Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 67

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

A café run by the Dark Guild’s successor.
67
“…I acquired it by chance. Why do you ask?”
The man who had withdrawn the light from the map regarded me with an odd expression.
“However you came by it, be careful. It’s a dangerous thing.”
“What’s dangerous about it?”
“Its true owner.”
The way he looked at the map seemed ominous, so I reached out to retrieve it, but the man seized my wrist firmly.
I tried to wrench free, but his grip was too strong.
“Did you really obtain it by chance? What’s inside?”
……
The tremendous power I’d felt ever since he approached the Barrier began to leak out, pressing down on the space around us.
Even though it didn’t seem intent on harming me, it was threatening enough to make me clench my teeth.
When I refused to answer, the man sighed and released his grip.
“Never mind. It’s not my place to meddle. In any case, to unseal this Seal, you’ll need the blood of the person involved.”
I rubbed my numbed wrist and placed the map inside an Artifact.
“How would I find out who that is?”
“Spells leave traces in ancient language. This Seal has a name carved into it. If it were a common one, it would be difficult to track, but the owner of this object is such a famous person that finding them wouldn’t be hard. Do you want to know who?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll tell you since you’ve taken my fancy, but don’t get entangled in this. It’s very dangerous.”
He lowered his voice.
“The person with the most power in the current empire. The Empress.”
Clione again?
My eyes widened at the unexpected name.
“Then to unseal the map, we’d need Her Majesty the Empress’s blood?”
“That’s right. It doesn’t have to be her directly—blood from a direct line would work.”
Suddenly, Aide flashed through my mind.
They—the ones who had approached me claiming to know how to unseal the map.
If their Guild Master was indeed Bidler, he might have known from the start that the map was connected to the Empress.
While obtaining the Empress’s blood would be difficult, Bidler has the Third Prince, who is favorably disposed toward him.
Since I had no way to obtain their blood, ultimately I would need to join forces with Aide to break the Seal.
‘How did they know?’
More importantly, if the map’s true owner was the Empress, then it was connected to the House of Strofan?
Just as I’d barely resolved one mystery, more questions arose, and my head began to ache.
“It seems we’ll meet again. Let’s exchange names at least. I’m Wyatt.”
“I’m Rosia.”
Wyatt nodded and set down his glass. As he seemed about to rise after finishing his wine, I quickly stopped him.
“Wait a moment! While we’re at it, could you help me with one more thing?”
“I think I’ve already been sufficiently compensated.”
“But I gave you an orange.”
I pointed to the plate with nothing but peel remaining, and Wyatt narrowed his brows.
“My, my. Quite shameless, aren’t you? This is why one shouldn’t indulge in freebies. Fine, then. What’s the favor?”
I hurried to my room and retrieved the book I’d stashed in a drawer.
“It has pages, but the content is blank. Can you reveal what’s hidden?”
It was the book Bidler had lent me that day I’d entered the forbidden section of the Imperial Palace library.
The remaining pages were all blank, and I’d been unable to read it.
“This is simple enough.”
Wyatt tapped the book lightly, and hidden text suddenly filled its pages.
Since mages were rare, I rarely had the chance to witness such Practical Magic firsthand, so I widened my eyes in wonder.
Wyatt flipped through the book first, skimming the contents, then let out a soft laugh.
“A book full of all manner of suspicions. This was indeed forbidden, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not really worth reading. There’s too much incendiary content. Ah, but this chapter should be safe enough to read.”
The chapter he showed me was titled “The War That Never Ended.”
“Is this true? That the Dimensional Gateway might open again and return everything to how it was before?”
“Who knows? All we can do is hope it doesn’t happen. Since it’s a war from the distant past, people don’t take it seriously anymore.”
While I examined the book, Wyatt tapped the table with his finger.
“First that object, and now this book. You’d do well to be careful, young lady. For your age, your skill is quite impressive, but reality is far harsher than it appears.”
Wyatt gave a sharp warning and departed the café.
I remained in the seat he’d left and carefully read through the book’s contents once more.
“When the sealed Dimensional Gateway opens, a world full of Demon Beasts returns.”
As I read the sentence, I paused at the next paragraph.
