Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 51

51. Trade City, Anti (5)

“Ah, no way…….”

Irahan’s face crumpled in dismay. Paul, however, gave him a strange smile.

“Is Young Master Killave willing to offer more?”

He was utterly shameless.

‘I knew it; you can’t trust merchants.’

He couldn’t hide his greed, even with 500 gold coins sitting right there on the table.

“……I’ll talk to my family. Just give me some time.”

At Irahan’s request, Paul glanced at me, his silver tongue ready to wag. “Young Master Delema, can you wait a little longer?”

But I wasn’t about to be played by his tricks.

“I said I’d give you five hundred if I get the bracelet right now. If you can’t give it to me right away, then my offer is off the table.”

Now was the time to be even firmer.

“Either hand it over to me, who promises five hundred gold coins immediately, or gamble on Killave, who you can’t be sure of.”

“Hmm…….”

Paul hesitated for a moment.

“My deal is only valid for the next five counts.”

I pressed him to choose. Paul had counted down countless times at the auction house, but now.

“One.”

This time, he was listening to my count.

“Two.”

Paul Hallat pondered for a moment.

“Three.”

It didn’t take long for him to speak.

“Four…….”

“Ah, I understand. I’ll hand it over right now.”

Paul Hallat immediately surrendered the bracelet.

‘That’s what I thought.’

For him, 500 gold coins was too good to pass up.

“Here you are. I hope you use it well.”

Paul, having decided to sell, plastered a smile on his face. He’d been greedy for a moment, but he still thought this was a good deal.

[He doesn’t even know we’re the ones who hit the jackpot.]

‘In the first place, the price of this thing is whatever someone is willing to pay.’

The artifact that creates an unknown space. In the end, it came into my possession.

“I’ll write you a check, so let’s go inside.”

As I was about to take Paul back to the auction house, he shouted to his men.

“Just a moment, Young Master! You two, chase after that thief! The rest of you, guide the Young Master to the VIP room!”

“Yes, sir!”

For some reason, his tone seemed much softer than before. He didn’t seem to care about what Aiteo had done. 500 gold coins would more than cover the loss.

“Ah……. This isn’t good.”

The only person who couldn’t smile in this situation was Irahan Killave, who was just gaping.

‘That’s none of my business.’

I wore the bracelet I received on my wrist as if to show it off. Irahan just stared blankly as we headed back inside the auction house.

* * *

‘Why doesn’t it seem like they’re following me?’

Aiteo was a little puzzled. Since escaping from the auction house, he hadn’t sensed any pursuit.

‘Did I run away too fast?’

He had no idea that Paul Hallat’s attention was entirely on Ian.

‘I guess my skills haven’t rusted yet.’

Satisfied, he ran to his destination: a forest on the outskirts of the village.

“Brother!”

Just then, familiar faces ran towards him from afar. It was his brothers, whom he had agreed to meet here.

“Was the operation successful?”

Instead of answering, he showed them the bundle in his hand. It contained the unicorn horn and green magic stone he had just stolen from the auction house.

“It was in the auction house warehouse, just like the Outsiders told me. I’ve been there once, so I knew the way.”

“That’s a relief!”

They were the ones who had already robbed Hallat’s auction house of Ratatosk’s egg.

“Anyway, I’m glad I went alone. Maybe because I robbed it once before, the security was much tighter. If you guys had gone, someone would have been caught.”

“Wow! Really? You’ve been through a lot!”

“What do you mean? Now, all we have to do is give this to Young Master Ian, and our hard times will be over.”

They had lived hand-to-mouth for the past ten years. Stealing bread because they were too hungry was the beginning, and since then, they had only made a living by stealing.

‘How was I supposed to know that the bakery owner had connections to the imperial family…….’

Even if they tried to pull themselves together, their criminal record always held them back.

At best, they were E-class petty criminals, but they were registered as C-class or higher serious criminals.

‘We didn’t even kill anyone!’

All they could do to survive was to hide and steal. They had never learned magic or swordsmanship.

But now, they would be able to live under the protection of the boy from Delema and the Outsiders.

If someone with the power of a great family and a secret group took them in, they would be able to escape their mayfly existence.

“You’ve really been through a lot…….”

Aiteo, expecting to finally escape his hard life, spread the bundle on the floor.

“Huh?”

His eyes widened, and then he began to rub them with both hands.

“W-where did it go!”

The things that should have been there were not visible.

“Brother? What did you bring?”

The other two brothers were also tilting their heads when a low voice came from behind.

“You’ve worked hard.”

A man wearing a black mask was standing there. As the Aiteo trio turned their heads, they could tell, even with his face covered, who he was.

The man was radiating an overwhelming aura. It was questionable how he had been containing this vast energy until now.

He was definitely the man who had killed Raka Bellier’s gang in Apate.

‘……The leader of the Outsiders.’

Aiteo’s guess was correct. Anghel Bremen. He had come to find Aiteo himself.

“I’ll take this.”

