---

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a strategy game?”

At his words, everyone around froze for a moment.

Karon straightened his sword again. Only then did Eden recall where he had seen that black orb before. It looked just like the one Tannir had jumped out of during the founding banquet.

Eden’s eyes widened in surprise, and Asmun quietly sat down and picked up the weapons.

“It didn’t break.”

At his flat tone, the knights let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that if you threw it hard enough to not crack, monsters wouldn’t pop out like that day.

Asmun examined the black orb closely. At this dark of a color, it must be a monster of intermediate level or higher. It was quite a grand item for a petty thief to have.

Eden figured this out too and felt a sense of suspicion, quickly spreading out the map.

‘As expected, it’s the Reblem map.’

The map was indeed that of Reblem, and somewhere on it, a red circle was marked.

‘But the quest clear window isn’t popping up, even though I’ve got the map.’

This meant the event quest wasn’t finished yet. Eden repeated the name of the quest to himself.

Secret Deal of Reblem.

As something flashed in his mind, Eden’s eyes widened. He grabbed the collar of the man who was drooling and knocked him hard on the cheek.

Smack―!

Karon and Asmun looked at Eden in shock, but Eden didn’t have time to care as he shook the man’s collar.

“Wake up!”

When Eden smacked the man’s cheek one more time, he jolted awake. Eden glared at the man as he held onto his collar with both hands.

“You were trying to deal those weapons in Rektomil, weren’t you?”

Rektomil was a coastal city located to the east of Reblem, where the mark on the map the man had was located.

At his words, the man’s face went stiff. It seemed that was the right answer.

‘Damn it. The event quest isn’t over yet.’

This meant he still didn’t have the real clue in his hands.

Secret Deal.

Eden sensed that he needed to go to Rektomil personally to finish that deal. He tossed the man’s collar aside and turned to Asmun.

“We need to go to Rektomil.”

At those words, both Asmun and Karon’s faces turned serious at the same time. Rektomil was one of the most dangerous cities even in the fallen Reblem.

“Priest, Rektomil is too dangerous. We should learn more about the situation first…”

“I’m going with you.”

Asmun abruptly interrupted Karon and responded.

“Commander of the Holy Knights should return to the capital. It seems I am the only one needed by the priest from now on.”

Asmun packed the weapons away and flashed a nonchalant smile at Karon.

Karon raised an eyebrow at him, but Asmun just ignored him and turned to Eden.

In the end, the situation wrapped up with Karon, who had equally busy tasks waiting for him, returning to the capital first. It was a good outcome for Eden, as the strange rivalry between the two men was exhausting.

“……”

Except for Asmun, who was oozing frustration all over.

Eden felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles, carefully avoiding Asmun’s gaze while eating.

It was already late, having wasted time turning around to check on Horun, and they had come to Asmun’s place with the condition of leaving early the next day.

Despite the silence on the way, Asmun seemed determined to spend dinner with Eden, possibly thinking about killing him instead.

Worried he might threaten to cancel the contract again like last time, Eden was tense when Asmun finally spoke up.

“Is the food to your taste?”

“No!”

In a moment of panic, not wanting to let the words “cancel the contract” slip out, he inadvertently responded with something completely different.

Asmun stared at Eden, blinking in confusion at his strange answer.

“……Huh?”

Only then did Eden realize the situation, and his face turned flustered.

“If it doesn’t suit you, I can bring out something else.”

“Oh, no! It suits me. It’s delicious.”

Seeing Asmun poised to call someone over, Eden hastily shoved a meat pie into his mouth. It really was tasty.

But….

Eden glanced at Asmun again. As their eyes met, he felt a prickling sensation down his spine.

“Weren’t you angry…?”

After finishing his chewing, Eden decided to go all out. Now he had to accompany Asmun to Rektomil, so he could no longer keep glancing nervously at him.

“I was.”

When Asmun replied flatly, Eden’s expression turned awkward. Unlike before, Asmun’s face didn’t look angry at all, yet it still made Eden anxious.

