Episode 362

At that moment, Ludwig strode up to me and struck me across the face with his sheathed sword. My head snapped to the side.

His sharp voice followed. "Hey, lesser race. Who told you to open your mouth at will? Shut your mouth and stay out of the way, you criminal."

As expected of Ludwig. His acting is flawless from his fierce expression to the killing intent in his voice. Come to think of it, my current status is that of a lesser race. Being a lesser race or a prisoner is enough to invite contempt, and now I am both.

In general, fusion was a man's dream, and cases produced positive synergy. In this case, evil had mixed with evil, and the result was the worst possible outcome. James was a knight of the Badnikers, so someone like me, who had dared to be insubordinate to the Iron-Blooded Lord, would be despicable to him.

Then... I bit my cheek slightly and let blood flow from my mouth for dramatic effect.

"I will keep that in mind," I said.

Then Shi-Hyeon—no, the person with a ninety percent chance of being Seren—looked at me with a meaningful gaze.

Somehow, the atmosphere seemed to grow colder.

Ludwig pretended otherwise, but his snake-like eyes tracked the exchange. He was deliberately mistreating a member of a lesser race to gauge Seren's tendencies. She was the veiled master of an intelligence guild, so any insight into her would work to our advantage.

Naturally, being the one who knew everyone's identities, I felt as though I were watching a comedy unfold at close range.

"Si-Hyeon? Shi-Hyun... Hmm. That's an unusual name. Are you from the east?" Ludwig muttered, then continued. "How should I address you? Miss Shi, or Miss Hyeon?"

"Call me whatever you are comfortable with," she replied. "However, Shi-Hyeon is my name."

"Really? Then I will just call you Master. It is too difficult to pronounce," Ludwig said.

Shi-Hyeon nodded, and a brief silence followed.

Confusion crept in again. What kind of situation is this?

To sum it up, the three of us were hiding our true identities. Seren probably didn't know that both of us were in disguise. Ludwig alone knew my identity. I alone knew everyone's. In other words, among the three of us, I held an overwhelming advantage.

It isn't an unpleasant feeling.

Ludwig and Seren were trustworthy, but that didn't necessarily mean they could work together. Both had strong wills. Ludwig had even drawn his sword a few days ago to stop me.

So how should I use this monopoly on information?

First, I needed to know why Seren had become the master of a southern intelligence guild. Also, why had she adopted Shi-Hyeon as a pseudonym?

Then again, this could be a clue that Seren had left for me. It suggested she had prepared an insurance policy in case we ever ended up at odds. I was probably the only one in the world who knew the uniqueness of the name Shi-Hyeon.

At the same time, Seren had been in a position where she couldn't come to the north at all. She had likely chosen to act under the name Shi-Hyeon in case she failed to keep her promise and I went south in search of her.

With that assumption, everything fell into place.

"Have you eaten? This place might look shabby, but the owner's cooking skills are quite good."

"It's fine. Let's start with business." Seren smoothly brushed off Ludwig's suggestion and pulled out a stack of papers. "Take this."

"What is it?"

"This is information on Marcus, one of the officials of the Rahild Labor Camp. It includes the descriptions, daily activities, and preferred luxuries. For anything beyond that, such as family history, personal preferences, or romantic history, there will be an additional fee," she replied.

"Hmm... I understand. I will think about it."

"Alright."

"May I check this now?" Ludwig asked.

"Of course."

At her reply, Ludwig accepted the thick stack of papers and flipped through it. He appeared casual, but he was probably checking the contents more carefully than anyone else, searching for anything unusual.

He soon finished and nodded. "I heard that Bastard has a tight grip on information in Airuga. Clearly, your reputation is well earned."

"Don't mention it. More importantly, you couldn't have explored this city properly in half a day, yet you have already heard such rumors. It seems our hard work wasn't in vain." Seren's matter-of-fact tone created a brief, tense silence.

Does she already know when we arrived? I glanced at Ludwig, wondering whether he had mentioned it beforehand. However, that didn't seem to be the case. He had put on a smile to mask his surprise. He hadn't moved in secret, but as Seren had just said, it had been less than half a day since we arrived in Airuga. In short, Bastard had planted eyes and ears throughout the entire city.

