Chapter 38

Part 13: The Soaring Phoenix (1)

After returning from the Viscount's estate, as time passed, the way people looked at me began to change.

The events that took place at the Viscount's estate had spread among the people.

My heroic deeds there were exaggerated and distorted as they spread among the people.

Some saw me as a character with incredible luck, while others believed I was a sinister strategist harboring dozens of cunning snakes in my mind.

Of course, most heard a deliberately downplayed version, seeing me as a bastard who had performed unexpectedly well due to good luck.

Regardless, my status within the mansion had improved significantly compared to before I went to the Viscount's estate.

However, it wasn't all good.

Knights and officials who began to take notice of me, like the Duchess, started to keep an eye on me.

She must have heard about the events at the Viscount's estate through her own sources and naturally became wary of me.

‘It can’t be just natural! If she misjudges me, I’ll end up like the second Duchess again!’

Thinking about how many times I had died because of that woman, I almost felt like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Things kept happening that I didn’t know about, and since I hadn’t yet decided how to live in the future, I had to be careful not to die.

While cautiously dealing with the changed gazes, day by day, Juan came to visit.

"Mr. Juan is here. Should I let him in?"

When Juan arrived, Flora, after making him wait outside the door, came in to ask me.

‘He could just come in, couldn’t he...’

Flora didn’t like Juan very much.

Like my mother and most of the other servants, she believed I had achieved merit at the Viscount's estate due to good luck.

My mother scolded me for a long time after hearing the story, and Flora was upset with me for a while.

I knew she was worried about me, so I had to endure the discomfort for a long time.

Although things are better now, she still disliked Juan for that reason.

Moreover, since my mother had recovered thanks to the money I gave her, Juan had offered to be my subordinate, which made Flora even more upset every time he visited.

Only after I told him to come in could Juan enter.

It seemed to be his day off, as he was wearing civilian clothes when he came in.

As Flora passed by Juan, she discreetly snorted, but I could hear it clearly thanks to my heightened senses from the real combat experience at the Viscount's estate.

"I'll apologize on Flora's behalf."

"It's fine. She's just worried about you, young master."

He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Anyway, what's the matter?"

Juan wasn’t the type to visit without a reason.

"A mercenary called the Phoenix Hunter has arrived."

I jumped up from my seat, as the person I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

I left the mansion with Juan.

After returning from the Viscount's estate, I could really feel how my position had changed.

Until then, it hadn’t been easy to leave the mansion.

Even though I was a bastard, I was still the Duke’s son, and being young, I needed protection to go outside.

However, as a bastard, it was difficult to ask others for such protection except for my people and my mother’s maids.

But after returning from the Viscount's estate, I no longer needed to ask.

Even though I was with Juan, no soldiers tried to stop us from going outside, and no one was worried about us.

Passing through the wide front yard and out the main gate, the upscale residential area of the city came into view.

The Duke’s mansion, located in the northern part of the city, and the upscale residential area that followed it.

This was where the nobles under the Duke, high-ranking officials, knights, and influential merchants lived, the uppermost class of the city.

The roads were clean, and while not as grand as the Duke’s mansion, the buildings were large and magnificent.

After walking for a while, we reached the central square.

At the center of this square, to the east were the temple and residential areas, to the west were the market, workshops, and commercial guilds, and to the south were the mercenary district and the residential areas of the lower class.

I headed south.

This was a place I had never been to before, but I wasn’t too worried, having had enough experience in the Viscount’s territory.

"Quite different from what I expected..."

"Hehe, even among mercenaries, the atmosphere can vary from one territory to another."

Seeing my puzzled expression as I looked around the street, Juan explained with a smile.

The mercenary district in our territory was also noisy and messy, not much different from the one at the Viscount's estate.

However, unlike the Viscount's estate, this street felt a bit more rigid.

Perhaps because it was still before sunset, there were hardly any people drinking and making a fuss, and no one was fighting.

Everyone was either alone or in groups, busy with their own affairs.

"A bit more desolate than the Viscount's estate, right? Our territory has stricter management of mercenaries, which is why. The Duke values safety within the territory and doesn’t tolerate crimes or misconduct by mercenaries."

While listening to his explanation of the atmosphere, I unexpectedly heard a compliment about the Duke.

Indeed, the Duke was someone who did his job well.

Praise for the Duke could be heard everywhere, both inside and outside the mansion.

If I had been a regular citizen of the territory instead of the Duke’s bastard, I might have praised the Duke like everyone else.

But I couldn’t be in the same position as them.

Although it was a bit different from the Viscount’s territory, the mercenary district still looked lively as we arrived at a certain inn.

The name of the inn, where mercenaries usually stayed, didn’t fit at all, but the clean and tidy atmosphere made it seem appropriate.

