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-…You pervert.

For a second, Davey felt like he heard Perserque genuinely complain in irritation. But still, he thought to himself, ‘Well, I could be roused if it was a girl as pretty as her.’

Although the Pallan Empire’s imperial princess was still quite young, both Davey and her had come of age and were independent adults.

Since Davey didn’t bother to make any excuses and simply stared at him, the man silently closed his eyes. His eyelashes quivered. He was trying to figure out the true meaning of Davey’s words: was he serious, or was there a different meaning to his words? After some contemplation, he gave the best answer that he could provide. “I…am fond of my life.” There was a hint of tiredness in his sighing voice.

“Okay, that’s enough for me,” Davey replied calmly and lightly threw a pouch of gold coins toward the man. “It’s payment in advance.”

The man looked shocked as he caught the unexpectedly heavy pouch of gold coins.

“It’s one hundred and fifty gold coins. There should be a female mage named Portna under Winley, my younger sister. Investigate her recent whereabouts.”

“Secretly trail the woman?” The man asked.

“Could you say it’s for medical purposes? Do you see me as some kind of perverted stalker?” Davey replied. He felt like the man looked a little less interested in the task.

-You’re not a perverted stalker, and yet you mentioned the underwear of the Pallan Empire’s imperial princess?

The man in front of Davey couldn’t converse with Perserque, but he also looked suspicious of Davey.

‘[Check Information]’

Beep!

-Name: Jack (Aina Helishana).

-Age: 124.

-Sex: Male (Female).

-Species: Human (Dark Elf).

-Title: Lethal.

-Status Effects: None.

-Notes: Possesses assassination skills of entry-level ‘Master’; leader of fourth division of the Echo Guild, a continent-wide intelligence guild; known as Jack in the guild.

-Current Emotion: Confusion.

‘Hm? She was a woman? And a dark elf?’ Davey stared at the man after reading his information. He noticed that the man didn’t have particularly dark skin or long ears.

-Dark elves don’t have dark skin in the first place. They are just different types of elves and they look the same, just like how mages and dark mages don’t look different from each other.

‘It might get ugly if we provoke her too much.’

-And are you one to be troubled by that?

‘Of course, not.’ Davey chuckled secretly and went on. He asked the dark elf, “Can you do it?”

“I won’t take the payment.” After some careful consideration, the dark elf quietly handed back the pouch of money to Davey.

“What are you trying to say?” Davey asked.

“I won’t take the money.” The dark elf replied.

“You’re going to do it for free?”

“Not that, either.” The dark elf calmly answered and lowered her head. “I will…calculate the payment afterwards.”

“What if I rip you off?” With a chuckle, Davey lowered his head further.

“This is my proposal since, although you seem to be more perverted than I thought, you don’t seem like the kind of person to not keep a promise. You are not cheap, and you have integrity.”

The dark elf wanted to see how Davey would act, then build a friendly relationship with him if he was to her liking.

The probing was a little disrespectful, but it didn’t feel terrible. Davey was just a bit surprised that she was a dark elf, but it probably wasn’t anything too extraordinary since she could even change her sex. She seemed to have a sturdy, muscular figure, but that was actually fake. As Davey used his power to glance into the darkness for a bit longer, he began to see an image of a thin and short girl. ‘No wonder. This was the power from a piece of the will of God.’

“Is that your organization’s offer?” Davey asked.

“No, my personal one,” the dark elf answered.

“Sure. Do whatever you want.”

“Okay, then…” The dark elf bowed her head for a short goodbye, then disappeared into the air.

“You’re going to focus more on your concealment abilities? What a sense of pride you have.”

As he chuckled, Davey thought about the information that he had read about her. ‘She’s a dark elf and had also hidden her sex… And isn’t the Echo Guild one of the most famous guilds in the continent?’

-It is not only merchants who can quickly notice a cash cow. Besides…

Perserque trailed off and quietly asked.

-Do you know anything about the family name, ‘Helishana’?

“Helishana?”

-You don’t know?

“It’s the dark elf’s family name, right? Is there something about her?”

Perserque smiled softly and shook her head.

-It doesn’t matter if you don’t know. Forget about it.

“What a bummer.”

Their conversation didn’t go on for long.

* * *

Winley must have been tired from traveling for a long time, but she followed Davey as if she couldn’t wait even a moment longer. However, she didn’t have enough strength to endure another long journey since she had come all the way here without rest. As if she had fought in a battlefield while being emotionally drained, Winley was currently a mage who lacked strength.

“I know your physical condition the best. Stay here,” Davey told Winley.

“No! I’m going with you!”

“Don’t be stubborn.” Davey sounded serious, but Winley refused to budge.

‘I wonder if she knows how bad of a physical state she is in right now.’

Horseback riding was quite a physically draining activity. Davey wondered what Baris was doing in a situation like this, but he thought that Baris must have his reasons, since Baris cherished his twin sister more than anything in the world. Baris just didn’t act like it.

“We have to travel for days to get to the Orden Territory. A carriage will slow us down, and from the symptoms you have described, we don’t have that kind of time. You might even slow us down.” Davey intentionally criticized Winley so that she would change her mind, but she kept saying that she could travel by horse in a teary voice.

-I don’t know why you are so weak against that sister of yours.

