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Translator: Hidamarisou
Editor: Silavin
The Order of the Sun rushed to the scene, and Nick and Tianna left the collapsed Leon and the results of his rampage up to them to clean up.
If they were questioned while still in their 《Union》 form, it might have come to light that they held onto the sacred sword, so they fled the scene.
The casino was left in an awful state, but fortunately, this meant that the Order of the Sun could not afford to chase Nick and Tianna.
There was a lot of damage and chaos, but above all else, the Order of the Sun had to secure Leon, who escaped from their captivity
A week later.
“So you want to visit? Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
The Order of the Sun’s detention facility was always very strict, especially towards adventurers. As Nick walked through the station’s pathway, he could feel the piercing stares.
A lot of adventurers were vulgar, and many made money going after criminals and wanted individuals, which was supposed to be the Order of the Sun’s job. Because of this, the guild and the Order of the Sun were in a constant state of cold war.
“Listen, Leon’s trial isn’t officially over. You’re being given a special pass to meet him because you provided proof of his scams, but if you do anything that interferes with our job, you’ll be thrown out immediately, understood?”
This sort of intimidation was nothing unusual.
“It won’t take long.”
“And there will be someone with you observing. Any suspicious movements and…”
“I understand.”
Nick inserted a silver coin in that person’s sleeve.
“…It is the Order’s duty to treat citizens with kindness, so I suppose we can extend your meeting’s duration, but you cannot remain by yourself.”
“How about some distance?”
“Fine.”
The knight nodded in an exaggerated manner. Nick couldn’t see the knight’s expression due to the helmet with a visor, but the knight didn’t seem very honest.
Nick was led through a damp and gloomy looking stone hallway.
The knight opened a few locked doors, and a metallic sound echoed.
“This is it.”
Nick found himself on a strangely intimidating floor with a low ceiling.
There were six rooms with iron bars and stone walls. They were cells.
Coincidentally, only one room was occupied.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Hi, you look good”
“Ha, what’s good about this?”
The prisoner was Leon. The knight that accompanied Nick waited by the exit, far enough to not be able to listen, courtesy of what he received in his sleeve.
“…So what do you want? Did you come to look at the guy you beat twice?”
Said Leon in a self-deprecating manner.
“Yes, I’m here to see you.”
“What’s with that? Well, if you want to look then look. Go away when you’re done.”
Leon, perplexed, sighed, but there was no sign of the irritation and anger from the last time they met.
Nick, thinking this was strange, stared at Leon.
“What? Did you seriously only come here to look at my face?”
“N-no, I was just expecting more complaints and insults.”
“Idiot, what if I do that and they start treating me worse?”
“I guess you have a point…”
Nick was thrown off by this, and scratched his head.
“Well, I’m actually here to ask something… But first, I’ll explain what happened afterwards.”
“Ou.”
“The casino, the building itself, suffered quite a bit of damage, but there were no human casualties. I mean, some people were hurt, but no one died. Actually, the ones that were hurt the most were the knights that were with you when you escaped.”
“Hmph.”
“You did a good job holding back, which means you still had some sense left in you right?”
“I dunno.”
“Claudine and Beck were taken away too. They’re being accused of fraud, extortion and marriage fraud, so I’m guessing they’ll be locked up for a while.”
“I guess.”
“The Mad… The Sword of Evolution was sealed away. No one knows where it is.”
Nick said while keeping his voice down, and there was finally some emotion on Leon’s face.
“…So that blonde girl really was you. When did you start dressing like a woman?”
“There was a little change in my mental state. It’s not good for people to let stress pile up without releasing it once in a while.”
“…”
Leon glared at Nick with a frightful expression.
“I’m just kidding, don’t be so mad.”
“Tch… So you had a sacred sword too uh?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“The real question is why did you keep quiet about it? I know you realized it well before I told you.”
“…I don’t really like the idea of you people being paraded around as heroes.”
Mumbled Leon with a sour expression.
“I guess that’s fine then.”
