Chapter 116

"Every time I dig into someone's secret, it's a new experience. Why is that, I wonder?"

"..."

Onseu Om listened silently to my words.

It wasn't that his temper had suddenly mellowed, or that he had gained some enlightenment and changed for the better.

The moment he saw my face, his intention was to immediately sever my neck.

However, at that moment, some great force held him back and he was simply biding his time, unable to figure out what it was.

'Fantasy Finger is more effective against those who are on high alert.'

Dozens of invisible hands were flying around, each with the power to twist steel.

In the face of unseen power, people are bound to flinch. Ignorance breeds fear, and fear binds the mind.

Being held just once was enough to keep Onseu Om completely still and on edge.

He couldn't help but feel tense, not knowing where or how the unseen force would come from.

"Where was I? Ah, right, I was talking about how you came here for the Del Conti family. Onseu Om and Pneuve Freira. Two guest knights from the Del Conti family came here, after all."

I chuckled.

With Onseu Om being silent, it was easy for me to talk.

"But helping Meh isn't the real reason, is it? If it were, there'd be no reason to deceive him."

Pneuve and Onseu Om entered this sewer at the request of the Bururade Canal Company.

At least, that's what it seemed like on the surface.

There was a hidden reason.

The reason Onseu Om had to feign death.

"Then what is it? Does this sewer hold some important meaning for the Del Contis? Even so, how important could it be to send two of their top three forces, Pneuve Freira and Onseu Om?"

No matter how I thought about it, it felt like overkill.

Why would they act so excessively?

The only reason to move both Pneuve and Onseu Om...

"Aha, these guys are in a hurry."

I slapped my palm together with an exaggerated clap.

"Meh's arrival has made them very anxious. There's something they have to deal with or retrieve without being seen by him."

Onseu Om remained silent.

"So what did you do? You had to disappear without being noticed by Meh. Did you pretend to be dead? If you pretended to die after saving them, they wouldn't suspect you out of guilt, right?"

What a naive idea!

I scoffed.

Going out to smoke alone and then a sudden torrent of water rushes in?

It's too obvious that you opened the waterway yourself.

You knew the way too well and if you were going to pretend to be a good person, you should have done it from the start.

From the perspective of a secret-keeper, Onseu Om's acting was a disaster from beginning to end. It was impossible to find a single flawless spot.

"Come on, listen up, I still have more to say."

"..."

"The Del Conti family hid something in the sewer. But not only is the fact that they hid it important, what they hid is also extremely important."

The Regressor Prince swept back his blond hair.

His blue eyes glinted in the light of the mana lamp.

"This isn't the first time you've come down here. You're so knowledgeable about the geography that you can open the waterways at will, and you've even hidden preserved food and water in various places. That means you've been coming here regularly."

Onseu Om's face grew more and more rigid.

It was so rigid it had become sharp.

He had taken out a cigarette and was puffing on it.

His hand trembled with murderous intent, but I pretended not to see it.

It was a blade-like murderous intent, but it posed no threat.

"Something that won't spoil in the sewer, but needs to be hidden away very carefully, and especially something that the Bururade Canal Company must not find."

The Regressor Prince stroked his chin.

"Hmm, could it be that you're smuggling goods that pass through the canal?"

"!!!"

"Since you have to pay a portion to the canal company and pay taxes if you put it on the ledger, are you secretly receiving precious metals and hiding them here instead?"

The Brass Arm unknowingly chewed on his cigarette.

It meant that my guess was correct.

The half-eaten cigarette rolled onto the floor.

Onseu Om stomped on it with a very agitated motion.

There was a sizzling sound as the fire went out.

"How unlucky, Del Conti. A mana anomaly happened in your tax evasion warehouse, causing magical beasts to appear. But what can you do? You have to get rid of it before the canal company finds out."

The sewer was dark.

Onseu Om's face was also dark.

Only I was laughing brightly.

"Well, Brass Arm, what do you think of my guess?"

"...You know a lot. You're very smart."

Onseu Om finally spoke.

He hadn't been standing still.

His Brass Arm was gushing out navy-blue mana.

The navy-blue flames looked like they could destroy anything, and in reality, they could turn a town or two into dust in an instant. He was ready to do it, regardless of whether the ground collapsed.

"If you're that smart, you must know that you're going to die now."

"What are you saying?"

I said in a nonchalant tone.

"I'm tired of indulging your tough act, Onseu Om."

The first Ars of Septem Arcana, 'Fantasy Finger'. The invisible hands began to wander.

Their number easily exceeded a hundred.

was on a completely different level from when I was eleven years old.

I had already recovered more than half of the power I had when I was called a hero.

"I didn't want to have to search this whole wide sewer, so I let you go free. So I could swallow up your tax evasion warehouse in one go."

The invisible hands were invisible, so no matter how much they wandered, Onseu Om couldn't see them.

But he could feel them.

The intuition of a swordsman who was called a Master, and the navy-blue mana on his right arm, felt and trembled at something he couldn't see.

The name of the reason for his trembling was probably fear.

"You..."

Onseu Om's voice trembled from the unknown eeriness and I scratched my neck.

Just retracing a little of the overflowing frustration made me feel nervous.

