#18. How About a Man with a House?

#18. How About a Man with a House?

Black water.

She was known as a legendary assassin among the underworld of the Central Continent and certain nobles. She had never failed a mission.

Because of a special magic only she could use.

"Melt."

Fragments of a slime magic stone melted in her palm and seeped into her skin.

By absorbing magic stones, she could use the abilities of the corresponding monster.

Now, she could blend completely into her surroundings and become invisible, or refract light to freely alter her build or face.

Even the employers who commissioned her had never seen Black Sleep's true face.

Now, the legendary assassin Black Sleep had set foot in Winterwald territory.

Because Günter of the Golden Scales Merchant Guild had hired her for a large sum to investigate the progress of the new-city development.

Sun-browned skin, sharp features.

Disguised as an adventurer from the South, she boldly passed through the city gates.

Her alias was 'Sena'.

'It's brutally cold here whenever I come.'

In the past, Sena, who had infiltrated the North several times on missions, clicked her tongue inwardly.

The North in her memories had been a terrible place.

The people, reduced to skin and bones, had trembled from cold and hunger, while the roars of monsters had sounded day and night beyond the walls.

It certainly should have been like that…

"Hahaha! We're having a whole roasted boar for breakfast!"

"Ray! Stop playing around and come eat first! The food's getting cold!?"

Sena doubted her own eyes.

The streets were filled with appetizing aromas that made her mouth water, and plump-cheeked children laughed as they played in the dirt.

Northern men who used to have irritable eyes now walked the streets with bulging muscles and smiles plastered across their faces.

'What on earth happened to the North?'

Clutching her confused head, Sena headed to the Adventurers' Guild to gather information.

"All right, don't push! Line up in a single file!"

The guild was as bustling as a marketplace. Countless adventurers were raising their voices and snatching quest notices off the board.

Sena also pushed through the crowd and checked a quest.

[Transport Trient corpses from the Silent Forest. Return with the cart filled to the brim. 17 silver.]

"What… What!?"

It was an absurdly bogus listing.

Trients were forest calamities with hides as hard as steel.

Even experienced Silver-rank adventurers could do little more than flee from them.

'They want me to enter the forest to transport that monster? For a mere 17 silver?'

As Sena laughed in disbelief, adventurers who had selected the same quest passed beside her.

"Let's make some safe money today too!"

"Haha! Big Brother, won't our skills get rusty at this rate?"

They snickered among themselves as they gathered carts, as though they were really going to bring back Trients.

It was no bluff. There was no fear in their eyes.

She was about to forget why she had even come here in the face of this absurd spectacle.

"You. That skin color… Are you from the South?"

The adventurer who made eye contact with Sena stopped as he was about to leave the guild and spoke to her.

He was a rather fierce-looking man with a large scar across his face.

His identification tag showed he was a Silver-rank adventurer.

He was someone she could deal with easily.

Sena lowered her guard a little and answered.

"Yeah. Name's Sena."

"I haven't seen you before. If you don't mind, how about doing this quest with us? I'm Gale."

At that moment, a man gathering supplies behind Gale popped out, making a fuss.

"Kya! Big Brother! Are you hitting on a woman right now? This is the first time I've seen you do that since I joined the party!"

"Shut up, Rick!"

When the frivolous man started making a racket, Gale blushed and cleared his throat.

"Do a quest together? With me, whom you just met?"

When Sena showed her wariness, Gale shrugged.

"Adventurers from the South don't have the best reputation these days. A lot of them can't endure the training camp, pack up, and run away. If you don't mind, I could give you some advice as a senior who settled in the North first."

As Sena pondered briefly, Rick couldn't hold his tongue and blurted out,

"Aha. So skinny girls are Big Brother's type. Well, the Northern aunties' arms are about as big as Big Brother's thighs."

"Are you ever going to shut that mouth!?"

Gale kicked Rick in the shin.

Sena was dumbfounded.

She hadn't expected to be subjected to such a cheap pickup attempt.

'Adventurers are all horny dogs wherever they go.'

She clicked her tongue inwardly, but also thought it wasn't a bad offer for gathering information.

When Sena nodded, Gale beamed.

"It's settled, then. Let's hurry. There might not be any Trients left."

"……What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Sena followed behind Gale's party with an uneasy feeling.

***

The sun rose in the middle of the night.

What a contradictory sentence.

Yet that was actually happening at the Winterwald new-city construction site.

"Huff…! Huff…!"

Sena stopped carrying materials and drew ragged breaths.

A mere 16-silver-a-day manual labor job had brought the legendary assassin to her knees.

'Th-these lunatics. Just how much stamina do they have?!'

They transported steel trees all day and did manual labor at night.

Sena thought she would have to revise her assessment of Gale's party.

"Her Highness the Princess is shining down on us!!"

"The night-shift pay is sweet!!"

Even worse than the Southern adventurers were the Northern territory's residents.

Northern men who looked capable of strangling a dire wolf to death barehanded were carrying steel trees with long strides while humming.

Even though they took fewer breaks than Sena and carried heavier loads, their faces showed no sign of fatigue.

If anything, their eyes sparkled.

What could possibly be their goal in life to make them this earnest?

Sena's legs were trembling, and she could no longer keep up.

"Is it too much for you?"

"I'm only a little tired."

When Gale approached, wiping sweat, and asked, Sena replied coldly.

Her pride was hurt that she had been outdone in stamina by mere laborers—mere Silver-rank adventurers, at that.

"Don't be so discouraged."

Gale grinned and handed her a canteen.

"When we first came to the North, we collapsed even faster than you. Once you've gone through the guild's hellish training and eat meat soup regularly, your stamina will improve in no time."

"Meat soup in the North? …So it wasn't a scam cooked up to recruit adventurers?"

