"Pant! Pant!"
In a dark and abandoned house.
A man in his twenties, his skin covered in old scars and new tattoos, was tied to a chair.
The wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth prevented him from speaking, but he kicked the floor in panic, glaring at his captor.
Meilyn stood in front of him with her arms crossed.
She tried to outlast the man by closing her eyes and ignoring him, but she couldn't hold it in any longer and finally screamed,
"Ah, you're so noisy! Just be quiet!!"
Even though she tried to silence him, the man's struggles intensified.
"Here!"
Just as things were about to turn sour, Camibarez brought in Simon. Meilyn turned around and said,
"are you here?"
"What happened? Who is he?"
At Simon's question, Meilyn began to explain.
He had been walking around the village, asking people about Sasha—the future Saint. Most of the villagers had simply ignored him, either saying they didn't know or simply walking away from him, but one person…
"What? Why are you looking for him? Who are you?"
There was a man who acted cautiously as he asked.
When Meilyn didn't answer, the man took a dagger from his pocket and jumped on her.
He must have thought he could easily subdue her, judging by her appearance, but within seconds she was knocked out and immediately tied to a chair for interrogation.
'Could he be related to the person who took Sasha?'
It seemed that Meilyn was really making progress. Simon approached the man with a satisfied smile.
"W-Be careful, Simon!"
"Don't worry."
Then, he untied the cloth that was covering the man's mouth.
"You %$@&@!!!"
Dirty words flowed from the man's mouth.
"How dare you, you stupid children! Do you know who I am? I will suck out your eyes—!!"
"Then who are you?"
asked Simon.
He asked so boldly and casually that the man immediately stopped shouting and almost answered without realizing it.
"Really, I'll tell you!"
Simon stared at the man, then looked back.
The villagers stopped to watch, wondering what was going on.
"Excuse me."
Simon left the man and walked quickly towards the villagers.
The villagers who saw him gasped and walked away with their heads down. However, Simon managed to catch up with their group in an instant.
"Do you know that person?"
Simon asked as he walked beside them, but they didn't answer.
Simon quickly changed his question.
"We're looking for a girl named Sasha. If you know anything, even the slightest detail about her—"
"Sasha?"
A villager's face stiffened.
"Who cares whether a monster like him disappears or not."
'Giant'.
That was a very honest explanation.
Simon had some insight into how Sasha was viewed, then asked,
"Don't you know why Sasha disappeared?"
"Ugh, why do you keep bothering us? Who are you?!"
So they throw the question back at us…
It would be a problem if rumors spread that Kizen was here. Most importantly, this was a neutral area, so it was outside of Kizen's influence. They had no authority to investigate anything here.
(Kuhehe! Looks like you're in trouble, kid.)
'At times like this, I just have to use the adult tricks I learned from Rick.'
(Tricks for adults?)
Simon searched his pockets.
"Oh, I didn't know I had this in my pocket."
Then, he opened his palm and showed them the gold coin.
The villagers immediately reacted to the trick. Simon smiled inwardly as he saw their eyes filled with greed.
He was fortunate that the Dark Lands' currency—silver and gold coins—was accepted in the neutral zone.
"Please tell me about that man."
Simon took out another gold coin. Then, an old man looked around before whispering,
"Don't tell anyone I told you. He's a gang member. A pretty big gang around here."
"Aha. What gang?"
Another man joined in, also whispering.
"They are called Sentinels. They are large enough to have necromancers with awakened cores fighting under them. Our village is also part of their territory."
Simon placed another coin on top of the other two coins.
"May I assume that this gang called 'Sentinel' took Sasha? I'm not asking for much. Please just nod if that's true."
The man nodded very carefully.
Simon happily paid the two men 3 gold, and returned to where Meilyn was holding her prisoner.
"How is that?"
Meilyn asked. Maybe the man said something funny again, because Meilyn was pulling his collar.
"I don't know. They didn't tell me until the end."
The gang members chuckled.
"Of course! This territory is ours, so the villagers are on our side too! Now, if you get it—"
"Huh, did you just say this territory belongs to you guys?"
Simon nonchalantly commented,
"I didn't think you would reveal it yourself… There are a few gangs in this area, but everyone knows that the Sentinels keep a close eye on this neighborhood."
The man's face stiffened.
"Well, can you tell us why the Sentinels took Sasha and where they took her?"
"I don't know!"
You jerk! Tell us now!
Unable to take it anymore, Meilyn interrupted, and the two started arguing again.
Simon quietly took a step back and looked behind him.
He could see Rick coming towards them. Simon held an open palm behind his back to tell Rick to stop, then signaled him with his eyes.
The two of them had almost spent time together in Kizen, so Rick quickly caught Simon's message and disappeared with a thumbs up.
And after a while…
"Hoho, sorry I'm late."
* * *
* * *
Rick reappears, looking decades older and wearing a strange straw mat as a tattered robe.
'…He looks like a real old man.'
Rick wore a biological face that was only covered in wrinkles. It showed his real face, but he still looked very different.
The straw mat he was wearing and the skull tied around his waist only added to that. He looked far from the smart and trendy elite astrologer of today.
He seemed like a very traditional astrologer.
"Who is this old mmmm—!"
Rick suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the man's eyelids and forced them open and closed.
Overwhelmed, the man stopped stuttering.
"What do you need me for again?"
At Rick's question, Simon took the hint and replied,
"He won't leak a single drop of information."
"I can't believe you brought a torturer! But it's no use! No matter what torture I face—!"
"Silence!"
Rick shouted.
