Chapter 110
In the game, depending on the choices you made upon meeting Clergy, different scenarios would unfold.
Since I had already played through all those routes, I could more or less predict what would happen just by looking at the surrounding environment when encountering Clergy.
That was why I flinched when Serma guided me into this building earlier.
‘Because this building isn’t just an ordinary restaurant.’
Well, it was technically a restaurant.
According to the setting, it was said to be a popular place during regular hours.
However, the owner of this restaurant was Clergy.
Which meant that Clergy ran it as a front while planting his own people inside.
From the chefs working in the kitchen to the servers — every single one of them was Clergy’s subordinate.
‘If he wanted to, he could easily disguise them as customers.’
No — he probably already had.
In other words, everyone inside this restaurant right now was one of Clergy’s men.
And the reason I was sure of it… was because I had seen this exact situation several times in the game.
‘A direct first encounter with Clergy. There are multiple storylines involving him, but… if it’s the one where the character is invited to this restaurant, then…’
The peaceful customers who had been quietly enjoying their meals —
At a single gesture from Clergy, they all changed.
Each of them pulled out hidden weapons from somewhere and charged toward me.
‘Stay calm.’
I blocked the attacks of the so-called “customers” — no, Clergy’s subordinates — using Mistcatcher.
Cheng— cheng— cha-cha-cha-cheng—!
A barrage of attacks came at me at once, but I had faced far worse situations before.
Using my defensive swordsmanship, I perfectly deflected all of their strikes.
‘This is Clergy’s test — to see if I’m qualified to be his trading partner.’
If I failed to impress him here, it might be difficult to ever deal with him again.
No — in the worst case, he might even kill me on the spot.
Of course, I was confident I wouldn’t die here.
From the moment I stepped into this building, I had already accounted for everything related to survival.
So what I needed to focus on right now was…
Cheng—!
Blocking this overwhelming wave of attacks.
After simultaneously deflecting a spear and an axe aimed at me, I quickly leapt to the side.
Jumping over several tables, I repositioned myself to a corner of the restaurant.
With my back to the wall, I steadied my stance once more.
‘When facing multiple enemies, always fight with your back to the wall.’
There was no need to rush.
All I had to do was block steadily, as I always did, while gradually taking them down one by one.
Of course, before that, there was someone I needed to talk to — the one who had orchestrated this entire situation.
“Mr. Clergy. Could you please explain what exactly is going on here?”
“You already knew, didn’t you?”
“I had a rough idea, but I wanted to hear it directly from the person behind it.”
“There isn’t any grand reason for it.”
Clergy, with his daughter sitting beside him, leisurely raised his wine glass.
“I simply want to confirm how strong you are, Sir Gideon. No — I need to confirm it.”
“And why is that?”
“You know my true identity, don’t you? Someone who knows who I really am cannot afford to be weak.”
The line was exactly as I remembered from the game.
Which meant Clergy’s actions from here would likely follow my expectations.
“In my experience, weak men easily spill secrets. But the strong — they do not. Those with strength in both body and mind always upheld our deals and promises until the very end.”
“So you want to see whether I’m one of those strong ones?”
“There are many ways to verify that, but this method has proven the most accurate.”
“Honestly, I can’t quite understand your reasoning.”
Even as I replied, I remained on full alert.
I didn’t know when Clergy’s subordinates might attack again.
“Why do you assume I’d go around revealing your identity, Mr. Clergy?”
“Because I don’t know what kind of man you are, Sir Gideon. And I don’t make deals lightly with those who know my secret. If you hadn’t known my identity, I wouldn’t have gone this far.”
“Yeah, sure, I bet you wouldn’t have.”
I gave a dry chuckle and glanced around.
Everyone on the first floor had armed themselves and was now coming up to the second floor.
“So all I have to do is defeat everyone here?”
“Yes. Once you’ve done that… we can sit down and talk properly over dinner.”
“And if I don’t manage to defeat them all…?”
“In that case, I’ll silence your mouth — thoroughly.”
