Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 64

64. Turncoat (3)

“Their clothes and shoes looked quite nice. They had a refined air about them, too.”

The voice continued, elaborating on Nawa and Drew. Dorn, sensing something amiss, fixed his gaze on us as he continued the conversation.

“So, these two boys severed the magic restraints?”

Dorn confirmed again.

“Yes, the prettier one of the two.”

“What color were his eyes, by any chance?”

“I don’t quite remember. It was too dark. Now that I think about it, it is strange. Two boys coming out of Ego at that late hour.”

Since we’d be found out anyway.

“That was us.”

I stepped forward.

“Young master?”

Dorn asked again, pretending not to know, though he probably already suspected it was us.

“Yes. On the way back from Ego, we were attacked by some thugs.”

“Hmm. What happened?”

“Let’s go outside and talk about it.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Dorn bowed slightly and headed outside. We followed.

“Oh, oh?”

A group of men outside stared at us with wide eyes.

[Those are the guys from earlier.]

The men blinked at Nawa and Drew.

The shaggy-haired man pointed at us and shouted to Dorn, “Th-those are them!”

Dorn’s gaze turned back to me.

“Is what my employees are saying true, young master?”

I shrugged.

“Yes, it is.”

Since we had already shown our faces to them, there was no point in denying it.

“You severed the magic restraints?”

Dorn looked incredulous. There was an easy way to resolve this situation.

‘I’ll have to borrow Delema’s reputation.’

With a cold gaze, I pointed at the shaggy-haired man.

“It’s true that I cut them… but it’s also true that this man tried to attack Delema.”

“Ah… ah?”

The man’s expression hardened at those words. Dorn, too, narrowed his brows.

The men were so shocked by the fact that we had severed the magic restraints that they had forgotten something. They had dared to show hostility toward Delema.

‘Unthinkable.’

Even if it was a mistake. If I made an issue of it, it could become a much bigger problem.

[Right, right. We need to address this.]

Not only the man who threw the net but also Dorn’s general store could be considered enemies of Delema if I pressed the issue.

“I-I’m sorry!”

The man bowed his head, finally noticing my red eyes.

“…Young master, please have mercy. They are ignorant men.”

Dorn, too, bit his lip. The initiative in the conversation had shifted, making the rest easy.

“Don’t worry. I’m not holding a grudge about what happened earlier.”

The men breathed a sigh of relief. Their expressions went from hell to heaven.

“And don’t worry too much about the restraints being torn. I was just defending myself.”

“Of course.”

Dorn clearly wanted to ask how I had cut them, but he held back.

He probably thought that if he provoked me now, he might be held responsible as well.

‘He’ll probably mistake it for a family technique.’

That was probably the limit of his thinking.

“Then, I’ll bring the gold coins tomorrow, so please wait.”

“Understood, young master.”

With that, we left Dorn’s general store.

* * *

“Ian, are you really going to trade in other races?”

As we headed back to our lodging across the street, Drew’s worried voice reached me.

“Huh?”

“You told them to catch the Origin and Glow races.”

“Ah, I just want to find out how they’re catching them.”

Drew’s expression relaxed.

“Oh! I thought you really had a peculiar taste… I thought your purpose in coming to Ego was to collect other races.”

“Come on, man. As if!”

The guy had been lost in his own imagination. It was enough to make my head spin.

“Then, you didn’t buy the Miaos and Longtails in the cage on purpose?”

“Yeah. I need to uncover their methods and eradicate them completely. Then, I’ll rescue them too.”

“As expected, Ian, you have a plan?”

“What do you take me for?”

Finding and rescuing those who were caught would only solve the problem temporarily. We needed to catch the root of the problem to help more other races.

After a brief conversation, we arrived at the inn.

“Drew, go in and rest. Buy something to eat at the restaurant on the first floor.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have somewhere to stop by. I’ll go alone.”

“Okay. I’ll eat and go upstairs to rest.”

I turned away and walked along the dark night road for a while. After walking through the cold air for a while.

‘It was supposed to be around here.’

Among the closed shops, a small sign illuminated by the moonlight caught my eye.

[This must be it.]

It was a place simply labeled as a restaurant, without any fancy words.

‘The entrance is a sliding door, so it must be the place.’

The store was dark, but the door wasn’t locked.

Creak.

I slid the door open and stepped inside.

“Who is it?”

A grumpy voice immediately greeted me. A middle-aged woman approached, squinting.

“Here.”

I showed her a small necklace.

“I was told you were expecting me.”

It was the emblem of the Circle of Origin. This was the branch of the Circle of Origin that Angel had told me about. Their influence extended to Aital as well.

“Ah!”

The owner quickly straightened her posture.

“For the One.”

After reciting the doctrine of the Circle of Origin, she bowed respectfully.

