Chapter 7.1

Chapter 7.1

“Kuhn, I’m coming in.”

Walter knocked on the door and waited a moment before entering inside. The desk was empty. He placed the plate of snacks he had brought with him onto the desk and looked around.

Soon, he found the owner of the desk. Kuhn was leaning on the window, half-sitting on the windowsill with one leg propped up.

“What are you doing”

“I’m resting.”

“Then take a nap comfortably on your bed.”

Kuhn waved his hand as if it was too troublesome and didn’t say a word in reply. Walter grumbled.

“Why are you so apathetic? It’s just as Russ said.”

“…”

“You’ve completely stopped going outside, and you’ve been holed up at home for several days now. You’re even starting to smell a bit moldy. Why don’t you go out and take a short walk?”

Within Walter’s nagging was a hint of worry.

It had nearly been five days since this man, who had been so busy that even three or four men wouldn’t be able to fill his shoes, had seemingly lost his will to do anything.

For the first couple of days, everyone welcomed it. They all felt that Kuhn needed a couple days of rest. Just before the third day, they all thought he had something on his mind, but believed he would return to normal after he found the answer, so they didn’t think much of it. However, on the fourth day, a couple people came up and began to express their worries. Was he sick? Did they need to call for a doctor?

Even though Walter believed they should silently wait a little longer, the people around him kept bothering him, so he had no choice but to go and visit the Raad shop. The general manager of the shop, Mason, was an elder of the Raad clan and had everyone’s respect. He was also the man who had raised Kuhn. Kuhn regarded him as his grandfather.

「He must be troubled by something. That boy knows what kinds of troubles must be shared and what kinds of troubles must be solved on his own. Isn’t that so?」

「We just don’t know what kind of trouble causes him to ponder over it for four days.」

「And why do you want to know what it is?」

「It’s because everyone is worried about him.」

「They don’t even know the issue. Why do they want to know so badly? Tell everyone to mind their own business. The same goes for you.」

He had gone over there to complain, but all he got was a scolding.

“Kuhn, Martin is on his way.”

Kuhn had closed his eyes in exasperation when Walter had first begun to nag him, but this piece of news caused his eyes to open and his head to turn.

“When?”

Walter walked up to Kuhn and held up a folded piece of paper. Kuhn took it and opened it. The contents caused him to frown.

“It’s today.”

“Yes, probably.”

“Did this come today?”

“No. We received it two days ago.”

“Then why are you only giving this to me now?”

“It didn’t seem like you were in a good mood to talk. It’s not like it was anything important. Martin isn’t a kid anymore. He’ll be able to find his way here just fine. That rascal. For two years, he traveled in your stead, so I’m sure he’s covered in dust. But if we told him you weren’t coming out to greet him, he’s not the type of boy to get upset over it.”

Kuhn let out a sigh as he watched Walter groan and moan. Walter had hovered over Kuhn for the past few days and tried to coax him out, but Kuhn ignored him. It seemed that Walter was offended and was now sulking.

Sulking? Was this how a wrinkly, middle-aged man should act? However, Walter’s pouting face described him perfectly. This timid, nagging man seemed to grow worse with age.

“What about Russ?”

“He’s probably out back.”

Kuhn leaned off the windowsill and got up.

“Will you be late?”

Walter assumed Kuhn was going out and asked.

“We’ll see.”

As Kuhn left, Walter cheerfully hollered out ‘Come back soon!’ behind him.

Kuhn went out to the backyard. He quickly found Russ sleeping on a branch of a crooked, old tree. Seeing this large man napping in the middle of the day with his limbs spread out, Kuhn could kind of understand Walter’s frustration.

Kuhn crossed his arms and looked at Russ for a moment before walking up to him. He raised one leg and stomped down on the base of the branch. Thump. The sturdy branch shook dangerously. With his skillfully-achieved balance disturbed, Russ began to flounder.

“Uwaaa!”

In a quick moment, Russ covered his head and tumbled onto the ground. Rubbing his throbbing bottom, Russ barked out.

“Why did you do that?!”

“Let’s go out.”

Russ got up as he grumbled.

“Where?”

“Martin is coming.”

“That’s all? Is that guy a kid? Are you worried he’ll get lost?”

“If I tell you to go get him by yourself, you won’t do it.”

“Of course I won’t. I haven’t seen that tiresome guy for a while, and I was just getting comfortable. Why would I go out to meet him?”

“He’s your older brother.”

“I’m the older brother!”

“Shut it. Follow me.”

Kuhn turned around. Russ looked like he had a lot of complaints piled up as he muttered under his breath, but he slowly followed behind Kuhn.

Although he followed Kuhn with a sour expression on his face, it slowly relaxed thanks to his simple nature when they entered the bustling marketplace.

Once a year, most of the merchants in the continent traveled to the Empire. For a few days, the marketplace held an assortment of strange and interesting things. Today was that day. It was already crowded on a normal day in the eastern part of the marketplace, but today, they could barely take a step.

In the Eastern marketplace, one had to make an official report in order to set up a store or a stall. Administrators would regularly patrol the marketplace, so this regulation was strictly enforced.

Therefore, merchants without a license were rarely found here. If they did show up, they were quickly reported, and the administrators would come and take them away.

However, that regulation loosened for these few days a year. These merchants who wandered the continent had no residence and relied on street peddling for business.

