Chapter 7

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: There Is No Mercy 7

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"......"

"The information guild won't share anything that might harm them, no matter how much you pay. But the thieves' guild will. Right?"

"The way you're putting it, it sounds like we're the kind of scum who pick the dirty jobs......"

"Stealing is a dirty job. What, you think it's charity work?"

"......"

The woman clamped her mouth shut, apparently at a loss for words. After a brief pause, she spoke slowly.

"Is asking for information compulsory? What if I say no?"

"It's not compulsory."

"And then you'll shut me down and drag me off starting tomorrow?"

"Come on."

I shook my head with a small laugh.

"I'm a businesswoman. I don't do things like that. Dragging people off......"

As if I'd stoop to something so crude.

I flashed a grin back at the woman, whose expression had softened.

"Instead of dragging you off, starting tomorrow, I'll slap taxes on the thieves' guild."

"......"

"All hundred years' worth that you haven't paid so far. So it'd be great if you just answered without wasting energy."

I tilted my head. What'll it be?

The woman's brow furrowed.

She glared at me, sighed, set down the pen in her hand, and finally spoke.

"It's Jinda."

Jinda's lips twitched as she forced a smile.

I gave her a bright smile in return and adjusted my posture.

Jinda barely calmed her spasming lips and spoke slowly.

"What kind of information do you need? Something important enough to come all the way to a thieves' den?"

"It could be important, yeah."

Jinda tilted her head, looking puzzled.

I gazed at her steadily and slowly opened my mouth.

"The Riplton family."

"What about the Riplton family......"

"......and their relationship with the Bozbon family."

I cut off Jinda as she started to reply.

Her brow narrowed slightly at my words, and her expression changed.

"I don't get the point of the question. Sure, both families are big shots in the empire, so they must have some ties, but coming here to ask about that......"

"Sounds like you want me to take every coin you make from now on as taxes. That's what it seems like, trying to fool me with vague talk."

"......"

I gave a slight smile, and Jinda's face twisted.

She looked at me, let out a low sigh, straightened her desk, and stood up.

Where's she going?

As I watched her curiously, Jinda pushed the wall behind her.

The wall slid open at an angle, revealing a space.

Jinda vanished inside, and in her place, the bearded man who'd greeted me at the entrance earlier appeared.

I looked at him quizzically, surprised by his sudden entrance.

He sat down in the chair with a sigh and spoke.

"Name's Buck. Branch chief of the Brilloxen Thieves' Guild."

"So that woman wasn't the chief after all. Who'd have thought the shop clerk was the boss."

"The darkest spot is under the lamp."

He chuckled lightly and handed me the documents he was holding before continuing.

"You asked something ridiculous, so I came to answer myself. It's not hard, anyway."

He rubbed his thick beard on his chin out of habit, his lips moving as if choosing words, then shrugged.

"I was gonna say it politely, but my vocabulary's lacking. Straight to the point: Riplton and Bozbon."

Buck paused briefly, then said casually.

"The two houses are bound by an engagement from a contract they made in the past."

Just as I thought.

My hunch had turned out to be true.

I'd never even considered it before returning to the past.

The two families had no prior interactions.

And they were two days' hard ride apart.

For such distant houses to be tied by a contractual engagement.

"About fifty years ago, I think. Not sure on the exact date...... anyway."

Buck kept rubbing his chin, squinting as if gauging the time, and spoke slowly.

"The previous Bozbon Duke, head of the family back then, made a deal with the Riplton Archduke to supply massive amounts of food, ore, medicine, and clothing. Simple reason: black market."

His words were unexpected again.

The Bozbon Duke family, involved in black market deals?

"Monster corpses fetch a high price. Mages, shamans, alchemists—they all buy them up. Blood for potions, muscles and bones for armor. Super useful."

Once Buck started talking, he didn't stop.

