Chapter 14 - Encountering
Murphy, a fellow inn guest, has accepted a quest that turns out to be false.
It seemed that the client was trying to get into Grandsword Castle.
It's possible that he's an assassin targeting the king, so we talked to the Grandsword guard and planned to lure him to the castle to round up the culprits. ......
"Alec, I can't do it."
Murphy said, but now it's too late.
"You can't back down once you've taken on the job, Murphy."
I said in amazed.
"No, I got carried away by the atmosphere at the castle and accepted, but you know what? I'm not the kind of person who can pull off such a stunt."
"I know that, but don't take it so hard. All you have to do is tell him Annie was there and show him to the castle."
"I can't do that. Alec will have to take over."
"If I go out there instead of you, he'll be the first one to suspect me. I didn't even look down my nose at his offer, I turned it down in the first place."
"Yeah, right. Damn it, I'm gonna have to do it."
"Yeah. Well, now that I'm on your side, I'll at least follow up."
"Thanks a lot. But assassinating the king... who would think of such a crazy thing?"
"I guess so."
Playing poker at the inn table, waiting for the client.
"Full house."
"Oh, damn it, Alec, go easy on yourself a little. This is an important time."
"I know. But that's not the same as this."
They say the lion, the king of beasts, will go to great lengths to hunt down a single rabbit.
I'm going to give it my all, even if it's just to kill time for a big job. Even more so when I'm winning.
"Alec, if I go bankrupt, this plan is dead."
"Don't worry, Murphy. I'll keep it on loan."
"You're an demon, you know that?"
"You guys look like you've got a lot of free time on your hands, playing poker all morning. Why don't you go on an adventure before you go broke?"
The landlady, who didn't know what was going on, said with sarcasm.
"Please leave me alone. I'm in an important place right now."
"What do you mean, "important"?"
"Ada, Murphy is waiting for his client. Please don't rush him."
"Okay. That's all well and good, but I don't want any trouble here."
"I know. Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen here, and I won't let it. I swear."
Murphy said, and Ada either agreed or had other business to attend to, and retreated to the back.
One of Murphy's party members came down from upstairs to replace her.
"Murphy, is he here yet?"
"Not yet."
"Is he really coming?"
"He's coming. He paid fifty thousand gold in advance. There's no way he's not coming."
"I don't know about that. If he was a wanted man, maybe he'd have been caught."
"He's not that naive."
"I hope not. Maybe we'll make a whole lot of money if he's not coming."
"Well, that's true. Listen, Basil, this is a matter for the king. If all goes well., you'll be rewarded handsomely. It's a win-win. It'll give our party a name to remember.
"If all goes well."
Basil doesn't seem to be relying on it much, so he waves his hand like he's trying to scare off a fly and goes back upstairs.
Speaking of which, the king told me that he doesn't have much money to spare these days, but I don't want to discourage Murphy, so I'll keep my mouth shut. That's not to say there won't be a reward. Either way, Murphy and the others would be a good foil.
"Murphy."
He's here. A man in a black robe appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh, I've been waiting for you. I went to the castle to make sure Annie was there. Your sister. She said her brother was missing."
Murphy is talking fast, but he's talking too much. If he goes into too much detail, it might come out.
"Murphy, what are you talking about?"
I ask, pretending to be interested.
"What? No, it's none of your business, Alec."
"Right."
"Then you should stay out of it, Alec."
Says the client in the black robe.
"It's not so easy. They've tightened up the security at the castle. Alec has a pass, and he knows the king, so he's got a face pass."
"I see. Then I'll give you the same amount of money, Alec. Please give me the pass."
The man carelessly pulled out a bag of gold coins, but if he's so well-fed, there must be some very dangerous people behind him. For example, the king of Portiana.
"I'm sorry to say, but this was given to me by the king. I can't give it to you, given the nature of the pass."
"What'd you say?"
"Oi, Alec. That's not what you said."
"We're on the same page. I'm going with him. That way, he can get into the castle. I guess that's good enough for you."
Murphy looks at his client with a harried look.
"...... All right. Lead the way. I'm going to the castle right now."
"Okay."
I got up from my chair and headed to the castle.
"B-By the way, it was a beautiful day today. ...... It's the perfect time for an emotional reunion, isn't it!? Right!"
