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

“Two glasses of rum.”

Asmun, settled at a secluded table, expertly placed his order with the waiter and glanced around.

The tavern was packed with all kinds of bizarre characters. It was quite the sight, but at least it made Asmun and Eden, with their faces covered, seem less out of place.

“Looks like he hasn’t arrived yet.”

The thief who had weapons with him confessed he was supposed to make a deal with a man in a red hat. However, the man in the red hat was still nowhere to be seen.

Just then, the voices of some men at a table in the back caught his attention.

“Hey, did you hear about the invitation?”

“What invitation?”

“Hah! Didn’t you get the news? You really are a nobody.”

“What? You punk!”

Crash! The sound of chairs toppling over echoed loudly. As the men grabbed each other by the throats, ready to brawl, Eden flinched and stared at them.

‘Out of nowhere…?’

However, it seemed this kind of scene was common, as no one in the tavern paid any attention to the ruckus. Even Asmun only stared at his freshly poured rum without a glance.

“Oh, then I guess a person who doesn’t know about Eloch’s new business is just a nobody?”

Eloch?

Eden absentmindedly fiddled with her rum glass while pricking up her ears.

“What kind of business could be causing such chaos?”

One of the men, still holding the other by the throat, interjected.

“I’m not saying he doesn’t know, right now.”

“And I don’t know, so who’s being useless?”

The insulted man bristled, but the fight didn’t escalate any further.

Eden pretended to be uninterested, holding her breath, trying hard to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“But the invitations are being sent out. The nobles in the capital will surely come running at the mention of Eloch’s new business.”

“What on earth is this business about?”

“I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, those Eloch guys are buying up all the weapons in the Empire.”

At the mention of weapons, Eden’s and Asmun’s eyes met quietly.

“And the problem is, the price of those invitations is outrageous, so folks like us aren’t getting a turn.”

Just then, the door of the tavern swung open, and in walked the man in the red hat.

Asmun quickly raised his hand to signal him, and the man approached their table and sat down.

Eden held her breath, observing the man who had a long scar running down his face.

“One glass of rum.”

The man casually ordered from the rushing waiter and began scanning Eden and Asmun.

Noticing his puzzled look, Eden felt a wave of tension and scrambled for a response when Asmun spoke up first.

“Logic has run into some trouble, so we’ve come in his place.”

His voice was remarkably calm. Logic was the name of the thief who had the weapons.

Upon hearing Logic’s name, the man seemed to understand. He raised his hand and muttered some strange incantation.

“Sether.”

Suddenly, all the noise around them faded away, and the air in the space where the three were sitting felt heavy, like it was submerged in water.

The man appeared to be a sorcerer. Eden realized the spell he had cast was meant to prevent the others from eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Where is it?”

Asmun immediately pulled out a pouch filled with weapons from his coat.

“It’s genuine, right?”

“Of course.”

When he received a firm reply, the man reached out to grab the pouch, but Asmun was quicker. As he pulled the pouch back, the man raised an eyebrow menacingly.

“It’s valuable, you see. It would be wise to show the money first.”

“……”

“I did mention that the price we discussed previously is non-negotiable, haven’t I? So we reached a mutual agreement, right?”

Asmun was slick. Even Eden felt for a moment that he was a seasoned merchant who had been in the game for years.

The man, swayed by his eloquent speech, snorted softly and took out a pouch, flinging it onto the table.

Thud.

“Here it is.”

Eden hastily picked it up to check inside. Seeing it was filled with gold coins, she nodded at Asmun, who then finally handed over the pouch containing the weapons.

The man snatched the pouch and confirmed its contents with a satisfied expression.

‘Still no completion window.’

Even though the deal was done, Eden frowned slightly as the clear window didn’t pop up.

‘Did I miss something?’

Just as the man was about to stand up to leave, Asmun casually dropped another piece of information.

“There’s an elite weapon coming in soon.”

Upon hearing this, the man froze for a moment, then sank back down into his seat.

“Elite?”

“Yes. Logic asked if you were interested in purchasing it too.”

