Dragonslayer’s Class Regression 40

Chapter 40

Zeke was confused about why the Ranger unit, also known as the Guardians of the Northern Continent, had come looking for him.

‘Could Abel have hired them? To eliminate me for allying with Kali?’

Zeke noticed the unique sword shape carried by the men in black. It was the kukri sword used by Rangers from the Kingdom of Gorka, located at the northernmost part of the Northern Continent. They were among the most skilled of the Northern Rangers.

Due to their exceptional abilities, the Central Kingdom would pay high prices to use them as mercenaries for important missions.

Zeke especially knew how formidable they were, having lived with Gorka Rangers while in the Northern Continent.

Zeke drew his weapon and faced off against the Gorka Ranger, trying to assess the situation.

“Why are Gorka Rangers targeting me?”

 Zeke asked the man in black.

The man in black said nothing, keeping his kukri pointed at Zeke while looking for an opportunity to reach the window.

Zeke backed up against the window to block his escape route.

Just then, something flew in through the window.

Roll! Roll!

A small ball rolled toward Zeke’s feet.

Soon, a misty smoke billowed out from the ball.

[Mandrake root component detected.]

[If poisoned, you will lose consciousness.]

[Due to Poison Immunity effect, you are not affected by the poison.]

Thanks to the Poison Immunity gained from devouring the Hydra head, the poison smoke could not harm Zeke.

However, Zeke pretended to be poisoned and collapsed.

After the smoke cleared, the two men in black took the collapsed Zeke somewhere.

* * *

The men in black brought Zeke to a dark, narrow room, sat him in a chair and handcuffed him. After confirming he was securely bound, they left and Zeke quietly opened his eyes.

Looking at the map, it appeared to be near a farm on the outskirts of Atlas. It seemed to be a safe house converted from a granary.

‘Northern Rangers have a safe house? Must be working for someone else.’

Zeke had pretended to be affected by the poison smoke since he could escape using portals even if imprisoned.

He had willingly entered the tiger’s den to personally investigate why the Gorka Kingdom Rangers were trying to monitor him.

Just then, someone entered the room.

He approached Zeke, who was pretending to be unconscious, and held a vial to his nose.

[Mandrake root component neutralizer detected.]

It appeared to be an antidote for the poison smoke.

Zeke acted like he was regaining consciousness.

“Mmm…”

The man spoke to the awakening Zeke.

“Zeke Draker.”

Zeke raised his head and slowly opened his eyes.

‘Who is he?’

A middle-aged man with a stubborn expression wearing an eye patch.

Zeke knew who he was.

“Cliff Linehart?”

He was the owner of Linehart Trading Company, one of the future continent’s top ten trading companies.

The reason Zeke recognized him immediately was due to their connection in his past life.

In his past life, Abel, who had taken over the family, reached for major trading companies for war supplies. At the time, Linehart Trading Company tried to maintain a neutral stance, but Abel and the Empire wouldn’t stand for it. They tried to forcibly dissolve Linehart Trading Company and confiscate their assets.

In response, Cliff Linehart risked his life to escape the Central Continent and pass information to the Northern Continent.

At that time, it was Zeke who made contact with Cliff and delivered the information he provided to the North.

“Zeke Murray. I believe you can safely deliver this information.”

Though Zeke recommended asylum in the North to Cliff, he shook his head.

“I want to meet my final death in my homeland of Allensia.’’

The future Cliff who had resigned himself to death overlapped with the current Cliff before him.

Cliff spoke to Zeke who was staring intently at him.

“You look at me as if you know me.”

Zeke deliberately changed his expression and said:

“I was just curious to see who was foolish enough to kidnap a member of the Draker bloodline.”

Cliff’s expression hardened at those words.

Zeke noticed from Cliff’s reaction that this kidnapping wasn’t meticulously planned.

Zeke decided to probe Cliff.

“Why did you kidnap me?”

There must have been a reason they hired expensive Gorka Rangers to infiltrate his residence.

