Chapter 68 : Chapter 68

Chapter 68: This is a Scam (1)

I continued to speak with the most nonchalant smile I could muster.

Of course, inwardly, I was checking Roston's reaction.

“I know Tutol to be a safe city. So I was wondering how such heinous criminals could have invaded all at once.”

“....”

I felt Charles slowly look at Roston.

“That's right? How did they get in? I haven't heard anything either.”

It seemed that what Gerard was aiming for from the beginning was this.

“Charles, how would I know that?”

“But you caught them, didn't you, Captain? You were the one who called us. At that time, you said that since the guys had passed the inspection at the main gate, we should assemble quickly...”

“Charles.”

Roston's gaze pierced Charles coldly.

It was a cold and calm gaze, to the point that it was hard to believe he had just been drinking.

“Get a grip. This isn't the guard post building.”

“Uh... I understand.”

Charles immediately shut his mouth.

It seems we need a little more alcohol.

At Gerard's words, I immediately ordered more drinks.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I'll buy this as a token of my apology.”

One glass, two glasses, I was determined and continued to drink.

“Kuh...!”

“Kyaa!”

My mind became hazy from the bitter taste, and I felt my consciousness slowly fading.

“What other achievements do you have besides that?”

“His paperwork is also amazing. He does the work of two people all by himself!”

“Paperwork? Do you know how to read?”

“I learned it somehow.”

Roston's face was quite red.

He ruffled his hair and let out a deep sigh.

“I happened to get an opportunity and was able to learn.”

“An opportunity?”

“...A charity organization called Dest was teaching commoners how to read.”

“Ah, Dest! I've heard of it!”

Charles chimed in.

It seemed like the guy was even less sober than Roston.

“They appeared in Tutol a few months ago, right? They only gave me a boiled egg or two....”

“Charles, you're very drunk.”

“If I had known that, I would have learned to read too! Ugh... then I would have helped with the paperwork.”

“You're lucky to have such subordinates, hahaha.”

“...We're childhood friends.”

Roston had a displeased expression.

But at least it didn't seem like that was a lie.

“We applied to the guard post together.”

“Have you lived in Tutol since you were young?”

“No, I'm originally from Crotan.”

“Crotan?”

“...What's wrong?”

When Roston asked back, I realized that my voice had been higher than I thought.

‘Th-this kind of foolish mistake.’

“Ah, I recently went there.”

“Do you work as a merchant?”

“Yes, that's right. I heard it's noisy there these days too.”

“Is that so? Well, which castle isn't these days.”

Although I passed it off naturally, I felt a cold sweat run down my back.

Artier, let's leave now.

Just as Gerard's communication came in, I naturally glanced at the clock and got up from my seat.

“Oh my! It's already this late. I'll be leaving first!”

As soon as I came out of the building and entered a nearby alley, I felt the haze that had been covering my face disappear.

“Phew... that was close.”

A moment later, Gerard appeared belatedly and patted his face.

“I'm sorry. I thought he would get suspicious if I talked more.”

“I'm sorry. I was surprised by the word Crotan.”

“No. It was something to be surprised about. And you're drunk right now.”

I, who was about to retort, immediately shut my mouth.

Even though I was just standing still, my body kept swaying, and Gerard's voice, who was right in front of me, felt like it was coming from far away.

“My heart has moved to my head.”

“Seeing you talk nonsense, it was a good thing we stopped.”

“...Calling it nonsense is too harsh.”

“Let's go back to the inn.”

The two of us immediately returned to the inn.

And I passed out just like that and couldn't do anything until the sun was high in the sky.

***

The next day, when I opened my eyes, I had to barely hold back a scream that was about to burst out from the tremendous headache that was pounding my head.

“Ugh, my head.”

“Here, drink this.”

“Why on earth do people drink this?”

“Because they don't drink thinking about the future.”

Only after I had downed all the honey water Gerard had given me could I calmly sort out the situation.

“Did we get anything? I'm not sure....”

“We did. Not much, but.”

“Yes?”

“There are roughly three things we found out. Roston was promoted to guard captain quickly through a special method, and he learned to read from a charity organization called Dest. Lastly, he's from Crotan.”

These three things, at first glance, seemed like just trivial details. Gerard spread a piece of paper on the table and began his explanation.

“How long do you think it normally takes for an illiterate person to learn to read well enough to do paperwork freely?”

“Ah?”

“Unless you're called a genius, it basically takes a few months. And the charity organization arrived in Tutol a few months ago... isn't it too coincidental to be a coincidence?”

They already knew very well that Roston had recently been ‘appointed’ as a guard captain for a special reason.

“The charity organization educated Roston as soon as they came to Tutol. It's possible they came to Tutol aiming for Roston in the first place.”

