192. Kang
Seung-hyun, searching through the bushes for his carry-on, found a fragment of a purple jewel that was half-shattered.
‘This is… amethyst.’
To be precise, it seems to be part of a weapon ornament made of jewels.
‘Is it the carriage rider’s belongings? The design is quite flashy, so it must be something high-ranking people could use.’
The weapons used by commoners are modest.
Only high-ranking people, mainly aristocrats, were the only groups overflowing with rotten money to the extent that they gilded their weapons and applied jewels.
‘Then you’re saying there’s at least one Bourgeois among the carriage passengers. There’s no way Liwen was kidnapped while riding in a carriage…’
This wagon is the cheapest and most common one in the Azul continent, so there is no way for a garbage parachute like Liwen’s to ride it.
‘Even if it’s not Liwen’s branch manager, there’s no reason for nobles to ride a carriage like this.’
Nobles are a race of people who want to ride a gorgeous golden carriage rather than an ordinary yellow one, even if it’s the same carriage with no difference in performance.
‘Except for the case where you have to hide your identity…’
Kang Seung-hyeon went straight to the luggage compartment of the wagon.
If you look at the items in the luggage compartment, most of them were miscellaneous goods such as food, cloth, paper, and ink.
‘First of all, this wagon looks like a merchant’s wagon going to sell goods.’
[Observation eye]
As a result of carefully observing the wooden box in the luggage compartment,
[Sealed box]
I was able to find a special sealed box hidden in the innermost part.
‘Sure it is. It was disguised as expected.’
It’s because it’s better to walk around in clothes that look as bare as possible than to hire strong adventurers to safely transport things on the Azul Continent, where there are many blade robbers.
People who hide their identity and deliver goods in this way are referred to as ‘special mission carriers’, but ‘
that’s a term only used in public documents.’
In fact, the name is too long, so we simply call it ‘carrier’.
‘That’s probably why he purposely camouflaged the merchant’s wagon.’
It may come as a surprise, but thieves do not raid merchant wagons laden with goods. Ordinary sundries sold by merchants could not be sold at high prices even if they were stolen, so they did not touch them.
‘Instead of that, the wagon that has become slightly lighter after selling all the goods is the number one target. It must be loaded with money bags.’
A fierce game of notice between a merchant trying to hide the money he earned somehow and a thief trying to find the hidden money.
It’s a common thing in Azul Continent.
‘That’s why there’s no way a professional thief would attack this wagon. A rookie thief would have stolen miscellaneous goods.’
So it was clear that the group that attacked this wagon was not a group of bandits. In the first place, if they were thieves, they would not bother to disguise themselves as monster raids.
‘Then did you aim for the carrier? If that was the case, if they were targeting the carrier on the wagon, they would have searched through all the cargo.’
But they didn’t even touch the luggage compartment.
It seemed that he didn’t even know that there was a noble carrier in the wagon.
‘If you weren’t aiming for money or a carrier…’
Maybe you just accidentally attacked a passing carriage.
Or was it that he was aiming for someone else and got caught by the carrier?
‘I don’t know yet.’
The important thing here is that both the carrier and the assailant left the sealed box behind.
‘Did you think it would be better to throw away the box than to have it stolen?’
Kang Seung-hyun looked at the sealed box again.
‘The box itself, like other cargo, is an ordinary wooden box… I don’t know what’s inside.’
However, considering that the aristocrat carried it while disguised as a commoner, it was by no means an ordinary item.
‘Looking at the fact that it was sealed, that means it’s a really important item.’
Seunghyun Kang stood in his seat and was deep in thought.
‘How am I going to do this… pretend I don’t know? Or should I intervene?’
Patter Patter.
While looking at the wagon, the sound of rain grew stronger.
When I looked up at the sky, I was in a state of being conquered by black dark clouds.
“What are you doing when Mr. Kang isn’t coming? Rain right?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
Kang Seung-hyeon finished his thoughts and left the wagon and went back to the horse golem wagon.
-Shoot it!!!
Shortly after the horse golem carriage started, the rain poured down like a water bomb.
“If it was a little later, that would have been all right.”
“Kim Ho-jung’s robe has high water resistance.”
“It doesn’t take damage, but getting wet doesn’t change.”
Kim Ho-jeong muttered as she looked out the window.
Thanks to the pouring rain, the blood and monster remains on the wagon began to wash away.
“I don’t think you need to wash your car with this.”
“Are you bothered?”
Ziggs, who was driving the wagon, said with a happy face.
“Oh, I can see the stable lights.”
A dim light began to appear through the pouring rain.
The sign read [Maika Laco Stables].
A stable in the southwest area of Hind Village.
“It’s not long until Hind Village.”
“If it hadn’t been raining, I would have gone right away.”
The three of them set up a carriage in a stable and rented a room for lodging. This is because stables far from the village double as accommodations.
‘In short, a highway rest area.’
Kang Seung-hyun and his party sat at a table in the stable cafeteria.
Because it was raining, the inside of the stable was crowded with people.
“Let’s order a meal first.”
“It’s a village soon anyway, so let’s eat simple.”
