Chapter 218

—How about it, would you like to take a look?

One of the men said in a servile voice.

Roan stared at him for a moment as if suspicious, then soon nodded obediently.

“Sure. They only sell some strange grass anyway.”

—Of course! To present things only handled by medicine peddlers to someone of your dignity, young master, it made us angry just watching it.

They were truly remarkable fellows.

Roan subtly scanned their skills.

Naturally, they were definitely black mages.

‘Roughly stronger than the six thugs.’

At this level, it seemed Roan wouldn’t be in danger.

In the first place, black mages strong enough for him to be wary of would not involve themselves in this kind of illegal transaction.

Roan spoke, pretending to be suspicious.

“Wait, now that I look closely, you guys seem to be black mages. Do you dare… knowing who I am…?”

At that, the black mages were startled and waved their hands.

—Oh! Please don’t worry! Who on earth would be crazy enough to cause trouble at the campsite? We just came to show you some of our goods because we have confidence in them, young master!

‘But these guys don’t even know who I am, do they?’

Roan clicked his tongue inwardly.

They had been calling him young master from the start, but there was no way they knew who Roan actually was.

Was this the fate of the service industry?

Just then, one of the robed figures grinned and whispered secretly.

—Furthermore, we handle not only magic tools but also holy relics. You will definitely be satisfied.

“Even holy relics?”

Roan tilted his head.

‘Found it.’

Naturally, he was wearing a triumphant smile inside.

“Ho.”

Roan nodded, as if something clicked.

“You guys must be the Oslo crew.”

—?!?!?!?!??!!!!

The black mages recoiled in surprise.

”H-How does he know our name?”

Naturally, since they were not doing something to be proud of, they didn’t advertise their group name.

So when this naive young master spoke as if he already knew it well, they had no choice but to be shocked.

Roan spoke nonchalantly.

“Well, your name is loosely known in my family. The rumors were quite decent.”

Actually, it wasn’t a lie.

The Darc family, current total population: 1.

If Roan knew it, it was loosely known to the family. What else?

‘What kind of family is it that they know our name…?’

The black mages pondered for a moment.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t sold items to holy noble families.

In fact, they had been making a quite lucrative profit from them.

Still, most people wouldn’t go around telling others that they bought goods from black mages.

‘Even we would have done that if we were nobles…’

In any case, since he knew them, the conversation seemed like it would become a bit easier.

The black mages spoke with an even more fabricated, friendly smile.

—My, my, we are truly humbled. In that case, please take a look at our items.

—You will surely be satisfied.

“Very well.”

Roan also nodded without holding back anymore.

The black mages laid a durable cloth used for setting up stalls on the ground and began diligently displaying their goods.

As expected, decent equipment, rather than raw materials, emerged.

“Hmm…”

As Roan reacted as if he were somewhat interested, the black mages became even more excited.

—Speaking of this cloak, it has a basic stealth magic spell embedded in it! It will absolutely never be caught by tools that only detect holy stealth spells.

—These gloves are imbued with steel-attribute mana! It is fine even if you grab a blade with bare hands.

Among them, there were items that piqued Roan’s interest, not just holy relics or magic tools made with ordinary magic.

“What is this?”

—Ah! That is a dark mana cloak… Are you interested?

“Well, for research.”

—Ah, aha!

Although the black mages were slightly taken aback, they soon began bringing out items imbued with dark mana as well.

To an outsider, it would seem like nothing special, but to Roan, who knew they possessed the Balance of Light and Dark, a smile naturally rose.

‘It feels like playing a matching game.’

The holy relics and dark mana tools with similar effects began to be paired up.

However, Roan held back his laughter with effort and shook his head.

“Hmm… but this is quite disappointing.”

—Yes? What’s wrong?

—Is there something else you are looking for…?

The black mages scrutinized Roan’s expression.

Surely the atmosphere was fine until just now?

Roan lowered his voice solemnly and shouted as if scolding them.

“To bring me out separately for such garbage! The rumors I heard in my family were all nonsense!”

As he said that, Roan took out the ring he had set aside beforehand and the dagger imbued with Jelsroin’s holy power, throwing them onto the ground.

“I don’t even hope for this level! I’m saying I want something that at least goes halfway!”

The black mages examined the items Roan had brought out with bewildered eyes.

—Heuuuk!!!!

—Hieeeek—what is this!!!!

…And then, they made a fuss slightly more extreme than Roan had expected.

—Wait, what is this pure dark mana? Just what kind of black mage created this?

For starters, the circuit ring had already absorbed Roan’s dark mana, emitting a magic power so immense that ordinary dark magic tools wouldn’t even compare.

The black mage who picked up the ring put it down in horror as it tried to attack his own magic power instead.

If the ring was like that, what about Jelsroin’s dagger?

—Aaaah! Help meeeee!!!!

‘Isn’t that a bit too much?’

Roan stared at the black mage who had held the dagger with pathetic eyes.

Roan had also struggled a lot when picking up the dagger, but hadn’t he been able to endure it reasonably well?

Anyone looking would think Roan had stabbed the black mages with it.

…If it were Yusina and Sion, they might actually have such a misunderstanding.

In any case, it was not human power, but the holy power of a god.

Even though the black mage was wearing quite thick gloves, the skin inside them got wounded.

[Why is it so noisy?]

‘Why else? Because they are weak.’

Bell, who was inside the bag, also poked his head out as the commotion arose and asked.

The black mages, each clutching their hands, rolled around on the ground and said.

—Please, please take those items away…

Roan nodded and put the two items back into the lucky pouch.

