Chapter 33: Sudden Change (3)

For a moment, my heart jolted as if it had malfunctioned.

That’s how shocked I was.

To think that the name Bandarok would pop up here, now.

“…Bandarok?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Of course, I know about them.”

“Hehe. Of course, you would. I phrased my question poorly. In fact, though you may or may not know, Bandarok is affiliated with our cult.”

As he said this, Guartes cautiously gauged my reaction.

Seeing no change in my expression, he nodded as if he had expected as much.

“As expected. You knew this too.”

“Information is power to us. Anyway, stop beating around the bush and get to the point. Why are you bringing up Bandarok to me now?”

At my question, Guartes wiped the smile from his face.

His expression turned noticeably serious.

“Bandarok’s master, Narsi. He made a request. A few days ago, one of his items was stolen, and it’s caused a significant setback to the cult’s plans.”

As expected, this was about the elixir, ‘Fierce Conviction.’

For now, I played dumb and clicked my tongue.

“That’s unfortunate.”

“So, here’s the thing. Just as you retrieved the bishop’s holy relic, could you possibly help the master recover that item?”

“No. I can’t.”

After all, it had already been absorbed into my body, and the rest had long since been flushed out as piss.

How could I retrieve that?

Of course, saying that outright would spark a war with Bandarok on the spot, so I gave a different excuse.

“Currently, Shadow doesn’t take on any requests other than the cult’s Academy operation. You know that, don’t you? It’s a contract clause set by the cult itself.”

“I understand completely. But given the circumstances, there’s been a lot of talk within the cult.”

A side job?

I shrugged, and a small crease formed between Guartes’s brows.

“Then, if you can’t recover the item, could you at least track down the thief’s identity? The cult is in a difficult position.”

“You’re making me repeat myself. I said Shadow only takes requests related to the Academy operation.”

“Sigh. I didn’t want to bring this up, but some within the cult are even suspecting the master as the thief.”

What, really?

Damn. Then I’d better get on it right away.

Did you think I’d say that?

Suddenly, I leaned in close to Guartes’s face, locked eyes with him, and gave a sly smile.

“So. What do you want me to do about it?”

“…!”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but did you call me here just to throw around threats like this?”

Guartes’s expression turned icy cold.

But he quickly softened his demeanor and waved his hands dismissively.

“No, no, that’s not it at all. What I meant was…”

“If I’m the thief? Are you going to turn Shadow into an enemy? Or if I’m not the thief? What then? What about the Academy operation afterward? Is there another organization that can replace Shadow?”

That’s right.

This is why I can act so confident.

Our credibility with the Beltus Cult is practically unmatched.

Sure, there are factions within the cult that oppose us.

But after perfectly executing the last two requests, we’ve silenced even their criticisms.

Finding another organization with the skill and reputation to replace us now is next to impossible.

And no one knows this better than the messenger standing before me, Guartes.

Guartes grimaced and let out a low groan.

“Ugh. Please, don’t misunderstand. Most of the higher-ups, including myself, hold Shadow in high regard.”

Of course. I know that.

That’s why I, with nothing to my name, can act this bold.

“I’m only saying this because I hope the relationship between the cult and Shadow continues for a long, long time.”

As Guartes hurriedly strung together his excuses, a person I’d forgotten about suddenly flashed into my mind.

“…But. Since the cult is a valuable client, it wouldn’t be right to completely ignore you.”

At my words, Guartes’s expression gradually brightened.

“That means…!”

“You know about the thief who’s been causing a stir at the Academy recently, right?”

Instead of answering, Guartes’s eyes widened.

‘Wasn’t that you?’ his expression seemed to ask.

“I’ll say it again: we don’t break contracts. Anything outside of cult-related requests has nothing to do with us. Naturally, the recent thief uproar at the Academy isn’t our doing either.”

“Huh. I see.”

“But a few days ago, while working, I clashed with a suspicious guy. He was after Might of the Giant.”

I then spun a suitably embellished story about the thief and shared it with Guartes.

When the story was over, Guartes’s face was thoroughly crumpled.

“…Such a thing.”

“Yeah. At first, I thought he was a thief hired by the cult from another region.”

“What? Absolutely not. That would be a breach of contract.”

“Exactly. So, I think this guy is behind both the Academy thief fiasco and Narsi’s incident. Of course, I’m not certain.”

“No, from what you’ve said, I’m convinced it’s him.”

He seemed to believe my fabrication without a shred of doubt, his eyes glinting with murderous intent.

Was this the result of all the trust we’d painstakingly built up?

A sense of pride made me smile involuntarily.

So, is the conversation over?

I’m tired of looking at this guy’s face.

“Is that all?”

“Ah. No, there’s one last thing. I need to convey the next request.”

Ugh. Tell that to Luis.

“As it happens, the request I was to deliver today is related to this thief incident. It arose because of it.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. But it’s something you’ll need to handle as quickly as possible.”

