TL: xLordFifth
ED:
“What is it, Lord-nim?”
“Cough, no- this official letter says that since the test is going to be conducted in the capital, they want us to let them know in advance if there are any applicants, right?”
“Yes. The application deadline in 5 days, and they say they will take a test for 3 days.”
“Okay. Please stick this to the notice board in the main street.”
“I understand. And this is the list of major tenants in this city that you requested last time.”
“Ah! Good. Thank you.”
Leeha imagined for a while what Kijung and Bobae were doing(?) and accepted another document from Peytor.
“Let’s see, who is giving our city a lot of money.…”
With an old man’s tone, he flipped through the papers on which it was written, one by one.
Paying a lot of taxes meant good income, and as the city manager, Leeha already learned the know-how from Ram Hwayeon that he needed to ‘especially’ manage them.
“Even if I can’t give them a nice gift, I should at least help them so that their business doesn’t- hmm?”
While recalling Ram Hwayeon’s teaching, a certain item caught his eye.
“Bar [Kitsune孤]. Does it refer to the ‘fox’? Even the owner…?”
If it was a word that didn’t translate in Middle Earth, it meant that a user set it up on purpose. Not by NPCs.
Besides, isn’t a bar a similar concept to a pub?
If you think of the occupation of the owner Chiyou in Japanese, you could not think of him as a person other than Ranker.
“Peytor-ssi, this Chiyou- are they a stranger?”
“That’s right, Lord-nim.”
“In our city……? Oh, since when? Without reporting to me, users- no, can strangers own buildings in our city-”
“That’s not it, Lord-nim. Chiyou owned that building a long time ago.”
“Ah! When the city still belonged to Minis?”
“Yes.”
Listening to Peytor’s words, Leeha nodded. And at the same time, Leeha felt goosebumbs running down his spine.
‘No way…… no, there’s no need to think about it that way. I can’t be sure. But if she’s this close-no, it’s not just close!’
It was literally in the center! Leeha didn’t feel good from the time he met her once at the end of the national war.
She had a lascivious charm that hid her insidiousness in her body movements.
A certain scenario flashed through Leeha’s mind like lightning.
‘Does it mean that she’s monitoring me inside my own city? I need to investigate quickly- no, no, no.’
Leeha was about to jump up and run out, gathered his thoughts again.
He knew that Chiyou had enough operation to be active in Gaza City.
So?
Should Leeha chase after her and ask ‘You bitch spied on me, right’? Should he ask her ‘Did you sell my information to Faust when he was an agent of the Demon King’?
‘That’s nonsense. Even if I did, there’s no evidence.’
Leeha’s instinct wriggled. At the same time, Faust’s cornered words flashed through his mind.
-That bitch….
‘He obviously said [bitch]. His helper was a woman. And was dealing with information…… It was a mistake to think she was an NPC.’
It was possible for her to be a user.
No at this point, Leeha could already draw a conclusion.
‘A bar…… Holy Grill is only a restaurant in name. Just because it’s a bar doesn’t mean it can’t function as an intelligence guild. I need to find out.’
Stepping out now could ruin an opportunity he had.
Leeha was a sniper, not an assault soldier. He had to aim for a one shot, one kill. In order to do that, it is important to make sure that he doesn’t induce her vigilance.
“Peytor-ssi!”
“Yes, lord.”
“This, please find out which guild the person named Chiyou belonged to. If she doesn’t belong go any guild at the moment, find out whether she joined or left any guild.”
“I understand. Lord are you-”
“I will go out for a while.”
Peytor had no complaints and had no questions.
No NPC can lie or decieve Leeha who had the ‘Dignity’ buff.
“Okay, that’s it…… this time, I will remove her mask and put her in front of the nobles and commoners.”
[Kyu]
“Let’s go, Blaugrun-ssi.”
[Kyuuu]
Leeha put Blaugrun on his shoulder and left the office. And his destination.
“Since gathering information is not easy for us.”
The Holy Grill Gaza City branch.
“Chiyou……. She’s the most famous dancer among strangers in the continent.”
Blaugrun imitated Madam Ju’s expression as she narrowed her brow and became lost in thought.
[Kyuuuu…….]
