Chapter 171 - Chapter 170: The Mistake of That Day
After the meeting at the Adventurer's Guild, Mika returned to the Master to hand over the key to the house in District 3, and from there went straight to the ruined pub in District 3.
"The Vice Guildmaster is resigning...?"
Hearing Mika's story, the man at the Information Broker Guild's window muttered.
The man took a small sip of the alcohol in his glass.
Apparently, it was a celebration.
"Even so, when nobles get involved, I can't find a middle ground. The Guildmaster and people from the Fifth Knights Order seemed to want it settled that much, so I left the rest to them."
"Well, that was prudent."
There were several other people from the Information Broker Guild in the pub.
Everyone here had moved on this matter.
"So, the Guild matter is concluded for now. Suspicion has been cleared, and the fool who plotted such boring things has been arrested. As for the rest, Yorkades is just a thug, right?"
"Yes."
The man drank the alcohol in his glass in one go.
"He borrows money constantly and earns petty cash for no good purpose. Apparently, he met Concorado during a time when he was spending a bit lavishly."
But after that, he seems to be a typical thug who repeats borrowing and repaying.
"What should we do with this guy? Punishing him won't teach him a lesson, will it?"
"If he learned a lesson from that, he would be living a somewhat better life."
Smiling bitterly at Mika's words, the man poured more wine into his glass.
"But you won't let him off, will you?"
"Of course. He will receive his due."
With plenty of it, Mika muttered, and the man chuckled deep in his throat.
"Do you have detailed information on Yorkades?"
"He doesn't have any hidden background worth worrying about, does he?"
"No, none. He isn't a member of any organization. He is truly just a thug."
"Then that's fine. Just information on where he lives or hangs out often."
Despite being a thug, Yorkades seems to have rented a room in District 2.
It's on the edge, near the Second Wall.
Mika took out a bag filled with large gold coins from his Magic Bag.
"Since the amount is what it is, you won't say 'in large silver coins', will you?"
"Yes, certainly not."
The man laughed mockingly.
For the past two days, the Guild had mobilized nearly a hundred people, rushing around for information gathering, analysis, document creation, and identifying victims.
The number of full-time staff would be smaller, but it is certain that a considerable number of people moved.
"Here, that's the remaining reward: seven large gold coins. Is that all included?"
"That's the deal. It's fine."
Saying that, the man checked the bag of large gold coins and passed it to his companions in the pub.
They were waiting to deliver this to the Guild headquarters.
Mika decided to spread the general outline of this incident using the Information Broker Guild.
It had become more than just "If you mess with Mika, you'll be dealt with," but it would be enough if it conveyed "Messing with that guy is troublesome."
"We just need to spread a few facts."
"But rumors always grow tails."
"That's why I'm telling you not to exaggerate it at the stage of spreading it!"
His voice got a bit loud, and Mika hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.
Seeing Mika's state, the man chuckled again.
"Well, it's an order. Since this is business, we'll comply. But a quiet story won't achieve the purpose, will it?"
"Well, that's true..."
If it wasn't a story that served as a deterrent, there would be no meaning in paying to spread it.
"So, leave the balance of that to us. We'll make sure no one thinks of doing such foolish things again."
"Then I'll leave it to you... But don't make it too exaggerated."
"That's impossible. It's already a big deal."
At least twenty-eight fraud cases were known.
The total damage exceeded twenty million Rats.
Moreover, the mastermind was an active Guild employee.
He even turned the Guild headquarters' executives against him and managed to push back.
As a result, the arrested were Concorado, Demsoric, and Nastalig.
Nastalig and the Vice Guildmaster, two executives, resigned from the Guild.
Yeah, it's quite a big deal.
"I've already made a scenario since hearing the talk of spreading information. There are guys who love this kind of thing and are working hard on it. Is the Adventurer's Guild planning to announce this matter?"
"I have such a deal with the Guildmaster."
Forgery of Guild cards, falsification of requests by executives, disciplinary actions based on false accusations, and so on. It was an outrageous scandal.
It could be said to be an act betraying all adventurers and clients.
And naturally, Mika refused to cover this up.
It would greatly damage the Guild's credit, but that is what actually happened.
Moreover, it actually damaged Mika's own record.
No matter how much he corrected it later, Mika was forced to clear his own false accusations.
