Chapter 435: The Thieves' Guild and Gallus
Did the Thieves' Guild have their eyes on Fran from the start?
「What do you mean?」
「Please wait, let's have a little talk, shall we?」
「Don't have time for idle chitchat」
「So, it's fine if it's not wasting your time, right? Oi, Honest」
「Huh? Me, out of the blue?」
Honest's eyes widen lightly when Fist asks him to talk. Apparently, he was surprised. And he is suspicious.
「I can't handle this, it's too much for me」
「Well, if you think she's that strong?」
「……Is it okay? Don't ever antagonize her. Unless you want to die. It's the first time for my danger sense has responded so much since I faced the Hundred Swords」(1)
I see. Normally, the strong Fist would have threatened the other party, and the con man Honest would have taken advantage of the situation. However, it seems that Fist instantly realized Fran's strength and gave up trying to intimidate her with force.
「A-ah, miss, I'll have some tea prepared for you for now, so please have a seat」
「Don't need it, don't have much time」
「No no, A good negotiation is never complete without a good cup of tea.」
「I said, i have no time to waste」
「Ha-, haha. Is that so. No, I would really like to get close to someone as beautiful and capable as you」
Honest smiles as he brushes his hair lightly. He is emitting a glitter beam. If I were on Earth, He could have been the number one host of a show. But Fran's expression didn't show any change.
「Don't you heard what I said?」
Perhaps Honest is their trump card against women. It's true that a smile from this handsome man would make most women swoon, and the negotiations would go in the Thieves Guild's favour.
But it was a shame. My Fran is not interested in handsome men! In the first place, there is no way that roundabout negotiations will work. We are in a hurry, especially now. The fact that the other party is not an ally is also a big factor. The more vigilant we are, the more severe their response is likely to be.
I guess this is where the doppelganger comes in. If she said that I came in through transfer magic, it will be a good excuse for my sudden appearance.
「Wa- please wait!」
The moment Honest called out to us, an uncomfortable feeling hit me as if I had static electricity in my brain. I remembered this. It's exactly the same as when Solas the thief we caught in Ulmut's dungeon used his forced affinity on us.
Maybe he used the attract opposite sex skill. (2) It's a skill that attracts the attention of the opposite sex.
Fran can't notice it before, but now that she had become more skilled, she could feel it clearly. Her eyes narrowed.
She kicks the round table with a thump and flies off, landing right in front of Honest, who is still in a lightly raised position to stop Fran. The round table creaked as she dared, perhaps to scare Honest.
And then she sticks me directly at his neck. Honest was rendered speechless by the cold eyes looking down at him from above. It was the two people on either side of him who spoke up instead.
「St-stop it young lady! What the hell is wrong with you!」
「Ye-yeah, that's right! You're suddenly being aggressive!」
「…Is it appropriate to use your skills during negotiations?」
「!」
Perhaps he didn't think that his use of the skill would be discovered, but Honest's face turned pale. However, Honest showed a strange pride here. I think it's best to apologize quietly, but for a guy like them, they can't afford to be licked at the negotiation table.
「How dare you draw your sword here! You'll regret it!」
「…Hou?」
Ah, this guy has done it. Even though Fist told him not to antagonize her, she was still somewhat underestimated because of Fran's appearance. Or maybe he felt ridiculed for being shunned by the young Fran, or maybe he was frustrated that his appearance didn't pass through at all.
In an attempt to regain control of the conversation, He uttered a hostile line.
Immediately after that, Fran glared at Honest. She hadn't used her skills to intimidate him yet. But she was already on the verge of recognizing this guy as enemies. Depending on what he said next, he would lose his head.
I could sense that the guards behind the wall were also getting nervous. They may not be able to sense Fran's strength through the wall, but they must have heard Fist's words and understood that the other party was overwhelmingly strong. Even so, if they ordered to fight, they have to attack Fran. It's the sorrow of a lackey.
I think this is bad. The negotiations are about to be a complete fail. No, I wasn't even in the negotiations. Maybe I should have come out from the beginning.
「Calm down!」
「Bubbeh――?」
What a surprise, Fist punched Honest in the face from the side to shut him up. Honest was blown up in a cone-shaped heap and crashed into the wall and become immobile. His chest is rising and falling, so he's probably not dead, but his commercial face(3) is in pretty bad shape.
Fist went straight down on his hands and knees and apologized desperately. Now all he had to do was lower his head and he would be in a perfect dogeza position.
「P-please wait! That was his bad! It was just his usual bad habit came out! We never think to be hostile with you! I'm sorry! So, please take a seat!」
Fist and Honest seemed to be of equal rank, but is that okay? Pink also seemed surprised by the sudden situation.
「Wha-what are you doing Fist? You don't want to get in trouble with Honest's group later, right?」
「Shut up! It's better than getting us all killed in here! I knew it when I saw her. The rumours are true!」
I guess He decided that it was better to have trouble with Honest later on than to have Fran go on a rampage. But still, killing everyone is……I don't know what kind of rumours you've heard, but he seemed to be quite afraid of Fran.
「This is why, I was against making a pimp who has no ability other than his skill to run things as a top brass! Aaah! Damn it!」
「……I didn't think you'd be that distraught…Haah. It's no use. The men are useless, so I'll do the talking. Just a little more patience, okay?」
Pink smiled and spoke to her, even though she must have known from Fist's attitude that Fran was dangerous. Fran, too, must have felt a pent-up when she saw Honest's devastation. I nodded my head.
