Chapter 54
Thud.
The head of the leader, which had soared skyward, dropped at Kain's feet.
Thump-thump-thump.
The heads of the syndicate members standing on the second floor also fell in succession.
Several heads rolled off the second-floor railing and onto the first floor.
"..."
The massive body of the man, who had relentlessly pressured Kain with his heavy yet agile form, lay crumpled, headless.
The severed section of his neck was remarkably clean.
It had been cut by something so sharp it could slice with a mere graze.
'Wind Ripper...'
Among all magic types, wind magic possessed the weakest lethality, assuming the same circle level.
Even weaker than ice-elemental magic, which was the most looked down upon before the emergence of Thane Siers.
'Because ice-elemental magic isn't theoretically weak in lethality at all.'
It was difficult to master, but if its manifestation and control were perfect, ice magic was by no means low in lethality.
'On the contrary, whether it's offense or defense, if used well, ice magic can be considered versatile. Definitely.'
On the other hand, wind magic had virtually no lethality before the 3rd Circle, and Wind Cutter, a 3rd Circle spell, was still weak compared to other 3rd Circle spells.
'That's why most wind-elemental clans establish ties with fire-elemental clans and teach fire-elemental magic to their disciples.'
Though the proficiency wouldn't match that of mages from fire-elemental clans since it was learned as a sub-attribute, it was still better than attacking with wind-elemental magic.
In fact, most wind-elemental mages primarily used fire-elemental magic in combat, reserving wind-elemental magic for support or to catch opponents off guard.
'...The mere possibility of that allowed wind-elemental mages to be ranked higher than ice-elemental mages.'
Because ice-elemental mages could never learn fire-elemental magic alongside their own.
Regardless, wind-elemental magic, on its own, had low lethality.
However, once it reached 5th Circle or higher, wind-elemental magic could finally unleash offensive power befitting its circle in actual combat.
The prime example of such a spell was ‘Wind Ripper’.
'A spell that compresses air to its extreme and makes it rotate and move at high speed, allowing wind to even tear through steel.'
Being able to use this freely meant that the user had reached the pinnacle of at least the 5th Circle.
'That Air Shock that made his punch miss earlier, too. For someone with this level of skill to be an informant for the Silver Fang for what purpose...'
While Kain was thinking this, the informant leaped off the second-floor railing and swiftly descended towards Kain.
"Whoosh."
The landing was so soft, not even making a sound, as if he had used an Air Cushion without incantation.
Up close, he was a rather tall and handsome young man.
Seeing no particular reaction, he spoke to Kain with a somewhat awkward expression.
"Could you at least pretend to be surprised?"
Kain raised an eyebrow slightly and took a step back.
"...Thank you."
The informant sighed deeply again.
Kain quickly returned to his original expression and, as if it was his turn now, asked.
"Why were you acting as an informant in a place like this?"
At that, the informant deliberately frowned.
"Hey. I understand you have a lot of questions. I'd have a lot to ask myself if I were you. But don't you have something to say to me before that?"
"What do you mean?"
"What else, thank you! I saved you when you were about to die, after all. Ugh, I didn't want to have to poke you like this to get a thank you."
But Kain, too, frowned slightly and replied.
"Thank you? If it weren't for you, I'd be interrogating the man here to get the information I want by now. Should I even thank someone who interfered with me?"
That was true.
If the informant hadn't intervened, Kain would have subdued the leader, then shown the remaining syndicate members what would happen to them by freezing them and shattering them, threatening them to give up information if they didn't want to end up the same way.
But because the informant suddenly and arbitrarily severed the leader's head, Kain could no longer use that efficient method of intimidation.
However, the informant, having no way of knowing this, looked momentarily dumbfounded by Kain's words.
And then, as if exasperated, he said,
"What? I interfered? Interrogation?"
He pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Alright. I know you possess combat power that's hard to believe for a 3rd Circle mage. That curiosity about you was also why I saved you. But just now, anyone could see it was a losing battle if I hadn't saved you."
