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“Normally, I don’t show this to just anyone.”

Meanwhile, I took a moment to check my attire.

I had changed into these clothes without much thought, but now that I looked, the material was quite nice. It was like something a clueless, rich young master would wear.

“This is a precious item.”

The merchant took the spear out of the display case and showed me the handle.

It was engraved with the word “Pargel” in small letters, along with a seal.

“As you can see, Pargel’s weapons are not easily obtainable.”

I received the spear and asked the merchant again, seriously.

“Is this really made of Cold Iron?”

“Of course. The black blade is a color that only comes from high-purity Cold Iron.”

“It doesn’t look like it to me. Did I get scammed?”

“Haha, you say such unpleasant things. I told you this is a Pargel product.”

The merchant definitely thought I was a rich sucker.

“Well, I couldn’t have been scammed. So, how much is it?”

The merchant said with a big sales smile.

“Cold Iron is a precious metal that’s hard to put a price on. You’ll have to give me five standard gold bars.”

I glanced at Daisy once, then blew on my middle finger after tucking it into my thumb.

“Ha—”

As soon as I flicked the blade, it cracked with a ‘ting—’ sound.

“Cold Iron breaks from a flick?”

“….”

Daisy, who had been giving the merchant a sweet smile, instantly hardened her expression and pulled out a dagger.

“You son of a bitch. You dare try to scam my brother?”

“What the…”

The merchant, momentarily surprised and flustered, hurriedly ran inside, tripped once, then got up and rang the bell.

Ding—

A moment later, as soon as a group of men rushed into the building, the merchant quickly ran out.

“Ro, robbers! There’s a thug causing trouble!”

“What? Who dares commit robbery in broad daylight in Leon?”

The merchant pointed at Daisy and me, and the men’s gazes slowly followed his finger.

“….”

Daisy’s, mine, and the men’s gazes intertwined. There was a brief silence.

One of them looked back and forth between me and the merchant, muttering.

“…Robbers? …Causing trouble?”

“He broke a spear made of Cold Iron, and he’s causing trouble with that woman. Please help.”

The frozen men simultaneously gauged our reactions.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t we pay your protection fee? Hurry up and teach them a lesson. We also need compensation… Cough.”

One of the men pressed the back of the merchant’s head and said,

“Shut up.”

Finally coming to their senses, the subordinates simultaneously greeted us.

“You’ve arrived, Boss.”

“Hello.”

At that moment, another group of men strode confidently into the building, but upon seeing Daisy, they froze and averted their eyes.

They were the mercenaries who had been guarding the Merchant Alliance the other day.

“…What brings you here?”

The merchant, sensing something was amiss, looked around nervously. I spoke up.

“That merchant tried to scam me. He must have thought I was an idiot. You need to manage your merchants better. Even one scammer can muddy the waters.”

As Daisy approached the merchant with her dagger, one of the newly arrived men said with a troubled expression,

“Please wait a moment.”

He continued urgently,

“I’ll bring the owner. Please wait.”

The man left with his group, and Daisy looked at me.

“Should I kill him?”

“No, let’s wait.”

A short while later, the man returned with a sturdy-looking old man, and Michel from the Merchant Alliance was with them.

Having heard the story on the way, the old man immediately barked at the young merchant upon seeing him.

“What is the meaning of this? You couldn’t even wait while I was away and you caused this trouble? What a disgrace!”

The young merchant retorted, feeling wronged.

“Master, I’ve done nothing wrong. I was just trying to sell an item at a slightly higher price, as a merchant should…”

The old man’s face turned beet red.

“You foolish boy! I’ve always taught you to do business while considering the customer. And when did I ever tell you to sell anything? Didn’t I tell you to just watch the store because I had an important appointment?!”

The young man fell silent, and the old man finally turned to look at me.

“…I apologize for the trouble caused by my poor parenting. I don’t know the exact details, but I’ll apologize first. If I had been at the store, this wouldn’t have happened, but there’s no way to undo what has already been done. I’m sorry.”

It was a clean, straightforward apology.

The old man had a sturdy build and a firm impression, unlike a typical merchant. The calluses on his hands suggested he had worked as a blacksmith in his younger days.

Daisy nodded, finally understanding.

“So he’s your son. That explains it. You’re usually the one here. I thought the owner had changed.”

The old man shook his head.

“I’m rarely away, but today I had an appointment with the Alliance Leader. This happened while I was briefly out. I apologize.”

Daisy smiled faintly and replied,

“But are you just going to apologize with words?”

The old man shook his head again.

“No. First, please tell me what happened.”

I lifted the spear lying on the floor and said,

“They said this spear was made of high-purity cold iron. Is that true?”

The old man grimaced, glared at the young merchant, and sighed.

“No, it’s not. My son must have said that, but this is not a mistake to be easily overlooked. There’s a tiny bit of cold iron mixed in, but that’s it.”

“It doesn’t seem like there’s any in the blade. It’s not even steel. The strength is only about that of wrought iron. If there’s any cold iron, it would be in the handle at most.”

“You seem to know weapons quite well.”

The old man looked at me, seemingly surprised. He hadn’t expected to meet a customer who could properly identify cold iron in a place like this. My mention of the handle made it clear that I wasn’t just vaguely knowledgeable.

The old man sighed once more and said,

“Indeed. As an apology, I’ll offer you a weapon. You seem to be looking at the spears, is that right?”