"You insult me. A torturer? No, my child, I am a necromancer. You will wish I was just a 'torturer' by the end of this."
Imitating an old man's voice, Rick picked up a pair of scissors.
Clack clack!
Without hesitation, she cut the man's bangs. The man's face turned paler every time she cut.
Rick then took out a blood potion from his subspace, dipped his fingertip into it, and began spreading it on the man's forehead.
"Do you like it?"
Rick said, pointing to the window.
The gang member looked at his reflection in the window and saw a streak of blood on his forehead.
It's a sign.
The man seemed to be shaking with fear.
However, Rick didn't care.
"You can never be sure that information given through the mouth of a tortured human being is true. The best way is to…"
Rick took a scalpel out of its box and held it in his hand.
"…to crack open his head, take out his brain, and examine the information directly."
"!!"
Rick really acted like a true necromancer, to the point that not only his gang members but also Meilyn and Camibarez were amazed.
Rick took out a long, sharp needle and began to stab the man in the forehead. The man began to cry in fear and scream as the needle pierced more than half of his head.
"H-Hey, you crazy bastards! You think you can get away with this in a neutral area?"
"Don't worry. After I take out your brain, I'll feed your body to the wild dogs."
Rick pressed the scalpel to the man's forehead. Blood dripped, entering the victim's eyes and turning his vision red.
Finally, unable to overcome his primal fear, the man shouted,
"I'll talk! I'll talk!!"
However, Rick did not stop working with his scalpel and cutting into the skin.
"Please! I'll tell you everything I know! Please, stop this madman!!"
Finally, Simon took Rick's hand and said,
"Let's hear what he has to say first, then decide whether to continue afterward."
In the end, the gang member spilled everything he knew.
Apparently, the Sentinels received a high-value mission to kidnap Sasha and take her to the specified location.
He didn't know who the client was, as he was only a low-ranking member, but he said that the client knew that Sasha lived in this town, what her home address was, and that this village was under the influence of the Sentinels.
He said that his destination was the 'Halldun mountains'.
"I don't think we need to open his skull."
Simon said as he stretched his back.
"You better keep quiet about us. Well, if the gang finds out you're leaking the group's information, they'll probably kill you first."
The gang member nodded with a face full of snot and tears.
So, the four of them left the building. Rick took off his biological face and let out a sigh of relief.
"Wahaha! Isn't my acting good?"
Simon lightly flicked Rick's forehead to finish the job well.
On the other hand, Meilyn and Camibarez move away from Rick.
"Hey, commoner? Don't talk to me today. You're scaring me."
"…Rick, you're scary."
"Hey now, it was just an act! An act!"
Rick said as he pushed his straw mat into the living room.
At that moment, Seiwirr appeared in front of the four of them as if falling from the sky.
"H-How did it go?!"
His voice was filled with urgency and impatience.
"What happened to the priest?"
Simon asked first.
"They all scattered and ran when I threatened them. I don't think they took Sasha with them."
"Exactly! Agent Seiwirr!"
Rick interrupted,
"I was skeptical at first when you told us not to go after the priests but to investigate the residents. But then, like you said, it was a gang that kidnapped them, not the priests! You anticipated this, didn't you, agent?"
Seiwirr took a moment to process what had been said, but then showed a confident smile and brushed back his bangs.
"Of course! I suspected it from the start."
"As expected!!"
Simon just scoffed as the two continued to butter each other up.
'Well, I'm sure those priests must be fake.'
However, the traces of the divine explosion and the shattered floor were all gone.
"Okay! So we just have to go after the gang that kidnapped Sasha. What should we do?"
Meilyn looked confused hearing Seiwirr's words.
"Shouldn't you be the one instructing us about that, Agent?"
"Ha…! Haha! G-Giving an answer straight away isn't the right way to educate, you know. Now, please think carefully and think about how we should act!"
He smiled, but the corners of his mouth twitched. It was like he was saying, 'Come on, you guys. Find out something!'
Simon let out a small sigh and said,
"We got the map from a gang member we caught earlier."
He opened his map and pointed to a section.
"The gang doesn't have the capital or skills to prepare a teleportation magic circle. They probably took a carriage to climb the mountain. Their destination is the Halldun mountains, and we heard that the area doesn't have any other important landmarks. The gang and their client will exchange Sasha here, and the 'client' probably—"
"…from Efnel, right?"
Simon nodded at Meilyn's addition.
With their information power, they probably realized that Kizen had already made his move. This might be why they moved the mercenaries to secure Sasha first and then exchange her in the Halldun mountains.
"The best option is for us to go to the Halldun mountains with the support of the teleportation magic circle, defeat the gang, and save Sasha."
Simon stopped there and looked at Seiwirr's face.
Seiwirr quickly waved his hand.
"As I said a while ago, teleportation is not a good plan. The coordinates might be known to Efnel, and…"
Seiwirr tried his best to make excuses, but he probably didn't have the authority to teleport. Even if he did, a teleportation magic circle would be too much, even in Vengeance.
In the Dark Territory, that was only possible for Kizen, Ivory Tower, and giant companies like Vanilla, all of whom had a lot of money.
"…"
Doubt also appeared in Meilyn and Camibarez's eyes as they looked at Seiwirr, which could potentially be happening at this point as well.
"Then, another method."
Pretending not to know, Simon pointed to a river on the map.
"Let's go up this river and cut it in the middle. The gang probably hasn't climbed the mountain yet."
"Up the river? Wh-Where can we get the boat..."
Simon looked at Rick. Rick lifted the corners of his mouth and grinned.
"I think I should check which engine the ship is on!"