“But if it causes problems for you I’ll tell everyone that’ll listen.”
“If that time comes, I’ll have my fill of being treated like a hero, just like you said.”
It was just a bluff.
If Leon blabbed about this, Survivors would be in trouble.
One of Nick’s reasons for coming to this place was to see what Leon knew, and what he intended to do, since he was the only one that knew who the person he fought in the casino was. He was relieved to see that it didn’t seem like Leon had any intention of spreading that information.
“You really are an irritating guy.”
“Same to you… Let’s get into the main point.”
“What is it?”
“Where did you find that sword?”
“Like I’d tell you.”
“Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t.”
Nick sighed, and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
“…What’s that?”
“A lawyer’s card. He’s used to dealing with host club employees and gangsters.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I’ll introduce him to you if you tell me.”
It was quiet for a while, and after a few minutes, Leon spoke.
“What are you going to do if I tell you?”
“Nothing really. Bond… Our sacred sword wants to investigate, and keeps saying he doesn’t want the legacy of the ancient civilization to be used by weird people.”
“Aren’t you personally interested?”
“One annoying little guy is enough for me.”
“…Gimme that.”
“Here. I’m just going to say it, I’m not paying. You have a lot saved up don’t you?”
Nick tossed the paper to Leon, who looked at it for a bit, and put it away inside his clothes.
“And don’t expect too much from a lawyer. You’re definitely not going to be declared innocent, so be ready to count your sentence in years.”
“I get that… I found it on the last floor of Metal Moon Hell.”
“That B ranked one…”
“Yes… a long time ago, a party called Silver Tiger Crew conquered it, but the guild keeps records of what was picked up and how it was conquered. Once the labyrinth’s structure is understood, there’s no artifacts left.”
“Got it.”
“Nick. What happened to the Sword of Evolution?”
“It’s been sealed. I’m not telling you where.”
“No, that’s good, don’t tell anyone, not even the guild or the Order. I won’t tell anyone about your sacred sword either.”
“That’s very nice of you.”
“I guess, but honestly, I’m relieved. Secretly having the Mad Moon Sword was a burden. I thought it’d be a trump card but it’s more like a bomb. I’m giving up on that, and even the idea of eating bad food for a while doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.”
Leon’s expression was surprisingly peaceful.
Nick was surprised. He thought it would be very difficult to get him to talk.
“You’ve changed…”
“Jokes aside Nick, listen.”
Nick felt the pressure of Leon’s serious tone, and quietly listened.
“There are people here in Labyrinth City after the legacy of the ancient civilization. They’re so good at finding out people’s weak points that they can even trounce high rank adventurers, and they stop at nothing to get what they want. Thinking back, they were probably the ones that caused the Silver Tiger Crew to collapse.”
“Ah? What’s this all of a sudden?”
Nick was confused by the sudden shift in the conversation.
“The Silver Tiger Crew successfully conquered Mad Moon Hell and got a hold of some artifacts. Because of this, all sorts of merchants and proxies for nobles approached them wanting to buy them, but among them, there was one person that convinced a member of the party to betray their comrades and sell the artifacts on the black market… Thinking about it now, the sale itself wasn’t the objective, it was a means to destroy the party. All to make sure the artifacts were taken.”
“Hold on, I’m not following you.”
“Go to the guild and look up what happened to the Silver Tiger Crew. You’ll know what I mean.”
“A-alright.”
“When we started making good money with the Steel Tiger Crew, I started looking into what happened back then. The Silver Tiger Crew’s member was tricked by a blonde longsword user with a fake name. I still don’t know his real name… But I think he goes by Karios nowadays.”
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Oh, it’s that guy
Thanks for the chapter
Of course the people who scammed Nick have a relation to the one who scammed Karan!
Also let me make a prediction: Karan’s dragon jewel was meant to be her betrothal gift for the man she’d fall in love with. Probably when they eventually meet and defeat Karios and recover the jewel she’ll give it to Nick.
KARIOS?!?!? Dun dun dun