Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 78

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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 Heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 78
Every member of the Dark Guild carries a Suicide Pill on them as a matter of course.
But even after searching thoroughly, no pill was found.
“Small fry?”
He wasn’t someone holding important information. My disappointment was short-lived.
“Mm…”
He came to his senses before I could wake him. His eyes flickered as he saw me standing right over him.
“W-who are you!”
“You’re Seiling? I checked the Tattoo Marking. You lot are stupid enough to walk around flaunting it. That’s why you keep getting caught every time.”
At this point, one had to wonder if Seiling members shouldn’t be getting those tattoos in the first place.
“You’re the only one with a tattoo. Are you the leader? Are the rest mercenaries?”
He looked the youngest of them all, but if he had skill, age didn’t matter.
While I spoke at length, Arno pressed his lips firmly shut and darted his eyes around.
I let out a shallow sigh and drove my blade shallowly into the thigh of another man tied up beside him.
“Let’s not make this difficult. I haven’t been controlling my strength well lately.”
I’d avoided the vital spots, so there was no real danger, but the sight of blood spraying was devastatingly effective for intimidation.
Blood spattered onto Arno’s face too. Watching it, his complexion went white, and he soon trembled as he asked.
“Wh-what even is Seiling?”
I was utterly baffled.
“You have it carved into your body and don’t even know what it is?”
“I just did it because I was told to.”
“By whom?”
“…”
Arno started to answer, then clamped his mouth shut.
“You want to do this the hard way?”
Thinking blood alone wasn’t enough, I deliberately spread out the Torture Tools I’d brought, one by one on the floor.
“Which one do you like? I’ve got needles. Put one under a fingernail and anyone opens their mouth right away. Should we start with this?”
As I recited this calmly, Arno’s face drained to an ashen blue.
“I-I just… they offered a lot of money…”
“Who?”
“I don’t know the details. They just said the S-Sloephan Family was backing it.”
“Sloephan?”
“Yes! So please, release us now and run away!”
Previously, the remnants of Seiling I’d captured had also been connected to the territory where the Sloephan Family resided.
And now, the person who’d carved Seiling’s Tattoo Marking was connected to Sloephan as well.
This was no longer something I could overlook.
“You lost two comrades recently, didn’t you?”
As I compared needles by size and picked up the smallest one, moving closer, Arno clenched his eyes shut and cried out.
“What comrades? I only came out of the orphanage a month ago!”
An orphanage?
I narrowed my brow and asked again.
“The orphanage connected you with Sloephan?”
“Y-yes. They said my ability was remarkable and that they’d give me important work.”
The thought that they were still posing as benefactors to the orphanage while exploiting Ability Users filled me with disgust.
“Were there others besides you?”
“N-no… it was just me. Those others came here and I met them. They said they’d do whatever I told them to…”
“How old are you?”
“S-sixteen.”
I’d thought he looked unusually young compared to the other thugs, but he really was just a child.
He was dressed in adult clothes, but his face still had the softness of youth.
“What kind of orders were you given?”
“Just to pose as a thug and infiltrate. They said to instill fear in the village and monitor people carefully.”
“I have a drug that makes people tell me everything. If I give it to you and there’s even the slightest inconsistency in your story… I’ll kill you.”
When I pressed my blade to his throat and spoke coldly, Arno suddenly spilled everything he knew, his nose running.
“I-I’ll do whatever you tell me! Or rather, I will, yes. Please, just let me live. I have younger siblings to feed.”
The mention of siblings softened my resolve.
Catching small fry like this would only result in cutting off the tail and watching them flee anyway.
What I needed to catch was the one giving the orders—the one above him.
“How can I trust you?”
“My siblings’ photographs are in my wallet. If you don’t believe me, you can check.”
“Photographs?”
Photographs, a step beyond portraits, were known to use Magic Tools to capture a moment in realistic detail.
But such Magic Tools were so rare and expensive that they were difficult to obtain, and each use came at considerable cost.
I found it odd that a kid would possess something I’d never even seen.
“At the orphanage, we all had our photographs taken to prove our identities.”
If the orphanage was sponsored by such a distinguished family as Sloephan, that seemed possible.
If they had the Magic Tool, it would be cheaper to take one photograph of everyone together than to have portraits drawn individually—economical, even.
‘I wonder if mother had her photograph taken at the orphanage too.’
If so, a photograph might still exist somewhere.
But setting that thought aside for now, I found Arno’s wallet among the belongings I’d emptied out.
Inside was indeed a photograph of Arno dressed in the same clothes as the other children.
There were about ten of them, all looking younger than Arno.
‘He’s not lying about that, at least.’
