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Chapter 232 ~ On the Brink

Instead of magic lanterns and lamps, only candles lit the dark safehouse in the far corner of Re-Estize’s royal capital. 

A skinny man sat upon a wooden stool as he rested his elbows on the table, clutching onto his head. 

Ashes blackened parts of his pale white skin as trembled. His sweat-drenched silken pajamas were torn at parts, revealing cuts and bruises, and his pants were in no better condition, with the additional mud and dirt staining it. 

“This is a disaster… How could they know where my safehouse is…?! I was just sleeping… And before I know it, everything’s on fire! Those damn Blue Rose whores…”

Ampetif Cocco Doll, head of the slave trafficking department of the Eight Fingers, failed to understand just how everything could turn to shit so suddenly. 

He looked up, and saw a pale, emaciated woman. Her long, curly, voluminous golden blonde hair he knew she had was now pale yellow, having lost its luster. 

Her face, normally beautiful and impeccable, now showed clear signs of fatigue. The sunken eyes, pale lips, and wrinkles that she would’ve covered up with makeup and magic were now apparent. And the previously bewitching eyes, capable of giving men the “wrong idea” of invitation, were now without luster. 

She now looked like an old lady instead of the “high-class prostitute” that she was. 

“...I heard about your place too. Hell, your place should’ve suffered more than mine. They’re burning your fields, right?”

“...Yes. Every one of them…”

The voice that once sounded alluring was now a mere, tired whisper. 

But he could understand how Hilma could fall to such a state. 

The Blue Rose whores, who raided their bases, seemed to have been targeting spots where the farms for “black dust” were. In other words, as the leader of the drug trade department who oversaw most of the farms, her place was their primary target. 

He even heard that her mansion was turned upside down. None of her servants were alive by the time dawn breaks. She only escaped by a sheer miracle.

“What are we going to do…?”

The flamboyant, feminine voice that Cocco Doll normally used was no longer there. Hilma could hear the desperation and gravity in his every word.

“I-I’ve sent letters to the others… We need to meet up… And discuss… We need to have Zero deal with them.”

“But where should we go…? Didn’t most of our bases were raided?”

“...There’s one place.”

Cocco Doll stared at Hilma for a moment, his eyes confused, curious, and hopeful.

“I have a place in the inner circle of the noble’s district… it’s under the prince’s name. I’ve used them before a few times for parties.”

“That’s right… But wouldn’t it be too dangerous? Those adventurer whores are known to deal with the golden princess frequently. We should avoid the palace for now…”

Hilma suddenly shook her head vigorously and slapped down her hands onto the table with desperation. Her eyes were bloodshot as she looked at her colleague while shaking terribly.

“N-No! I-It’d be safe there! I guarantee it! I-It’d be the last place they’ll be searching, since it belongs to the crown prince…”

A look of shock and confusion flashed across Cocco Doll’s face. But after a moment of thought, he relented and nodded. 

“Alright… It’s not like we have any other choice… Let’s head there the first thing in the morning.”

And with his agreement, Hilma fell back to her chair, panting, as if the strings on her had been cut. 

Cocco Doll could only shake his head and pity the poor woman. The sight she must’ve seen in that mansion must’ve been traumatizing.

 --------------------------------X--------------------------------

A man with dirty blonde spiky hair slammed his wooden tankard onto the wooden bar table, shattering the solemn silence within the small inn.

“Dammit…”

The leader of the worker group Foresight, Hekkaren Termite, cursed under his breath and clutched his hair tightly. 

To his right, the purple-haired half-elf, Imina, wore a deep frown on her face as she stared blankly at her pint of ale. 

The loud slam did not jolt her with surprise. Recurring noises rarely do to people.  

While to his left was Roberdyck, a man with a warrior’s body but in a priest’s garment. His short, neatly combed hair and cleanly trimmed beard that he usually maintained was absent. There was a look of tiredness given the dark circles around his eyes and a pale complexion to his skin. 

