Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

The tavern fell dead silent in an instant, every pair of eyes locked onto the entrance. Aria stood at the front with her hands resting on her hips, while Dion stood right beside her. Behind them, Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei, who was holding Gina, stayed on high alert. Their hands moved subtly toward their weapons as tension filled the air, ready for a fight to break out at any second. But before anyone could draw a blade,

”Welcome back, Boss!”

The men up front raised their mugs in a loud cheer, springing to their feet with broad grins spread across their faces.

”Boss?” Dion, Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei murmured together, glancing blankly at Aria standing ahead of them.

The tavern instantly burst back into a noisy chatter. Several men immediately approached Aria to converse with her. Dion, Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei stood frozen behind her, processing the scene unfolding before their eyes.

”Kyuu?” Gina squeaked, looking thoroughly confused by the lively sudden shift.

”Wow... she really is a syndicate boss. I mean, she told us before, but I didn’t actually think she was telling the truth,” Luna whispered in awe.

”Looks... like it. I didn’t expect it either... I thought she was just playing around,” Dion replied, equally stunned.

”At first, I assumed ’syndicate boss’ was just an exaggerated title because there’s no way a royal princess could lead a criminal network... but she actually is the boss,” Cleo said.

”Well, at least we don’t have to fight our way out of here,” Sheila sighed in relief, letting go of the axe handle strapped to her back.

”Hmm... turns out Aria isn’t just anybody. I originally thought she was just an ordinary merchant and princess with a lot of connections,” Mei murmured, analyzing the situation.

They stood quietly, taking it all in, until a slicked-back, lean man with a slightly crooked nose noticed them.

”Boss, who are they? New slaves?” the lean man asked.

”They’re my friends,” Aria answered nonchalantly. She then turned back toward her group, ”What are you guys doing standing there? Come on over.”

With a wave of Aria’s hand, the men smoothly returned to their seats, enjoying their drinks as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Aria led her friends further inside to find a comfortable spot to sit. Afterwards, Aria headed straight for the bar, while Luna, Cleo, and Mei crowded tightly around Dion. Before Dion could even sit down,

”What is wrong with you guys?” Dion asked.

”I hate it... they’re staring at me like they’re undressing me with their eyes,” Luna complained, clinging tightly to Dion’s arm.

”Exactly. Please protect your pretty big sister. You wouldn’t want anything bad happening to your pretty big sister, right?” Cleo added, wrapping her arms around Dion’s waist from behind.

”Don’t forget... I’m yours. Nobody else is allowed to look at me except you,” Mei declared, hugging Dion’s other arm.

”Kyuu,” squeaked Gina, held firmly in Dion’s hands in front.

”Give me a break... you guys are all ridiculously strong. Why can’t you be more like her?” Dion grumbled, pointing off to the side.

Luna, Cleo, and Mei turned to see Sheila chatting casually with several men seated at a table. Moments later, Sheila planted her elbow on the table, and a burly man opposite her took her hand to engage in an arm-wrestling match. Luna, Cleo, and Mei looked back at Dion.

”Don’t compare delicate girls like us to that brute,” the three of them stated in unison, letting go of Dion all at once.

”Whatever. Where’s Aria?” Dion asked as he finally took a seat.

”Over there,” Cleo pointed toward the bar.

Dion looked over to see Aria deep in a serious conversation with the bartender. Thump! Dion’s attention was suddenly jerked toward the next table over. ”Wooooh!” loud cheers erupted as Sheila won her arm-wrestling match against the muscle-bound man, who was now clutching his arm in pain. Sheila raised both arms high, proudly flexing her biceps.

”At least one of us knows how to blend in around here besides Aria,” Dion thought to himself.

”Hey.”

Dion turned to see Aria sliding into the booth between Luna and Cleo. Everyone’s attention instantly shifted to her.

”I got some intel, and it turns out it’s true: Duke Marvin is planning a rebellion. He’s one of the nobles who sided with the former king, the older brother of the current King Theobald. He’s already recruited troops from three cities and is ready to strike the capital at any moment,” Aria reported.

”Oh, I see. So even without me, his plan moves forward anyway,” Luna noted.

”Pretty much. According to my informant, they don’t actually need you. Their goal is simply to establish a new regime. Who ends up sitting on the throne as king or queen isn’t that big of a deal to them, they just wanted to use you as a political puppet,” Aria explained to Luna.