“The location was kept under strict secrecy and recorded nowhere, but it is said that three Holy Swords were used in the Seal.”
Holy Swords?
The pure white longsword I’d encountered in the courtyard when I went to the Temple to find Cayden came to mind.
“Could that have been it? Demon Beasts, a Seal… and here, Aleine.”
Perhaps the place where the Dimensional Gateway was sealed was right here.
Mount Aleine?
Then all the pieces fit together.
A hidden Sacred Realm on such a mountain, and Cayden guarding it.
The Demon Beasts I’d encountered on the mountain, the serpent reeking of dark Qi, the longsword that vanished like an illusion but was unmistakably real.
“If the Seal isn’t perfect and Dark Qi is seeping through…”
It would explain why Demon Beasts, thought to have long disappeared, were spotted only in Aleine.
Though I still didn’t know why they appeared so frequently ten years ago.
“Cayden must know everything.”
All along, I’d known he was hiding something from me, but I’d refrained from asking, attributing it to Temple business.
If these facts were being kept secret, his silence was more than understandable.
“Should I just ask him directly?”
Getting confirmation from Cayden seemed more certain than searching elsewhere.
But since he was unlikely to open up easily, I decided to wait for an opportunity.
Still, with some of the questions that had troubled me finally answered, a sense of relief washed over me.
I closed the book and went outside, crouching before the Barrier Stone.
“So this is really that expensive?”
Its appearance wasn’t much different from the other Barrier Stones I’d seen.
Still, it was intriguing that someone of great skill had vouched for it.
“Should I just sell it?”
As I made to remove the Barrier Stone, a cat suddenly leaped from nowhere and bit my hand hard.
“Mew!”
I started in surprise and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck.
“Where did you come from? Why do you keep wandering around? These days you don’t even sleep at home, do you?”
I stopped my scolding.
After all, it wasn’t as if I owned this cat. What did it matter where it slept?
“Miaow!”
The cat paid me no mind and continued playing with my hand, keeping me from touching the Barrier Stone.
Eventually, I picked up the cat and straightened my legs from my crouched position.
“Let’s go inside. I’ll give you food.”
***
A few days later,
I was sweeping the courtyard, which had become cluttered with fallen leaves overnight, when I sensed several people circling near the Barrier.
‘What’s going on?’
I descended to nearby to check if they were suspicious.
Four men were carrying what looked like heavy baggage and seemed to be lost.
“What are you doing there?”
They brightened at the sight of me.
“We’re so lucky we ran into you. Is there a shop around here?”
“Yes. I’m the owner.”
“Oh thank heavens, we’ve been wandering all day. We found it at last.”
As it turned out, they were the movers I’d hired from the Capital to deliver the Tombstone.
“This way, please.”
The Tombstone was so large and heavy that it took four strong men to carry it.
They set it down before the grave at the back of the shop, dripping with sweat as though it were raining.
When I unwrapped the cloth that had covered it, my parents’ names appeared, deeply carved into the stone.
I ran my hand over the engraved portions, then bowed respectfully to the movers.
“Thank you for coming so far.”
“We lost our way, but we’re glad we found the right place. I wish peace to those who have passed.”
“Please, have something to drink before you go.”
I offered juice to those who had brought the Tombstone here, hoping to ease their fatigue.
Then I stood in the courtyard, gazing at the new Tombstone for a long while.
“Ten years it took.”
A wooden Tombstone dug by small hands, carved in tears because I knew nothing but crying.
The two little ones, who thought the world had ended when our parents died, had grown into proper adults.
“You’ve grown well, haven’t you?”
I touched the yellow flowers still in full bloom before my parents’ Tombstone.
I sent a message to Seniel to let him know the Tombstone had arrived.
“What should I inscribe in the empty space? What else do I need to know about Mother?”
I let out a quiet sigh, looking at the space left blank beside their names.
Even with a request submitted to the guild, finding the long-vanished Orphanage director had proven difficult.
If this continued, I’d have no choice but to infiltrate the House of Strofan, but I was saving that as a last resort.
“Mew.”
The cat that had emerged from the forest sat down right next to me, its tail swishing gently.
While I stroked its soft fur, spending time in silence, I heard the clinking sound of armor and turned around.
“Proprietress, I have completed all my training.”
It was the regular knight who visited the shop every single day.

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