My suspicion eased, but I deliberately continued to intimidate him.
“Tell me the name and location of the orphanage.”
“T-the Sidna Orphanage. It’s in the Western Region.”
The name matched the orphanage nameplate visible in the photograph’s background.
“Was it the Director of the orphanage who gave you these orders?”
“Yes.”
“And you said Sloephan was behind it?”
“That’s right. I’ve also seen a man who sometimes visits the Director leave in a Carriage bearing the Sloephan Family Crest.”
Whether Arno’s words were true would require verification, but fury surged up from deep within me.
That they would take innocent children and exploit them like this was unforgivable.
Watching Arno try desperately to survive, to read the room, I saw my younger self reflected in him.
“I’ll let you live. Instead, you’re going to work as a Double Agent for me.”
“H-how would I do that?”
“Do exactly as they tell you, just like now. But report everything they have you do to me.”
“But what if I get caught…?”
“I’ll protect you.”
At my words, Arno’s pupils dilated. Tears welled up in his eyes for some reason.
“If you don’t want that, you can die right now instead.”
“I-I’ll do it! I’m confident I can do well!”
“I’m keeping this photograph. You understand what happens if you betray me?”
When I fixed him with a cold stare, Arno’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.
“There are three things you need to do as soon as it gets light.”
“Just tell me what they are.”
“One: repair the shop you destroyed.”
“Yes.”
“Two: tend to the people you hurt. Go find them and apologize.”
“…Yes.”
“Three: destroy all the documents you forced people to sign. Return all the money you extorted.”
“But then they’ll think something’s wrong. I’m supposed to send money to the orphanage every month.”
“I’ll provide the funds. Calculate what you need each time and send it my way for approval.”
“Why would you go this far? Are you a resident of this village?”
“That’s not your concern.”
Thinking it through rationally, keeping Arno alive was more beneficial.
He bore the Seiling Tattoo Marking and was solid proof of a connection to the Sloephan Family.
He’d be of considerable use as a link for capturing those above him later.
“Coordinate your story with the village head. Prepare false documents.”
“I’ll try.”
“What about those three men? Can they be trusted?”
“Since orders come only to me, I can deceive them. They’ll do whatever I tell them to.”
“Good.”
I nodded and gathered up the tools I’d laid out on the floor.
“I’ll come check on you weekly. Don’t get any foolish ideas, and the moment you receive new orders from above, you tell me.”
“Yes! Please take care, Miss.”
When I undid the ropes, Arno’s eyes brightened and he bowed deeply at the waist.
I slipped quietly out of the village.
On my way back on horseback, I thought it through again—something didn’t sit right.
“Why do they keep hovering around this area?”
Now it was certain: the Sloephan Family and the Seiling Guild were connected in some way.
But the fact that they continued to operate in this region struck me as odd.
Their internal cohesion seemed weak, to the point where they didn’t even know each other’s identities. What were they plotting?
“I need to investigate the orphanage first.”
Photograph or not, it was possible all the information was fabricated. I wasn’t ready to believe Arno’s story yet.
I stopped the horse briefly and pulled out paper, scribbling hastily.
[Sophia,
Find the Sidna Orphanage in the Western Region.
I need the following information:
1. Verify if Sloephan is indeed sponsoring the orphanage.
2. A boy named Arno at the Sidna Orphanage.
(Sixteen years old, red hair, male)
3. Whether the other children in the enclosed photograph are present at the orphanage.
This is urgent.
Please handle it as quickly as possible.]
This sort of intelligence request normally required proper procedure, but given the time-sensitive nature, I immediately sent the shell to Sophia.
If there was even a shred of dishonesty in Arno’s account, no matter how young he was, I wouldn’t show mercy.
I urged the horse back onto the Mountain Path when I heard a rustling sound.
Turning my head, shortly after, Cayden appeared, sword in hand.
“…Rosia?”
“Hello.”
We both looked like we could use some explanation.
The blood on my clothes wasn’t mine, but it was there nonetheless, and something dark—unmistakably blood—was dripping from the blade Cayden held. The darkness made it black, but it was blood all the same.
Cayden tucked his sword behind his back and asked awkwardly.
“You’ve been… for a walk, I see?”
“Mm. You too?”
“Yes. The moon was so bright.”
We looked at each other and smiled wryly.
Silence settled over us immediately.
“I’m tired, so I’ll head in first.”
“Sleep well, Rosia.”
“Sleep well.”
There was no mention of sleeping at the shop, and he didn’t follow me.
Though his dark expression nagged at me, we turned away from the moonlight as if nothing had happened, each heading our separate ways.

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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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