Only then did the black mages calm down a bit.

”Was he not just a naive young master?”

Although they pondered this for a moment, it did not last long.

Because even if someone was a naive young master, there were many who wandered around with precious items received from their family.

Therefore, even in this strange situation, as smugglers who had grown old at the campsite, they quickly exchanged glances.

‘Let’s take him!’

Although they had almost died, that only made the ring and the dagger more enticing.

Even though they had handled holy relics and magic tools for a long time, it was their first time seeing such things.

If things went well, they might be able to quit the smuggler life and make a fortune.

In addition, the bird next to Roan was definitely a holy beast, and the lizard that had just popped out of the bag was also of an unusual color.

Having reached this conclusion, the black mages cast their eyes to their companion who was watching the transaction from a short distance away.

‘Quickly inform the hideout!’

Although the companion didn’t know exactly what the situation was, he nodded for now and slipped away.

Roan must have confirmed that too, for he laughed mockingly and spoke.

“Well, judging by the reaction, it seems the Oslo crew doesn’t handle things like this either.”

—Ah, no, young master!

—Please listen to us for a moment!

The black mages looked as though they would literally grab Roan’s pant legs.

If they let him go like this, they didn’t know what kind of earful they would get when they returned to the hideout.

“Is there anything else to say?”

—The hideout, let’s go to our hideout!

—Then you will definitely not be disappointed!

Roan scolded them.

“You bastards! Do you think I’m a pathetic, naive young master who just goes wherever he is told to go?”

Still, he had to play hard to get at first for it to work properly.

Because if he agreed to go immediately, they might suspect something.

‘I owe a lot to having seen Espard get angry a few times.’

Meanwhile, the black mages tilted their heads.

‘Is he not a naive young master?’

By all accounts, he did seem to know nothing of the world.

In any case, in the current situation, they had to beg no matter what.

—Oh, how could we bring out such precious items?

—I guarantee you, in our hideout, we have things similar to what you showed us.

“You have similar things?”

It wasn’t that they had them, but that they would make them.

Roan saw right through their intentions but pretended to be fooled.

—Yes! Of course, you won’t regret it.

—Just take a look!

“Hmm… I’ll go for now.”

Roan gestured as if he found it unpleasant but would let them guide him anyway.

At that, the black mages rejoiced greatly.

”We hooked him!”

He didn’t look particularly skilled, so they looked forward to seeing how he would react once surrounded by the fierce black mages in the hideout.

His family seemed to have quite some influence, but if they made a big score and fled to another campsite, how would they find them?

Since the hideout was not inside the campsite, they didn’t have to worry about getting caught either.

…Of course, who was actually the one hooked was something only Roan knew for now.

* * *

Roan and the black mages left the campsite and climbed up a small mountain.

Step, step—

‘…He climbs the mountain better than I thought?’

The black mages found it unexpected that Roan followed them closely without showing any sign of struggle.

Usually, those who bought dark magic tools for research purposes or didn’t even know they were getting ripped off would pant after going just a bit off the path.

—You have quite good stamina, young master.

One person spoke up to break the cold atmosphere.

‘They suspect the strangest things.’

Roan frowned and clicked his tongue.

Even after acting like that, was there still something left to suspect?

…Of course, rather than actually suspecting him, the black mages had just said it because Roan was fascinating.

“Mind your own business.”

—Yes.

When Roan spoke sharply, the black mage who had spoken shut his mouth.

The other guy nudged his arm.

‘Why did you provoke him and make the mood worse?’

‘As if I wanted to. A tiny kid who isn’t even worth a fistful…’

Although they were holding back now, the black mages eagerly waited to arrive at the hideout.

To be precise, they waited for things to take a turn in the hideout.

However, the black mages should have sent Roan back even now.

It was just that they were young black mages blinded by money, unable to properly assess what was right in front of them.

Before long, the black mages’ hideout was revealed.

It was a cave that didn’t look very large on the outside, but the surrounding trees and grass grew so densely that one wouldn’t even know a cave was there.

How did Roan know?

“I am Oslo, the leader of the Oslo Family.”

It was because several black mages, including Oslo, the leader of the black mages, were already out.

Oslo was wearing a robe, but he didn’t wear the hood, so his face could be seen.

He was an old man who must have easily passed sixty.

‘The energy I sense is about the level of someone who has accumulated training over those years.’

Intuitively, he was roughly around the intermediate rank.

The other black mages also took off their hoods one by one.

Oslo spoke to Roan, his eyes, which had not yet aged, gleaming.

“Pardon me, but please take off your hood. It is a procedure to confirm our mutual trust.”

“Very well.”

Roan took off his hood nonchalantly.

And then, he stared straight into Oslo’s eyes.

“?”

Oslo fell silent for a moment.

Soon, he called over the two black mages who had brought Roan.

“A moment…”

—??

The two black mages wondered what was going on, but since the leader was calling, they approached quietly.

The three of them naturally turned their backs to Roan and conversed in low voices.

Oslo spoke first.

“You fools, you said he was a naive young master who knows nothing of the world? You said he only has money?”

—Yes, judging by his behavior at the stall, he was exactly like that?

Oslo channeled dark mana and poked his pathetic subordinate’s side, growing slightly angry.

“Look at that face! How does that look like a naive young master? No, isn’t he one of our own?”

—Ugh… Why are you— gasp—!

The subordinate black mage, wondering if the leader’s senility had flared up again, glanced back to check Roan’s face.

And then, he snapped his gaze back even faster than he had turned it.

—Uh… uh… he definitely didn’t have that kind of face earlier…