Chapter 105

Chapter 105. Become a Butterfly (1)

Maroon, the regional head of the mercenary division in the Lilian Kingdom, couldn’t believe it.

“Depositing money for real?”

Keter, the infamous troublemaker of House Sephira, had deposited a whopping 100,000 gold into “his” account.

10,000 gold. Even Maroon, an Orichalcon-class mercenary, the highest rank in the mercenary world, only earns 10,000 gold after completing an S-rank request.

After deducting the cost of Elixirs and equipment repairs, only about 8,000 gold remains. Essentially, it would take completing twelve S-rank missions without dying to earn 100,000 gold.

And that amount of money was sent by Keter under the name of a “bribe.” Immediately after cutting off communication.

“What kind of person is this? According to the information, he’s clearly from the lawless city of Absinthe, and it’s written that he’s nothing but a troublemaker.”

Maroon also knew what kind of place Absinthe was.

It’s just a city of trash. How could Keter, from such a trash city, have 100,000 gold?

“Being from Absinthe is likely a smokescreen. If he had the financial power to casually spend 100,000 gold, his name would have been known in Absinthe.”

Maroon took out an oval whetstone from the desk drawer. Then, he pulled out his weapon and began sharpening the blade right there.

“It’s also very suspicious that he’s requesting Platinum-rank and above mercenaries without any restrictions under the pretext of preparing for the Southern Sword Tournament. Isn’t there some ulterior motive to use our mercenaries?”

Swish, swish. The sound of the blade being smoothly sharpened echoed through the silent office.

“I don’t think House Sephira has the guts for that. It must be purely for the sake of thoroughly preparing for the Southern Sword Tournament. It’s House Sephira, after all, not some other family.”

Maroon was well aware that House Sephira was known for being timid, defensive, and not greedy.

And above all…

“The deposit was made through the Infinite Bank.”

The Infinite Bank, which operates globally, is an institution that produces coins and banknotes used worldwide, managed by a divine being akin to a king of a nation.

However, the owner of the Infinite Bank has never revealed themselves to the world, nor has they ever displayed any force. All they do is manufacture and circulate money. Beyond that, they never interfere with the world.

There was only one time when the Infinite Bank’s power was revealed to the world. It was an incident where they annihilated an alchemist guild that was attempting to produce and circulate counterfeit currency.

The reason this incident became famous is simple.

There were no witnesses.

After just one night, the counterfeiters were found dead, crushed by a giant gear, and their facilities were reduced to ashes. Yet, there were no traces of a fight or anyone coming and going.

They didn’t rise to the sky or sink into the ground. There were no traces of magic or physical evidence. They just appeared in the world and suddenly disappeared.

The reason the Infinite Bank’s involvement became known was because they left a message.

– Do not defile money.

Since then, no one has dared to attempt counterfeiting. Nor has anyone tried to rob the Infinite Bank. Of course, even before that, there had never been a single thief who successfully robbed the Infinite Bank’s vault.

In any case, this is why the saying “The safest place in the world is the Infinite Bank’s vault” is accepted as an established fact.

“Although the source of the money is suspicious, if it was delivered through the Infinite Bank, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

Moreover, the Infinite Bank does not accept “problematic” money. Stolen money or borrowed money is absolutely not accepted.

Only money earned through “legitimate means and methods by the depositor” is accepted. How they discern this remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

“It’s not like I’m happy to accept a bribe or anything. But if the other party is offering money, there’s no reason to refuse, right? It’s not like Keter is threatening me, saying he won’t send mercenaries if I don’t comply like other Upper Nobles, or that he’ll strip me of my authority if I step out of line. Thinking about it, it’s annoying.”

Clang!

Maroon threw the whetstone and fiddled with the sword in his hand.

“Even if House Sephira is politically isolated, why should I care about the nobles’ opinions and start or stop requests? No, if the other party offers money, we just say, ‘Got it. We’ll take the request.’ If the mercenaries accept it, they do. If not, they don’t. That’s what being a mercenary is about, damn it.”

Beep!

Maroon pressed the call button on the table with the tip of his sword.

But nothing happened.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Thud!

“Wait a minute, you bastard! Do you think I’m as free as you?”

A man who rushed into the office picked up the whetstone from the floor and threw it back at Maroon.

Maroon caught the whetstone with his hand and said,

“Burgundy. A direct request just came in. Draft a request announcement and distribute it to all branches.”

“What is it, a war? There’s no sign of that. Maybe my instincts are dead.”

“It might be a war… Do you know who contacted us? House Sephira. The famous archery family, House Sephira.”

“We’ve never given our branch’s Akashic Code to House Sephira. Did you tell them?”

“Of course not. I’ve never even met them. How isolated is House Sephira? There’s that bastard Keter who joined about a month ago. He contacted us.”

“Why are there so many suspicious words in one sentence? How does a bastard who joined a month ago know our mercenary branch’s Akashic Code?”

“Would I tell you? Go ask him how he knows. Anyway! Just draft the request.”

“Are you serious? If we take a request from House Sephira, the nobles will throw a fit.”

“Are you also worried about those bastards’ opinions?”

“Is there any reason not to?”

“Fair enough. But Keter is offering five times the usual fee.”

“Not double, not triple… five times? We have to take it. When other nobles don’t even offer that much. I want to go too.”

