The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 127

Even after entering the guild building, I couldn’t shake off my surprise. Wasn’t the Saintess supposed to be in the Holy Kingdom? Could there possibly be two Saintesses?

That’s impossible.

This is a world within a game, and there’s no way they would assign a special class like the Saintess, who could shake up the main storyline, to multiple people.

Therefore, the conclusion was inevitable.

‘One of them is fake.’

A regular person might not know, but I have the system window, and it only tells the truth.

In short, the cat girl I just saw is the real Saintess, and the woman who is being revered as the Saintess in the Holy Kingdom is a fake. It was a shocking conclusion.

“Khan, what are you pondering so deeply? Let’s quickly finish the request and get promoted to Gold rank,” Campbell said, pulling me from my thoughts.

Campbell’s urging didn’t fully register. I needed some time to sort things out.

However, events unfolded rapidly. A group of burly men surrounded the Saintess, who was sitting quietly in the corner.

“Hey, you’ve been holed up in the guild lately. Are you even doing any requests?” one of them sneered.

The Saintess looked around nervously, a frightened expression on her face.

“Ah… yes! I got promoted to Silver rank yesterday!” she stammered.

“Oh, really? You’ve been steadily doing those measly 1-point odd jobs and finally managed to reach 100 points and get the Silver badge. If it were me, my pride wouldn’t let me raise my score like that. Hahaha!!”

“Kyahahaha!!!” The other thugs joined in.

For a moment, the hall was filled with the swaggering laughter of the thug adventurers.

The laughter subsided, and the scarred man, who seemed to be the leader, brought his grotesque face close to the Saintess.

“Hey, at this rate, when are you ever going to raise your score? You only need to raise 100 points to get to Silver, but you need to gather a whopping 1,000 points for Gold, you know? Are you going to do a thousand 1-point jobs again this time?”

The Saintess replied in a very small voice, “…Yes.”

Then, the scarred man slammed his palm on the table where the Saintess was sitting and shouted, “What good is a guy with no guts like you? Huh? In the first place, there aren’t even a thousand 1-point requests.”

“Hic!” The Saintess, frightened, teared up.

Thinking he had scared her enough, he now coaxed her in a subtle voice. “Now, now, we didn’t come here to bully you. We came to make a good offer. We are all Gold rank adventurers, and we have a vacancy in our party. So, we’ll give you, a Silver rank, a special spot.”

It sounded good at first glance.

However, Bron Ajussi [Uncle Bron], who overheard the conversation, clicked his tongue.

“Here we go again,” he muttered.

“Do you know who they are?” I asked.

“Of course. They’re Ashel’s gang. A notorious group in Galahnah.”

According to Bron Ajussi, Ashel’s gang were top-tier Gold adventurers on the verge of Platinum promotion. They were infamous in Galahnah.

In particular, they made it a daily routine to forcibly recruit party members who were significantly less capable than themselves and use them as porters or slaves in the field.

He explained that this was so they could monopolize the monster byproducts acquired during the request and use the weaker members as bait in dangerous situations to survive.

“Trash,” I said.

“Truly vile,” Bron agreed.

“Why doesn’t anyone stop them?”

“Because it’s not their business. Even though they act like that, all ten of them are Gold rank, and Ashel is Platinum level. You could say they are the central power of the Galahnah Guild.”

Did that mean that the guild couldn’t do anything because their request success rate was so high and they had a tight grip on the local economy?

Even if a few newbie guild members died, the guild earned more profit from the requests performed by Ashel’s gang.

When you see things like this, organizations are truly ruthless. For the sake of the organization’s interests, human lives become worth less than flies.

This time, that innocent victim was chosen to be a kind girl who treated injured cats and fed hungry bellies.

But that girl is special. No one knows, but she is the symbol of the Belanus Church. And I’m the only one who knows this fact.

“Campbell, let’s move.”

“Really?” Campbell asked, wearing a surprised expression.

He must be surprised that I, who wouldn’t budge unless it was my business, was actually moving.

“What’s wrong? It’s not like you, Khan.”

“You wanted to save her from the start, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“So, I’m saving her.”

Campbell’s eyes filled with emotion.

Of course, I’m saving her because she’s the Saintess, but since I’m helping anyway, I decided to take some credit with Campbell.

“Wait. Stop. Wait a moment,” Bron Ajussi said, stopping Campbell and me as we were about to get up.

“Don’t tell me you guys are going to save that boy?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you know what it means to stand up against Ashel? You’ll never be able to set foot in Galahnah again. You’ll be lucky if you can save your lives.”

It’s nice that Ajussi is worried, but he sometimes gets too nosy.

I unleashed Iwon Mana from my dantian [energy center in the body, according to some Eastern traditions].

‘Ugh! What kind of energy is this…’ Bron thought, breathless.

