CH 107

Chapter 107 – Glasses boy feels a bit relieved

While pouring the liquor on his glass, Glock continued speaking, “This isn’t a particularly complex issue. It’s just that Black Swan of Dawn got a request to search for you.”

Oh, it truly is simple.

… The meaning behind this doesn’t seem that simple though.

I was brought some salad and it was placed in front of me, but I didn’t feel like eating it right now… Ah, fresh vegetables topped with crushed nuts and shredded bacon. This looks delicious.

“Black Swan of Dawn is the best adventurer team in the capital, right? So, if they’re making a request there…” I started saying.

“Then this client absolutely wishes to find you.” Glock confirmed my thoughts.

It is certainly quite expensive to hire a top-class adventurer team of the royal capital. An adult’s pocket money isn’t close to enough for this.

In other words, the client is serious about this, and is willing to spend plenty of money to get this done.

Therefore, it leads to Glock’s prediction that I may have a bounty on me. It is certainly not impossible that this may have happened.

“Have you finished this request already?” I asked Glock.

“Yes. In fact, we have a duty of confidentiality, so I cannot talk about unfinished business.

“I simply told the client that you were no longer in the royal capital, and they seemed to end the request with that.” Glock explained.

So the question is whether or not the client would have given up with just that… And if they haven’t given up, then they may have put up a bounty.

“This client… You wouldn’t tell me who they are, would you?” I asked just in case.

“Well, I don’t even know who they are. But I wouldn’t tell you even if I did know.

“Rick, our leader, controls information in regards to requests that may become a bit more complicated if word about them spreads. He doesn’t tell the other members what we don’t need to know.” Glock replied.

Rick…? The leader, Rickstein?

Well, as a first-class adventurer, he is probably very strict with the confidentiality of the jobs that he receives. Even if I asked him directly, I’m sure he would never tell me.

“So, that’s the first thing. Do you understand the meaning of it?” Glock asked.

Well… To some extent.

“But I’m unsure about what to do now that I am aware of this…” I told him honestly.

Should I become more vigilant?

Or should I instead try contacting the client directly? So as to listen to their request, then dissolve our relationship in a way that guaranteed that no trouble came from this?

Or maybe I should desperately run away? That does sound a bit appealing, but… If there’s a bounty on me, it would be hard to do so.

To put it simply, once a bounty is up, I have to assume everyone around me is a possible pursuer. Even if there was a clear way to figure out who was and wasn’t after the bounty, I would still have to act like a wanted person.

“I want to make something clear though. This request was accepted by Black Swan of Dawn, and we only accept clean work.

“We may handle some grey stuff, but never black work that violates the laws.

“Some people don’t know about it and try asking us to commit crimes. In those cases, we hand those people over to the soldiers.

“In other words, as this is a request that we have accepted, it is almost guaranteed to not be something related to a crime.

“This is not the kind of thing that Rick would accept without first looking up the reputation and the intentions of the requester.

“So, if you try finding this client, it may not be something bad for you… Though well, I have no guarantees.” Glock told me.

I see… It is useful information, but without guarantees, I’m too scared to try getting involved with this.

Because this person is someone who wants to meet me so much, that they are even willing to spend a large amount of money on the search.

And who would even want to meet me this much…?

… I think it’s normal to scared of it. At the very least, it’s not something I feel comfortable with.

While I thought about that, Glock refilled his glass, then started saying, “Now, on to the second topic. The one I mentioned to you first, about your Glasses.”

There it is.

I was curious about the bounty alright, but the Glasses were much more meaningful to me.

“How do you know about it, Glock?” I asked.

And I’ve also suddenly realized something. I do not know Glock’s Gift.

I can’t see it now, nor could I see it during the fight with the Obsidian Wolf.

So, he either hasn’t used his Gift in neither occasion, or his Gift is one that I do not know anything about.

It has to be one of those.

And if it is the latter, then his knowledge must be an incredibly rare one, which is a highly unlikely occurrence.

During my training with Sorichika, I read a lot of books on Gifts.

To possess a Gift that is rare enough that it wasn’t listed in any of those books… Honestly, it needs to be something about as rare as my Glasses.

Unsurprisingly, I can’t ask him about it. I’m not close enough to him to ask this kind of thing.

“I have to ask you to keep quiet about this, alright? This has to stay between the two of us.” Glock told me.

I mean, I was working with this kind of assumption from the start. It is something directly related to me, so of course I have no intention of telling anyone about it.

So, I silently nodded to Glock’s request.

Then, he made a shocking statement, “It was an information leak from the castle.”

… Oh, alright. If that’s the source, then I guess him knowing it isn’t that strange.

But… The information came from the country itself? Like, from the royal castle?

Did the country actually sell the information about my Glasses?