"From my perspective, it wasn't."
"You're making me crazy. Fine, let's concede a hundred times and say it wasn't. But if I had decided to use Wind Ripper on you just now, you wouldn't be alive anymore, would you?"
"That's not true. I was already aware just before you used the Wind Ripper."
This was also true.
'Because the process for wind-elemental magic to manifest is longer and more complex compared to other elemental magics.'
Wind magic has a huge advantage in that it cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Also, because it is inherently 'wind,' it surpasses other elements in terms of speed.
However, at the same time, wind-elemental magic has the inherent instability of being gaseous, and to increase its physical force, it must undergo a significant compression process, making the casting process complex and difficult.
This was somewhat consistent with why 'Frost,' which gathers and sublimates water particles in a gaseous state, was particularly difficult.
Therefore, while wind-elemental magic is difficult to deal with if perceived after it has been activated, if one can grasp the mana's movement and arrangement before activation, one can predict what kind of magic it is, and even its trajectory to some extent after activation.
'And even though it's fundamentally invisible, if one's ability to perceive mana is above a certain level, one can track its trajectory even after it has manifested.'
Kain had realized he was casting Wind Ripper the moment he extended his senses towards the second floor.
If he had tried to use Wind Ripper on Kain as well, Kain would have blocked it with ice-elemental magic and immediately counterattacked.
"Oh, really?"
"Really."
"So, I can use Wind Ripper on you right now, then? Since you know everything and can avoid it?"
"Go ahead and try. But my response won't end with just avoiding it."
Kain and the informant's eyes met.
"..."
"..."
After several seconds of silence, neither of them averted their gaze.
"...Pfft."
The informant suddenly burst out laughing.
"Puhahaha! Hahaha!"
The informant laughed like a madman.
"Pfft, he, he really... gasp, he seriously, pfft, thinks that, puhaha!"
"..."
He even clutched his stomach.
Just as Kain was seriously considering freezing him, he stopped laughing.
And then, he abruptly extended his hand to Kain.
"I'm Eisel Geihardt. I like you. I've seen all sorts of people doing this work, but you're unique. Oh, in a good way, of course."
Kain, who had no intention of shaking hands, widened his eyes slightly at the sound of his name.
"Geihardt..."
"Oh, you know our clan? It's a pretty small one."
Eisel said, looking a little pleased and surprised.
"...I do know them."
Kain slowly extended his hand.
Eisel grinned and shook Kain's hand.
"Great. Kain Siers, right? I know the Siers clan too. So, as fellow minor clans, let's get along... Huh? Why are you suddenly pulling your hand away? Kain? Did I say something wrong? Oh, you're wiping your hand because of the blood, right?"
***
Eisel explained why he had joined the Silver Fang.
"You might have heard, but tomorrow is the 'transaction day' for the black market. Not these back-alley shops, but the real black market opening. I hid my identity and pretended to be a low-level rookie informant to get in as a member of the Silver Fang."
He said he'd joined the Silver Fang a few weeks ago, leveraging his speed and good information-gathering skills since he didn't know how to use swords or fists as a mage.
"Ugh, they bullied me so much, saying a guy who can't fight joined. My initiation was quite spectacular. They made me lick dog poop stuck to a shoe sole."
"Did you lick it?"
"Of course, I just pretended to lick it by creating an air layer with magic so my tongue wouldn't touch it. It smelled awful, though... Whoops, it's open."
Kain and Eisel were rummaging through documents and a safe in a building next to the abandoned warehouse.
Although the leader was dead, Eisel said there would still be documents related to the client here, so Kain searched through them.
Meanwhile, Eisel picked the lock of the safe.
Since it was an alloy safe made of materials with strong mana resistance, he had honestly picked the lock.
"Wow, the amount is quite a bit more than I expected? What do you think, Kain? Isn't it amazing? I opened the safe without any tools."
