Ch.55The Snake That Swallows Gold Coins (2)

Some lives are determined from the moment of birth.

If born as the child of a traitor, one must live with the stigma of betrayal for life, and if born among slaves, one will likely spend a lifetime as a slave.

Yes, life is determined from birth.

Dieta Albania realized this fact on her seventh birthday. She was the child born between a maid and the head of the Albania ducal family. Naturally, the gazes upon her were never kind.

There was endless harassment.

But she thought it was bearable.

Until her seventh birthday when her mother hanged herself—that’s what she thought. Her mother’s corpse was grotesque, with burn scars on her face. While the direct cause of death was the rope that strangled her neck, what drove her to hang herself was none other than those scars.

The scars left on her face.

They had eaten away at her value.

How could a mere maid form a relationship with the family head and even sit in the position of a concubine? It was thanks to her exceptional beauty. Dieta’s mother had neither the wealth, family background, nor backing that the lord’s other wives possessed.

Her value was solely her appearance.

That’s why she broke so easily.

A fire disguised as an accident. In that fire, her face was burned. The priests who arrived too late breathed blessings into her, but they couldn’t erase all the scars. The long, burnt marks left on her face. The distorted skin.

The fire took away her beauty.

It burned the only value she possessed.

The head of Albania was a cold-hearted man who no longer showed interest in a woman who had lost her value. He no longer called her to his bedroom and began to take away the things he had given her one by one.

As if it had been mere entertainment, the lord drove her and her daughter Dieta to a separate building.

The shoulders of her mother, who once walked with her head held high, became hunched. She wore a veil over her face, and her voice, which once commanded maids, became shabby. The woman who had shattered her predetermined fate with her shining value fell to the ground after losing that value.

The end, as is often the case, is miserable.

Her mother’s corpse, hanging by the neck. Looking at that corpse, Dieta had to realize. The fence that protected her was shattered. All that remained for Dieta was the beautiful appearance inherited from her mother and the label of an abandoned child.

Value. Value. Value.

The young girl faced reality.

Was it misfortune, or perhaps fortune? The girl had talent. While her appearance was inherited from her mother, the eyes that measured value were inherited from her father.

The girl was a genius.

A genius, but still a girl.

Her mind was not yet mature enough to accept the world, and she was too delicate to endure the harsh words and harassment. So the girl wore a mask. With that mask on, she presented herself with her appearance at the forefront.

Wearing a mask, the girl acted coquettishly, pretended to be foolish, and sometimes lived as if dead in indifference. She knew that if she lived like that, an opportunity would come.

On her fifteenth birthday.

When no one paid attention to her anymore.

Dieta fled the family. She ran and ran toward a place where she could showcase her talents. The place she reached was none other than Cambria, City of Opportunity. A place where anyone with talent could rise. Dieta spent five years in this city.

“And so five years have passed.”

Dieta leaned back against the backrest.

What she had built from the bottom up over the past five years was here. One of the top three major merchant groups in this city. It was her achievement.

“And now……”

Dieta looked at the letter.

Her eyes were trembling.

“Why, suddenly?”

When she ran away. When she established her merchant group. When her business got on track. They never contacted her once during any of those times, nor did they even show interest. So why did they suddenly send a letter now?

Dieta examined the letter.

The content was lengthy, but the gist was straightforward.

“Come to the estate as soon as you receive this letter.”

“There are matters to discuss face to face.”

A letter personally scribbled by the Duke of Albania.

It was a summons. Dieta slowly exhaled as she looked at the words written in the letter. In the end, she had no grounds to refuse this summons.

Refusing meant establishing a confrontational stance.

The Albania ducal family was not one that Dieta’s current merchant group could afford to antagonize. Knowing this fact, Dieta rose from her seat with a sigh.

“Passion. Prepare.”

“……Understood.”

Leaving Passion, who was preparing the carriage with a stiff expression, Dieta stood in front of the mirror. Standing there, she looked at her face. The joyful and comfortable smile she had worn while talking with Najin earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Her lips were stiffly set.

Touching those lips, Dieta smiled bitterly. It was the same sneer as always, the same resigned smile as always.

2.

A summons from the Central Guild.

What greeted Najin, who arrived at the guild with a light heart, were supervisors waiting for him with stiff faces at the exclusive counter for high-ranking adventurers. Seeing this, Najin tilted his head.

“Green-ranked adventurer, Ivan.”

The supervisors spoke.

“We would like to conduct a promotion examination to Red rank in recognition of your achievements. Do you agree?”

A sudden Red rank promotion examination.

Najin blinked. Of course he would.

“…I haven’t applied for a promotion examination?”

Najin had never applied for a promotion examination.

* * *

Ivan, a 28-year-old adventurer who became a Green-ranked adventurer just two months after setting foot in the city. The Central Guild of Cambria had been keeping an eye on him. His growth rate was extraordinary.

Single-handedly subjugating a Blood Troll of Red rank danger level, breaking the record score in the Dochenberg Forest subjugation…

Those were just the major requests, but his performance in smaller requests was equally impressive. The satisfaction of clients was sky-high, and they all left evaluations like, “The adventurer’s work is fast and clean.”

Especially in bounty hunter requests, satisfaction was extremely high. He was fast, clean, and above all, he even recovered all the stolen valuables and brought them back.

‘I certainly thought he was worth keeping an eye on.’

