Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 137

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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 operated by the Dark Guild’s heir.
Chapter 137
I was about to pass it off as nothing, but something made me pause. I bent down and picked it up.
“This is….”
The smooth surface was definitely not a pebble. I recalled having something similar.
I immediately rummaged through my Artifact Pouch and pulled out a Demonic Beast Core.
“They look alike.”
“What do you mean?”
I handed both to the old man beside me and asked him to take a look.
“This one I got after killing a Beast a while back… and I found something similar lying here.”
The old man set them in his palm and studied them carefully side by side, then exhaled slowly.
“They’re the same material. I sense Demonic Energy from both of them.”
“Then… did a Beast appear here?”
“That ominous fog that spread through the building. The marks I saw on the walls…. I thought something was off, and it seems I was right.”
I couldn’t hide my shock, and I turned to look at the Headquarters building, hidden behind the Barrier.
“Apart from the Café on Alein Mountain, there are almost no sightings of Beasts. For one to suddenly appear and attack Headquarters… doesn’t that strike you as strange?”
“Strange indeed. But what’s stranger still is that there’s almost no evidence left behind.”
The guild members fled without even destroying their important documents.
If they did that, they wouldn’t have taken any bodies or wounded with them. If they were truly attacked by chance, traces should have remained in the building.
“It might not have been a chance attack….”
“I suspect there’s an organization that controls Beasts.”
“That’s impossible. Who in their right mind would summon monsters from the Demon Realm to attack people?”
“There are the occasional eccentric mages who summon Beasts. But as you say, they don’t attack people.”
Faced with this incomprehensible situation, the old man and I fell silent.
Before we could determine what had happened here, we couldn’t say anything for certain.
Just the appearance of a Beast was a major incident, but if an organization truly existed that controlled them, this was far more than a guild-level problem.
“Could we stop by the Capital? The Information Branch might know something.”
The old man and I, now grave, set off immediately for the Capital again.
Since it was early morning and I couldn’t wear my guild uniform, I changed into a plain dress instead.
I found the main street where William had run his disguise shop, but the tent was gone.
“Did he relocate?”
I searched the area thoroughly, thinking the streets might have been reorganized due to the recent New Year’s festivities, but found nothing.
There were other Information Branches throughout the realm, but the Capital was the only one I’d accessed recently, and suddenly all my connections to Raven seemed severed.
As I stood staring coldly at the spot where the tent had been, a passerby approached me.
“Are you looking for that fortuneteller?”
I quickly brightened my expression and replied.
“Yes. I heard about it and came by. Is it not open today?”
“Oh dear, you’re too late. It’s been closed for several days. It was such an accurate place—I’m sorry I can’t go back.”
The woman informed me of my wasted trip and walked away.
It could have simply been a relocation, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been careless about Raven.
“What do we do now?”
“Let’s… head back.”
I used a Magic Stone to open a portal and went directly to Alein Mountain.
I tried to push aside my worries about Raily and Sophia, but the moment I entered the Café, images of the two of them chattering together came to mind, and I felt the weight of it.
I clenched my fists and turned to face the old man.
“Grandfather, could we find Sophia or Raily using magic?”
“To use Tracking Magic, I’d need something they use regularly or their clothing. Do you have anything like that?”
As Raven is the Dark Guild, we didn’t exchange personal items among our comrades.
Even the occasional notes we sent to each other were always burned, leaving nothing behind.
“What about Sophia’s Communication Artifact?”
“Let me see it.”
I went to my room and placed Sophia’s Communication Artifact next to mine.
I had hoped that with the old man’s skill it might work, but even he couldn’t make the impossible possible.
“The artifact’s power has concealed the aura of the person who used it. Unfortunately… this won’t do.”
“I see. I’ll rest alone for a moment.”
The old man looked at me with worried eyes, then closed the door and left.
Only then did I let the tension drain from my body and slumped to the floor.
“They’ll be alive. They survived all that brutal training, after all.”