The country… The country…

“It’s not something that can be talked about openly, but Black Swan of Dawn pays bribes to find out the Gifts of children who are brought to the capital from the countryside, like you and Horun.” Glock explained.

I mean, it’s certainly something that can’t be talked about openly.

After all… This is dirty.

“Wasn’t Black Swan of Dawn clean?” I asked him.

Didn’t he just tell me that they won’t commit crimes? That they would turn clients that request crimes over to the soldiers?

Where did all this discourse go to now?

“It’s not exactly black, but more of a grey thing.” Glock told me.

Is that so? Is it really? It is completely black to me though. It may not be pitch black, but it’s definitely a light black at the minimum, isn’t it?

“Think of it as a necessary evil.

“Not everyone is as smart, cautious or skilled as a hunter.

“There are kids that are brought to the capital from the countryside while being completely lost. Children that do not have any clue about what they should or shouldn’t do. A lot of them can easily be deceived.

“Before they realize it, they may be scammed and forced into a huge debt. They might not be able to find a way out of the situation, which would force them to use their Gifts for criminal acts.

“To stop this kind of thing from happening, we try guiding and introducing those children to people that they can trust.

“And of course, we may offer some direct help if we see that the kid is about to get involved in a crime.

“Though well, I will say that this isn’t something done purely on good intentions. If someone has a desirable Gift, then Black Swan of Dawn will try securing this person as quickly as possible.” Glock explained.

Ah, a necessary evil, huh?

… From my point of view, having my Gift leaked without my knowledge is a huge deal.

But at the same time, there are people who can be saved by this kind of action, so… Could it actually be okay? Is this maybe a good thing?

“Let me just confirm this with you. You don’t spread this information, do you?” I asked.

“Obviously not. It’s hard to call this clean, and we would definitely get in trouble if we were caught.” Glock replied.

I think this reply is enough of an admission that what they’re doing is not grey.

“Only a handful of people within Black Swan of Dawn know about it though.

“Since I’m a veteran, I’m sometimes consulted about whether or not a given Gift would be worthwhile for Black Swan of Dawn. That was when I learned about your Glasses.” Glock told me.

I see…

“And did Black Swan of Dawn want my Gift?” I asked.

“We didn’t understand what it did, so we didn’t want it.” Glock replied.

Oh, alright.

That’s a very reasonable answer. After all, even I didn’t understand this Gift properly when I first found out about it.

So, basically, they don’t know my actual capabilities. They don’t know anything other than the power to create glasses.

They do not know that I can register Gifts, nor do they know that I can see the Gifts of others.

Then, this is fine.

It’s okay if they know that my Gift is Glasses.

The problem would be if they knew the actual powers of this Gift.

Because it is unique. Because it is versatile.

If Glock knew everything about my Glasses, then he’d surely want to have me.

Because this Gift is incredibly convenient. Even at its basic level, it is very helpful to me, who have bad eyesight.

I honestly can’t even imagine living without these glasses anymore. Even without taking all the other abilities into account, just the sight correction is incredibly important to me.

So, for now, I felt some relief.

Glock must currently assume that I have two Gifts. Sound Bomb and Glasses. This isn’t a problem.

After all, while it may be rare for someone to have two Gifts, it is not unheard of.

So, he shouldn’t be able to conclude that this is part of the powers of my Glasses.

And that, is the one thing that I don’t want anyone to find out. It would be the worst possible outcome for me.

No matter what happens, this knowledge must not be known to anyone.

Glock grinned, as if he had seen through my inner relief.

“Your Gift isn’t just about making glasses though, is it?” Glock asked me.

Ooh?

“Well, what about you, Glock? Can you tell me what your Gift is?” I asked him back.

For just a moment. For just a single moment, my animosity and Glock’s directly clashed with one another.

What I said was revenge.

You don’t ask someone about their Gift if you don’t want the other party to ask about yours either. That’s basic. It’s good manners, it’s common sense, it’s an unspoken rule to not ask people about their Gift.

It’s natural that Glock got annoyed when a younger kid pointed this obvious fact to him.

Well, I was irritated too though, so this was payback.

“… Hmph. You’re a truly terrible brat. As expected of Horun’s younger brother, you’re truly a crook.” Glock said.

Now that is something I cannot agree with. Please don’t try putting me on the same level as my sister.

“Well, let’s get back to the point.

“The second thing I wanted to tell you about is directly related to the first one. The client that I mentioned, that was searching for you, this person was looking for your Glasses.

“It’s important to know what the other party’s goal is, right?” Glock told me.

“Yes. I appreciate your help.” I nodded.

A client has tried to find me even if it cost them a lot of money.

And what they wanted, was my Glasses.

Those two things are incredibly valuable pieces of information whose worths cannot be ignored.