Chapter 159: The Capital (3)
Lavera took the lead in Alcard Street. The shops in this street were different from the central district, with their size being the most distinguishing difference. Most shops in the central district used an entire building, while the shops in this street shared a building with at least two to three shops in one building.
They didn’t even have a door. Instead, they just demolished a wall and displayed their merchandise. Such characteristics intrigued Mer.
Mercenaries and adventurers were the ones who primarily used the shops in the street. As a result, the shops displayed several suspicious weapons and unappraised artifacts they had pillaged during their quests.
Mer spoke excitedly, “Didn’t you often read it in novels and stuff? Something along the lines of the vendor selling old weapons at a really low price, but instead, they happened to be very powerful weapons.”
“I think street vendors in this kind of street just bribed the authors to advertise their shops.” Eugene scanned the weapons displayed in the street stall with an apathetic face. 300 years ago, he had also searched for weapons in stalls like this since he had been a mercenary, a very renowned mercenary at that. However, the quality of the weapons in these stalls didn’t change much over the years, and one thing remained the same — they were cost-effective.
“Vendors are not idiots. Why would they sell their product at a dirt-cheap price without knowing their valu….” Eugene stopped mid-sentence. The moment he bought the piece of the Moonlight Sword at an auction house crossed his mind. That piece had been dirt-cheap.
“Why did you stop talking?” Mer asked.
“…There can be a diamond amidst a pile of dumps,” Eugene spoke solemnly.
“Diamond?”
“How can a person distinguish an expensive jewel from poop when the said jewel is covered with poop and piss?”
“Please don’t say gross stuff when we have just eaten.”
“Poop,” Eugene instantly spoke.
Mer’s face crumpled up like a paper ball. Was that really what the hero from 300 years ago should say? It wasn't the same, but Lavera thought along the same lines as Mer as she walked in front of them.
‘He doesn’t act like a noble, ’ Lavera thought in surprise.
The mistress of the Lionhearts, Ancilla, was an epitome of a noble lady. On the other hand, Gerhard from the annex wasn't really an epitome of a noble, but he still unconsciously acted with a dignity akin to a noble.
However, Eugene never acted like a noble, even though he was considered to be worthy of the name Lionheart more than anyone else.
‘ It’s not for me to judge. ’ Lavera unnoticeably shook her head.
Lavera was an elf, but she had almost no elven elitism left in her mind. The years she had spent as an abused slave obliterated the elitism from Lavera. It wasn’t just Lavera. There was also Narissa, who worked as an apprentice maid in the annex. In fact, most elves who lived in the Lionheart forest no longer had that elitism.
For Lavera, Eugene was a master whom she wanted to serve. So what if Eugene didn’t act like a noble? Lavera may not have felt a dignity of a noble from Eugene, but she had felt a dignity of an absolutely powerful man from him. When Eugene and Lavera were in Samar Rainforest, they had encountered a typical, ordinary noble and a barbarian after exiting the slave market.
Recalling the memory of that moment always sent a shiver down Lavera’s spine.
Elves should never have run into barbarians in the Rainforest. The barbarian looked especially ferocious and stronger than any other barbarians Lavera had ever seen. However, Eugene had treated the barbarian like a baby, sending the barbarian fly in the air.
There was also the incident with the noble. The man had acted like a typical noble, but he had blatantly looked at Lavera with a disgusting look. She was well aware of these kinds of nobles, who treated elves like objects, playing with them as they pleased and destroying them in the end. However, the noble had pathetically begged for his life, kneeling in front of Eugene.
“…It’s this way.” Lavera tried to ignore the rising heat from deep inside her heart.
The shop where Lavera ordered her prosthetic eye was in the back of the alley. It wasn’t at the very end, but people surely wouldn’t be able to find the shop from the main street. The shop was intentionally located there to ensure that people who didn’t need prosthetics wouldn’t spend time window-shopping, naturally making the customers who actually needed prosthetics shop at ease.
When Lavera opened a wicket door under an old sign, various smells assaulted Eugene’s group, among which some especially stood out to Eugene — painkillers, oil, and dye.
“Did Narissa also make her prosthetic leg in this shop?” Eugene asked.
“Yes.” Lavera nodded. “A knight from the main estate recommended the shop to us. Apparently, this shop’s owner is quite famous among mercenaries and adventurers.”
He seemed famous for a good reason. Eugene scanned through prosthetic arms and legs that were displayed like decorations. When he stared at a prosthetic arm with open fingers, he could feel a certain desire rising inside him.
‘Can I touch it? I want to fold all its fingers except for the middle one….’
“What are you, a child?” Mer quietly spoke after reading Eugene’s thoughts.
Embarrassed, Eugene cleared his throat.
“You came on time.” When the door to the workroom at the back of his shop was opened, an old man with a bushy beard walked out. His glasses were noticeably thick and shone under the light as he looked at Eugene’s Lionheart uniform.
“Don’t mind me.” Eugene raised his hands, saying he wasn’t here to pressure anyone.
The man bowed shortly, then glanced at Mer, standing beside Eugene, as he spoke, “There is not much to see in here, but take your time.”
