I Pull Out Excalibur

28 – The City of Opportunity, Cambria (4)

Diaeta didn’t fully understand what was happening. As Fassion whispered softly into Diaeta’s ear, she had something in her sight. Because there was something visible in the knight’s eyes.

“The fingers of those three are broken. Their knees and ankles are also fractured. They were precisely broken enough to be able to walk with just one leg.”

Fassion muttered in an astonished voice.

“It’s not something you do only once or twice.”

Diaeta swallowed her saliva.

Even though the bet with Fassion took four days, she had been optimistic about it. After all, the three wanted criminals were from the back alleys, where even bounty hunters had a hard time catching them.

But to accomplish it in just one night?

It was an unbelievable feat. Though Diaeta acknowledged that the boy had successfully completed the request and should be rewarded, she couldn’t immediately open her mouth.

“Oh, and…”

While she was still unable to come out of the shock.

“Can you please check these?”

Najin placed a leather bag on the desk in the office. After Fassion, who was standing by Diaeta, confirmed that there was nothing dangerous inside, he overturned the contents onto the desk.

What spilled out were gold coins and manipulated ledgers.

And various valuable accessories and gold bars.

The three wanted criminals had taken and brought in money and items as a prank on Diaeta. And Najin had found and brought all those things that had been converted into cash. The moment Diaeta understood that, she burst into laughter.

“How did you manage all this?”

When she asked that question, Najin was about to reply, “I may have gone a little overboard with this,” but immediately closed her mouth. There was no need to explain what her former occupation was.

“There are ways to make someone speak.”

When you break a few fingers, everything will come out.

Najin added silently in her mind.

I also want to ask. Really.

Merlin’s voice echoed in Na-jin’s ear, as if he couldn’t believe it. Even though Merlin had seen Na-jin’s work up close, he couldn’t accept the whole process.

Fragments of information obtained through torture, twisting fingers.

Na-jin, who was thinking for a moment with those fragments, immediately found the location of the safe that they had hidden. Merlin couldn’t understand how such a conclusion could be drawn from those fragments.

It felt like Na-jin was performing magic right beside him.

In response to Merlin’s voice and Dieta’s bewildered gaze, Na-jin simply smiled. Those two may not know, but Na-jin was originally an organization’s collector while being an undercover agent.

It was obvious where they were hiding.

The way these guys hide money was obvious, and it wasn’t difficult to find the safe with just a little information.

“Ah…”

A smile appeared on Dieta’s previously silent mouth.

Her lips curled upwards. Her thin, raised pupils twinkled. Na-jin flinched at her eyes, which had become a darker shade of yellow than what he had seen yesterday, and shook his shoulders.

“It’s beyond imagination.”

Dieta laughed warmly.

She took out a piece of paper piled up in one corner of the office, quickly wrote some words with her pen, and then stamped it with her seal as the head of the organization before handing it to Na-jin.

“This is your payment. Show it at the transaction counter on the first floor, and they will exchange it for you immediately. Our organization acts as a bank as well, so you can leave it in the care of the vault keepers if you want.”

“…There is one more zero in this payment than what you mentioned yesterday?”

“I am very satisfied with the job you did.”

And then, she stood up.

She took off her pure white gloves that she had been wearing on her hands, and extended her hand to Na-jin.

“We will probably see each other often from now on, should I use a codename? I think I forgot to ask your name yesterday.”

As I mentioned yesterday, my name is Dieta.

What is your name?

With an attractive smile, the girl asked.

And, Na-jin…

3.

The boy left the office for a moment.

Dieta stared blankly at the hand I was extending into the air. The white and slender fingers that were uncovered by removing the gloves. Uncovering the fingers by taking off the gloves was her own signal.

I like you.

A signal that meant, “Let’s see each other often from now on.”

Dieta had confidence in her appearance. Before running away from her family, there were countless negotiations and potential trades that she almost had to sell herself for. She was not the same person she used to be. Her appearance was outstanding among the women of the Arbenia family.

Smiling as beautifully as possible, Deeta extended her hand, offering a handshake as she removed her gloves. Wasn’t it a scene that any man would feel a certain liking towards?

“Surely he would have…”

The boy didn’t grasp the outstretched hand. He simply left the office nonchalantly, leaving behind the words, “I don’t have a name worthy of mentioning yet.”

A confession that hadn’t even been made, yet it felt like rejection.

Feeling a subtle sense of something, Deeta clenched her fists several times. It wouldn’t be wrong to feel upset, but she could only smile. After all, it wouldn’t be fun if it was so easy to catch.

“He was amazing, wasn’t he? That boy from earlier.”

Deeta, now seated again and wearing her gloves, spoke. Passion, who stood by her side, nodded.

“Certainly beyond imagination.”

“I agree. Who could he be?”

Having seen numerous adventurers and mercenaries in this city, Deeta knew. That’s why she understood. Even professional bounty hunters couldn’t handle tasks as cleanly and quickly as the boy showed.

Who exactly is this boy?

Pondering over the conversation she had with the nameless boy, Deeta rested her chin on her hand and worried. He showed skills that were not ordinary, despite having no background.

“Skills cleaner than a professional bounty hunter.”

Could he have been someone involved in this line of work?

In this field, those who showed such extraordinary skills were none other than Rangers. Experts optimized for covert operations, ambushes, and pursuits.

…Could he really be a former Ranger?

Of course, the boy’s age seemed too young to be a Ranger. If he was a Ranger, he would have been the youngest Ranger, but Deeta had never heard such rumors.

“Then, could he be a trainee Ranger?”

Typically, trainees aren’t this exceptional.

“Ah.”

