199th
Hassan’s Business
199 ? Hassan’s Business #2
The underground market I had been to before was a very busy and noisy place.
Just as people flock to banks to escape the scorching summer sun, there were so many rascals milling about, talking noisily.
But then I heard that the Thieves Guild Hydra was destroyed.
Now, the civil servants and officials who were associated with them and were protecting this underground market through legislation are starting to be arrested under some kind of law.
The place was deserted, like an electronics shopping mall that had not yet lost its former glory.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any people here, but there are more armed soldiers roaming the basement than customers, and the lawless atmosphere of long ago is nowhere to be found.
But was it not possible to clear up everything that was deeply rooted in just one month?
Even now, in this underground market, there are people dressed in black, crouching in every corner, from information dealers selling information to peddlers selling stolen goods, to thieves.
“You guys over there in the corner, don’t even think about causing trouble.”
The city’s soldiers also seemed to be turning a blind eye to this to some extent. Did they think that trying to forcibly remove them would only provoke a backlash and cause trouble within the city?
I guess they’re going to gradually eliminate the underground market along the lines of moderate compromise. Or not. In fact, I don’t care whether the back-alley thieves lose their jobs or not.
“Hey, Samaritan! What’s going on down there? Identify yourself!”
As I was walking down the cool street of the underground waterway with those thoughts in mind, I saw three armed guards approaching me with torches.
Is this like a security check?
I was a little flustered, but I needed to act confidently since I hadn’t done anything wrong.
If you panic and start talking nonsense at a time like this, you might get yelled at, “This kid is suspicious. Take him away!” and end up wasting your day making excuses.
Now that every day is precious for building my reputation, the last thing I want is to waste time scuffling with the Svalbard Guard.
“Show me your ID!”
I rummaged through my arms as the guards surrounded me and pressed me.
I was about to show off my bronze tier dog tag around my neck, but then I remembered that I had something more definitive in my pocket.
Swish. Sweet.
What I took out of my pocket was the Traveler’s Badge of the Continent, which I had received as a reward for my previous participation and meritorious service.
The thin hexagonal plate made of blue jade is engraved in relief with the kingdom’s emblem, an eagle taking flight.
As far as I know, this is supposed to be a document that proves my identity, like a visa. After receiving it in the mail, I never used it, so I just kept it in my pocket until the first time I took it out.
At that moment, I was frowning, wondering if my ID would work.
“Isn’t this a travel package?”
“This is my first time seeing it in person.”
“Samaritan of the Traveling Party, are you Hassan, the Lion Slayer of the Mars Guild?”
Three guards who were watching it turned to me and asked me questions.
“If it’s Hassan of Samaria, then yes.”
When I answered so briefly, the guards, one by one, showed their white teeth under their helmets and let out a gasp.
“Wow, what a tall man with such fierce eyes! It’s understandable that he fought a lion.”
“It’s because you took down the Thieves’ Guild that the basement is so organized.”
“What’s going on in the underground market? Did they come out for a post-mortem inspection? They’re more honest than I’ve heard.”
The way they treated me felt like a regular person meeting a celebrity, and honestly, I was a little out of it because my nose and the back of my knees were tingling.
I’m a celebrity. When I see it like this, I can definitely feel it.
If it were me, I would have been extremely embarrassed, but I was so excited about building my reputation that I found this situation quite enjoyable.
I frowned with a serious expression on my face, trying not to let my emotions, which were a mixture of joy and shame, show. This is the kind of face a great warrior should have.
And he said it calmly in his own way.
“Patrol. Well, something similar. So there’s no problem with the underground market?”
“There are always problems. But now the Coast Guard has gotten to the point where they can patrol and crack down on things on their own. Thanks to that, our workload has increased.”
“Anyway, it was an honor to meet you.”
With that, the guards and I parted ways.
As I was secretly watching the backs of the guards who were keeping a distance from me and chattering, “You’re bigger than I thought,” and “You look strong,” I wondered if what happened today would spread as rumors at their evening drinking parties.
If you get along well with the government officials, it will be beneficial in many ways. Maybe they will ask you to patrol the underground every week from now on.
Although the compensation for commissions given by civil servants is relatively low compared to other commissions, the great advantage is that it is work that can be done steadily and stably.
That’s why most adventurers are anxious to get in line with officials, such as government officials or guards.
