Chapter 138

RMSBS – Episode 138 . Tracing the Attack (2)

It only took two days for the airship to reach Altea, the capital city of the Magical Kingdom from Grinpell .

When Altea finally appeared through the window, Kei gathered everyone from Desir’s party .

“We will arrive in the capital shortly . Let us terminate your contract at this point . Thank you for your hard work . ”

Kei signed their contracts, designating them as a completed mission .

The mercenary contract would be fully terminated once they submitted their signed contract to the mercenary guild in the Magical Kingdom . They would also receive the balance of the bounty .

The first main questline would be cleared with this .

After saying bye to Kei, Pram spoke up, as they headed back to their rooms .

“This quest was quite simple for a Level Three Shadow World . "

“It’s not over, so you can’t quite relax yet, Pram . ”

Pram nodded at Desir’s sage advice .

If things went smoothly, the Shadow World would have been cleared . However, they were forced to enter the hidden second main questline .

Desir’s face was filled with anxiety since even he didn’t know anything about these series of events . It wasn’t even recorded in the history books they had studied up on .

Desir glanced at the room where Kei and he had held a conversation .

‘Under normal circumstances, the first quest and the second quest tend to be related in a major way . I wanted to collect as much information as possible… ’

Sword Grand Master, Kei Hazmaryoon was not one who was easily befriended .

Though his likability with Kei had sufficiently increased, he still didn’t say anything beyond what was necessary .

He was never loose-lipped, even when he was chuckling affably . If anyone attempted to delve into a sensitive topic just a little bit, he’d block them by changing the topic .

As a result, Desir had to give up on getting information out of him .

Leaving his disappointment behind, he loitered around for a while . The airship landed on the field soon enough .

Altea had a lifeless atmosphere compared to lively Grinpell .

The skyline was blocked by skyscrapers . People wore dark-colored clothes and were very quiet .

As Desir’s party descended onto the landing field, someone walked towards their airship . It was a middle-aged man with a big scar on his cheek .

Desir secretly ascertained their mana circle . He was roughly a Fifth-Circle . Even for the Magic Kingdom, which had an incomparably stronger magical force than other kingdoms, to be a Fifth-Circle mage was no simple feat . This man was powerful .

*Thump*

*Thump*

Soldiers saluted him in unison as they saw him .

But he frowned as if seeing something utterly unpleasant .

He saluted Kei who was standing on the deck half-heartedly .

“Good job, Major Kei Hazmaryoon . ”

“Commander Darren Aleph, we successfully obtained ingredients, so you don’t have to visit us like this . ”

“Well done for completing this mission with such a body that is utterly devoid of magic . ”

“… It was definitely not easy . It would be the same for magicians . ”

He chuckled .

“Do not make a mistake of equating swords and magic, Grand Master . While we magicians split the ocean and blow away mountains, you’d slice with your sword through a few mere obstacles at most . Even though you’re referred to as the Grand Master, you’re no exception . ”

He jabbed his finger at Kei’s chest . His attitude was certainly very rude .

However, Kei laughed and brushed his hand away .

“So, what did you visit us for? I don’t think you came all this way here just to tell me that . ”

“I’m here to check if all the ingredients arrived safely . It’d be very troublesome to have any issues before we commence the experiment . Anywho, who are those people?”

He gestured at Desir standing on the side .

“They’re the mercenaries that I hired to guard the airship . ”

Guards for the airship .

Desir did not miss it, even though it was only made as a passing comment .

‘We were hired to guard Aldin though . ’

Desir realized Kei was hiding the existence of Aldin Sepius . He didn’t know why, but it was certain that Aldin couldn’t be exposed here .

“That’s unusual . I didn’t think you’d hire mercenaries . ”

“It’s because we lost too many subordinates to carry out the order of his majesty . ”

“In some ways, it’s a natural consequence . Why do you operate soldiers with weapons in this day and age? You are the only unit that uses weapons now . ”

He looked around the soldiers, then spoke with a wide smile .

