40. Brewing Trouble

The royal capital of the Alexandria Kingdom, a city that stands as one of the continent's finest, draws countless people from across the land. 

Yet, where there is light, there is always darkness…

At the outskirts of the royal capital lies the slums. Deep within it exists a place hidden in shadow.

…The Dark Guild.

An illegal organization mainly active in the royal capital, that is visited by people who want to request shady services that musn't be known to anyone else.

On the surface, it looks like nothing more than a shack, but this is the entry to the Dark Guild. 

If you tell the secret words to the receptionist disguised as a resident, you will be led down a stairway into the depths. 

What lies beyond is the heart of the city's darkness—the Dark Guild.

Even the kingdom's secret forces, the Dark Side, are aware of its existence, yet they have not yet grasped the full extent of Dark Guild's power.

This is because the Dark Guild frequently relocates its base and its members are infamously tight-lipped. They never betray their comrades. No matter how brutal the torture, they will not sell out their own friends.

This is not due to loyalty alone, but because of their ironclad rule:

Traitors will face a fate worse than death.

A band of criminals unified under this rule—such is the Dark Guild. Deep in the slums, perpetually shrouded in shadow, they quietly hone their fangs beneath a façade of silence.

Bound by their rules, filled with criminals and rogues, the Dark Guild is always shrouded by unique kind of tension. But today, the atmosphere was even more tense than usual.

The reason? The members sent out on a recent mission didn't return…

"What's going on here?"

The question came from a client who wanted to check the progress. His voice filled with impatience as he asked the dark guild members who wore black robes. 

He, too, had his face obscured by a deep hood and robe, but the voice was unmistakably Chris's.

Chris sneered from beneath his hood, his tone mocking. The leader, a bearded man who appeared in charge, snorted dismissively.

"What do you think? They're dead. Simple as that."

At this careless reply, Chris's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I expected more from an organization calling itself the Dark Guild. Is this really the best you can do?"

There was a flaring killing intent in Chris's words, prompting several black-clad men to shift their hands toward their weapons—only for the leader to stop them with a wave of his hand "Stand down."

"What do you expect? They went up against Cedric the Silver Prince and Miranda the Blue Moon Sword Princess. You can't expect satisfactory results for the amount of money you paid."

The leader leaned back against a table, his posture casual but firm. Chris clicked his tongue in frustration. 

He had hired the Dark Guild to find weaknesses or stir trouble for the Marquis Blauvelt family, but the result was a complete failure.

Of course, the one who had annihilated the group was Randy, but with no witnesses, the blame had naturally fallen on the two already famous names.

"Here, take your refund."

The leader tossed a small bag of coins—half the upfront payment Chris had provided. Given the nature of their business, failures were not uncommon. Returning half the money was unusually generous.

"If you're willing to pay more, we can send our best elites next time," the leader added with a mocking smirk. 

He had correctly deduced from Chris's behavior that he was still young. His tone suggested Chris should run back to his parents to ask money or give up.

"And if I were to hire your best elites… what are the odds of success? You're so confident, so I'm sure you'll have something good to say."

Seeing the darkness within Chris's eyes, the leader's smile disappeared replacing it with a serious expression.

"…At best, fifty-fifty. No, atmost forty-sixty."

The leader leaned forward, meeting Chris's gaze head-on. "That's the kind of opponents we're dealing with."

This wasn't even an assassination mission. 

It was a reconnaissance job to gather intel and uncover weaknesses, a task with limited physical confrontation. And yet, the risk of failure was extraordinarily high.

It spoke volumes about their targets.

Chris stared at the leader for a moment before sighing, clearly unimpressed.

"Huh. That's unexpected. At least you're being honest."

He let out a bored sigh. If they'd tried to bluff or demanding harder, Chris had been ready to watch them meet their deaths. 

Instead, they had disappointed him at the last moment.

"Of course. I don't want to send my men to die in vain for a reckless request."

The leader snorted, and Chris pouted in frustration.

"That's so boring," Chris said, sulking. "Well, whatever. I'll change tactics a little."

Chris muttered this, turning his back to the leader.

"For example… what if I told you to infiltrate the academy?"

The leader frowned at Chris's suggestion.

"The academy? You mean the Royal Academy? It's not impossible, but I'd rather not. There are Dark Side operatives there, not many, but enough to cause trouble. Plus, the knights are stationed nearby. We try to avoid dealing with them as much as possible."