The adventurer’s income is good for making a quick buck, but I wonder if I can continue doing this until I’m 40 or 50.
So, while working as an adventurer, you might want to try a different career path, such as being scouted as a high-ranking official in the guard unit or being hired as an employee within the adventurer’s guild.
In any world, a secure job is always better.
* * *
Finding information dealers in the underground market wasn’t that difficult.
However, they all waved it off, saying that they could not share any information with Hassan of Samaria, who had destroyed the Thieves’ Guild.
Well, I guess it’s inevitable that they will feel hostility towards me since I’ve threatened their livelihood.
In fact, there were quite a few thugs who followed me around. They were carrying clubs and daggers hidden in their bosoms, as if they were trying to attack the back of my head when I let my guard down.
“Get out, you idiots.”
When I growled quite fiercely, they seemed terrified and retreated slowly, not revealing themselves.
“You little bastards.”
I thought that if it was an underground market where all sorts of information was available, it would be easy to get information about the goblin king. I guess that’s why I wasted half a day today.
As I was wandering through the cool and dark underground streets, what caught my eye was a stall filled with strange odds and ends.
On top of the stall, you can also see what looks like a crumpled, dented piece of steel plate.
Since this image was in my memory, I began to have some hope.
“Is the owner here?”
As I made a noise in the basement general store, I heard a rustling sound coming from inside, where things were piled up and out of sight.
“Who is it?”
Soon, the man with the cross-eyed face and bandana that I had seen before appears briefly.
The man looked at my face and opened his only remaining eye wide.
“Hey, who came as a guest? It turns out it was the little hero of Sodomora!”
I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or if he’s genuinely complimenting me.
“But you must be very busy. What brought you here?”
“I came to buy some information.”
“Information. I certainly do handle such things. From what I can see, it seems like you were rejected by the other guys.”
The man raised the corners of his mouth with a sinister expression as if he knew everything. The expression ‘a smile that cannot be hidden’ or ‘a smirk’ could not be more appropriate.
As a species that lives cunningly underground, they seem to be very perceptive.
The man with the axe continued speaking.
“That makes sense. There must be a lot of people in this basement who resent you, hyung. They’re all just a bunch of idiots sucking the butt of a giant snake.”
The man’s one remaining eye was staring at the crumpled steel plate.
“Well, it’s none of my business. So what do you want to ask? I’ll answer as much as I know. Since you’re both busy, it’s no fun to talk at length.”
He was indeed a man of quick understanding. I guess that means he has enough experience to treat other information brokers like idiots. I like it.
“I want to know about goblins.”
“Goblin? If that’s the case, wouldn’t you, the adventurer who rolls around the world, know better than me?”
“The King of Goblins-. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“… .”
The man who had been talking to her in a casual and indifferent manner until just a moment ago changed his gaze. Then he glanced around with his one remaining eye and spoke.
“I don’t think this is the place to talk about this. I think we should go inside.”
Soon, a man with a beard turned his back to me and went inside the junk shop.
I too followed him into the vast pile of objects. It was a closed space made up of piles of luggage.
For a moment, I was nervous that this man might be hiding an ambush wielding a mat and a club and attacking from all sides, but fortunately, there was no sign of movement around.
A man sitting on a box placed haphazardly there asks me.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Just, what-.”
“Well, if you work as an adventurer, you’ll hear stories about monsters everywhere. The Goblin King, for example. Actually, I’ve heard one story too.”
Oh, shit.
It was worthwhile to wander around the basement for half a day today.
It felt like I was wandering around a desert with no information, like I had discovered a landmark buried deep in the ground.
“But, I want to receive the value of information as information. Is that okay?”
“You get paid for the information?”
“I also had something I wanted to ask you, hyung. It shouldn’t be that difficult. Don’t be afraid.”
“If it’s to that extent, then so be it.”
I was worried because I didn’t know the actual price or how much the information was worth.
If I didn’t have to pay, then there was nothing I could refuse. When I said that, the one-eyed man laughed and his one remaining eye sparkled.
“I heard that too.”
He started off by saying that it was a story he had heard. Judging from the fact that he emphasized that it was a story he had heard, it seemed like he was trying to impress upon us that we could believe it or not.
It feels like he’s trying to show that even if the information isn’t true, he did not do anything wrong because he informed them in advance.
“The underground market collapsed, and many people were arrested. However, among them, there were quite a few thieves who cleaned up their pasts and started working as adventurers. This is a story I heard from one of them.”