“It is an honor to meet a messenger here.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Within the Circle of Origin, I was in a superior position, so I kept my head held high.

“What brings you here?”

“Is there a way to contact Leader Angel?”

“Of course, we can contact him. Each branch has a message orb distributed by the leader.”

Message orb. A crystal ball that could transmit messages to someone far away.

[The world has become so convenient. We didn’t have anything like this back in my day.]

The method was to break the crystal ball, which would contact the person who had infused the message orb with mana.

Of course, the limitations were that only a few words could be conveyed and that it was a one-time-use device, but it was still a valuable item.

“I have something to do related to Ego. I’d like him to come here as soon as possible. Is that possible?”

“It seems you have something urgent. I will call him immediately.”

“And please ask him to bring 100 gold coins as well.”

“Understood. I will relay the message.”

At a time when everyone was asleep, the secret conversation in the night would bring a great storm to Aital.

* * *

Knock knock.

Early the next morning, there was a knock on the door. I was in the middle of circulating Aura, so it wasn’t a welcome guest.

[Is it Drew?]

I got up and opened the door.

‘He came quickly.’

The corners of my mouth lifted.

“What brings you here? I heard you had something urgent. Are you alright?”

Angel had arrived in a flash.

Behind him was another person.

“You came too?”

“Yes, young master! I was worried that something had happened to you.”

Admoon looked concerned.

“Good, you came. This will be a good experience for you too.”

“Experience?”

“Yeah. Close the door and come in.”

After a brief explanation, I told them about Dorn’s general store. The expressions on their faces changed from moment to moment.

“Wow! So that’s what’s been going on?”

Admoon slapped his forehead.

“A turncoat inside Ego… So that’s how they’ve been rescuing other races.”

Angel’s brow furrowed deeply.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“We need to help the other races and build a friendly relationship with them. The power they possess is not to be underestimated.”

Angel and Admoon nodded.

“I see. Do you have a plan?”

“We’ll catch Dorn in the act of trading. We also need to identify the turncoat in Ego.”

“Hmm. It seems we need more people. I’ll recruit some more skilled individuals.”

“That would be good.”

Suddenly, Angel placed a large bundle on the table.

“Ah, and here are 500 gold coins.”

I had asked him to bring 100 gold coins, but Angel had brought far more than that.

“This much?”

“You told me to sell two accessories before. This is the money left over after paying off the debt.”

The debt was 600 gold coins, so he had earned 1,100 gold coins by selling just two items.

“You’re more resourceful than I thought.”

“Didn’t I tell you? They were items that old nobles would go crazy for.”

It was a lot of gold coins, but there was no problem carrying them.

Woowoong!

I could store them in Illimitable’s subspace.

“Let’s wrap 100 gold coins back in the bundle. I need to go to Dorn right now and give him the down payment.”

“Understood.”

The remaining gold coins went straight to the portal.

“Let’s go right now while we’re at it.”

It was still time for Drew to be asleep, so the three of us set off discreetly.

There was no need to guide the way.

“It was right nearby.”

We could reach Dorn’s general store by just crossing the street.

After knocking, the door opened.

“Ah, ah? You’ve come!”

The young employee from yesterday was rubbing his sleepy eyes. However, his attitude was much more respectful than yesterday.

“Boss! The young master from yesterday is here!”

He immediately opened the small door at the back and called for Dorn.

“Oh, you’ve come early.”

Dorn came out through the small door, bowing. His gaze scanned my sides.

“Ah, these two are my attendants, so you don’t have to worry about them. Here’s the down payment.”

I placed the bundle of gold coins on the counter. The clinking sound made Dorn’s lips twitch involuntarily.

“You’re quick. Did you keep the gold coins at your lodging?”

I nodded vaguely. That wasn’t important.

“When do we start the job?”

“We’ll start right away. However, we need to make contact with them, and it will take quite a bit of time. Please allow about two weeks.”

“Understood. So, should I come back here in two weeks?”

“Yes. I’ll make sure to have it ready by then.”

Dorn stroked his long mustache and gave a sly smile.

“Then, I’ll see you then.”

I suppressed the urge to punch that disgusting face and turned away.

As soon as we stepped out of the general store, Angel whispered quietly.

“That annoying mustache from earlier is Dorn.”

“Yes. Angel, can you stick to him and keep an eye on him?”

“Yes. I’ll observe how he’s trading the other races.”

Angel bowed slightly. It was an easy mission for someone of his skill. Dorn didn’t seem to have much magical ability. There was no need to worry about Angel being discovered.

“Admoon, let’s go to Ego together. You’ve come all the way here.”

“Me too?”

“I was planning to go deep into Ego with Drew today.”

It was the first day we were going to the Hall.

‘Admoon is lucky to learn.’

It was time to show Admoon and Drew the true face of Ego.