It was a cute figure that made one want to bite it, but even that figure did not catch Leeha’s eyes.
“Think carefully. Haven’t you seen her before, like when you were chasing after Rising Sun? Or when you were chasing after Shinobi-gumi.”
“I have never received such a report. But- Ha Leeha’s guess seems reasonable enough.”
Madam Ju nodded and continued.
“If she is, she will have enough connections with the high-ranking officials of Minis. If she got involved in the national war, it would have been enough for her to remain hidden on the battlefield.”
“Right? Right? And she’s a user! No, she’s an outlander! What if she spread her guild people all over the continent? It would be enough to create an information network that
connects throughout the continent!”
“But the bond between the outlanders is probably not that strong. Actually, even if Chiyou is the ‘hidden hand’ as Ha Leeha-ssi speculates, she won’t get much benefit.”
“Of course not! It’s because they failed! If it had not been for the intervention of the Pope, wouldn’t the entire Fibiel army, including me, have fallen under her schemes? In fact, if Faust and Crowley’s joint forces, which had come all the way from the Marching Plains, had reached it a little faster,
the army would have been in danger……
The more Leeha thought about it, the more suspicious Chiyou was.
Faust and Crowley.
It was no exaggeration to say that the two were undoubtably the most famous rivalry in Middle Earth.
‘Right. Even then the two of them worked together. It would be impossible without a bridge connecting them in the middle. I thought it was strange from then on, but in the end I couldn’t get any clue…. Who was it that connected the bridge?’
Can an ordinary user do it?
There’s no way.
But it was highly unlikely for the two of them to receive the same quest at the same time.
In the end, it was most likely that a user who knew them well and had a high reputation asked them to go.
“Then what Leeha-ssi wants right now is-”
“I want all the information regarding Chiyou. How many buildings does she own, how many of them are in a city, maybe a restaurant or a bar? If that’s the case, who are her frequent customers, who are the other outlanders by her side, and so on. I want to know everything about her.”
The things that could be handled simply as administrative affairs were less than left to the butler NPC.
If he asked from the attendant NPC, Peytor, he will investigate using Gaza City’s personnel.
However, Leeha tried his best in that respect as well.
If Chiyou was the ‘hidden hand’, then most NPCs might not be able to catch her, but rather get nothing.
Leeha really had to be fully prepared, even in case a snake popped out.
“It won’t be easy if she’s really the hidden hand.”
“That’s why I’m asking madam.”
“Okay. I would investigate. But- to investigate all of it, with how large the scope is, it will take more than a month. If you want to go through every detail,
maybe two or three months? And if she’s really a hidden enemy…. It may take more than half a year.”
Madam Ju wrote Leeha’s request on a piece of paper.
“Okay. We will give you tax rate benefits proportional to the result of the investigation.”
And that alone made Leeha smile.
‘Holy Grill investigated Rising Sun’s secret information, such as their hideout, was investigated in a week to 15 days. But investigating Chiyou’s background takes that long?’
Of course, it must have been set systematically in consideration of her level and ranking, and the influence it would have in Middle Earth, but that was a hint for Leeha.
‘There’s definitely something.’
[Kyukyukyu.]
Blaugrun, who had moved to Leeha’s side before he knew it, nodded while copying Leeha’s expression.
“Ah, since there’s also the existing tax benefits, can you tell me a few more things as a bonus?”
“Bonus. Are you treating information like some fruit? Huhut, alright. I will tell you.”
Madam Ju frowned lightly, but Leeha only shrugged his shoulders and showed a shameless expression.
If the sales of the Holy Grill was good, the income tax would also be high. And the reduction would also be ‘high’.
‘It’s only natural to get a couple of free information.’
Leeha thought about it carefully and asked two questions.
“The first one is simple. A place where I could shoot monsters above level 210 2,500m away. It would be nice if the monsters were a bit bigger.”
“Hmm, that- well. Okay. Accepted. The next one?”
“The second one might be interesting to Madam as well.”
“Why are you taking so long?”
“About the selection of new continent expedition members. Please tell me what you know about the number of people selected and the selection method. Is the capital still within reach?”
“Kek. In any case…… you’re using us quite well.”
Madam Ju smiled.
