The warehouse had fallen completely silent. Only dust moved, drifting lazily through the sunbeams slipping between warped planks.
The thugs who were there ran away a while ago. Ryn shrugged, they’d be caught by the garrison anyway without their leader.
He wiped his blade on the handler’s cloak and sheathed it, his breathing even, unhurried.
Ellis looked at him with the fascination of a newborn baby who had just seen the world for the first ti.
"I grossly underestimated you," she said while trying her best to untie her binds.
Cardinal Leon rose slowly from his knees, shaking off the last of the rope burns.
"If I rember correctly, you were supposed to have a B-Rank Blessing?"
Ryn didn’t et his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t push further.
"Yeah. Sothing like that," he said, rummaging through the handler’s belongings.
Leon studied him for a breath longer, then inclined his head.
"Very well."
And just like that, he let the matter go—the mark of soone who understood that pressing the wrong person at the wrong ti could do more harm than good.
Ryn finally dug into sothing within the handler’s inner coat. A thin envelope that’s no larger than palm-size. It was written like a normal ssage, but he knew a trick that would do the job in revealing the secret. Too bad it was dayti now.
However, through the light, he could make out two words.
Lun Auction.
Ryn folded the note and slid it into his pocket.
The three of them stepped out into the alley behind the warehouse, where the morning light felt almost foreign after the darkness inside.
Ryn rembered entering at dawn, now the sun was high over his head.
Cardinal Leon simply stood there, eyes closed for a mont, breathing in the clean air like a man grateful for another dawn.
Ryn leaned against the wall, unreadable as ever, though his gaze kept drifting toward the folded note in his pocket.
It was Cardinal Leon who broke the silence.
"Right, Mr. Ryn, what are your plans now?"
Ryn flinched. The only ti he’d been called ’Mr.’ was when his late mother scolded him for being bad behaved as a kid.
"Well," he cleared his throat, "my original goal was to get to Lun. However, since you’re going to Raias, how about going together with Stonewake?"
Leon gave him a gentle, grateful smile. "It would be comforting to have soone capable nearby."
Ellis crossed her arms. "Stonewake will want to escort the cardinal anyway. It’s safer, and they’re already involved. We’ll regroup with them and head to Raias imdiately."
Ryn nodded slowly. "Good."
Ellis frowned. "So you are coming?"
"No," Ryn said simply.
Her brow knit. "What?"
"My path and yours split here." He tapped the folded note in his pocket. "Everything’s related, so it’s clear where I must go."
Ellis’s jaw tightened. "Then let us co with you—"
Ryn shook his head.
"Your job is to get the Cardinal to Rais safely."
Even before he said it, he felt the instinct to escort Leon himself. The safety of Cardinal Leon was, in many ways, equivalent to preserving the Hero’s strength in the future.
But the "Lun Auction"—which Ryn could only assu ant Lun’s Black Market Auction—was happening tomorrow. And that was sothing he could not afford to miss.
There were too many crossroads, too many futures branching at once. In the end, he took the risk.
Ryn sighed and handed Grandal’s crest to the cardinal.
"If anything happens, imbue this crest with magic. The Grandals will co running."
The cardinal held the insignia carefully, almost reverently, staring at it as though Ryn had handed him a royal heirloom—which, to be fair, wasn’t far from the truth.
"Thank you, Mr. Ryn." Leon bowed, so deeply and sincerely that Ryn actually flinched again and hurried to stop him.
"Please—stand. Really. That’s... unnecessary."
Leon straightened, still holding the crest with both hands as if afraid it might vanish should he loosen his grip.
Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ellis let out a slow breath, her shoulders dipping—not in relief, but in sothing closer to disappointnt.
"What’s wrong?"
"...This doesn’t actually fix Dunwick," she murmured. "Those fake priests are still running around town."
Ryn adjusted his cloak, hiding the last traces of noble embroidery.
"It should settle soon."
Ellis frowned. "What do you an?"
"I tipped the garrison captain yesterday," Ryn replied mildly.
"Told him that the head honcho of the bandits was going to go down soon, and that he can round up the others easily."
Ellis blinked. "You... already did that?"
Ryn shrugged, as if it were obvious. "Figured soone should."
Leon’s eyes softened with quiet understanding. Ellis’s expression shifted. Surprised, but this ti with a breath of relief instead of disappointnt.
"...You really plan ahead, don’t you?" she said quietly.
Ryn didn’t answer.
He just checked the note in his pocket, planning his next course of action in Lun.
"Let’s regroup with Stonewake." he said, already making his way back to the square.