In that moment, something quickly passed through Deeta’s mind. The Rangers of the “Tetzel Mountains,” which are naturally regarded as the best among the Rangers. Rumor had it that even the candidates who gathered there were on a different level.

Candidates who learned how to kill people, set traps, ambush, pursue, and torture from a very young age.

Once fully trained, they would spend their entire lives intercepting enemies near the border of the Tetzel Mountains without knowing anything about the world. Deeta knew that only a very small number of those who graduated from that hellish place were called “Tetzel Mountains Rangers.”

Could it be possible? One of the most famous mercenaries in this city was none other than a Tetzel Mountains Ranger.

“Could that boy from earlier be one too?”

It could just be speculation.

However, in that moment, what passed through Deeta’s mind was the conversation she had with the boy.

“Did you perform tasks deep in the mountains? This is a common sense question.”

A question thrown at the boy who seemed lacking in common sense. In passing, the boy replied, “It’s similar.”

“Ah!”

Dita swallowed her breath in vain.

She tapped the table with the palm of her hand and turned her head. Looking at Passion standing beside her, she trembled with excitement.

“I told you, this is a profitable business!”

She had created a connection with a candidate for the Teshel mountain rangers, all in exchange for one meal. It was a situation in which she could be called an investment genius. Even Passion couldn’t deny it this time. Even in the eyes of a skilled journalist like him, the boy was extraordinary.

Dita smiled brightly and rolled the dice in her mind.

Ah, I smell it.

The smell of gold coins.

Like a snake swallowing gold coins, she had caught a whiff of their scent.

The impression left on the boy was not bad, and now she just needed to draw him closer to her. Dita knew that there was no better business than investing in emerging talents. A connection with exceptional talent alone could elevate her status in society.

“That’s good. Very good.”

A boy who would settle in this city.

She still couldn’t know how much value this boy possessed with a few gold coins, or how much his value would increase in the future. She would have to find out gradually since it was still unknown.

Dita’s eyes, filled with concern over what proposal to offer the boy and what request to make in order to win his favor, shone even brighter than usual.

Clink. A short cough.

There was someone who interrupted Dita’s concentration. She shifted her gaze and looked at the three wanted criminals bound before her. At that moment, Dita’s eyes turned cold.

They were worthless.

No matter how much she squeezed them, they wouldn’t spit out even a copper coin. They were worthless trash. Dita had no interest in such trash. In a cold voice, she ordered her secretary.

“Take them away and deal with them. Sell whatever is valuable.”

4.

The wallet instantly became fat.

Najin, who found an inn to stay for a while, paid the rent in full. He had earned more money than he expected, so even after paying the rent and food expenses all at once, he still had plenty of money left.

“This is where I’ll stay from now on.”

Sunlight streaming through the window and a comfortable bed.

Moreover, they said I could have meals if I went downstairs to the first floor. It was the perfect condition. Though it was a fairly common inn in this city, it was uncommon for Najin.

“For a while, I won’t have to starve and sleep on the floor.”

-That’s good. Does that mean you have the basics covered?

Najin nodded.

He succeeded in securing the basic capital. He had found a place to stay, solved the problem of meals, and even succeeded in making a name card. Najin took out the name card from his pocket.

It was still just a piece of metal.

After completing several tasks and earning trust within the guild, the employee who issued the identification plaque explained its significance. They clarified that this plaque was merely evidence of your belonging to the city, not a validation of your status.

So, from now on, you have to prove yourself.

“It does seem like the perfect stage for me.”

Najin smiled.

“It’s a city where I can start from scratch and it’s suitable for honing my skills. As long as I have achievements, I can create any means to prove myself.”

Najin rolled the plaque in their hand. It was just a piece of metal for now, but with accumulating achievements and honing skills, it would become an identification of their existence.

– About that.

Merlin chuckled.

– Did you hear about the ranking explanation earlier?

From black to white.

As the color brightens, the rank elevates, granting access to higher-level tasks and facilities. A straightforward rule where anyone, given the skill, can climb upwards.

– Your path is the royal road.

Merlin said.

– You must leave a record wherever you tread, and you must ascend to the highest point wherever your feet touch. That is the path of a king, the path of a hero, just like Arthur did.

You must ascend leaving records that no one else can touch. That’s what Merlin was saying.

– You know where your goal lies, right?

Najin nodded.

“Of course, it’s the white rank.”

The white rank. White Horn.

The highest rank and the apex of this city.

Currently, in this city, there were only five individuals holding the white rank. Two of them were inspectors, and Najin had seen their standings on the guild’s bulletin board.

Sword Seeker.

The place they must target first.

– Shall we set it as a short-term goal, say, two years?

Two years. Najin knew what that meant.

It was the time Arthur took to ascend from Expert to Seeker. Najin realized how incredible a duration it was after coming to this city.

‘From Expert to Seeker.’

Usually, it took around 15 years for a talented Expert to reach the Seeker rank with proper support.

For those hailed as geniuses, with support, it took 10 years.

It took seven years for Nagine, the owner of the Sword Sect and renowned as a genius in the world of swords, to ascend to the Sword Seeker from an expert.

Aware of this information, Merlin knew how absurd the two-year period he had proposed was. Despite knowing this, Nagine smiled instead. With a chuckle, she spoke, revealing her aspirations.

“Two years? What a joke.”

Nagine raised the corner of her mouth.

“One year is sufficient.”

Erasing records, constantly updating the title of the youngest, Nagine aimed for the highest point. And, of course, Arthur was included in the records that Nagine had to surpass.

It’s not about chasing; it’s about overtaking.

No matter what anyone said, the boy’s goal was to reach a higher place than King Arthur.