Leeha suddenly thought how fortunate he was to have this NPC on his side.
***
“This is crazy. What do you see, Blaugrun-ssi?”
[Kyuu.]
Blaugrun shook his head.
Most monsters over level 200 exist in dungeons.
This is because if high-level monsters appeared throughout the fields in Middle Earth, where the majority of mid- to low-level users are, the difficulty will rapidly rise.
If they appeared in fields rather than dungeons, it would only appear in a neutral area, wasteland, etc., not the land of any country, like the place below, and it would also appear in a very remote place.
In a way, it was a natural consideration, but even this seemed strange to Leeha;.
“Huh, The fact that there’s a monster like this in the field, not in the dungeon…… you have to care about the users. A game that can’t be bothered.”
Leeha laid down on the floor and muttered while taking out the Black Bass.
Leeha was currently in a red mountain range near Radcliffe, where he previously went.
‘But it is too much. Radcliffe hasn’t fully restored yet…… Obviously, if the user lord do not intervene and leaves it to the NPC, it would follow the real flow of time..’
The village of Minis, which was attacked by chimera and Bluebeard for the first time, was about to start recovering as NPCs migrated again.
Compared to Gaza City, it was a place where the original form of the town, such as buildings and walls, remained intact, but it was not yet properly restored.
It was a huge difference compared to the fact that Gaza City, which Ram Hwayeon and Leeha managed and rebuilt, had already been restored.
‘Honestly, if Gaza City hadn’t had Ram Hwayeon, there wouldn’t have been much difference. Phew, just thinking about it makes me dizzy.’
How many hours had it already been since he crossed the border of Minis and climb the Red Mountains?
Leeha and Blaugrun finally found small dots embroidering the sky in the distance.
“If possible, please tell me somewhere that has large species…”
Leeha opened the scope cap of the Black Bass and inspected the black dots scattered over the ‘other peaks’.
Those hovering in the sky at the peak of a certain peak of the Red Mountains were flying monsters called ‘harpies’.
They were monsters with the upper body of a woman and the wings and lower body of an eagle.
(To be continued…)
TL: xLordFifth
ED:
“What is it, Lord-nim?”
“Cough, no- this official letter says that since the test is going to be conducted in the capital, they want us to let them know in advance if there are any applicants, right?”
“Yes. The application deadline in 5 days, and they say they will take a test for 3 days.”
“Okay. Please stick this to the notice board in the main street.”
“I understand. And this is the list of major tenants in this city that you requested last time.”
“Ah! Good. Thank you.”
Leeha imagined for a while what Kijung and Bobae were doing(?) and accepted another document from Peytor.
“Let’s see, who is giving our city a lot of money.…”
With an old man’s tone, he flipped through the papers on which it was written, one by one.
Paying a lot of taxes meant good income, and as the city manager, Leeha already learned the know-how from Ram Hwayeon that he needed to ‘especially’ manage them.
“Even if I can’t give them a nice gift, I should at least help them so that their business doesn’t- hmm?”
While recalling Ram Hwayeon’s teaching, a certain item caught his eye.
“Bar [Kitsune孤]. Does it refer to the ‘fox’? Even the owner…?”
If it was a word that didn’t translate in Middle Earth, it meant that a user set it up on purpose. Not by NPCs.
Besides, isn’t a bar a similar concept to a pub?
If you think of the occupation of the owner Chiyou in Japanese, you could not think of him as a person other than Ranker.
“Peytor-ssi, this Chiyou- are they a stranger?”
“That’s right, Lord-nim.”
“In our city……? Oh, since when? Without reporting to me, users- no, can strangers own buildings in our city-”
“That’s not it, Lord-nim. Chiyou owned that building a long time ago.”
“Ah! When the city still belonged to Minis?”
“Yes.”
Listening to Peytor’s words, Leeha nodded. And at the same time, Leeha felt goosebumbs running down his spine.
‘No way…… no, there’s no need to think about it that way. I can’t be sure. But if she’s this close-no, it’s not just close!’
It was literally in the center! Leeha didn’t feel good from the time he met her once at the end of the national war.
She had a lascivious charm that hid her insidiousness in her body movements.
