Chapter 167
At the mention of the Northern Grand Duke, Shadia’s expression changed slightly.
“There’s an additional fee for work in the North.”
“That doesn’t matter. Look into the situation of the lords threatening the Northern Grand Duke.”
Shadia nodded and disappeared again.
Zeke sat in his chair, resting his chin on his hand, and thought of Himonas.
‘Perhaps it’s because it’s like my hometown. It keeps bothering me.’
The image of the Northern Grand Duke, etched beyond Zeke’s memories, hazily came to mind.
He deliberately erased her image and stood up from his seat.
‘This is no time to flounder in contemplation. I’ll defeat Abel, become the continent’s strongest, and take control of the Draker family.’
Zeke’s eyes flashed as he reminded himself of his goals once again.
* * *
Zeke first sent Boris, along with the Syndicate and Rose Knight Order members, to Heli.
And Zeke himself headed not to Heli, but to Argos.
To approach the Nostra Family, there was somewhere he needed to clear out first.
After arriving in Argos through the portal at the terminal, he wrapped himself in a shape-shifting cloak and changed his appearance.
Transformed into the appearance of a naive adventurer, Zeke drifted into a dark alley in the city.
While Argos had many prosperous cities with numerous facilities for adventurers, beneath the surface, there was rampant trafficking of stolen goods and criminal activity by outlaws.
The most frequent occurrence in such parts of Argos was human trafficking.
In his previous life, Zeke himself had experienced being kidnapped while working as a dungeon porter and sold as a slave to the Southern Continent.
‘Since people just assume someone died if they disappear in a dungeon. It’s perfect for kidnapping people.’
The human trafficking in Argos was far more systematic than vaguely known to outsiders.
The first step was selecting those from dungeon-exploring adventure parties who wouldn’t be missed if they disappeared.
The trafficking organization would approach the party, deceive them about a good dungeon, and volunteer as guides.
Once party members fell into the trap and entered the dungeon, they would be knocked out with drugs or magic and handed over to intermediate distribution organizations.
The distribution organizations would grade the kidnapped adventurers and porters based on their condition and decide where to sell them.
In Zeke’s case, because he was a porter, he was sold cheaply as a slave to the Southern Continent.
In the case of mages or swordsmen, they might be sold to empires where slavery still existed, or supplied as expendables to underground arenas.
Dario Tortolino, as part of the Nostra Family, had his hands in many crimes, and one of them was the human trafficking business.
Under him were numerous intermediate distributors, and he accumulated black money by operating related businesses.
The reason Zeke came to the back alleys of Argos in disguise was to shake up these point organizations.
He was currently sipping beer in a tavern with a naive expression.
Sure enough, a man smoothly sat down next to Zeke.
“First time in Argos?”
The man, who looked like an experienced adventurer, casually threw the question at Zeke.
Zeke, who had been drinking beer, flinched and nodded.
The man grinned and ordered two shots of fire spirit, then without even asking Zeke’s permission, smoothly poured one into his beer.
“A pretty boy like you just sipping beer here will soon get torn apart by wolf-like bastards.”
Zeke’s face hardened at the man’s words.
Then he asked in a small voice.
“Ha-have you been an adventurer for long?”
The man replied with a relaxed posture.
“I’ve been around for almost 30 years now. Started early in this business, you see.”
Zeke nodded with an expression of admiration.
The man smirked and extended his hand to Zeke.
“Frank. Among friends, they call me Spider Hands. What’s your name?”
“Z-Zeke. Zeke Murray.”
“Right. Zeke. You don’t look like someone who’d make a living as an adventurer, so what brings you to Argos?”
Zeke replied with a frozen expression.
“W-well. I have my reasons …”
“Well, most folks here drifted in because of circumstances. Thinking they might turn their life around if they get their hands on a good artifact from a dungeon.”
Frank said with a sigh.
“I’m saying this for your own good. Give up on such false hopes. This place is hell.”
Zeke clicked his tongue internally at Frank’s words.
‘These con artists all have the exact same script.’