"This is the most expensive inn on this street. Probably the most expensive except for those in the northern part of the city."

The mercenary who had asked to be called the Phoenix Hunter had chosen the best inn on the mercenary street.

Although he wasn’t part of any mercenary group and seemed to be a lone mercenary, I couldn’t understand why he could stay in such a good inn every time.

Maybe he was the daughter of a wealthy family, or perhaps he had become rich through his mercenary work.

Could his wealth be related to the sword with the emblem?

While thinking about this, I entered the inn.

The first-floor restaurant looked quiet.

She was sitting at a table in the middle, mostly empty.

"Over here! Over here. You came early."

She waved at me.

Juan and I approached the table where she was sitting.

She looked at Juan, who was following me, and asked.

"Who is this person?"

If Juan had been in his usual uniform, she wouldn’t have asked, but in civilian clothes, he looked like a regular, burly civilian.

"His name is Juan. He’s a soldier guarding me today."

"Guarding?"

She looked puzzled, and Juan smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I’m serving the young master. Today, I just guided him here, not guarding him."

Hearing this, she finally nodded.

"Formal guarding. Same thing, right?"

Not exactly, but not entirely wrong.

I sat down in the chair in front of her.

Sigh, when will I grow taller? My feet still don’t touch the ground when I sit.

"I thought you wouldn’t come. It took longer than expected."

I thought you would arrive a few days after me, but it took several months.

"I finished organizing quickly, but things got complicated, so it took longer to resolve them."

Things got complicated... It was a statement that made me feel uneasy.

But since she said it was resolved, I needed to focus on the matter at hand.

"Since I’m here, can we talk now?"

She didn’t even finish the formalities and immediately got to the point. She looked very anxious.

I looked around. Although it was quiet, there were still people.

"Can we talk here?"

She looked troubled.

"That’s difficult... And it’s not good if too many people hear..."

She looked at Juan, who was still standing behind me. He seemed to have a good sense of his position.

Before I could answer, Juan spoke.

"Let’s talk in the room. I’ll wait here."

Indeed, he was quick to catch on.

If only other people, especially the knights, were as quick to catch on.

Leaving Juan on the first floor, I went upstairs with her.

Her room on the second floor was quite large and comfortable, almost like a suite.

"Tell me quickly! How did you find out?"

As soon as we entered the room, she pounced on me with fire in her eyes.

From another perspective, it was a situation where a man and a woman were alone in a room, and the woman was pouncing on the man.

But it would be hard for anyone to think anything strange.

In fact, I was a bit scared when the much larger woman suddenly pounced on me.

"Um, can we sit down and talk?"

My voice trembled automatically, without any need to act.

She looked embarrassed and stepped back.

After a deep breath, we sat down at the table in the middle of the room.

She was a bit restless but didn’t push me again.

Hmm, what should I do?

Seeing her, I fell into a brief contemplation.

Was it right to take her to the tomb, or should I deceive her, forcefully take the sword, and check it myself?

But the latter option was not feasible.

Forcing or killing her to take the sword was impossible for me alone, and getting help from others would only increase the number of people who knew.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that things would go as I expected if I just took the sword.

It was also difficult to secretly extract information, so the best option was to take her to the tomb.

However, taking her to the tomb wasn’t entirely good either.

The question was whether I could trust her.

She had shown trustworthy behavior so far, but there was no guarantee she would maintain it inside the tomb or when treasure was found.

Moreover, if treasure was found, I needed to think about how to divide it and what to do with items that couldn’t be divided.

With this in mind, I took out a bundle of paper from my pocket.

"What’s this?"

Instead of answering her question, I started with my story.

"The emblem on the sword. I saw it in a tomb with a flying bird emblem."

"Really? A tomb?"

She forgot her previous question and immediately asked.

"Yes. A tomb with an empty coffin."

"Right! That’s the place I’ve been looking for! Where is it?"

She leaned forward as if to pounce on me.

She looked very different from before, and it seemed more important than I thought.

If so, what I was doing now was even more important.

"Before I tell you the location."

I placed blank papers on the table and took out ink and a quill from the mansion, placing them next to the papers.

She looked puzzled at the items I laid out.

"Let’s write a contract."

I picked up the quill and wrote the title on the paper.

Then I turned the paper and placed it in front of her.

"A pledge for mutual safety, distribution of items from the tomb, and sharing of information. Let’s discuss and write it down in detail to avoid any problems. We have plenty of time until night, and if we need more, we can do it tomorrow or the day after."

I smiled as I watched the Phoenix Hunter look at the contract with a bewildered expression.

She must have been taken aback by the contract, as her expression showed she had been hit hard.

But I was serious about this contract.

Since I wasn’t in a hurry, the more detailed the contract, the more beneficial it would be for me.