"You probably inserted wind into the lock's crevices to understand its internal structure and aligned the mechanism."
"...You're right. You know a bit about this too."
Kain continued to sift through documents and asked.
"It looks like you're close to 6th Circle, so why are you doing this, licking dog poop and all, with that level of skill?"
"I didn't lick it, I told you. And as for why, what else? To make money. My clan needs me to do things like this to survive. Our clan doesn't usually get good commissions. Oh, though I'm not here for a commission this time."
Eisel continued speaking as he collected the money.
"You might be surprised to hear this, but our clan isn't affiliated with fire-elemental clans. We don't even acquire and teach fire-elemental spellbooks."
"I'm not surprised."
"...Anyway, that's our clan's tradition. 'Let's rise only with wind-elemental magic! Wind-elemental magic isn't incomplete; it's a perfect magic on its own!' Something like that?"
"Do you agree with that?"
At that, Eisel paused for a moment, then resumed moving his hands as he spoke.
"Well, honestly, when I was young, I didn't understand why they insisted on it when there was an easier path of learning fire magic as well... But doing it this way, it's actually pretty good. I reached a level I wouldn't have if I'd learned fire magic too, and once I reached it, I saw more paths."
Eisel smiled faintly.
"It would be great if I could just endure well and work hard until the 5th Circle, but lately, my cute younger siblings keep complaining. Well, the 5th Circle isn't easy, and I understand, but... In the end, there's no other way but for me to improve my skills further, show them something cool, and lead them, right? So I'm working hard too. Whether it's training or work. Anyway, I got a bit sidetracked..."
After gathering all the money, Eisel stood up and stretched his back.
"I like my clan now. It's hard for me to say it myself, but there's a certain romance to it, isn't there? I'm earning money by doing various odd jobs. And information-related requests are quite lucrative. Plus, when you do information-related work, you sometimes come across opportunities to make money like this."
Eisel looked at Kain, who was still diligently sifting through documents, and asked, "Speaking of which, why do you want to know about the client who dispatched Regwin to the swamp? It's clearly the Bederman clan's doing anyway, isn't it? To block the lower routes and extract fees from above."
"Indeed."
"So you came knowing that? To gather evidence and prove it's the Bedermans? It won't do any good."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Found it."
The document Kain found contained information related to the swamp.
"See? As expected, the client is under a false name. You can't even use this as evidence."
Kain carefully examined the document instead of replying.
He unconsciously tightened his grip a little, thinking there might be something related to the Chaos Core.
"..."
However, the strength soon left Kain's hand.
'Nothing.'
There was no mention of the term Chaos Core, nor any hint of something existing in the center of the swamp.
It seemed that, as Eisel said, it was just a scheme to extort fees.
The Bedermans had no connection to the Chaos Core or the Desmond cultists.
'Should I be relieved about this...'
Of course, he couldn't completely conclude yet, but it was also true that there was nothing more he could do here.
'A rather anticlimactic ending.'
But he couldn't help it. He had to find meaning in confirming his suspicions with his own eyes.
For now, it seemed best to set this thought aside and focus on successfully completing his original objective: escorting the merchant.
'Once I return, I'll slowly research the Chaos Core.'
Seeing Kain's deflated expression, Eisel put on a knowing look.
"Hmm, it seems you had another purpose you didn't want to talk about. And it didn't go as planned, apparently."
"..."
When Kain didn't reply, Eisel shrugged.
"Well, it's the same for me; things didn't go as planned either. Who would've thought some guy would show up the day before the black market transaction and blow up the organization I was loyal to?"
"...So what will you do now? You can't get in there, can you?"
At Kain's words, Eisel's lips curved into a grin.
"Heh heh. Of course not. They might suddenly get a whim and not take me, but I can't leave my plans to their mood, can I?"
He then pulled out a small map and showed Kain a marked location.
"This is where the black market opens. I've already investigated all the secret passages to infiltrate."
"Why are you showing this to me?"
