Rayrn’s group crossed over into Duke Jisert’s Marquisate.
Even for a Marquisate, the size was not particularly massive. It was only slightly larger than the Marquis of Owen’s land and about one point seven times the size of the Count of Ophern’s territory.
Originally, it had been twice that size, but a portion of the territory was lost two generations ago. The northern region had been seized by monsters rather than men.
At the time, Duke Jisert’s household was plagued by internal strife and political pressure from the royal family. Because of that, they were helpless against the descending monsters.
Since then, they had tightened their borders and eventually reclaimed their current territory. This was why the land was relatively small for a Duke’s household.
‘Even so, the level of development is definitely high.’
Even if it had shrunk, it still possessed the dignity of a Duke’s household. While it did not quite match the Holy City of Ophern, the overall level of development was substantial.
Generation after generation, the direct heirs of the Jisert family were powerful. The current Dukes of Jisert, who were known to inherit the power of the earth, were like iron men themselves.
Though they had isolationist tendencies, they showed a level of martial prowess that was nearly invincible within the borders of Jisert.
They used that power to push for all sorts of development. Despite being isolated, their level of progress continued to rise.
‘Oh. There’s something to learn here. It’s been properly developed.’
Rayrn observed the Marquisate of Jisert with a relaxed mind.
“It’s comfortable,” he remarked.
“It’s thanks to that,” Arne replied.
At the head of Rayrn’s party, the royal flag fluttered in the wind.
This flag, symbolizing the royal family, signified that the group was under royal protection. If this party was attacked, the royal family would use it as a pretext to move.
‘There were families that looked down on it and met their ruin.’
Long ago, there was a case where two rival families were at each other’s throats, and one assassinated someone carrying the royal flag.
At that time, the royal family pounced as if they had been waiting for the opportunity.
Since they had the justification that the royal family had been insulted, no one could stop them. They eradicated the family and annexed the territory into the royal domain. The other surviving family was demoted from Marquis to Viscount.
Those who witnessed the event never dared to touch anyone carrying the royal flag. Only insane bandits, highwaymen, or monsters would target them now.
Rayrn did not miss this opportunity.
“Five people disappeared again today, didn’t they?” Arne asked.
“You must be mistaken.”
“No. I’m certain of it.”
“Come now. It’s a coincidence. If you really can’t believe it, go and check for yourself.”
“…”
“……I should have brought more manpower.”
Being able to safely pass through the isolationist Duke’s territory was a huge opportunity.
‘I should take this chance to set down roots.’
He utilized that opportunity to deploy the Iron Fist.
Every time they encountered a large Holy City along their path, Rayrn detached several members of the Iron Fist.
The members of the Iron Fist, who had essentially become the Count’s House of Ophern’s unofficial organization, were quite capable. Rayrn had even personally planted internal energy into those who came here using True Qi Guidance.
Their mission was simple.
‘Conquer the underworld.’
Just as Dark Moon had done, they were to conquer the underworld of this Marquisate.
The Iron Fist members, who could handle Aura, were at least at the Practitioner level, even if they hadn’t reached the Expert level yet. Each of them carried a dagger gifted by Rayrn, and if a few gathered together, they were capable of facing even an Expert.
Since such individuals had been unleashed, there was no way they could fail to dominate something like the local underworld.
Especially in the Holy City of the Marquisate.
“Gosh. If I pull this off, will you really promote me to Squad Leader?”
“If you can do it, then try. As long as you prove your ability, I’ll make sure you’re treated well.”
“You have to remember those words! I’m off!”
Rayrn selected the most capable individuals among the Iron Fist members he had brought.
These men, led by Panchi, had been trained by Gajei. The Mugong they practiced was heavy and powerful, yet their personalities were flippant. On the other hand, once a battle broke out, they were more ruthless than anyone else.
Silently approaching and crushing the enemy was the specialty of those led by Panchi.
‘One by one, they’re developing their own characteristics.’
They were the perfect people to dominate the underworld of the Marquisate.
“See? I told you a lot of people disappeared!”
“I told you it’s your imagination.”
Over twenty Iron Fist members had infiltrated the Holy City of the Marquisate.
Inside an inn in the Holy City, Rayrn planned to leave the next day since he had finished infiltrating all the Iron Fist members.
“……I’m not an idiot. Where on earth are you sending them?” Arne pressed.
“Pay me for the information then.”
“Hmph!”
Late at night, Rayrn was idly dealing with Arne, who was pestering him for information, when something caught his attention.
‘The profits will be quite substantial.’
He was looking forward to the information that would eventually flow in from the conquered underworld.
In a different way than the Black Crow, the underworld here would also bring him intel.
That information would one day become a dagger at the throat of Jisert.
Even if they weren’t as much of an eyesore as Marquis Owen’s House, Jisert was still a family he might need to deal with at some point.
As he was thinking of these expectations, something entered his Gigan.
‘……Were they here too?’
Something had been caught in his senses.
“How much do you want? How much to buy it!? Speak!” Arne shouted.
“……Let’s talk later.”
“Wait!”
Rayrn pushed Arne back and moved according to his Qi sensing.
Unfolding the Heavenly Qi Movement, Rayrn moved at a speed that even someone like Arne could not hope to follow.
—
Before long, he even utilized a Stealth Technique to vanish completely.
Pushing his Gigan to the limit, Rayrn soon confirmed that he had read the Soulforce correctly.
‘Ho.’
In the most prosperous and glamorous part of the Holy City of Duke Jisert, inside a warehouse that distributed all sorts of goods produced in Jisert, there was a familiar energy.
‘Demonic Mana. Were they exerting influence here too? Impressive.’
