Chapter 389
Einh.e.l.l noticed that the visitor and supreme priest were on bad terms as the level of reverence the visitor displayed towards the priest was unsuitable for public display. Einh.e.l.l considered it fortunate that Basman’s relaxed smile had a calming effect on the priest.
The priest is indeed a woman like others.
Laughter burst out from the priest’s side, who had been cold all along. The construction of the initial campsite took place after they departed from the city.
Einh.e.l.l said after waiting for Basman to return, “Right from the start, he nearly botched it. It is unbelievable how rude the visitor was toward the supreme priest. We should have been less cautious around him as he isn’t an aristocrat. He is just an ordinary man, lacking in education. He’s simply been fortunate enough to have plundered a n.o.ble’s storage.”
“Calm down. This is not like you. I see. I heard he donated in your name?” Basman said.
Einh.e.l.l grumbled, “Yes, but he is just on my nerves right now.”
Einh.e.l.l glanced over Basman’s shoulder. The priest who chuckled in Basman’s company now glared menacingly at the carriage carrying the visitor.
“What did the supreme priest say?”
“I barely stopped her from leaving, but it’s not because the visitor is rude. She seems to have bad instincts for him. What we saw wasn’t wrong.”
“He must have hailed from a deprived area and didn’t get a proper education. What a shame.”
“But he doesn’t even have a single bodyguard even though he has to be careful when revealing his wealth.”
“I don’t really know much about swords. I have only heard about it.”
“Are you saying that we should wait until the goose starts squawking?”
“There is no way that he is alone. There must be another guy who cannot disclose his ident.i.ty, a.s.sisting him behind the scenes.”
Basman nodded.
Einh.e.l.l added, “Based on how he effortlessly handled a substantial amount of gold, my a.s.sumption was that he possessed the ability of a Sword User level.”
“But you think that it might be due to the Strength Magic, right?” Basman asked.
Einh.e.l.l nodded. “Yes, you got it, Mr. Basman. You read my mind.”
Basman smiled. “I have known you for so long.”
Einh.e.l.l continued, “Yeah, he can’t be a warrior. Look at him. He is stuck in there again, meditating without a sword.”
The visitor’s carriage was shrouded in darkness amidst the vast expedition team. Although bonfires were dispersed throughout the area, the visitor opted to remain on the outskirts, beyond the reach of the light.
Despite being the one who organized the team, the visitor displayed a reluctance to socialize with others. Einh.e.l.l and Basman were aware that this stemmed from the fact that while the visitor had funded the team, the two of them had been the ones responsible for hiring each individual member.
He chose to be exposed to the outside rather than entrusting himself to us. Let’s see if he can survive by himself in monster-infested areas.
While Einh.e.l.l fell silent as he looked at the carriage, Basman was lost in thought about the ident.i.ty of the visitor.
Einh.e.l.l then commented, “I have never seen him open his eyes. He meditates all day. Therefore, you must have more thoughts on him compared to me. What do you think?”
Basman responded, “Removing his robe would reveal his social status as his physique would let us know. Therefore, we should avoid making a.s.sumptions about him until we have confirmed our suspicions.”
“About the part where he meditates all day long…”
Basman interrupted, “Let’s keep watching him. By the way, how much did you push into the altar that the priest is able to tolerate this?”
Einh.e.l.l grimaced. “You will freak out when you hear it. My hands trembled when I paid that amount.”
Basman shrugged. “As long as it is mutually beneficial, I don’t really mind.”
“I will show you the ledger once people stop paying attention to us.”
“Oh, you don’t have to.”
Einh.e.l.l shook his head. “Nah, Mr. Basman. I couldn’t think that far yesterday because I was so busy.”
“It’s up to you. The problem is that if you continue to provoke the goose guy, then the expedition team might collapse.”
“Yes, that’s why I said we are in a risky situation. So… Umm… Never mind. I went too off-topic. Please pretend you didn’t hear any of this.”
Basman narrowed his eyes.“That makes me more curious. Tell me. We are on the same boat, so you shouldn’t hide anything from me.”
Einh.e.l.l hesitated before finally saying, “...The supreme priest was interested in you, Mr. Basman.”
Basman guffawed. “Hahaha, I’m popular everywhere.”
Despite appearing to joke around, the two of them were actually serious. Basman cast another glance behind him, observing the priest as she stared intently at the visitor’s carriage. She extended her arm towards the old literature, indicating that she had remembered her responsibility.
Basman spoke as if he was reciting a poem while looking at the small body of the priest.