“I won’t bother asking what you mean by that.”
I already knew what kind of “silencing” he was referring to.
I wouldn’t die, but it would be excruciating.
‘There is actually a non-combat option here… but for now, I’ll play along with Clergy’s tune.’
I had taken a risk coming here to become Clergy’s trading partner.
To build a long-term connection, I had to earn his favor here and now.
‘So I have to defeat every last one of them, huh…’
There were roughly thirty enemies.
Considering their levels as I remembered from the game, the odds were in my favor.
‘I’ll keep my back to the wall and fight from the corner — just like this.’
I planned to make full use of my defensive swordsmanship.
Though I had acquired various other abilities, for now, my swordsmanship and aura would suffice.
“Yaaahhh!”
A man wielding an axe charged at me.
He swung it fiercely, but thanks to my Attack Prediction Skill, I dodged it effortlessly.
Then I slashed toward his leg.
Sshhk—!
“Graaah?!”
“If you don’t want to die, just stay down.”
I kicked the man who had fallen from his wounded leg backward.
I could have killed him, but I had no desire to.
This was Clergy’s test — killing someone here would only leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Simply incapacitating them was more than enough for this situation.
“A-all at once! Attack together!”
This time, five of them came at me simultaneously.
Each swung their weapon down at once.
But their attacks, too, were blocked by Mistcatcher in a single motion.
Cheng—!
‘Take it slow. Slowly.’
There was no need to hurry.
And my defensive swordsmanship was nearly perfect, so I was confident I wouldn’t falter even if several of Clergy’s subordinates rushed me all at once.
‘Only attack when I see an opening.’
Clergy’s men weren’t all that skilled.
They were bound to expose openings whenever they attacked me, and…
‘…Now.’
Before long, two of them lunged at me at the same time and exposed gaps in their stance.
I blocked and evaded their attacks, then slashed across one’s back and the other’s shoulder.
Sshhk—! Sshhk—!
“Ugh?!”
“Aaagh!”
I kicked the two who had fallen beside me, sending them sliding away, and scanned my surroundings again.
There were still many enemies left to take down.
But I didn’t think I would lose.
‘It’s convenient that I only have to block attacks from the front.’
That was why I’d gone to the corner and fought with my back to the wall from the beginning.
Since I only had to defend my front, I could use my defensive swordsmanship with maximum efficiency.
‘And since this corner is narrow, they can’t all come at me at once.’
The most that could attack simultaneously right now was about five.
Handling five attackers at once was something I could easily manage, as I just proved.
‘…Let’s do this.’
As I’d said before, there was no need to rush.
I just needed to take them down slowly and calmly.
About thirty minutes later.
Only around ten of Clergy’s subordinates remained.
At that point, I stepped out from the corner and began moving in earnest.
‘Ten of them should be easy enough to handle.’
If this had been right after I’d first transmigrated, I probably would’ve been too scared to take the initiative.
But after going through all sorts of dangerous situations over the past two months, swinging my sword at enemies felt almost natural now.
“Keugh?!”
“M-my leg?!”
I fought while blending the sword techniques of Lisa, Sara, and Luke.
Though still much weaker than the originals, they were more than enough against Clergy’s men.
‘Maybe it’s because I fought Sara recently, but they feel way too weak.’
After facing so many strong opponents and surviving near-death crises, I’d clearly grown stronger.
Either way, Clergy’s subordinates had numbers, but none could truly match me.
Once I’d finally defeated the last of them—
“Would you say this proves my skill?”
“…I didn’t expect… a result like this.”
Clergy looked genuinely shocked.
He clearly hadn’t imagined I’d take down all of his men.
Beside him, Serma sighed.
“Dad, I told you. He beat Sara Isrinbloom.”
“Of course I thought that was just a rumor. But seeing him subdue everyone here… I suppose he really is that skilled.”
Clergy stood and poured wine into an empty glass.
“Please, have a seat, Sir Gideon.”
“Gladly. But I’ll pass on the drink.”
“Not fond of wine?”
