Chapter 72

Chapter 72. I Never Did That, Though?

Once the city gate opened, the person who came to welcome Balun was a middle-aged man named Elliot. He introduced himself as a councilor belonging to the Mirehal City Council.

With soldiers in tow, he escorted Balun into the inner city with the utmost courtesy, bowing and scraping the entire way. As he walked ahead and kept chattering, the only thing Balun could see was the shiny, smooth patch at the center of his crown.

“I am truly sorry. I have no words to excuse this. If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared something at least…… Hehehe.”

“I would like to sprinkle some hair powder on you.”

“Pardon? What did you say?”

“Nothing. Keep talking.”

“Hehe. We have almost nothing prepared, but I ask for your understanding. As you can see, the situation outside is what it is…….”

Nathan left midway, saying he would visit the guild first, and Balun followed Elliot to a reception room, where he was served simple refreshments.

They consisted of coffee and hard biscuits, but they did not taste particularly good. The coffee had so much sugar in it that it was only sweet, and the biscuits were extremely dry.

Of course, Balun’s palate was cheap, so he did not particularly mind.

As Balun savored the sugar-filled coffee and observed Elliot, he noticed that Elliot had been carefully watching his mood for some time.

‘He is mistaking me for someone from Rotenfeld.’

Balun had not the slightest intention of pretending to be a noble, but for now, he did not correct the facts.

He had a whole truckload of things he was curious about, and he had to resolve them all, did he not?

“Um, may I ask what business…….”

“I have something I am curious about.”

Elliot had finally been unable to hold back and was about to speak, but Balun opened his mouth first.

“Pardon? If you are curious about something, then what…….”

“Why did the situation end up like this?”

“Do you mean the goblins? That is…… We do not know either. They suddenly attacked in a group, so we are in quite a difficult position.”

“Were there any signs beforehand?”

“If you mean signs…… I heard that the number of monsters has increased a little lately. That is about all I know.”

“I see.”

“Even so, there is no problem! As you can see, we are holding them off well!”

“Is locking the city gate what you call holding them off well? There were an incredible number of goblins in the outer districts.”

“Ah, that is…….”

“Should you not deploy more soldiers? Are there no more soldiers?”

“No. There are. There are, but that is…….”

Elliot began to fidget.

He thought Balun was scolding him, but Balun was not doing that. He was simply asking about what he was curious about.

The situation was what it was. He had many questions about monsters and the like.

“Did you evacuate the citizens?”

“Yes! Of course! We evacuated all of them! There are few casualties, so you do not need to worry! Yes!”

‘So there have been casualties.’

“Where is the mayor? Why can I only see you and not him?”

In truth, before asking this question, Balun hesitated a little.

‘Is the leader of a city here called a mayor? It should be right, should it not? Since this is a Free City.’

What would he do if he said mayor, only for it to turn out to be a lord?

Fortunately, it seemed he had not been wrong.

“Ah, that is because he is currently meeting the mages of the Red Tower…….”

“The Red Tower?”

When Balun’s expression hardened, Elliot immediately lowered his head.

“Yes. Ah, I am truly sorry. We are not looking down on Rotenfeld. It is merely that we did not know you would arrive so suddenly…… Truly!”

He thought Balun was angry, but Balun was not angry. He was deep in thought.

‘If it is the Red Tower, does that mean the Red Magic Tower? The one in a rivalry with the Blue Magic Tower?’

Gregory had also said that the Red Magic Tower was a mage organization just as influential as their own.

‘Then should I not meet those people? Since I am somewhat close to the Blue Magic Tower?’

What would he do if they charged at him while shouting, ‘You barbarian bastard who has cozied up to the Blue Magic Tower! I will kill you!’?

‘Or not? Am I overreacting a little?’

“It is fine. I came without even notifying anyone first.”

“Th-thank you for understanding.”

“I will ask one more thing.”

“Yes. Anything.”

“Why did you lock the city gate? Nathan here belongs to the same side as you, yet you would not let him in.”

“Ah, that is…….”

Elliot fidgeted again.

He hesitated for a while before finally forcing himself to speak.

“Ah, the mayor told us not to tell anyone about this yet, but it cannot be helped. I will tell you.”

He whipped his head around, then leaned toward Balun and lowered his voice.

There were only the two of them here, so Balun had no idea why he was doing this.

He could have just said it normally.

“In truth, we have intelligence that mages of the Black Tower have infiltrated the city.”

