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Translator: Hidamarisou
Editor: Silavin
The visitation room was just as gloomy and damp as the last time Nick was there.
In front of Nick and Karan was a tiger person with black fur, Leon. He looked at what was placed in front of him with a puzzled expression.
“If you’re going to bring something here bring sweets that’ll keep for longer.”
“Stop complaining. If you don’t want them I’ll take them back with me.”
“Who said I don’t want them… Geez.”
Leon stuffed his cheeks with a steamed bun Nick gave him.
Citrus fruits skins were thinly cut into the wheat flour rind, giving it a fresh sour taste.
The inside was filled with a cream made from egg yolk, sugar, and milk, which went well with the light rind. Karan told Nick this had been gaining popularity recently, so he bought it without hesitation.
However, Nick was starting to think he should’ve gone with something cheaper.
“Well, it’s pretty good.”
Mumbled Leon, to which Karan proudly smiled.
She chose it. It was a new product in the bakery close to Fishermen, and Karan was a big fan of it.
“Do you have tobacco?”
“Nope.”
“Alright… It’s fine, I can still go without tobacco and alcohol, but I had to have something sweet. It’s not like I was ever the kind of kid that loved or hated sweets, but being in a place like this just makes me crave for something different. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“I don’t want to.”
“I guess. Ah, that’s right, apparently my trial is next month or the month after that. The exact date hasn’t been set yet.”
“You talk about it like it has nothing to do with you.”
“I have to think of it like that. Geez, they took away all my magic items I had saved up, to be auctioned off to pay for reparations.”
Leon let out a big sigh and leaned back on his chair.
“Saved up?”
“My main thing was magic items and artifacts. The scams were kind of like a side business.”
“You make it sound cool but in the end you got caught.”
“By you… So what do you want?”
“First of all, we didn’t finish our conversation the other day. We were talking about that Karios guy.”
“Alright… But does that mean there’s something else you want to talk about?”
“Yes, there is a bounty I’m after.”
“Hmm… Well, whatever, it’s fine by me.”
“We can talk about Karios later, let’s talk about our job first.”
Nick was surprised to hear Karan say this.
“Are you sure?”
“We don’t have a lot of time. We can deal with my problem after this.”
“…Alright. Then…”
Nick then summed up the Stepping Man situation.
Leon did not seem too interested at first, but when Nick started talking about magic items that hid his presence and made it so people could not remember his features, Leon frowned.
“…That’s basically it. Do you know any magic items that can do that sort of thing?”
Leon closed his eyes, and did not answer.
“Hey!”
Karan got impatient and screamed.
Leon calmly opened his eyes.
“Sorry, I was thinking.”
“You…”
“The Phantom King Orb. To be more precise, the magic item that uses it.”
“Eh?”
Nick was not expecting to hear something so specific, and let out a foolish sounding voice.
“Long ago, there was a race without a physical body, called the phantom race. I don’t know the specifics either, but apparently they only lived inside things used to exchange information, like
communication orbs and telepath orbs.”
“…What?”
“I told you I don’t know a lot about it either. Anyway, apparently their power to mess with human’s perception is very strong. The Phantom King Orb is something that came from them.”
“Why does it do things like hide someone’s presence and features?”
“…I’m just guessing, but I think it has some kind of restrictive device to make it so it can only make it easier to use certain spells. Most magic items modeled after a certain race, like the Phantom King’s Orb, have effects like amplifying a certain race’s traits or making it so a certain race can use another race’s techniques.
There’s a lot that can be done with them, but they’re hard to control.
“Is there some kind of weak point?”
“Weak point…”
Leon grinned.
Nick was ready to hear Leon demand an outrageous price for the information, but what Leon said next surprised him.
“Bring me the Phantom King’s Orb.”
“You know I can’t bring you magic items. What, are you planning to use it to escape or something?”
“I’m not. I want it sealed like the Sword of Evolution or sold to someone with a decent background. I don’t want it to end up in the black market.”
Nick felt he was speaking very calmly, so much so that it actually made it seem like his usual attitude was an act.
“And… Make sure he tells you how he got his hands on that.”
“I don’t mind… But why?”
“My brother was the one who found it.”
Said Leon, while looking down.
“It’s one of the artifacts that went missing after my brother died. By the time I started looking, there were no more clues to be found.”
“…I see.”
Nick more or less knew Leon’s profile. During the order of the sun’s investigation, he provided testimony as a victim, and ended up learning about how Leon lost his brother and his partners, and how he used to be an adventurer that specialized in exploring ruins and discovering artifacts.
