Chapter 205

Bell quickly fluttered its wings, climbing to the top of the spirit beast tower and trembling.

“I told you, you are a holy beast, so it is not human trafficking. Anyway, then are you not going out?”

[O-Of course I’m not going!]

Bell said so, actually letting out a shriek.

With a *pshh*, the abyss of the Abyssal Dragon emerged like smoke.

‘Next time it is urgent, I can just threaten to put it on the scale.’

Roan thought of a training method to utilize the abyss of Bell, who possessed powerful potential, at an early stage.

Then, he spoke to Charlotte as well.

“Charlotte, you should just rest with Bell too. You must have had a lot of trouble today.”

*Kirrrr—*

Although Charlotte was always gentle, she also seemed very tired, her kneeling posture slightly slouched.

Roan lifted Charlotte and moved her onto the bed.

The two holy beasts fell asleep the moment their heads touched the bed.

Roan watched them, changed into the plain clothes he had bought at the market, and left the room.

He wore an extremely ordinary shirt, pants made of stiff fabric, and a black robe.

‘Going all the way to the Corrupted Holy Mark is quite a hassle, but at least there won’t be any danger.’

Information he needed to remember to obtain the half of the Corrupted Holy Mark was already filling Roan’s mind.

If others knew where he was thinking of, they would find it hard to agree with his opinion that there would be no danger.

At any rate, Roan was confident that if things went according to his plan, he would be able to obtain it without much trouble.

No, to be precise, he would be able to buy it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sion, who had parted with Roan and returned to her room, had also put Noeul-ie and Pallangi to sleep.

Something suddenly occurred to her.

“Has the Saintess returned?”

Since there had been so much going on after they parted at the market, no one had been able to pay attention to Yusina.

It was quite late into the night now, so she should have returned.

*Creak—*

Sion carefully opened the room door.

Then, out of habit, she swept her gaze across the hallway.

As expected, there was no one—

……should have been the case, but Sion caught a glimpse of something by chance.

The hem of a robe disappearing around the corner of the hallway.

‘Isn’t that the clothing Darc bought at the market?’

It was just an ordinary black robe, but she had looked closely earlier because Roan was buying such exceptionally plain clothes.

Because Acherandir students usually preferred white robes over black ones.

‘And who else but Darc would walk around wearing a robe indoors……’

Roan had bought the clothes to avoid others’ eyes in his own way, but instead, he failed to avoid Sion’s!

“Where is he going at this hour?”

Sion contemplated briefly whether she should inform Tyrmi or Espard of this fact.

For even without Espard’s warnings, the city at night was dangerous.

Then, Sion suddenly realized.

‘Well, if we are talking about danger, there is no one more dangerous than Darc.’

The reason the city at night was dangerous?

That was precisely because people like Roan Darc were roaming the streets…….

“Ah!”

As she pondered, Sion could deduce the reason Roan had to go out using her brilliant intellect.

“H-He must be going to contact a secret information network……!”

Sion, the daughter of the Beatrice family, renowned for information in the Ricardo Kingdom!

Having left her family when she was young, she actually had few opportunities to contact her family’s information network.

Consequently, she was only filled with imaginations regarding such things.

Sion began to move her feet, trying hard to hide her fluttering heart.

‘S-Since I know Darc has an information network! I have the right to watch, yes!’

……Of course, she had no such right, and there was no information network.

In any case, Sion, having brilliantly completed her self-rationalization, immediately followed Roan cautiously.

He had already taken the elevator down to the lobby floor, but fortunately, there were two elevators, and one happened to be on a nearby floor.

*Tring—*

‘There he is!’

Thanks to that, Sion was able to follow Roan without being too late.

*Step, step—*

Roan’s steps were, as always, those of someone who knew his destination precisely.

He exited Jane’s Horn.

He passed through the square in front of it.

He went through the boulevard extending from there.

Soon, he walked straight into a dark alleyway where not a single light shone without hesitation.

Sion hesitated for a moment in front of the alleyway.

Even though it was the same Gilsburg, it looked like an entirely different world compared to the brightly lit boulevard.

However, the excitement in Sion’s heart soon began to grow larger than her fear.

‘As expected, even if Darc denies it every time, the secret information network is real!’

Otherwise, why on earth would an Acherandir student enter such a back alley?

What, to secretly find some hidden item only he knew about?

Sion chuckled.

“No way, that can’t be. Even for Darc.”

*Pitter-patter—*

Sion soon clenched her fists tightly and resumed chasing after Roan.

* * *

Roan began to walk through the cobweb-like back alleys of Gilsburg as familiarly as if it were his own home.

‘Right at the house with the red flyer.’

*Rustle—*

‘Left at the wall with children’s graffiti.’

*Step—*

‘Right again at the pillar with the blue stone.’

Roan turned directions whenever the landmarks in his memory appeared.

To a stranger, it would undoubtedly look as if he were lost in a complex maze.

However, those ordinary-looking things were all a kind of signpost.

Where Roan was heading was precisely Gilsburg’s Thieves’ Guild!

Of course, as ordinary people could also enter the Thieves’ Guild, not all visitors had to navigate such a complex path.

Normally, if one entered ‘Maria’s Pub’ at the entrance of the back alley and looked for Maria, she would guide them to the basement where the Thieves’ Guild was located.

‘If I go that way, I can only obtain information that anyone can get with a little legwork.’