“What, the Black Tower?”

Balun’s eyes grew round.

He had not expected to hear that name here.

“Yes. We do not know who belongs to the Black Tower, so we were told not to let just anyone in.”

“Even Nathan? Even though he is the son of the Merchant Guild Association’s chairman?”

“That is something we cannot know, is it not? Ah, this is confidential, so please do not mention it. I beg you.”

“Do not worry. I will not tell anyone.”

Balun said that and summarized what he had heard.

‘So, because they do not know who the spy is, they will not let people in? Even if that person is the son of a wealthy family?’

Soon, Balun tilted his head. He understood it, but there was something he could not accept.

He understood that they were being thorough about locking down the gate. But was it not strange to suspect Nathan? He was the son of an influential family who had lived in this city his whole life.

Were they saying they would investigate thoroughly, regardless of whether he was the son of an influential family or not? Or were there circumstances in the city he did not know about?

“Then how did you learn that mages of the Black Tower had infiltrated this place?”

“Ah, the mages of the Red Tower informed us. In fact, that is also the reason our mayor is meeting with the Red Tower people right now.”

“I see. Thank you for the useful information.”

Balun nodded and stood. Elliot was flustered.

“Where are you going? The mayor has not arrived yet.”

“I am going to take care of my business.”

“Pardon? What do you mean…….”

“Do I need to tell you my business?”

“Ah, no, that is not the case!”

“I am leaving.”

Balun left the reception room without any lingering attachment, and Elliot could not stop him. He merely stared blankly at Balun’s back as he disappeared, then muttered,

“How strange. Was there a Barbarian among Rotenfeld’s Knights?”

He had that suspicion for a moment, but he could not be certain.

Even if he was doubtful, it was not as though he could carelessly suspect someone who possessed the Token of Rotenfeld.

What would he do if he suspected him and it turned out he really was a Knight?

‘Could the token perhaps be a counterfeit……? Ah, no. Surely not. There is no way. What madman would dare impersonate Rotenfeld?’

He thought that and tried to set his suspicion aside, but how could a suspicion that had already surfaced be erased so easily?

‘I should tell the mayor when he arrives later.’

Putting it off until later, he left the reception room.

***

After that, Balun went to the Merchant Guild and received his money from Nathan.

The price for eliminating the goblins and opening the road: 250 gold.

On top of that, he also charged him for saving his life from the troll.

“You can give me 500 gold.”

“Pardon? Not 250 gold?”

“Do you not remember that I saved you when you nearly died to the troll?”

“Ah, that.”

“I counted that life-saving fee at 10 gold per person too. A total of 500 gold. I made it cheap for you. It is an absolutely extraordinary discount.”

“Ngh, it cannot be helped. Better to roll in a field of dung than to die, after all. I will pay you.”

“Good!”

And so, he received 500 gold.

When added to the 2,800 gold he already had, he now had a total of 3,300 gold.

It was an enormous amount of money.

Balun, whose mood had improved, was about to leave the Merchant Guild when Nathan stopped him.

“What? Do you have something else to say?”

“It is nothing else. I have something I would like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“I heard Elliot mention Rotenfeld earlier. Did you perhaps come from Rotenfeld……?”

“Ah, that is right. I came from there.”

“But you clearly said you were a mercenary, did you not?”

“I am a mercenary.”

“Then that token is…….”

“Do you mean this? It is a gift I received from the Count’s son. He called me his friend.”

Balun spoke without hiding anything. He had no intention of hiding it anyway. He had not the slightest intention of impersonating a noble.

In any case, he knew very well that even if he did, it would not last long.

The people of this world were not fools, so how could they keep being deceived while a Barbarian pretended to be a noble?

“F-friend, you say? The Young Lord of Rotenfeld?”

“He did not seem to be the Young Lord. He said he was not the eldest son.”

“Ah, then it must be Lord Heinrich.”

“You know him?”

“How could a merchant not know even that much? I have actually seen him from a distance as well.”

Balun nodded. Now that he thought about it, it made sense that the son of a great lord would be famous.

Even the sons and daughters of conglomerates were famous, so why would a lord’s son not be famous? And the son of a great lord, at that.

“You truly received an incredible gift. To think you obtained something that cannot even be bought with money. What kind of amazing deed did you accomplish……?”

“You cannot buy this with money?”

“Oh my, of course not. It would not be possible even if you offered an immense fortune. How could the name value of a great house be bought with money?”

“I see.”