Both Ellis and the Cardinal looked at each other, then followed, like confused freshn following their council president.
***
As they approached the gate, Stonewake was already ready to go. They looked anxious, which made Ryn realize that Ellis definitely did not tell them anything about the operation.
As soon has Hale spotted them coming out of the alley, he bolted over imdiately.
Ellis! Where were you? We agreed to et at dawn!"
Ellis hesitated just long enough for Ryn to confirm his suspicion.
She forced a smile.
"There was... a situation. But it’s handled now."
The other party mbers rushed over afterward, with Braden imdiately pointing Ryn out.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
Ryn stared at him, confused. They literally shared a al just yesterday. Either the man had terrible short-term mory or he was forgetting sothing.
It was the latter. Ryn was fully exposed, without his hood, in his full noble attire.
"Ah. Hi, I’m Eden."
Braden jabbed a finger at him. "You’re a noble!? Did...did I commit treason for calling you "bro" ?!"
Hale dragged a hand over his face. "Calm down. He’s the sa person."
Tessa erged from between the two, voice flat.
"Was it not obvious? There’s only one prominent figure with ’Eden’ in their na."
Ryn blinked at her, genuinely caught off guard.
"You knew?"
Tessa didn’t even shrug. "You were careless with your cloak. Anyone paying attention would’ve seen the crest."
Braden looked betrayed. "YOU KNEW THIS WHOLE TI AND DIDN’T TELL US?!"
"I didn’t think it was relevant," she replied flatly. "He wasn’t hostile, and Ellis trusted him."
Hale opened his mouth to protest, then slowly closed it.
"...Fair enough."
Ryn studied Tessa for a mont longer. Even with [Enhanced Senses], he didn’t realize she had noticed him.
And that alone told him enough, she knew more than she was letting on—but is capable enough to trust.
Ellis stepped beside him, crossing her arms. "Anyway, can we move on? We still need to get the cardinal out of Dunwick."
Ryn nodded once, his decision firming.
"Yes. And you’ll be fine with this group."
Both Hale and Braden opened their mouths in awe.
"What Cardinal??"
Leon stepped forward, drawing back his hood with a gentle, apologetic smile.
"That would be ."
Braden made a noise sowhere between a gasp and a squeak. Hale nearly dropped his shield.
Ryn exhaled, a sigh of exhaustion.
"Long story. Anyway, since you’re heading to Raias, could you go together with his group?"
Braden straightened his back imdiately. "We can do that! Probably. Maybe. Tessa, can we do that?"
Tessa ignored him entirely, turning instead to study Leon’s posture, his robes, the faint tremor still lingering in his hands. Her tone remained steady.
"We’ll take responsibility. Stonewake is already registered for eastbound travel. There’s no safer route for him right now."
Then she looked between Ryn and the rest of the party, her expression tightening for a mont.
"What about you? Aren’t you coming?"
Ryn tapped the folded ssage in his pocket.
"No. I have sowhere else I need to be... and not much ti to get there."
She exhaled. "Figures. You’re probably aiming for the Black Market Auction."
Ryn exhaled softly. She was right—again.
"You’re well-inford."
He began becoming suspicious of her, she spoke little but knew a lot. Ryn narrowed his eye, a hand also subtly placed near his ring.
Seeing the reaction, Tessa eased up.
"I was born into it."
Tessa reached into the inner pocket of her coat and pulled out a coin, to which she flung over to Ryn.
He caught it, facing the symbol toward him.
Then it struck...the reason why she knew so much.
The Red Fox rchants, one of the most reputable rchantry, known for both their trade and intelligence.
"You can’t use the Arctis or Grandal crests in Lun," she said.
"Noble insignias attract the wrong eyes. They also create... complications."
Ryn sighed once more, he wasn’t even going to ask the reason why she knew that he had Grandal’s crest.
But she was right. Bringing noble influence into an underground auction could create political noise. Noise that he did not need.
Ryn studied the emblem. It was lighter than he expected, but carried weight all the sa.
"This is valuable," he said.
Her gaze sharpened.
"Consider it a loan."
Ryn blinked, surprised by her blunt trust.
"...Thank you."
Ryn tucked the crest safely inside his cloak.
For the first ti since reading the handler’s note, he felt a sliver of reassurance.
Stonewake was not rely brave. They had soone who understood the deeper layers—the undercurrents of comrce, cri, and influence.
The cardinal would be safe with them.
And Ryn’s path was clear.
Toward Lun, the city of Light.
Reviews
All reviews (0)