Chapter 79 - Who is behind this? (1/2)
Proof-reader: Girondono
They were against only one person. Although he didn’t know how strong the mercenary was, he knew the Demon Guild’s strength and believed that three of their members were enough.
“Three members. I understand.”
Baal confirmed while nodding.
“When do you want them?”
He then asked. He already knew that the time of the operation was 10pm, but they obviously had to prepare beforehand.
“You can send them at 9 o’clock.”
Heron replied to Baal, then continued.
“It won’t take long. It’ll take at most 2 hours. No, it won’t even take 2 hours. So…”
Heron watched Baal as his voice faded away, then spoke again.
“How about a deposit 200 gold with a total of 600 gold? If it goes for a longer time, then we’ll give an extra 100 gold per hour.”
“That’s fine.”
The rewards were good, and the task didn’t take a long time. With no reason to decline, Baal accepted Heron’s mission.
“Ah, right.”
Baal suddenly spoke up as he recalled something.
“I have something to tell you about the red marble.”
“…!”
Heron widened his eyes at Baal’s words.
“Did you find it?”
“No. We didn’t find it.”
Baal answered while shaking his head, and Heron made a regretful expression. Baal then continued,
“We couldn’t find the red marble after searching up to the 6th Peak.”
“Then…”
“If your information was correct, then it should be at the 7th Peak. We have already sent people up there.”
Of course, they had returned without achieving anything, but there was no reason to tell Heron that fact. After that, Baal kept conversing with Heron, trying to pry out some information about the Phantom Thief Celta.
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
When their talk ended, Heron said goodbye with a smile and stood up from his seat. Baal also stood up and saw him out of the door. When he came back to his room, baal sat down at his seat and fell into thought.
‘So he doesn’t know the location of the cave.’
Heron didn’t know about the location of Celta’s Secret Cave. More precisely, he didn’t know a lot about the cave. There wasn’t much difference in their level of knowledge.
‘Looks like I’ll have to use an information guild.’
At this rate, it seemed like using an information guild was their best option.
* * *
“Where did you hide it?”
Anna asked.
Romian didn’t answer to Anna’s question. He just stared at her with a chilly gaze.
‘Why.’
He thought. Because of his love for Anna, Copine had rushed back quickly from his expedition as fast as he could despite his hampering health more. That was how much he loved Anna.
He couldn’t understand how Anna, who received enough love to drive out the second wife, betrayed Copine.
“I said I’ll let you live if you tell me where the red marble is.”
However, Anna continued to question Romian, seemingly unfazed by her action so far.
‘Why.’
Romian wondered at her question.
‘Does she want the marble so much?’
Something was off here. If she wanted Celta’s treasures, then shouldn’t she ask for the location of the cave? Why was she asking for the red marble? Had they forgot to do something else with the marble?
‘Don’t tell me Heron wasn’t the one behind that?’
Was the true culprit someone other than Heron?
‘I don’t know what’s going on, but they’ll find the marble soon.’
Currently, the marble was stored in a drawer in Romian’s room. It looked like they didn’t find the marble yet, but they would soon.
‘That problem is then what?’
What Romian had to worry about was his fate after Heron found the marble. But he knew one thing.
‘They can’t kill me.’
Heron wouldn’t kill him even after he found the marble.
‘Because only I know where it is.’
The location of the Celta’s Secret Cave. Originally, there were two people that knew of its location. One of them was Romian and the other was Ketan, but Ketan had been murdered. In other words, only Romian knew where Celta’s cave was.
It was then.
Step. Step.
Footsteps sounded from behind Anna. When Anna turned to check its source, she burst into a brilliant smile.
‘Heron.’
Romian ascertained from Anna’s smile that the owner of the footsteps was Heron.
“You’re here!”
Anna greeted Heron alluringly as Heron entered the room.
“Do you require anything, my dear?”
Heron said charmingly as he smoothly wrapped his arm around Anna’s waist.
“No, he wouldn’t talk about anything. I’m sorry, Heron.”
“It is fine. Since we found it.”
As he replied, Heron put his hand into his pocket and brought it out again. In his hand, was the red marble.
‘So he found it.’
Romian wasn’t that surprised as he had expected this outcome.
“Oh my, now we just need…”
Heron trailed off as he rolled the marble around his palm.
“The location of the cave. But…”
Heron put back the marble in his pocket and stared at Romian.
“You’re not going to spill easily, are you? Of course you aren’t. But how long will you be able to hold out for?”
Heron smiled widely as he stared at the silent Romian.
* * *
[You have completed the quest ‘Traps in the Valley’.]
Soo Hyuk, who had just completed a quest, came down to the 1st floor after receiving his rewards. He then lined up and checked the time.
‘One more mission then I’ll be right on time.’
The time was approaching the promised 10 o’clock, so he would receive a mission then go. His turn came a few minutes later, then after skimming over the list, he picked the first quest again and walked out of the agency to head to the Copine Corps.
‘He’s still on duty?’
Not long after, Soo Hyuk arrived at their headquarters. The first thing he noticed was that the guard from this morning was still standing at the entrance. Soo Hyuk approached the guard.
“Huh-“
When Soo Hyuk walked up to the guard, the guard flinched in surprise.
“Are you here to see Romian-nim?”
The guard asked even before Soo Hyuk could say anything.
“Yes, I’m here to see Romian-nim.”
“Then could you please wait at the reception?”
“Yes.”
Soo Hyuk entered the reception at the guard’s request.