“Hey, you. Can’t you hear me? You, with the reddish-brown head.”
Jacksen ignored him again. Watching this, Enkrid thought once again how fortunate it was that he brought Jacksen. What if it had been Rem?
“Was that guy just calling me?”
It would be a relief if an axe didn't fly along with his words. Jacksen just ignores him. What a relief.
However, the one being ignored must be quite displeased.
“This bastard, I'm Polid Lockfreed!”
So what.
Jacksen's eyes seemed to say. Fortunately, Leona came down before things could escalate. Leona, who came down with her wet nurse, smiled brightly.
“You're late.”
“Late? What on earth is that guy you brought as an escort doing...”
“You sent them, didn't you?”
‘Hm?’
Leona walked over lightly and cut off the chattering Polid with a question. Polid tilted his head, asking what she meant. Leona's hand cut through the air.
Slap!
‘Wow.’
Enkrid marveled inwardly. Without any warning, Leona slapped the man's cheek. It was a crisp swing and a satisfying strike.
So much so that the man who was slapped was speechless for a while. The man named Polid, his head still turned, only moved his eyes to look at Leona.
“You were the one who did it, you crazy bastard.”
Leona's clear and lovely voice rang out. He felt he needed to correct the answer he gave Krais. That woman was harsh.
To other people. Shing, shing, shing! Multiple people drew their swords and weapons.
With a single slap, the atmosphere turned murderous. Enkrid didn't draw his weapon, but he stood behind Leona. Jacksen was beside him, and the Elf Company Commander silently held her ground.
“Th-th-this crazy bitch, you really want to die.”
Only then did Polid clutch his puffy cheek and speak.
“You're the one who's going to die. Do you know where you are, spending money and hiring men so recklessly? Did you think you wouldn't get caught?”
Enkrid watched, wondering what this was all about. He also thought things were turning out to be quite interesting. The inns of the Border Guard also served as meeting places for the guilds.
This was because no official residences were built within the base. Thanks to that, the inn business had flourished. That was why these people had gathered here.
The innkeeper, watching over the hall, widened his eyes. It was a situation where someone was suddenly slapped and weapons were drawn on each other. Even he, who had been through all sorts of things, wore a troubled expression.
The owner rolled his eyes a few times, then, having made a decision, turned on his heel toward the inside of the kitchen. He'd given up. He was a wise man.
Since he couldn't stop them or intervene anyway. The fortunate thing was that they had agreed to compensate for all damages caused here in the name of the Lockfreed Guild. That's why he could be so relaxed.
As he entered the kitchen, he did shoot a glance at Enkrid.
‘Nothing too serious will happen, right? It'll be okay, right?’
He and the innkeeper, Allen, were casually acquainted. Enkrid gave a nod, unseen by the others. The woman named Leona was not stupid.
Therefore, she wouldn't create a situation where swords would clash here. So, even though the atmosphere was menacing, this commotion was all there would be.
“Because you're so stupid, the predecessor didn't entrust the guild to you.”
Leona spoke.
She seemed completely unconcerned with her opponent's defiance or force. Her whole being radiated the thought, ‘No matter what happens, would you dare touch me?’ Enkrid got a strange feeling.
It was entirely due to the attitude the woman named Leona displayed.
‘Bold.’
What should one call this? It was a talent for cutting off any chance for the opponent to resist or speak.
“Tell me where this is. Right now.”
She gritted her teeth and yelled, and the man named Polid, intimidated, opened his mouth without realizing it.
“Th-the Border Guard.”
“That's right, you moron, this is the Border Guard. You recklessly hire a guild of back-alley thugs and swindlers here? Even while knowing I'm being escorted by the Border Guard's standing army?”
“... That I did that, no, I never, that there was a Border Guard escort, I found out later...”
He's been crushed by her momentum. The man named Polid not only spouted nonsense, but his hands also trembled.
Shing, thak!
At Polid's nonsense, the man standing behind him drew his sword about a thumb's length before sheathing it again. At that sound, Polid seemed to snap back to his senses and changed his words.
“I-it wasn't me! Someone framed me!”
Looking at the situation, a picture began to form.
‘He must have prepared to deny it was him before coming.’
And yet, swept up in the atmosphere, he almost confessed everything.
“Tch.”
Leona clicked her tongue. Then she scraped a chair back and sat down. Crossing her legs in her leather pants, she took out a cigarette from her breast pocket and put it in her mouth.
“Light.”
The wet nurse lifted a candlestick and lit it for her.
“Sit. Aren't we going to discuss the succession rights?”
These were the words of the woman who had caused both sides to draw weapons and face off. A puff of smoke rose from her lips. Polid also pulled a chair out roughly and sat down.
If a sword fight broke out here, who would be at a disadvantage? Did he even consider where the two squads of soldiers guarding the outside were dispatched from? Soon, the two began to talk.