「…Understood」
「I appreciate it」
Pink sits down in her chair again. Fran gets down from the round table, but remains standing. Pink is supposed to be in complete control of Fran, but she doesn't show any fear. I'm pretty sure it's this Pink who has the most grit out of all the top brass.
「Well then, let me be frank with you. Master Gallus is no longer at Count Olmes' residence.」
「! What do you mean?」
「Fufu, You're finally interested. Well, Master Gallus and us have a bit of a history」
She lightly explains why Pink has connected Fran to Gallus and has given her this information.
Apparently, the Thieves' Guild originally owed Gallus a debt of gratitude.
「A long time ago, a summoning magic tool brought to the royal capital by a rebel nearly went out of control. At that time, a large number of magical beasts with a threat level of D were almost unleashed in the capital」
Apparently, it was Gallus who was present at the scene and stopped the summoning by destroying the magic tools.
「We are doubted as the one who has summoned the magical beast in the royal capital, we wouldn't be able to say the opposite. The whole organization would have been crushed」
Because of this, the Thieves' Guild was greatly indebted to Gallus. And when they found out that Gallus was confined by Marquis Ashtner, they tried to contact him.
「Someone from the Thieves' Guild is with the Marquis?」
Even the elite of Count Bailleys was captured? However, it's the Thieves' Guild. It seems that they already have their hand on them from long ago.
「Our ears and eyes are everywhere, and they don't know that they were working for the Thieves Guild. They diligently work like usual and occasionally sell information for a little extra money. That's all. So even if they are crushed, they won't be able to reach us」
「I see」
「And with their help, it's easy to sneak in. No, we don't need their guide, just a little bit of diligence in my rounds would be enough」
This is how the Thieves' Guild came into contact with Gallus and asked him to sell the sword scabbard he had secretly made while being confined at multiple auctions.
「We have a debt, so I couldn't refuse. In addition to the scabbard, I got a few other well-made weapons from him as well」
What a surprise, the item labelled as Master's scabbard was apparently sold in several auctions. They were selling them in multiple auctions to make sure everything was in order. Well, if someone bought it and didn't know anything about it, they wouldn't have noticed the code right away. And even if they did, they wouldn't know what it meant.
I thought he could use someone from the Thieves Guild to give Fran his message, but then he wouldn't know if she can be trusted or not. That's why he took such a roundabout way.
And it seems that Fran was the only one who actively bid on that scabbard. The Thieves' Guild must have been monitoring all the scabbards closely.
I wonder how he could make so many scabbards while being confined? I thought so, but apparently Gallus was given a workshop of his own to keep his arms from becoming dull, and he could make armor as he pleased.
「So Gallus is safe?」
「I'm not so sure about that. According to the reports from the personnel who have been in regular contact with Master Gallus, it seems that a small amount of magic drugs has been mixed into his food, and recently it has started to affect him a little. It's hard to say that he's safe, because sometimes he can't even speak」
「…I see」
「I also heard that sometimes they make him hold a strange magical sword that was broke from its middle. Then, regardless of his will, his body would move and he would be forced to work as a blacksmith. To be honest, I thought he was hallucinating because of the magic potion. I did some research on that magic sword, but I couldn't find out what it was」
He is probably using a magic drug to make him susceptible to mental control and is manipulating him with that half-broken magic sword. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the broken sword is most likely the Sword of Blind Devotion, Fanatics, but it's not confirmed yet.
However, when skill and knowledge are required, as in the case of Gallus, the amount of magic drugs administered must be adjusted to preserve his consciousness and reasoning. A craftsman's skill is not just limited to his technique.
「And just the other day, I heard that he was transferred to a certain place」
「A certain place?」
「I think he's in the basement of the former Viscount Alsand's mansion, which is now uninhabited, but I'm not sure」
「Viscount Alsand?」
『He's the foolish noble, the owner of Principal of Falsehood』 (4)
I remember a guy like that. His father Count Olmes' mansion is being used by Marquis Ashtner. It wouldn't be surprising if Viscount Alsand's mansion is also being used.
「So what does it mean?」
「First of all, we have confirmed that Master Gallus has been taken out of the room where he has been under house arrest. Marquis Ashtner's residence, Count Ormes' residence, and Count Ormes' villa. The ears of the Thieves' Guild have entered there, but no sign of Master Gallus has been confirmed」
「Nn」
「Which means there's a good chance he's been moved to somewhere else」
「Is that the underground?」
「Oh. we've confirmed there's a large space and a large amount of what appears to be human presence」
「Enemy troops?」
「Maybe」
It might be a base for making pseudo fanatic swords. If so, there would be a significant number of forces there.
「But they don't know how to get into that underground space. No matter how hard I search, I can't find a way in or out of that underground space」
Are they using teleport magic to go in and out, or is there a hidden passage that is well concealed?
「How did you find out that such a place existed?」
「Fufu, A rat can go anywhere」
As expected of the Thieves' Guild. They even have spies in such a secret base!
「What's the exact number of troops?」
「I'm sorry about that. Because rats can't count」
It seems about the rats mentioned earlier was not a metaphorical expression, but really meant that they were using rats. It seems that no matter how secret the underground space is, there are air holes that rats can enter.
「But if we pieced together the information, we could make a guess. Probably no more than a hundred」
Note:
(1) 百剣 Hyaku ken
(2) 異性誘引 Isei Yuuin
(3) He is so handsome that makes his face was valuable.
(4) 虚言の理 kyogen no ri, principle of falsehood, reference: RNF-TSKD 365.1