Nathan made a fuss and practically jumped in place.

Seeing him gaze at the token with eyes filled with obvious envy, Balun grinned for no reason.

‘So this thing was really that impressive?’

Then again, that was why that councilor fellow had bowed and scraped like that.

‘Then it would be a little wasteful to use it as a bulletproof necklace.’

He would have to think about it a bit more.

What would he do if it broke by any chance?

“I am envious. Even when we pour in so much money, it is difficult for us to make even one connection…….”

“With the Rotenfeld Family?”

“Yes.”

“That is unfortunate.”

“Yes…….”

No, stop looking at me like that.

It is burdensome.

“Please take good care of that. Make sure you never lose it and that it is never stolen.”

“I should.”

“…….”

“Why are you staring at me so intently?”

“It is nothing.”

He said it was nothing, but his expression looked as though he was dying of envy.

***

Whether he still had lingering regrets or had a request to make, Nathan kept trying to hold Balun back.

But Balun had no intention of staying long with this terribly unlucky human.

What good would come of spending a long time with a human who had seen trolls four times in two days?

“Balun will stay in Mirehal for the time being. If you have any requests, call me. For your information, you will need to pay a lot. Balun is a Silver Badge Mercenary, but in truth, he is practically no different from Diamond Tier. Since I am an absolutely top-class mercenary, I do not accept small change. Then I will be going.”

After thoroughly promoting himself just in case, Balun soon left the Merchant Guild. Now he planned to find an inn to stay at for a while, then begin searching for the Rogue Guild in earnest.

Of course, before that, he needed to gather preliminary information. He did not know the city’s geography, nor did he know much about its guilds.

Mirehal had countless guilds, and among them alone, there were said to be eight Rogue Guilds. It seemed he had to learn about them beforehand to avoid trouble.

Which place had the most influence, whether they truly taught techniques if he paid, how much the tuition was, whether there was a star instructor, whether they were hostile to outsiders, and what each guild’s strengths, weaknesses, and specialties were…….

Balun intended to investigate such things meticulously.

Of course he had to investigate.

Even when ordering a single item from the internet, people looked into things that meticulously. So if he was going to learn a skill that would be responsible for his future, was it not only natural to be even more thorough?

‘But why does the city feel so empty?’

As Balun walked down the broad street, he kept looking around. This city was supposed to be the most prosperous commercial city in the area, yet the streets were strangely quiet.

‘It must be because of the monster attack, I suppose.’

There were not many pedestrians, and only soldiers were constantly moving about. Shouts could also be heard from here and there.

Balun clicked his tongue. The timing was not good.

Coming to a large city should have meant looking around at the crowds and enjoying the sights.

And that was not all. Balun also intended to look for a house while learning Stealth.

The problem was that to properly conduct an On-Site Property Inspection, he had to check various factors.

He needed to know how crowded the city was, how much foot traffic it had, whether the city’s atmosphere felt lively, and things like that.

Given the situation, it seemed difficult to check such factors thoroughly.

‘Well, it does not matter. I am not going to buy a house anyway. Besides, this city does not seem very good for settling down.’

A city where monsters attacked?

How was he supposed to live there without feeling anxious?

There would surely be many broader, more splendid cities elsewhere. Balun wanted to visit all those places before making a decision. There were said to be Ten Kingdoms, so how could there not be cities like that?

‘By the way, where is an inn……?’

“There he is!”

At the sudden voice, Balun turned his head. He saw several soldiers on the main road to the left, staring at him.

“Mm?”

Their eyes met.

They approached. The sound of their military boots and the clanking of metal grew louder, like the amplified sound of a speaker.

“That is him. This Barbarian is the impostor.”

“Arrest him at once.”

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers approached in an instant, surrounded Balun, and aimed their spears at him.

Faced with this sudden situation, Balun could only feel bewildered.

What was this?

“Barbarian. We have received information that you are impersonating a Knight of Rotenfeld.”

“I am?”

“That is right!”

“I never did that, though? Is this perhaps because of the token?”

When Balun took out the Token of Rotenfeld, their eyes immediately widened.

“That is it! You have admitted your crime yourself!”

“Why does it become that? I received this as a gift.”

“Ridiculous! How could a stinking savage like you possibly receive something so precious as a gift? What are you all doing? Arrest him immediately!”

As the guards tightened their encirclement, Balun chuckled.

He was neither angry nor afraid. He merely found it absurd.

‘This damned racial discrimination.’