“Fire. Kindling. Blowing with the bellows. When the three beats are together, there will be love.”
Einh.e.l.l blinked. “I’m sorry.”
Basman smiled. “You don’t have to apologize. I was already into her before you mentioned it. We are meant to be, and the fire of pa.s.sion between us will be kindled by Mother Nature"s Mana. Our love was destined from the very start.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Basman,” Einh.e.l.l apologized again.
“Stop it.”
“Okay.”
“The priest will never be able to leave me. You will see.”
***
Three days had pa.s.sed since the expedition party had left the city. Their campsite remained in the same spot as they were still tracing the old literature.
In the forest, located further outside than the visitor’s carriage, the priest was screaming in excitement under Basman. Although she covered her mouth with both hands, the priest’s heavy breathing and screams managed to escape through the narrow gaps between her bony fingers.
Basman removed her hands and blocked her lips with his bulky hands. Using only his hand and lips, he was adept at stimulating her peripheral nerves. Her waist repeatedly arched like a taut bowstring.
Basman and the priest remained silent until the end of their s.e.xual encounter. The priest dressed carefully. The intensity of her excitement left no room for shame or fear of the judgemental gazes of her subordinates.
She left while hugging her trembling body as if she was running away. Only after he saw her join the camp without any trouble did Basman clench his fists as hard as he could. His fingernails pressed into his palm, and the pain radiated through his entire hands.
The joy of sadism, which he couldn’t reveal in front of the priest, screamed inside his fists. If he could either strangle her or even just deliver a stinging slap to her face, causing her to groan in pain, then it wouldn’t just be the Supreme Priest experiencing o.r.g.a.s.mic pleasure.
Basman’s unresolved feelings only intensified his desire, making it difficult for him to collect his thoughts and return to the campsite. As a result, he often neglected to retrieve his clothes and was frequently seen with a look of frustration etched across his face.
“f.u.c.k.”
It took a long time before Basman finally calmed down. He came out of the bushes and approached the sentry. At that time, the sentry swallowed saliva nervously, and his expression conveyed the sense that he was aware of something he shouldn’t have seen or known.
“It is said that the secret between the two is known only by our Lord Lacryma, but if it’s being talked about among three, it can hardly be called a secret anymore. If rumors circulate, I’m sure they will eventually reach my ears,” Basman said.
The sentry was looking straight ahead without making eye contact with Basman.
“How long have you been a warrior?” he asked.
The man responded, “...It has been about three years.”
“Then, there is no need to say more, right?” asked Basman menacingly.
The sentry nodded quickly. “Yes.”
Basman relaxed. “I will look forward to seeing you on guard. You can return to your room now. I will take over and keep watch, so you can rest a.s.sured and get some rest.”
The sentry shook his head.“No, you don’t have to do this.”
Basman said quietly, “This is to make both of us feel at ease.”
“Then, I will take it.”
Basman sent the sentry back to his room and rummaged through the bonfire.
Meanwhile, he s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the visitor’s carriage. The suppressed irritation began to cause pain in his temples again.
I’m doing this because of you, but you are just… ugh.
The visitor was still meditating in the carriage even while the rest of the camp slept. The silhouette of the man seated inside remained constant, except during meal times. Basman was impressed with his tireless pa.s.sion… Well, no. It was more accurate to call it an obsession. At this point, Basman had concluded that the visitor was a wizard.
It’s better if he is a wizard.
Although Basman was unsure which magic tower the visitor belonged to, he knew that if the visitor were an outsider, then he would have been wanted by all of the towers by now. Then, if Basman had no choice but to split up the goose’s belly, he could get support from the magic towers along with a.s.sistance from his family.
Of course, it was unlikely that the situation would reach that far.
How would he be able to deal with kingdom-sized expedition forces, and how would he even confront me?
Basman was confident that the visitor would be weaker than him despite not knowing anything about how many subordinates he had.
Shortly after that, the returning expedition party arrived back at the camp, shaking their heads, Einh.e.l.l and Basman managed to obtain a list. The wizard of the team stopped by the branch and brought back a list of the outsiders that were wanted by the Alaos Clique and Riuonie Clique.
The wizard asked, “But why do you need this list?”
“I inevitably have multiple enemies as I sell swords. Despite being employed instead of owning my own business, I am responsible for leading the team.”
Einh.e.l.l added, “But I think you forgot the list wanted by Ronsius’s group, Cereville.”
While they referred to it as a ‘list,’ in reality, it was a sizable book consisting of two thick volumes.