They pretend to be experienced adventurers and shake up naive newcomers by saying this place is hell, it’s different from what you think.
Then when the newcomer shows anxiety, they act generous and tell them to follow along.
They say they’ll introduce a good dungeon for beginners to experience, telling them to go in and decide for themselves.
While there were some genuinely experienced adventurers who guided with good intentions, they were rare – nine out of ten were con artists.
You were lucky if you only lost your equipment and kept your life.
Most were sold as slaves or used as bait to lure monsters.
After talking for a few minutes, Frank spoke as if doing a favor.
“Words won’t do, I see. Alright, I’ll count it as saving a life and let you join our party.”
At this, the bartender who was wiping glasses shook his head and said.
“Spider Hands, being nosy again? I tell you the newcomers don’t even appreciate your care.”
He said with a bitter smile.
“I’m not doing this for gratitude. It’s my belief.”
The bartender who heard Frank’s words shook his head as if to say he couldn’t stop him.
‘What a load of nonsense.’
In his previous life, Zeke had drifted here and there after being expelled from the academy, eventually flowing into Argos.
Looking naive just like the current Zeke, he had been caught by a con artist guide, made an unfair contract, and went through all sorts of hardships.
Not knowing that Zeke was internally mocking him, Frank gestured for Zeke to come to his office.
He followed Frank like a lost puppy.
Frank took Zeke to a shabby building in a corner of the back alley and went underground.
It was a place with worn-out sofas, desk, and chairs.
Frank took out cheap whiskey from the office cabinet and poured it full in a chipped glass, handing it to Zeke.
“Have a drink and sleep here tonight. We’ll head up to the dungeon at dawn tomorrow.”
“How many party members will there be?”
“We’re going light tomorrow, so about five people will go up.”
Zeke drank the whiskey Frank gave him.
As he expected, the whiskey was drugged.
When Zeke collapsed, Frank grinned.
“Naive bastard. Sweet dreams. You’ll have a rough time starting tomorrow.”
Frank brought rope to tie Zeke’s hands and feet, then left the office.
Left completely alone, Zeke’s eyes snapped open.
The ropes weren’t even tied properly, and his wrists slipped right out when he dislocated his finger joints.
“Their work is a bit sloppy. Well, people who do human trafficking wouldn’t be proper folks anyway.”
Zeke searched Frank’s office for information about the organization.
Opening the drawers, he found transaction receipts scattered around in a disorganized state.
Looking at the receipts, Zeke realized that Frank was a subcontractor for the human trafficking point organization.
‘A subcontractor of a subcontractor of a subcontractor.’
While ultimately it was operated by the Nostra Family if you traced up the chain, it was hard to grasp the overall size of the organization because subcontractors moved at the bottom level.
That’s why Zeke came to Argos planning to sweep through the lowest subordinate organizations first before moving on to Heli.
Zeke put the ropes back on his hands and feet and waited for dawn.
After several hours, Frank entered the office with several other men.
“Ah, really. Please believe me. This one’s premium quality, I tell you.”
“Stop running your mouth, you bastard. I’ll judge for myself after seeing him.”
A large man with tattoos on his forearms approached Zeke who was collapsed on the sofa.
After examining Zeke’s face and body, the man nodded.
“Not bad for something the spider brought.”
“See? You know I only bring quality goods.”
“Shut up. Do you know how much I got chewed out by the boss last time for bringing defective goods?”
“No, that… wasn’t my fault. How could I know he had tuberculosis? I’m not a doctor.”
The tattooed man took out a bundle of bills from his chest and counted out four to give to Frank.
Frank urgently opened his mouth.
“For goods of this quality, I should get at least ten! Come on, add a bit more.”
The tattooed man made an annoyed expression but soon added two more bills.
Frank put the bills away in his chest with a cunning expression.
The tattooed man gestured for the other men to load Zeke.
Just as Frank was waiting politely for them to leave, the tattooed man said to Frank.
“Spider, you come along too. The boss wants to see you.”
“What? Why does the boss want to see me?”