Nick had mixed feelings about him, and said nothing sympathetic or scornful. He just sat silently.
The room was silent for a while, until Leon grabbed one of the things Nick brought him and started eating. His face looked bitter, even though he was eating something sweet.
“…Next time bring tobacco. Ah, the one’s rolled with paper. Bring about ten boxes of matches too.”
“No.”
“Ah? Why?”
“I’m not allowed to bring alcohol, tobacco, cannabis leaves, or medicine not approved by this place’s doctor, not even if I hand them some coin under the table. Forget about it.”
“Tch, boring. There’s no brokers or suppliers here either…”
Something caught Nick’s attention.
“…Are there brokers or something that deal with magic items? Like people that buy and sell stolen and relics?”
“Of course.”
Leon nodded strongly.
“I hear about noble or rich collectors and people with connections, but the ones you really have to watch out for are the ones doing shady business. There are definitely people out there doing business with thieves, people with bounties on their heads, even shady nobles and members of the order of the sun.”
“Anyone come to mind?”
“What’s it to you? Do you have something to sell? You don’t want something do you?”
“There’s something I want to get back.”
“Something stolen?”
The answer to that question didn’t come from Nick.
“…Dragon King Orb.”
Karan said with a cold voice, completely different than usual.
Leon glanced at her, but quickly turned back to Nick.
“That’s not that rare. Orbs from extinct species are one thing, but dragon people are still around, even if their numbers are shrinking. And they’re separated into tribes like fire dragons and water dragons, so a lot of people can make those orbs.
When it comes to that item, its price is not reliant on rarity, what matters is the quality and how much power it has. How’s yours?”
“The chief spent years putting power into the biggest ruby they could find.”
“…If we’re talking about current day stuff, that’s as good as it gets. We’re talking at least one or two million.”
Leon said, shocked.
“So how do we look for it?”
“With something that good, not a lot of people are going to be able to buy and sell it… It wouldn’t just be sold normally, I think it’d have to be auctioned off.”
“Auctioned?”
“There are auctions where things are sold, no questions asked, even if they’re stolen or no one knows where they came from. The location changes every time, so no one knows where they’ll be next.”
“Have you ever been to one of them?”
“Nah. They have a rule where the people submitting the items have to leave everything to the management and just take the money, and you need an invitation or a certain social status to get in. I think pretty soon people are going to start paying poor nobles to use their status but…”
Leon stretched his arms wide, as if saying ‘there you have it’.
“A tobacconist in the north handles items from the Labyrinth City. You can get inside the place where they smuggle stolen items by saying you’re looking for the giraffe’s smoking pipe. You can learn more there.”
“…Could it be that Karios guy is a broker there?”
Leon shook his head.
“Probably not. He’s not some stingy Labyrinth City broker. He’s probably backed by something bigger.”
“Bigger…?”
“When the Silver Tiger Crew was digging around for artifacts, we were contacted by all kinds of brokers, but Karios was a weird one. He went around using a fake name, but the brokers from the Labyrinth City all feared him. It wasn’t just courtesy because of social status or whatever, they were really scared of him.”
“So who is he…?”
“I dunno, but it’s not just anyone that’ll make those brokers so scared. He could be a big deal in a group of thieves, or someone from the militant faction of the Virginie temple or something… But don’t get involved with a guy using a fake name that even those dark brokers fear. You don’t want to end up like me.”
“We have to get involved. That guy stole the Dragon King Orb.”
“Well… That complicates things.”
Said an exasperated Leon, directed at Karan.
Nick looked at her with concern, but Karan did not say a word.
She had her arms folded, and was silently processing what Leon said.
“In any case, thanks for the information.”
“Use it well.”
“Yes.”
“…Tch, they’re all gone.”
Leon grabbed the steamed bun’s packaging and threw it on the floor.
“What bad manners.”
“Whatever. This place is dreary without anything on the floor anyway.”
Said Leon to Karan before laughing loudly.
“Don’t make fun of her.”
“Ah… Wait, we haven’t even talked about the Phantom King Orb’s weakness.”
“That’s right. Let’s end it with that.”
“It’s not that hard to break bewitching magic.”
Said Leon as he raised two fingers.
“First, you can use herbs that stimulate awareness or healing magic. The problem is that you need to have someone that can use specific magic, and if you use too much medicine in a short amount of time, your body will start to resist it. Don’t rely on it too much.”
“…What else?”
“The simplest and most reliable method is to break through the illusion. If someone twists your perception, you just have to get it back to normal. Like for example…”
Nick was shocked when Leon told him the specific method.
“…Are you sure?”
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