When I nodded, the old man went to the corner of the display case and took out a sturdy-looking spear.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any spears made entirely of cold iron. They’re usually not made of cold iron because of the weight. However, I do have a decent spear made by melting dozens of layers of steel.”

Ting—

I flicked the blade, and a clear metallic sound rang out. It wasn’t entirely satisfactory, but it wasn’t a bad weapon for Makan to use for the time being.

When I nodded, Daisy asked,

“Will you take that one?”

“No.”

Of course not.

In situations like this, you have to squeeze them until there’s nothing left.

I picked up a dagger from the corner of the display case that I had been eyeing. The old man’s expression instantly changed, and he let out a gasp of admiration.

“Oh.”

The blade of the dagger glowed red.

Even without touching the blade, the energy emanating from the dagger made my fingertips tingle.

It was at least as good as the black dagger the patriarch had taken and not yet returned.

“Interesting. What material is this?”

The handle was engraved with the word “DunKel.”

“It’s called Red Dagger. It’s a dagger made of Millennial Iron.”

“I’ll take this one.”

“….”

“Why? Is this one not allowed?”

After a long moment of eye contact, the old man suddenly smiled.

“They say you never know what will happen in life…. The Red Dagger is the work of a craftsman named DunKel, who worked at the Pargel forge. I was lucky enough to come across it in my younger days. It hasn’t found an owner for a long time, but it seems it has finally found one.”

While the young merchant shouted something, the old man sternly barked at him again.

“Be quiet! It’s not something we were planning to sell anyway.”

The old man sheathed the Red Dagger and handed it to me.

“DunKel, that name sounds familiar. Anyway, I’ll put it to good use.”

I attached the Red Dagger to my belt, slung the spear over my shoulder, and said to the subordinates,

“Have the manager pay generously for the spear.”

“Yes.”

I then made eye contact with Michel, who had been standing to the side.

Michel, who had been silent, quickly lowered his gaze when our eyes met.

“Alliance Leader, let’s have a talk. I was planning to visit you anyway.”

“…I’ll lead the way.”

* * *

Top floor of the Merchant Alliance.

As I waited in the seat of honor, the leading figures of the Merchant Alliance, including Alliance Leader Michel, gathered one by one.

“Is everyone here?”

“Everyone except the merchants who are out on trade routes has arrived.”

Michel, trying to break the awkward atmosphere, asked,

“May I ask why you called us here? We’ve already heard the news from Khaoto.”

I picked up a refreshment and looked around. There were several elderly-looking individuals who seemed quite distinguished, so I spoke with a respectful tone.

“It’s an honor to meet the esteemed merchants of Leon. You’ve already heard about what happened to Dark Soul and Bayern. I have some questions because of that.”

As I mixed formal and informal speech, the gazes around me became even more cautious.

“Relax. I’m not going to kill anyone or anything.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m not very familiar with the nature of merchant groups. Please bear with me if I ask any obvious questions.”

“Speak freely.”

“Alright, then I’ll get straight to the point.”

I looked around and began,

“I’m curious why merchant groups traveling between the southern and eastern continents haven’t been entering Khaoto. There wouldn’t have been a need to end their trade routes in Leon, so why did they? Was it because Bayern was blocking the path to the east?”

“That’s correct. You can think of Leon as the de facto last city for trade routes.”

“So that was it.”

Michel’s answer confirmed my suspicions.

In the past, Khaoto was famous as a dazzling magical city, but its geographical location also made it a crucial link between the southern and eastern continents.

Merchant groups traveling from the southern continent to the east through Khaoto.

And vice versa, merchant groups traveling from the eastern continent to the south through Khaoto.

The fact that they weren’t using Khaoto, which offered convenient access between the east and south, meant that someone was deliberately interfering.

Michel took a sip of tea and continued his explanation.

“Currently, merchant groups traveling from the southern continent to the east don’t pass through Leon. It’s more common for them to take a detour, even if it takes longer.”

“Even the famous merchant groups?”

“Yes. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks. Of course, large-scale continental groups often use jets or warp gates, so they don’t need to take the usual routes.”

“….”

“In any case, reputable merchant groups heading east don’t come this way in the first place. Even though Leon is a commercial city, it’s really only at the level where small groups exchange goods. That’s why there aren’t any famous groups in Leon.”

I nodded.

“So now that Bayern is gone, and Samael opens the path, will the groups naturally start coming through?”

Michel and the other merchants shook their heads in unison.

“That’s not the case. Even without Bayern, there are many risk factors in going east through Khaoto. If Bayern had been the only problem, we would have found a way.”

“Then what is it?”

“The closest major city in the east from here is San Baul. There are several dangers just on the route from Khaoto to San Baul. There are frequent appearances of bandit gangs that are difficult to eradicate, and there are also rough mercenaries. Of course, the biggest threat among them is Yale.”

I hadn’t expected to hear that name again, so I reflexively asked,

“Yale?”

“They’re a dangerous group. They’re a group of assassins who take on contracts, and they don’t have a fixed base. They usually operate in a region called Uta in the east, but occasionally they appear in Leon as well.”

“Is the head of that group a guy named Blood?”

Suddenly, as if they had heard a name they shouldn’t have, the expressions of everyone present hardened.

“…It seems the young master is also aware of them.”

“Of course I am. He died recently.”

“Excuse me?”

I made a throat-slitting gesture and said,

“He’s dead. I killed him.”

———