So she didn't come to merely organize information, but to receive a report on our movements. It wasn't a particularly strange reaction. Seren probably didn't care much for her Goodspring family, but she definitely wouldn't have any fondness for the Badnikers either.

On the contrary, her position would make her more cautious. It was only natural for her to be wary when James of the Iron-Blooded Knights suddenly reached out to her.

Seren's gaze shifted back to me. "Is this the lizardman that you want to send to the labor camp?"

"That's right. He committed a serious crime, so I want him to rot there for thirty years."

For a lizardman, thirty years was effectively a life sentence. Their lifespan was short.

Ludwig shook his head slightly. "Honestly, I don't understand the situation. Isn't the Rahild Labor Camp supposed to be the ultimate hell for criminals, rivaling Utgard in the north? Yet one has to offer a bribe to hand over a prisoner? Am I understanding this correctly?"

"That's right. You aren't mistaken. It has been less than ten years since the labor camp changed."

Ten years was relatively recent.

Ludwig frowned. "How exactly did it change?"

Seren fell silent for a moment. The pause felt deliberate, as if to break the flow. "Do you know where the labor camp was built?"

"Ra-Hildaras. The capital of an ancient kingdom called the Golden Kingdom," Ludwig replied.

"That's right. It is now buried under sand and considerably weathered, but a large number of valuable goods have been recovered from the ruins. I'm sure that you already know that," Seren said.

"Then?"

"Monsters started to appear beneath the sand at the labor camp ten years ago."

"Monsters?"

"Yes." Seren continued, "We still haven't accurately identified their exact nature, but most resemble insects. Some believe that they are an ancient species that slept beneath the sand, while others suggest they are experimental subjects created to protect the royal family of Ra-Hildaras. Either way, these unknown monsters were quite strong.

"How strong?" Ludwig asked.

Seren considered the question. "There was a beetle with a shell that shone like gold. It was roughly half the size of this inn. Twenty-five people died trying to kill it, while twice that number suffered serious injuries. Among those who fought were A-class mercenaries, former knights, and even mages."

With that level of power, wasn't it comparable to an A-class mercenary group?

By the standards of the Hero Society, it was equivalent to the appearance of an A-class monster. Aside from exceptional cases like the Jewel Beast in the Jewel Mountains, A-class monsters were dangerous enough to destroy several villages on their own. Creatures such as ogres, manticores, and drakes fell into this category.

If the insect monster that appeared during the excavation of the artifact was that strong, then...

"Shouldn't they immediately shut down the labor camp and request reinforcements from the imperial family or the Hero Society?" Ludwig voiced my thoughts.

Seren nodded, as if she had expected the question. "That would be the case if only monsters were appearing. The important point is that their emergence accelerated the pace of artifact excavation."

Ludwig looked puzzled. "Accelerated the pace?"

"Before the monsters appeared, the camp unearthed only five or six artifacts per year," Seren revealed.

The number seemed absurdly low given the size of the workforce, but it made sense. The labor camp was vast. If excavation had been efficient from the start, the camp wouldn't have relied on prisoners. The empire would have deployed experts and pushed much harder.

She went on, "That changed completely after the monsters appeared. In that year alone, 137 artifacts were discovered in the area where they emerged. Even by conservative estimates, the detection rate has increased more than twentyfold."

Ludwig looked shocked.

"Of course, not all excavated artifacts are at a level that can be used," she added.

That clarification didn't lessen the shock. The value of ancient artifacts varied greatly depending on the type, but an item from the Golden Kingdom would cost at least hundreds of gold coins. More valuable ones could cost several times or even dozens of times more. Depending on the type, a single artifact could fund the construction of a castle.

If more than 100 such treasures were unearthed in a single year, couldn't this be called a land of gold?

Seren said, "In short, it has become worth risking one's life. After that, the Rahild Labor Camp transformed into a place of an entirely different value. A systematic structure was even established to manage it."

