#30

Olor.

Though it was the name of a fallen house long out of use, no one present felt even the faintest twinge of nostalgia hearing it.

“Were they assassins as well?”

Ibex asked.

“They were of the same breed.”

“Could it be remnants of Olor, displaced after the family's collapse?”

“That would be a statement to enrage Voreoti,”

the Marquis immediately refuted.

There could be no gaps in the ‘hunt’ Voreoti had so thoroughly prepared over the years.

“They were all wiped out.”

Voreoti’s hunt had been so brutal it left even seasoned men speechless.

The natural-born hunters had erased every trace of Olor from the empire.

The subordinate families that had profited off Olor’s dirty money, the teahouses they frequented, and even the trading partners associated with them—

All gone.

Even the foreign merchant who operated the ghost company overseas that had laundered Olor’s funds—

Gone.

“......”

“......”

The room fell into immediate silence.

The Revoo Knights refrained from speaking, but all silently shared the same impression: truly terrifying and thorough.

“But.”

The Marquis of Hesperi folded his arms and looked at the map.

“Yes...”

During his time as the Empress’s consort, he had personally redacted many reports concerning Olor.

Specifically the types of crimes that could be easily copied if made public.

However, that merchant lord who had come from the South—

“It’s possible he learned what Olor did.”

Olor had once nearly overtaken even the true rulers of the South.

Those from the same region would surely be familiar with the types of acts Olor committed.

The Marquis of Hesperi stared at the map, the corners of his lips lifting.

“My lord.”

Carnis, the former knight and now Count Rinne, hesitated as he spoke.

He seemed to have caught on to what the Marquis was thinking.

“Ferio’s temperament is... not exactly mild.”

Of course, there was Ferio himself, but recently the rumors said his daughter—who had returned to the North on break—was even worse.

“To make use of them without compensation is to invite ruin.”

The Marquis said coolly.

There were precedents—Aust and Meridio had both met miserable ends for trying to take advantage without offering anything in return.

“Which means we must pay the price.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, the Marquis of Hesperi shifted his eyes slightly.

His gaze landed on Scandia.

It was quite amusing to see her grow venomous from wiping out bandits, only to start squirming at the mere mention of Voreoti moments ago.

“Let’s offer up a sacrifice.”

To the Marquis of Hesperi, offering up a single son in exchange for eliminating bandits and securing ties with the North was a bargain.

***

The Signo Guild had originally established itself in the South.

It had once been a thriving guild with decent capabilities, but four years ago it had left the region with tears of blood and moved to the West.

All because of Olor.

With the imperial family behind them, Olor acted as if they were the undisputed rulers of the South.

Countless people suffered for it, and the Signo Guild was among them.

In truth, the Signo Guild had used its own share of filthy tricks to do business—just like Olor.

Because of that, several shops had shut down.

The merchant lord of Signo had once regretted not having a daughter to offer the emperor like Olor had done, which had elevated them to nobility.

In any case, after moving west, the Signo Guild struggled to find footing.

The region already had longstanding dominant powers like the Rinne Guild, and even the smaller guilds had firm grips on their regular clients.

Above all, Hesperi, the head of the Western region, tightly supervised and regulated all trade guilds. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

So unlike in the South, scheming behind the scenes to grow power was simply not feasible.

Then came an infuriating piece of news—

Olor’s downfall.

The merchant lord of Signo loathed Olor, but he couldn’t exactly rejoice at the news.

Instead, he grieved deeply.

Because Olor had collapsed after Signo left the South.

Had he waited just a little longer, he could’ve seized the vacuum left behind and been rewarded for all his past suffering.

The merchant lord of Signo was both greedy and riddled with regret.

Surprisingly, he also had a knack for finding opportunity in crisis.

He began to recall the various things Olor had done in the South—and carefully copied the tactics he thought would help him.

Chief among them: building a private army.

To conceal it, he created a front—an underground black market.

With that plan, he partnered with several nobles for backing and used their money to scout and grow his private troops.

At the time, he was absolutely certain fate was smiling upon him.

He’d been lucky enough to contract an assassin group as his private army, and even began preparations for an illegal auction to be held at the black market.

That was until recently.

“Voreoti...!”

The merchant lord pounded his desk, his fists trembling with rage.

Bang! A sharp noise cracked the air as the desk trembled and a few drops of alcohol splashed out from the glass.

“Those damn bastards!”

Consumed by a mix of fury and fear, he paced frantically around the room.

Lately, he’d become visibly more high-strung—ever since the day he read a newspaper article about the Perdyx family trying to form a black market.

And when he found out that it was the Voreoti Duke’s daughter who exposed them, he had been wracked with insomnia ever since.

It was Voreoti who had brought Olor to ruin.

And now, here he was following in Olor’s footsteps—only for Voreoti to swoop in again, as if they’d caught the scent.