But the introduction sounded plausible, so I focused on listening to the story. The man asked.
“Do you know about the abandoned temple site beyond the west gate of Sodomora?”
“Of course.”
“It seems that a new relic has been discovered nearby that no one has ever discovered before. And it is said that a considerable number of green monsters are swarming inside.”
“Goblin-.”
“Yes, goblins. Those damned devils that crawl out of hell. Anyway, while dealing with them and exploring the ruins, I saw a huge green thing sitting on that deep throne. It wasn’t an orc, or an ogre, it was something strange…”
I was convinced that the big guy was the king of the goblins. Indeed, it wasn’t just a groundless rumor.
“Where is the ruins located?”
“I don’t know that much. But the man who knows the location knows.”
“Who is that man?”
It was a man with a squint who opened his eyes narrowly to my question.
“Before I answer that, I also have something to ask you, Hassan of Samaria.”
“Just ask.”
“If you have indeed defeated the leader of the Hydra, I would like to ask if you have found the skeleton key he had. The skeleton key. The key to dreams that all thieves seek.”
Skeleton key?
For a moment, I tried to imagine what this man was talking about.
Then I remembered that I had taken a small key from the arms of the man who was the leader of the thieves.
I think it was stored in a drawer in Luna’s cabin. There was a small skull model carved into the end of the key like a decoration.
But I decided to pretend not to know and ask back.
“What is that?”
“Don’t you know? They say that the treasures that the thieves’ leaders have been collecting are inside. It seems you really don’t know. So it was just a rumor after all.”
“That’s an interesting rumor. Let’s find out more about the key. If it’s useful information, I’ll buy it again.”
“Well, I understand. Anyway, that’s all I can tell you. You can hear the rest from Half Finger Carol.”
Caroline.
Is it Caroline?
A man named Caroline was apparently an adventurer turned thief who discovered the dungeon full of goblins.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I think he’s probably stuck somewhere in the West Slums. But that little Carol is in such a bad state that I don’t know if we’ll be able to communicate.”
“Is there any reason why you are not feeling well?”
“After escaping from that goblin-filled dungeon, I got really worked up. What was it called, hell, hell is descending – I think they were blaring like that the whole time.”
“Hell? Can you elaborate on that story?”
“This is just nonsense that can’t even be called information. Are you interested in this kind of thing?”
“Say it quickly.”
“Oh, he’s an interesting guy. He kept talking about, like, hell coming down, something like that. He had a really crazy voice. He said he met God in the deep ruins or something.”
“god-?”
“What kind of nonsense is this for people like us who don’t even see the sun? What if we see Moros, the god of death, right before we die?”
Are you a newbie?
I was able to remind myself once again that, as Hippolyta had said, this goblin commotion might have something to do with the demigods, or gods, descendants of Hell.
“Come again next time.”
So I got out of the underground and headed to the surface. According to what Aekku had said, the man named Caroline would be at an inn in the west gate.
Since it was only noon, I figured I could get things done today, so I went to the inn nymph Eyes, where she had told me that a man named Caroline would be.
The interior of the first floor seems no different from other inns, but the atmosphere is so desolate that it feels eerie.
Swish, swish-.
In one corner of the lobby, I saw a man wiping cups with a dry cloth. Was he the innkeeper? I decided to ask him.
“Do you know about this guy named Caroline?”
“Carol-? That man hung himself on the doorknob last night.”
“Fuck.”
I couldn’t help but swear at the unexpected answer. The innkeeper frowned.
“Sval, you tried to commit suicide in the inn without permission. It’s a good thing you found out right before you suffocated. There’s no other nuisance like this. You bad boy.”
“You’re not dead?”
“You shouldn’t die. You’ll lose customers at the inn. What the hell, are you thinking of ruining someone else’s business? You’re such a bad guy.”
The innkeeper, who had been grumbling for a while, glared at me.
“Are you by any chance that guy’s colleague? Then could you please clean up his stuff upstairs? I didn’t touch it because I was unlucky.”
“Are you talking about an object?”
“You’ve made a bunch of weird statues, so you can’t just touch them. Damn, they kind of give off a cult vibe.”
Because I’m a socialite… .
I spoke in a somewhat cold manner, trying to hide my bewilderment.
“Please guide me.”
[Work Review]
There’s one more…!!!!