An ordinary adventurer would likely have remained stained with infamy.
"But..."
While bringing the glass to his lips, the man muttered.
"Was it Demsoric? Why did he do it so flamboyantly? If he had done it more secretly, couldn't he have done it a bit better?"
"Yes, that..."
Mika sighed.
The motive.
Naturally, when Mika made Demsoric talk, he also heard this.
It was true that he wanted money, but it was not just that.
Demsoric, more than wanting to earn money, wanted to put sin on Mi ka.
A brat with a spoiled, arrogant attitude.
He earned money easily with high-value requests worth hundreds of thousands of Rats, and even gathered requests worth a million Rats through named requests.
Because of that, he rose to C-rank, which would normally take years, in the blink of an eye.
And with the bonus of easily obtaining a title.
While he could only earn a fixed amount from the Guild salary.
That kind of brat would easily earn ten times or more his own earnings.
He couldn't stand it.
He probably thought that if he intimidated him, he could make him obey like the other Guild employees.
Demsoric was a typical example of inflated self-esteem and arrogance.
If he had carefully examined Mika's extermination records, he would have seen that he had defeated the Chimera and the Agu Bear.
It seems he had completely underestimated him because he was a kid.
And after trying the fake a few times carefully, he found he could be deceived quite easily.
Becoming tired of earning money bit by bit, and unable to suppress the desire to frame Mika quickly, he decided to earn it all at once.
(There were other things too. Chirensta, who didn't listen to him, protected me, and Yunressa, who was rebellious, cared about me. It seems small things piled up.)
It was pure grudge.
(I thought he might get jealous and stabbed because he earned money too easily, but it actually happened.)
It could be said to be a side effect of hiding his power too much.
If the Zureept matter had just flowed away, things might have been a bit different, but by then he must have been hated considerably.
So, thinking about the future, maybe a slightly exaggerated rumor spreading would be better.
Mika hopped down from the stool.
"Well, since it's settled, it's fine. Then, I'm counting on you for the rumors."
"Yes, leave it to me."
The man raised his glass lightly and saw Mika off as he left the pub.
After this, the plan is to spread the rumors in the form of "the truth of the matter" in coordination with the Guild's official announcement.
And this is a story for another day...
Due to the raid by the Fifth Knights Order, the two branches in the capital city were in great confusion.
Or rather, they simply stopped business.
There is no such thing as a business suspension due to administrative punishment in this country, but the raid made it impossible to operate.
For about three days, all business operations were halted, and all responses to adventurers and clients during that time were completely stopped.
It will take a few more days for the impact to subside.
Furthermore, the Guild officially announced the matter.
Forgery of Guild cards, request falsification, and so on, without hiding anything.
Fraud cases where active Guild employees impersonated adventurers were also announced.
Also, everything from the work of false accusations against active adventurers by the same employees to the wrongful disciplinary actions that were approved.
At this time, irregularities by Guild executives were also announced together.
Four Guild executives resigned or were dismissed, and three were arrested by the Knights Order on various charges.
It seems the additional two executives were dismissed and arrested using information that Chirensta and the Guildmaster had grasped, which the Vice Guildmaster tried to suppress but couldn't.
The Vice Guildmaster seems to have concluded the matter by resigning to take responsibility after the irregularities of his three executive subordinates were revealed.
Also, the Guildmaster, being responsible, voluntarily returned part of the reward.
Normally, I think the Guildmaster's situation is a resignation-level incident, but he seems to have thick skin.
And so, the rumors spread.
"Don't mess with 'Dispeller'."
"It seems that if you anger 'Dispeller', the Fifth Knights Order and the Information Broker Guild will turn against you."
"They say he used a saw to cut off your neck while you could use 'Heal', and made you spill everything."
"Actually, it seems he has connections with groups that take on contracts to kill for money..."
"One Guild employee caused 'Dispeller' to fire four Guild executives."
And so on.
Somehow, it was made to look like Mika did Chirensta and the Guildmaster's work as well.
And like the goldfish in a competition, it had very impressive tails attached.
Sawing...
■■■■■■
After leaving the pub, Mika went to District 5, a place he never usually visits, to meet the remaining thug, Yorkades.
District 5 is the area sandwiched between the South Main Street and the South-West Main Street, and he had never been there once before.
The most characteristic feature of District 5 is undoubtedly the Great Cathedral.
