Episode 6 - Straightforward Declaration of War 3

Carefully stepping on it with his foot to push it in until even his feet were hidden, the Kaftin.


Only after pushing it in until the form of the Captain of the Guard was barely visible did he seem satisfied. He washed his hands, shook off the water, and unfolded the paper he had retrieved earlier.


[Men's restroom, end stall. Cat's eye.]


Opening the door to the very last stall revealed a space blocked by a wooden panel, used for storing cleaning tools.


“Hmm...”


Kicking aside the mop handles here and there, he found two doodles drawn as described on the paper: eyes resembling a cat's.


“...Heh.”


As if understanding, he pressed both index fingers firmly on the pupils simultaneously. With the sound of a stone mechanism moving, a section of the wall slid downward.


Stepping into the revealed secret passage, he saw a staircase leading deep underground to the left. It was barely wide enough for two people to pass.


Descending the dimly lit stairs, illuminated only by glowstones embedded in the walls, they reached a space faintly visible on either side, furnished with four wooden chairs.


Ahead, a heavy-looking iron door with a groove near the top stood firmly shut, suggesting this was some sort of waiting room.


“Do we have to wait?”


As he tentatively broached the subject, the groove in the iron door opened as if waiting, and someone's blue eyes stared at him.


“...Are you the client?”
“Yes.”
“First, would you insert the paper into this groove?”


As the speaker's eyes withdrew, Kaftin slid the paper he'd received from the bartender into the slot as instructed.


“...Confirmed.”


Simultaneously with the gatekeeper's confirmation, the iron door slid open slowly to the side. A peculiar gatekeeper, dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a mask over his face, gestured as if to guide him.


“This way.”
“Ah.”


Observing the faintly visible scenery in the darkness, Kaftin realized he was walking through what was surely part of the underground sewers common in the Maritime Kingdom.


He'd heard this city was quite old, and no one knew the full layout of its subterranean tunnels anymore. But perhaps that wasn't entirely true.


After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at a wide space.
The gatekeeper gestured toward a sofa in the center, inviting Kaftin to sit.


Once Kaftin sat on the sofa, agents dressed like the gatekeeper, who had been hiding nearby, lit the lanterns scattered around and hung them on the walls.


As the light brightened, it became clear: directly opposite where Kaftin sat were four arched spaces. All were veiled in translucent pink fabric, revealing only that a woman sat seductively on the other side.


“Are you the ones who will give me information?”
“Yes. Welcome. Your name is…?”
“Kaftin.”
“Mr. Kaftin, then. Excuse me, but would it be alright to verify your age?”
“…….”
“Mr. Kaftin? Please.”


Kaftin's eyebrows knitted at the woman's urgent questioning voice.
He immediately grabbed the sack of money he'd brought, plopped it down on the seat beside the sofa, and issued a warning.


“How peculiar. I'm clearly a customer here to ‘buy’ information with money, so why are you trying to dig up my information?”
“……!”
“If you're an information guild, you should be professionals. If you're professionals, then work like professionals. If it's about money, here you go.”


Vaguely, he could see the woman shaking her head from behind the veil.


“I'm truly sorry, but the information you seek is far beyond what that sum can buy.”
“Hmph. So instead of extra payment, you plan to pry into my personal details?”
“...That's essentially correct.”
“How amusing. You're that desperate to know about some worthless nobody like me? Who knows what I've done or where I've been?”


Her eyebrows twitched behind the veil at his sly, evasive attitude.


This man... he's the annoying type.
Though her age was hard to gauge, displaying such an attitude at such a young age meant he was no ordinary person.


“Unfortunately, you're not just some common rogue you'd find anywhere.”
“Ha! I'm flattered you think so highly of me. But...you must have some basis for that assessment, right?”
“...Based on our confirmation, at least 27 people died because you came here.”
“......”


As soon as he heard that, Kaftin silently flashed his characteristic smile.
He seemed to like the wary attitude.


“So that's why your voice was so tense.”
“……!”
“Alright. I'll tell you one thing. I don't do terrible things to women and children.”
“...How am I supposed to believe that?”


Kaftin was carefully observing that the other Veils, aside from the woman speaking now, showed no particular movement.
Was it because she handled customer interactions, or...


