Aila stopped her plan to invade south of Sebia due to Roxi’s persuasion.
“By the way, this is troublesome. I expected it, but I didn’t think Walker would form an organization.”
“It’s called the Broken Blade.”
Isabel, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
“Broken Blade?”
“That’s the name of the organization.”
“What kind of organization is it?”
“I don’t know the details. But most of them are quite skilled.”
After hearing Isabel’s story, Roxi hurriedly began communicating with someone through magic.
With a serious expression upon finishing her conversation, Roxi sighed.
“Thank you. Because of you, I was able to gather important information.”
“It’s not that great.”
The intelligence agency had taken over the case, but there was one concerning issue.
In the past, when Aila was lacking power to escape Tolis, she had asked for help.
Even though the intelligence agents had outstanding information-gathering abilities, their combat skills were lacking.
Walker is the leader of an organization that has a magic swordsman subordinate.
How they will resolve this is up to the intelligence agency.
After spending a day at Roxi’s house, we decided to return to Hecar.
Since we had entrusted weapon manufacturing to the factory, we decided to pick them up once they were completed.
“What do we do with her?”
There was still the problem of what to do with Isabel.
“For now, let’s take her with us. She might not be useless.”
Since she was wearing shackles, she had no way to escape.
Of course, even if we let her go, she didn’t seem to have any intention of running away.
“You guys aren’t from here, are you?”
“That’s right. So you shouldn’t tell anyone else.”
“I won’t. I have no intention of doing so. If you want to be technical, I’m not from the Latnia Empire either.”
I don’t know much about the Midlen nation.
What I do know is that it’s not a nation favored in Latnia.
Roran has said he would ally with us at any time, but there is still not much interaction.
Nonetheless, the country somehow manages to survive due to its coastal trade.
“Honestly, I don’t remember much about Midlen. But I’ve seen quite a few demon tribes and beastmen.”
I looked at Aila to address my curiosity.
Seeing that I wanted some sort of answer, Aila thought for a moment before speaking.
“Although Midlen is not an allied nation, Roran does trade quite often with them. Their relationship isn’t particularly bad.”
“And Latnia?”
“Trading with Midlen is probably illegal.”
From Latnia’s perspective, Midlen is a country that could be crushed at any time.
The reason they don’t act on it is similar to how they don’t care about other kingdoms within the Latnia Empire.
From Latnia’s viewpoint, Roran is the biggest obstacle, so they don’t bother with a small country.
“By the way, how old are you?”
“About fourteen, I guess.”
If we were counting in exact years, she would be the same age as Jema, but no matter how you looked at it, she didn’t seem that age.
She looked similar to me after drinking the shrinking potion.
“Are you a half-blood?”
“I don’t know.”
Aila made a guess while looking at Isabel’s violet eyes.
“Given your age, swordsmanship is understandable, but magical abilities seem hard to reach as a human.”
“Isn’t it because I’m a genius?”
“No, you’re not.”
Aila stated decisively.
“I know a real magic genius.”
Coincidentally, I also know a genius regarding magic.
I don’t know if Aila and I are thinking of the same person.
We used teleportation from Sebia to move to Hecar.
Unlike Roran, there was only one person who could teleport us.
Plus, it was not an open area but a cramped space surrounded on all sides.
The Hecar teleportation point was somewhat distant from the factory we were trying to reach.
While walking to the factory, Isabel followed along quietly.
Upon arriving near the factory, all the noise we used to hear had completely disappeared.
Instead, we could hear faint sounds coming from the corner of the factory.
“It’s really quiet.”
“Yeah.”
Upon entering the factory, we found the manager who had received our goods last time and someone who seemed to be an employee, both quite focused.
“Is the product being made well?”
“Ah, you returned quickly.”
“Yes, that happened.”
In the blazing fire, a dark object was being processed.
When I pulled it out and tapped it, the clear sound of metal echoed inside the factory.
“It’s hard to believe it’s biological claws.”
“That’s right. It took some time to figure out the processing method by asking the headquarters.”
“Headquarters?”
“Yes. This creature seems to have lived in the past Gates. There are records that items were made from byproducts of living beings at that time, and I referred to that.”
The interior of the Gates is still mostly uncharted territory.
In the past, monsters sometimes appeared there.
I had read an article that weapons were created from the byproducts of monsters captured at that time and were used by abilities users.
“Then you can complete the items.”
“Yes. I’ve even prepared a test piece.”
The manager said he would show us the test piece and led us to the office.
Inside the office’s safe, the manager pulled out the test piece.
When Aila drew the sword from its sheath, a dark blade revealed itself.
“This is quite an ominous sword.”
This was Isabel’s impression upon seeing the sword.