“Big brother, I can go! I’m not weak!”

Technically, Winley could; traveling wouldn’t be a problem since she could just hold onto her consciousness with her mental strength. However, Davey just didn’t want her to do that.

Wondering about how to solve this problem, an unexpected solution simply presented itself.

* * *

“Nice to meet you. My name is Yulis, a class-5 ‘Master’. I am humbly a part of the Red Tower.”

Mages usually excluded their gender, but included their class and proficiency when introducing themselves.

‘Class-5 ‘Master’.’

People who took the oath of mana found faking their classes very distasteful, so the red-haired mage who appeared to be in his twenties in front of Davey was almost a 5-circle ‘Master’-level mage. A 5-circle mage; considering this mage’s age and that his skills were almost that of an entry-level ‘Master’, he had reached an incredible level. After all, it required an exceptional amount of effort and talent that went beyond the level of a ‘Swordmaster’.

If swordsmanship trained the physical body, then magic strengthened the mind. Unlike the few people who became masters in their forties and fifties after devoting their entire life to magic, this mage was already at the entry level of ‘Master’ before the age of thirty, and was working his way up to the higher levels. Davey was a special case, since his standard of time was a little different.

“I am Davey O’Rowane. I have heard great things about you, Class-5 Yulis. It’s an honor to have someone as respected as you to come to this shabby territory.”

‘Heard things about him? I don’t even care about him. And I have no reason to converse with him.’

Regardless of his continental fame, Yulis was from the Central Tower in the central continent. Any involvement with him would only result in trouble.

“Shabby? Nonsense. This territory is the shining star of the eastern continent right now. And I’ve wanted to meet you since Princess Winley had spoken so highly of you,” Yulis said with a smile, showing no hint of sarcasm. Looking at his impression, he was a righteous young man who might be a little too hardworking.

However, Davey had already classified Yulis as a highly dangerous individual. ‘He’s dangerous!’

-You shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Is there a reason for you to be so wary of him just because he traveled with your younger sister?

‘Of course there is. That’s a good enough reason. How dare he touch her with his dirty hand?’

Aside from being kind-hearted, Yulis was also a genius that even the wizard towers acknowledged. On top of that, he was from a good family. There was nothing second-rate about Class-5 Yulis, including his status, wealth, personality, looks, and abilities; he was the golden boy. Furthermore, becoming a ‘Master’ at such a young age held more merit than one would imagine.

‘Man, you’re tall, too.’

The problem was why Yulis was involved with Winley, so Davey simply asked, “But how does someone like you, Class-5 Yulis, know my sister?” He squinted suspiciously.

Winley nudged Davey in shock. She exclaimed, “B—Big brother!”

“Haha, that’s alright. I would also be wary in such a situation. I was actually on the way to the Heins Territory to take care of business, but then I ran into Princess Winley, and we happened to travel here together,” Yulis explained.

Blushing, Winley lowered head.

‘People say there’s no use in working hard to raise a daughter. Ah, I can’t do it. Let’s get rid of him right now.’

-You have to be patient. And besides, Winley isn’t even your daughter!

If Perserque didn’t shout and hold back his arms with an invisible power, Davey would have swung his sword. ‘Phew…’ Davey bitterly smiled as he made his sword disappear without Yulis noticing.

“I don’t know how I should thank you for helping my sister,” Davey said.

“No, that’s okay. Princess Winley was actually the one who helped me,” Yulis replied. It seemed that Winley had used her magic to chase away the fearless bandits whom Yulis had encountered on the way here. He added, “So, I came to see you. I was wondering how to repay you.”

“Oh… Yes.” Davey nodded.

“Although I am lacking, I think I may be able to help you. I am familiar with spatial magic, other than flame magic.”

“Te—Teleportation magic!” As Winley exclaimed in surprise, Davey secretly let out a gasp. Mages usually studied one subject of magic for their entire lives; it wasn’t because they were interested in that one subject, but because life was too short for them to learn other types.

“I happen to have a small mana gate with me. I was going to use it to move some essential products,” Yulis revealed.

“A—A small mana gate!”

Davey stared at Winley who shouted in shock. He asked, “Is that something great?”

“B—Big brother, of course! Unlike installation-type large mana gates, small mana gates are extremely luxurious artifacts. They are rare even among the mages of the wizard towers!” Winley explained.

“Hm…”

“It is a secret treasure of the continent, so only mages who are knowledgeable in spatial theory above the class-5 level and those who possess mana similar to the High Wizard could have it. I never expected someone like that to be at the Red Tower,” Winley said.

Apparently, Yulis had been on his way to get the wizard tower’s important supply himself to prevent it from getting damaged in the process. And since Winley was also a mage, she had lots of curiosity and an eagerness for knowledge.

Davey decided to hold off on getting rid of Yulis for now. A mana gate would allow them to move without a lot of strain. In addition, Winley was still a mage, so she wouldn’t react adversely to the teleportation magic even if she wasn’t a spatial-related mage. It was difficult for Davey to use a long-distance teleportation spell since it could only be done above the 6-circle level.

Davey nodded gratefully. “Then, I owe you.”

As Davey smiled and offered a handshake, Yulis laughed and grabbed his hand. But Yulis turned slightly pale when he felt Davey’s firm grip.