As quickly as possible?

That sounds ominous.

But strangely, the unease feels… good.

Living in constant tension must have fried the frontal lobe that handles my emotions.

“You must know Ged, the librarian at the Vault.”

I do.

He’s the one locked up in my place right now.

And around this time, I instinctively knew what the request was.

“Rescue Ged.”

* * *

Ged was a far more important spy for the Beltus Cult than one might expect.

His sole mission from the cult was simple.

To transcribe the Secret Tomes in the Vault and deliver them to the cult.

But the transcriptions didn’t just contain information about the Secret Tomes.

The methods to counter Visions.

That was the real crux.

A former Vision researcher, Ged was an expert in Visions.

His personal flaw? An insatiable greed for money.

To someone like him, the Vault was nothing short of a treasure trove for making cash.

As a librarian, he began trading transcriptions of Visions and their countermeasures with the cult.

In the main storyline, this becomes a significant weakness for the Empire in the latter half, but how could Ged possibly know that?

Looking solely at this incident, the fact that Ged was caught earlier in this world’s timeline could be seen as rather hopeful for the Empire.

But that’s a miscalculation.

Ged holds one more critical piece of information.

‘The counter to Frey Royal Swordsmanship.’

How many other Vision counters had been handed over was, frankly, irrelevant.

This counter to the Royal Swordsmanship—used by all the Empire’s knights and as the primary swordsmanship for seventy percent of them—was more critical than any other Vision counter.

The cunning Ged knew this better than anyone.

That’s why he didn’t immediately hand over the Royal Swordsmanship counter to the cult.

He hid it somewhere.

His insurance policy.

And now, that insurance was proving its worth in this very situation.

“Rescue Ged.”

More precisely, ‘Find the counter to the Royal Swordsmanship that he’s hidden,’ but the cult, not fully trusting me, only asked for Ged’s rescue.

My choice was obviously to refuse.

Why?

If the counter to the Royal Swordsmanship falls into the cult’s hands, the outcome of the war in the latter half is as clear as day.

If the cult wins that war, the continent falls into the hands of demons.

A future that must be prevented at all costs.

But I don’t have a valid reason to refuse.

Damn it.

All that talk about contracts and clauses earlier has now become a perfect blunder against me.

What should I do?

I tapped my fingers on the table.

For now, I had no choice but to accept the request.

The problem was what came next.

Rescue Ged first, then take him to the mountains and push him off a cliff?

Or pretend to rescue him but take him to the Central Knights’ headquarters instead?

Several methods came to mind, but they all led to one outcome.

Mission failure.

The trust we’d worked so hard to build with the cult would crumble again.

Then Guartes’s voice pierced my ears.

“Of course, the reward will be generous. 20 gold.”

20 gold is ten million won in real-world money.

“…And, given the tight deadline and the sudden nature of this urgent request, we’ll offer 30 gold.”

No.

Fifteen million won.

Fifteen million won for a single request.

That makes the request even harder to pass up.

Rescuing Ged while still securing the reward.

Is there some revolutionary, selfish method that benefits only me?

As I pondered, a bolt of lightning struck my mind.

There is.

A way to succeed in the request without rescuing Ged.

It sounds like nonsense, but as the plan vaguely took shape and I examined it, it was nonsense that made sense.

Plus, if I played my cards right, I could even gain favor with the Academy…

“What do you think?”

Guartes’s timely question prompted me to nod.

“35 gold.”

Guartes blinked dumbly and asked again.

“Pardon?”

“35 gold.”

“No, 30 gold is already generous.”

“I’ll finish it within 48 hours.”

“Hm. In that case, fine. 35 gold.”

“But there’s a condition.”

“…Isn’t it usually the other way around? Shouldn’t we be the ones setting conditions?”

I ignored him and stated my terms.

“Ged is likely in the underground facility of the Research Building at the heart of the campus. The only place in the Academy suitable for holding a villain is the underground containment room of the Villain Behavior Research Lab in the Research Building. Naturally, that place has a high level of security among the facilities.”

A glint of admiration briefly flashed in Guartes’s eyes as he looked at me.

It seemed my ability to pinpoint Ged’s location immediately upon hearing the request made me look like a professional in his eyes.

“Impressive! You grasp the Academy’s situation as if it’s the back of your hand?”

“The issue is the current campus atmosphere. That place is already hard to infiltrate, and the recent thief incident has heightened security even further. Combat will be unavoidable.”

“Then your condition is…”

“Right. As you know, I’m a thief. Combat isn’t my forte. I need escorts to handle the fighting for me.”

“Hmm.”

Guartes stroked his chin with a serious expression.

A stark contrast to his earlier willingness to raise the reward.

But soon enough, he readily agreed to my condition.

“I can assign about two people.”

“Their skill level?”

“Both are top-notch, each capable of handling three guards single-handedly.”

That was perfect.