Eden shot a surprised glance at Asmun, as this wasn’t something they had previously agreed upon. Asmun wasn’t even one of Logic’s subordinates, so there was no way Logic would give such a direction.

“But it’ll take some time.”

Then the man frowned and said, “I’ll need it in at least four days to value it.”

Asmun gazed steadily into the man’s eyes and replied without hesitation, “Four days is tight. How about this? I’ll personally come to the location on the day. As long as we finish the transaction before it starts, right?”

Eden finally understood Asmun’s intention and held her breath. Asmun was confidently gauging the man before him, convinced he was one of Eloch’s people.

Sure enough, the man’s expression became more contemplative.

“…I’ve never mentioned that to Logic.”

“Logic doesn’t deal with only you.”

Even when the man tried to lead him off track, Asmun remained unshaken, calmly responding. As the man couldn’t shake off his suspicion, Asmun continued.

“I thought you might need weapons to bind Palaf, but I guess not.”

At those words, the man’s eyes lit up.

“Palaf? That savage beast? Really?”

Asmun, appearing relaxed, didn’t respond but simply nodded. The man’s eyes sparkled with urgency.

“If you don’t need it, I’ll just sell it elsewhere.”

As Asmun seemed to be wrapping up the deal, the man hastily responded.

“I can’t tell you the exact place and time yet. It’s a major operation with many variables. If it’s Palaf, which is particularly savage among monsters, I need time to prepare. You know, it’s a project with a lot of valuable guests coming in.”

After quietly listening to the man’s words, Asmun decided to throw down the gauntlet.

“It’s happening in Tevel, isn’t it?”

The man hesitated momentarily. Since all noise had vanished, the air felt seriously heavy, as if submerged in water.

In the tension that left Eden breathless, the man finally moved his dry lips.

“Tevel needs to be a bit larger.”

As the man grinned, revealing his teeth, Asmun narrowed his eyes.

The man left, saying he would send word to Logic once the place and time were decided.

After departing Rektomil with Asmun, Eden decided to find a relatively safe inn to stay at. The inn was filled with Asmun’s knights, so she felt reassured.

“It seems the owner of Tevel is indeed Eloch. Given the dealings and business, it’s highly likely they’re a merchant crowd. If Tevel is that big, finding it might not be too hard.”

As Eden and Asmun ate dinner, she began summarizing the information they had gathered in Rektomil.

Thanks to Asmun’s bold move, they confirmed that Eloch, who was purchasing weapons, was the owner of Tevel, and they were launching a new business within Tevel.

“Their new business is probably monster trade, right? Just like Count Retten.”

No matter how she thought about it, that was the only thing requiring monsters.

What puzzled her was why a trade that was often done secretly even in the capital needed to be conducted under the radar.

At that moment, Asmun casually remarked in a low voice, “There will be Tumah.”

Eden froze and turned to him.

‘Tumah…?’

Eden’s expression turned bewildered.

“If it’s Tumah…”

“It’s where monsters fight each other for entertainment. People come flocking to watch.”

“……”

“Palaf is the best monster for Tumah.”

With his additional explanation, Eden’s mouth fell open. Wow, this was an unimaginable development. In her previous playthroughs, they had never even mentioned Tumah.

But thinking like that, the vague bits started falling into place like a puzzle.

A savage monster fight was an ideal business to attract wealthy nobles who were constantly looking for more thrilling experiences.

‘So, they’re buying all those monsters and weapons for that.’

Only then did Eden realize why Asmun was probing the man so thoroughly. Still looking astonished, she asked, “…You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Asmun quietly served her some well-cooked meat onto her plate as he replied blandly.

“I had an inkling.”

Eden stared at him, dizzy as if she had taken a blow to the head, and then broke into a proud smile. As Asmun now appeared so nonchalant while carrying the vegetables to her plate, it felt incredibly endearing.

“You did great!”

Finally looking up at her for the first time, Asmun caught her sparkling eyes, brimming with delight.

“Once that sorcerer sends a message, we’ll find out the place and time, and then storm the scene. That way, we can discover both Tevel and the Tumah location!”

 

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