Episode 32 [Didn’t you know someone? You speak as if you know the capital well.]
“Not at all.”
[Laughs. I’m trying to sell an unproven drug to nobles, but since I don’t have any connections, you’re saying you should think of a way yourself…?]
“Yes.”
At Logan’s calm answer, Philip forgot what he was going to say for a moment.
[…If something goes wrong, I’m sure I’ll die, even if Logan doesn’t know.]
“I said it’s okay.”
[I really thought it wasn’t his life…]
“What?”
[Oh no. Huh. If you want to make noble connections, a party is the best.]
“Party? A party…”
[Yes. However, since I am a commoner, I cannot attend noble parties. Then at least Logan…]
“Me? Are you asking me to go to the party?”
Of course, the McLane family had no money for parties, so they had never experienced it, and even in their past lives, the only parties they had were victory parties with a large number of mercenaries and a small number of knights causing chaos.
That alone was quite a difficult spell, but that wasn’t the end.
[And even if you make connections by attending parties, it will take time to deepen the relationships to the point where they can be helpful in business. It’s not possible to do business directly at a party.]
“Hmm? Do business directly? Ho-oh!”
[…I’m saying this out of anger, but you really shouldn’t do that. Not only Mr. Logan, but the MacLine family itself will be buried from the social world.]
“No, I’m not talking about doing business. As long as you don’t sell, that’s fine.”
[Yes?]
Philip asked in an anxious voice, as if he had an ominous feeling again.
“Hmm. Thanks to you, I got a good idea. Let’s meet in the capital then.”
[me too? What I also do here…]
“It will arrive in a week. I’ll meet you inside the west gate of Grand in the morning a week later.”
[Hey, Logan. Are you listening to me….]
Ji Ji-jik.
Pak.
Unlike Philip’s earnest cries, Logan’s steps seemed quite light as he left the communication room, lost in thought.
* * *
“Are you going to go abroad again?”
“Yes. After experiencing a big incident, I need some time to control my surprise.”
“…you?”
“yes.”
Padric let out a sigh at the absurd excuse of his eldest son who suddenly requested a meeting.
“Huh… hmm. So where do you plan on going?”
“I’m thinking of going to the capital.”
“capital?”
“yes.”
“You said you were going to a big city to clear your mind?”
“It’s to broaden your horizons.”
“…You want me to believe that?”
“yes.”
Padric could not hide his bewilderment when he saw Logan’s shameless face, but his son’s face did not move at all.
‘Because I can’t say I’m going to the capital to sell aphrodisiacs.’
No matter how profitable an item may be, he was not the kind of person who would sit still when he said he would run the business(?) himself, even if it was a proxy transaction through a merchant.
‘You’ll probably stop me by talking about the dignity of a nobleman.’
So in times like this, I had to go out shamelessly.
“Okay. I guess he has something else on his mind. Come back.”
However, permission came easier than expected.
Fortunately, the reputation created by performance was still strong.
This is the capital city I have visited for the first time in my life.
It was a bit of a problem within the family that the son of a noble family would drive a carriage loaded with nearly 2,000 boxes by himself, without any servants.
However, thanks to the achievements shown in the war, no one could reject Logan’s strong claim to superiority.
Thanks to this, for the first time in a long time, Logan was able to quietly prepare to sleep alone on the side of the road, using the stars in the night sky as a blanket.
“I can’t help it. Rick has to work.”
If Rick, who worked in the warehouse every day with his nose plugged while working with the shadows under his eyes getting darker day by day, heard it, it would have been shocking.
I wanted to hide the correlation between Karok’s meat and this ‘medicine’ as much as possible, so there was nothing I could do yet.
Because he didn’t have any more confidants he could completely trust.
“Still, I’m sorry, but…”
Logan was also a person with a conscience.
“Okay. From now on, your name will be Impo-Rick.”
Rick’s name was given to the result of Rick’s hard work, a pile of boxes next to him.
‘Rick cures impotence. ‘Good!’
At that moment, Rick, who was barely able to sleep with his tired body, shivered from an unknown chill.
* * * People were so crowded in front of the gate that there was no room to step.
Even from a distance, where they looked like pea-sized dots, the gates and walls boasted a majestic size.
It was a sight that looked like little people entering a giant’s castle.
As such, Grand, the capital of the Millennium Kingdom, was an old castle that boasted an overwhelming size.
The tall and massive castle walls, which are as high as 20 meters, are affected by periodically renewed protection magic and do not collapse or wear out easily and have withstood for a thousand years.
In the story, it was said that even the Aura user’s Aura could not easily make a scratch on the castle wall.
‘That’s an exaggeration, though.’
Logan, who remembered the helplessly collapsed castle walls in his past life, felt a little uncomfortable because those imposing walls seemed to prove the empire’s strength.
And that feeling got worse as the walls got closer and more crowded people came into view.
‘The best and largest city in the eastern part of the continent with a permanent population of over 1 million and a floating population of over 2 million.’
For the people of the Kingdom of Grandia, the capital, Gran, was literally a symbol and pride of a thousand years of history.
A giant star created in ancient times that does not even exist in the Ares Empire.
But Logan’s impression of it was completely different.
As he looked at the castle gate, the sight of it collapsing and countless people dying unfolded before Logan’s eyes like a panorama.
“Mmm.”
There was a time when they were rushing to the capital like crazy, leaving behind the already burned down MacLane Castle.
And the nostalgic face that made a mountain of enemy corpses and collapsed in front of the west gate of the capital.
‘…Ronian.’
And even the memory of having to look on helplessly, unable to do anything, as my younger brother was dragged away miserably.
Crack.
‘Never again…’
Heeeeee.
“Tsk!”
When I inadvertently tightened my hands and tightened my grip on the reins, the horses suddenly raised their front feet as if in a fit of convulsions.
