Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 153

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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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It’s a café run by the Heir of the Dark Guild.
Episode 153
Obelia didn’t answer; instead, she stepped into the dilapidated building.
I was puzzled that she simply unlocked it with a key, but thankfully, when she pressed a mechanism inside, a hidden room revealed itself.
Yet the room was far too small to serve as headquarters, and I grew increasingly confused—until then.
When she opened the door, a Magic Circle drawn on one wall came into view.
“…What is this?”
Completely caught off guard, I furrowed my brow and examined the Magic Circle.
“Prince hasn’t been registered yet, so he needs to stay close to me.”
I understood it served the same purpose as the teleportation Magic Circle my mother had left behind.
But did Raven have a connection with a high-ranking mage capable of creating something like this?
“Who made this? Ben shouldn’t have that level of skill.”
“An anonymous patron. Let’s go quickly.”
Pressed by Obelia’s urging, I grabbed her arm. The moment the Magic Circle activated, a bright light flared, pulling us in.
There was a brief sensation of being shaken, and then we arrived somewhere I’d never seen before.
It was deep in a rough mountain pass, and only after passing through several Barriers positioned outside did the true building come into view.
“I was thinking as we arrived—this anonymous patron person… could it be…”
“I don’t know.”
Obelia cut me off sharply, but for some reason, I kept thinking of Grandfather.
He’d seen how much the headquarters’ attack had worn on me. Could he have secretly sought out Raven?
‘I’ll ask him next time we meet.’
Since it was something I couldn’t confirm immediately, I surveyed the interior of the building we’d entered.
The lobby, tidier than before, had been reconstructed to mirror the old headquarters, and portraits of past Masters hung on the walls.
I caught a glimpse of Queen’s face, which I hadn’t seen in ages, and Raiely’s portrait just below it, then passed by.
As we walked the corridor, young guild members glanced at me nervously, only to flee when they met Obelia’s cold gaze.
“Everyone’s discipline has slipped.”
I had to stifle a laugh at Obelia clicking her tongue in disapproval.
“You were like that too.”
“I was not?”
Obelia opened her eyes wide, insisting indignantly that she’d never been that way.
“It’s here.”
She knocked three times on the door at the end of the corridor.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then from inside came a familiar, longed-for voice—Raiely’s.
“Come in.”
Obelia entered first after opening the door.
“Master, you have a visitor.”
“Who?”
Raiely, buried in papers, lifted her head—and her eyes went wide.
“Rosia?”
Seeing the shock in her eyes, I let out a snort of laughter and stepped past Obelia to enter.
“Your eyes are about to pop out.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well…”
Before I could speak, I glanced at Obelia, and she shut the door with a bang, her face flushed with indignation, and left.
“Is the door going to fall off? She’s exactly like those kids I saw earlier, insisting she wasn’t like them at all.”
Shaking my head, I walked toward the sofa, but Raiely strode over and spread both arms wide as if to embrace me.
“I came because I missed you…”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Right. Of course you didn’t.”
I naturally sidestepped Raiely’s arms and sat on the sofa instead.
Raiely sat across from me, her eyes sunken like someone who hadn’t slept in days.
“You have a lot on your plate?”
“Since the attack on headquarters, I’ve been organizing all the documents. I’m trying to dispose of anything outdated or useless, but there’s just too much volume.”
She gestured behind her, and the desk and surrounding area were packed with stacks of papers.
“What you see there is just a fraction. I’d honestly rather be back out in the field.”
“We were always the action type. If Queen had ordered us to organize paperwork, I’d have bolted long ago.”
“That’s why I won’t ask you. At least Sophia’s been helping—I’m on the verge of working myself to death.”
Even as she said “working myself to death,” Raiely’s eyes sparkled with contentment. She kept grinning like something was making her happy.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I came?”
“Do you need a reason to come home?”
At Raiely’s warm words, my vision blurred slightly.
In truth, when I came to the headquarters after so long, I’d been anxious that I’d become an unwelcome visitor.
There were surely more people who saw me as an eyesore now, like Obelia, and I felt like I’d become useless.
But hearing Raiely’s words, my heart eased, and I understood what this place meant to me.
Not wanting to show that I’d been moved by just one sentence, I managed my expression and spoke in my usual tone.
“There was a lot happening last night.”
I told her everything—the Demonic Beasts I’d seen in the mountains, the vines that killed people, the Life-draining Barrier that had been cast over a village, and the lives lost.
“The overcast sky outside right now might even be an aftereffect of what happened yesterday.”
I glanced briefly at the dark sky and black clouds visible through the window.
“Life-draining Magic exists, and you’re saying it was deployed on a village scale? The magnitude is enormous… Could it be connected to the Seal in that mountain you mentioned?”
“Possibly. According to Cayden, someone seems to be trying to break the Seal.”
