Chapter 24: Saviors of the Sons

The thugs from the Black Society gave up the chase and turned back as the tavern [Cold Sun] drew near.

It was because this area was frequently patrolled by City Guard members who enjoyed drinking.

Thanks to that, Karls was finally able to set Tirvaen down after carrying her for quite some time.

“Thank you, Sir Silion.”

“Haha, think nothing of it. You weren’t heavy at all, Lady Sui.”

“Really? Even if you’re just saying that, I appreciate it.”

“It’s the truth! Hahaha!”

……What a pair.

Watching those two chatter made me feel a bit queasy.

Just drop that Disguise Magic and let yourself blush or something!

Right now, Tirvaen and Karls simply didn’t match.

A middle-aged witch pretending to be gruff, paired with a sparkling young knight—there was no way for that combination to be anything but discordant.

Still.

That Disguise Magic, for starters.

In the game, I didn’t notice it much, but now that we were spending time together, it was suffocating.

Yet she stubbornly maintained that state.

Of course, I understood.

‘That’s the tradition of Tirvaen.’

The witch [Tirvaen Sui] inherits her teacher’s name, status, and memories from generation to generation.

So even the 19-year-old Tirvaen, who was Gilloshian’s teacher, pretended to be an old witch.

The real Tirvaen only reveals her face after experiencing the [Revelation Event].

‘Until she completes that, she’s almost pathologically obsessed with hiding her face.’

Tirvaen’s [Revelation Event] was also an essential procedure for me.

Not just because it was frustrating…

‘The magic power consumed by that Disguise Magic.’

That was the real issue.

If you think about it, that unnecessary magic was constantly eating away at Tirvaen’s strength.

About 20% of the little witch’s magic was being spent on maintaining the Disguise Magic.

That was a waste.

‘The further you get into the story, the more of a hindrance it becomes.’

So that event was absolutely necessary.

The event where Tirvaen confides her secret to the player and releases the Disguise Magic.

While carrying out this Quest: Saviors of the Sons, I planned to take care of that at the same time.

‘It’s bound to happen anyway.’

Tirvaen’s event was tied to an incident involving the deaths of innocent people.

When the time came, this little witch would regain her true self.

“There it is, sir.”

Thomson slowed his steps and spoke to me.

Turning a corner, we came upon a shabby-looking tavern.

It was exactly the [Cold Sun] I was searching for.

“Wow! As expected from a back-alley expert! We got here so fast! Amazing, incredible!”

I praised him so much that even a whale would dance, but Thomson started to back away.

“Thank you, sir. But, um, sir… about that place…”

He had led me here, but was now stammering and hesitating to approach the tavern.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was because of the people who frequented this place.

‘City Guard.’

As I said, [Cold Sun] was favored by those in charge of the city’s security, so of course it was a place the Black Society thugs avoided.

Of course, after much deliberation, Thomson had decided to leave the Black Society.

But City Guard members weren’t exactly the forgiving type.

He seemed well aware of that.

But I patted Thomson on the back.

“It’s fine! It’s fine! They’re not going to kill you, right?”

“I still don’t think they’ll just let me go though?”

“……
They’ll probably just detain you for a bit!”

“And if I get detained and end up hanged, what then? That’s certain death, isn’t it?”

This guy suddenly got clever?

Just a while ago, he couldn’t even understand what I was saying.

In fact, if you got caught by the City Guard as a Black Society member, you’d usually end up at the Execution Ground.

The smaller fry without any backing had it even worse.

In Aurax, the authority of the Revolutionary Army formed an insurmountable, four-dimensional wall.

But I just tapped Thomson on the shoulder.

“I told you I’ll keep you alive, didn’t I? Don’t worry so much.”

“Still, sir, this place is…”

“And if the Guard does get involved, they’ll probably try to nab me before you.”

“Huh?”

He gave me a look as if to ask what I meant, and I grinned.

“Actually, I’m a fugitive. Escaped from the Underground Prison.”

“Wha—!”

Thomson, shocked by this new information, swallowed a gasp.

Karls and Tirvaen, who had been all smiles, were just as surprised.

“Th-that’s right!”

“We completely forgot about that!”

“……
Well, I didn’t.”

Only you two could have forgotten something so important.

How could you be so relaxed?

The Quest: You’re an Escapee, I’m the Archbishop was tied directly to Quest: Saviors of the Sons and was, of course, still active.

All Revolutionary Army NPCs except those of the Eolem Church would treat me as a ‘hostile element.’

A fight could break out at any moment.

Because I was fully aware of this, I gave instructions.

“From now on, I’ll do the talking. All of you, keep your mouths shut. Got it?”

“And if we keep quiet, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what? I’ll just talk my way through.”

I strode confidently into [Cold Sun], pushing open the revolving door and shouted,

“Hey there! Got room for customers?”

From behind, I could hear Karls muttering, ‘Where did you pick up that half-baked thug accent?’ but I ignored him.

[Cold Sun] was quiet inside.

Some customers holding beer mugs glanced over at our group, but quickly looked away.

The owner, who was polishing cups, scratched his Toughbeard and gestured.

“Sit wherever you like.”

“Will do.”

I wandered over and took a table right in the middle of the hall.

Gulp.

Tension was visible on the faces of Karls and Tirvaen as they sat around the table.

