36 - Marquis Maron
Episode 36
"Did someone pay you to gather this information?"
"No! I bought this information with my own money!"
"Figures."
"To work in the shadows, luck is more important than skill, and information is more important than luck! All the bastards who don't know this die early. I don't skimp on buying information, no matter what."
"Good job, good job. You're so great."
"Why does that compliment feel so bad?"
"Rango."
"What."
"Want to run an errand for me?"
"No."
He was firm. He shook his head with a stubborn look, just like when I rejected people.
"If I go out this time, I'm never coming near the Contaminated Zone again, and I won't get involved with you either. I have a really good feeling, and I think if I keep working with you, I won't die of old age."
"Is that so?"
I took out an old gold coin from my pocket and subtly sat next to the coachman's seat, holding it in front of Rango's eyes. Then, as he stared at the gold coin as if possessed, I asked him.
"Want to run an errand for me?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"I will. I'll do it."
Soon, the gold coins became two. Rango looked at the two gold coins moving between my fingers and asked.
"What do you want me to do? Marquis?"
"There's a rumor that the Order is creating Fake Holy Knights, so look into it."
"Huh?"
Rango flinched and pulled his butt back. He thought it was a simple errand, but it was too dangerous.
Before he could refuse, I took out three more gold coins and shook them.
"Ten times as much if you succeed."
"I will do it even if I have to risk my life."
"You know? All I have is money."
"You know I respect that the most in the world."
"Meet me on the first day of autumn, above the canyon. That's the Kasnatura border, right? It'll be easy to find since that's where I was thrown in a cage."
"Why do you always have to pick a place like that for a meeting place..."
"It's a place of memories, why?"
Rango recoiled from me in disgust, and Reikart sighed, saying it was starting again.
Walking diligently like that, we finally arrived in Grandis.
In the original story, it's a city that ends with a short episode, but I'm coming here twice. Seeing it again, I feel a little attached.
"Go quickly."
"Thank you so much for bringing us here. I will never forget that you saved us in Selbon. I will keep the Lord's work a secret until I die, so don't worry..."
"Ah, go quickly."
"The road is rough, and the carriage wheels are already rattling, so if you have time, be sure to get them repaired. The horses are a male and female pair, so they might have a foal, so fix up the stable too. Also..."
"Just go!"
"Wait a minute, honey, move aside. I have something to say too!"
"What is it now!"
"Lord, when you go back, please tell them that they must put up pepper stakes in the Spirit's pepper field. Tomatoes and eggplants too..."
"Wait a minute! In the kitchen, I pickled..."
There was no end to it. I couldn't remember every word of their requests. Since several people were talking at the same time, I couldn't even understand half of it.
"It's okay now because it's summer, but you'll need wood for fuel in the winter. It's easier if you do it in advance in the fall and dry it."
"Put a fish trap by the lake. If you don't have meat, you should at least eat fish."
"You can't raise ducks like that. You should buy several chickens instead..."
"Go quickly. Go quickly. Just go!"
At this rate, they were about to sit me down and start educating me on how to survive in the wilderness, so I pushed them from the Contamination boundary towards Grandis.
"Go and live well!"
Then I handed them a small bag full of gold coins.
"What is this?"
"Settlement support."
"Why is the Lord doing this..."
"Originally, awesome nobles like me spend money on poor refugees like you. So take that and go quickly! Don't ever come back!"
Goodbye, leeches.
I was waving my hand as hard as I could to send them away when Reikart, who had gone to check out the Grandis checkpoint in advance, appeared with a stiff face.
"Hayley."
"Yeah?"
"The inspection is excessively thorough."
"Why?"
Eugene is in Selbon, so there shouldn't be anyone in Grandis, right? That's why I came here on purpose, why?
Reikart came up to me and lowered his voice as much as possible.
"A document that the Order treats as top secret was stolen, and the city is in an uproar. The head of the diocese committed suicide because of it, and Holy Knights were dispatched from headquarters..."
"Wow."
Rango and I looked at each other at the same time.
Could it be that thing I told Rango to steal? Nah, no way. It can't be.
Reikart sighed.
"They're arresting and investigating anyone who's even slightly suspicious. It seems like they're going to call Cardinal Eugene Widemark, who went to Selbon, back soon. With the situation like this, we can't let them in."
No way. Absolutely not.
These people were the first people to be Contaminated and then Purified and revived. If the Order finds out about this, they will never let it go.
Even the fact that the main subject is Sorceress Hayley, who they thought was dead, would turn the three kingdoms upside down.
"Lord..."
The people who were huddled together like refugees in front of the baggage cart looked at me with pleading eyes.
Ah....
Life....
I slowly turned around.
"Shall we go back home for now?"
* * *
"How did she know..."
Rango was amazed by Hayley.
The fact that King of Kasnatura's long-lost princess, 'Asta Rosa Kasnatura,' is the world's only Spiritualist with cotton candy-like rare colored hair was a rumor that had just started spreading.
Moreover, this place is in the middle of the Contaminated Zone, and you can only reach it from Kasnatura by passing through Floodwood or crossing the canyon. Of course, that's when it's not Contaminated.
I heard that Kasnatura is in a festive mood.
They accidentally found the daughter they thought they had lost, and that daughter is a Spiritualist. The King is afraid that the daughter he found with difficulty will be harmed, so he cherishes her, holding her in his arms as if she might break if he holds her too tightly or fly away if he breathes on her.
So information about Princess Asta was expensive. Especially information related to her appearance.
Rango, an assassin, had bought a secret code that informants secretly exchanged just before coming to Selbon at a high price and found out.
These days, the Kingdom of Kasnatura is bustling, so he thought there would be a lot of work, so he was going to get a sense of the atmosphere in advance.
But this crazy Wizard, no, Demon Marquis, who lives buried in this remote mountain area, knew all of that. She even seemed to know the princess's appearance in detail.
"Creepy."
Yeah, I shouldn't get involved with that woman.
Scary woman.
Rango wanted to slap his past self, who had moved as he pleased from Grandis to Selbon. Bad omens shouldn't be followed.
He, who makes money by taking people's lives, trusted his intuition second only to money in the world.
Of course, money was first.
That innocent lumberjack man and his family are looking at Hayley Maron with such moist eyes because they don't know what kind of woman she is.
Sorceress Hayley.
Rango couldn't forget that name. It was a name that assassins and informants who lived in the darkness like him had to engrave in their heads and never forget.
Cyril Vandision of Nieve, Michelan of Holt, Eugene Widemark of Kasnatura. How much trouble did the leading talents of the three kingdoms go through because of that one woman?
According to rumors, they were all entangled with Hayley Maron through a connection from their reckless days. That's why, when she started committing evil deeds, they couldn't deal with it coldly and tried to dissuade her, suffering all sorts of humiliation.
"But that was all a lie?"
It was true that Hayley committed evil deeds, but there was an even more surprising truth hidden inside.
Rango smiled slyly inside.
