Hilde and Lakan fanned the flames, while Haval secretly tossed in logs, escalating the massive inferno that became the disaster in the slums.
However, much to the disappointment of Haval—the culprit behind it all—the aftermath was absurdly anticlimactic and dull.
“…So he just retreated? That Lakan?”
“Yes, Lord Haval.”
The information relayed by spies from the Adventurer Guild was being compiled by Haval’s aide as he reported to the guild leader, nodding slightly in response to Haval’s question.
“According to the report, the Bagest folk returned quietly to their territory shortly after the Guild’s intervention began.”
Countless slum dwellers lost their lives, and quite a few Beastfolk members of Bagest perished as well, but…
“There was just one senior casualty. Lakan has quite a serious injury… but he’s a Beastfolk. It’s meaningless since we couldn’t kill him.”
“And the other side?”
“They’re not much different. The Guild sustained no damages. That eagle lady escaped the slums without a scratch.”
… A battle where not a single key player perished, ending in an ambiguous manner. For Haval, who had hoped for mutual destruction between Bagest, Hilde, and the Guild, it was nothing short of infuriating.
“…I can’t understand this.”
Haval’s remaining eye clouded with confusion and doubt.
“That bastard, just pulled out without a resolution? After all that ruckus, with no gains whatsoever…?”
It was completely contrary to Lakan’s known personality and behavior. With no way to comprehend the pact Lakan had with Yuron’s biological father—Albert—it was truly baffling.
“Is that all the report contains? You don’t know why Lakan retreated?”
“Yes, that’s all I have…”
“Ugh… I guess there’s no choice. I thought it might go smoothly, but nothing is ever easy.”
Haval clicked his tongue and sighed softly.
After dragging the Guild into the slum incident and severely cutting both sides’ strength, he had planned to strike from the shadows and swallow everything up.
It wasn’t a grand strategy for the organization’s future; it was simply a casual ploy to take advantage of the opportunity…
‘…What a pity. If things had gone well, surpassing Piacere could have been possible.’
But a failure was still a failure. The bitter taste was unavoidable.
“What should we do now? Should we attempt additional maneuvers?”
“…No, we’ll hold off on that.”
Of course, he couldn’t just remain fixated on something that had already failed. Clinging to a botched plan would only cause further complications.
“Hold off… you say?”
“Yes. If the tail is too long, it gets stepped on. That brat Yuron, for better or worse, sniffs out something suspicious like a ghost. Same with Cornelo.”
If they interfered further, the Guild and Piacere could discover their actions.
Realizing this, Haval decided to quietly observe the situation for the time being without any tricky maneuvers.
Of course, it wasn’t only that reason.
“Moreover, Lakan is bothering me. He’s not the type to simply retreat… There must be a reason he had to.”
Even when he did act, he needed to figure out the sudden reason behind Lakan’s retreat.
In a situation where he couldn’t understand why Lakan acted so whimsically, coming up with a new scheme might lead to failure again for the same reasons.
Haval thought it wiser to step back rather than risk wasting time and possibly being caught.
… In fact, Yuron had already labeled this as Haval’s doing, so it wouldn’t have much significance even if Haval tried to act cautiously now.
◆◆
After witnessing much bloodshed, the slum disaster concluded ambiguously.
The Pesengwigel Adventurer Guild, questioning the outcome, decided to take a step back and carefully monitor the situation.
What about the other organizations?
“That woman was at Lakan’s level? That’s surprising; I thought she was just a flunky pretending to be an eagle.”
Cornelo, the boss of the Piacere Family, took an interest in Hilde’s sheer strength.
If she could contend with Lakan, she must at least be at the level of royal knights. At such a young age, such power couldn’t be dismissed as mere foolishness.
‘…Could it be that what was said was true? Is she really an eagle?’
If her abilities were that impressive, she might not just be a mere impersonator, but actually one of the Eagle’s upper echelons as she claimed.
‘No, that can’t be right.’
Yet Cornelo promptly dismissed his own suspicions. He had to reject those thoughts.
‘The royal family, why would they do that now?’
He knew.
The Eagle, known as an information guild or assassination organization in the underworld, had the royal family of the Kingdom of Hervor lurking behind it.
Of course, he didn’t know the identity of the leader, but he was well aware that someone from the royal family was giving them orders.
Or rather, he happened to find out.
Years ago.
Cornelo, who had temporarily hosted remnants of the Eagle who had been defeated by Lakan, had encountered a man who came to recover them.
He didn’t hear the man’s name, but the token presented at that time was undoubtedly the seal of a royal knight.
That day, Cornelo learned a bit about the secrets of the Eagle.
The reason the kingdom chose not to eliminate the assassin groups scattered across previous territories, leaving them unchecked.
And the reason why the formidable organization, the Eagle, couldn’t make a move in Pesengwigel, retreating right after one defeat.
– You must remain in Pesengwigel. It’s more convenient for us to manage if you stay in one place.
The words spoken with contempt by the royal knight were a reminder of how the Hervor royal family viewed Pesengwigel as a sort of trash dump.
Gathering those who had enough power to not be easily provoked, yet lacked the character to be enlisted as knights, to dispose of them here.
While they waste their strengths in turf wars instead of spreading out, how convenient and desirable would that be from the kingdom’s perspective?
That was why the Eagle decided to withdraw from Pesengwigel.
Even if they brought in more forces to dismantle a few organizations, it would only scatter the leftovers to other cities, so they opted to let it be.
As long as the current balance of power was maintained, troublemakers like Lakan would be too busy plotting to swallow the city whole.
The fact that a royal knight himself came to clarify the situation was also tied to that line of thought.
When Piacere displayed movements to expand their influence to other cities, the royal knight personally arrived to showcase the backing of the royal family, warning to forget their foolish ambitions.
Essentially, a threat to waste their lives on a turf war they could never win and stay holed up in this city forever.
It was quite frustrating, but for Cornelo, there was no way to reject it.
Given the nature of Piacere’s business, Cornelo had numerous connections, including several high-ranking nobles, but…
‘…Ultimately, they’re just nobles. If I oppose the royal family, while they might be okay, I’d definitely be assassinated.’
Trusting the nobility while opposing the royal family? That would be an act reserved for madmen.
Unless one dreamed of rebellion, such behavior was utterly nonsensical.
Thus, from that day on, Cornelo committed himself to maintaining the balance of power in Pesengwigel as implied by the royal knight.
Regardless, thanks to that encounter, Cornelo became aware that the Eagle’s actions were aligned with the intentions of the royal family, leading him to label ‘Krimhilde’ as a mere impersonator.
If she were a key member of the Eagle, she would undoubtedly be a royal knight or someone of equivalent status.
Would such a person recklessly carry out tasks like this?
All the reports of ‘Krimhilde’s’ actions had been relatively foolish ones that seemed feasible for a Troll, not aligning with the effective strength the royal family was keen on nurturing.
The royal family had been diligent in providing training on both tactics and culture, along with brute force, to preserve their dignity.
‘Surely, that ruffian butcher woman can’t belong to the royal family.’
Cornelo was convinced.
There was no doubt that ‘Krimhilde’ possessed abilities at least on par with royal knights, yet she wasn’t a royal knight nor even a member of the Eagle.
It was undeniable that the royal family would show no interest in the slums of Pesengwigel. All of this was entirely Hilde’s own unilateral decision.
‘Truly perplexing. Who in the world is that woman…?’
Sometimes, partial knowledge can be more foolish than ignorance.
Had he been like others and known nothing about the Eagle, he wouldn’t have had any reason to suspect Krimhilde’s affiliation. That fragmentary knowledge had led to unnecessary misconceptions.
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