SWNOVELXO Chapter 28: - We Have A Lot Of Plans
As I questioned the Slaughterer, he suddenly became motionless. I still had more questions, but he died before I could finish.
I had intended to keep my promise and give him the antidote, but he died before I could ask everything I wanted to know. He died by his own poison, so he had only himself to blame.
The thief who had attacked me and survived also stopped moving. He had tried to crawl about five meters, leaving a trail, but he bled out and died. It seemed his HP had dwindled to zero.
I thought I should have had some potions with me, but it seemed that my attack had accidentally shattered the potion bottles. It seemed that doing bad things resulted in bad luck.
I retrieved the record cards from their bodies. In dungeons, the bodies were disposed of automatically, but here, I had to collect them in my item box.
Using up five slots was quite inconvenient.
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“However, when I killed the thieves who attacked Golteo’s caravan, I felt sick, but this time, I don’t… Is it because I got used to fighting monsters? Am I getting used to this world?”
I didn’t want to get used to killing, but it was better than hesitating during a fight. In a world where hesitating meant death, I couldn’t afford to hesitate.
I activated my Assassin job’s skill to sense any presence around me, but there was no one else. I deliberately lured them into a place where there would be no one else, but it seemed there were no other accomplices.
Perhaps they were scattered throughout the town, searching for me.
Next, I headed to the government office. I remained in my Assassin job.
I entered the government office not from the front but using my skill Wall Phasing through the back entrance. I could have gone in from the front, but I was in the mood for this.
According to the Slaughterer, whose name was Upas, there seemed to be thieves among the officials. It was a common story, so I wasn’t surprised, but I was disgusted.
When I brought the record cards of the thieves who attacked Golteo’s caravan to the government office, my own record card was identified. That’s how my name and job as a thief leaked.
I moved stealthily while inside the government office, and I found the thieves among the officials. However, there were also officials cooperating with the thieves, so I made a note of all their names.
Next, I looked for evidence. If I confirmed their record cards, their crimes would be evident. However, since these people were in influential positions, it would be troublesome to confirm their record cards. So, I gathered evidence.
I thought I might have to raid their homes, but thanks to Wall Phasing, I found various ledgers.
They had not only conspired with thieves but had committed various other crimes, so I found several embezzlement ledgers. With these, their crimes would become clear. Once that happened, their connections with the thieves would also be revealed. I collected the evidence in my item box and left the government office.
Next was the Lord’s castle.
I searched for the Lord’s room in the castle. It was a spacious room with luxurious and splendid furniture. There was even a canopy bed. Truly splendid.
A middle-aged man was drinking alone. This composed man was probably the master of this castle.
Duke Alcaine Gardarand. Surprisingly, his job was Duke.
Even if you were born a noble, your initial job seemed to be Villager, but depending on how you lived your life after birth, you could change your job to noble. It seemed that from noble, you could evolve into Duke, but becoming a Duke was not something that happened easily. This man, who had changed his job to Duke, was a politician skilled in both the arts of war and diplomacy, as told by Detailed Appraisal.
However, being skilled in both didn’t guarantee integrity. Even so, I thought this Duke was a better noble. He would probably dispose of the officials connected with the thieves.
At least, I hoped he would.
But how should I approach him? Should I show him the evidence? No, I couldn’t think it through. I couldn’t manage those details.
As I approached him, the Duke twitched his eyebrows and slowly moved his gaze. His sharp eyes seemed to know I was there and were searching for me.
Sweating profusely, I stepped back. This man was extremely frightening.
“Am I imagining things…?”
His voice was deep. Even the way he brought the wine to his lips was impressive. I thought he aged gracefully.
I went outside the room, took a deep breath, and prepared myself.
Then I returned to the Duke’s room. I made sure not to enter from a distance, placing the evidence ledgers and notes on the bed and then moving to a corner of the room. Despite the simple task, I was drenched in sweat due to nervousness.
The Duke finished his wine, his gaze moving to the bed. There were ledgers and notes on the bed that he had no knowledge of. Normally, I would be quite nervous, but the Duke silently picked up the ledgers.
He skimmed through the ledgers and then picked up the notes I had written.
For some reason, I could write this world’s script. It was surprising enough that I could speak and read it, but the fact that I could write it as well was astonishing.
The Duke pulled a rope hanging from the wall near the bed. It seemed he called a servant.
He seemed to be assessing the movements of the people around through their presence. The presence in the adjacent room moved, and the Duke called them over. It was a person who looked like an old butler.
“Call Zaigen and Balkan. Also, bring a change of clothes and a tray.”
“Understood.”
The old butler left.
“Are you still here?”