“I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm saying I'll ‘prove’ it to you.”
“......”
“Meaning you didn't need to go through the trouble of doubling your guards and hiding your position with fake dolls.”
“......!”


Immediately, a faint killing intent radiated from her surroundings.


Just as expected.
She had created and placed three fake dolls of herself at the three arches, increasing security, out of fear she might be attacked.
That meant she was wary of Kaftin to that extent.


“Hmph. Let me tell you one more thing. At this point, if I decide to do it, you won't survive.”
“...Proof?”
“My body is such that even an Expert-level fighter would struggle to leave a scratch.”
“……!”
“Oh, and I can eat most poisons like they're sauce. So slathering poison on your blade is pointless.”


Where Kaftin pointed, an agent was quietly drawing a dagger and applying a suspicious liquid from a vial.


“...Truly terrifying. Then...what about magic?”
“Ha! You're trying to draw everything out now? You're quite greedy, young lady.”
“......”
“If you want to know so much about me, I'll have to set a condition too.”


He flung a sack of money as if tossing it aside, spilling a pile of gold coins onto the floor,


“A lady with such a lovely voice doesn't need to hide behind a veil, does she? Come out and let's talk face to face.”
“……!”
“If you accept that condition, I'll tell you everything I can about myself.”
“That's….”


The agents moved swiftly, as if to stop her decision, sliding in front of the veil to block her.
Kaftin, looking annoyed, his expression turning cold, grabbed a handful of gold coins from the pile.


“Hey. You vermin would do well to stay in the corner and act like proper screens.”
“......”
“I was in a good mood, enjoying the rare pleasure of pleasant sounds, but if you ruin it like this...”


Ting.


Kaftin flicked a gold coin up with his index finger, then immediately smacked it down with his other hand.
With a thud, the coin, now a golden flash, instantly embedded itself halfway into the wall directly above the arch where the agents stood.


“……!”


Seeing this, the agents drew their daggers and short swords one after another, steeled with a resolve to fight to the death.
Their opponent was an unprecedented monster, impervious to both swords and poison.
Yet their mission was to protect the guild's important figure, even if it meant dying.


"Step aside. The only ones I spare are women and children. I can tear apart as many dark-skinned men as I please? If 27 weren't enough, I'll kill more. Soon enough, it'll be the hundredth anyway.“
”One hundred…!"


Hearing this from behind the veil, she shuddered at the intense killing intent and unsettling aura radiating from Kaftin's voice.


“Five seconds. Get the hell out of my way. Or I'll punch holes through your bodies with gold coins, turning you into a tattered, half-rotted piece of cheese.”


Raising his fist clutching a handful of gold coins, Kaftin flashed a smile.
If they continued to obstruct him, he genuinely intended to scatter this mass of gold coins like shotgun pellets among them.


“Everyone, step back.”
“……!”


The agents stirred at the resolute command from behind the veil.


“Director, even so, this man is…!”
“It's too dangerous. Please…!”
“At the very least, let some of us go…!”


She shook her head.
According to the intelligence she'd gathered on this man, Kaftin, he was not the indiscriminate killer he appeared to be.


Though he had killed over twenty mercenaries in the restaurant hours ago, strangely, he hadn't touched a single employee there.
Nor had he carried out any significant slaughter at the butcher shop.


Therefore, rather than risk offending him by being overly cautious, it would be more advantageous to take the risk, confront him, and extract information.


“I'll try to believe you, Mr. Kaftin.”
“...I told you not to. Don't believe me. I'll ‘prove’ it. You just keep feeling uneasy.”
“...Why do you insist on making me distrust myself so much?”
“I enjoy seeing the person I'm talking to look anxious.”
“......”


Only after ordering them to back off several times did the agents finally disappear somewhere.
Of course, judging by how they were still picked up by Kaftin's senses, they hadn't retreated very far.


If he showed any suspicious movement, they'd rush back desperately.


Well, he had absolutely no intention of doing that.


Currently, Kaftin's sole focus was confirming who the woman beyond the veil with the delicate voice truly was.


“Then….”
“…….”


As the woman slowly stepped forward, pulling the veil aside, Kaftin's eyes widened slightly.


“...Um, staring like that...”
“...Ah. My apologies.”


-To be continued-