“Can I touch them?” Eugene calmly asked.
“The products on the shelves are samples, so you can touch them,” The old man explained and then turned his head to Lavera. “It will fit perfectly, but let’s go inside and check again. I have to check the symmetry and the color….”
“Okay.” Lavera nodded as she meekly followed the old man.
After Lavera and the old man went to the workroom, Eugene reached his hand to the prosthetic arm as if he had waited for this moment.
“Don’t do it.” Mer instantly warned Eugene.
Fidgeting with the prosthetic arm, Eugene cleared his throat. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just touching it.”
Since these prosthetics were used by mercenaries and adventurers who lost their limbs, several of them had hidden devices inside. Some of these prosthetic users could shoot arrows when they bent their wrists, or a knife popped out from their finger at their own will. Some even installed a cannon shooter in their prosthetic knees…. So many variations existed.
Several samples of prosthetic eyes were on display, too. They weren’t the highest-class prosthetic eyes that could be connected to the user’s optic nerve, but they looked incredibly real, almost appearing like somebody had actually plucked out their eyes and displayed them.
Eugene observed those for a moment, but then he suddenly started. He didn’t know what had happened, but he couldn’t hear anything from the workroom — no one was in the room.
Until now, Eugene had been able to sense two people inside the workroom, but for some reason that he couldn’t understand, he felt as if they had disappeared. It only took several steps for Eugene to open the workroom door.
Eugene wasn’t able to find the old man or Lavera. It wasn’t just them. There was now nothing in the workroom.
“…What… happened?” Mer stutteringly asked.
Without answering, Eugene looked around the workroom. Oil and dye stains were still visible on the wallpaper. Eugene could still smell the painkiller, oil, and dye. This room had definitely not been empty before.
After pulling out Akasha from the Cloak of Darkness, Eugene took a second look around the workroom. He could see a soundproof spell, a dustproof spell, and a humidity control spell. The building was old, and there were other shops nearby. Of course, spells like these existed in the workroom.
With a grim expression, Mer mumbled, “…No magic has been violated.”
The magic spells were engraved on the wall and the floor, but they hadn’t been violated or tampered with. It wasn’t like the shop’s wall had been demolished. No new magic had been added too. No one had used Blink to take the two away. If someone really did so, Eugene and Mer would have sensed it. Teleportation inevitably distorted spaces.
There was no window in the workroom, and the only door was the one Eugene used to enter. This place was a physically and magically sealed room. Still, everything in this sealed room had disappeared — one elf, one human, and every object in the workroom.
Well, not everything had disappeared. When Eugene took a third look around the room, he could see shelves, decorations, and numerous tools hanging on the wall…. The things hanging on the wall hadn’t disappeared. The only things that had disappeared had been on the floor.
Eugene silently glared at the floor. It was squeaky clean, and oil stains and dyes just remained on the wall.
Unable to believe her own words, Mer gasped. “Something…appeared on the floor…?”
“It has been overlapped.” Eugene stroked the floor after he squatted down. “Like a shadow.”
The light hanging on the ceiling connected Eugene and his shadow. With a cold look, Eugene scowled at his shadow.
“I didn’t know they would do such a thing,” Eugene muttered, standing up. There was no more information to gain from this workroom. It was impossible to search for the missing people — Lavera and the old man. No Archwizard would be able to tell what kind of magic had been used to make the two disappear.
It couldn’t be helped. The magic that was used wasn’t exactly classified as usual magic.
‘300 years is really a long time.’
Clicking his tongue, Eugene stood up and lifted the Cloak of Darkness. After reading Eugene’s mind, Mer approached him and crawled into the Cloak.
“I didn’t know I would be doing this today,” Eugene quietly muttered under his breath as he returned to the shop.
The previously empty show now had other customers waiting inside. The three people were wearing big hoods pulled down to their faces. Eugene stared at them, remaining calm.
“Follow us,” a man spoke without revealing his face.
Eugene quietly chuckled as he flicked his finger.
Woosh!
The wind blew even though the window wasn’t open, flipping the customers’ hoods open.
“Before you state your businesses, why don’t you introduce yourselves first?”
Three dark elves scowled at Eugene.
The male dark elf, who had spoken first, glared at Eugene, “…We are the Fury Independence Army.”
“I know.” Eugene could see the tattoos on their left collarbones — the reversed shape of a goat’s skull. The Fury Independence Army had been carving the tattoo on themselves for 300 years.
“I don’t want to use a violent method to take you away.”
“Do you really think you can drag me away with a violent method?” Eugene asked.
“Arrogant human bastard,” the other dark elf, who had been quiet, spoke in a hostile tone.
When Eugene heard the dark elf, he burst into laughter.
“How dare a fallen dark elf who even betrayed their kind spew bullshit?” Eugene shot out insults, tilting his head in contempt. Upon hearing Eugene’s remark, the dark elves frowned. The two dark elves reacted fiercely, but the one who had spoken first didn’t show any reaction.
“If you reject our request or try to resist, we can’t guarantee the hostages’ safety,” the male dark elf spoke again.
“If you wanted to converse with me, you should have asked for a handshake first.” Eugene shot back.