“Well, it’s very easy to get soldiers with weapons . Your management is worth considering, in the sense that what you work with is always available in great supply . ”

“Commander, I would appreciate it if you would avoid speaking as if my subordinates are expendable . ”

“Why? Are you offended?”

There was a long pause .

Kei stared at Darren quietly .

“Well, anyway, I want to see the ingredients . ”

“… This way . ”

Kei spoke, but he looked incredibly subdued . He glanced at Desir’s party and gestured at one of the officers .

“Officer Penen, please take the soldiers to the guild carefully . They wouldn’t know their way around here . ”

“Yes, sir . ”

* * *

Officer Penen was quite an interesting man . He had introduced Desir’s party to Kei right at the beginning . He grabbed a carriage and joined Desir’s party .

Desir looked back at the airship .

“That man… However high his rank may be, he’s way too rude . ”

Penen shook his head from side to side .

“Well, that’s what it is like . Magic skill is the standard for everything in the Magical Kingdom . ”

Just as he had said, everything was decided by magic skill in the Magical Kingdom . The most excellent magician became the king .

“As you’ve seen in person, nobody can reach Major Kei’s sword skill, but people in the Magical Kingdom are overly proud of their superb magic skill . They detest and are ashamed of soldiers that wield weapons . I consider it a miracle that Major Kei got promoted to the rank of major at all . ”

His title of Sword Grand Master suited him perfectly, seeing his piercing energy he employed while cutting down that Transcendent Wyvern .

But his rank was only a major . The most powerful swordsman of his times . It was unthinkable for a man with his skills to be treated like this .

“You must respect Kei very much . ”

“Of course . Not just me, everyone in the unit must feel the same as I do . Major took care of and trained people like myself who have no talent in magic . He made our lives livable . I would do anything for him . ”

Penen’s voice was very dignified, evidently filled with pride .

“There was hardly anyone who could keep up such a rude attitude in front of him until now, due to his majesty’s favor . But since his majesty began to favor some magician from a foreign country, things like that have become increasingly common . ”

Penen finished with a sigh .

They arrived at the mercenary guild while chatting away .

Penen bowed his head slightly when all of Desir’s party got off the carriage .

“Thank you for your hard work . ”

The officer closed the door and went away .

Desir felt he had gained some small details that might come in handy later .

‘I’ve got great information . ’

Desir’s party handed the receptionist their mercenary contracts from the Sword Grand Master in the mercenary guild .

As expected, they got a system message .

[-‘The last hurrah’ Quest has been completed . ]

[The main quest in progress remains . ]

[Please complete the remaining quest to receive a full clear . ]

[Rewards will be added up after clearing the remaining quest . ]

Desir stretched his arms .

“So we have one last quest . ”

The remaining quest was the elimination of the power backing Pureus .

Their clue was a fragment of a mana cluster they had obtained after killing the Alchemist .

Desir pulled out the mana cluster . There was a serial number on its backside .

3-BYET_

The last letter of the serial number was illegible .

Desir pondered aloud .

“Mana clusters were only manufactured in the Magical Kingdom . They were managed very securely to prevent the technique from leaking . ”

In order to make magical artifacts, a catalyst was required to gather the mana .

In the modern days, mana stones were created by an enchanting method designed by Zod, whereas the only way to mass-produce a similar tool in these times was making something like the mana cluster they held a piece of .

It was obvious how valuable mana clusters would have been .

People were only allowed to purchase them after a strict background investigation .

Romantica spoke up .

“As mana clusters are thoroughly managed, there must be records of people who bought them . We need to check those and find out who purchased the mana cluster matching this serial number . ”

“But there’s no way they’ll show such records to outsiders like us, is there?”

Pram’s comment was absolutely correct . There was no way an outsider like them could look at such sensitive internal records .

“Yes, I suppose so . But, just because they aren’t willing to show us, doesn’t mean that we cannot see them . ”

“What?”

Desir turned to Pram .

“You don’t always have to use gentlemanly means . ”

—-

Chapter brought to you by Kevin H .

ED2: Purplemen101

TLC: N/A

QC: Dr Lock