A certain scenario flashed through Leeha’s mind like lightning.
‘Does it mean that she’s monitoring me inside my own city? I need to investigate quickly- no, no, no.’
Leeha was about to jump up and run out, gathered his thoughts again.
He knew that Chiyou had enough operation to be active in Gaza City.
So?
Should Leeha chase after her and ask ‘You bitch spied on me, right’? Should he ask her ‘Did you sell my information to Faust when he was an agent of the Demon King’?
‘That’s nonsense. Even if I did, there’s no evidence.’
Leeha’s instinct wriggled. At the same time, Faust’s cornered words flashed through his mind.
-That bitch….
‘He obviously said [bitch]. His helper was a woman. And was dealing with information…… It was a mistake to think she was an NPC.’
It was possible for her to be a user.
No at this point, Leeha could already draw a conclusion.
‘A bar…… Holy Grill is only a restaurant in name. Just because it’s a bar doesn’t mean it can’t function as an intelligence guild. I need to find out.’
Stepping out now could ruin an opportunity he had.
Leeha was a sniper, not an assault soldier. He had to aim for a one shot, one kill. In order to do that, it is important to make sure that he doesn’t induce her vigilance.
“Peytor-ssi!”
“Yes, lord.”
“This, please find out which guild the person named Chiyou belonged to. If she doesn’t belong go any guild at the moment, find out whether she joined or left any guild.”
“I understand. Lord are you-”
“I will go out for a while.”
Peytor had no complaints and had no questions.
No NPC can lie or decieve Leeha who had the ‘Dignity’ buff.
“Okay, that’s it…… this time, I will remove her mask and put her in front of the nobles and commoners.”
[Kyu]
“Let’s go, Blaugrun-ssi.”
[Kyuuu]
Leeha put Blaugrun on his shoulder and left the office. And his destination.
“Since gathering information is not easy for us.”
The Holy Grill Gaza City branch.
“Chiyou……. She’s the most famous dancer among strangers in the continent.”
Blaugrun imitated Madam Ju’s expression as she narrowed her brow and became lost in thought.
[Kyuuuu…….]
It was a cute figure that made one want to bite it, but even that figure did not catch Leeha’s eyes.
“Think carefully. Haven’t you seen her before, like when you were chasing after Rising Sun? Or when you were chasing after Shinobi-gumi.”
“I have never received such a report. But- Ha Leeha’s guess seems reasonable enough.”
Madam Ju nodded and continued.
“If she is, she will have enough connections with the high-ranking officials of Minis. If she got involved in the national war, it would have been enough for her to remain hidden on the battlefield.”
“Right? Right? And she’s a user! No, she’s an outlander! What if she spread her guild people all over the continent? It would be enough to create an information network that
connects throughout the continent!”
“But the bond between the outlanders is probably not that strong. Actually, even if Chiyou is the ‘hidden hand’ as Ha Leeha-ssi speculates, she won’t get much benefit.”
“Of course not! It’s because they failed! If it had not been for the intervention of the Pope, wouldn’t the entire Fibiel army, including me, have fallen under her schemes? In fact, if Faust and Crowley’s joint forces, which had come all the way from the Marching Plains, had reached it a little faster,
the army would have been in danger……
The more Leeha thought about it, the more suspicious Chiyou was.
Faust and Crowley.
It was no exaggeration to say that the two were undoubtably the most famous rivalry in Middle Earth.
‘Right. Even then the two of them worked together. It would be impossible without a bridge connecting them in the middle. I thought it was strange from then on, but in the end I couldn’t get any clue…. Who was it that connected the bridge?’
Can an ordinary user do it?
There’s no way.
But it was highly unlikely for the two of them to receive the same quest at the same time.
In the end, it was most likely that a user who knew them well and had a high reputation asked them to go.
“Then what Leeha-ssi wants right now is-”
“I want all the information regarding Chiyou. How many buildings does she own, how many of them are in a city, maybe a restaurant or a bar? If that’s the case, who are her frequent customers, who are the other outlanders by her side, and so on. I want to know everything about her.”
The things that could be handled simply as administrative affairs were less than left to the butler NPC.
If he asked from the attendant NPC, Peytor, he will investigate using Gaza City’s personnel.
