Chapter 167 – At the Tower of Bryne – part three *
(Hydra’s PoV)
“So, what do you think about the hunting festival?” I asked Cherry.
While we were making snacks for the children, I brought up the topic that has getting more and more popular with each passing day.
“I have no intention of participating on it, but it seems like Chace will.” Cherry replied.
It was a bit strange… Chace already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
However, he kept on coming to the orphanage every single day, so he saw Cherry and Florentine a lot.
I could also see that he was fidgeting quite a bit each and every time he came to see them… He probably wants to tell them that he already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
However, neither Cherry nor Florentine ever brought up the topic.
And well, I’m not sure why, but Chace himself seems to have decided to not say anything about it either, but that seemed to have made him quite restless.
At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chace instantly told them about the location of the Tower of Bryne if they ever asked him about it.
And as far as I could see, Cherry seems to have noticed the change in Chace’s attitude, even if Florentine hasn’t… Cherry may look like a pampered noble lady, but she is not dumb.
“To tell you the truth, I’m more worried about the Gift Seal than I am about the festival.” Cherry told me.
Well, that was also true for me.
“By the way… How did you steal it?” Cherry asked me with an emotionless cold smile.
In response, I just gave her my usual smile, “Secret.”
I don’t know if Cherry was asking seriously or as a joke, but I have no intention of telling her the details.
After all, my theft was possible thanks to my Gift, and revealing that would be troublesome for my future.
“You really don’t want to tell me that, huh?” Cherry pouted.
Well, I actually don’t feel like talking about anything in particular.
But well, I don’t want to say anything unnecessary that could create a strain in our relationship, so I decided to just laugh it off instead of replying.
******
We were currently at a point where it was hard to do any further investigation on the Gift Seal.
What we were able to find out, was that the people who came to mess with the orphanage while using the Gift Seal, were connected to a merchant who lived in the commercial district.
That store owner never had a good behavior in the first place, but it seems like he became friends with some powerful people and started becoming overly ambitious.
But honestly, the first attack probably wasn’t even that serious.
He probably just wanted to play around a bit in the slums while using Zett’s name, as Zett is known to be a criminal who resides in the slums… It was probably this kind of silly plan.
But anyone that knows Zett would be well-aware that Zett would never do anything like that.
Maybe someone really ambitious that wanted to replace Zett could try to do that, but… Well, Zett is too much of a strong opponent for this kind of person.
In any case, the people that first came here to the orphanage and pretended to be under Zett’s orders have yet to be found… It’s possible that they have already left the city.
Though well, they were trying to tarnish Zett’s name, so Zett himself might actually chase them… After all, he really doesn’t like to be looked down upon.
As for the merchant who was connected to those people, I don’t know the exact details of it, but Zett’s men seems to have already given him some kind of punishment.
He wasn’t connected to the slums, so not many people here actually knew about him, but… He was still a resident of Krozheit, so it wasn’t particularly hard to find out information about him once one tried to.
In any case, those attacks against the orphanage were a bit troublesome…
Me and Cherry easily handled the first one, but the second one was made to retaliate against our self-defense measures.
And well, one of the people working for that merchant took out the Gift Seal at that point.
Its effect was certainly real.
When the box’s lid was open, I became unable to use my Gift anymore.
Cherry and Florentine, who were here too, seemed to have also been affected by it.
Well, we still defeated the attackers even without our Gifts.
Still, a Gift Seal… That was a really troublesome item in a lot of ways.
And I was especially worried about one particular thing… Who made this?
Was it something that was created recently? Or was it an ancient magical tool that can no longer be recreated with our current magic and technology?
I really wanted to find out more about it.
Which is why I stole the box with the Gift Seal from the store where the merchant lived.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the key to open the box, so I had to just take the box as is.
I figured that this wouldn’t be much of a problem though. I could always get the key later once I had more time to look for it.
The real problem was that I didn’t know what was the exact way that the Gift Seal worked, and I couldn’t learn more about it without opening it.
Also, the effect will probably continue working for as long as the box isn’t locked again.
… At least for a while that is. If it stays in active state for too long, it’s possible that the Gift Seal’s effect will fade, as this kind of thing rarely lasts forever. We need to be wary of that too if we want to further investigate it.
So, due to all that, we can’t open the Gift Seal’s box right now, and we can only make guesses about how exactly it works.
We haven’t even been able to properly confirm the contents of the box, in fact. We couldn’t even make sure that there was actually something inside it.
But well, after looking up some rumors and doing some investigation of our own, we were able to compile the obtained information and get a broad grasp of the situation involving the Gift Seal.
The Gift Seal was not made by someone who lives in Krozheit. It was brought here from outside the city.
Furthermore, it seems like Beckenberg spent a lot of money to obtain it.
Beckenberg’s connections are only known to him though, and only he knows how to contact them, so… We couldn’t figure out where exactly it came from.
As for why the box wasn’t delivered directly to Beckenberg’s mansion, that was because it would be too obvious that something important was bought if it went to him right away.
So, he decided to leave it at a large store that was under his control for a while, together with other things that he imported.