It was time for them to trade blows over what they had prepared for the succession. In other words, it was a string of words Enkrid couldn't understand.
“You want to inherit the guild when you can't even interpret the trade route maps? Have you memorized all the trade ciphers? You?”
“Th-things like that can be done by a steward! More importantly, I am the legitimate heir. Some wench who's been rolling around outside...”
“The predecessor acknowledged that I was qualified to inherit the guild. You're going to break that?" "You claim you should inherit because you're the legitimate heir, which is a claim based on inheriting the predecessor's blood, right?" "But you can't accept what the predecessor declared, and yet you, with no ability, want to take the guild just because you inherited his blood?" "I'm sure the others will readily acknowledge that.”
Enkrid listened roughly and let it pass. From the way she spoke to the way she controlled the atmosphere, everything pointed to Leona's victory.
‘So, as a last-ditch coin toss, he attempted an assassination.’
And as it happened, there was a group in the Border Guard that took on such jobs. Was this considered resourceful? Or should it be called idiotic?
The two chattered on for quite a while longer. To Enkrid's ears, it seemed Leona was sitting here just to mock her opponent.
“Are you really the predecessor's son? You don't look like him at all. It makes one suspicious.”
“Damn it, what? What did you say? Th-then are you saying my mother received some other bastard's se-seed!”
He was so angry that puffy-cheeked Polid stuttered.
Bang!
He then slammed the table, spewing his anger, but...
“Hoo, so it turns out that way? That wasn't my intention.”
It was Leona who controlled the situation as she exhaled her smoke. But, was this woman always like this? Wasn't she supposed to be modest and quiet?
He didn't know. In truth, he had only seen her for two days, and the words they had exchanged would not amount to fifty sentences at most. Everyone has two sides and isn't simple, after all.
“You damn bitch!”
“Don't run your mouth so carelessly, you ugly bastard.”
“This wench!”
The man who had held back even when his mother was insulted raised a hand to the shortsword at his waist at the single word 'ugly'. Seeing that, Enkrid quietly gripped the hilt of his sword. This was a place guarded by an escort from the Border Guard.
He couldn't just stand by and watch a sword fight break out. One of the reasons that raised the value of the city called Border Guard was that it allowed everyone, whether from guilds or the nobility, to settle disputes with a battle of wits, not swords. Of course, they used swords and assassinations behind the scenes.
But to draw a sword on an opponent right in front of you like this? That was asking to be killed. Jacksen was on my right, and the company commander stood a step behind, as if watching a show.
With my hand on the hilt, I put Polid's escort within my sword's range.
‘First step, to the left.’
Draw the sword and bring it down from above in a crown cut. There's no time to get into a proper stance, so it must be done simultaneously with the draw. The swordsman on Polid's side, now in my range, also reacted.
His arm dropped, extending longer. What kind of swordsmanship would he use? For a moment, Enkrid hoped the opponent would attack.
Logically, he knew it would never happen, but... Still, he wished for it.
‘What kind of sword is it?’
If it's fast, how fast is it? Faster than Rem's axe? Even faster than the half-elf's Whistle Dagger?
I want to experience it. I want to face it. I want to fight it.
It was a thirst for battle. He purely wanted to gauge his skill. A surge of heat warmed his body.
If he attacks, I cut him down. A strange current formed between the two. In the middle of it, the man named Polid broke out in a cold sweat.
Should I draw my sword here? If I don't, will I look like I'm scared? All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind.
Leona despised such an opponent. He should either draw his sword or talk his way out of it. If he couldn't do either, he shouldn't have started it.
As expected, if not for the predecessor's will, she would have had no business with him. A strange standoff continued, and the inn fell silent. It was then.
Thump.
The sound of the inn door opening was heard. The thick wooden door swung wide open, hitting the wall. Thanks to the person who forcefully pushed the door open, Enkrid's field of vision widened.
The opponent also relaxed his stance. As if by a silent agreement, the two took half a step back.
‘Good grief.’
I'm not Rem, yet I was so crazy for a fight I almost drew my sword without considering the situation. Enkrid sighed inwardly and turned his head. He saw a familiar face.
It was Torres of the frontier garrison. Five others in similar attire followed behind him. Over their tunics, they wore brown leather armor with a lattice pattern, and over that, a maroon coat with an eagle insignia on the shoulder.
“We are the Royal Direct Army's frontier garrison. We've come to arrest the mastermind who instigated the disturbance by commissioning the Azpen spies.”
“Heek.”
Polid let out a stupid groan. At that, his escort moved to his side and gripped his shoulder. Enkrid was curious about their relationship.
It didn't seem like a simple employer-employee relationship.
“You dragged Azpen's dogs into a succession fight?”
At Torres's words, Polid's face turned pale, but... Leona was unfazed.
‘Who called the frontier garrison?’
