Chapter 167
At the mention of the Northern Duke, Shadia's expression changed slightly.
"There's an additional charge for the north."
"I don't care. Find out about the surrounding lords who are threatening the Northern Duke."
Shadia nodded and disappeared again.
Zeke sat down, rested his chin on his hand, and thought about Himonas.
'Maybe it's because it feels like home. I can't stop worrying about it.'
A blurry image of the Northern Duke from Zeke's memories surfaced.
He shook off the image and got up from his seat.
'This is not the time to wallow in sentimentality. I will bring down Abel, become the strongest on the continent, and take over the Drake clan.'
Zeke's eyes flashed as he recalled his goals.
***
Zeke sent Boris, along with members of the Syndicate and the Rose Knights, to Heli first.
And Zeke himself headed to Argos, not Heli.
There was a place he needed to take down before approaching the Nostra clan.
Arriving in Argos via portal from the terminal, he put on the Shape-Shifting Cloak and changed his appearance.
Transformed into a naive-looking adventurer, Zeke slipped into a secluded back alley in the city.
Argos had many bustling areas with convenient facilities for adventurers, but behind the scenes, there was a lot of trafficking of stolen goods and crimes committed by outlaws.
The most frequent crime in Argos was human trafficking.
In his previous life, Zeke also had the experience of being kidnapped and sold as a slave to the Southern Continent while working as a dungeon porter.
'In a dungeon, if someone disappears, they just assume the person died. It's the perfect place to kidnap people.'
Human trafficking in Argos was much more systematic than outsiders vaguely knew.
The first step was to select targets from adventurer parties entering dungeons who seemed like they wouldn't cause trouble if they disappeared.
The human trafficking organization would approach the party, deceive them with stories of good dungeons, and offer to be their guide.
Once the party members fell into the trap and entered the dungeon, they would be knocked unconscious with drugs or magic and handed over to an intermediary organization.
The intermediary organization would then classify the kidnapped adventurers and porters based on their condition and decide where to sell them.
In Zeke's case, since he was a porter, he was sold cheaply as a slave to the Southern Continent.
In the case of mages or swordsmen, they were sometimes sold to the Empire, where the slave system still existed, or supplied as consumables to underground arenas.
Dario Tottrino, as a member of the Nostra clan, was involved in many crimes, and one of them was human trafficking.
Numerous middlemen were positioned under him, running related businesses and amassing illicit funds.
The reason Zeke came to the back alleys of Argos in disguise was to disrupt those organizations.
He entered a tavern with a naive look and sipped his beer.
Sure enough, a man sat next to Zeke.
"Is this your first time in Argos?"
The man, who looked like a seasoned adventurer, casually spoke to Zeke.
Zeke, who was drinking beer, flinched and nodded.
The man grinned, ordered two shots of Black liquor, and poured one into Zeke's beer without asking for permission.
"If a pretty boy like you just sits here sipping beer, those hyenas will swarm you and tear you apart."
Zeke's face hardened at the man's words.
Then, he asked in a small voice,
"H-have you been an adventurer for a long time?"
The man replied with a relaxed posture,
"It's been almost 30 years since I started making a living here. I started quite early."
Zeke nodded with an impressed expression.
The man chuckled and held out his hand to Zeke.
"Frank. My friends call me Spider Hand. What's your name?"
"Z-Zeke. Zeke Murray."
"Okay, Zeke. You don't look like the type to make a living from adventuring, so what brings you all the way to Argos?"
Zeke said with a stiff expression,
"W-well, I have my reasons..."
"Well, most of the guys here came because they had their reasons. Hoping to find a good artifact in a dungeon and turn their lives around."
Frank sighed and said,
"I'm telling you this for your own good. Give up such futile hopes. This is hell."
Zeke inwardly clicked his tongue at Frank's words.
'These scammer bastards all have the same script.'
