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Arnold dropped by the SDC office first to see if there would be any work left out for him but Morwenne and the others had finished all the work, so all they're going to do now is wait for the academy to reopen to continue their other business.
His only order was to wait for the "mules" to come to the academy then place one of them under a hypnosis once she trusts him enough to want to be alone.
After leaving the academy, he teleported to the empire's border wearing a simple hood. The goal tonight isn't to confront anyone along the road, just securing the routes they'll need to take to the Wood Elf Country.
"System, see if you can find any unmapped routes through the forest that goes around the surveillance of any soldiers or bandit encampments across the country."
Merchants and smugglers often use their routes to cross into the empire undetected. The former can avoid paying international taxes (which is illegal) and the latter, well, that's self-explanatory. Once he's done mapping out the route, he could submit it to the Adventurer's Guild for rewards, as that can prevent anymore crimes from taking place, but he doesn't care enough to stop what's going on there.
Sometimes these unmarked roads are just hiding in the most obscure places. What makes these routes even harder to find is how the ones using them always make sure to use illusion magic to make the surroundings look unsafe for travel.
They'll have to rely on routes like this to avoid conflict and evade the watchful gazes of the other adventurers.
-Understood. Accessing data… A map will appear on the panel. Access it by swiping left.
"Alright." Arnold swiped left on the blue panel when a new tab appeared that had an icon of a map.
The Holy Kingdom's entire region appeared on-screen, showing tens of unmarked routes, some more dangerous than others and some even leading under cities.
"This is troublesome… Some of the routes go right through Underworld Bases. Is making contact with them unavoidable?"
These are spots where every kind of criminal gathers to carry out their illegal activities—illegal slavery, human trafficking, drug trafficking, raw mana crystal trade, among others. Serz is in charge of most of these strongholds and it's one of their biggest money makers.
"Let's go to one of them. It's better to strike a deal with the managers since they would know the area better than most."
Thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to make some new contacts, Arnold flew towards one of them, making sure to not land too close to give away his identity. After making sure no one saw him, he came out of the forest and approached an out-of-place shrine that was next to the road.
Travelers would typically just pray in front of this shrine then go about their day but that was just a clever way of hiding in plain sight.
These places can also be used as black markets. So, upon seeing through the illusion, Arnold was met with a society that hides in plain sight, a place where criminals and scum thrive. While only spreading its existence through word-of-mouth and keeping it hidden with powerful illusion magic, most of the people in the army are also paid to make sure no one snoops around here.
Sometimes officers who get too close go missing, and that would be the work of their "colleagues". It's dishonorable to kill your fellow countryman just for a bit of gold, but this plague infests every corner of society, unfortunately.
Despite hearing nothing when he stood on the other side of the shrine, when he entered he heard a bunch of noises. Voices flew back and forth talking about prices of this and that. And as expected, nothing here is what you would find in a typical market—besides the people that is. But a thing called "ethical slavery" is a thing and very legal, something that happens when you don't pay a debt and have to work it off, etc.
The smell of endangered beasts and unwashed rare warrior demihuman breeds stung his nose. Luckily no one was alerted by his presence. There's typically a scout that warns of any enemies approaching, which Arnold was able to evade with the system's help.
"Oi, I've never seen ya before." Someone stepped in front of Arnold as he was looking around while walking.
"I'm just here for an exchange. Since you operate on word-of-mouth, is it that strange to see a new face."
'I haven't even taken ten breaths and a master assassin already noticed me. Serz is very meticulous when it comes to outsiders.'
"Hmm…" the dwarf assassin stroked his beard, his face hidden by the shadow of his hood, "Aye, makes sense. Pray tell, what's yer business ere?"
'What a nosey fellow.'
"A party of adventurers will take this route within the next three weeks—best you leave while you still can." He said with a calm voice.
"W-Wha?! Did you tell them to take this route!? Who are you!?" the man took out the sword at his waist, prompting the others to do the same upon noticing the commotion and some even overhearing. Within moments, Arnold was surrounded by a crowd. They weren't ordinary citizens, but hardened criminals who survive by being smart.
And the smart thing to do now is figure out how many other adventurers know about this route.
He held up his hands, "I'm someone who was offered an SS-class quest by a very important person. I have no intention of revealing the location of this route if you just cooperate and pause your activities for at least a week. Now, if you'll just let me speak to the manager—" he tried to lower his hand but several swords were at his throat.