The leader let out a long sigh, and murmurs of agreement rose from the surrounding members. 

With their hideouts having been raided multiple times by the Dark Side, they were naturally wary of getting their tails caught.

"…But hypothetically, if there's a part of the academy where the Dark Side doesn't watch, there'd be no problem, right?"

"If only such a place exists," the leader shrugged.

"Well then, I'll contact you again."

With those parting words, Chris left the hideout. Jogging up the stairs, he cautiously peeked through the shack door to check the surroundings. 

Once he confirmed no one was around, he quietly slipped out and quickened his pace.

"Oh no, it's already this late," Chris muttered under his breath as he walked beneath the night sky.

"I shouldn't ask them in the first place if they were this useless…"

Chris soon broke into a wide grin, tilting his head up to gaze at the moonlit sky.

"Well, I got some information out of it, so that's good enough."

In reality, Chris had gained no real intel. The only thing he knew for certain was that the assassins he requested had been wiped out immediately.

This alone suggested that Cedric and Miranda were overly cautious when dealing with assassins… although, in truth, it had been Randy who went on a rampage. 

Unaware of this fact, Chris concluded that Cedric's group was just super-vigilant.

To wipe out assassins completely… Do they have something to hide? Or perhaps…

"If they're being watched in the royal capital, they'd suspect the Dark Side first, wouldn't they?"

Did Cedric suspicious of the Dark Side, or was he also suspect other forces?

Chris couldn't say for sure, but one thing was clear: the Marquis family was on high alert. (Though, in reality, Randy was entirely to blame for that.)

"And if something happened to his precious daughter… especially at the academy… I wonder what would happen."

Chris grinned wickedly. He was already concocting a plan to lure Elizabeth and her companions to a specific part of the academy, where members of the Dark Guild could ambush them.

His reasoning was simple: if something were to happen to Elizabeth on the royal academy area—where the knights and the Dark Side were stationed—then the Marquis would surely escalate to all-out war. 

Chris knew his plan was shallow, but he found it amusing nonetheless.

And if it didn't work? Someone would still die.

Whether it was Elizabeth or her master, Chris figured that Randy wouldn't stand a chance against the Dark Guild's men.

"If I'm going to call them out, the old academy building seems perfect. No one ever goes there… I just need to figure out the details."

Laughing to himself, Chris quickened his pace. He was in high spirits, eagerly anticipating the chaos that would unfold.

Chris left the slums, pulling his hood lower as he approached his next destination: the cathedral. 

The main gates were still open, just barely. Entering without hesitation, he passed through the vast sanctuary and headed straight for a restricted door that only certain people were allowed to access.

A man stationed by the door moved to stop him, but Chris quickly pulled back his hood with an apologetic smile.

"Ah, sorry! I'm Chris Rowe," he said, feigning nervousness.

Recognizing him instantly, the man allowed him through without further question. Chris proceeded down the hallway until he reached a specific room.

When he opened the door, a young woman greeted him.

"Ah, Lord Chris… welcome back," the woman, Annabelle, said softly.

Annabelle was Chris's fiancée, a student at the academy and the daughter of the High Priest. She was one year younger than Chris and Randy.

"Lord Chris, you were supposed to spend the afternoon with me today—"

"Sorry, sorry. Something urgent came up," Chris replied, he showed no remorse.

Ignoring her disappointment, he held out his hand. "Come on, let's go home."

Though Chris often acted timid in public, he dropped that facade with Annabelle. It wasn't out of trust—

"But… the goddess's teachings say—"

"Shut up. If you keep whining, I'll tell everyone how your father's been playing with donations to the slums."

—It was because he was confident he held absolute power over her.

"But… but the teachings…"

"What would happen if the Pope found out?"

"..."

"Good girl. As long as you behave, I'll keep quiet."

Annabelle fell silent, defeated. Satisfied, Chris nodded approvingly.

"Alright then. Let's go. Make sure to stick to the story, okay?"

With that, Chris pulled Annabelle by the hand and led her out of the room.

"This is going to be so much fun."

Chris grinned as he walked, blissfully unaware that his shallow schemes were built on a crumbling foundation.

In that regard, perhaps he deserved a bit of pity.

After all, no one could have predicted that the seemingly useless Randy—who always daydream at the academy—was actually a brutal musclehead with a final boss as his companion.

—-

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