"That might be the case if artifacts are pouring out at that rate. By the way, does the imperial family know about it?" Ludwig asked.

Seren nodded. "Of course. After all, most of the artifacts excavated in the labor camp go to the imperial family."

The current operation of the labor camp was legal.

Ludwig also started to grasp how strange the labor camp truly was, and his expression stiffened. "I understand the situation. So what's this about having to pay a bribe to place a prisoner in the labor camp?"

Seren's gaze shifted back to me.

Ludwig caught on the meaning of her look and nodded. "Just say it. He won't be able to resist us. No one will believe him even if he speaks about it. He is a monster."

"Wouldn't his own kind be more likely to trust him?"

"Look at the markings on his face. He is a lizardman exile. His own kind abandoned him."

"I see." Seren nodded. "Let's say a prisoner in the labor camp is lucky enough to find an artifact. If it is appraised as a fairly rare piece worth around 1,000 gold coins, the empire will take fifty percent. The labor camp takes another thirty percent, and the remaining twenty percent goes to the prisoner's sponsor."

What a bunch of bastards. They take most of the profit.

"Sponsor?" Ludwig echoed.

"Sir James, if you place the lizardman in the labor camp, you will become his official sponsor. Based on those calculations, around 200 gold coins would go to you, Sir James," Seren explained.

The system was so far beyond my expectations that my mind spun. I had expected that the labor camp would have its own system, but this was a bit excessive.

Ludwig burst out laughing. "How interesting. So the prisoners who fight monsters and search for artifacts in the labor camp don't receive any share?"

"Not at first. However, sponsors who earn income can deposit funds for them. The system encourages motivation. After all, there are plenty of ways to spend money even in the labor camp."

Now I had a clearer sense of how the labor camp operated, and I frowned. The situation might actually be worse.

Gustav's arrival at the Rahild Labor Camp posed a far greater problem than his remaining at the Utgard Camp. The labor camp was entangled in too many competing interests, which made loopholes in the system inevitable.

Seren's account confirmed this. As long as someone had money, they could send as many prisoners as they wished to the camp. For Gustav, known as the Big Boss in the west, this kind of murky environment was his natural domain. He had built his influence by manipulating the rules.

"Yes. I know that the south is chaotic. The region is more rotten than expected. But Master, aren't you speaking a bit too hastily?" Ludwig asked.

"What do you mean?" Seren sounded puzzled.

"What if I report this to the Badnikers? The family head isn't someone who would stand by and watch such violations."

"The Iron-Blooded Lord's prestige is well known in the south. However, he won't interfere in this matter," Seren remarked.

Ludwig's lips curved up slyly. "Can you take responsibility for those words?"

Depending on her response, he could take it as proof that she had belittled the power of the Iron-Blooded Lord and even the Badniker family.

Seren probably knew this, but she spoke calmly. "The person currently backing Rahild is a powerhouse comparable to him. Sir James, you must've heard of that person. It's the lord of Airuga."

Ludwig frowned. "Golden Lord Taina Seiter."

Seren nodded. "Yes. She is currently in charge of the Rahild Labor Camp."

"Even the Golden Lord can't stop the family head. Everyone in the empire knows who His Majesty trusts the most," Ludwig rebuked.

"That may be true. Even so, the Iron-Blooded Lord won't act."

"What makes you so certain?" Ludwig asked.

Seren was silent for a moment, then let out a small sigh. "Originally, information like this would be top-tier. It would be worth a few dozen gold coins, but you're a member of the Badnikers, so I will make an exception."

"What is it?"

"Two days ago, the Iron-Blooded Lord came to Airuga. He went straight to the castle and had a private meeting with the Golden Lord."

Ludwig's eyes widened. He hadn't expected to learn of the missing Iron-Blooded Lord's movements from Seren.

"No one knows what they discussed. However, on the night of his visit, the Golden Lord hosted the largest banquet of the year," she said.

He looked shocked.

"Do you understand now?" Seren stared at us. "The Iron-Blooded Lord has also condoned what is happening in Rahild."