The Holy Land of the Church of Light in the Kingdom of Ektrem.
The place where the Pope resides is this Great Cathedral in the capital city.
The church grounds, including the Great Cathedral, are vast.
About a quarter of District 5, all of it on the First Wall side, is church grounds.
In the Second District of the capital city, you can see this Great Cathedral and several spires from quite far away.
Inside the grounds, there are various ministries that make up the huge organization called the Church.
Ministry of Faith Doctrine, spreading the correct teachings of the Church of Light.
Ministry of Miracle Liturgy, correctly conveying the miracles of the gods and rituals.
Ministry of Diocesan Bishops, deciding dioceses and managing bishop personnel.
These are the main businesses of the organization.
There are many such ministries, and there are various branch offices in all the capital cities of the kingdom.
But today, he had no use for such things.
Mika passed through a messy alley near the Second Wall.
Compared to the people who hang around this area, Yorkades seems to be a somewhat neat-looking man.
He has a clean appearance and no unkempt beard.
That is only natural.
Because otherwise, he wouldn't get the job done.
Who would seriously listen to the words of a dirty, unkempt-bearded man they don't know?
He is playing the role of a clean and gentle person to fulfill the role of an intermediary.
But recently, it seems that plating is peeling off a bit.
He is irritated because he cannot contact Demsoric and Concorado.
An Information Broker Guild person said that after treating Yorkades to a drink in the pub, he told them various things himself.
He had a good profit opportunity, but suddenly lost contact with his partners.
He thought they must be excluding him and planning to split the delicious deal between the two of them.
............It seems he has no idea that they were caught because they got involved in crime.
Mika contacted the Information Broker Guild person who was tailing Yorkades.
Thus, he was told where Yorkades was wandering in the alley.
He handed over several large silver coins to the Guild person and sent them back, then peeked from behind a building.
The deal with the Information Broker Guild was not to look further ahead.
Well, it is a matter of how much one can trust, but a warning has been given: "If you break the contract and spy, we won't let it go for free."
They want information, but if curiosity goes too far, they lose their lives.
Such things, being specialists in handling information, they should understand well.
Mika observed Yorkades from a slight distance.
(...Indeed, he is a bit different from the others.)
Although some roughness is seeping out now, he would have looked decent enough when his work was going well.
At least, he doesn't seem to do anything that would make people frown while walking on the main street.
He can cover it up to that extent.
Mika followed Yorkades without attracting attention.
A dim alley.
It was already evening, and it would get darker from now on.
"Hey."
Yorkades, who was winding through the empty alley and going deeper, was addressed.
Yorkades, who was addressed, turned back suspiciously.
The distance between Yorkades and Mika was more than ten meters.
Mika walked closer and stopped at a distance of about seven to eight meters.
It was dim, but not so much that he couldn't distinguish his face at this distance.
Yorkades had his hair combed up, giving a neat impression as per the prior information.
If he dressed appropriately, he would indeed look decent.
Mika was thinking such things.
"Ah!?"
At that moment, Yorkades suddenly widened his eyes and raised his voice in surprise.
He stared at Mika for a while, then twisted his face into a grin.
(...?)
At Yorkades' unexpected attitude, Mika made a suspicious face.
"Oh, aren't you a kidnapper?"
Kidnapper?
Certainly, considering the method of abducting Concorado and Demsoric, he was indeed a kidnapper.
(But Yorkades shouldn't know what happened to the two.)
Not understanding the reason for Yorkades' attitude, Mika became more confused.
(No, calm down. Don't let your guard down.)
Mika confirmed that [Physical Enhancement] and his magic range were moving without problems, and tightened his resolve to respond to any situation.
So that even if he was ambushed from behind or thrown weapons came flying, he could dodge them instantly.
Yorkades walked toward Mika with a nasty grin.
(I thought I could just beat him up a bit and hand him over to the Fifth Knights Order, but...)
The wind was changing.
He couldn't understand the basis of Yorkades' attitude.
"Surely you haven't killed him, have you? Did you make him a sex slave? Ahh, kids these days are scary."
So, he was laughing happily despite the content of what he was saying.
"Please, return the pitiful girl to her father, won't you? Hey, kidnapper!"
Girl!?
At Yorkades' words, Mika was speechless.