Enkrid watched the situation, thinking such thoughts.
“I will arrest all of you.”
The person who reacted to Torres's words was neither Polid nor Leona.
“Are you saying you'll detain someone without evidence? This man is to inherit the Lockfreed Guild. Surely you haven't been bought off by the other side, have you?”
It was someone behind Polid. A man with brown hair and plain clothes stepped forward. Medicine, meaning a bribe.
At the man's words, Torres frowned, then smirked and replied.
“... What a funny son of a bitch.”
He openly expressed his displeasure. But the man had a point. What was the reason for a large guild to hold a meeting and discuss succession issues in the Border Guard?
It was because the Border Guard's standing army always maintained neutrality. It was a known fact that if trouble was started within the Border Guard, the standing army would intervene. However, they had promised to remain neutral in all matters.
To arrest someone here without evidence would be ripe for misunderstanding in many ways, which was the same as saying they couldn't be arrested.
‘Was this intentional?’
The other side had used their heads as well. Torres knew that too, which was why he couldn't just cut off the funny son of a bitch's head at once. A short silence, thick with tension.
The one who broke the silence was Leona.
“A bribe? Of course not.”
First, she denied the funny son of a bitch's words.
“Of course, it's possible that someone from the guild brought in Azpen's spies.”
That was the next thing she added.
“Hm?”
At Leona's words, Polid was startled again and his jaw dropped, but he quickly closed his mouth, conscious of the gazes around him. Seeing that, even Enkrid almost sighed. Good grief, it was as if he was openly admitting he did it.
“We don't know yet. That's why I called them. The frontier garrison.”
She called them? Even Enkrid was surprised by this.
Leona continued.
“I request detainment until this matter is cleared up. For both heirs. And then we find the evidence.”
Leona looked around at everyone. Her talent for changing the flow of events with just a few words was remarkable.
“I heard there's a mastermind who escaped. Let's capture him alive and make him confess.”
A deliberate move, a checkmate. In chess terms, it was checkmate. There was no escape.
If they catch and torture him, would he be able to endure it? He heard the ones they caught now were taken to the barracks, but none of them knew who the mastermind was. They all said in unison that their leader knew everything.
That leader must be the one who escaped.
“Very well, Lady Leona. But what if he never shows up?”
The plainly dressed, brown-haired man turned his gaze to Leona and asked.
“Then, it would no longer be a matter for the frontier garrison to be involved in.”
Leona replied.
“Afterward, it would be a matter for the guilds to discuss amongst themselves. It would be proper to return to our home city to determine the succession and ask the key figures of the guild about qualifications.”
The brown-haired man finished with a smiling-eyed glance. He had grasped the core of the issue.
‘Once we leave the city.’
Could Leona handle Polid's escort troops? It doesn't seem likely.
“I am a merchant. I don't ask for things without compensation. To the one who finds and brings him to me first, I will give this.”
As she spoke, Leona took out a dagger and placed it on the table. A long, slender blade, a black leather sheath covering it—it was a stiletto-type dagger.
“The Carmen Collection?”
Someone recognized it. Enkrid saw Jacksen take a step forward from beside him. His friend, who was indifferent to most things, was moved by a single dagger?
Of course, it was a weapon of that much value, but...
‘Unexpected.’
Carmen, a famous assassin who operated with weapons he forged himself. Though in truth, his skill in weapon crafting was greater than his skill in assassination. The weapons he made are called the Carmen Collection.
The weapon she just took out was one of them. It was a master craftsman's dagger, said not to hold a single drop of blood even after stabbing and pulling it out of a person.
“Hey, why are you putting that up as you please?”
“Because this is mine. A gift from the predecessor.”
Polid argued something, but Leona ignored him and affirmed her offer.
“It's yours. Go catch him.”
With that, a bounty had been placed. And Enkrid thought things were taking a strange turn.
‘But I already ordered him to be caught.’
Even as he thought that, Enkrid once again admired Leona's resourcefulness.
‘She calls the frontier garrison to buy time, and puts up a bounty to get what she wants.’
She created a situation that was good for everyone. Except for the man named Polid. In any case, just by catching him, one could earn over several hundred thousand krona.
It was enough to make everyone's eyes turn red.
“I will bring him.”
And unexpectedly, there was someone here who readily showed his will.
“I'll go myself.”
It was Jacksen. He wasn't just talking; he looked confident, too. Enkrid looked at Jacksen and nodded.
It was the first time Jacksen had stepped forward so proactively.
‘He must really want it.’
It made him think so. It wouldn't be a difficult task. Who was responsible for the night and the back alleys of this city, the Border Guard?
The Gilfin Guild. And the master of that guild, Krais, was currently one of Enkrid's squad members. Moreover, he had already been concerned and told him to keep the man detained.
In other words, the prize was already half in his hands.