“Stop. They don’t need Orichalcon rank. From Platinum to Amantium. Only swordsmen, no limit on numbers. But they must arrive by lunchtime tomorrow.”

“I see their intention. They’re preparing for the Southern Sword Tournament.”

Maroon took out an identification tag from the drawer and threw it to Burgundy. It was an Amantium-rank tag with the name Garen on it.

“If they don’t need Orichalcon, then Amantium will do. Go and check it out. It’s a good opportunity. A chance to see the isolated House Sephira, especially Keter. We need to figure out what kind of guy he is.”

“This is insane. Not only am I demoted to deputy branch head, but now I have to go undercover as an Amantium rank? Hey, you bastard. Just because you’re the branch head, you think you can do anything?”

“I’ll give you a month’s vacation when you get back.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Deputy Branch Head Burgundy left immediately, fearing Maroon might change his mind.

* * *

Three days had passed since the match between Jairo and Jordic.

During that time, Jordic was safely released after House Baydant paid the ransom, and Luke defeated Jairo.

Luke was both happy and not. The gap in skill was still vast. After all, Jairo was also growing.

Jairo, who had been called a genius since childhood, couldn’t have learned nothing from fighting the trio. In fact, his understanding of archery had surpassed theirs.

Yet, the reason Luke could defeat Jairo wasn’t because he was more skilled. It was due to the environment and situation.

Jairo hadn’t changed from the image he first showed. In other words, Jairo was fighting under the assumption of being in a deliberately stagnant state.

If he didn’t do this, no matter what they did, it would have been impossible for the trio to catch up to Jairo.

Moreover, Jairo didn’t attack to the point of killing the trio. On the other hand, the trio pushed Jairo as if they were trying to kill him.

In the end, if it came to a situation where they could kill each other, in a real fight, the trio would obviously die first. But Jairo couldn’t do that, so at that moment, he had to give up attacking and either dodge or block.

Ultimately, the trio’s task was to create a situation where they had to risk their lives. If they could break through Jairo’s defense and evasion in that situation and land a decisive blow, they would win.

In truth, this was a dangerous way to spar.

Unlike Jairo, the trio didn’t have the capacity to rationally stop their attacks at the critical moment. They had to use all their stamina and focus to create that situation.

But it wasn’t a problem. If Jairo truly got serious, escaping that situation would be easier than flipping a palm.

As Keter had assumed from the start, Jairo was holding back to the level of a 3-Star Knight.

The moment he showed the realm of a 4-Star Knight, no matter how deadly the trio’s attacks aimed at his vitals were, he could easily block them.

“You’ve worked hard, kid.”

Jairo deflected Luke’s arrow aimed at his neck with his Aura Armor and congratulated him on his victory.

Luke was devastated. It was an attack he had aimed with the intent to kill, but when Jairo got serious, even that attack failed miserably.

Yet, he was told he had won, but the joy of victory didn’t reach him.

“I’m not a kid…”

Luke couldn’t finish his sentence and collapsed. The moment he heard he had won, something in his mind snapped.

A full 17 days.

He had spent 17 days in the mountains without food or water, without a safe place to sleep at night.

Of course, he had barely survived on the occasional rain and fruit, but every day he exhausted his extreme physical and mental strength. Standing was a miracle, and that miracle had now ended.

Keter spoke to the servants he had prepared in advance.

“Take him to the mansion. Treat him to a full course.”

Luke was carried away by the servants.

Anis and Taragon might have been envious, but they showed no expression. Not because they weren’t envious, but because they didn’t even have the mental energy to spare for emotions.

Their minds were filled with nothing but thoughts of fighting Jairo. The fear that if they didn’t win, they would eventually starve to death and tarnish House Sephira’s name was also there.

Although Taragon had landed the first blow on Jairo, there was no reversal in the order of who defeated Jairo.

The good news was that all three of them had defeated Jairo on the same day. Jairo hadn’t held back. It was proof that the trio’s skills and techniques had greatly improved.

On a night when the sun had set.

After the trio had finished their Elixir bath at the mansion and were resting while drinking potions instead of water, Keter and Jairo were chatting in the half-destroyed Fourth Training Ground.

“Watching you fight with the kids today, I sensed some impatience. Did you just pass them all because you were annoyed?”

“Exploiting emotional gaps is also part of combat, isn’t it? Holding back is starting to show, so I thought it was appropriate to wrap it up here. If you weren’t satisfied, Boss, you would have told them to fight again, right?”

“You drunkard, you know people’s minds too well. I guess it’s the limit of training. No matter how extreme the environment or motivation you create, it can’t match real combat.”

“Still, even if they fight a 3-Star Knight right now, they won’t be humiliated. They can hold their own against a 2-Star Knight. It’s a dramatic improvement. A result beyond their individual talent and effort. If it weren’t for you, Boss, no one could have made them grow like this.”

“Haha, no bonus for that.”

“Didn’t work.”

Jairo downed his drink. It was the poison liquor Keter had made. He emptied it to the last drop.

“Ugh-! Let’s make this the last time I drink this poison liquor.”

“Leaving already?”

“I think they’ve earned the right to hear it.”

The reason Jairo joined House Sephira.

It was because of a promise with Keter.

Jairo’s face turned red from the poison liquor, but his eyes remained clear. Rather, they burned even more intensely as he looked at Keter.

“Tell me. How to kill a god.”