An emotion darker than the shallow annoyance Onseu Om showed flowed through my veins.

The eeriness made Onseu Om shiver.

"...Are you a human?"

"What do I look like, then?"

It wasn't a matter of strength.

Onseu Om felt that there was something indescribable inside of me.

I paid no mind and was about to bring out the third Ars of Septem Arcana, 'The Heated Iron Bloodline'.

The one that was ridiculously heavy and hot.

The iron veins that I pulled out from my neck.

It was inconvenient in a narrow space, but it didn't matter.

I had escaped the Empire and spent seven years in the West.

I was with the jade-eyed man, Amethus.

To the current me, Onseu Om was nothing more or less than something not to be taken lightly.

"I was wondering why you closed the sluice gate, but it seems you've cut off your own escape route, Brass Arm."

"Onseu didn't close the sluice gate."

"Hmm?"

A man was walking towards me.

He had dark skin, sharp eyes, and a long mustache.

He was the head of the Technical Department for the Bururade Canal Company.

At least, that's how he had introduced himself.

"Mushat, Shion."

"...Meh?"

Behind Meh's head, a light shimmered.

A mage's symbol, a Halo.

The light began at three points, a Binary Halo.

It was proof that he was a Three-Star Mage.

"I apologize for the deception. I closed the sluice gate."

"Hmm?"

"I will not deceive you anymore. From what I've heard, you have a correct grasp of the situation, Shion."

A Three-Star Mage, one step away from being called an Archmage.

The highest point a mortal can reach. Meh took a small brooch from his pocket.

"My name is Meh al-Hmed. I'm a special inspector for the Bururade Peninsula Alliance."

"...You were an inspector for the alliance."

"Being the head of the Technical Department for the canal company wasn't a lie. It's my main job when I'm not on an inspection mission."

Meh al-Hmed put the brooch symbolizing an inspector back into his pocket.

"I was dispatched here not only for the magical beast incidents around the Grand Canal but also for the alleged tax evasion of the Del Conti family. The allegations have been confirmed, so I plan to confiscate the evidence."

He looked at me.

"Mr. Shion, I formally request your cooperation."

***

"Cooperate?"

I scoffed.

"Why should I cooperate?"

"An inspector from the Peninsula Alliance has the right to demand cooperation from citizens of Bururade. And the citizens of Bururade are obligated to cooperate with an inspector."

"I know. I'm asking if you have the power to force me to fulfill that obligation."

"I'm making a request, Shion."

Meh's voice was still polite.

His attitude of asking for the other party's opinion, regardless of his status or power, didn't seem bad.

"I'll promise you 20% of the confiscated goods as compensation."

"I can take it all for myself this way."

"Dirty money brings misfortune easily. I don't believe you're the kind of person who doesn't know that."

His words were already fluent, but after revealing his identity, his tongue became even smoother. Meh spoke as if to drive the point home.

"Furthermore, if it's compensation, you'll also gain honor. Didn't you mention the name Verchello?"

"You know how to negotiate. Let's make it 30%."

"I will do so."

I held up three fingers.

"But you'll give me 30% after taxes are deducted, right?"

"Of course."

"Give me 30% before taxes are deducted."

"...That's an unreasonable request."

30% before taxes would be double the amount of 30% after taxes.

However, it was difficult for Meh to refuse.

The Brass Arm, Onseu Om, was a strong opponent, even for a Three-Star Mage.

Especially when facing him in a narrow path.

After a brief calculation of profit and loss, Meh nodded his head.

"Alright. I have that authority."

"I fully agree. Then all that's left is to defeat that one-armed man and raid the tax evasion warehouse."

Onseu Om scratched his head.

It was clear that he was furious.

"You guys are annoying."

He said, huffing and puffing. He desperately wanted a cigarette.

"A kid with an unknown background and a Three-Star Horm mage? You're not easy, but you have no idea."

Navy-blue mana surged.

It wasn't just a simple flame shape like before.

It gathered and condensed into one and then it became a sharp, extremely sharp sword.

The Brass Arm, Onseu Om, the man who was once a Master of the great nation Maesh, held a sword.

His momentum instantly swelled and filled the passage.

Meh felt his breath quicken from the sharp momentum that rose to his chin.

"This Onseu Om has only just drawn his sword."

I let out a small gasp as I watched Onseu Om holding the navy-blue mana sword.

His skill level was higher than I expected.

It was so much that even I, who had watched Amethus's swordsmanship up close, felt that it was no ordinary skill.

It seemed he hadn't neglected his training even after losing the title of Master.

"..."

Instead of speaking, Onseu Om drew his sword.

He seemed to twitch his wrist for a moment, and a navy-blue slash flew out.

It was filled with the power of three 16-core mana reactors, burning the air as it flew.

"That's not enough."

The Three-Star Mage chanted a spell he had already prepared.

A ripple spread in the space surrounding Meh and me.

A Three-Star magic, 'Rapid Transmission'.

The navy-blue slash lost its physical force and passed through us, disappearing.

"...A spatial mage?"

Onseu Om grunted.

Among mages, those who can control space are rare.

They are as strong as they are rare, and even more troublesome.

Onseu Om was so desperate to have a cigarette that he couldn't help himself.

"This is getting annoying."