death, but I don’t think so. The boss was sane right up until he vanished. He even accepted Ozeas’s death as a fact and stopped pursuing it.”
He continued, spreading his arms wide.
”Why did the healthy boss suddenly vanish? The Barghest said the boss was sick, but why not show him to the flock’s shaman? Why go out of the way to bring the boss’s body to an ancient temple and have only family members tend to him there?”
”I don’t know. Wait, are the moms there at that ancient temple too?”
”That’s what the Barghest is saying. He wants to be by the critically ill boss’s side, and the SilverWooloo family has all left the flock.”
”Do the others know that Barghest moved Glen Silverwooloo to the ancient temple?”
Sarah asked, and Yelmar shook his head side to side.
”No, they don’t know where Glen is recuperating. But, since Barghest keeps visiting the ancient temple and the boss vanished right after he came to the wetlands, it’s almost certain that the boss is in the ancient temple.”
”Hmmm…”
Kian listened, resting his hand on his chin.
Yelmar’s claim seems a bit thin on evidence, he thought.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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