“That's right. It's not an ordinary charity organization. It's a bit strange that Charles didn't know that his childhood friend, and also a fellow guard, was going in and out of a charity organization that was just handing out eggs for a few months.”

And finally, Gerard drew several circles in the corner of the paper.

“Of course, even so, we didn't get much information... but the reason for that is probably because there wasn't much information in the first place. There's no way Roston, who had only been studying reading for a few months, could have come all the way to Kelta Castle.”

Gerard put away the paper and said.

“It's Crotan. The real Roston who contacted Boker is in Crotan.”

“Then let's go right away.”

As they packed their bags and went out onto the street, it was very noisy.

“What's going on?”

When I turned my head towards the sound, black smoke was billowing up.

The place where the smoke was rising from was the roof of the guard post building.

“What's that? It doesn't look like a fire.”

When I stretched out my hand and asked, Gerard immediately answered calmly.

“It's the use of tracking magic powder.”

“Yes?”

“It's an item to check if there are any traces of magic having been cast.”

“Um, so that means.”

“He noticed... or at least felt that something was strange.”

Should I say it was just like Roston, who kept his reason until the end? Just as my expression was about to harden, Gerard chuckled and said.

“But it's meaningless. We didn't use any magic on Roston.”

If Gerard had cast mental magic or played any other tricks directly on Roston, that powder would have reacted.

But the only magic Gerard used was the illusion magic and communication magic applied to me.

Small magic of that level was sometimes used for fun in daily life, and since it wasn't applied to Roston himself, there was no way he could distinguish it.

“Aaaah!”

Roston's scream was heard from inside the guard post.

And the sound of something breaking and shattering.

All the effort of coming to the guard post even on a holiday had been in vain, and the nagging feeling that he had somehow been swindled out of information would be weighing down his entire body, so it was probably natural.

“Puh.”

“Kehehe....”

But that was their problem.

This situation was just funny to the two of them.

“Now, let's get out of here quickly before they try to temporarily detain us with some ridiculous excuse.”

“Okay.”

The two of them immediately used the Teleport gate as if they were running away and moved to Crotan.

***

Crotan Castle, located even further east than Tutol.

The characteristic of this castle was that, strangely, it had a lot of tall buildings.

Because it was built in a narrow mountainous area with not much spare space, most of the structures were built up to 2 stories at the lowest and 7 stories at the highest, stretching high as if to pierce the sky.

I'm so annoyed I could die!

And from the roof of one building, Jeina's exasperated communication could be heard.

How long do we have to just follow him? Can't we just catch him?

How did you live as a mercenary with that head of yours?

Tersion sighed and adjusted her mask.

This isn't an officially approved request from the guild, so we can't do it that way. Do I have to teach you the human way? Really?

It's not like I don't know! It's just frustrating.

Thump, thump.

Jeina pointlessly tapped the wall timidly to vent her frustration.

Because she had a history of actually knocking down a wall by hitting it with all her strength, she couldn't even swing her fist properly now.

You two, that's all well and good, but why are you fighting through the communication? I feel like my ears are going to go deaf.

Collie's displeased voice entered the ears of the two people who were sighing.

How is the guy moving?

It's no good. He's only moving around in places with a lot of people again today.

Damn it, he doesn't go to a deserted place even once?

That's right. When he does go once or twice by chance, he plasters the surroundings with alarm magic before entering.

Grind!

Tersion, who had been grinding her teeth without realizing it, regained her composure again.

You can't dispel it?

I can dispel it. But the problem is the number.

Collie, who was standing in the corner of a secluded alley, said so and waved his staff.

Woooong....

A Camouflage Veil was spread around the boy.

Collie watched the disappearing Roston in the distance and said.

If I'm dispelling the alarm magic, I won't be able to dispel the magic Roston uses when he escapes. The magic he uses is all just annoying....

It's so annoying that he's putting so much effort into this.

Tersion spat on the ground.

What kind of mage doesn't use any attack magic and only knows things like trap magic and acceleration magic?

It was a mystery how he became a guard captain with those skills.

Of course, if you thought about it carefully, there was no need to have a mystery.

Wasn't it clear? The guy was not a proper guard captain.

If we just catch him, we can definitely find something out.

That's true. The problem is how to catch him. Since he's a mage, he notices our mana waves from afar, so only Collie, who can hide it, is following him, and even then, he's just going around in places with a lot of people like this!

Another vein popped out on Jeina's forehead and forearm.

It was obvious that if she waited a little longer, she would lose her reason in anger and just charge in.

It's okay. A solution will come soon.

What? How?

Flash!

As soon as Tersion's words ended, a light flew from far away in the empty air and struck down into the Teleport gate like a thunderbolt.

Because the problem solvers have just arrived.

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