If there was any connection to Abel, it would be advantageous to eliminate Cliff Linehart here.

If Linehart Trading Company’s money went to Abel’s side, things would become more troublesome.

Zeke turned on his minimap and assessed the Rangers’ positions and numbers.

‘One in the room, one right in front, ten around the building. Based on their presence, about those two are Rangers.’

Even if they were Gorka Rangers, Zeke could handle them without leaving traces if he demonstrated his true abilities.

At that moment, Cliff gestured to the Ranger behind him.

The Ranger approached and removed the handcuffs restraining Zeke’s arms.

“Though the situation has come to this, I want to say this wasn’t my original intention.”

Zeke spoke to Cliff, who was now using formal speech unlike before.

“How ridiculous. Saying you had no such intention after breaking in and kidnapping.”

Even trapped in enemy territory, Zeke spoke informally without any intimidation.

Cliff was slightly surprised by Zeke’s attitude.

Even an experienced knight would show anxiety in this situation, but the boy before him showed none.

“I suppose a Draker is a Draker, even at a young age.”

In truth, not all Drakers showed such composure during interrogations.

This was possible because Zeke had received training to withstand all kinds of interrogation and torture during his time as a Southern Hitman.

If the Gorka Rangers had tried to interrogate him seriously, he would have responded differently, but judging from Cliff’s reaction, this didn’t seem hostile.

Then Cliff spoke.

“Given the situation, some explanation seems necessary. You may have heard of me. My name is Cliff Linehart. I run the Linehart Trading Company.”

Surprisingly, Cliff revealed his identity first.

Zeke put on an angry expression to test Cliff and said:

“Linehart Trading Company. No matter how big your company is, you’re quite bold to mess with the Drakers. Whether you kill me here or not, the Drakers will hunt you down to the end. Either way, you can never escape the Drakers.”

Cliff’s expression hardened.

Even for the owner of a major trading company, a knight’s killing intent was difficult to brush off.

The Ranger standing behind stepped forward to restrain Zeke.

But Cliff raised his hand to stop the Ranger.

Cliff pulled out a document and held it out to Zeke.

“Please look at this for a moment.”

Zeke shifted his glare from Cliff and slowly examined the document.

However, the document contained completely unexpected content.

“Elena Stone?”

Elena Stone was none other than the mother of Liam Stone, who had become his subordinate.

The document Cliff brought contained information about Elena Stone’s recovery from Hong-hwa disease.

Zeke wondered why Cliff brought him information about Elena Stone’s Hong-hwa disease.

“It’s a disease that’s been gradually appearing in the southern region of the Central Continent, locally called Hong-hwa disease.”

Cliff said, looking at Zeke.

“I learned that Elena Stone, mother of academy student Liam Stone, also recovered after falling into a life-threatening condition from this Hong-hwa disease. Zeke Draker, do you know anything about this?”

He couldn’t not know.

Elena Stone had overcome Hong-hwa disease thanks to the medicine Zeke had made.

Zeke said to Cliff.

“I sent Elena Stone the medicine. What about it?”

Cliff’s expression changed dramatically.

“So it was you, Zeke Draker, who sent the medicine. How did you know about the treatment for this disease that’s barely known yet?”

“I remembered a medicine I often took when suffering from fever and thought it might work, so I sent it. It just happened to work well. But I don’t understand why Linehart Trading Company is investigating this, even going so far as kidnapping me.”

Cliff shook his head.

“Again, that was never my intention. All I needed was…”

Zeke cut off Cliff’s words.

“The medicine I gave to Elena Stone. That’s what you wanted to find out?”

At Zeke’s words, Cliff fell silent.

Zeke looked at the silent Cliff and reasoned why he had taken such extreme action.

“Is there someone who urgently needs to treat the Hong-hwa disease?”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement filled with certainty.

Cliff felt that Zeke wasn’t an ordinary fifteen-year-old.

Now the situation had become unfavorable for Cliff.

Even if he wanted to make a deal, he had to offer what the other party wanted from a much weaker position.

That’s when Zeke spoke first.

