Chapter 116 : Chapter 116

Chapter 116 - My Herb, Your Rescue (4)

The entrance to Ker Tupa was in an uproar.

“It’s a Cockatrice!”

“Are you telling me all of these are Cockatrices?”

From the top of a hill piled high with dozens of Cockatrice carcasses, Artier watched the dumbfounded beastmen.

Honestly, their stunned expressions were quite amusing.

‘Is this really that surprising?’

In fact, objectively, it was a surprising event.

Anyone would be startled if a tower made of monster corpses suddenly appeared at the village entrance.

However, the beastmen’s surprise wasn't just because of that.

“That’s…”

“Slave hunters. They're slave hunters!”

Surrounding the Cockatrices were dozens of slave hunters with their arms and legs bound.

“Heave-ho.”

Artier leaped down, landing lightly on the ground.

He then walked forward and spoke.

“Where are the guards? I’ve brought some criminals.”

No one answered him. Not even the onlookers who were clearly holding spears.

The one who did respond was someone who seemed completely unrelated.

“Who are you?”

That question contained a great deal of curiosity.

After a moment of thought, Artier replied nonchalantly.

“Just a passing adventurer.”

He wasn’t part of the Empire, and he couldn’t reveal his affiliation with the temple either.

This was the best he could do.

“An adventurer?”

“I’ve seen that person before. Isn’t he wanted by the guards?”

“You mean he’s a criminal? But can they even catch a human who hunted all that?”

Murmurs could be heard from all around.

Some, their wariness having subsided, were looking at the spoils Artier had brought, while others, still suspicious, were glaring.

Artier calmly waited for the situation to settle down.

‘It has to work this time. Surely, after all this, the misunderstanding won’t persist.’

He had already anticipated things going wrong and had Por on standby outside the village.

So, if things got complicated, he could escape immediately.

But Artier hoped that wouldn't happen.

‘There’s not much time left. If I’m blocked this time too, the only methods left are not very honorable.’

From that point on, it would be a real crime.

Wouldn't that render all of Artier’s efforts so far meaningless?

He didn’t want that.

“F-follow me!”

One of the guards said, leading the way.

Artier quietly followed him.

The guard post he was led to was enveloped in a deathly silence.

‘I see some strong people.’

Entering the captain’s office, Artier exchanged glances with a powerful beastman warrior standing beside the captain.

Just meeting his gaze had an intensity that made the surrounding air boil.

“Human, I heard you wish to clear up a misunderstanding. What is it you wish to clear up?”

“It seems you misunderstand that I am using black magic to control the Spirit Creature.”

“Are you saying that is not the case?”

“Yes.”

Artier showed the black magic book from his inventory and explained the situation.

A moment later, the captain, having understood everything, pounded his head as if he had a headache and spoke to the beastman warrior.

“Have the shamans examine… no, never mind. You can tell just by looking. Who was the shaman who filed a false report?”

“It was Goso.”

“Tell that bastard to run three laps around the city. Magic is, of course, forbidden.”

“Understood.”

As the warrior left, the captain stood up and bowed his head deeply.

His tone had become polite.

“I apologize for the trouble we’ve caused. The wanted order will be lifted immediately.”

“You believe me?”

“It was our side’s mistake.”

It seemed like a lighthearted remark, but in fact, the captain had a very complicated story.

For three days, no trace of black magic was found on Collie or Simon. The only thing Artier had done in the city was offer gifts to the residents.

Above all, for the past three days, the survivors had all been mentioning Artier’s name…

At this point, the guards had no choice but to come to their senses.

‘We are the culprits. That is correct.’

Let’s say the beastman who falsely reported that Artier might be a black magician was one thing.

That shaman named Goso would surely be kicked out of the guards soon.

“I apologize for the false accusation.”

On the other hand, Artier, unaware of this fact, was only flustered by the captain who was suddenly apologizing with his face to the ground.

‘Can the treatment change this much just because they realized I’m a strong person?’

Artier thought the reason they were apologizing was because they realized he was not just an ordinary human.

And that was true, because if he were just a powerless merchant or a civilian, it would have been impossible to clear up the misunderstanding like Artier did.

‘If I had my way, I’d demand compensation… but not now. Let’s finish what I have to do first.’

Coming to his senses, Artier was able to regain his calm expression.

“I think the situation has been explained sufficiently. Could you please call Collie and Simon, and can I meet the guild master of the Merchant Guild?”

“Understood. However, it may be difficult to meet the master of the Merchant Guild.”

“Why?”

Artier was not a saint either.

As his tone became tinged with annoyance, the captain continued cautiously.