Anghel was already holding the unicorn horn and the green magic stone in both hands. Aiteo had clearly never let go of the bundle, but he had taken the items like a ghost.

‘When did he…….’

A strange anxiety swirled in Aiteo’s eyes as he looked at the two objects. Perhaps he would only take the items and not take them in.

“Don’t worry.”

As if reading Aiteo’s mind.

“I’ll tell him that your mission was successful.”

Anghel Bremen’s voice soothed Aiteo’s heart.

“T-then where do we go now?”

A word carefully spat out, piercing through the fear towards Anghel.

“Go to Ias. You’ll know when you get there.”

Aiteo couldn’t help but feel doubtful about the answer he received. Ias was where the Magic Tower was. Aiteo, with his criminal record, felt a sense of rejection.

“Yes?”

So, he asked back urgently, but.

“……?”

Was he seeing things? The man who had been in front of him until just now had disappeared without a trace. Even the momentum that had dominated the surroundings had scattered in an instant.

‘What did I see?’

He shook his head and slapped his cheek, but only his cheek swelled up.

“Y-you guys saw it too, right?”

Only his brothers, who nodded their heads, understood his feelings.

‘It’s a scary group after all…….’

Aiteo thought he had done well to approach Ian.

* * *

‘Three days is too short. It’s already the day I have to go back.’

As expected, time flew by on vacation.

It had already been 4 days since I came to Anti. I woke up early in the morning and was getting ready to go out.

[I wonder if Aiteo escaped well?]

‘I guess so?’

After he caused the accident, Hallat’s auction house ended up missing the culprit.

‘When are they going to bring the items…….’

I was just waiting for Aiteo to bring the hatching materials quickly.

Knock. Knock.

At that moment, I heard a knock on the door.

‘Is it Admun?’

I got up and pulled the doorknob.

“Who is it……?”

But there was no one outside the door.

‘What is it?’

Suddenly, the back of my spine tingled. It was because of the presence I heard from behind me, that is, from inside the room.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to surprise you.”

When I turned my head, a man was kneeling on one knee. It was Anghel Bremen, taking off his black mask.

‘Oh, what a surprise. When did you get in here?’

Anghel had taken my back while I opened the door for a moment. I tried to maintain a calm expression and closed the door.

‘I had a feeling the Outsiders would be here too.’

I expected his subordinates to be in Anti. Given their meticulous nature, they would have assigned someone to monitor Aiteo.

However, Anghel Bremen himself? It was a little surprising.

“What brings you here yourself?”

He bowed his head, got up from his seat, and rummaged through his robe.

[Oh.]

The item he took out made the corners of my mouth go up.

“It’s a unicorn horn and a green magic stone. You told Aiteo to get it.”

“That’s right. I have something to use it for.”

“He succeeded in stealing it from the auction house on the first day you came here. I got it from him.”

Anghel hands me the items.

“Paul is still looking for Aiteo, so I had to come and deliver it myself to prevent accidents.”

“Good job.”

As expected, he was a clean worker.

“But did you spend five hundred gold coins because of these things?”

“What do you mean?”

“You bought that bracelet for five hundred gold coins to buy time for Aiteo, didn’t you?”

Anghel points to Illimita on my wrist.

‘He was watching that too.’

He thought I used that much money just to buy time. But, of course, that wasn’t my intention.

“I really spent gold coins to buy this bracelet……?”

When I held up my wrist, Anghel tilted his head this time.

“……With my limited knowledge, I don’t know the use of that bracelet. What kind of artifact is it that you used such a large sum of money for?”

“It will be used as my treasure warehouse in the future.”

I actually told him the use of the bracelet, but Anghel still had a clueless expression.

“Wait. I’ll show you what this is.”

I smiled and channeled mana into the bracelet.

Woo-oong!

The bracelet reacted strongly. The pattern of the infinite loop inside flashed.

Whoosh!

A portal the size of a fist appeared above my wrist.

“……What is this?”

“Have you ever heard of subspace [a pocket dimension]?”

Even Anghel, who was always calm, had a gleam in his eyes.

“Yes. Of course. Is it a subspace artifact?”

“Yes.”

Only then did Anghel Bremen nod his head. He understood the value of 500 gold coins.

“But this is a special subspace. There is no limit to the size. You can put anything in it.”

It was like getting 500 gold coins for free.

“I see…….”

A typical subspace is about the size of a room, or at most the size of a house, but.

[This is virtually infinite.]

Like the infinite loop mark drawn on the bracelet, it was a subspace without that limit.

“Then what are you going to use the horn and magic stone for?”

Anghel looks at the hatching materials in his hand. I decided to use it right away while we were talking about it.

“I have something to do with this.”

I imagined Ratatosk’s egg while looking at Illimita’s portal.

‘Come out…….’

Then the small portal grew a little bigger.

Woo-oong!

Soon, it spat out a golden oval egg.

It was Ratatosk’s egg, which I had put in the subspace immediately after obtaining Illimita.

“Take a good look. This is the first time you’ve seen it.”

I brought the green magic stone to Ratatosk’s egg.