I don’t know how exactly it happened, but the merchant who owned that store seemed to have figured out what the Gift Seal did, and decided to use it without permission to attack the orphanage.
And then, I stole it.
So now, the Gift Seal that Beckenberg spent a large amount of money in, was currently in Cherry’s possession.
Ostesibly, Beckenberg seems to have no intention of actually punishing the merchant who lost the Gift Seal.
After all, it doesn’t matter if Beckenberg fires the owner of the store or even destroys the store itself. No benefit will come to Beckenberg from this.
Though well, Beckenberg will probably syphon almost all the profits of the store for a while. The punishment will probably be some behind-the-scenes economic deal.
In any case, due to all that, the only way to get more information about the Gift Seal at this point would be to ask Beckenberg about it directly.
And well, he is a man who rose to prominence within the lawless country, Krozheit… It’s not easy to get information from him.
It’s quite possible that he might not tell us what we want even under the threat of death. Especially if something harms the confidentiality of an important business partner.
Beckenberg may feel like a petty villain, but his grit is definitely genuine. He makes sure to always protect his connections.
Which is why he can have so many allies in this city filled with betrayals. He limits his number of enemies by creating relationships of trust with all his partners.
… So well, I decided to leave the Gift Seal with Cherry to let her figure out what to do with it.
It would be easier to get more information about it if we showed it to an instructor of the Tower of Bryne, but I decided to leave this decision up to Cherry.
After all, she has more mobility than me; for even if an emergency were to happen, I would not be allowed to leave this orphanage.
Because I am meant to be the contact point between the assassin trainees and the Tower of Bryne.
I need to live in this orphanage to guide anybody that obtains information on the Tower of Bryne to its actual location.
So, until all of Cherry’s comrades reach the tower, I need to keep on living this double life of going back and forth between the Tower of Bryne and the orphanage.
******
“Meal! Snacks!” A child exclaimed.
“Snacks! Snacks!” Another child exclaimed.
“I wanna lick some sugar, then lick some salt to enjoy the rapid change in taste!” A third child exclaimed.
“The biggest one is mine! The biggest one is mine!” A fourth child exclaimed.
The children had now finished washing their hands, so they all rushed over all at once.
“Wait a second-
“Agh! My waist…!” Cherry groaned as the children charged her.
This time they all collided with her waist from behind.
“Alright, alright. Please help us out then, everyone.” I told the children while Cherry recovered.
“Okay!” The children replied in unison.
In this kitchen that had suddenly become crowded due to the invasion of the children and Florentine, we all made pancakes together.
And a few days after that, the hunting festival started.
Chapter 167 – At the Tower of Bryne – part three *
(Hydra’s PoV)
“So, what do you think about the hunting festival?” I asked Cherry.
While we were making snacks for the children, I brought up the topic that has getting more and more popular with each passing day.
“I have no intention of participating on it, but it seems like Chace will.” Cherry replied.
It was a bit strange… Chace already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
However, he kept on coming to the orphanage every single day, so he saw Cherry and Florentine a lot.
I could also see that he was fidgeting quite a bit each and every time he came to see them… He probably wants to tell them that he already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
However, neither Cherry nor Florentine ever brought up the topic.
And well, I’m not sure why, but Chace himself seems to have decided to not say anything about it either, but that seemed to have made him quite restless.
At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chace instantly told them about the location of the Tower of Bryne if they ever asked him about it.
And as far as I could see, Cherry seems to have noticed the change in Chace’s attitude, even if Florentine hasn’t… Cherry may look like a pampered noble lady, but she is not dumb.
“To tell you the truth, I’m more worried about the Gift Seal than I am about the festival.” Cherry told me.
Well, that was also true for me.
“By the way… How did you steal it?” Cherry asked me with an emotionless cold smile.
In response, I just gave her my usual smile, “Secret.”
I don’t know if Cherry was asking seriously or as a joke, but I have no intention of telling her the details.
After all, my theft was possible thanks to my Gift, and revealing that would be troublesome for my future.
“You really don’t want to tell me that, huh?” Cherry pouted.
Well, I actually don’t feel like talking about anything in particular.
But well, I don’t want to say anything unnecessary that could create a strain in our relationship, so I decided to just laugh it off instead of replying.
******
We were currently at a point where it was hard to do any further investigation on the Gift Seal.
What we were able to find out, was that the people who came to mess with the orphanage while using the Gift Seal, were connected to a merchant who lived in the commercial district.
That store owner never had a good behavior in the first place, but it seems like he became friends with some powerful people and started becoming overly ambitious.
But honestly, the first attack probably wasn’t even that serious.
He probably just wanted to play around a bit in the slums while using Zett’s name, as Zett is known to be a criminal who resides in the slums… It was probably this kind of silly plan.
But anyone that knows Zett would be well-aware that Zett would never do anything like that.
Maybe someone really ambitious that wanted to replace Zett could try to do that, but… Well, Zett is too much of a strong opponent for this kind of person.
In any case, the people that first came here to the orphanage and pretended to be under Zett’s orders have yet to be found… It’s possible that they have already left the city.