However, Leeha tried his best in that respect as well.
If Chiyou was the ‘hidden hand’, then most NPCs might not be able to catch her, but rather get nothing.
Leeha really had to be fully prepared, even in case a snake popped out.
“It won’t be easy if she’s really the hidden hand.”
“That’s why I’m asking madam.”
“Okay. I would investigate. But- to investigate all of it, with how large the scope is, it will take more than a month. If you want to go through every detail,
maybe two or three months? And if she’s really a hidden enemy…. It may take more than half a year.”
Madam Ju wrote Leeha’s request on a piece of paper.
“Okay. We will give you tax rate benefits proportional to the result of the investigation.”
And that alone made Leeha smile.
‘Holy Grill investigated Rising Sun’s secret information, such as their hideout, was investigated in a week to 15 days. But investigating Chiyou’s background takes that long?’
Of course, it must have been set systematically in consideration of her level and ranking, and the influence it would have in Middle Earth, but that was a hint for Leeha.
‘There’s definitely something.’
[Kyukyukyu.]
Blaugrun, who had moved to Leeha’s side before he knew it, nodded while copying Leeha’s expression.
“Ah, since there’s also the existing tax benefits, can you tell me a few more things as a bonus?”
“Bonus. Are you treating information like some fruit? Huhut, alright. I will tell you.”
Madam Ju frowned lightly, but Leeha only shrugged his shoulders and showed a shameless expression.
If the sales of the Holy Grill was good, the income tax would also be high. And the reduction would also be ‘high’.
‘It’s only natural to get a couple of free information.’
Leeha thought about it carefully and asked two questions.
“The first one is simple. A place where I could shoot monsters above level 210 2,500m away. It would be nice if the monsters were a bit bigger.”
“Hmm, that- well. Okay. Accepted. The next one?”
“The second one might be interesting to Madam as well.”
“Why are you taking so long?”
“About the selection of new continent expedition members. Please tell me what you know about the number of people selected and the selection method. Is the capital still within reach?”
“Kek. In any case…… you’re using us quite well.”
Madam Ju smiled.
Leeha suddenly thought how fortunate he was to have this NPC on his side.
***
“This is crazy. What do you see, Blaugrun-ssi?”
[Kyuu.]
Blaugrun shook his head.
Most monsters over level 200 exist in dungeons.
This is because if high-level monsters appeared throughout the fields in Middle Earth, where the majority of mid- to low-level users are, the difficulty will rapidly rise.
If they appeared in fields rather than dungeons, it would only appear in a neutral area, wasteland, etc., not the land of any country, like the place below, and it would also appear in a very remote place.
In a way, it was a natural consideration, but even this seemed strange to Leeha;.
“Huh, The fact that there’s a monster like this in the field, not in the dungeon…… you have to care about the users. A game that can’t be bothered.”
Leeha laid down on the floor and muttered while taking out the Black Bass.
Leeha was currently in a red mountain range near Radcliffe, where he previously went.
‘But it is too much. Radcliffe hasn’t fully restored yet…… Obviously, if the user lord do not intervene and leaves it to the NPC, it would follow the real flow of time..’
The village of Minis, which was attacked by chimera and Bluebeard for the first time, was about to start recovering as NPCs migrated again.
Compared to Gaza City, it was a place where the original form of the town, such as buildings and walls, remained intact, but it was not yet properly restored.
It was a huge difference compared to the fact that Gaza City, which Ram Hwayeon and Leeha managed and rebuilt, had already been restored.
‘Honestly, if Gaza City hadn’t had Ram Hwayeon, there wouldn’t have been much difference. Phew, just thinking about it makes me dizzy.’
How many hours had it already been since he crossed the border of Minis and climb the Red Mountains?
Leeha and Blaugrun finally found small dots embroidering the sky in the distance.
“If possible, please tell me somewhere that has large species…”
Leeha opened the scope cap of the Black Bass and inspected the black dots scattered over the ‘other peaks’.
Those hovering in the sky at the peak of a certain peak of the Red Mountains were flying monsters called ‘harpies’.
They were monsters with the upper body of a woman and the wings and lower body of an eagle.
(To be continued…)
