Chapter 17: Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce

“This is the place.”

Black, the Orc baker, came to a halt. He looked up at a three-story house made of gray-white stone bricks.

The Nolan couple, following behind him, looked in the same direction. In front of the house stood a large, tightly closed dark brown wooden door. A square wooden plaque was nailed above the entrance.

The words “Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce” were engraved on the plaque in the Waan language of their country. In the blank space on the top right corner, a cute little whale was carved.

Compared to Vivian’s clumsy carpentry skills, the craftsmanship of this wooden sign was undoubtedly far superior. Even an illiterate bandit would understand upon seeing such a conspicuous sign. This was the territory of the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce, and it was no place for making trouble.

“A house with a wooden plaque depicting an unknown beast and gray-white walls is a branch of the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce,” Black explained in a flat tone, patiently teaching the two foreigners how to identify the guild’s buildings.

‘Well, there are probably more people in Maen City who don’t know what a whale is than there are illiterate people…’ Vivian complained internally.

She refocused her gaze on the entrance. Even though it was morning, the time when commercial activity was most frequent, there wasn’t a single person at the branch’s door.

‘Are we here at the wrong time? Is the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce not receiving guests today?’ Vivian wondered as her gaze drifted.

Nolan walked to the door and gave it a tentative knock. After waiting for a while, there was no response from within. Nolan turned around and shook his head.

It seemed as though the quest to subjugate the demon had hit a snag…

Facing the locked door, Vivian narrowed her eyes and concentrated. After searching through her mind for a moment, she reached out her small, pale hand and condensed a ball of purple light in her palm.

She closed her eyes. In her previously dark field of vision, several blurry figures interwoven with red light suddenly emerged. Red threads flowed rapidly through the shadows, eventually converging into a pulsating mass of light in the center.

The sound of a rhythmic *thump-thump* reached her ears.

Blood Perception.

This was a basic blood magic spell used by vampires to track prey. Even a newly turned fledgling could master it with ease.

“There are people behind the door — more than one,” Vivian whispered as she leaned closer to Nolan. “What should we do? They don’t seem to want us here.”

Nolan pondered for a moment, feeling that something was wrong. A few days ago, it was the people from the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce who had sought out the Glimmer Church. They wanted the church to help deal with the demon outside the city. After hearing the request, Derek, the resident priest, had immediately called for support from the Demon Hunters.

However, they were told to wait for a while and to come back in a few days to learn the specific details of the demon’s attack. Yet now, when people had arrived at their doorstep, they kept the door shut and pretended no one was home.

No matter how one looked at it, it seemed as if something had gone wrong in the interim.

‘Could it be that the cultists of the Holy Advent Church got here first?’

At that thought, he no longer hesitated. Nolan let out a cold snort and pressed his hands against the door, attempting to shove it open with brute force.

With a *crack*, the door was pushed open just enough to form a small slit. Vivian tilted her head and leaned in, but before she could peek through the gap, a sudden counterforce pushed back. The door slammed forward, and the newly opened gap snapped shut.

Nolan increased his strength. The poor door was caught between two opposing forces. Before long, the hinges nailed to the wall began to shake violently. The door groaned under the burden, letting out a pained *creak*.

“They are determined not to let us in.” Nolan withdrew his hands, his voice rising several octaves. “In other words, they have a guilty conscience!”

“Break it down!”

With that, Nolan, clad in his knight’s armor, turned his side and charged at the door.

*Boom!*

The thick wooden door shattered instantly, sending wood chips exploding into the air. The unlucky souls hiding behind it were sent flying. Screams and curses immediately blurred together.

“You motherf—”

A guard wearing soft cloth armor quickly scrambled up and whipped his head toward the entrance. He saw a figure rushing in, but before he could finish his curse, a fist the size of a sandbag slammed into his face, knocking him flat again. His unspoken words and several teeth were swallowed into his stomach along with his blood.

“Speak! Are you a cultist?! Did you summon the demon?!”

Before the man could recover from the previous punch, Nolan questioned him sternly.

“I…” The guard tried to get up to defend himself.

“Still saying you’re not!”

Nolan didn’t wait for him to finish before another punch landed on his face, knocking him down completely. The guard struggled once more to prop himself up, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He looked up, only to see Nolan raising his fist again.

Almost instinctively, he shook his head with all his might to deny the accusation.

“Playing dumb is useless.” Nolan grabbed the guard by the collar and hauled him off the ground. He delivered several slaps in succession until the man fell unconscious.

Seeing Nolan’s ‘friendly exchange’ with the opposition, Vivian’s eyes lit up. She rushed into the room with excitement. Mimicking Nolan’s actions, she grabbed another guard who was groaning on the floor.

“You speak too! Are you a cultist?!” Vivian brandished her small, pink fist and shouted in a soft voice.

“No, absolutely not! I’m a law-abiding citizen!” The thin guard had clearly been terrified by Nolan’s frantic actions next to him, so his reaction was quite swift.

“The cultists really are slippery; they even know how to make excuses!” Vivian pinned the man to the ground and gave him a messy beating.

The movements of the two were identical.

Standing outside the door, Black was startled by the couple’s behavior and stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

‘What happened? Why did a fight break out? Have I returned to the Aland Tribe?’

Three questions flashed through Black’s mind in succession. However, after only a moment’s hesitation, he ultimately chose to blend in with the group.

‘I’ll just beat them up first and ask questions later…’

He cracked his knuckles, stretched his muscles, and walked toward the last guard who was lying on the ground screaming.

***

Second floor of the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce headquarters.
Reception Hall.

The atmosphere in the room was currently tense.

Cole Braden had been a magic apprentice in his youth, but he had been dismissed from the academy because he couldn’t afford the tuition. After reaching middle age, he relied on his sharp mind and years of experience traveling across the land to establish the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce.

Now, his face was flushed red as he argued heatedly with someone.

“I will say it one more time. It is impossible for me to sell the Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce to you!” Cole shouted, his tone filled with dissatisfaction. “What’s more, the price you’re offering wouldn’t even buy the table and chairs in front of us!”

Cole slammed his palm onto the wooden table. The teacup on the table was jolted high into the air. Tea leaves and boiling hot water from the porcelain cup spilled onto the exquisite carpet. The cup circled the edge of the table for half a turn before it began to fall.

At that exact moment, a plump, fat hand with no wrinkles stretched out. A second later, the teacup was placed slowly and deliberately back onto the table, avoiding the fate of being shattered on the ground.

“Oh, President Cole, you must be careful. This teacup is not cheap. It would be quite heartbreaking if it broke,” a fat little man with a large head and big ears sitting opposite Cole said sarcastically.

“If you like it so much, then take the cup and get out of here. Stop disgusting me,” President Cole sneered, his face gloomy and his voice low.

Having said that, he pushed the teacup toward the fat man. Then, he leaned back heavily against the sofa, wanting to get as far away from the man as possible.

“That won’t do! The money I’m offering isn’t that meager. But if I could pack up your entire Blue Whale Chamber of Commerce…” The fat little man said with a giggle. “I would leave immediately!”

“What do you think, President Cole?” The fat man leaned toward Cole with a smile, deliberately trying to annoy him.

“Right now…” Cole took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. “GET OUT!”

He couldn’t help but roar the words.

“Don’t be like that, President Cole. I am a guest, after all.”

“If you won’t leave, I will.”

Cole straightened his collar, reigning in his distorted, angry expression. There was no longer any point in continuing the conversation. He stood up from the sofa, making a move to leave the reception room.