“But cancellation of the contract isn’t allowed. There were reasons for it. I can explain.”

Asmun stared at Eden, who was struggling in tension.

“Actually, I received a decree. It was a revelation that I must find a girl named Ella living in Horun. I wanted to ask the commander, fearing it would take too long to report to His Highness. It would be safer with the commander.”

Although Asmun’s eyebrows stiffened displeased at his last words, Eden didn’t notice and continued to ramble.

“However, Ella is currently missing. I think finding her might be closely linked to discovering Tevel.”

Eden quickly shared the situation without pausing for breath.

“If we continue the weapon deal in Rektomil, we might catch a clue.”

When Eden explained everything and seemed to assert the legitimacy of his actions, Asmun slowly moved his lips.

“Then it seems we should remain in Reblem until we find Tevel.”

Eden’s face went blank at the unexpected response.

“……Huh?”

“Don’t worry about the Temple. I’ll handle it.”

His calm voice was composed.

“They said the deal for the weapons is set up for the evening. If we leave around lunch, we should arrive comfortably.”

Eden was flustered and tried to convince him not to, but Asmun skillfully cut him off. Eden was momentarily at a loss for words, then cautiously asked.

“Are you really going with me…?”

Asmun looked at Eden with an expression that seemed to ask why he needed to clarify something so obvious. For some reason, that gaze made Eden feel a tightening sensation in his chest.

“As the Commander of the Holy Knights said, Rektomil is a dangerous place.”

“……”

“You must not fall out of my sight any longer.”

As Asmun set down his knife, he stared intently at Eden with a faint smile. Eden recognized that Asmun’s anger was still unresolved from the way he was grinning sweetly.

Cold sweat broke out on the back of Eden’s neck.

The next day, Eden and Asmun set off for Rektomil. Both of them disguised themselves so thoroughly that no one could tell they were a prince and a priest.

His subordinates also disguised themselves casually and decided to lay in ambush around Rektomil for any uncertain situations.

As things escalated that much, Eden felt a bit flustered.

Would it be okay to drag Asmun into this event quest? But with how determined Asmun was, there was little he could do.

“I heard there are people in Rektomil collecting monsters and weapons.”

Asmun shared information he had obtained by torturing the thieves caught yesterday.

“They seem to have no idea what they’re collecting the weapons for.”

The expressionless tone made Eden’s eyebrows furrow as he hid his face, revealing only his eyes. The mention of monster dealings wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him.

‘Count Retton could have been a hint.’

It was well-known that nobles in the Empire were buying monsters for ornamental purposes. Count Retton, whom Kiris had used to bury Asmun, was proof of that.

In a fallen city like Reblem, monster auctions would be the perfect place for such transactions.

However, what puzzled him was that he couldn’t guess the connection between monster auctions and Ella at all.

The image of Tetes weeping and asking him to find his daughter lingered in Eden’s mind, making him feel uneasy throughout.

‘What kind of game is this? Touching a kid definitely crosses the line, you bastards in charge of this!’

As he resolved to give it a score of one upon his return, they got closer to Rektomil. Unlike other quiet areas of Reblem, which felt like ghost towns, Rektomil was filled with noisy commotion.

……

Upon entering Rektomil, Eden rode alongside Asmun, scanning the surroundings.

Right off the bat, Rektomil was filled with a distinctly different type of people from those he had seen in the capital.

He saw rough-looking men, far scarier than the thieves from yesterday, carrying goods or haggling. Fistfights and curses flew about.

“Relax. They’ll sense it if you’re too tense.”

Asmun casually advised as Eden anxiously glanced around. Eden quickly faced forward and nodded.

In contrast to Eden, who was scared by the rough scene, Asmun showed no signs of nervousness.

Soon, the two arrived at the designated bar. They tied their horses to the stables and stepped inside. As soon as the door opened, loud noise and the stench of strong alcohol hit them.

Eden trotted closely behind Asmun, who walked in as if he had been there a dozen times before.

 

---