“The handle is made of its bones.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to change the order a bit.”
“Is there something you don’t like about it?”
Aila asked the manager to incorporate all the remaining materials into the sword.
“If you put all that in, it would be too heavy to wield as a sword, wouldn’t it?”
“If one doesn’t work, then make it in two or three parts.”
“Alright. I’ll try to aggregate that with what I’m currently working on.”
It’s not desirable for a good sword made from quality materials to spread across Latnia.
Moreover, Aila had no intention of selling it since she obtained it after much effort slaying the monster.
A little while later, the manager returned and promised that it would be completed in two days.
“So soon?”
“Yes.”
We decided to come back in two days to pick up the sword and booked accommodations.
“We have about two days, so what should we do?”
“I spent some money teleporting, so I want to replenish it.”
Even though I thought I wouldn’t return after leaving Hecar, I ended up coming back.
Commercial Guild.
The guild staff treated us with considerable courtesy.
“You are to wait in the room.”
It was a different room from last time.
In the meantime, Hilde had seemingly been promoted, as she welcomed us in a much better room.
“Welcome. I’m Hilde, branch manager of the Commercial Guild.”
“You didn’t just get promoted; you took over the guild.”
“Thanks to you all.”
Hilde took over the Commercial Guild with the profits acquired through dangerous dealings behind the scenes.
“We just brought one box, didn’t we?”
“After that, Kaluah died. I inherited part of his assets.”
The fates of Hilde’s patrons ended in death due to drug addiction.
“Were those drugs the cause?”
“Partly right, and partly wrong.”
Hilde stood up, looking out the window as she continued the conversation.
“Kaluah fought a lot in his youth to form the organization. He had trouble sleeping due to the aftereffects. That’s when I provided him with drugs.”
“Seems like some important details are missing?”
“Oh, I do various things with my patrons. In the process, I tend to become their lover.”
Apparently, Kaluah had no children or successors to inherit the organization, so most of his assets were inherited by Hilde.
He had the financial power to buy those expensive drugs.
If she obtained some of that wealth to take control of the Commercial Guild, Kaluah must have been incredibly wealthy.
“So, there’s one troublesome issue.”
“Why do you think we would do the work for you?”
“That’s true. Can you do it?”
Hilde was looking at me, not Aila.
As if she thought the decision-making power was in my hands.
“I want to hear the details before I decide. Is that not okay?”
“Sure. Well, it’s fine to share, I guess.”
Hilde sat down on the sofa provided in the middle of the room and invited us to sit as well.
Once seated, Hilde spread out documents with photographs in front of us.
“Kaluah died, and the organization split apart. That’s because he left no successor.”
The individuals in the pictures were the heads of the organization that would rule the dark world in place of Kaluah.
“We need to eliminate the heads mentioned in these documents.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. They are no longer needed.”
Hilde wanted us to handle their elimination.
“Do you really think we have the capability to do this?”
“You’re a beastman, right? Aren’t you good at fighting? You have a sword. And that kid over there doesn’t seem ordinary either.”
As she glanced at Isabel, Hilde smiled mysteriously.
“If you do it, I’ll pay you 10 gold pieces for each head.”
“That makes it 50 gold in total for five heads.”
“What do you think? Will you do it?”
While Aila and I were contemplating, Isabel raised her hand.
“I want to do it.”
“We can’t assign such tasks to a child.”
Isabel slowly lowered her hand.
Maybe she was quick to give up, as she didn’t plead with me or Aila to let her join.
“If we take care of them, won’t we be chased?”
“We can’t just eliminate them. Naturally, you’ll have to do it in the name of another organization.”
The documents also listed the names of those organizations.
“If we lightly take care of two locations, the rest should fight among themselves. At that time, you can take care of the remaining ones all at once.”
“But such organizations will keep forming, won’t they?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll present a substitute organization.”
Although she didn’t explain in detail, I could predict well enough what her ultimate plan would be.
Even if we didn’t take this job, Hilde would carry out her plan with her own power.
“Alright, we’ll do it.”
“This is the first person. He currently leads the second largest organization.”
The picture Hilde pointed to was of a man with a gruesome expression, devoid of a head.
After hearing information about our target from Hilde, we left the Commercial Guild.
“Let’s start tonight.”
We went to shop for clothes to wear while carrying out our task until nightfall.
After browsing through various clothes, we decided on cheap suits.
They were easy to procure and could be worn by anyone, regardless of age or gender.
With a mask on, distinguishing gender became significantly difficult, making it a perfect disguise.
Back at our accommodation, as Aila and I changed into the clothes we bought, we couldn’t hide our shock.
Isabel was covered in severe injuries all over her body.