“Danger up!”
“Stay back!”
The people around were scared and backed away at the sight.
“Master Logan!”
Because of that small commotion, the group that was supposed to meet inside was able to find him a little early.
* * *
“But what are you going to do?”
“First, I need to get a list of customers.”
“A customer?”
“A list of nobles that don’t stand up. Can you get it?”
Philip looked at Logan, whom he had not seen in real life for the first time in a long time, with a puzzled expression.
“…Will you be there?”
“Really? You’ll keep it a secret, right?”
“Of course. People like that, of course… no way.”
“Yes. When you get to the capital, there are people who sell the secret.”
That was the beginning of Logan’s idea of sales.
Those who seek out secrets. Most of the ‘real’ information guilds collect information from the shadows.
They were the ones who were also screened out by customers and were ready to cut their tail and hide at any time when they sensed something was wrong.
And the Eastern Continent branch of ‘Nox’, one of the most famous information guilds, was located in Grand.
“…How on earth did you know that?”
“You don’t have to know. I’m just resting here for now. I’ll get there by myself.”
“I will follow you too!”
Philip’s voice trembled slightly as he said that he would follow me to a dangerous place, leaving behind a safe lodging.
But the desire in his eyes was sincere.
As a merchant, there was no one who did not know the importance of information.
Establishing a competent information guild and connections was a prerequisite for all great merchants and a dream for all merchants.
“You are in a dangerous place and you could die.”
“…I will remain calm.”
But Philip was quick to give up. Because there was nothing more important than my life.
Logan chuckled at that and quickly walked away.
* * * Logan, who had prepared a high-end lodging in the inner city costing 50 gold per night, actually carefully visited the slums to the east outside the outer castle.
About a hundred years ago, with the rapid rise of the Ares Empire in the west, the center of trade became the West, and all the rich and powerful headed to the West.
Most of the common people who remained in the east were extremely poor who had no ability to leave even if they wanted to.
The place where the extremely poor gathered and formed the largest group was outside the eastern outer castle of Grand.
And criminals or social misfits who committed crimes inside or outside the area and ran away came in and formed a slum.
However, the corrupt high-ranking members of society did not bother to do anything for the ‘garbage’ that formed the slum.
As a result, the absence of public security increased, and at some point, the worst lawlessness zone that even the country abandoned was formed.
Even during the day when the sun is high in the sky, there is a gloomy atmosphere.
It was Grand’s bare face, hidden by the nobles of the inner castle and the busy streets of the outer castle.
Nox’s Grand branch was located in a remote corner of that lawless area.
‘If you look weak, there are a lot of people who will immediately rip out your internal organs.’
Logan walked straight into the alley of the lawless area, ignoring the gazes of the beggar who held out his hand for a penny.
In fact, it was funny that a shadowy guild existed in one place for a long time, but ‘once it reaches Nox, it won’t be easy to move branches.’
It was a so-called open secret.
Being the most famous information guild on the continent meant that it had a lot of customers.
If we move branches every time a problem arises, it will be difficult to receive customers.
Fortunately, Logan’s guess was correct.
Knock. Knock again. Knock. Knock.
When I knocked on the door of an isolated abandoned house in a certain manner, a small stick-shaped hole at the top of the door clicked open.
The blue eyes visible in the hole blurted out a word as if they were annoyed.
“what?”
“Nox.”
“…password.”
“Lunai.”
“Tsk. Wait.”
Fortunately, not only Nox’s location but also the password remained the same.
The only difference from my previous life was that I had to wait outside for almost an hour.
Of course, the reason was fully predictable.
“Come in.”
The inside of the abandoned house was wider than it seemed from the outside, and the underground space was even wider.
Squeak.
A middle-aged man with an ordinary look greeted Logan as he stopped in front of a room in the basement, opened the old door, and entered.
“What brought you here from the southwestern outskirts of the kingdom, Prince Logan McLane?”
Although the first person recognized him immediately, Logan was not surprised.
Rather, I was just happy because it seemed like it was proof of Nox’s ability that he was able to find out his information in just an hour.
“I came to the information guild to buy information. Why would I come?”
“Oh. Who did you hear about our branch location and password from?”
“That’s something you just need to find out.”
No matter how much you research, you won’t find an answer.
Grumble.
Logan sat on the chair across from the table where the middle-aged man was sitting with a relaxed expression.
“…Well, that’s fine. We just need to get the price right. What do you want?”
“First, a list of nobles who have been married in the last 10 years but have no children. List of nobles who did not create a second concubine or mistress. Third, a list of nobles who often seek out foods that are good for virility. Based on the capital.”
“…Yes?”
I didn’t know if Nox would know information about impotent nobles.
However, even if he knew information that could be a noble’s weakness, he would never sell it cheaply.
If it was a high-ranking noble’s secret information, he would return it. Therefore, it was possible not to sell it at all.
So, it was better to collect information that could be used to make inferences and select it yourself.
“Is it difficult?”
“It’s not difficult, but why do you need that information?”
“If you tell me, I will pay for the information. ”
I will accept the request.”
The deal was concluded.
* * * It was the very next day that Nox brought me the information.
I believed in his skills, so I wasn’t that surprised, but the price was surprising. That’s in a bad way.
” Three pieces of information that are close to these rumors cost 900 gold?”
Philip looked surprised as he picked up three thin booklets that were less than 1cm in length.
“Yes. Nox is expensive.”
“If we had the time, we could do it too…”
“Because that time is a waste, we pay money to do it. Just shut up and check the people who fall into the three categories. Even the people who fall under the two categories.” ”
…Yes.”
Only a few hours have passed since the Colossus from the previous life learned how to use the information guild from the mercenary from the previous life. The goals they should aim for have been identified.