News of the arson that befell upon the Furt’s Household mansion spread across the Arwintar in a matter of days. 

Foresight had been investigating the incident, trying to find out more about Arche and the twin sisters she cared for so dearly. But days quickly turned into weeks, and nothing came up. 

There were only rumors that it was the madam who lost her mind after living in poverty since the fall of their noble household that burned the house down and killed her husband with her. The servants were fortunately able to escape in the nick of time, though they’ve all disappeared. 

Arche and her sisters… similarly disappeared, never to be found. 

“... Should we try and visit the site again? Maybe this time, with less patrol and people crowding the place, we can investigate deeper into the mansion.”

Imina placed a hand on his shoulder lightly. Her touch lacking in confidence and strength, just like her voice. 

Hekkaren clenched his hold on the tankard handle, his bloodshot eyes opened widely. 

But his strength disappeared as quickly as it appeared. 

“...Might as well. We’ve been lazing around for a while. Roberyck, what about you?”

Roberdyck’s tired face turned towards his friends, and let out a weak smile.

“Yeah… Perhaps this time, we’ll be given a revelation.”

One by one, slowly, the three headed to the burnt mansion of the Furts, ignoring the blazing morning sun up above their heads. 

As Imina said, there were no more patrols in the area, and the curious onlookers who often gathered were no longer there, given how outdated the incident was, and they were able to enter easily.

They searched through every hall, every room, and turned everything upside down to have a chance to find any clue to Arche’s whereabouts. Perhaps a letter, a sign, a torn fabric from her clothes, a piece of her hair; anything. 

But even as the sun set and the moon raised up high to the sky, nothing.

It was another day of disappointment, and another weight added to their heavy hearts. And they returned with their heads hung low, just as the day before. 

They arrived back at their inn. The same one they’ve been using since their last job. The last job they had since they last saw Arche. 

If they stayed here, perhaps one day, Arche would come through the front door with a huff and complain about how her parents spent all the gold she had been saving. Then, they would comfort her, give her advice, and perhaps even plan with her on how to get her sisters out of that ditch, before talking about what kind of jobs they would get next that would be rewarding. 

But just as they were about to enter, a voice called on to them. 

“Are you guys… Foresight?”

A beautiful girl in a… some sort of maid outfit, but with a steel skirt, a pale yellowish-green scarf with splotches of darker green colors, and a glove with the same pattern. The most eye-catching feature of the girl, other than her stoic beauty, would be the eyepatch that concealed her left eye. 

Seeing the girl with a peculiar appearance, Foresight stopped and looked at her in silent confusion. 

“...Who are you?”

Hekkeren and Imina narrowed their eyes in a scowl. Their mood was bad enough from the umpteenth disappointment they’ve suffered for weeks. They weren’t in the mood to entertain a suspicious stranger.

But, seemingly unperturbed or simply not realizing their sour mood, the girl introduced herself. 

“I am CZ2128 Delta, and I am here to tell you that Arche is alive.”

“What?!”

“Arche?!”

“?!”

The simple mention instantly alerted them as their shock quickly turn to suspicion and vigilance.

“How do you know her? Who are you? Where is she?!”

Hekkeren moved his hands onto the blades on his back, while Imina reached for her knife and Roberdyck to his holy symbol. 

While they were not at the top in terms of strength, they were experienced adventurers with the skills and strength to escape the jaws of death multiple times and overcome obstacles that came their way, may it be monsters or humans. 

They were not sure of the girl’s combat power, but they’re confident they would be able to handle her, if it ever came to the point where they would need to use force to get information about Arche out of her. 

“...I told you, I am CZ2128 Delta. I came under the order of my master to tell you that Arche is alive. Her twin sisters are alive as well. And I know where they are. If you want to see them again, you will accept this job from my master.”

They all flinched as their eyes widened in shock. 

None of them believed the words of this stranger of unknown origin who claimed to know where Arche was. 

However… at this point, they had no other leads. Not even a single clue about her whereabouts. 

