The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 73

“Damn it… I’m the boss of Beggars. The boss of Beggars…”

Zenith was on the verge of tears as he handled the overwhelming workload.

All that kept his spirit from collapsing under the heavy workload was the title of Beggars’ boss.

“Is that all you can beg? Use the old, the widowed, and the orphaned. If they look rich, pick their pockets; if they look kind, cling to their knees. What? You don’t know how to pickpocket? You bunch of morons…”

Beside Zenith, Clara frowned at a beggar.

“T-Thief God. Please, just give me one more chance…!”

“I won’t say it twice. If there’s anyone in Beggars who can’t pickpocket in three days, you’re dead. Got it?”

“Y-Yes, I understand…!”

Caron, the second-in-command of Beggars, shuddered at the curse digging into his body and slipped outside.

Thief God Clara.

The pressure from the legendary figure he had only heard rumors about was immense.

Since she arrived, Beggars had been evolving in many ways.

“Thief God. Isn’t that Caron’s necklace? He treasures it…”

“Oh? Ah, since Rael’s not here, my kleptomania is acting up again. That’s why I tell them not to bring junk when they come to report… Zenith, give this back to him later.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Zenith received the necklace with a dubious expression.

After stuffing the necklace into his pocket, Zenith continued.

“Thief God. I appreciate you working for Beggars, but… you don’t have to work this hard. The contract only says you have to obey Rael’s orders when he needs you. If your kleptomania is bothering you, you can take a break.”

“…No. I have to grow this organization to its fullest potential.”

Clara shuddered, recalling the scene she had witnessed recently.

It was at the fountain in District 2.

‘That guy is a monster.’

After seeing Rael cut down a high-ranking demon with a single strike, Clara had decided to dedicate her life to Beggars from that day on.

‘He’ll definitely become someone who shakes the empire in a few years. If I don’t want to be abandoned then… I need to prove my abilities in advance.’

Clara put all her effort into Beggars’ work.

Thanks to her, Beggars was experiencing unprecedented growth today as well.

“Thief God. We have a new request.”

“Anything about Rael goes here. The rest goes on that desk.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Hite. I’m the boss, so why are you reporting to the Thief God?”

Hite left the room without answering Zenith.

He was too busy to even reply.

“As expected, most of the information requests are about Rael.”

Clara examined the requests piled up in front of her.

From small merchants to high-ranking nobles, everyone was putting in requests to Beggars.

All because they were curious about one man.

“Without the Thief God, even the Night Ravens can’t use their power.”

“That’s true, but it’s also amazing that Rael doesn’t give out information. He sends more than ten informants to Beggars every day.”

Beggars handles those informants in various ways.

They extract as much information as possible, then sell it back to the information guild for money.

As a result, it became known that Beggars was the only place that could provide information about Rael, and requests started pouring in day and night.

In particular, clients were demanding an enormous amount of information about Rael.

“Zenith. We can give them this as is, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Thief God.”

Zenith maintained his respectful tone towards Clara.

Even though the boss was higher than the executives, the Thief God was someone who deserved that level of respect.

“Um, Zenith. This is just a simple question.”

Beggars had a manual for information about Rael.

Because there were so many requests, they had written hundreds of pages of information about him so that they could deliver it immediately when a request came in.

“…Why is Rael’s size listed there?”

Clara had seen the same information every time, but she couldn’t understand this part at all.

In her opinion, that was unnecessary information.

“Ah, Rael wrote that himself.”

“…Rael did?”

“I don’t know why either. He told me never to leave out his height and size.”

“…”

Is he crazy?

Clara tilted her head and organized the information.

Well, they say geniuses are always a little weird somewhere.

Rael must be one of those cases.

‘…Wait, Rael isn’t just weird in one place.’

She could think of at least three things.

Does that mean he’s three times more of a genius than others?

…This is terrifying.

Step. Step.

Rustle, rustle-

Just then, as if a tiger appears when you talk about him [an idiom meaning the person you were just talking about suddenly appears], a confident gait was heard.

There was only one person who could make the other beggars run away just by walking in the slum.

Creak-

“Hey, gang leader. Elder. Are you doing a good job?”

Rael opened the door without knocking and walked in.

“Rael. What brings you here?”

“I came because I have a favor to ask.”

Thud-

As soon as Rael arrived, Clara stopped what she was doing and stood next to him.

She hadn’t used the Thief God’s curse recently, so the side effects weren’t severe, but her kleptomania was returning, so she had to stick close to him to lessen the effects of the curse.

“I’ll stick around for a bit.”

“Do as you please. Zenith, how are things in the empire these days? Is there anything unusual that I should know about?”

Rael ignored Clara and looked at Zenith.

“It’s becoming more widely known that you caught a high-ranking demon in District 2. The nobles are in an uproar.”

“…Ha, damn it. This is driving me crazy. Can’t Beggars manipulate the information a bit?”

“I’m sorry, but unless Cardinal Vernando keeps his mouth shut, we can’t manipulate the information. It would damage our organization’s credibility.”

If Beggars manipulated the information, it would be like saying the cardinal was lying.

We can’t do something stupid that would ruin the credibility we’ve built up.

“…Tch. Okay. Anything else?”

“Hmm, oh. There is something. The Elf tribe’s movements have been unusual recently.”

“The Elf tribe?”