“I feel bad about it. So, what are you going to do? Will you follow us or get dragged away?”
“Can I just kill you all and go alone? You can just tell me the location.” Eugene beamed.
“You have a violent temper.”
“I was about to happily end my day out in the city, but you guys have fucked it up.”
Eugene wasn't just acting hot-headed as he spoke. He continued to talk as he looked around the shop. There were three dark elves in the shop, and Eugene couldn’t sense any other dark elves’ presence.
No change had occurred on the floor too. It was weird since she must be observing the situation. Was she not going to show up here even if Eugene had beaten the shit out of her people? She was uselessly full of love for her kind, so wouldn’t she appear if Eugene slaughtered her people?
The air in the shop became tense. It wouldn’t be strange if any of them started attacking each other any second. The two hot-headed, young dark elves prepared to pounce at Eugene. Unable to say anything, the dark elf who spoke first just glared at Eugene.
“Well, let’s forget about it,” Eugene said as he shrugged. “It’s not like my kidnapped maid will return after I kill you guys.”
“Do you really think you can kill us?” One of the young dark elves sarcastically asked, snorting.
Not smiling anymore, Eugene stared at the dark elf. “You think I can’t?”
Feeling Eugene’s intense desire to kill him, the dark elf shuddered as he felt overwhelmed. He couldn't believe a 20-year-old man was able to show this fierce desire to kill someone. The dark elf subconsciously took a few steps back, trembling. He wasn’t able to say anything anymore.
“Lead the way.” Eugene covered his arms using the cloak that was hanging over his shoulder. It was to pull out weapons whenever he needed them, but the Cloak of Darkness itself was an excellent armor.
“…Will you walk there? Or….”
“I will walk. I won’t use other methods since your princess might try to fuck with me.”
“…It’s not too far away.” The dark elves put the hoods over their heads again as they exited the shop. Leading the way, the dark elves entered a back alley. Eugene followed them without hurry.
Eugene had a few questions in mind.
The Lionhearts had been expecting the dark elves, led by Iris, to make contact. That was why Carmen and the Third Division of the Black Lions were at the main estate right now, but this wasn’t the only precaution the Lionhearts had taken.
People in the main estate were able to collect a variety of necessary information; the information on dark elves was one of them. To prepare for being contacted by dark elves, the Lionhearts had been keeping an eye out on who had entered Kiehl.
However, dark elves had never entered the Kiehl Empire. On top of that, this was Ceres, the capital. People at the gate were very thorough in identifying the person who went through the gate.
‘They entered Kiehl illegally, ’ Eugene thought as he clicked his tongue.
They had started off on the wrong foot. Iris had no intention of taking elves from the Lionhearts in a legitimate way.
‘I don’t think she was this stupid 300 years ago.’
Eugene had heard that Iris was in a tight spot in Helmuth. She wanted to become a new Demon King, inheriting the title of Demon King of Fury. However, there were high-ranking demonfolks who had higher chances of becoming the next Demon King than Iris — the three dukes in Helmuth never considered Iris as their competitor.
Black Dragon Raizakia might say he wasn’t interested, but the two remaining dukes still were more powerful than Iris.
‘Iris critically lacks supporters.’
It was her principle to only take dark elves under her wings. She had recently been persistent with her principle, but it was only to the level of hiring beastfolk mercenaries, not taking them under her wings.
That was why Iris was hell-bent on increasing the number of dark elves.
‘Still, how dare she just try to take an elf away like this?’
She had committed a heinous crime. As he felt a boiling urge to kill her, Eugene glared at the back of the dark elf walking in front of him.
“It’s this way,” the dark elf said, pointing at an iron door that led to a basement of a pretty old building.
Eugene could see the word ‘Bullshot Mercenaries’ on the iron door.
‘Did she take over a mercenary guild’s office? Since when was she here?’
With those thoughts in mind, Eugene gestured with his chin. “Open it.”
The dark elf cautiously opened the door, revealing the stairway that led to the basement. No light source existed, so it was hard for Eugene to see an inch ahead. Could Eugene create light with his magic? No, it wouldn’t work.
She was the owner of the Demoneye of Darkness. No light could light up the darkness created by Iris. The darkness created by her Demoneye looked like darkness, but it was no ordinary darkness.
When he had gotten down to the basement, Eugene could see a dark elf putting her leg on top of the table as she leaned on the red sofa. The basement — no, the office was very large, but it was very shabby.
“Kid.”
The dark elf was the leader of the Fury Independence Army — Rakshasha Princess, Iris.
Lightly tapping a liquor bottle on the table with her foot, Iris smiled. “Do you know how to drink?”
Compared to 300 years ago, not much had changed. Maybe her clothes and hair had changed a bit.
Her white hair used to be very long, but she had cut her hair to shoulder length. Instead of leather armor, she was wearing a red suit, but she hadn’t fully buttoned up; Eugene could see her collarbones. A gold necklace could be seen around her neck. Fancy-looking rings and a watch in her hand twinkled.
“…You look more like a mafia boss than a princess,” Eugene spoke honestly. Iris smiled, revealing her white teeth.