Chapter 127: Evan (4)

With a short “woooong” vibration, the airship rose and we immediately gathered in an empty room inside.

In the empty room, there was only a small table.

However, I felt that there was no better space for three people to conspire.

The orange light bulb dangling from the ceiling flickered and the shadows it created swayed within the walls.

Click!

Evan, who came in last, locked the door.

He immediately took out wanted posters from his bosom.

But what’s this?

There were several wanted posters.

Just by eyeballing it, the number easily exceeded three.

When Evan spread them out on the table, there were a total of seven.

I grinned.

“Why did you bring so many? It’s as if you’re going to catch all the wanted criminals active in the southern part of the empire.”

“That’s right.”

“?”

I looked at Evan, wondering if he was joking, but his expression was endlessly serious.

“All the bastards here are ‘Judgment’ grade villains active in the southern part of the empire. We will catch all of them within two days. That is our goal.”

I had a blank expression for a moment.

At this time, a very slight suspicion of Evan also arose.

‘Didn’t this old man bring us along to use us as a shield?’

But I immediately shook my head.

No matter how crazy Evan was for money, surely he wasn’t that much of a thug.

If he was, Section Chief Baron wouldn’t have recommended Evan for the professor position in the first place.

Anyway, seven Judgment grade villains.

Putting aside the threat, the problem was time.

No matter how much their activity areas overlapped in the southern part of the empire, what was the area and distance?

We would have to move to catch them, and it’s not like we had a grand mage who used [Spatial Transfer] among us.

Catching all of them within the two-day time limit was physically close to impossible.

‘And we don’t even know where all of them are hiding, do we?’

Just finding and tracking them would surely take a considerable amount of time.

In my opinion, this was a one-month job.

At the minimum.

“By the way. This person is a Slaughter grade.”

It was then.

Yuria, who had been quiet all this time, pointed to one of the wanted posters.

It was true.

One of the bastards in the corner was a Slaughter grade.

To sum it up, six Judgment grade villains and one Slaughter grade villain.

We had to catch a total of seven villains within two days.

I scratched my head and looked at Evan.

‘This is a bit…….’

A thug.

I think he’s right.

I roughly understood that Evan had a special reason for needing money.

And I also understood the desire to be greedy, as his share would decrease if the three of us split the bounty.

But.

“Professor. Honestly, I think this is a bit too greedy.”

That was my honest feeling.

Evan, who looked at me with calm eyes, shook his head.

“No. It’s possible.”

It was a short answer, but that’s why Evan, who answered with a voice that felt even firmer, took something else out of his bosom.

And he handed it to me and Yuria.

“Memorize this perfectly during the flight.”

I looked at it, wondering what it was, and at the very top, it said ‘Bounty Hunting Plan’ in large letters.

Below that, detailed plans and roles were listed by time in a neat handwriting.

Along with information such as the villains’ characteristics and personal details.

‘When did he make something like this?’

I looked back and forth between Evan and the plan with surprised eyes.

Had he been planning this from the beginning, with our participation in mind?

But even so, he wouldn’t have had much time to prepare.

Or, maybe he had the plan for a long time but couldn’t put it into practice due to a lack of manpower, and decided to execute it with our participation.

Whatever the case, it was undeniable that his ability to take action and the driving force to plan and move were beyond imagination.

Just then, he opened his mouth again.

“It’s also written in the plan, but in fact, the ones I was chasing were these guys.”

He picked up several wanted posters.

The four that were initially laid out on the top row.

“The Hellond Four.”

As soon as I heard that name, I let out a cry of admiration inwardly.

‘What! The Hellond Four were these bastards?’

They were guys who were mentioned in the original work.

They didn’t appear in a significant role, but they were written on the hunting list of Gwyn Gaiard, Ivan’s rival and the unfortunate genius overshadowed by the protagonist, so I knew their names at least.

Guys who were destined to become Gwyn Gaiard’s experience points in a year.

But a question followed.

If they were guys who would be defeated by Gwyn in a year, it meant that Evan had missed them at this point, which was a bit strange.

‘No matter if it’s four Judgment grades, with Evan’s combat power, it’s a guaranteed half-split for all of them. Is there something else?’

For example, being fast on their feet like Dayle.

And as expected, my guess was right.

“The Hellond Four. A bunch of famous contractors in the underworld who will do anything for money. Cruelty and a guaranteed mission success rate. And they’re quite popular with clients because of the peculiarity of the four of them moving together.”

“……”

“But they’re hard to catch because they act so secretly. The method of contact is a secret. The meeting place is a secret. In the first place, they say they don’t even meet unless you’re a VIP who has dealt with them before.”

Now that I look at it, under the composite sketch on the wanted poster, in small letters,

[Appearance may not be accurate]

It was attached like this.

A villain with unclear movements and even uncertain information.

Nevertheless, the reason Evan was trying to chase the Hellond Four must be purely for the money.

’15 gold per head.’

It was lower than Egor the Butcher, but since it was the price for elimination, not capture, it was high in a way.

In addition.

‘The four are a set.’

A characteristic of guys like these is that they have good loyalty and move around like one body.

In other words, if you could just find them, you could earn a whopping 60 gold at once.

“A few days ago, I happened to come across this news. The Hellond Four received a murder request and the target is a ‘witch’.”

“Ah? A witch, could it be this person?”

Yuria held up the Slaughter grade wanted poster she had pointed to just before.

The witch, Griselda.

That’s what was written on the wanted poster.

Her criminal record was enormous.