Rael perked up his ears at the mention of the Elf tribe.

“Yes. Elves are a rare race to see, but they’ve been seen frequently in the capital recently.”

“…Come to think of it, that might be true.”

He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Elves while working as a guard.

However, these days, Elves were often seen in the center of the capital.

Rael knew it better because he had been subtly avoiding them when he saw them.

“Besides, one of the beggars found Elves in the forest on the outskirts of the capital. There might be something in that forest.”

“Hmm…”

Rael recalled what Ghent had told him.

‘Is the entire Elf tribe preparing to migrate?’

This seems worth checking out.

“Investigate that forest thoroughly. Oh, and use the money I left with you to buy some land near the forest.”

“Land? What’s that for?”

“Just buy it for now.”

The Elf tribe’s preparation for migration was still a secret.

We can buy it cheap now.

‘I need to sell something to the Elf tribe.’

Rael nodded in satisfaction and changed the subject.

“Speaking of which, I had a favor to ask. You know Lucas, right?”

“Lucas? Isn’t he the top graduate of this year’s academy?”

“That’s right. Do some media play focusing on him.”

“Media play?”

“Press play [generate publicity]. There’s a professor named Meyer at the academy these days. Go to him and hear about Lucas, and spread the word that Lucas is the perfect person for the hero.”

“…The hero? I understand.”

Zenith was secretly wondering if he really had to do that.

After all, the hero’s position is almost decided.

“You have to do it. You have to. Got it?”

“I get it, you rascal.”

“Then I’ll be going. Clara. You can get off now.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Clara bowed her head and stepped back.

“…?”

It was strange that Clara was being so polite, but Rael came out of the slum without much thought.

*

“Sigh. What a dog-like life [a miserable life].”

Rael sighed as he walked through the streets of District 3.

When he’s bored like this, it’s perfect to spend time chatting nonsense with Carlson, but he couldn’t go to the Order’s headquarters because they were extremely busy with the Saintess’s appointment ceremony.

‘I wonder if Cecilia is doing well.’

He wanted to see her face, but it wasn’t easy.

Well, even Carlson, an ordinary paladin, is hard to see, so he wouldn’t be able to see the Saintess directly.

“I shouldn’t go to District 1 for the time being.”

Of course, he wouldn’t have gone to District 1 even if he wasn’t busy.

Seeing Vernando shouting ‘Our hero, Rael’ in front of the headquarters made his head throb.

Thanks to that crazy cardinal, Rael couldn’t walk around with his head held high in Districts 1 and 2.

‘How much is a person with enough money and fame trying to suck me dry?’

He can’t treat him badly because he’s the second-in-command of the Order.

That’s how crazy he is about fame and money, so he must have risen to the second-in-command.

Rael felt frustrated every time he saw him.

‘By the way, there are definitely a lot of Elves in District 3 too.’

Rael looked at the Elves in the restaurant with a curious expression.

It was as if they were having a company dinner, eating, laughing, and chatting.

‘Why did such a peaceful race perish in the original story?’

I don’t know the exact time, but after the protagonist became a hero, the Elf tribe no longer existed.

They will perish within a few years at the latest.

But they looked too peaceful for a race that would soon perish.

“…Shall I listen to what they’re saying?”

Rael put on a Gaksital mask [a mask that hides the wearer’s identity] and carefully entered the restaurant.

He wanted to hear what the Elves were saying.

“Give me a soup, please.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Rael ordered appropriately and hid in the corner of the bar.

Then, he focused on his five senses and listened to the voices of the surrounding Elves.

“Erengor. Can we really trust the empire? I’m so anxious.”

“It’s better to grab at straws than to sit and wait for destruction. And Elorin. Don’t talk about that here.”

“Yes…”

Rael nodded.

Trusting the empire must be about the migration.

It seems right that they are migrating to the forest where Beggars found the Elves.

Rael listened to the other Elves as well.

Those Elves were talking about the empire.

“I heard that a Saintess has appeared in the Order.”

“It’s as the World Tree’s prophecy says. The great war will begin soon.”

“Does that mean a hero of the human race will also appear?”

“Yes. I asked a member of our race who is active in the empire, and they said that the Order is almost certain about one person.”

“Ah, I heard that too. I’m sure the name is Ra…”

Ahem.

Rael quickly turned his head.

It seemed like there was no need to hear that.

‘As expected, the Elf tribe is a race that is crazy about their own kind.’

Rael nodded as he looked at the Elves.

Every single one of them had honey dripping from their eyes when they looked at their own kind.

Even between the same gender, so they were really a race full of love and affection.

Rael looked around with a curious expression.

‘…Huh?’

And, Rael widened his eyes without realizing it.

A seat a little away from the Elves who were having a good time.

Reina with her eyes closed was seen.

‘Reina? No, it’s a little different.’

Surprised, Rael narrowed his eyes.

She looked almost exactly like Reina, but she was a little different.

She was an Elf who looked so similar that it would have been difficult to distinguish her without Rael’s senses.

She was smiling faintly with her eyes closed.

Swish-

At that time. The Elf who looked exactly like Reina got up from her seat and went out of the bar.

She moved as soon as Rael looked at her.

“…What is that Elf.”

Looking at the Elf who was leaving as if telling him to follow, Rael got up from his seat without realizing it and followed her out.