“Cliff Linehart. Let’s make a deal.”

As soon as he assessed the situation, Zeke tried to secure his advantageous position.

To Zeke’s words, Cliff calmly opened his mouth.

“What are the terms of the deal?”

Zeke spread three fingers.

“If you promise to grant my three demands in the future, I’ll tell you about the cure.”

Cliff looked at Zeke and said.

“I need to know what these demands are before I can agree to the deal.”

“I will request things within the scope of what Linehart Trading Company can handle.”

After contemplating, Cliff looked at Zeke and said.

“I’ll agree to the deal if you agree to put these conditions in writing in a contract.”

Zeke grinned and nodded.

“Good. A contract is essential for a deal.”

At Cliff’s gesture, the Ranger went outside and brought a paper and pen.

Cliff took considerable time to carefully draft the contract.

Zeke read the contract Cliff had written.

“Looks fine. But one thing.”

He said to Cliff.

“The person who needs to treat the Hong-hwa disease. I need to know who that person is.”

Cliff’s expression became much more rigid than before.

He looked at Zeke and said.

“I cannot tell you that.”

“Then there will be no deal.”

After contemplating, Cliff realized he had no choice and slowly opened his mouth.

“I can only say that it’s one of the royalty of Allensia.”

Zeke clicked his tongue.

“If you’re going to be like this, there will be no deal.”

Cliff clenched his molars.

Then he barely opened his mouth.

“Melissa Allensia.”

At Cliff’s words, Zeke’s eyes changed.

“The First Princess of Allensia.”

Allensia was currently in conflict with the Rom Empire over the management rights of the Join race ghetto in the border region.

The Allensia Kingdom was already in an unstable internal situation with sharp opposition between royal and noble rights, and the Rom Empire took advantage of this gap by constructing and deploying large-scale military bases in the border region, coveting the Bird tribe ghetto in Allensia territory.

Melissa Allensia was a figure who was very popular with the people due to her efficient public policies, compared to the sickly and incompetent king.

Moreover, there was growing public opinion that if she succeeded to the throne, royal authority would regain its prestige and end the internal power struggle with the nobles.

If Melissa Allensia, who was becoming a major issue in Central Continent politics, fell ill and couldn’t succeed to the throne, the chaotic situation in the Allensia Kingdom would clearly become more difficult.

Zeke asked Cliff.

“Why is Linehart Trading Company going to such lengths to cure Melissa Allensia’s illness?”

“We were in the midst of coordinating a major deal with Princess Melissa. If something happens to the Princess before the deal is even finished, the company would suffer such huge losses that the entire company would be shaken, so we’re trying to find a cure by any means.”

In his previous life, Linehart Trading Company grew centered around the Allensia Kingdom and eventually rose to become one of the continent’s top ten trading companies.

It was somewhat understandable that they already had such great influence, given that Cliff Linehart had enough attachment to say he wanted to die in Allensia even if he were to die.

However, even so, the part about hiring Gorka Rangers and infiltrating the Draker clan’s dwelling still didn’t make sense.

Although not fully grown yet, the current Linehart Trading Company had enough wealth that if it was really urgent, they could have bought the cure with money.

‘There must be something I don’t know.’

Zeke looked into Cliff Linehart’s eyes.

Having become more skilled at handling mana power than before while mastering the Elemental Sword, Zeke could sense others’ emotions more closely.

He read the emotions he felt from Cliff.

‘Desperation, anxiety, deep loyalty…’

It didn’t seem like they were trying to save Princess Melissa just for the deal.

Zeke realized there must be something between Princess Melissa and Linehart Trading Company.

At least with Cliff, it was clearly more than just a business relationship.

He thought he might be able to gain something bigger through this deal.

Zeke signed the contract Cliff had presented.

Cliff saw Zeke’s signature and breathed a sigh of relief.

That’s when Zeke spoke.

“Good. Cliff Linehart. First, I’ll make my first demand.”

He looked at Cliff and said.

“You’ll need to get me a job.”