Though well, they were trying to tarnish Zett’s name, so Zett himself might actually chase them… After all, he really doesn’t like to be looked down upon.
As for the merchant who was connected to those people, I don’t know the exact details of it, but Zett’s men seems to have already given him some kind of punishment.
He wasn’t connected to the slums, so not many people here actually knew about him, but… He was still a resident of Krozheit, so it wasn’t particularly hard to find out information about him once one tried to.
In any case, those attacks against the orphanage were a bit troublesome…
Me and Cherry easily handled the first one, but the second one was made to retaliate against our self-defense measures.
And well, one of the people working for that merchant took out the Gift Seal at that point.
Its effect was certainly real.
When the box’s lid was open, I became unable to use my Gift anymore.
Cherry and Florentine, who were here too, seemed to have also been affected by it.
Well, we still defeated the attackers even without our Gifts.
Still, a Gift Seal… That was a really troublesome item in a lot of ways.
And I was especially worried about one particular thing… Who made this?
Was it something that was created recently? Or was it an ancient magical tool that can no longer be recreated with our current magic and technology?
I really wanted to find out more about it.
Which is why I stole the box with the Gift Seal from the store where the merchant lived.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the key to open the box, so I had to just take the box as is.
I figured that this wouldn’t be much of a problem though. I could always get the key later once I had more time to look for it.
The real problem was that I didn’t know what was the exact way that the Gift Seal worked, and I couldn’t learn more about it without opening it.
Also, the effect will probably continue working for as long as the box isn’t locked again.
… At least for a while that is. If it stays in active state for too long, it’s possible that the Gift Seal’s effect will fade, as this kind of thing rarely lasts forever. We need to be wary of that too if we want to further investigate it.
So, due to all that, we can’t open the Gift Seal’s box right now, and we can only make guesses about how exactly it works.
We haven’t even been able to properly confirm the contents of the box, in fact. We couldn’t even make sure that there was actually something inside it.
But well, after looking up some rumors and doing some investigation of our own, we were able to compile the obtained information and get a broad grasp of the situation involving the Gift Seal.
The Gift Seal was not made by someone who lives in Krozheit. It was brought here from outside the city.
Furthermore, it seems like Beckenberg spent a lot of money to obtain it.
Beckenberg’s connections are only known to him though, and only he knows how to contact them, so… We couldn’t figure out where exactly it came from.
As for why the box wasn’t delivered directly to Beckenberg’s mansion, that was because it would be too obvious that something important was bought if it went to him right away.
So, he decided to leave it at a large store that was under his control for a while, together with other things that he imported.
I don’t know how exactly it happened, but the merchant who owned that store seemed to have figured out what the Gift Seal did, and decided to use it without permission to attack the orphanage.
And then, I stole it.
So now, the Gift Seal that Beckenberg spent a large amount of money in, was currently in Cherry’s possession.
Ostesibly, Beckenberg seems to have no intention of actually punishing the merchant who lost the Gift Seal.
After all, it doesn’t matter if Beckenberg fires the owner of the store or even destroys the store itself. No benefit will come to Beckenberg from this.
Though well, Beckenberg will probably syphon almost all the profits of the store for a while. The punishment will probably be some behind-the-scenes economic deal.
In any case, due to all that, the only way to get more information about the Gift Seal at this point would be to ask Beckenberg about it directly.
And well, he is a man who rose to prominence within the lawless country, Krozheit… It’s not easy to get information from him.
It’s quite possible that he might not tell us what we want even under the threat of death. Especially if something harms the confidentiality of an important business partner.
Beckenberg may feel like a petty villain, but his grit is definitely genuine. He makes sure to always protect his connections.
Which is why he can have so many allies in this city filled with betrayals. He limits his number of enemies by creating relationships of trust with all his partners.
… So well, I decided to leave the Gift Seal with Cherry to let her figure out what to do with it.
It would be easier to get more information about it if we showed it to an instructor of the Tower of Bryne, but I decided to leave this decision up to Cherry.
After all, she has more mobility than me; for even if an emergency were to happen, I would not be allowed to leave this orphanage.
Because I am meant to be the contact point between the assassin trainees and the Tower of Bryne.
I need to live in this orphanage to guide anybody that obtains information on the Tower of Bryne to its actual location.
So, until all of Cherry’s comrades reach the tower, I need to keep on living this double life of going back and forth between the Tower of Bryne and the orphanage.
******
“Meal! Snacks!” A child exclaimed.
“Snacks! Snacks!” Another child exclaimed.
“I wanna lick some sugar, then lick some salt to enjoy the rapid change in taste!” A third child exclaimed.
“The biggest one is mine! The biggest one is mine!” A fourth child exclaimed.
The children had now finished washing their hands, so they all rushed over all at once.
“Wait a second-
“Agh! My waist…!” Cherry groaned as the children charged her.
This time they all collided with her waist from behind.
“Alright, alright. Please help us out then, everyone.” I told the children while Cherry recovered.
“Okay!” The children replied in unison.
In this kitchen that had suddenly become crowded due to the invasion of the children and Florentine, we all made pancakes together.
And a few days after that, the hunting festival started.
