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The truck driver gazed up at the sky. The Empire’s sky was always gray upon gray, but today it looked particularly gloomy.

“Stop!”

At the signal from the Border Guard soldier holding the red flag, the knight slowed down and approached the checkpoint cautiously.

*Knock, knock.*

A somewhat indifferent, almost annoying knock. As always, the knight turned the manual lever to roll down the window, and the Border Guard Sergeant, with a cigarette clamped between his lips, gave a quick nod.

The sergeant smiled faintly. “Long time no see, Grisha. Driving out in this chilly weather, huh?”

“Well, gotta do what I have to do to survive. How’s the checkpoint? It’s snowing heavily.”

“No problem at all. It snows all the time.”

The Border Guard Sergeant, with the cigarette tip bobbing between his lips, gestured. A young-faced soldier guarding the checkpoint stumbled awkwardly over the ice.

Seeing the soldier’s face, the driver Grisha clicked his tongue internally. It’s sad to see a kid barely past twenty serving at such a remote border where only logistics trucks, tourist buses, and smugglers pass by.

To a middle-aged man like him, it was indeed pitiful for such a young lad to be stationed in a desolate border area—especially when that person was around the same age as his own son. It stirred an uncomfortable weight in one corner of his heart.

He had sent his son off to university, only for him to waste time having fun. That brat.

Grisha tightened his grip on the steering wheel, thinking of his son who had now been away in the city for three whole years.

The sergeant asked, “What are you transporting today?”

“Just the usual stuff. Daily necessities and such.”

“So, smuggled goods then?”

“…Let’s just say they’re consumer goods for a little happiness.”

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**Side Episode – The Border**

The items Grisha was transporting were foreign products.

He acquired them for a pittance through an introduction by a “friend,” bringing them across the road (where monsters don’t tread), and marked them up for resale.

To put it in a more sophisticated and refined way, Grisha is somewhat of a “tai-gong.”

Of course, it wasn’t a business that had been officially licensed.

Strictly speaking, this was smuggling, and he could be pursued by the tax wizards. Naturally, if caught at a Border Guard checkpoint, he wouldn’t have anything to say.

However, the world doesn’t always operate by the book.

The Border Guard Captain had no qualms about taking bribes, and the team members, receiving heated blankets imbued with warmth magic, easily let people pass through.

Thanks to that, the Border Guards could scrape by and Grisha could send his son to college, which was a mutual benefit and a testament to Grisha’s know-how.

But today, something felt different.

“I’ll need to check your truck.”

“…What?”

Grisha looked at the Border Guard Sergeant in shock. The sergeant, placing an unlit cigarette between his fingers and yawning, explained the situation. It seemed that recently, some esteemed guests from abroad had visited the Empire. Since they were all high-profile individuals, they had issued orders to tighten the border checks to prevent any potential accidents.

“Who are these guests exactly?”

“I don’t know. Some say a Saint has come, others say a Hero is here… but I don’t need to know all that in this remote area.”

Grisha’s head spun. His fingertips began to tremble, and his vision turned a bright yellow.

Getting caught in a checkpoint today would be a disaster. If the contents of his truck were exposed, even the Border Guard Captain wouldn’t be able to cover for him.

Concluding his thoughts, Grisha hurriedly stepped out of the driver’s seat and approached the sergeant.

“What’s going on? Suddenly.”

“Just hold on for a second…”

Grisha reached out with both hands tightly clutching a bundle of cash. The rhythm of the cigarette’s bobbing abruptly stopped.

Cold sweat trickled down, hardening against his skin. The familiar barricades of the border checkpoint now loomed like walls of a castle today. The barrel of the rifle slung over the team member’s shoulder seemed particularly imposing.

The Border Guard squinted, frowning. “What’s this?”

“It’s… a matter of livelihood…I’ll be visiting the Captain soon enough.”

“No, Grisha. This isn’t about the Captain; this is an order from Headquarters.”

Seeing Grisha’s dejected expression, the Border Guard softened his tone, clearing his throat gently. “I understand we’ve had dealings in the past. No matter what’s inside, I’ll look the other way. Now, just open the truck door.”

“….”

“I’ll just confirm with my eyes and let you through quickly. If you’re worried about things breaking like last time, I promise I’ll just look this time.”

Grisha closed his eyes tightly.