They couldn’t help but be conscious of the City Guard members sitting all around.

Thomson, especially, was sweating so much it was running down his temples.

At that moment, the owner was eyeing us sharply.

“Hm, don’t recognize you folks.”

Toughbeard lumbered over to our table.

“Your accent’s a bit different too…”

Thud.

He tossed the menu carelessly onto the table, then suddenly nodded.

“Aha, Beast Tribe Five, huh? Looks like you’re from their territory?”

‘Beast Tribe Five’ suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

“……?”

Karls, Tirvaen, and Thomson exchanged panicked glances, then looked to me.

Fortunately, the three of them followed my instructions and didn’t say a word.

They just looked obviously flustered.

But that actually worked out perfectly.

“Hahaha! Looks like I guessed right! Beast Tribe, am I right?”

Seeing their confused faces, the owner burst out laughing, completely misunderstanding.

But that was exactly the direction I wanted things to go.

Feigning embarrassment, I scratched the back of my head and spoke in a hearty tone.

“Ah, the owner’s got a sharp eye! We’re mercenaries just arrived from the south.”

“I thought so! I’ve heard that accent before!”

The more the owner stayed convinced, the more the City Guard’s attention drifted away from us.

“We just arrived in Aurax. Met this guy in the back alleys and asked if there were any good taverns nearby, and he recommended this place.”

With that, I patted Thomson on the back again.

At that, the owner’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh ho, this face I know. Black Society, right? Let’s see, the name was… Toby? No, Thomson, wasn’t it?”

“Ugh!”

Thomson’s face turned pale again.

At the mention of the Black Society, City Guard members glanced over at us.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

‘This guy’s in hot water wherever he goes.’

Well, if the owner even knows his name, no wonder he’s panicking.

In fact, this was exactly why the City Guard liked coming to [Cold Sun].

“Haha! That guy’s got guts, recommending my tavern? Even a small fry should know who I am, and where this is, right?”

The owner’s eyes flashed as he looked at Thomson.

“Or do you have another reason? Maybe you want to turn yourself in? Curious what the view’s like from the Execution Ground?”

“Th-that’s…”

Thomson couldn’t reply and just blinked.

Toughbeard grinned and tapped Thomson’s cheek.

“Just kidding, don’t be so scared. Sometimes guys like you, who’ve had a change of heart, come here. If you ever need help, just say so.”

“……!”

At those words, the rookie conman’s eyes wavered.

At the same time, the City Guard’s attention faded away.

Toughbeard, who was laughing heartily, wasn’t just the tavern owner.

‘This guy’s name is Lucard.’

He was actually the former City Guard Captain.

While running this tavern, he also served as the NPC who distributed Wanted Posters across the city.

That’s why [Cold Sun] was like an outpost where City Guard members drank and kept an eye on the back alleys.

Lucard’s eye for faces was incredible—he could remember back-alley informants like Thomson on sight.

‘That’s why the Guard trusts him deeply.’

His judgement toward outsiders like me was especially absolute.

In other words, if I could fool Lucard, we’d be safe even in this tiger’s den.

The former City Guard Captain would be vouching for our identities.

‘Though it’s only temporary.’

Of course, this situation couldn’t last forever.

If detailed descriptions of the fugitives were circulated and inspections tightened,

Lucard would review us again.

But for a short while, there was no problem.

‘It’s always darkest under the lamp.’

It wouldn’t be easy to point out fugitives staying at Lucard’s tavern.

This was the perfect place to shake off the Black Society, who were searching for us with eyes like torches, and make our final preparations for the quest.

That’s why I’d pretended to be someone from the Beast Tribe, using that weird accent.

Karls probably panicked because he didn’t know much about the Beast Tribe, but objectively, my acting was pretty good!

‘…Or maybe not?’

Well, at least it felt natural to me.

Anyway, who cares?

The important thing is that Lucard was fooled, right?

“So, what’ll it be? If you’re from the Beast Tribe, you’ve got to try Aurax’s local beer!”

……That beer was described as disgusting in the original story, though.

But this wasn’t the time to pretend I knew that.

“If it’s the local beer, we have to try it. Three glasses, please. And a meal as well.”

Lucard nodded and turned away.

That’s when something popped into my head.

‘Irgal.’

Right, he said if I mentioned his name, they’d even give us a room.

It wasn’t like I was short on money right now.

I’d made a killing at the black market.

I had enough to splurge for a while.

But I needed to know more about Irgal.

Let’s see—how did the owner of [Cold Sun], Lucard, view that guy?

“Hey, owner. I’ve got a friend I made here named ‘Irgal’…”

When I brought it up, Lucard turned around sharply.

“Hmm? Who?”

“Irgal. The dark one in the black hood. You know, the child of darkness.”

At that moment, I saw Lucard’s expression turn a little strange.

Just what did he know about Irgal?

An assassin? Or a priest?

‘Maybe just a mysterious traveler?’

But then—

His next words made me frown deeply.

“Don’t know who that is.”

“……Huh?”

“Irgal, you said? Never heard the name.”

He shrugged and walked back to the counter.

I was left stunned, as if I’d been punched.

……That bastard tricked me?

‘Why the hell would he lie about something like this?’

Seriously, this is infuriating?