There were no others who used Demonic Mana besides Black Mages or Necromancers.
Here, too, those who practiced Demonic Mana were coiled up like snakes. Just within Rayrn’s current range of sensing, there were three of them.
‘This is probably just a part of it. But this has become interesting.’
He didn’t intend to jump out and subdue those with Demonic Mana immediately.
‘It’s not my territory anyway.’
This was Duke Jisert’s Marquisate. There was no way those with Demonic Mana were working for the Duke.
From the looks of it, they were operating in secret after infiltrating the area. They weren’t making deals like the late Marquis Owen had.
They were plotting something.
Damage to Jisert was a gain for House Ofern. Rayrn had no intention of doing anything beneficial for the House of Jisert.
Instead.
‘I’ve got a good lead.’
He surged his energy to read their mana patterns. Additionally, he marked them with a scent he had prepared for just such an occasion.
‘I won’t lose them now.’
The scent he applied was a modified version of the Thousand-Mile Scent from Murim.
It was made by refining the fluids of a Mandragora found in this world. Since it was an incomplete version, it wouldn’t last for years like the original Thousand-Mile Scent, but it would persist for a few months.
As long as the scent remained, tracking them was entirely possible.
‘Let’s see what kind of work they’re doing here.’
He had already lost the trail for tracking the Black Mages. Encountering Black Mages in an unexpected place like this made them excellent targets.
Unaware of that fact, the targets spoke.
“Is the preparation done? We have to hurry. I haven’t even sent the report yet!”
“This isn’t something that can be done easily. We’re short-staffed. Is there still no word from Master Meier?”
“No news.”
They were spilling everything to Rayrn, who was listening to their precious information.
‘Meier, huh. I’ll have to look into that.’
Having gained an unexpected harvest, Rayrn prepared to depart.
“Shall we go?”
“I…”
“……Just you wait.”
He was able to leave the Marquisate of Duke Jisert.
Crossing through the Marquisate of Limun on the way, the party performed similar tasks before finally passing through the royal domain and arriving at the Royal Capital.
***
‘It’s even more impressive here.’
Rayrn had been impressed by the level of development in Duke Jisert’s territory, but he was surprised once again upon arriving at the Royal Capital.
Even though it was nearly night when they arrived at the capital.
“Where are you from…… Ah, the Count of Ophern’s House. You may pass!”
“That was fast.”
“Many people are coming and going, after all. You’ve arrived earlier than expected.”
“I wanted to see the capital, so I came ahead of schedule.”
“Haha. Welcome to the Royal Capital!”
The gate of the Outercity was wide open.
The fact that people could come and go even at night meant that the royal family was extremely thorough in its defense of the capital.
‘Incredible.’
Unless they had the confidence to defend it at any time, it was impossible to leave the Outercity open like this.
Rayrn was actually feeling that confidence through his Gigan.
Inside and outside the Outercity, there were a significant number of people with powerful energy hidden from sight. There were more than ten individuals who appeared to be Experts.
Considering there were four Outercity gates in the north, south, east, and west.
‘That means at least four times this much power is hidden away.’
The military strength possessed by the royal castle was substantial.
The interior was even more so.
‘Streetlights……’
Streetlights clearly engraved with Light Magic were brightly illuminating the capital despite it being night.
A magic tool to process waste costs ten gold coins. Light Magic was cheaper than that, but there were hundreds of them.
It must have cost a staggering amount of money.
‘What a waste of money. They have all this wealth, yet they claim they can’t send subsidies.’
They must have spent a fortune just building the wide road he was walking on. The road, paved densely with stones, was wide enough for several carriages to pass at once.
Since the Guard Corps was moving about even at night, security was also guaranteed.
‘There are few openings.’
The capital was a more solidly built place than it appeared.
It was also a sight that represented how strong the power of the royal family ruling this place was.
While Rayrn was scanning the capital as he crossed through it, Arne spoke to him.
“Are you going to keep going? It’s about time we head in and rest.”
“I’m just taking a look around.”
“If you keep whipping your head around like that, people might tease you for being a country bumpkin.”
“I don’t care.”
Rayrn examined the Holy City with the intention of taking in even one more detail. He was committing the Holy City, the peak of this world’s civilization, to memory with plans to eventually surpass it.
Thus, Rayrn ignored Arne’s words and continued to lead the group forward.
Then, Arne offered a rather tempting piece of information.
“You said you wanted to spend some proper money once you got here, right?”
“I did.”
During their journey here, Rayrn had informed Arne in advance that he would be spending a large sum of money in the capital. Naturally, he had also paid Arne an information fee for related details.
Arne remembered well what he had said back then.
Her eyes sparkled as she asked.
“Do you know where to go if you want to spend money like water?”
“Going to a shopping district should suffice.”
At his words, Arne shook her head.
“That’s not enough. Just dropping money at a few shops won’t cut it. You have to go somewhere else if you want to get noticed.”
“Where is it?”
It was a quite enticing story. When Rayrn asked, Arne reached out her hand boldly. Her index finger and thumb were already rubbed together. In the end, it was about money.
‘This is what she wanted!’
As if he couldn’t win, Rayrn pulled out some gold from his robe and handed it over.
“Here.”
“This is only one gold coin! This won’t even cover the down payment!”
“Then, shall we go our separate ways from here? If I recall, we were only supposed to travel together until the capital.”
“…”
“……You’re like a devil.”
Arne tried to be clever, but Rayrn was already standing several steps ahead of her.
Her lips twitched, and in the end, Arne had no choice but to declare her surrender.
“Fine! I’ll guide you. I’ll guide you! Happy now!?”
“Of course. Hehe.”
Rayrn’s smile grew even deeper.