They pretended to be experienced adventurers and said things like 'this is hell' and 'it's different from what you think' to shake the naive newcomers.
Then, when the newcomers became anxious, they would generously offer to take them under their wing.
They would say they would introduce them to a good dungeon for beginners to experience and decide for themselves.
Although there weren't zero experienced adventurers who genuinely guided newcomers with good intentions, nine out of ten were scammers.
If they were lucky, they would only lose their equipment and escape with their lives.
Most were sold as slaves or used as bait to lure monsters.
Frank, after bragging for a few minutes, said as if doing him a favor,
"Words won't do. Alright, I'll save a life and add you to our party."
Then, the bartender, who was wiping glasses, shook his head and said,
"Spider Hand, being nosy again? Those newbies don't even appreciate it when you take care of them like that."
He chuckled and said,
"I'm not doing this to hear thank yous. It's my belief."
The bartender shook his head at Frank's words, as if he was hopeless.
'What a load of bullshit.'
In his previous life, Zeke wandered around after being expelled from the academy and eventually ended up in Argos.
He was naive and clueless, just like his current self, and got caught by a scammer guide, signed an unfair contract, and went through all sorts of hardships.
Unaware that Zeke was inwardly mocking him, Frank gestured for him to follow him to his office.
Zeke followed Frank like a lost puppy.
Frank took Zeke to a shabby building in the corner of the back alley and went down to the basement.
It was a place with a worn-out sofa, desk, and chairs.
Frank took out cheap whiskey from the office cabinet, poured it into a chipped glass, and handed it to Zeke.
"Have a drink and sleep here today. We'll head to the dungeon tomorrow morning."
"How many people are in the party?"
"We're going light tomorrow, so about five of us will go up."
Zeke drank the whiskey Frank gave him.
As he expected, the whiskey was drugged.
When Zeke drank the whiskey and collapsed, Frank grinned.
"You naive bastard. Sweet dreams. You'll have a hard time from tomorrow."
Frank brought a rope, tied Zeke's hands and feet, and left the office.
Zeke, left completely alone, opened his eyes wide.
The rope wasn't even tied properly, so he dislocated his finger joints and easily slipped his wrist out.
"Their work is sloppy. Well, I guess those who do human trafficking wouldn't be competent."
Zeke searched Frank's office for information about the organization.
He opened the drawer and found transaction receipts crumpled and scattered around, unorganized.
Zeke examined the receipts and realized that Frank was a subcontractor for a human trafficking organization.
'A subcontractor of a subcontractor of a subcontractor.'
Although it was ultimately run by the Nostra clan if you traced it back, the lower levels were operated by subcontractors, making it difficult to grasp the entire organization's scale.
Therefore, Zeke came to Argos to sweep through the lowest-level organizations before moving on to Heli.
Zeke put his hands and feet back into the ropes and waited for dawn.
A few hours later, Frank entered the office with several other men.
"Oh, come on. Believe me. This time, it's top quality."
"Shut up, you bastard. I'll see for myself and decide."
A large man with tattoos on his arm approached Zeke, who was lying on the sofa.
The man examined Zeke's face and body and nodded.
"Not bad for something that Spider brought."
"See? I only bring reliable goods."
"Shut up. Do you know how much I got chewed out by the boss for bringing defective goods last time?"
"No, but that wasn't my fault. How would I know if he had lung disease? I'm not a healer."
The tattooed man took out a wad of bills from his pocket and counted out four bills to Frank.
Frank hurriedly said,
"For goods like this, I should get at least ten bills! Come on, be more generous."
The tattooed man made an annoyed expression, then added two more bills.
Frank put the bills in his pocket with a sly expression.
The tattooed man gestured to the other men to carry Zeke.
As Frank waited for them to leave with a respectful attitude, the tattooed man said to Frank,
"Spider, you come too. The boss wants to see you."
"Huh? Why does the boss want to see me?"
"There's a big deal this time, and you need to be the guide."