"Why would I scam someone from my hometown? Hang in there a little longer. It's almost time for Her Highness's late-night meal distribution."

Sena had spent all day doing grueling physical labor, and she couldn't make sense of all the information pouring in.

The sun rising in the night sky, the Silent Forest, the monstrous stamina of the Northern territory's residents.

Everything defied common sense.

"All right! Bring the slime gel!"

The builder's voice made Sena's eyes widen.

Slime magic stone fragments were rare, so even Sena couldn't use them carelessly.

Yet the laborers here were scooping slime gel from enormous vats by the bucketful, then pouring it in with stone and dirt.

"What… What on earth are they doing?"

"Oh, that? When slime gel hardens, it becomes stronger than steel."

When Gale replied casually, Sena's head began to spin.

They were pouring slime gel, difficult to obtain even on the Central Continent, and steel trees, the forest's calamity, into shops and houses meant for commoners.

'Poor Günter…'

Günter had completely misread the situation.

The North had gone beyond self-sufficiency in materials.

At this point, they probably wouldn't accept construction materials from the Central Continent even if they were given away.

"We'll never have to worry about running out of construction materials."

"Haha! We don't need to worry about anything that trivial. We just have to work diligently."

Gale, who had been slacking off alongside her, slowly stood up.

"J-just so you know, I…"

Gale cleared his throat and sneakily gauged Sena's reaction.

"I plan to become the owner of a house being built here before long."

"Oh? Really? You seem to have saved a fair amount of money for an adventurer."

"Th-that's right. I'll have to borrow a little money too, but soon I'll be able to buy a decent house in my own name. But, um… what are your plans for tomorrow, Sena?"

"Who knows. I haven't decided yet."

Sena replied indifferently to Gale, who asked haltingly.

Rick, who had secretly been listening from behind, snickered.

"I don't believe it. Big Brother's charging ahead on nothing but a right to move in, even though he hasn't saved much money. Who would've thought he'd get married before me!"

Stomp!

"Ow! Big Brother! Why'd you step on my foot!?"

"Will you shut that mouth!?"

At this unexpected topic, Sena's face grew hot for no reason.

All the back-alley scum who had made filthy advances on her had their tongues ripped out and their heads cut off.

She was the Empire's greatest assassin, Black Sleep.

But…

For some reason, the clumsy boast of a rough Southern adventurer didn't strike Sena as unpleasant.

'Have I gone crazy? Maybe all this labor has scrambled my brain.'

Sena hurriedly turned her head away, using light refraction to hide her flushed cheeks.

***

Some time later.

The headquarters of the Golden Scales Merchant Guild.

"W-what the hell is all this supposed to mean!?"

Günter's scream echoed through the luxurious office.

On his desk lay a report from the legendary assassin, Black Sleep.

[The Northern new-city development is proceeding smoothly. Steel trees and slime gel are replacing conventional construction materials. It appears the Golden Scales Merchant Guild's construction materials will never be needed.]

"Is this… Is this it!? Damn it! What's so legendary about the assassin Black Sleep!?"

He had paid a large sum to investigate corruption or hidden secrets in the North related to Winterwald's urban development, only for her to send him notes containing childish fantasies like:

[There is nothing of the sort.]

[It is perfectly clean, without even a hint of corruption.]

[Monster corpses have replaced construction materials.]

and other such childish fantasies.

Günter wailed as he tore at his hair.

The lumber he had planned to sell to the North at a 50% markup was growing moldy because the hastily rented warehouse was in poor condition.

It was all merchandise he'd stocked by borrowing money—even high-interest private loans.

"It's a dream… I've been dreaming this whole time…!"

This can't possibly be my reality.

As Günter desperately indulged in that absurd wishful thinking, the office door was smashed open and hulking men stormed in.

Bang!

The Central Continent's notorious loan sharks: the Blood Axe gang.

"Oh, dear, oh dear. Our merchant guildmaster. Why's it so hard to get a look at you these days?"

"K-Karlos! What brings you here…?"

Günter went deathly pale and sank into his chair.

Karlos leisurely strolled around Günter's office.

"I'm here to collect. You said you'd sell construction materials to the North and pay back the principal and interest in one shot, remember? What happened? The promised date has passed. Impressive. You haven't honored your contract with the North, and you haven't honored your contract with me. Hm? A merchant lives and dies by his credit, you know."

Karlos gently placed a hand on Günter's shoulder.

Then he squeezed it hard.

Günter screamed at the pain he felt for the first time in his life.

"The rumors I've heard are hilarious. They say the Monster Grand Duke blacklisted you and permanently banned you from entering the North. Wow~ What's the secret to still having your head attached?"

"J-just give me a little more time… Gack!"

Karlos slammed Günter onto the floor.

At his nod, his thuggish subordinates began ransacking Günter's office.

They swept the famous paintings on the walls, statues, and even gold bars hidden in the bookcase into sacks without a second thought.

"N-no, not that painting! I became a merchant to get that painting…"

"Shut up, you bastard."

Wham!

Karlos's foot brutally kicked Günter in the face.

Blood poured nonstop from Günter's nose.

"We'll call the interest settled with this. Have the principal ready by next month too. If you run… you know what happens, right?"

Karlos tapped the axe at his waist and laughed.

The loan sharks left the office, snickering.

The once-luxurious office became a ruin in an instant.

"Urgh… Aaaaaaah!!"

Günter sprawled on the empty floor, shedding tears of blood.

Until recently, Günter had been the head of a major merchant guild with considerable clout on the Central Continent, but now he had fallen into a miserable state, his life threatened by loan sharks.

'Princess… I have to go see Princess Luluen.'

Günter thought as he clutched his broken nose.

That was the only option left to him.