"But monster numbers are scarce. Harmonia has hordes, but hunting them's tough. They send mercenaries to cull and buy them up, but supply's limited. And as you know, the Riplton family mass-culls Harmonia's beasts. So where'd the leftovers go? Buried?"

No way.

He grinned, shook his head, and poked his temple with outstretched fingers.

"It's money—gotta sell 'em, right? But fifty years ago, the imperial court banned all illegal monster corpse trade. Harmonia took the hit hardest."

I'd heard mages and alchemists struggled when monster trades halted.

I'd read the related laws, but they struck Harmonia directly? Buck continued.

"The Riplton family, who'd funded themselves selling monsters, saw income plummet. Barren land meant food shortages—obvious they'd struggle."

Buck paused to catch his breath.

I scanned the documents in my hand.

Everything he'd just said was detailed there.

His voice picked up again.

"That's when the previous Bozbon Duke approached, offering food and medicine in exchange for collecting the leftovers. Riplton got their ghost archduke title unofficially 150 years ago. Bozbon, famed founding contributor."

Buck extended both index fingers, slowly bringing the tips together with a grin.

"Two houses defying imperial orders to trade monsters secretly? Shocking stuff. So they put chains on each other. That's......"

"The engagement......"

"Right. Both the Riplton Archduke and Bozbon Duke back then had grown kids, all married. So the obligation passed to the current Riplton Archduke and Bozbon Lady. Clear enough?"

"Easy to understand, but......"

Something still bugged me.

I rubbed my chin, furrowed my brow, and looked at Buck.

"What's the Bozbon Duke family lacking that they'd risk monster trades?"

"Beats me. Needed cash? They own a duchy—no reason for funds to dry up. So what gain from black market corpses?"

"That's......"

"Some who know whisper the Bozbon Duke's secretly raising dark mages...... but nothing confirmed. Only insiders know."

Buck chuckled softly and stood.

I followed his movement with my eyes as he rose like the talk was over.

Buck looked down at me and asked slowly.

"Curiosity satisfied?"

"Somewhat."

Is this the promise Bellieta's parents made, the one she mentioned to Aden?

"Oh, and there's a recent rumor too."

"What rumor?"

Buck tilted his head, scrunching his face hard.

"That one...... who was it? The Bozbon Duke's daughter."

"Bellieta?"

"Yeah, her. Word is, since that lady started hating the engagement, the contract's creaking. Apparently, huge shipments of food and medicine for Riplton and Harmonia haven't arrived for years. Baseless gossip, though."

That must be what Aden meant by upholding the promise.

Buck went on.

"It's not a real engagement—just a contract—so they could scrap it anytime. Bozbon could void it no problem, but Riplton reacts sensitively. They're the needy ones, right?"

"So the engagement's already broken?"

"Pretty much. If Bozbon won't uphold the contract."

Buck smirked.

I gazed at his face, sorted my thoughts, and spoke slowly.

"Can I trust that info?"

"Up to you. But we shared something touchy, so don't go blabbing the thieves' guild said it. And no taxes. Times are tough."

He vanished back with a leisurely smile to the end. I watched him steadily, then lowered my gaze.

I rubbed the documents in my hand and narrowed my eyes.

The summer sky was refreshingly clear.

Not a cloud in sight, the pure blue lifting my spirits.

A bit hot, but I figured I could sit at a table with a cool drink and pass the time.

Until Bellieta showed up.

"What're you thinking so deeply about? Something bad happen?"

Seeing her unlucky face since morning made my stomach churn—should I tell her?

She keeps popping up uninvited.

No heads-up or anything.

Like it's her house.

I gave a vague reply to Bellieta and glanced at her sipping cool tea.

The conversation between her and Aden two days ago resurfaced.

An engagement, huh...

I'd had no clue until now.

Never even crossed my mind.

Bellieta never mentioned a fiancé to me, and no engagement proceeded.

Up to my death, she just intercepted the men I tried to meet, so no reason to suspect she had one.

And for that Bellieta to have a fiancé...

The famous Aden Riplton, no less.