“There’s a big job coming up, and you need to be attached as a guide.”
At the tattooed man’s words, Frank brightened up and kept rubbing his hands.
“As expected! The boss knows talent when he sees it. When it comes to guides, I’m Spider Hands!”
“Stop running your mouth and follow me.”
The tattooed man drove the cart carrying Zeke toward the downtown area a bit away from Argos city center.
It was a place filled with outlaws, soma addicts, and fences who had flowed in from the continent.
The cart carrying Zeke headed toward a certain building.
When the cart arrived, other organization members lowered iron bars to completely block the entrance.
When the members unloaded Zeke from the cart, the tattooed man said to them.
“Let’s take him up. Need to show him to the boss and get a grade. Spider, you too.”
As the man said, the members carried Zeke and followed the tattooed man up.
The tattooed man entered the room where the boss was.
The room was filled with cigarette smoke.
Frank entered the room with a tense expression.
The ashtray on the large desk was piled high with tobacco, and behind it sat a skinny old man smoking cigarettes while examining documents.
The tattooed man approached the old man.
“Boss, I’ve brought them.”
The old man took his eyes off the documents and pressed his cigarette into the ashtray to put it out.
Frank stood before the old man with a tense expression.
“It-it’s an honor to be called, Boss.”
The old man gestured at Frank with his eyes, and understanding the meaning, Frank sat down on the nearby sofa.
He looked at the unconscious Zeke and asked the tattooed man.
“What’s that?”
The tattooed man answered.
“The quality looked good, so I brought him to show you and get a grade, Boss.”
At the tattooed man’s words, the old man got up and approached Zeke.
He lifted Zeke’s eyelids to check his pupils, then opened his mouth to examine his teeth.
The old man nodded.
“Send him to that Baron. He’s that pervert’s type.”
“Understood.”
At the tattooed man’s nod, the organization members took Zeke out.
The old man returned to his seat and beckoned to Frank.
He quickly approached.
“Frank, how many years have you been in this business?”
“It’s been 15 years now, Boss.”
“I heard you’re quite the talker.”
“I’ll do anything you assign me.”
The old man studied Frank’s eyes intently, then opened a drawer and took out a document.
He tossed it in front of Frank.
“It’s a big job. If you succeed, the compensation will be pretty sweet.”
Frank carefully opened the document the old man had thrown and read it.
Soon his eyes began to shake.
“Th-this…?”
It was different from the usual kidnapping jobs.
It was a kind of disguised assassination job to lure dungeon entrants to their death in an area with high-risk monsters.
The problem was that the target was a noble.
When the old man put a cigarette in his mouth, the tattooed man lit it.
He blew out smoke and said.
“A central noble seems to be having succession troubles. Though a country noble, they have quite a bit of land and mines, so it’s a big deal. A request came in since the heir is supposed to come for a dungeon tour.”
Frank said while sweating.
“Do, do I just need to lure them to the dungeon?”
“We’ll set up the point, so you just need to approach the target and run your mouth about a better dungeon. The guys below will have to follow along if a high-born brat insists. Once you bring the target to the point, it’s done.”
Frank gulped.
If he refused here, it was obvious that cold-hearted old man would kill him and find another guide.
‘Damn, and I wondered why they called me. Damn it.’
He’d die if he refused, and even if he didn’t refuse, there was a high chance he’d be cleaned up and killed later.
The only possibility of survival, however small, was to perform the request well, get paid, and leave this place.
Just as Frank was slowly opening his mouth after contemplating…
THUD!
The sound of someone collapsing came from outside. At that sound, the boss gestured and the tattooed man went out to check.
BANG!
Another loud sound was heard and the door smoothly opened.
Then they saw the tattooed man collapsed and bleeding.
Frank jumped up from his seat in surprise.
“Wh-what?!”
As Frank was shocked, someone entered the room, stepping over the collapsed tattooed man.
It was the naive-looking young man who had come in as merchandise earlier.
He looked at the old man and said.
“It’s been a long time. Blood Ghost.”.
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