I’d lost comrades before. I thought I’d grown accustomed to death. But when the two closest to me vanished, my heart wavered.
The day we were supposed to fetch Magic Stones from the Mine and bring them to the Café was tomorrow, so I decided to wait just one more day.
To quiet my restless heart, I hadn’t wielded a sword in a long time, when suddenly the old man called me loudly from outside.
“Child. Come out here.”
“What is…”
I came out into the living room asking what was wrong, then saw the line outside the window and gasped, checking the time at once.
I’d been so distracted I’d forgotten—it was nearly time to open the Café.
Recently, few customers came at opening time, and we’d closed for the party, so I never expected this kind of situation.
“Why is there a line all of a sudden?”
I was tilting my head in confusion when Seniel’s face suddenly popped up from the kitchen.
“Surprise! What are you doing?”
“What’s…”
Seniel scratched their head and confessed honestly.
“I served a few customers while you were at the party.”
“What? How were you planning to handle the aftermath!”
I recalled how customers had increased after Seniel’s last visit, and a headache came crashing down.
“No, I just gave them water because they came from so far away… I didn’t know it would turn into this.”
After Seniel joined the Imperial Palace Knight Order, customers had thinned out, and it had been nice and relaxed.
The thought of taking on so many customers again made me dizzy.
“Fine. Now get back to your room. Don’t come out under any circumstances.”
“But since I’m already discovered, wouldn’t it be better if I helped? I think it’ll be too much for you to handle alone.”
“…You’re probably right.”
I had no choice but to serve customers with Seniel today.
The customers who came at opening time turned out to be fans of Seniel, just as I’d feared—they even had nosebleeds when they saw Seniel in an apron.
Because of the chaos, time flew by with no room for other thoughts.
Today’s customers were particularly reluctant to leave, and there was even a scuffle over seats.
Despite it being nearly closing time, the tables were still completely full.
“What are we going to do? You need to go back to the Palace, but now we have even more customers.”
“What if I just leave the Knights Order and work as an assistant here?”
I thought Seniel was joking and turned to look, but their eyes were serious.
“What? Why would you suddenly…?”
“I’ve been worked so hard at the Palace. Now I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore.”
“What about your prince?”
“If things go smoothly as they are, I won’t be needed. I need to find my own path now.”
“But you’re already a knight.”
“That’s just a job. Not my path.”
For the first time, Seniel was opening up about their worries, and I was about to ask more carefully when they suddenly tapped my arm.
“Look over there.”
“What?”
Looking out the window, I saw someone in the distance stumbling precariously.
Finding it strange, I squinted to look closer, recognized who it was, and in shock, dropped my cup and ran outside.
“Obelia!”
The moment Obelia spotted me, her legs gave out and she collapsed.
I rushed to catch her shoulders and turn her over.
“Stay conscious. What happened?”
“…Rinse…….”
Obelia’s lips were split, and her face was covered in blood. Moreover, her clothes were soaked with blood from her wounds.
But Obelia wasn’t alone.
A Demonic Beast twice my size suddenly burst from the forest.
“Where did it come from?”
I hadn’t sensed any danger, yet it appeared suddenly with Obelia.
Obelia must have used a Teleportation Magic Stone, and somehow, the Beast had followed her through.
The distance was too close. The Beast rushed at us, baring its great fangs.
I couldn’t leave Obelia and flee alone, so I moved in front to intercept it, trying to draw its attention—when suddenly the Beast’s body was split in half.
I turned in shock and saw the old man standing there. His solid presence brought me reassurance.
“Are you all right? I’m a bit late.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
The fallen Beast’s body faded, then slowly disappeared.
And where the Beast had been, another pebble-like core remained.
“The same as the one from this morning.”
The old man picked it up and brought it to me.
“…It might be one of the Beasts that attacked Headquarters. They were comrades.”
I gently peeled the blood-matted hair from Obelia’s face and tapped her cheek lightly.
“She’s lost consciousness. Her condition looks serious. Would you examine her?”

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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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