”Hmm... that means we don’t even need to meet with him, right? Our original goal coming here was to team up with him to overthrow King Theobald, who’s planning to attack our territory,” Mei reasoned.

”Given this intel, Duke Marvin and King Theobald are cut from the exact same cloth, they only care about themselves. So there’s no reason to see him. If Luna shows up, he’ll just turn her into a puppet, and if his plan fails, Luna becomes the scapegoat while he walks away clean. Absolutely devious,” Cleo analyzed.

”So... all that talk yesterday about caring for the people and everything... it was all a complete lie?” Luna asked.

”Of course it was a lie. My network is far more reliable. This kingdom is rotten to the core, not a single noble can be trusted. So, what’s our move now?” Aria asked.

”We gather more intel on King Theobald’s invasion plans against our territory. That’s why we came here in the first place, to stop that from happening. Right, Dion?” Luna asked, turning to him.

Luna, Cleo, Aria, and Mei all turned their eyes onto Dion, who was currently distracted, watching Sheila compete against her next arm-wrestling opponent.

”Hey... Dion!” Cleo shouted.

”Huh... what?” Dion asked, startled.

”Were you even listening?” Cleo questioned.

Dion racked his brain, naturally, he hadn’t paid attention to a single word because he was too entertained watching Sheila overpower the men in the tavern. Unwilling to admit he was spacing out and missed everything,

”Of course I heard you. Whatever you guys decide is fine with me,” Dion replied nonchalantly.

”I also asked about King Theobald’s invasion plans, and I actually stumbled upon some interesting news,” Aria chimed back in.

”Oh... like what?” Mei asked.

Aria leaned her head in close, looking like she was about to leak state secrets. Naturally, Dion, Cleo, Luna, and Mei leaned their heads in close as well. The tavern grew even rowdier as Sheila apparently won another round to the cheers of the crowd.

”An S-rank adventurer with an SS-rank Sword Saint class was just appointed as the commander of all the royal knights yesterday. Rumor has it, he’s the one who’s going to lead the strike on our domain. Sound familiar?” Aria asked.

Upon hearing Aria’s words, the expressions on Luna, Cleo, and Mei’s faces instantly darkened, while Dion remained completely unfazed.

”So that’s how it is... René was the one who proposed and will be leading the attack on our territory,” Cleo said, her voice dripping with venom.

”He manipulated King Theobald into deploying his forces against us. How wonderful. We really should have killed him back then instead of letting him go,” Mei added bitterly.

”Give me a break. He’s the root of all these problems again. As his childhood friend, I am utterly embarrassed. Unbelievable, he is beyond annoying,” Luna fumed, rubbing her forehead and shaking her head in complete exhaustion.

”Whatever, just let him do whatever he wants,” Dion said casually.

”How can you be so lax about this? You should have executed him on the spot back then instead of inviting him for tea. What a waste,” Mei snapped, irritated.

”Agreed. I regret not finishing him off back in Millfrost too. So frustrating,” Cleo grumbled in agreement.

”Let’s plan our next move carefully. Come on, let’s head to the inn,” Aria suggested, standing up.

”The inn?” Dion, Luna, Cleo, and Mei echoed.

”Yeah... Sheila, let’s move!” Aria turned and shouted across the room.

Sheila looked over, excused herself from the men surrounding her, and walked over to the table.

”All done here?” Sheila asked.

”Yep, follow me,” Aria gestured as she stood up.

Everyone got up and followed Aria toward the side of the bar counter. Aria gave a quick signal to the bartender, who responded with a subtle nod. The bartender pressed a switch beneath the counter, and with a heavy creeeeak, the solid wall in front of them split open and slid aside.

”Wow...”

Behind the wall revealed a massive underground cavern lined with rows of shopfronts on both sides, looking every bit like a black market, complete with inns and a red-light district. The atmosphere inside was as vibrant as a night festival, lit by ancient artifact crystals that illuminated shop signs like neon displays.

A massive crowd of shady individuals with unclear backgrounds, including slaves and outlaws, roamed the streets. Aria turned around to face Dion, Luna, Cleo, Mei, Sheila, and Gina, who was currently cradled in Dion’s arms and proudly spread her arms wide.

”Welcome to the black market. We sell plenty of unregistered ancient artifacts here... along with extremely rare materials... like legendary dragon scales, heh heh,” Aria smirked, glancing slyly at Gina.

”Kyuuu?”

Gina instantly ducked back inside Dion’s clothes, peeking nervously out from behind his shirt buttons.