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In a small pawn shop not far from Aegis Academy, hidden deep within a tranquil alleyway that saw few visitors, this place seemed peacefully uneventful.

On the surface, it was just an unremarkable shop, but to those in the know, it was a trading spot for curious artifacts.

Inside, a man sat with his chin resting on his hand in a rather antiquated chair.

His name was Leonard. To the unsuspecting eye, he appeared to be just a simple pawn broker, but he was, in fact, a man who held significant clout in the underground information trade.

“Damn it, when is that guy showing up?”

I finally managed to get my hands on some quality intel, yet the target buyer had yet to arrive.

If it weren’t for the fact that I had gotten interesting information about an organization three years ago and was being hunted, I wouldn’t need to hide away in this godforsaken place. Thankfully, I managed to set up shop with the help of a man who was at odds with that organization.

“Why is he taking so long when I finally have some information?”

In a world of treachery and murder, where betrayals occurred daily, the hard-won trust I built…

Although he was the bastard who stole my work and sold it, I could still rely on his skills. Just then, the door to the pawn shop chimed open.

“Hey~ long time no see?”

“You’re late! The deal was supposed to happen an hour ago, you idiot!”

“Whoa, whoa, why be so grumpy…? Lighten up, I’ll pay more for the information.”

The black-haired boy, Nova, casually approached the counter.

“What’s with that ugly face? Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend or something?”

“Oh, did it show?”

“Of course! Like when would you ever get a girlfriend… What did you say!!”

Leonard shot up from his seat, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Y-You… after fending off those female adventurers, you’re off dating now?!”

“Well, it just happened like that.”

“Damn it! I thought it was a comfort knowing you were still single! You traitorous bastard…!”

As Leonard grabbed him by the collar and wailed, Nova struggled to find something to say.

“Uh… well, you’ll meet someone nice someday.”

“Is that what you call comfort? Damn! Just because you’ve got that pretty boy face… Who is she? Is it that same old mage again?”

“Let’s cut the small talk. What about the information?”

Switching to a serious tone, Leonard sighed and pulled out some papers.

“Yeah, I got it. Those guys have started to move.”

After Stella and her party dealt with Isabel, one of the executives from Akandis, their whereabouts became even more concealed. Even the Empire was having trouble tracking down their base.

“I couldn’t find the stronghold, but I intercepted one of their blood letters on the distribution line.”

“Blood stone…”

It’s a special metal known as ‘Kaiyum,’ which absorbs blood and is combined with dark magic to create that ore. Consuming it grants near-immortal recovery, but…

“Taking down that line would deal them some significant damage.”

“Yeah, I found out that they were rearming after an ambush.”

“Alright, then bring over the items I asked for.”

Upon hearing that, Leonard’s expression grew heavy.

“Y-You… don’t tell me… Fine, I’ll go get them.”

With that, Leonard slipped into the back room. Left alone, Nova was surveying the pawn shop when suddenly, he heard a weak voice at the door.

Turning around, he was taken aback by the face that entered.

“Excuse me… Huh?”

“Serena?”

With a surprising visitor, Serena opened her eyes wide upon spotting Nova.

“What are you doing here?”

“And what about you…?”

“Oh, I heard about a potion promotion and that I could buy one at a good price here.”

The dark circles beneath her eyes hinted at how tired she was.

“Uh… you’re working hard, huh? Don’t overdo it; Stella is worried about you.”

Upon hearing that, Serena let out an “ah!” as if a thought struck her.

“Oh right, it was your birthday recently, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. I think I fell asleep.”

“I don’t mind it.”

“I feel bad, so I wanted to give you something good as an apology.”

“Something good?”

Looking around nervously, Serena carefully handed him a pink potion.

Then, making a shushing gesture with her finger, she winked one eye.

“Try feeding this to Stella~ Of course, it won’t harm her… but…”

“But…?”

Leaning in close, Serena whispered playfully in his ear.

“… Does it actually have that kind of effect?”

Caught off guard, Nova couldn’t help but ask in disbelief.

“Of course~ I made it sweet, so she’d love it!”

“…What about side effects later.”

“Hey~ That’s for you to figure out, right? I’m giving it to you for free this time, so be grateful!”

Though he was deep in thought, he eventually slipped the potion into his pocket.

At that moment, Leonard’s voice boomed from the inner room, calling for Nova.

“Hey, I’m done preparing the items you asked for.”

The item Leonard brought was a black case, which thudded heavily on the counter, indicating its weight. It wasn’t long before Leonard spotted Serena and was caught off guard.

