Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A café run by the heir of the Dark Guild.
Chapter 11
Kayan continued trying to engage me in conversation as we walked, but I was too absorbed in memorizing the ever-shifting views of the Imperial Palace and the layout of the corridors.
After some time, a fork in the road appeared at the end of a neatly maintained path.
Kayan hesitated for a moment before suggesting a course to me.
“If we go this way, you’ll see our research institute. Would you like to take a brief look around?”
The Imperial Research Institute was a building with security so airtight that only people of considerable rank could enter.
The guild had attempted to infiltrate it in disguise several times, but all efforts had ended in failure.
‘Show me the research institute? I absolutely have to go in.’
This seemed like a windfall, but I asked with a face that betrayed no interest.
“Are you sure I’m allowed to enter? I’m not even nobility.”
“With me present, what could possibly be the issue? I’ll vouch for you personally.”
Kayan clearly wanted to show me the research institute.
I suppressed my urge to accept immediately and pretended to deliberate before nodding calmly.
“Well then, shall we?”
“An excellent decision. Our research institute has much to see.”
I was already pleased to be observing the interior structure of the Imperial Palace with my own eyes, and now I would even see the research institute.
‘Reilyi will faint when she hears about this.’
As we walked—thinking I’d have to tell her everything once I returned—a large fountain came into view in the distance.
A young boy was running around near the fountain, which was spurting water in grand arcs.
The child seemed captivated by butterflies fluttering about, and when he got wet, the attendants around him began to shift nervously on their feet.
My gaze was briefly stolen by the charming sight when Kayan whispered to me.
“That’s the Third Prince.”
“A prince?”
I hurriedly turned my head away from an identity I hadn’t anticipated. Even if he was young, it was never wise to offend royalty.
Fortunately, the path we took didn’t require us to pass by the fountain, so we soon put distance between ourselves and them.
After we passed several more side gates guarded by sentries, the research institute came into view, and we entered a well-maintained garden.
The garden, divided into neat sections, was filled with plants I had never seen before.
I was frantically rolling my eyes to take in every corner when someone suddenly jumped up from the shadows.
It was a person who showed no signs of vitality—so much so that I hadn’t sensed them at all.
“K-Kayan, Professor!”
A woman whose face was plastered with exhaustion went pale as a sheet the moment she saw Kayan, as though she had spotted something terrible.
“What are you doing out here? This is supposed to be research time.”
Kayan glanced at his watch as he spoke.
“I was just… so sleepy. And I haven’t been home in quite some time…”
“The research isn’t going well, it seems. If you’re overwhelmed with work, let me know. We can reduce your quota. Take a trip home while you’re at it.”
“No, sir! I can do it! I won’t shame your reputation.”
The woman cried out loudly, protesting that she could absolutely manage, fidgeting with anxiety.
“That’s an admirable spirit. Once you finish your current project, I’ll assign you to the Attack-Type Artifact experiments next.”
“Really? Yes! I’ll work hard! Thank you so much, Professor!”
Kayan gave the woman’s shoulder a couple of reassuring pats, then gestured for me to follow him.
“Everyone here is quite dedicated.”
“It’s a difficult place to enter. Graduating from the Imperial Research Institute guarantees advancement, but it’s equally demanding.”
The corridors of the research institute were filled with people in white coats like Kayan’s, rushing about frantically.
Though they must have been here by choice, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy watching their pallid complexions.
And there was one thing all the people we passed had in common.
The moment they spotted Kayan, they would flinch and start backing away.
“Um, Kayan? Everyone seems to be running away…”
“Don’t worry. I’ve memorized all their faces.”
That doesn’t seem to be the real issue.
I tilted my head in confusion as I watched Kayan, who seemed to take delight in people fleeing from him.
After passing the second floor, where various flowers and medicinal herbs were cultivated in separate sections, we climbed to the third floor, where an array of different items was on display.
“This is the Artifact Research Division. You could say it’s the jewel of our institute. As you know, all Artifacts with properties are managed directly by the Imperial Court.”
Any Artifact with magic, regardless of its attribute, was worth whatever price one demanded for it.
Taking just one item from here would be enough to live comfortably for the rest of one’s life.
‘I wish I could give these to the guild members.’
