Chapter 533:
In Case the Worst Happens...
WE CAME TO Zinal and Fische’s room to talk…and I was starting to regret it. I had just gotten nice and warm in my bath, but one look at Zinal and my feet felt like ice. I knew it was in my mind, but still.
“Zinal, don’t blow your top.”
“Ha ha! Oh, please, I’m super calm.”
I watched Fische and Zinal talk from behind a hot cup of tea. It seemed too risky for me to put a word in. Yeah, I’m staying out of it.
“I’ll tell them for you,” Fische said with a resigned sigh at Zinal. Then he addressed me and my father. “First, I’ll explain about our gig. So, the job requester turned out to be a criminal, meaning the requestee managed to put that problem to bed easily.”
The job requester was a criminal? Um…he was a nobleman, right? Does this mean they’ve already found the evidence to put him away?
“What was his crime?” my father asked.
Fische sighed in exasperation. “Hiding and harboring a murderer.”
Hiding and harboring a murderer…
“They also confirmed both guilds were involved in this crime.”
My father shook his head. “I get it.”
They confirmed all that so quickly. I’m impressed. Also, this is the “worst-case scenario” my father was talking about, isn’t it?
Zinal was now even angrier—perhaps from Fische’s story—which made a chill run down my spine.
Is that bloodlust?
I stole a glance at Zinal, then immediately looked away.
Terrifying. Utterly terrifying.
“Hold it in, Zinal! You’re letting your guard down too much around them!” Fische rebuked him.
“Huh? Oops, sorry. Guess I got too relaxed.”
Aha…so his mask was slipping. I’m kind of flattered he’s letting us in. Well, flattered, but I can’t bring myself to feel too thrilled about it.
“Yes, I’d appreciate it if you could keep your bloodlust in check,” my father spoke up. “Ivy looks like she’s about to faint.”
Zinal nervously looked at me. I had no idea what sort of face I was making, but all the anger left his face the moment he saw me.
“Sorry… You okay?” he asked.
“Um, yes. I’m fine.”
I took a deep breath in and out to calm myself. “I’m impressed that you managed to get all that information so quickly.”
How had they investigated it all? It was quite the mystery.
“Uhh, we’re not as amazing as you think…” Zinal shook his head.
That confused me. My father, meanwhile, seemed calm, as if the news was no surprise to him. Did he know something I didn’t?
“I’ll just explain it to you. First, about this inn…” Zinal looked me grimly in the eye.
I sat up straight. “Yes, sir?”
“This inn—Asuro—it’s used as a refuge.”
A refuge?
“Like, say, if a nobleman forces himself upon y—er, forget I said that. Um, let’s say you saw a crime and now your life is in danger. This place will hide you from bad people. It’s also protected kids with rare skills and their parents when they got targeted.”
I nodded in understanding. His first example had made things clear enough.
“Have you ever seen Asuro inns in other villages and towns?” he asked me.
“I have.”
The inn we stayed at with Marya was named Asuro, and I did remember seeing other inns called that in other places.
“We could get our answers in such a short time because we got the intel from some people hiding here at Asuro right now. All we had to do was confirm with them whether the info we already had was true or not.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
Asuro inns were all over the kingdom, and they kept people safe. Were they run by a rather big organization, then?
“We work for one of the people who manages Asuro inns from deep in the shadows. That’s how we were able to get so much intel so easily and so quickly—like the royal inspection team.”
“Hey!” Fische barked nervously.
I agreed that Zinal hadn’t needed to tell us the last part. My father seemed to notice this, too, because he was acting a little cautious.
“I know, I know, but Ivy and Druid are both smart. We should just tell them everything now. Besides, they keep getting caught up in trouble without knowing why. They need to have more options and have Asuro as a safe place in case something happens.”
My father and I smiled cynically. We were the first to acknowledge that we kept getting caught up in trouble, but this time, it really was Zinal’s fault. We stared hard at him, and he averted his eyes a little when he caught me glaring.
“Yeah, this time, it’s all my fault,” Zinal admitted. “I thought we’d finish the job easily. When I heard the nobleman’s name, I knew he was an idiot. And this village wasn’t mixed up with the worst organization of all time, so I let my guard down.”
Poor nobleman just got called an idiot. And what’s this “worst organization of all time”?
“…Do you mean the church?”
The worst organization I knew of was the church. Especially now that we knew they were involved with summoning circles, they were even more dangerous.
“That’s right. Them.”
I had heard that the church and royal family were at war, but now I knew there was another organization at war with the church. I hadn’t even heard rumors about that.
“But what I have to say doesn’t leave this room,” Zinal said.
My father sighed. He was eyeing Zinal in frustration, which confused me. He didn’t sound at all surprised by anything Zinal had just said.
“Dad, you knew about this?”
Fische and Zinal looked at my father.
“I heard some whispers of it a while ago. I heard there was a secret organization going after the church, but the rumor disappeared very quickly. Since its life span was so short, I just assumed it was made up. Then many years later, when I started getting more jobs under the table, I had a realization: That secret organization actually exists. But I didn’t want to get involved, so I avoided them all this time.”
Fische stared at my father in a daze. “Druid, just what kind of life have you been leading all this time? Typical under-the-table jobs wouldn’t put you anywhere near us.”
The phrase “typical under-the-table jobs” sounded a bit odd to me. What would atypical under-the-table jobs be like…? I looked at my father, who stared awkwardly back at me and then slowly looked away.
“Well, you know…I’ve been through some stuff.”
My father’s answer made Zinal and Fische both tilt their heads in confusion.
“It’s all in the past now, so I don’t care,” I said.
He had said he would be more careful from now on. My father looked relieved by my words. Meanwhile, Zinal and Fische smiled sheepishly.
“I see. So Ivy yelled at you,” Zinal smirked at my father.
He frowned. “I didn’t notice when I first met you both, Zinal. I just sensed something was off by the intel you’d get and how quickly you’d get it. Then when I saw how wary you were of the church, I remembered the secret organization I’d heard about. I just had no intentions of sticking my nose in your business.”
Zinal and Fische nodded. “We get it. And we have no intention of getting either of you involved in our business, either, so don’t worry.”
I heard a faint sigh of relief from my father. Apparently, that was what he had been worried about.
“But, Druid, you must’ve done some pretty sketchy jobs in the past,” Zinal said. “And more than just once or twice, I’m guessing.”
My father shrugged. “It’s in the past—I’ve forgotten everything completely.”
Fische burst into laughter. I suppose that was his way of saying No, you definitely remember everything.
“Well, now you’ve got Ivy to take care of, so I guess you won’t do anything crazy anymore,” Zinal said.
“Of course I won’t,” my father answered right away.
Still, I was a little curious. I said I didn’t care about my father’s past, but I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world atypical under-the-table work was like…