“Oh! Miss Alchemist, you’ve come!”

“Y-Yeah…”

Serena seemed flustered, speaking politely—her earlier demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

Compared to her, Leonard continued to chatter away.

“I’m really sorry! This was your time, Miss. It’s this nonsense customer who made me late… Speaking of which, the weather is lovely today; how about a cup of coffee…”

“No, it’s fine.”

In the midst of the awkwardness, she flat-out rejected Leonard’s offer, clearly not interested, which made Nova chuckle unexpectedly.

“Hey… don’t laugh.”

“Ah, sorry, I couldn’t help it. So, about that item?”

As Nova approached the counter and pressed a button on the case, it clicked open.

Clack!

“What?”

Serena, with a puzzled expression at the sound she had never heard before, peered into the case.

“…!! This, this is…!”

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Nova.

“Nova… what on earth are you planning to do…?”

“Umm… can you keep this a secret from Stella?”

Caught off guard by Nova’s lame attempt to brush it off, Serena fell silent, unable to utter a word.

*

In the area filled with Melian’s abandoned factory.

The deserted slums.

Somewhere around here lay their financial lifeline.

I replayed the information I received from Leonard in my mind.

[Did you check the sent documents?]

[Yeah.]

[As expected, there are about a dozen burly guys hustling around an abandoned factory nearby. That’s definitely the place.]

[Good job on the intel.]

[And just to add, that guy named Gwen who was turned over to the Empire has disappeared from prison.]

[…That bastard…]

[He was either silenced by the organization or escaped.]

[Got it. Thanks for the heads up.]

[Hey, where are you planning to go… Don’t tell me…]

[Yeah, I’m going to wipe them all out this time, including their heads.]

[Are you out of your mind? You plan to take down an organization that couldn’t even be handled by the top ten?]

[Yeah.]

I couldn’t afford to waste any more time with such thugs. I had a mountain of work to deal with, including matters concerning the Demon Race and Stella.

Gazing intensely at the wall-mounted map, I donned my usual dull black coat and stepped out of the hideout.

*

On a dark night.

The factory area of Melian, shrouded by thick clouds, hid the starlight and moonlight.

The factory chimneys, standing tall without emitting smoke, symbolized death.

The so-called “abandoned” area, the slums, added to the desolation with a lack of even the occasional streetlight.

The only sight was a rat darting quickly across the ground. Nova had arrived.

The cold aura emanating from him was nothing like when he was with Stella at the academy.

As Nova approached the entrance of the abandoned factory, he could hear whispers coming from inside.

He sensed danger and moved silently.

“Ugh, I’m so bored to death—how long is left?”

“No idea, but processing all this Kaiyum will probably take at least two days?”

“Damn it, we lost Isabel just like that.”

“Shh! Be careful, or the higher-ups will hear you.”

“Oh right, that would be a disaster.”

“Anyway, shift change is soon. Just hold on a little longer.”

“Can’t even catch that young mage and a beast.”

Nova leaned against the wall, eavesdropping on the two men’s chatter.

The two, exhausted from the monotonous work, couldn’t stop gossiping.

“By the way, why is Ned letting that mage go free?”

“If we intervene with the Mage Tower, the Gold Tower will surely come after us, right?”

“Do you really think Ned would be afraid of something like that?”

“Well… right now, even a Swordmaster wouldn’t be a match.”

“It seems Ned wants to recruit her as a companion but why not just force her? Isn’t that easier?”

“Like what you did to those kidnapped kids?”

“Exactly. The kids didn’t react well to the drugs and ended up dying, but she wouldn’t last long, would she?”

“I heard it’s really painful to take those drugs; is that true?”

“If those screams are any indication, it must be true. If successful, we could turn her into a mindless slave.”

“But can that really be done?”

“Don’t worry. I heard the top brass is secretly planning a kidnapping on Ned’s behalf.

Once we capture her, we’ll toy with her until she begs us to let her go after making us suffer so much.”

Indeed.

Nova decided he no longer needed to eavesdrop on their conversation.

He understood how the situation was unfolding.

As he slowly stepped into view,

the two gossiping men instantly fell silent and stared at him.

“Who are you?”

“An intruder?”

Even though the area around the entrance was lit by lights,

Nova’s figure slipped into the darkness, becoming harder to see.

At the moment both men pulled out daggers from their waists,

two beams of light shot from the darkness first.

Thud! Thud!

Without even a scream, the two collapsed on the ground.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

 

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