“There’s a rule at the Academy — students aren’t allowed to drink alcohol.”
At my reply, Clergy raised an eyebrow, then burst into laughter.
“…Hahaha! You really are quite amusing, Sir Gideon. Very well then, I won’t insist.”
After sitting back down, Clergy turned to Serma.
“There should be some meat soup downstairs. Bring up two bowls.”
“Got it.”
After Serma left the room, Clergy looked around.
At his unconscious and groaning subordinates scattered about.
He took in the scene for a moment before speaking again.
“Why do you wish to trade with me?”
“If you’re the leader of Tazera, then you must have things the Empire itself can’t easily obtain.”
“That’s all?”
“No. Not just goods, but also information — and manpower. I wish to become your long-term client, Mr. Clergy.”
“My client, you say?”
Clergy smirked faintly.
“I’m a merchant, you know. I sell things at high prices — whether it’s goods, information, or manpower.”
“As I mentioned before, I can mass-produce top-grade Elixirs. I think a few bottles should be a fair price.”
“Elixirs, hm… That’s certainly attractive. But that’s not what I want right now.”
“And what would that be?”
“Who told you about my identity?”
Clergy was still smiling — but it wasn’t exactly a polite smile.
“Tell me that, and I’ll treat you with the utmost respect as my valued client.”
“I’m afraid that’s a bit complicated to explain. Even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to understand.”
“Still, explain it. It would be better if you did. Unless you want to end up in a situation where you have to.”
I gave a dry chuckle at his threat.
“What, are you planning to torture it out of me?”
“I have plenty of people under my command. I could summon them to this restaurant right now if I wished.”
“The fact that you’re resorting to threats means you really are dying to know how I found out your identity.”
I tapped the table and smiled leisurely.
His threat wasn’t an empty bluff.
With a single gesture, he could indeed call in countless men to storm this place.
And they could very well capture and torture me mercilessly.
But I wasn’t afraid.
This situation, too, was within my predictions.
“Perhaps there’s a traitor within Tazera. If you tell me who that traitor is…”
“You’re mistaken. Sure, there might be a traitor in Tazera, but that’s your problem. I didn’t learn your identity through any traitor.”
“You’re lying. Unless someone from my organization leaked it, there’s no one on this continent who could possibly know who I am.”
As he said that, Clergy pulled a Crystal Sphere from his pocket.
“It seems you don’t intend to speak honestly, so I’ll have to be a bit more forceful. If I summon more people here…”
“I wouldn’t recommend choosing the torture route. In fact, you’d be far better off not laying a finger on me — not even a scratch.”
“Oh? May I ask why?”
Clergy asked with a calm but intrigued tone.
“I’ve already done my research on you, Sir Gideon. A fallen provincial baron — technically nobility, but an unknown one. Someone like that, I can handle easily…”
“The only reason I took on your men just now was because I was confident I wouldn’t get hurt. But if you actually capture and torture me, you’ll have to deal with the Balmuth Family moving against you.”
At the sudden mention of a ducal house, Clergy stiffened.
“…The Balmuth Family?”
“Oh, did you miss that in your investigation? That’s sloppy. I’m Lady Lisa Balmuth’s lover.”
“Lisa Balmuth… the eldest daughter of the Balmuth Family, and the next Duchess…”
The once-confident Clergy now looked utterly dumbfounded.
“That’s ridiculous… How could a Duke’s daughter possibly be involved with some no-name baron…”
“If you don’t believe me, why not ask your daughter? She’s just come back up.”
As I said that, Serma appeared carrying two bowls of soup.
The moment she arrived, Clergy asked in a slightly trembling voice,
“Serma. Is it true that Sir Gideon is Lisa Balmuth’s lover?”
“Huh? Oh, did I forget to tell you that?”
“……”
Clergy stared at his daughter for a moment, utterly speechless.
Then he abruptly stood and shouted,
“How could you forget to mention something that important, you fool?!”
I chuckled softly at his reaction.
As expected, things were unfolding just as I’d anticipated.