"What else? To go together. It's actually more noticeable if you move alone there. And I don't know your real purpose, but someone related to it might show up there, right?"
Eisel grinned.
"So, will you come?"
***
Click.
Kain closed the door after returning to the inn late at night.
A bright lamp still illuminated the room.
"Young Maaaaaster!"
Alice rushed out from the small room, greeting Kain.
"I was so worried you weren't coming back! Are you hungry? I bought lots of delicious things, hurry and eat! Oh, you should only eat a little since you need to sleep... Bah, Nefty's not here, so eat as much as you want today!"
Alice brought over a large bag and took out snacks one by one, placing them in front of Kain.
Kain picked up the snacks Alice offered, eating them one after another.
"Oh, this tastes good. This one too."
"Hehe, I bought all the things Young Master likes. This one would've been even tastier if you ate it warm, fresh from the oven... Ah!"
Alice's eyes widened suddenly, as if something just occurred to her.
"Young Master, earlier, you know? I got lost near the market and saw that there seems to be an underworld faction nearby. They were talking about some old woman being 'hit' and 'transaction day' and stuff."
"..."
"There's absolutely nothing good that comes from getting involved, so Young Master, you should be careful when you're out late. Nothing happened today, right?"
Kain choked and drank a glass of water.
"...I met someone today. Someone from the Geihardt clan, a wind-elemental clan."
Alice's eyes widened at the mention of Kain meeting someone.
"Oh, did you make a new friend? Geihardt... I haven't heard of them, but they're another magic clan, right? That's great!"
As the Siers clan, stuck in the snowy mountains of the North with little interaction with other clans, such an opportunity to get acquainted with another clan was a good thing.
Kain fell silent for a moment at the word "friend," then opened his mouth.
"Friend, huh... Well, though I just met him, he did remind me of someone I knew a long time ago."
—Thanks for your help, Thane. This debt of mine... I can't repay it with money, but I'll definitely repay it later! Mark it down in the name of Harmon Geihardt!
—Your clan has no money because all its members only learn wind-elemental magic, which is inefficient. You should give up useless stubbornness like 'romance' or whatever.
—Hey! You only use ice-elemental magic yourself!
—Ice magic is complete in itself, so it's fine.
—Hey! It's the same for us! Just you wait! I'll prove that wind-elemental magic is not incomplete, but a complete magic in itself!
'The war with the Desmond cultists escalated, and then contact was suddenly lost...'
Although he pursued a romance that had no substance and lived a difficult life adhering to a philosophy like dog poop stuck to a shoe sole.
Regardless, the fact that Kain had now met his descendant meant that they had survived.
'...Although the debt he promised to repay, and even the money he borrowed, ended up being unfulfilled.'
It was a tumultuous period across the entire continent, so he decided to be understanding about that much.
"Knew from a long time ago...? Ah, there are friends like that, aren't there! Even though you just met them, it feels like they're old friends! It seems you two get along well. That's great!"
Alice was simply happy that Kain had made a new friend without any trouble.
"Anyway, about that."
Kain finished the small strawberry pie he was eating and spoke.
—So, will you come?
In fact, he could have refused.
Firstly, he couldn't completely trust information provided by someone he'd met just today.
Moreover, even if he did trust him, there was a possibility that the information itself was compromised, or that the path to obtaining it had been traced.
And while Eisel had mentioned that someone related to Kain's objective might appear, the possibility of a relevant individual showing up at the black market opening tomorrow, especially after so long since the Chaos Core was in the swamp, was extremely low.
However.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to meet him at night. It'll probably be dawn by the time I get back, so keep that in mind."
"Huh?"
Even with an extremely low possibility, there was nothing to lose by going in his free time.
And as Eisel said, there was information at the black market that could be profitable.
Wouldn't it be beneficial for the Siers clan's finances, where every penny counted?
It definitely wasn't because he was concerned about that guy's clan or his descendants.
Absolutely not.
