The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 59: Children of the Frost

Later on the same day, Reynard held in his hands a thick, iron-bound book. The cover was delicately engraved and adorned with small rubies.

If he had to guess, most of the value of the spell manual went into this cover with "Bound Flame" written on it.

He couldn’t wait to try the spell out and share his success with Marien. But he couldn’t train in peace without knowing what Children of the Frost wanted from him.

So Reynard packed more grenades in his pockets, oiled and reloaded his revolvers, and went to the address written in his note.

"Beef and Broth" turned out to be a mid-grade tavern in the more "neutral" part of the city.

There was nothing pretentious about it, but the place was spacious, clean, and the food smelled extremely delicious. When Reynard entered—hiding his aura—he immediately noticed many other magi eating there.

Many of them were also hiding their auras, although Reynard could sense that most of them were Nigredo-stage. But there were a few Albedo-stage magi, too.

Reynard went right to the bar counter, where a stereotypical barkeep, bald and pudgy, was waiting for orders.

"I heard you sell... Ugh... Boiled beer here? Is this a real thing in this city?" Reynard asked.

"Foreigners!" the barkeep scoffed. "Of course it is. It’s the best thing to warm you up in a cold winter, and winters here are always cold! But... You’d better take a booth to drink it. And it will be five silver."

He made a meaningful glance at one of the separated private booths in the tavern. Reynard nodded, put the coins on the counter, and went to wait in the booth.

He was tapping impatiently on the table when someone finally appeared.

For a moment, Reynard was stunned speechless.

The waitress was one of the most stunning women Reynard had seen. She was a Hollywood-level beauty with full red lips, long and curly black hair gathered away from her face by a headband, and piercing green eyes framed by long black lashes.

The woman’s simple linen dress showed every curve of her hourglass figure. She was holding a tray with a pair of large mugs and several food plates in her palm as effortlessly as if it were made of paper.

Her sharp features exuded a lethal aura, which intensified tenfold when Reynard’s eyes met hers.

Then he realized that the woman was a magus, too. She was hiding her aura, and Reynard couldn’t tell her power level exactly, which meant that it was at least higher than his.

She wasn’t a waitress at all.

The woman put the tray on the table, sat on the other side of the table, and smiled.

He stared at her, still stupefied by her looks.

"Why, hello, Mister Faust," the woman said, smirking. "I’m glad you replied to my invitation so quickly. A pity you came alone, though. I would like to speak with your female companion, too, eventually. Unless..."

She leaned forward a little and looked at Reynard with a searing look.

"You would prefer to speak with me more... intimately?"

A wave of fire went through Reynard’s body. It knocked out the fire that was already burning in him at the sight of this woman and, paradoxically, returned him the ability to think.

"E-Excuse me, lady, but I don’t even know your name. Or who you are! So maybe you will introduce yourself first?"

Reynard wanted to lean away from the woman, but his body wouldn’t obey him. It didn’t want to be any farther away from her than it was.

The woman chuckled throatily.

"Oh, pardon my manners. I am Amelia Gelum. The Gelum... Ah, from the look in your eyes, you don’t know this surname. It belonged to the Loremaster of Frost, Gerunda Gelum, and my grand-grand-grand-grandmother."

Reynard blinked.

"Oh, so that’s why ’Children of the Frost’? Do you have more relatives?"

"Sadly, no. But the members of my little organisation are heirs of Gerunda in spirit, and we believe that this city should belong to those who can treat it properly. Many of us are magi from the orders of Winter and Snow who realized that by fighting each other, they only stray farther away from Gerunda’s legacy. And others are traveling magi like you, who were caught in their endless fighting."

"I see..."

Thoughts began to move around in Reynard’s head at almost normal speed. Especially if he didn’t look at Amelia while thinking.

’So, more politics... There aren’t just two sides fighting, there’s a third one! A secret one, since this is the first time I’m hearing about these people.’

"I assume you want me to join you, Miss Amelia?"

"Hmm... If you wish... But it’s not necessary. I would like it if you worked together with me. From what I’ve heard, you have some truly unique magic on your side... I wonder if it’s for sale."

"And... What if I refuse? You will snitch on me?" Reynard asked, narrowing his eyes.

Amelia let out a laugh.

"Snitch? What a choice of words! No, I sure wouldn’t ’snitch’ because of something like that. I will keep your secrets close to my heart, believe me."

She put her hands over her chest, forcing Reynard to look there. It was a very distracting sight.

"Of course, if you decide to spread any of the information I tell you, I will use these secrets to take my revenge on you, Mister Reynard. But only then, I promise."

Reynard’s shoulders slumped in relief.

"Hah, I see... Just insurance, huh? Well, I know I shouldn’t trust you entirely on this, but your eyes are too beautiful to belong to a liar."

Amelia smiled wider.

"Wonderful! Does this mean that you will sell your magic to my organisation?"

"Spells, you mean?" Reynard thought about it.

Well, Amelia was stunningly hot. And he just spent all his money on the Bound Flame manual.

"We will make sure they aren’t traced back to you," Amelia assured him. "There are channels. Officially, you will still be selling to the Order of Snow—just not through the Emissary."

’Ah... Screw it, why not?’

"What do you want to buy exactly, Miss Amelia?"