“But, Master, isn’t this more of a request than a condition?”

I ignored him again.

“The operation is tomorrow. Before sunrise tomorrow morning, bring Ged here.”

“Excellent. Then where and when should I send the fighters?”

I told him the planned location and time, then parted ways.

* * *

The next day passed in a whirlwind.

I barely paid attention to lectures.

The professor, a cult affiliate, was droning on about something, but none of it registered.

So I sat through the lecture.

And, oddly, I spent time coaching Yuria, who was seeking me out more than before, on her swordsmanship.

“How was it? Did I improve a lot from yesterday?”

“Yeah. Amazing.”

“Put some soul into it, senior.”

“Yeah. Amazing, amazing.”

“…”

My mind was entirely consumed with thoughts of tonight’s operation.

Infiltrating the Research Building where Ged was held wasn’t much of an issue.

I already knew everything: the internal layout, the positions of security posts, the patrol routes of the guards, and the side paths for a quick escape in an emergency.

I’d gathered all this information when I worked on the artifact, ‘Might of the Giant.’ And now, it was proving useful again.

The variable was the two escorts Guartes would send.

Who were they? And how skilled were they? The difficulty of this operation hinged on that.

If they were weaker than me, no problem.

But if they were stronger… honestly, that would complicate things.

Because the final act of my plan involved me fighting and defeating both of them alone.

As Cadet Gerard, not as a thief.

Well, I figured, ‘They’re probably around Guartes’s level, cleric-class at best.’

“That should be enough.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“You just said ‘enough.’ Enough of what? What’s enough?”

I was so lost in thought I forgot Yuria was next to me.

“Oh, that? Obviously, your achievement in high-speed swordsmanship just now. It was good. You’ve been practicing a lot, haven’t you?”

Yuria’s lips pursed at my torrent of praise.

“Liar.”

“…”

Strange.

Like with Luis before, does my face give me away when I lie?

“Just kidding.”

“Oh, come on.”

A soft chuckle escaped her lips.

“Actually, I’ve been coming out every night for early morning training.”

“At night?”

“Yeah. So I’m glad you noticed.”

Yuria looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

Was it guilt? The moment our eyes met, I instinctively turned my head to the side.

“And also, I might catch the thief, you know?”

Her sudden words made me look back at her.

What’s this about?

“The thief?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t mean the Vault incident?”

Nod, nod.

“It’s a big deal among the cadets right now. They’re all talking about catching the thief to earn extra points.”

Come to think of it, the cadets still didn’t know that Ged had been caught as the culprit behind the Vault incident.

The Academy’s leadership hadn’t disclosed that fact.

For the cadets—especially the freshmen who’d just entered the Academy, full of ambition—this was a golden opportunity to make a name for themselves.

“You too?”

“Training comes first.”

But she didn’t outright deny it.

Ugh, my head.

The incident at the Cemetery suddenly came to mind, but I hoped it was just needless worry.

No way.

“Skip it today.”

“What? Why!”

“Aren’t you going to learn magic? If a healthy body is the condition for a great swordsman, a clear mind is the condition for a great mage. If you want to learn magic, you need to manage your sleep strictly from now on.”

Yuria opened her mouth to protest, but I quickly added,

“And you look exhausted. Look at this. Your face is already showing it.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. You haven’t looked in a mirror, have you? You’ve got dark circles here. Your skin’s getting dull too.”

“No way! Don’t look!”

Yuria frantically covered her face with both arms.

But my relentless fingers wouldn’t let her escape.

“Wow, what’s this? The skin around your eyes is already folding? A bit longer, and you’ll get wrinkles.”

“No way! My skin’s great.”

“Sure, I’ll give you that. But how long do you think that firmness will last?”

“…”

“Look at my face. It’s totally worn out. This is all because I failed at sleep management.”

Yuria parted her fingers slightly and peeked at me through the gap.

I drove the point home.

“You could end up like me in just two years.”

Her eyes widened.

Apparently, becoming like me was the last thing she wanted, and she quickly relented.

“Fine. Okay.”

What’s this? I convinced her, but I feel oddly disappointed.

“Ahem. Anyway, Yuria, I’ll make a night training schedule for your timetable, so follow that from now on.”

“So I won’t age?”

“…Yeah. I’m speaking from experience.”

“Okay.”

Before we knew it, we’d arrived in front of the dormitory building.

When I stopped walking, Yuria looked at me with a hint of reluctance.

“Go in.”

“Okay.”

“And I said clearly: go straight to bed tonight.”

“…Yeees.”

I watched Yuria trudge off, then returned to my own dormitory.

“The cadets might get involved, huh…”

It was new information, but it didn’t matter.

Nothing changed.

The plan stayed the same.

After one final review, I checked my equipment.

Soon, the appointed time arrived.

Leaving the Academy, I headed to the meeting point to rendezvous with the escorts sent by the cult.

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