Her words were the only thing they heard that came closest to how she was doing… 

So despite their unwillingness to simply trust the strange girl, they stayed silent and let her continued. 

“In a few days, you will get a word about a job. A big job that needs lots of people. You will be super happy about it and tell a lot of people about how much treasure there is, and get the greediest, thieving trash workers to accept it. You have to swear on your life that you won’t say anything about this conversation. That’s it.”

““...””

Many questions came to mind, but at the same time, none could be uttered as they’re still trying their hardest to process her words and deciding whether or not to believe it. 

And before they could come to a conclusion, a massive whirling darkness appeared behind the girl and she began walking into it.

“W-Wait!”

“...?”

The girl stopped and looked back, and tilted her head in confusion.

Hekkeren wanted to ask all of his questions. But in the end, only one came out.

“...Is she really still alive?”

The girl nodded. 

“... Alright. We’ll do it.”

“Good. See you.”

The girl then vanished into the darkness, disappearing as quickly as she appeared, leaving Foresight alone in silence, but now, with a newfound hope in their hearts. 

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Narberal Gamma waited within the office of the human pest she was supposed to meet under the order of Yuuji-sama. 

Her raven black hair, tied in her usual ponytail style, bounced lightly as she tapped her foot impatiently. 

‘How dare this insect make a servant of the Gods wait… Filthy flea…’

It was incredibly unfair for her to judge him for being late to an appointment he didn’t even know existed. But Narberal was in no mood to be fair to anyone, let alone a piece of trash human. 

She was supposed to be serving Yuuji-sama and accompany him for the day. But instead, she had to be here, waiting for a lower life form, wasting her time. 

Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with dusty old tomes with letters she didn’t recognize or care enough to learn unless she had to. 

A mess of papers and old, leather bound tomes cluttered the many desks and floor, leaving very little room to even move. 

A single window admitted light, but the amount of glowsotnes around the room suggested that the ultimate weapon of the Empire was something of a workaholic who’d spend his time in his office within his home late into the night. 

‘Maybe catching the gnat here was a mistake after all…’

It had only been around ten minutes since Narberal arrived here. But it was still a second too long for her. Every minute away from Yuuji-sama and Nazarick felt like an eternity. 

But just then, she heard a click in the lock and saw the door open soon after. 

There, an oldman with a long white beard and a simple staff that looked more like a walking stick entered. 

“Who are you?! What are you doing in my office?! Get out this instant!”

Fluder Paradyne, Archmage of the Baharuth Empire, shot at her, his old body shook with rage at the stranger within his sanctum, where all the secrets of his magic and life-long gathered knowledge was held. 

“Hm, so you’re the one who wanted to look into the abyss of magic, huh? Truly a frog in a well. But… I suppose a duty is a duty.”

Narberal said and held up a hand. 

The mention of magic and the abyss were enough to still the shaking of the old man’s rage and turn his wizened eyes from wrathful to focused. 

She touched the ring on her finger, and removed it, and revealed to the lower life form a glimmer of the peak. 

“Guhaaaahk!”

Fluder Paradyne clenched his chest.

‘S-Seventh- No, i-is that the eight tier?! EIGHTH?!’

His knees began to wobble as he saw the height of magic he didn’t know could exist, barely clinging onto his staff that kept him from falling over entirely. 

The burst of magic he saw from the unassuming dark-haired beauty was unthinkable. Impossible. And yet, it was there. 

Narberal slipped the ring back onto her finger, and the unthinkable display of the depth of magic disappeared, like an illusion he always thought it was. 

“My masters are far more magically gifted than I, gnat. Come with me, serve them, abandon this Empire, everyone, and everything within it. And you may serve some purpose to the only Gods in this wretched world.”

Fluder did not know what just happened. 

All he felt was… confusion, shock, awe, and for the first time in many years, true optimism. 

A whirling darkness appeared behind the dark-haired beauty, and when she stepped through it, there was nothing in this world that could keep him from following her.