“!?!”
He didn’t seem to see me, but he seemed to sense my presence. The job Duke, Level 35, was extraordinary.
“You don’t need to show yourself, but be sure to come back here at this time tomorrow.”
“…”
Why was he saying this? Was he trying to trap me and capture me? I didn’t understand, but I couldn’t just leave it. It might be dangerous, but I decided I would return tomorrow.
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Next was the headquarters of the Shaldina Thieves.
It was late at night, but I infiltrated their mansion. I had been intruding into other people’s houses all day today.
As usual, thieves were standing in front of Shaldina’s room, and there were guards inside. Sensing their presence, I slipped into the room next to where Shaldina was. Wall Phasing was seriously convenient.
Inside, there were shelves lined with leather bags.
There was no door, but the wall seemed to open. It was probably a secret room. Moreover, there was only a passage to the room where Shaldina was, and no windows.
I hadn’t expected such a room to exist, so I widened my eyes in surprise.
There were also items that seemed to be magic items. I could easily imagine they had been hoarded through illicit means.
Looking into the leather bags… they were filled to the brim with 100,000 black gold coins each. There must have been around 100 of them in each bag. That made 10 million grills in one bag. No wonder they were stored so securely.
There were a total of 20 bags. That’s 2 billion grills, equivalent to 2 billion yen. With this much, I could live a life of luxury forever.
Of course, I didn’t touch them. While I wanted money, getting involved with this would make me no different from the thieves.
But I did want magic items. My hand instinctively reached out, but I pulled it back.
I hadn’t earned this money through my hard work, and eliminating Shaldina and her gang was for my peace of mind.
What was here had been stolen by the Shaldina thieves from someone. Claiming it as my own would be no different from the thieves’ actions.
If there was something I wanted, I would work honestly and buy it with my own money. I wouldn’t resort to stealing, even if it was from thieves. That was my pride.
Furthermore, in this world, there was something called a record card. Stealing from others would lead to a criminal record. If I was not careful, my job might even become a thief. There were risks involved, so touching this money or the magic items was dangerous.
However, something unnatural in the room caught my eye.
“Documents?”
I picked up the documents and checked inside. It was a roster of the thieves’ members. With this, it would be clear who the thieves were.
“Oh, this is…”
Moreover, there were names of officials, merchants, and nobles who were cooperating with them. I decided to take this with me.
These were pieces of evidence. Killing thieves wouldn’t be a crime, but it would be different if I took the evidence. That’s what Detailed Appraisal had taught me.
However, things that didn’t count as evidence were no good. They would be recorded in my criminal history, so I had to be careful. Even if it was stolen from thieves.
However, there was an escape route that wouldn’t lead to a crime. That was to submit these money and magic items to the proper authorities. This act wouldn’t benefit me in any way. I didn’t want the Duke’s attention on me.
So, I would just take the evidence.
That being said, this roster also included information about other hideouts. Was it okay to create something like this? If officials raided this place, were they implying that they would take them down with them? So, I would protect this information with all my might. It was connected to protecting this mansion.
I thought it was cunning, but to lead such a large thieves’ gang, such meticulousness was necessary.
I searched other rooms and gathered information about the thieves’ gang. Besides the roster, there wasn’t much useful information, but there was a safe. It was a large safe about my height. Naturally, I didn’t have the skill to open safes, so I didn’t know what was inside.
Let’s stop here for today. Tomorrow, I would give the roster to the Duke. I didn’t know if the Duke would move, but I believed he would.
The problem was how quickly the Duke would act. If he took his time, Shaldina would notice that the roster was missing. At that point, she would likely escape.
If that happened, I would have to think of another way. A way without relying on the Duke.
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I hadn’t arranged for a rental house yet, so I returned to the inn to relax.
“Welcome back, Master.”
“Welcome back, Master.”
Even though it was late at night, Anneliese and Rosalina were awake and waiting for me.
Seeing their faces, I felt relieved and my tension eased.
Today, I had been busy going from the dungeon to the government office, then to the Duke’s castle, and finally the thieves’ hideout.
Since I had sweated a lot, I asked Anneliese to wipe me down. It was too late to ask for hot water, so it was cold.
Rosalina turned away.
In the past, Anneliese had been an old woman, so I wiped her down out of gratitude, and she returned the favor. There was nothing suspicious about it.
Now, it was a remnant of that time… while my desires were mixed in, I was doing my best to endure it.
Rosalina wasn’t looking, but she was right there. In such a situation, I wiped Anneliese’s body. The feeling of sin was overwhelming.
Should I split the rooms into two? No, I was moving to a rental house soon anyway. Let’s endure it here.