They began to laugh, "How do we know you aint just talkin' bullshit?" then another person asked.
"No talking to outsiders!" a shadow appeared above Arnold and quickly mounted his shoulders, brandishing a dagger and struck at his neck.
What they saw next made them go silent—the midget who had attempted to kill him was "flicked" away. But it wasn't just a simple flick—
The man turned into red paste and chunks of meat, his innards splashing in the direction where he flew.
"H-He killed that expert assassin with a flick…?"
"T-That guy was a legendary adventurer killer who even SS-class parties feared…"
"How strong is that man!?"
"Even the leader considered that man to be the best assassin to send after his enemies..."
He wasn't looking forward to killing anyone as there is no benefit in needless slaughter nor does he feel pleasure killing others but that had to be done.
He wiped off the blood from his face and—with a smile—he spoke, "Sorry, I'm the kind of person who fights back if an attempt is made on my life."
They retreated back, their faces pale upon seeing a single flick of the finger kill an Expert Assassin effortlessly.
"One of you mentioned this place has a leader?" he recalled, "I suppose that's the person who the merchants and traffickers have to negotiate with. Take me to them."
**
Arnold was brought to the inside of a cave. You can't expect a fancy manor in a place like this but there were some fancy art and furniture in the cave and the aroma of delicious food drifted from somewhere so it's not like they're cavemen.
He was brought to the supposed "manager" of this route. There are many others across the country but their job is essentially to make sure the route stays in business. Not a simple task but a very rewarding one.
"—To think an SS-class adventurer was able to find this little society of ours after years of escaping even the most famous information guilds—may I say how impressed I am?" said a bald black man with golden teeth and no sheen of white in sight, sunglasses indoors and a purple shirt with a white suit. He spoke with a foreign accent and in broken Diacreerian. But Arnold could understand him somewhat.
He must be from the lands across the sea. A former pirate looking for a newfound career most likely as this accent was common among pirates.
"I'm not here to start trouble. I only seek passage and to warn you that acquaintances will be coming down this same route. Unlike me, they have every obligation in the world to get rid of this place."
"And you told them?"
"I'm going to, once I get enough intel."
He lowered his sunglasses and stared at Arnold with his mouth in a straight line, his golden teeth hidden behind his thick lips.
"See, the moment you said those words, I coulda lunged at you to cut off your head—because if this place is found out, I lose my job. That's like taking the food off my table, see?"
"I know. But it's not my problem how it impacts you. If the guild finds you here, they'll do their best to take you down. Surely you don't want the entirety of the Adventurer Guild focusing on you? How will this impact your image? What will your bosses think?"
"How do you know I'm not the boss?"
"I spotted Legions from Serz on my way here. A cadre owns this route as they never gather in such large numbers in one place unless ordered by someone."
"…Are you an associate of the organization?" he didn't even ask how Arnold knew they were Legions.
"Of sorts."
"That's it? No name? Nothin'?"
"I don't need to know your name and you don't need to know mine."
The man exhaled through his nose with a chuckle, "Aright, you mentioned getting intel. Tell me more. Or, is warning us the only reason why you requested to see me?"
"Information will help, yes."
With a grin, showing his golden teeth, he said, "But there's a price, even to the strong. I'm sure that since you appear to be e a reasonable man, you'll cooperate."
He thought about it for a moment. Information is important if you're scouting ahead. Going in blindly isn't a good idea. Since this region is overrun with demihumans, knowing how they move beforehand will help greatly.
"What's your price?"
"Now, now. Tell me what you're lookin' for first. Only then will I be able to confidently answer you."
He saw nothing wrong with that so he nodded and began to explain. The man listened silently and avoided interrupting to ask unnecessary questions, showing how serious he was about this "deal". Which isn't strange at all since that's his whole job.
He might be a National Level 5 criminal but he's not dangerous as long as you show your willingness to do business.
"Hmm… A route that leads straight to the Wood Elf Country through the Theocracy that is so hidden you won't encounter demihumans or other trouble along the way, huh. By airship, you can arrive within hours but by carriage, it will take at least three days to get there. Both methods of travel are heavily monitored. It's not impossible to find something for you but I'll need to contact my associates, which will incur heavy costs, y'know?" after he was done explaining that, he leaned forward, dropping his glasses again, "Why not just take the normal route?"