Kidnapping and murder were basic and she also committed inhumane acts like biological experiments and the incident that made her a ‘Slaughter’ grade was catching a cleric of the main god, Max Obje, sexually assaulting him and burning him to death.

So the one who issued the warrant for her was also the Obje Cult, the state religion of the empire.

‘She’s a complete psycho.’

Anyway.

Currently, the Hellond Four were after Griselda and it seemed that it wouldn’t be long before they met each other, given the circumstances.

In other words, if you just found Griselda, you would automatically meet the Hellond Four.

‘Wait. Does this mean the other two are in a similar situation?’

As if reading my thoughts, Evan nodded.

“The other two wanted criminals are also involved in this situation. Judgment grade villains, the twin brothers Mark and Fork. They are acting as elders in a heretical sect called the Church of Truth. The leader there is the witch, Griselda. The headquarters of the Church of Truth is in Iberito, where we are going now.”

Yuria’s and my heads nodded at the same time.

The background explanation was over.

All questions were answered and at the same time as I was convinced, the perception that I had thought was unrealistic changed in an instant, and it began to be drawn concretely in my head.

‘This is quite possible.’

My heart was already filled with anticipation and excitement.

Yuria, whose eyes met mine by chance, was the same.

“If we catch them all, it’s a whopping 50 gold per person, senior!”

……She seemed more excited than me at the thought of earning the bounty.

***

The Church of Truth.

A pseudo-religion that worships the witch, Griselda, as a god.

Of her, by her, for her alone.

The headquarters was hidden 5 km south of Iberito, but it was only hidden on the surface; in fact, everyone who knew, knew where the Church of Truth was.

So Iberito had the duty and responsibility to inform the capital of their existence and send troops to eliminate them.

But the Church of Truth still remains.

The reason is that Iberito, which should be active in judging heresy, is instead protecting them.

From the citizens on a small scale to the mayor on a large scale.

The Church of Truth was eating away at Iberito, and getting their help was practically impossible.

By the time we arrived in Iberito, a bluish darkness was pushing away the twilight.

We had departed in the morning, but we arrived in the late afternoon.

To attend Monday’s lecture, we had to take the last airship to Icata tomorrow afternoon.

In other words, the time we had left was 22 hours at most.

It was a tight schedule to catch seven wanted criminals, but no one showed any signs of being rushed.

From getting off the airship, having our identities checked, and leaving the station.

We didn’t say a single word.

We checked into the cheapest inn to drop off our luggage.

When two men and one woman got a room, the owner gave us a strange look, but he immediately averted his gaze when he met Evan’s eyes.

We went into the room, dropped off our luggage and immediately left the inn again.

The real plan was in three hours from now.

Until then, we had to go around the gambling dens and find the twin brothers, Mark and Fork.

“The two brothers are said to be serious gambling addicts. So on weekends, it’s their hobby to leave the headquarters and go to the gambling dens in Iberito.”

The twin brothers were elders of the Church of Truth, but they were also the leader’s bodyguards.

Today, when those bodyguards were away enjoying their hobby, was the chance for the Hellond Four.

“After we find the twin brothers, let’s meet at the inn in two hours.”

And we split up.

There were two gambling dens in Iberito.

A with small stakes and B with large stakes.

Yuria and I went to A, and Evan went to B.

“Welcome!”

A fat manager greets Yuria and me loudly as we arrive at A.

There, we acted like a couple who had come to a gambling den for the first time.

It was a useless act.

The gambling addicts’ eyes were red, and they were only interested in the cards and chips in their hands.

They didn’t even care who came in.

Thanks to that, we didn’t attract anyone’s attention and were able to look around the gambling den comfortably while waiting for the twin brothers.

And the promised two hours passed.

“……Senior.”

Yuria came over and nodded.

We had waited for two hours, but in the end, the twin brothers did not appear here, at ‘Tears of Adrea’.

That meant that today, they had gone to the B gambling den where Evan was, ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

So we left the gambling den and headed back to the inn.

When we went into the room, surprisingly, Evan was waiting for us.

“It seems they didn’t show up.”

“……Don’t tell me, there too?”

Evan shook his head.

I smiled.

“Well, we in Icata know the information that the Hellond Four are after the witch. There’s no way the Church of Truth wouldn’t know.”

“The interesting thing is that a rumor has spread that the twin brothers visited Iberito today.”

“Then it’s a trap.”

The answer came out immediately.

The witch was setting a trap and luring the Hellond Four.

“The Hellond Four, convinced that the twin brothers are away, will ambush the witch today, and the witch will ambush them in return. Is that right?”

“An accurate summary.”

Yuria’s lips, who had been praised by Evan for the first time, are about to dance with a twitch.

“In that case, I’ll change the plan.”

Our original goal was to defeat them one by one.

First, kill the twin brothers.

Then, kill the witch and the Hellond Four.

More specifically, we would successfully kill the witch and then strike the Hellond Four when their strength was exhausted.

But since it has come to this, it’s just a frontal assault.

“We’re going in too. Into the enemy’s camp.”

Evan continued.

“I’ll say this in advance, it will be a chaotic battle and I may not have the luxury to look after you. However……”

Evan, who saw me and Yuria, who had not a shred of tension, continued.

“……It seems like a needless worry.”

One Slaughter grade and six Judgment grade.

It was a threatening force that would require at least a private knight order to be dispatched to completely subdue them.

However.

If it was a Judgment grade villain, Yuria was capable of handling one on her own and as for me, there was no need to say anything.

Even without using my thief powers, I could handle about two with ease.

And Evan, who had fought with us, was not unaware of that.

“Let’s go.”

A daily wage of 50 gold was waiting for us.

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