“As you may have guessed from the city’s atmosphere, there are many of our kind who dislike humans themselves. The master of the Merchant Guild is one of them.”

According to him, the master of the Merchant Guild had recently lost his only son to slave hunters.

Since then, the master had been cooped up in his room for days, not engaging in any activities.

“I’d like to wait for him, but I don’t have time.”

Artier said firmly.

“This is about your fate. Please make time as soon as possible.”

“What did you say?”

“Quickly. It doesn’t have to be the master of the Merchant Guild. Anyone who can be involved in exchanges with humans will do.”

“Understood.”

After sending the captain away, Artier was finally able to meet with Collie and Simon.

Collie, who was wagging his tail excitedly for some reason, rubbed his face against Artier’s chest as soon as he met him.

“Master, I missed you!”

“What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“As soon as it was revealed to be a misunderstanding, he started spewing all sorts of curses at the shamans. It seems he’s relieved his stress.”

Simon said so, but Artier, connected to Collie by contract, could guess what Collie had done.

To be sure, wasn’t Simon, who just described it as curses, an angel?

“A young one should use pretty words.”

“In human years, I’m long past being an adult, you know.”

“You seem to only switch to human years when it’s inconvenient for you?”

“Surely not?”

Collie didn’t even try to hide it.

Even when Artier poked his cheek, he just smiled with satisfaction.

“Good grief… Anyway, you can’t do that anymore. Got it?”

“Understood.”

As their conversation ended, as if planned, the door opened and the captain entered.

He didn’t know who he had contacted, but cold sweat was dripping from his fur.

“W-we can go. I’ve delivered the message.”

The three followed the captain.

As they went out into the street, they could feel that the murderous intent that had been present until a moment ago had lessened considerably, though not entirely.

It seemed the rumor had already spread in the meantime.

“Isn’t the Merchant Guild that way?”

Artier asked as soon as the captain took a wrong turn at the fork in the road.

The captain flinched and answered cautiously.

“Well… it seems the guild master is still unavailable. Instead, someone else has asked to meet you.”

“Who is that?”

“Our leader.”

“Pardon?”

A truly unexpected person.

On the one hand, he thought that was why the captain was so nervous. To him, he was the supreme commander, wasn't he?

“After hearing about the situation so far, he said he wanted to meet you.”

“Hmm.”

After thinking for a moment, Artier nodded.

In fact, for him, it was a better result.

“Let’s go that way.”

“Yes. This way.”

The mansion where the leader was said to be was simple and shabby. It was hard to believe that the head of a race lived there.

However, as he faced a beastman who walked out of the place, Artier instinctively felt that he was the leader.

‘He’s strong. Very strong.’

Most of the beastmen he had met in Ker Tupa were weaker than Artier. It wasn’t that they were weak, but that Artier was strong.

But with the person in front of him now, he wasn’t sure if he could win even if he used Holy Magic.

He had the appearance of a white tiger and was wearing old glasses and a tunic with one sleeve that was particularly wide.

His appearance was frail, but his aura was completely different.

Just his gaze and actions made the surrounding nature obey and fear him. As if facing a ferocious beast.

“Are you the supreme-grade mercenary, Artier?”

As his mouth opened, Artier came to his senses.

[Lv.62 Taust Juggernaut]

“You know who I am.”

“I just found out. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have left the situation like this.”

As he inadvertently looked at his face, Artier was startled.

He could feel a strong sense of annoyance that Taust couldn’t hide.

“Recently, only humans who weren’t worth investigating have been visiting this place.”

“…What exactly happened here?”

Although he had a rough idea, Artier asked the question.

Taust then took a giant pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

“There was a human woman who came here wanting to learn about our culture. She even married one of us, but two months ago, she stole a treasure called the Shaman's Holy Relic and ran away.”

“Pardon?”

“There was also a human he brought himself. Said he was a comrade from his mercenary days. The one who brought him is no longer alive. The one he called a comrade skinned his own kind and sold it to a merchant.”

“…!”

After that, unimaginable evil deeds continued to pour out of Taust’s mouth.

A human who mixed poison in food while pretending to do charity work.

A scholar who cast a brainwashing spell while pretending to teach the common language and destroyed a family.

Even an armor merchant who supplied cursed armor and clothes and made many people suffer.

At first, Collie, who was listening with a sullen expression, was so shocked that he couldn't help but be astonished.

“How could they… have they abandoned even the minimum of humanity?”

“Well. I don’t know.”

The tobacco in the pipe was running out.

After taking a final puff, Taust looked at Artier a moment later.

“It’s a real shame things turned out this way. I’m damn sorry.”

“…Pardon?”

What did he just say?

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