He had noticed that Khan was an unusual powerhouse since he had cut down the troll in one strike, but this was on a different level.

When their eyes met, it was like looking into the eyes of a beast.

It was hard to believe that they were the eyes of the same human being.

“Senior, you risked your life to protect your party members when they were in danger.”

“Y-yes, I did,” Bron stammered.

“Now, our last party member is in danger. The only difference is whether they are surrounded by monsters or surrounded by thugs.”

Last party member?

That tiny boy?

Bron’s question didn’t last long.

Because Campbell and I were already blocking Ashel’s path.

“Huh? Aren’t you guys the ones who are doing well these days? What’s going on?” Ashel recognized us after all.

“It’s nothing much. We called dibs on this kid first. I’d appreciate it if you could let him go,” I said.

A suffocating silence enveloped the guild building.

Everyone looked at me like I was crazy for confronting the Galahnah neighborhood bully head-on.

Bron put his hand on his forehead and staggered, as if he couldn’t believe I had gone through with it so impulsively.

“What? Puhah! Pwahahahaha!” Ashel and his cronies grabbed their bellies and laughed like crazy.

Then, Ashel, who had suddenly stopped laughing, bared his vicious teeth and growled. “Hey, you moron Bron!”

“U-uh?”

“Didn’t you tell these newbies who I am?”

“Well… I did.”

“You knew and you still did this to me?”

After maintaining a heavy atmosphere for a while, Ashel asked Bron, “Bron, were you also thinking of this kid as a party member? It seems to me that Khan made up a lie on the spot. Was it agreed upon?”

On the surface, it was a simple question, but inside, it was definitely not.

If Bron said here that it wasn’t agreed upon, my claim would lose credibility.

In other words, Bron would be betraying me.

Ashel is asking Bron now: Whose side are you on?

“Well… well…” Bron hesitated.

“How frustrating. Aren’t you going to speak up quickly?” Ashel pressed.

“It was… agreed upon. Of course. I had my eye on that kid as a party member too,” Bron finally said.

Oh ho.

Unexpectedly, Bron took my side.

Actually, it didn’t matter whose side he took.

I was planning to get rid of anything blocking my path anyway.

Bron Ajussi was definitely a survivor who had been in this industry for a long time, and his survival instincts were certain.

“I see. I was one step late,” Ashel said.

After confirming that Bron had turned his back, Ashel also shrugged and stepped back, leaving behind a resentful remark. “I heard you’re quite skilled, but your judgment is terrible. What a pity.”

Then, he left the guild building.

As the situation ended, everyone who had been watching let out the breath they had been holding in.

After that, they whispered while looking at me.

Bron’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

“We’re doomed. We’re doomed…” he moaned.

“We’re not doomed, so please get up, Senior,” I said.

“Why did you cause such an accident!”

“It’s not an accident.”

After glaring at him one more time, Bron became docile.

Next is the Saintess, who unintentionally became the eye of the storm, and it’s time to talk to her.

She must have a good sense of the situation because she knew how things were going, and her face was pale.

“Why did you do that? You’ve caused trouble for everyone because of me,” she said.

Looking down at her trembling hands, I murmured, “Trouble? Do you see flies buzzing around you as trouble? It’s just annoying.”

My remarks are going over the line more and more.

The Saintess, faced with confidence that could pierce the sky, nodded as if possessed.

“Ah, I see,” she said.

“My name is Khan. What’s your name?”

“I’m Merian. Thank you for saving me.”

I whispered softly in her ear, “That’s a man’s name. What’s your woman’s name?”

“Hic!!” The Saintess seems to have a habit of hiccuping when she’s surprised.

‘How did you know?’ – I smiled at her, who was asking with her face.

“Let’s get to know each other slowly. We have plenty of time anyway.”

After recruiting the Saintess as a party member, I headed to the request board.

The adventurers swarming the board scattered to the left and right as if the Red Sea had parted when they saw me.

“Hmm…”

Originally, I was planning to take any request and fill up 1 point and then get promoted to Gold, but the situation changed because the Saintess became a member of the party.

Currently, Merian’s score is 0 points in Silver rank. To go to Gold, she needs to collect 1,000 points. Assuming that I include her as a party member and clear a Gold rank quest…

-Gold Rank Request-

[Troll Hunt] 80 points

[Ogre Hunt] 100 points

[Orc Tribe Extermination] 150 points

[20 Owlbears] 75 points

Each one takes a long time. But I don’t want to do Silver rank requests again. I can’t do Platinum rank requests because my rank doesn’t match.

‘Isn’t there an easy way to make Merian Gold in one go?’

Just as I was thinking, a black request sheet attached to the top of the bulletin board caught my eye.