My eyes gleamed as I gazed at the countless Artifacts, when Kayan quietly called to me from behind.
“Rosia.”
I felt a pang of anxiety that he’d caught me coveting the Artifacts, but I turned around with an indifferent face.
“Yes?”
“Do you use an Ability as well?”
An Ability?
I laughed outright at such an absurd notion.
“That’s impossible. I’m a commoner. Abilities only appear in the Five Great Families.”
“That’s what’s commonly known, true. But perhaps you weren’t aware…”
“Of what?”
“Seniel is an Ability user. A very special one at that.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
He’d said he was hiding nothing more from me, yet I couldn’t believe that Seniel possessed an Ability.
An Ability was something only the rarest few with true talent from the Five Great Families could wield.
“The appearance of an Ability in someone outside the Five Great Families could be called a miracle. Would you like to see for yourself?”
“Pardon?”
Kayan removed the glasses he’d been wearing the entire time, set them on the desk, and approached me as confusion washed over me.
“Usually Abilities are tested at the Magic Tower, but we have many stones here that can measure them. We manufacture Magical Tools in this institute, after all.”
I shoved his shoulder away as he leaned in unusually close.
“Do you always have to say things this close?”
“Oh, I apologize. Without my glasses, I can’t see well ahead of me.”
Kayan raised both hands defensively, claiming he meant no harm, and stepped back from me.
“Then put them on.”
I picked up his glasses from the desk and handed them to him, speaking firmly.
“I’m not interested. It’s not as though I could have an Ability anyway.”
“It won’t take long. It’s not difficult either. Besides, you owe me a debt, remember? From just now?”
Looking at Kayan, who held the glasses in his hand with gleaming eyes, I understood that he had another purpose for bringing me here.
“You’re being stubborn. That earlier situation wasn’t even a moment where I desperately needed help—it was a debt I didn’t need to owe.”
When I hardened my expression and refused, Kayan smiled pleasantly and struck first.
“Why are you being so stern? I’m just saying. Personally, I’m genuinely curious about the result. I’ll go fetch the instrument—just wait here a moment.”
“Hold on!”
He clearly heard me, yet left the room pretending he hadn’t.
Left alone and in a predicament, I sighed and surveyed the space around me.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Befitting his high rank, Kayan’s office was filled with Artifacts bearing various attributes—healing, attack, defense, speed, and nature-based properties among them.
As I examined the items, contemplating whether to smuggle one out, my eyes landed on a jet-black stone resting on soft fabric.
“Is that a Mana Stone?”
It was clearly a Mana Stone of exceptional quality, so I gently tapped its edge with my finger.
In that instant, the stone erupted in brilliant light so dazzling it hurt my eyes.
Startled, I froze momentarily, then rubbed my eyes and looked again—and it had returned to being an unremarkable stone as though nothing had happened.
“What was that just now? I don’t think I imagined it…”
I touched the stone again, but nothing changed.
As I bent down to examine it more closely, I heard footsteps rushing down the corridor and straightened up.
“Huff… huff… Are you Rosia?”
The one who came bursting in wasn’t Kayan, but the researcher I’d seen earlier.
Her coat and hair were singed black as though she’d burned something, and her expression was one of utter resignation.
“Yes, that’s me… but are you alright?”
“Ah, there was a small explosion in the lab earlier. It’s not a major issue, though it is a problem actually—Professor Kayan is handling it. As for me, I’m done for. Ha ha. But it’s fine now. I think I can finally go home.”
It was unclear whether she meant she was fine or not, so I simply gazed at her with sympathy, unable to find words of comfort.
“Is no one hurt?”
“No. The professor asked me to convey his apologies, and he said he hopes you’ll visit again. Oh, and the person you’re looking for should be at the Separate Palace.”
She finished her words and immediately sprinted back down the corridor, saying she had to return and extinguish the fire.
“That’s rather pitiful.”
How many days had it been since she last went home?
In any case, freed by the explosion, I toured the research institute with a light heart.
Security guards occasionally came up and asked for my credentials, but each time I simply invoked Kayan’s name, and everything was resolved.
Thanks to that, as I was freely exploring various parts of the Imperial Palace, I only much later recalled that my original purpose in coming here was to meet Seniel.
“Oh right, the Separate Palace, wasn’t it?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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