Murphy is nervous and trying to force the conversation, and is acting completely suspicious.
"Murphy, don't flatter your clients, no matter how much money you owe them. You'll be lambasted and your name will go down."
"No, a large debt is just like losing a poker game earlier. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. I swear."
"Just keep your mouth shut. Your client doesn't like chatter either."
"Yeah? OK."
He's a B-rank who's conquering the fifth layer, and he's the party leader. It's better to let Murphy go home, but I'm afraid he's going to get pissed off and argue that I'm keeping the reward to myself.
The client doesn't seem to be nervous and follows me silently throughout.
I just did a [Pppraisal] on this guy, and it was a hit.
【Name】 Foodie
【Age】 43
【 L ｖ】 41
【Class】 Covert
【 Race 】 Human
【 Gender 】 Male
【 H P 】 253/253
【Status】 Healthy
【Description】
Born in Portiana.
He is active as the "Shadow" of the Kingdom of Portiana.
His character is brutal and sometimes active.
The class is "Covert". Well, I guess it's safe to say that he's an assassin that the bosses are keeping around.
He's got a good eye for detail and a brutal personality.
It's a little troublesome that his level is higher than mine, but I'm sure I have more skills than him.
Well, the guards will take care of the fighting, and I can lead him to the castle and watch from a higher vantage point.
And that's the end of the mission.
But.....why Portiana also plotted to assassinate the King of Grandsword?. ...... Well, there's no way I can figure it out.
"Oh, it's a castle! The castle is in sight, Alec! Sir!"
I know it when I see it. Shut up, Murphy. And "sir". Is there any other word for it? I wouldn't call him an assassin, either.
"I'll take care of this."
With that, I show the gate guard my pass.
The gate guard stared at the assassin behind me, clearly nervous, but he was a soldier on alert. It's not surprising that he's wary of a newcomer.
"He's with me. Let us in."
"Yes, sir. Come in."
"Wait, Alec."
The assassin stopped me.
Tsk. Did he find out?
I was tempted to put my hand on the hilt of my sword, but I held it back and turned around.
I have magic, so I don't have to rely on my sword.
"What is it?"
"Stay close to me. It wouldn't be good if I got separated and caused trouble for the guards."
"Hmm, so I guess you'll just have to follow me then."
"Hey, Alec, a little more ......"
Murphy is concerned about my brawling, but if I'm acting suspiciously, the assassin will think it's stranfe and notice the plan.
I didn't trust this black robe from the get-go, and I need to keep that attitude consistent.
"Fair enough."
The assassin compromised and followed me.
"Let's see, I'll go get Dasim-san――my mistake. I'll go get Annie."
I wanted to click my tongue, but Murphy said an unnecessary name.
I'm sure the assassin knows at least the name of the Guard captain.
We'll handle this calmly.
"Oh yeah. Murphy, I need to talk to him about the Flame Sword, so if you see Dasim, give him my regards. Tell him I'll be there when this is all over and I get my reward."
I'll fake it to make sense.
"All right."
The assassin stared at me, but I had to keep my mouth shut.
I'm not on good terms with him, so it's obviously unnatural for me to start blabbing about the situation.
"A Flame Sword?"
"I'm sure it's nothing to do with you."
"...... I guess so."
Shut up and wait.
".........."
"...... He's so slow!"
Murphy's, no, I'm sure the gatekeeper soldiers have already put in a report about the uninvited visitors, so they should be working according to plan.
However, the soldiers didn't show up to pick us up as planned.
I was worried, but as expected, the assassin left the place on his own and started walking.
"Where are you going?"
I call him off.
"I'm going to find my sister from here. Don't worry, you'll get your reward."
The assassin says.
"No, you can't. Wait until they come pick you up."
"Pick me up?"
"That's right. Did you really think your sister would just show up out of nowhere? When a man with such a stern face asks, it's only natural that a soldier would come to check on the situation first."
"Hmm. But I'll know when I see her."
Tsk.
I'll have to finish him off before he disappears.
As I extended my right hand to attack him with the Ice Javelin spell, a voice called out from behind me.
"Oh, Alec, what a coincidence."
"Your Majesty?"
I checked behind me, wondering if there was some mistake.
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