“But why did you come so late? What have you lost?”
“Rather than losing something…”
Kang Seung-hyun put something down on the table.
It was a sealed box found in the wagon earlier.
“I found something important.”
“This is…”
“Isn’t that the luggage on the wagon…”
Kim Ho-jung and Jiggs looked at Kang Seung-hyeon with shocked faces.
“Ah Okay! I’ll pretend not to know I haven’t seen anything today.”
“Healer is the benefactor of our village…”
“But when I see that the teacher took great pride in stealing… is that so?”
“that?”
“Stamina Potion Box…!”
“What does everyone think of me?”
Kang Seung-Hyun replied as if it was absurd.
“I like stealing, but stealing secretly like a rat is not my taste.”
“Isn’t it true that steel is your preference after all?”
Hearing that, Kim Ho-jung was even more dumbfounded.
If you add up the time he knew Kang Seung-hyun, it’s been over a year, but he was still an unknown person.
“Anyway, I don’t know what this is, but it’s not like a stamina or potion.”
“Then what is it?”
“Open it.”
Kim Ho-jung tried to open the box, but
“This thing doesn’t even budge?”
“Yeah, that’s a sealed box.”
“Why are you telling me that now!”
The box didn’t even budge.
“It’s a sealed item… it’s not ordinary.”
Ho-jung Kim seemed unaware, but the quick-witted Ziggs quickly saw through Kang Seung-hyun’s intentions.
“that’s right. I brought it to return it to the owner.”
“…master?”
“Because the carriage aristocrat was riding.”
Kang Seung-hyun briefly explained what he had just found out.
-The wagon that got into the accident was a merchant wagon.
– Inside the wagon, there was a carrier who hid his identity.
– This box is a valuable item that the carrier wants to deliver.
“Did you find out that far in that short time?”
“Thanks to the [Observing Eye].”
“It’s a fraudulent skill whenever you hear it.”
Seunghyun Kang put the box in his inventory.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter if I eat and run like this.”
It is certain that the carriage occupants were kidnapped.
If you’re looking for a ransom, it’s standard to aim for a flashy carriage, not a cheap one, so there must be a different reason.
“The fact that he didn’t kill him on the spot and dragged him away must mean that he had a reason to take him alive.”
It wasn’t long before the accident happened.
Those who were taken away are likely still alive.
“Then you want to save me!”
“Because if you rescue someone with a high status, you will receive a hefty reward.”
Kang Seung-hyeon was thinking of receiving the holy relic in return for solving this situation.
If you secretly destroy the holy relics you received legally in this way, you can avoid the Church’s pursuit.
“Oh, is that good?”
“I’m going to try to collect the holy relics legally for a while.”
“A holy relic?”
Only Ziggs, who knew nothing, had a puzzled face.
Of course, the two did not give details.
“Dinner is served.”
While the three of them were talking, a stable employee came back with the food he ordered.
The menu is vegetable soup with cheap black bread and beef jerky. This is the typical adventurer diet.
“thank you for this food. The soup smells so good.”
Seunghyun Kang smiled softly at the employee.
This smile is a persuasive face that is often used when extorting information from others.
“Oh, thank you. It was made with vegetables grown in the garden and a special sauce from the stable.”
“That’s why it smells so good. Can I order another bowl?”
“Sure!”
In fact, the waitress started talking about things she hadn’t even asked.
It seems that the persuasive face worked well.
“It’s strangely raining a lot these days, so the vegetables are green!”
“Is it raining a lot?”
“yes. Most recently, about three days ago? Then, as now, it suddenly rained.”
“What happened three days ago?”
“Hmm… There were adventurers who came to our stable in a hurry to ask for help.”
The stable staff who followed the adventurers found a wagon collapsed around the stable.
“It happened. Was it an accident?”
“Unfortunately, I think I was attacked by a monster. Because the luggage was still there…”
Kang Seung-hyun and his party looked at each other after hearing that. I didn’t say it out of my mouth, but it was because everyone was thinking the same thing.
‘Isn’t it the same as the current situation?’
Carriage that was bought. Untouched luggage.
and a sudden downpour of rain.
‘As expected, I thought it was something strange, but was it artificially created rain?’
Seunghyun Kang glanced out the window.
The raindrops were getting weaker.
“thank you for telling me.”
“you’re welcome!”
“But the owner is staring at you from over there.”
“Oh my gosh, it’s already time… I’ll bring you vegetable soup right away!”
The employee who had been caught up in Kang Seung-hyun’s tricks left in a hurry.
“That friend will get scolded for playing around today.”
“Did you do that on purpose knowing that?”
“The shop owner seems to have a heavy mouth.”
Kang Seung-hyun smiled and took a spoonful of vegetable soup. The savory taste matched the smell.
“So what are you going to do now? Shave everything around here?”
“I have to open the box first. You can guess who was kidnapped by looking at the contents.”
“It won’t open, how are you going to open it?”
“Why am I opening this?”
Seunghyun Kang said with a smile.
If it is a sealed item, you can entrust it to the relic appraiser.
“There’s a guy who ‘knows me well’ in Hind Village.”