He bit his lip in thought and rummaged through his pockets to pull out another bundle of cash.

The look on the Border Guard’s face as he saw several months’ worth of wages in cash was quite worth it. In a rural area where there aren’t even decent restaurants or cultural facilities, seeing such money was a rare sight.

As the Border Guard hesitated slightly, the smuggler presented a matchbox made from the Magic Tower’s famed matchsticks, which could withstand even the harshest winds.

“From the Magic Tower…”

“This is a match I made. It doesn’t easily go out even in strong winds or cold.”

“……”

The Border Guard Sergeant’s arm moved.

For a moment, I worried if he was going to slap himself and force the vehicle to be inspected, but that didn’t happen.

The sergeant took out a single matchstick from the matchbox, lit it, and took a deep puff before blowing out the smoke.

“Grisha.”

“…Yes.”

“What about that friend of yours?”

The sergeant gestured towards the soldier, asking how they should silence him.

Of course, to silence someone in a moment like this, you had to bribe the soldier too, and if Grisha had given him a portion of the money he was holding out, it would’ve been resolved quickly. But the sergeant didn’t want to go that route.

Coins and bills lay scattered on the ground, but no one would pick just one up.

Reaching that thought, Grisha quickly pulled cash from his wallet. This wasn’t the usual bribe money he carried around; it was his own savings.

The sergeant grinned as he pocketed the bundle of cash.

He took not only the two bundles of cash Grisha had presented earlier but also half of what was meant to grease the soldier’s palm. A real highway robber, that guy.

The sergeant smiled broadly, while Grisha only managed a forced smile. The young soldier, who had just received some unexpected pocket money, was simply bewildered.

The Border Guard Sergeant, puffing out smoke, happily shouted.

“Alright! Pass through!”

The fortress-like checkpoint’s barriers lifted, and Grisha hurriedly climbed into the driver’s seat and stepped on the accelerator.

“Damn, today’s really unlucky…”

The old truck rattled as it passed through the checkpoint. Grisha’s curse was drowned out by the wind and engine noise.

In fact, getting caught this time wouldn’t be so bad after all. The Border Guard Captain in charge of this border and even the local police were not immune to bribery.

Even if he got caught at the checkpoint, his friends would have likely just held Grisha in the office for a few hours instead of in a jail cell, let him pay a small fine, and sent him home.

But today was different.

Grisha’s gaze drifted to the rearview mirror.

“……”

Strong-looking men were seated in the dilapidated truck bed. Among the usual smuggled goods, strange electronic devices, heavy bags whose contents were unknown, and glimpses of military uniforms peeking out from under their pants were visible.

The ‘acquaintance’ who previously sold foreign goods to Grisha at a low price abruptly asked him a few days ago to smuggle a couple of people into the Empire.

He had refused, fearing they might be executed if caught, but the amount his acquaintance offered was astronomical. It was money that his university student son would only hope to touch after working for ten months.

And it scared him.

For the sake of simply moving a few people and their bags, the amount offered was far too large.

Grisha didn’t know the names or nationalities of these people.

Among them, there was even a Beastman.

-Twitch, twitch.

With glistening fur on his tanned skin, cat ears swaying delicately between his black hair, and vertically slit green pupils. A typical Cat Beastman.

Of course, like the other illegal immigrants, Grisha didn’t know where the Beastman came from or what his name was.

It was probably better not to know.

“…!”

As Grisha cast a glance at the rearview mirror, his gaze met that of the Cat Beastman. The Beastman, manipulating a brick-like electronic device, seemed to lock eyes with Grisha.

The Beastman’s nose twitched uncomfortably as he frowned, and as soon as they made eye contact, Grisha quickly turned his head down.

Amidst the rumble of the truck’s engine, he could hear the sound of conversations coming from the bed.

“…@#%@#%?”

“#$%@#$@.”

It was in a foreign language he couldn’t understand, and that made it even scarier. Grisha bit back his urge to leap out of the truck and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

It seemed better to just forget about this deal.

Thinking that, the smuggler Grisha fixed his gaze straight ahead and pressed the accelerator.

The truck pressed forward, pushing aside the falling snow, and the snow that fell covered the tire tracks in the mud.

Thus, the truck carrying the Information Officers of Abas crossed the border and ventured deep into the territory of the Empire.

Side Episode – Border -END-

 

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