Naturally, the Corrupted Holy Mark Roan was seeking could not be obtained by such a rookie method.

If one truly wanted to access the proper Thieves’ Guild of Gilsburg, they had to follow this secretive method.

Even though it seemed like he was wandering at first glance, if one looked at Roan’s path from the sky, it drew a precise ‘pattern.’

‘Even so, to make it exactly the same as in the game. The Thieves’ Guild’s security can’t be trusted either.’

Roan thought of something that others would consider absolute nonsense if they heard it.

*Stop—*

After wandering through the back alleys for a long time, Roan stopped in front of a shabby building.

A shack without even a sign to identify its nature—no, one would even doubt if it was an abandoned house.

However, this building was a hidden place that only revealed itself at night, and only to those who drew the pattern in the exact order.

‘The Temple of Yorus, God of Night and Whispers.’

The reason this amazing thing was possible was that this shack was a kind of temple.

Although heading to the same Thieves’ Guild, the accessible information and benefits differed completely depending on whether one passed through the ordinary entrance or this temple’s entrance.

Furthermore, even the members of the Thieves’ Guild showed proper respect to this shack as they would a temple.

In other words, the Empire’s Thieves’ Guild was ultimately a religious order of those who served Yorus.

Then why was the name ‘Thief’ attached to those who clearly served a god?

That was…….

‘Because they were real thieves.’

Although it seemed like an absolute contradiction at first glance, there was actually a deep story behind it.

* * *

In the scriptures of the chief god Hiloa, there was this passage:

‘As there is day, it is natural for there to be night, so do not go out of your way to turn away from it.’

There were largely two interpretations regarding this.

— Of course, it means we should serve Lord Yorus well, since the God of Night, Lord Yorus, exists!

The side that believed they just needed to serve Yorus, the God of Night, well, literally as written.

— You fool! How could the scripture be so simple! Light and dark! Black and white! It means we should not prioritize only the faith of Hiloa, but broadly recognize the freedom of thought!

And the side that took this passage metaphorically, arguing that even black magic should be viewed as part of the world.

— What? Fool? Have you said your piece? You heretic!

……Of course, as one could tell from how the Empire currently ran, the latter had long since disappeared after being branded as heresy.

Whether Yorus himself knew of this or not, such were the twists and turns he had undergone.

At any rate, Yorus, the God of Night and Whispers, was still a god, so he naturally did not tell his followers to commit acts like “Steal! Plunder! Loot!”

To become a god, one must at least not possess a personality—or divinity—like Professor Pluvang.

However, a single passage in Yorus’s scriptures was the problem.

‘Watch over the people so that danger does not find them in the night when all are asleep. It is only natural to obtain a reward for it, so receive it as you see fit within moderate limits.’

Yorus’s followers interpreted this passage a bit flexibly.

— Since he said to receive it as we see fit, we can just take it ourselves!

They formed a sort of vigilante group at night, maintaining order so that vicious robbers or gangsters would not dare run rampant.

And then.

— Thank you! Thank you, members of the Order of Yorus!

— Go home early from now on. Now, shall you show me what you have?

— ??? Yes?

— Uh-huh, Yorus said we must receive a reward for protecting others. We won’t take everything like those guys, so just show us for now.

……They really received it as they saw fit.

These vigilantes soon became the Thieves’ Guild that currently controlled the back alleys of the Empire.

This aspect was naturally problematic, but the Empire could not simply designate them as heresy either.

— Your Holiness, the Yorus followers’ theft…… protection fee is a problem. What should we do?

— ……If we catch them, won’t other crazy bastards run even more wild?

— That is true, but…….

— It can’t be helped. Isn’t it better for clergymen to moderately rob them than for black mages to steal their very lives?

The old saying that the arm bends inward was not wrong!

Still, the Order of Yorus was within tolerable limits, so the Empire was closer to leaving them alone.

The commoners also seemed to accept it more or less.

For while criminals would break into their homes and commit terrible deeds, the Order of Yorus at least prevented them from falling victim to those criminals.

Instead, the Holy Emperor’s Palace substituted it by sending an official document to the Order of Yorus at the beginning of every year telling them to exercise self-restraint.

* * *

At any rate, for that reason, ironically, the Order of Yorus was more enthusiastic about seeking out and punishing black mages than most other orders.

‘Although it is closer to eliminating competitors rather than catching heretics……’

It was roughly the logic that two moons could not exist under the same night sky.

Roan frowned slightly and scanned his surroundings.

Instead of using dark mana to search as usual, it was an observation using only his physical senses.

Indeed, the eyes watching him had increased one by one since he entered the back alley, and now there were more than a dozen that could be felt at Roan’s level.

Normally, they would have the eyes of a beast targeting a stranger, but this time was slightly different.

— Hey, who is that guy? How is he walking so well?

— It’s an unfamiliar face…… Is he from another branch?

It felt as though such whisperings could be heard.

Because the reaction in “God & Devil” was usually like that.

Although Roan disliked drawing others’ attention if possible, it was a necessary process to obtain the item he wanted.

Furthermore, doing at least this much ensured they would not bother him further.

‘Still, one fellow has been following me since the hotel…… As expected, the Thieves’ Guild is indeed the Thieves’ Guild.’

He had not done anything to draw the Thieves’ Guild’s attention, so they must have put surveillance on him from the beginning simply because he was a visitor.

……Or so Roan mistakenly thought, but in truth, it was simply Sion who was secretly following him.