“If that Seal breaks…”
“In the worst case, a Demon Realm War could break out again. I can’t even imagine it.”
Raiely’s expression turned serious.
“I thought it was strange that sightings of Demonic Beasts have been increasing lately. What are we going to do now?”
“The other Dark Guilds still have no idea about any of this. What you do with this information is your choice.”
War is a tragic affair, but for some, it’s a means to profit.
In a situation like this, simply knowing about the coming war in advance and preparing for it could yield enormous benefits.
Raiely, well aware of how valuable this information was, clasped her hands together, bowed her head, and pressed her forehead down.
“Think it over carefully and tell me what you decide.”
A moment later, Raiely lifted her head—her eyes were sparkling with unusual brightness.
“So you won’t be able to go to the Café for a while?”
“I… guess not?”
“Where will you go?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just wondering if you’ll stay and sleep here.”
Her gaze felt overwhelming, so I averted my eyes and gave a quiet nod.
“If you’ll have me.”
“Why would you need permission? I told you to come back anytime.”
Raiely grinned brightly and extended her fist toward me.
“Welcome back to Raven.”
“Thank you.”
I made a fist and bumped it against the one she’d extended.
“I had a good dream a few days ago. Was it because you were coming?”
“A few days ago? Not even yesterday? Isn’t that reading a bit much into it?”
“That was the last time I got to sleep. A few days ago.”
“…Want help with the work?”
I walked over to the stacked papers and examined them. Then, in the documents Raiely had been reviewing, I noticed the name Black Rose.
“Hmm? Did you find something out?”
“Oh, this.”
Raiely came over and looked at the document, her expression hardening.
“While tracking Black Rose, we found out who’d gotten to them.”
I swallowed nervously.
“The person said he saw a sailing ship-shaped tattoo on the man he’d cut with his sword.”
“A sailing ship? You mean Sailing?!”
“Right.”
How had I not immediately recalled that Sailing’s remnants were still out there, when I’d verified traces of them several times?
While they surely couldn’t maintain their former peak strength, if they’d persisted enough to exterminate a guild the size of Black Rose, the organization still had considerable reach.
“Could it be Sailing that stole the Sacred Object from the Five Great Houses?”
“It’s the most plausible. They’d have skilled operatives.”
“Could they also have been the ones who attacked Raven last time?”
“Yes. We can’t rule out that possibility. If it is Sailing, why would they be conducting operations like this within our empire?”
“As exiles who’ve lost their nation, they might see a sealed Demon Realm as a lifeline.”
I pressed my palm to my forehead, regretful.
“I was stupid. I should have thought of Sailing sooner.”
“We still don’t know for certain. Let’s dig deeper for now.”
“And then there’s the sailing ship tattoo Arno had… He must be connected to the Strophane Clan too. We should start our investigation there.”
The Flame Artifact used on the village was the same kind the Empress had used on me, after all.
I felt like pieces that hadn’t been visible before were suddenly falling into place.
“We have spare manpower now that the Black Rose tracking is finished. I can send guild members to the Verdian Territory.”
After finishing our conversation, Raiely and I went back to reviewing the documents when the door suddenly burst open.
“Rosiaaaa!!”
Startled by the tremendous voice, I turned around to find Sophia standing there, her hair sticking up every which way as if she’d just woken up.
The moment she saw me, tears began to well in her eyes, and she rushed over and threw her arms around me.
“Rosia! What happened? I thought I’d die missing you.”
Since she was so small, she only dangled at about my waist height.
Looking down, I noticed her cheeks had gotten chubbier, and without thinking, I pinched them—earning her protest.
“I’ve been stress-eating late-night snacks lately. It’s all because of Raiely, that merciless task-master!”
“You’re cuter when you’ve gained weight.”
“I don’t need your comments!”
Sophia let out a loud wail and burrowed into me more.
Knowing she was just acting spoiled, I chuckled and patted her head.
“We didn’t see each other on the day we always celebrate together. Do you know how scared I was during the attack on headquarters? There was this Demonic Beast with horns drooling everywhere, and oh…”
Sophia recounted every painful thing she’d experienced while I was gone.
I don’t have a younger sister, but if I did, I imagined she’d feel like Sophia.
“So why can’t you stay here and live with us again? I was happier when I was with you, Rosia.”
“I’ll stay for a few days.”
“Really?!”
Sophia jumped with joy and clung to me again.
“Now sit down. You’re heavy.”
“No way. I’m staying attached to you. Oh!”
“What?”
“I’ve been organizing old materials lately.”
Sophia, who seemed like she’d never let go, released her grip and stepped back, looking up at me intently.
“I found materials that seem to be related to you.”
“Related to me? You mean the missions I carried out?”
“No. Materials that Queen had collected separately… Rosia, do you know much about your father?”

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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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