-Orichalcum Rank Request-

[Subjugation of the Forest Keeper of the Demon Beast] 1,000,000 points

※ Any rank can apply

※ Group raid possible

※ No limit to the number of party members

※ Drastic promotion possible depending on contribution upon successful request.

“This is perfect.”

I tore off the request sheet nailed to the board.

At the same time, I heard a thud from behind.

“Ajussi! Get a hold of yourself! Ajussi!”

Oh dear.

Bron had collapsed.

I’m sure it’s nothing.

I believe he’s a tough guy, so he’ll dust himself off and get up.

* * *

Galahnah back alley.

A parched adventurer is trembling with his arms shaking while lying face down.

Around his neck was a bronze badge, signifying his Bronze rank.

Ashel, a burly figure, sat on the emaciated man’s back, puffing out cigarette smoke.

“Did you find out?”

“Yes. Khan and Campbell. It’s been a month since they came to Galahnah. In a short period of time, they skipped the Bronze requests and swept the Silver requests. After their partner Bron was promoted to Gold, they’ve been sweeping the Gold requests as well.”

What the hell are they?

They literally fell from the sky.

It’s really annoying.

“What’s their past history?”

“They were in the Blue Falcon Mercenary Corps.”

“Blue Falcon Mercenary Corps? Is that the mercenary corps in Elden?”

“That’s right.”

Ashel’s gang buzzed at the mention of the Blue Falcon Mercenary Corps.

That’s how much the mercenary corps’ stock was rising, and there were quite a few of them who had applied to the Blue Falcon and returned after failing.

“Kyak! Ptooey!” To calm the agitated atmosphere, Ashel spat a large wad of phlegm on the ground.

“At best, it was an unknown mercenary corps in the past. It only recently became popular. It’s obvious that their skills are inflated.”

One of the subordinates stepped forward.

“Ashel, Bron heard that the guy named Khan cut a troll in half with one strike. Isn’t that why he was confident enough to stand up to you?”

Ashel got up.

Then, he approached the subordinate who was ruining the mood and slapped him across the cheek.

Slap!

“Cough!”

“Do you believe that? The words of a moron Bron? That guy has been a pushover who hasn’t even reached Gold for fifteen years. He must have been exaggerating to brag about his party members.”

“I guess so?”

“Don’t spread rumors and create a sense of unease. It ruins my mood.”

Ashel, who was still angry, kicked the Bronze adventurer who had been acting as a chair in the side.

Thud!

“Keuh!”

“Why is this guy so weak? Do you want to die?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“I don’t like any of you.”

A familiar voice reached Ashel’s ears as he was smoking again.

“You’re still living like trash. Little brother.”

Ashel’s hair stood on end from the top of his head to the tips of his toes as soon as he heard the sinister voice.

Reflexively, he jumped up and stared at the man in the long coat blocking the entrance to the alley.

“Who is this? Isn’t it my brother?”

“Kekeke, how have you been?”

Unlike the burly Ashel, a tall and thin adventurer slowly approached.

Ashel’s subordinates swallowed hard and made way.

The adventurer whom Ashel called his brother had a diamond badge around his neck.

“Aaron hyung [older brother], what brings you to Galahnah?”

“I was reminded of you while carrying out a request personally given by Duke James.”

“Wow…”

A request personally designated by a noble, even a duke. It’s a dream come true for an adventurer. That’s how different Aaron, Ashel’s brother, was.

“I heard there’s someone bothering you?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Kekeke, you’re pretending it’s nothing while you’re worried. Since we’ve met after a long time, I’ll take care of it quickly.”

Ashel’s face brightened.

I don’t know Khan’s full strength, but it didn’t matter if Aaron, who was Diamond rank, helped him.

That guy was already a dead man.

It was then.

One of the subordinates he had planted in the guild building ran up, out of breath.

“Ashel! Ashel!”

“What are you doing, making such a fuss?”

“I brought you some crazy news. Khan is going to subjugate the Forest Keeper of the Demon Beast!”

“What?”

Subjugating the Forest Keeper of the Demon Beast.

That was a request that everyone thought was impossible.

Khan definitely seemed like a madman.

Or maybe he was an attention seeker trying to gain fame by pretending to carry out the request.

“It’s even better,” Ashel chuckled.

“It’s nothing for a few people to die in the Forest of Demon Beasts. The Forest of Demon Beasts will be his grave. Aaron hyung will help too, right?”

Chwaaaak!!

Aaron had already stabbed and killed the Bronze-ranked adventurer who was kneeling behind him with a knife.

He licked the blood that had splattered on his face and smiled brightly.

“Of course. I’ll help.”

“Pay for the chair too. It was one of my prized possessions.”

“Keuheuhe, but it wasn’t a stinky chair, was it? I’ll prepare at least a silver chair for you.”