Additionally, hundreds of wagons and carriages came into the empire for these few days a year. Checking every single one of them was burdensome, and the administration lacked the manpower to enforce their rule.

Because of the new exotic wares that flowed in, many people crowded over to the marketplace to take a look. The increased foot traffic allowed the preexisting merchants to increase their sales as well. Even if illegal stalls popped up here and there as they set up shop in front of established stores, all the store owners were generous and allowed it.

“Ooh. Look at that. Look. It’s a zaka fruit. I can’t believe I’m seeing it here. Wait a minute. I need to buy that.”

Russ ran to the stall that had a pile of fist-sized fruits for sale. After buying the fruits, his attention went to another stall selling more exotic wares.

Kuhn stood to the side as to not bump into anyone. However, when Russ moved on to a third stall, Kuhn clicked his tongue and stepped out. He started to regret bringing that attention-deficit punk with him.

As Kuhn walked through the gaps in the crowd, he felt something approach his hips and grabbed it. He looked around, but nothing caught his eye. The people passing by him didn’t look suspicious at all.

Kuhn blankly turned his head and looked down. He was holding the wrist of a little girl whose face had paled at her capture.

“I was told to give you this…”

There was a slip of paper in her hand. Kuhn took the note and read it before letting go of the girl. Finally free, the girl quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Kuhn kept walking as if nothing had happened. He didn’t look around or check his surroundings. He naturally walked as if he were merely passing by before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. He then walked into a small store.

The man at the counter saw Kuhn and immediately lowered his head.

“Welcome. I’ve put the items you’ve requested over here.”

Kuhn opened the door the man had gestured to and entered inside. The room was filled with miscellaneous items.

“You came pretty quick.”

Evita was sitting on top of a liquor barrel as she looked through a bundle of yellowed papers. She lifted her head when Kuhn entered.

“What’s going on?”

“I haven’t seen you in a while. I was trying to find a way to contact you, but then I heard you came to the marketplace, so…”

“Don’t use this method next time.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Your underling might get hurt.”

Although he seemed pretty clumsy, Russ was actually a very fierce guard dog. Thankfully, he hadn’t been by Kuhns side when the little girl approached. If he were there, he would have shattered that little girl’s thin wrist.

“Did she get hurt?”

Evita jumped off the barrel and shouted out.

“Not this time, but she may not be so lucky next time.”

Evita let out a sigh of relief.

“All right. Then how do I contact you?”

“Send someone to the residence.”

“Can I really do that?”

“Have I ever prohibited you from doing it?”

“N…No. You didn’t.”

Evita shut her mouth in humiliation. She had been waiting for Kuhn to leave his residence so that she could send her underling to him, but it was all for nothing.

“I met the Silver King.”

“I told you that you didn’t have to act as a spy.”

“I know. We didn’t talk about anything of value. But there was something strange. She asked me to investigate someone.”

Kuhn’s eyebrow twitched.

“Me?”

“She wanted to know about the leader of Kaligo. What should I do?”

Evita observed Kuhn’s expression as she asked cautiously. To be frank, Evita wanted to pay the Silver King in exchange for some information. What was her relationship with this man?

The Princess of the Empire and the leader of a mercenary group who stayed out of the Empire’s reach. No matter how much she pondered over it, she couldn’t figure out how these two met in the first place.

Kuhn chuckled. He had told the Princess that he would find out whatever it was she asked of the information merchant. He wasn’t really going to do it, but the Princess probably believed him. Even so, she didn’t care and still commissioned Evita for an investigation.

It seemed like something she would do.

“Do as you always do.”

“So you mean…”

“I’m sure there are lines of people who request my information, right?”

“Well, yes…”

“Just give the Silver King the information you would give anyone else. Or, is it that you have some other kind of information on me?”

Evita vigorously shook her head.

“No, of course not. I don’t have anything like that.”

No matter how much she loved money, she didn’t want to disturb this man’s temper.

“Don’t call me for something useless.”

Evita’s face twisted into a frown as she watched Kuhn turn to leave. She stuck out her tongue at his back. He was quite arrogant.

“Take care of yourself.”

She didn’t forget to politely greet her customer as he left. Evita bent down to pick up the bundle of papers she had accidentally dropped.

“Ah, one more thing. It seems that the Silver King has come to the marketplace today.”

Evita didn’t realize that the Kuhn, who had been turning the doorknob, had frozen in place. She continued to chatter on. She didn’t expect him to listen to what she was saying, so it was more like she was talking to herself.

“I saw a familiar knight when I was out in the marketplace. It was definitely one of the escorts that served the Silver King. He was serving a noblewoman who had come out for an outing. He seemed pretty tense, so I didn’t think he was with was a family member or a lover. But if this knight is escorting someone around the marketplace, who else can it be? The noblewoman’s face was hidden behind her hood, so I couldn’t get a good look at her, but I had a feeling it was her. She must have come out to look around the marketplace. Agh, what the heck?!”

She felt a shadow loom over her, so she looked up and let out a cry of surprise. She thought he had already left, but this man was currently standing right in front of her.

“Where did you see her?”

“In…In front of the linen shop.”

After he left, Evita mumbled with a dazed face.

“I saw her there a while ago. I don’t know if she’ll still be there…”

Her curiosity was piqued. The man’s reaction was unusual.

‘What is it? Should I put a tail on him?’

Evita shook her head.

“Stop it. It’ll be best if I don’t meddle into that man’s business.”

Evita trusted her intuition.

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