Cereville sat in front of Einh.e.l.l and Basman, and he replied, “The entire Ronsius Clique left to the central area.”
Before departing the city a few days ago, the Ronsius Clique branch had been in good standing.
Basman opened his mouth, recalling the same thing as Einh.e.l.l.
“They seem to have decided to join the expedition team. There is Ronisus’s base in the small kingdom in the central region.”
“Yes.”
While Basman and Einh.e.l.l conversed, the wizard calmly interjected, “That is not true. By the way, it is a duchy, not a kingdom. It is said that Saint Ca.s.sian’s prophecy came to fruition in that tiny duchy for the first time. You wouldn’t have heard of the Franklin Dukedom, but you would have heard of the Wailing Mountains. The Ronsius Clique is rooted in the southern part of that mountain.”
“That’s not the point. So?”
“The Demon Corps collapsed the Ronsius Clique,” responded the wizard.
Basman raised his voice, “What? How can such a thing happen? I feel bad for Ronsius’s people.”
The wizard continued, “That’s not all. I delved deeper into the matter out of disbelief, only to discover that even the Holy Knight King Onyx and Caldoran had met their demise in that very land, Basman.”
“When did this happen?” Basman asked, frowning.
Cereville replied, “This took place more than a month ago.”
At that time, Einh.e.l.l was struck by an even more baffling realization. It was rumored that as a result of an agreement between a small country in the central area and the red-faced orcs, the orcs had occupied some parts of the Wailing Mountains.
Einh.e.l.l mentioned that, and the wizard and Basman were already aware of the red-faced orcs’ bravery.
While it was indeed a small country in the central region where the incident had occurred, all of the deceased were renowned for their courage and greatness even in the far eastern lands.
“You are similar to us, Cereville.”
“What do you mean?” asked the wizard.
“If you were in Ronsius’s group, you would definitely be dragged to the central area.”
While the Ronsius Clique’s foundation was based in the central region, all of the wizards in the branch, except for the head, were from the eastern territories. Nevertheless, they needed to risk their lives to resolve the issue that happened in the central legion.
The wizard Cereville smiled as he remembered the empty Ronsius Clique’s branch.
“I will go back to my spot, then. If you have any questions, please let me know, Mr. Basman.”
After Cereville left, Einh.e.l.l and Basman examined the list of outsiders. Upon careful a.n.a.lysis of the doc.u.mented criminal activities, they were able to narrow down the list to approximately ten affluent individuals. After excluding female suspects, the number was reduced to seven and further decreased to four after eliminating physically smaller and less imposing individuals.
They tried taking into account the visitor’s poor p.r.o.nunciation, which excluded the possibility of him being of aristocratic bloodline, but then there were zero left. Therefore, there were four suspects in the end.
Einh.e.l.l wrote down the four names and sent the list to the city. He knew they wouldn’t be able to grasp the visitor’s ident.i.ty, but there was a possibility that it could happen and it didn’t take that much of an effort. He only needed to use a small portion of the gold he had pocketed. Additionally, he could cover up the missing gold by slightly rearranging some of the books.
While the priests were engrossed in pursuing the old literature, the returning expedition team was taking a break, and cooks were busy preparing meals, Einh.e.l.l noticed a hand gesture made by the visitor emerging from the carriage window.
“Did you call me?” he asked.
The visitor stated, “This area has been frequently explored in the past.”
Einh.e.l.l responded, “But not on this scale.”
The visitor sharply asked, “Do you think I pay for you to play around in a safe area?”
“Play around? You are crossing the line. Look at all the exhausted guys who had just come back from work. They are trying their best to accomplish what you want day and night. Hey, many people are well-versed in exploration, and priests are hard-working. You should first ask the experts on why they specifically chose this location…”
The visitor interrupted, “You talk too much. There was no need to hire this many warriors and wizards if we were going to stay here being unproductive.”
The visitor had hit the mark, but Einh.e.l.l pretended that the visitor was wrong.
“Of course, it’s because we care about your safety,” he said soothingly.
“It’s common sense that the remains of the safe area have already been excavated a long time ago, Einh.e.l.l.”
“...”
The visitor commanded, “Enter the canyon as soon as the returnees take a rest.”
“I’m in a position to take responsibility for your safety as well. That is why I’m asking this, so don’t take it offensively. Have you ever seen a Graf in person?”
Einh.e.l.l added, “I’d bet that you will shudder if you face them, Mr. Adventurer.”