(Th-this guy—!?)
Yorkades seemed pleased with Mika's agitation and showed an even more nasty grin.
"The arm I twisted back then was broken, and it still hurts now. Ouch, it hurts..."
Saying that, Yorkades rubbed his arm.
"Oh, poor Kistil. Kidnapped by a vicious person who assaulted his beloved family and forcibly took him away. He must be crying every day now..."
Saying such theatrical lines, he approached Mika.
(Kistil's father... was Yorkades!)
Mika had seen Kistil's father only once.
That was more than a year ago.
At that time, Mika was also agitated, lost in anger, and didn't remember his father's appearance properly.
But even if he had forgotten, if his appearance hadn't changed, he might have noticed.
However, his current appearance was quite different from back then.
His messy hair was combed, and there was no unkempt beard.
Although roughness was seeping out, the suspicious aura of that time had subsided.
"Hey! What do you have to say! You kidnapper!"
When he came in front of Mika, Yorkades shouted loudly as if revealing his true nature.
Yorkades reached out to push Mika, but Mika instinctively stepped back and dodged his hand.
(There's no point in bringing up money here. If he were to back down over such a thing, he wouldn't have said such things in the first place.)
In the end, he was not someone who could be talked into anything.
"Hah... How unlucky. Ever since that woman appeared, I've been having bad luck."
So, he heard Yorkades mutter.
Unlucky, woman?
Who is that...?
Surely not his family?
Moreover, unlucky?
(Does he think I'm earning money as a fake 'Dispeller' and have found another money bag?)
That thought slipped out.
It overflowed.
Yorkades' muttering gave Mika a shock as if he had been hit on the head.
"Guh... guh..."
Suddenly, Mika's abdominal muscles trembled.
"Ha, ha..."
What is this feeling...?
I can't stand it!!!
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Mika laughed.
From the bottom of his stomach.
Until his stomach twisted.
He laughed loudly.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Y-you, you brat! What’s so funny!"
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
It was too funny to bear.
He laughed so much that tears came out.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Could anyone keep from laughing at this?
He had thought desperately.
About how he could protect Kistil.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Hey! Cut it out already!"
He had wanted to save Kistil’s mother and younger brother too.
But he had given up once.
Thinking that he shouldn’t interfere too much in other people’s family matters.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
But, by becoming engaged to Kistil, he had gained a reason to extend a helping hand.
He had thought desperately.
It was hardly a good method, but by leaving the royal capital, he had somehow managed to obtain peace.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
But, that was a mistake.
It had been wrong from the start.
From the very beginning, it had been decisively wrong.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
By not choosing that option back then, everything had become meaningless.
No matter what he did afterwards, everything, everything, had been meaningless.
That had been the mistake.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
If he had done this, there would have been no need for his family to leave the royal capital, even going so far as to buy forged documents.
If he had done this, Kistil’s mother would not have had to make the resolve to cut ties with Kistil.
If he had done this, Kistil and her family would not have had to suffer.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
If he had just done this!!!!!!!
"‘Thousand Edge’..."
"U..."
Mika stopped laughing abruptly and muttered softly.
Yorkades frowned slightly.
"You, what are you!? Laughing like an idiot... nn... laughing like an idiot. Nn! Is your head broken?"
Mika had already lost interest in Yorkades, turned his back, and started to leave.
"Nn...! You, where are... nn! Where are you going!"
Yorkades coughed frequently and tried to grab Mika from behind, but Mika lightly dodged.
And so, he continued walking.
"Wait! Nn, nn—! I said wait... Goho!? Geho geho!"
At that moment, Yorkades covered his mouth with his hand and began to cough violently.
"Gofu...!? Wh-what... Goho!?"
From between the fingers of the hand covering his mouth, a bright red liquid dripped down.
"Hey!? Goho! H-help me... Gohobufu!?"
Yorkades fell to his knees on the spot and collapsed.
"Goho... Gofu... Gofu."
While collapsed, Yorkades coughed.
Mika did not turn around and continued back the way he came.
(He probably won’t last another three minutes. It’s irritating to make it easy for him, but I don’t want to be involved with him for even another second.)
He had intentionally made the wound smaller.
It was a fatal wound, but designed not to cause instant death.
(I was foolish... I should have done this from the beginning.)
Mika quickly left the alley, which was growing darker.