Frank beamed at the tattooed man's words and rubbed his hands together.
"As expected! The boss recognizes talent. When it comes to guiding, it's me, Spider Hand!"
"Stop blabbering and follow me."
The tattooed man drove the carriage carrying Zeke towards downtown Argos, a bit away from the city center.
It was a place where outlaws, Soma addicts, and fences from all over the continent were concentrated.
The carriage carrying Zeke headed towards a building.
As, the carriage arrived, and other gang members lowered a metal fence, completely blocking the entrance.
As the gang members took Zeke off the carriage, the tattooed man said to them,
"Take him upstairs. We need to show him to the boss and get him graded. Spider, you come too."
As instructed, the gang members carried Zeke and followed the tattooed man upstairs.
The tattooed man entered the room where the boss was.
The room was filled with cigarette smoke.
Frank entered the room with a nervous expression.
Cigarette butts were piled up in the ashtray on the large desk, and behind it, a skinny old man was puffing away on a cigarette while examining documents.
The tattooed man approached the old man.
"Boss, I brought him."
The old man looked up from the documents and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
Frank stood before the old man with a tense expression.
"I-it's an honor to be summoned, Boss."
The old man gestured to Frank, and Frank, understanding the gesture, sat on the sofa next to him.
He looked at the unconscious Zeke and asked the tattooed man,
"What's that?"
The tattooed man replied,
"He seemed like decent quality, so I brought him to show the boss and get him graded."
At the tattooed man's words, the old man got up and approached Zeke.
He lifted Zeke's eyelids, checked his eyes, and opened his mouth to check his teeth.
The old man nodded.
"Send him to Baron. He's that pervert's type."
"Understood."
The gang members took Zeke out as the tattooed man gestured.
The old man returned to his seat and gestured to Frank.
Frank immediately approached him.
"Frank, how many years has it been since you started working here?"
"It's been 15 years this year, Boss."
"I heard you're good with words."
"I'll do anything you ask me to."
The old man looked closely at Frank's eyes, then opened a drawer and took out a document.
He tossed it in front of Frank.
"It's a big deal. If you succeed, the reward will be hefty."
Frank carefully unfolded the document the old man threw and read it.
His eyes wavered.
"Th-this is...?"
It was a different request from the usual kidnapping cases.
It was a kind of disguised assassination, luring the target into a dungeon with high-risk monsters and getting them killed.
The problem was that the target was a noble.
The old man put a cigarette in his mouth, and the tattooed man lit it.
He exhaled the smoke and said,
"He's a central region noble who's having trouble with inheritance issues. He's a rural noble, but he owns quite a bit of land and mines, so he's quite wealthy. We received a request for the job, saying that the heir is coming for a dungeon tour."
Frank said, sweating,
"S-so I just have to lure him into the dungeon?"
"We'll set up the points, so you just approach the target and sweet-talk him about a better dungeon. Those guys below him will have no choice but to follow if the high-ranking kid insists. Just bring the target to the points, and that's it."
Frank gulped.
If he refused here, the ruthless old man would surely kill him and find another guide.
'Damn it, I wondered why he called me. This sucks.'
Whether he refused or not, there was a high chance he would be killed later for cleaning up loose ends.
The only way to have a chance of survival was to carry out the request successfully, receive the money, and leave this place.
Just as Frank was agonizing and about to open his mouth,
Thud!
There was a sound of someone collapsing outside. The boss gestured at the sound, and the tattooed man went out to check.
Thump!
Another loud sound was heard, and the door slid open.
The tattooed man was lying on the ground, bleeding.
Frank jumped up from his seat in surprise.
"W-what?!"
As Frank was in shock, someone stepped on the collapsed tattooed man and entered the room.
It was the naive-looking young man who had been brought in as merchandise earlier.
He looked at the old man and said,
"It's been a while since I've seen that face again. Blood fiend."