He hadn’t even been exposed yet.

But he already felt the chill of death, as though Voreoti had a blade to the back of his neck.

“You don’t need to worry so much.”

Another voice sounded in the room where the merchant lord had been alone.

Startled, he spun around.

The person who had silently appeared was the ‘teacher’ in charge of training the Signo Guild’s private troops.

“If anything, we should be wary of the West.”

The teacher’s sly, narrow eyes glinted slightly.

“The West is loudly proclaiming a campaign to wipe out bandits, you see.”

For someone making such a grave point—that they both might end up dead—he sounded far too relaxed.

That eerie composure only made the merchant lord more nervous.

“B-but Voreoti...”

“Voreoti doesn’t move unless you provoke him.”

The teacher’s slow steps brought him face-to-face with the merchant lord.

His smiling face seemed friendly, but the cold aura radiating from him was anything but ordinary.

Even someone like the merchant lord, with no background in martial arts, could feel how unnerving he was.

“Voreoti and Hesperi were the ones who crushed the last rebellion.”

“That’s exactly my point.”

Olor’s rebellion had been suppressed by the Voreoti and Hesperi houses.

And ultimately, it was a suicidal move born of Olor’s failure to know their place.

“That rebellion was a bit overblown.”

The merchant lord stared at the teacher in shock.

“And so is Voreoti.”

The teacher placed a hand on the merchant’s shoulder.

Questioning Voreoti’s strength within the Empire was an act akin to suicide.

That made the teacher’s casual confidence all the more chilling.

“...Did you live abroad or something?”

The merchant lord asked in a panic.

“I was born and raised in the Empire, through and through.”

“Then why would you say such a thing...?”

“No reason.”

The teacher gave the merchant’s back a few friendly pats, like comforting an old friend.

But the merchant’s grim expression showed no signs of easing.

“Don’t be scared for nothing.”

In the end, the plan to hunt Northern monsters had stayed just a plan.

There was little chance Voreoti—more revered than even the imperial family—would move over such a thing.

And even if he did—

‘What’s it got to do with me?’

The teacher’s cold gaze briefly swept over the merchant before turning toward the window.

Because—

BOOM!

The securely locked door blasted off its hinges with a deafening crash, slamming all the way to where the teacher’s shadow had just been.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

The Signo Guild merchant lord screamed, falling flat on his rear.

Eyes wide with terror, he stared at the entrance—where knights armed with swords stormed in.

“S-sir! Teacher...!”

The # Nоvеlight # merchant lord, finally coming to his senses, frantically called out.

But all that remained was an open, vacant window.

The merchant was subdued by the Revoo Knights and dragged away.

***

‘What did I tell you.’

The teacher stuck out his tongue, watching from the shadows as the merchant was hauled away.

‘Hesperi is far more dangerous than Voreoti.’

The teacher had known in advance that the Revoo Knights were coming to arrest the merchant.

Though he'd been uncharacteristically kind, the slow-witted merchant failed to notice—and paid the price.

‘Now that he’s caught, he might as well buy us time.’

The teacher had only ever planned to use the merchant.

The idea of an underground market was certainly enticing, but every time he and his comrades were treated like mere hired thugs and ordered around, his killing intent flared.

Having arrived at the designated meeting point, the teacher nodded to the ones who had arrived before him.

“Is everything ready?”

“All done.”

They had also dealt with the bandits they’d been working with.

“Then let’s move quickly.”

The group swiftly climbed up into the trees.

Along the dim forest path ahead of them, a faint light flickered.

Lantern-lit carriages.

“...That’s the Ephaeus Guild.”

With excellent night vision, the teacher recognized the emblem painted on the side.

All the mingling with the Signo Guild merchant had come in handy.

“What are they transporting?”

“Flour.”

“Then nothing worth looting.”

Someone clicked their tongue.

“Will the West’s dogs raise a fuss again this time?”

Another muttered bitterly about the Revoo Knights.

Those cursed knights from the West had already caused them significant trouble.

Not out of sympathy for fallen comrades—but fear that they might be next.

“Not this time.”

The teacher said.

“Revoo is at the merchant lord’s residence right now.”

Which meant now was the perfect time to flee.

Their conversation ended, and the group masked their presence.

Their shadowed eyes followed the guild staff and their slow-moving carriages.

‘Lucky.’

That guild was en route to the North.

If they staged a fake bandit attack here, Revoo would investigate the North—and they could slip into the South during the distraction.

‘The North is too dangerous.’

He had scoffed to the merchant that Voreoti was nothing to fear, but he knew full well how dangerous the Black Beast truly was.

Even if the hunt hadn’t actually happened, the fact that such a plan had even been drawn up meant he should never be provoked.

Even in the darkness, the carriage rolled on slowly but steadily.

As if entirely unaware of the suspicious shadows tailing them.

Or perhaps—it was the exact opposite.