"I'm sure you've heard of the demihumans causing trouble across the southern regions of the country lately. They've been sighted even near our empire's border. With how many there are, I would rather just avoid them entirely instead of engaging in combat. As such, I need the locations of their camps and villages."
They have a hive mentality since they typically travel in groups so if he fights one, others will join until it leads to a massacre. Now who wants that attention on them? Arnold might be strong but he hates swatting flies aside every time he turns a corner.
"You must be talking about the independent tribes, hm? They number in the hundreds of thousands compared to the tens of thousands you can find in the tribes. Demihumans don't like being on a leash. Last I heard, even the Lion King struggles with the unified tribes since they refuse to bow down to him. Add that onto the nomads and sheesh, what a headache for him… A pity he would just let the Theocracy do as they please without helping his people in the war, though."
"A pity for you, isn't it? You won't be able to sell your weapons to the demihumans."
"Kukuku, you get it. Alas, I know you are the bigger threat so I won't even think of trying to spark conflict between Azek and the Theocracy."
As long as the tribes leave his citizens alone, the Lion King doesn't move. This is the least the five leaders of the unified tribes can do since they know how fearsome of a Beast Lord he is. Even if all of them fight him together, chances are two or more will die in an all-out fight.
The man took out a large scroll and unfurled it. Then he picked up a magic item nearby—a magnifying glass—and held it above the map. In Arnold's eyes, it was a blank sheet of paper so it must be encrypted with some kind of magic to fool onlookers.
He waited for a while as the man studied the map of routes they've created.
"—Got it." he grabbed a smaller map of the region and used a marker to draw several circles over it, "These are most of their camps, numbering seven in total. Each has an estimated 2000 to 5000 soldiers while the rest are further to east."
"So, are all of these tribes under the unified tribes?"
"Yes. They spread out their manpower to take over territories easier without moving in a large army. As you know, we humans are, on average, naturally weaker than demihumans so it's typically easy for them to take over a village or town. The large circles are where all the order are coming from so don't linger nearby as they move in large groups.
As Arnold studied the map, the man continued, "There are some dangerous territories where even the imperial soldiers won't dare cross so taking every route on the way won't be necessary. Some are monster zones so make sure you don't stick around there too long if you do lead your comrades through there."
Noticing his eyes narrowing, the man continued, "Don't look at me like that, Sir. While we members of the underworld have many places to hide, you can't simply take every route we have. There are risks involved and it may even start a war between the managers."
"Fine. I can't expect everything handed to me on a platter."
"Sheesh, you didn't even blink at the mention of monster zones. Even S-rankers avoid going there unless they have full parties. Anyway, I'll give you a tag—show this to the managers of the two routes I've marked and tell em I said a code 98 is planned within—" he gestured to Arnold.
"Three weeks. That's our agreed upon time."
"Right, three weeks."
"So, what's your price?"
"Hmm, we've also been dealin' with trouble involving the demihumans. Remember the nomads I mentioned? There's just too many of em in the southeastern regions so getting our cargo in and out of the country is a hassle."
"You want me to deal with them when I already told you we don't want to fight the demihumans?"
"They aren't called nomad tribes for no reason. They aren't part of the united tribes' armies, they're only savages that joined the war effort to kill, eat and rape humans. Y'know, like barbarians. No one will miss them even if they get wiped out. I marked their camps—They're way too close to our supply and trade routes so they need to go."
It's true those kinds of tribes exist. The main leaders wouldn't care if nomads disappear since they refuse to be ruled by the beast lords. Whether they live or die doesn't matter.
"Alright, you got a deal. I'll deal with them tonight." Instead of asking why he won't just deal with them himself, Arnold agreed to the exchange.
"Attaboy! We got some products that need to move out in the next few hours so don't be alarmed if you see carriages behind you on the way."
"Got it." he stood up and held out his hand.
"Haha, you have been quite the reasonable fella for someone so strong." the man got up and extended his own hand then the two shook hands, "If you're in the market for some products, send me a message~"
**
After his meeting with the manager, Arnold quickly left their little society. There was no need to elaborate on what those products are as he could see many people in chains being thrown onto wagons and carriages.
And even in this place there were prostitutes lining every corner.
"Ah, I forgot to ask him if he knew anything about the drugs being distributed in the academy." He facepalmed.
He can always come back. Though he's certain the man will attempt to lie as it's quite likely he's involved in the business.
With that thought buried at the back of his mind, Arnold flew towards where the first village was at.