Supervisor Juberoa looked at the man sitting in front of her. It seemed like just yesterday that she had put him on the watch list because that “Roseline Askarlo” was interested in him…

And already he had done something unbelievable again.

The protagonist of the Fallen Knight Bernhagen’s subjugation.

Before the shock of the single-handed subjugation of the Blood Troll and his promotion to Green rank had even subsided, the young man in front of her had sent another shockwave through the adventurer city. At this point, even the Central Guild couldn’t remain idle.

Anyone could see that the adventurer named Ivan’s skills were not limited to “Green” rank.

Of course, the “Red” rank, which comes after Green, is not a light position. It essentially represents the highest-tier personnel that the Central Guild can employ, and they are the representatives of this city, guaranteed by the Central Guild.

So the promotion process is known to be very difficult and complicated, but…

“We would like to conduct a special promotion test in high regard of the special nature of the requests you have completed and your performance capabilities.”

The man in front of her had to be given special consideration.

“Baron Orbaize, Viscount Traam, Viscount Toscanelli, Viscount Epister, Count Ternien…”

The Fallen Knight subjugation.

The adventurer in front of her, who was the protagonist of that event, had essentially resolved numerous noble requests at once. There were more than seven noble requests on the head of the Fallen Knight Bernhagen.

‘The Knights of Atanga didn’t say anything, but…’

For the sake of the Knights of Atanga and numerous nobles’ reputation, the Central Guild had to give special consideration to the man in front of her.

“And, above all, Marquis Eldelmar of the Trebache family strongly recommended you. He sent a letter directly, so be grateful for that favor.”

Najin, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

“Of course, the Red rank promotion test will be conducted under very strict and rigorous standards. It will be conducted over three days, and the first test will be conducted under my supervision, Juberoa.”

Any objections?

To that question, Najin nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

Najin followed Juberoa, who had risen from her seat. As they walked, Juberoa began to explain. It was an explanation of the test she was about to supervise.

“What I will be grading is your instantaneous judgment, and the suppression and escort of the target. From now on, you just need to escort me to the destination. However, it will proceed at my walking pace, and you will be penalized if you touch me, so keep that in mind.”

She glanced at Najin as she walked.

Najin silently nodded at Juberoa’s words.

“Also, if you inflict fatal wounds on the adventurers who will be performing the ‘attacker’ mission targeting me, that will also be penalized. Remember, it’s suppression.”

Having finished her explanation, Juberoa clapped her hands. With the sound of applause echoing, she said,

“Then I will start the test.”

Juberoa walked along the path she had previously indicated. Najin, who was walking behind her, narrowed his eyes. He sensed a presence.

Reflexively, Najin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but then lowered it. Causing injury was prohibited, so it would be better not to use the sword. With that thought, he followed Juberoa for a few steps.

Thud.

With the sound of someone kicking off a wall, someone jumped down from the roof. As they jumped, they lunged toward Juberoa. They seemed to be the hired adventurers mentioned earlier.

‘One, two…’

Two adventurers rushing toward Juberoa.

One of them was targeting not Juberoa but Najin. Watching their movements quietly, Najin took a step forward.

The adventurer who jumped down was wielding a wooden sword. Moreover, it was made with a blunt edge, so there would be no problem grabbing it with bare hands… but this was a test simulating a real situation.

Najin read the movement with his eyes and stretched his hand forward. What his outstretched hand grasped was the adventurer’s wrist. The moment the hand was caught by Najin, the wooden sword couldn’t advance even a little. The surprise at that grip was momentary.

Whoosh!

Najin pulled the wrist. The man whose posture was disrupted in mid-air was pulled by Najin and thrown backward. By the time the adventurer got up after rolling on the ground, all he saw was his colleague caught in Najin’s grasp.

“Kuk, kek! Kuhuk!”

The adventurer who was caught by the neck was coughing. When he tapped Najin’s arm with his palm a couple of times, Najin finally loosened his grip. He could have easily made him faint if he had applied a little more force, but that didn’t seem necessary.

One was subdued.

Najin turned his head to look back. There was the adventurer he had thrown earlier. He made a slight gesture, though his expression seemed a bit dumbfounded.

At the same time, multiple thudding sounds echoed.

The adventurers who were deployed as “attackers” for this test simultaneously rushed toward Najin and Juberoa.

3.

Adventurers hired by the guild to play the role of attackers.

They were adventurers belonging to the medium-sized mercenary group “Pablet.” While individual ranks varied between Blue and Green, they had experience working together on numerous requests, making them essentially a Red-ranked mercenary group.

That’s why when they received this request, the members of the Pablet mercenary group couldn’t help but tilt their heads a bit.

‘No matter how famous this adventurer is these days, aren’t these conditions too harsh?’

Protect the escort target. Subdue the attackers without causing serious injuries. And even respond immediately to surprise attacks. Of course, this meant that the use of sword energy was impossible. With such restrictions piled on, could they even properly face the opponent?

With such concerns, they began their mission.

And now, three minutes after starting the surprise attack, the leader of the Pablet mercenary group couldn’t help but laugh dryly.

“This is ridiculous.”

Eight members of the mercenary group. The time it took for all of them to be subdued was just 3 minutes. The leader reflected on what had just happened.

Two who rushed in to test the waters.

The moment one of them was subdued so easily, he immediately gave orders. Attack from all directions while the remaining two provide support from behind. And so they rushed toward Najin from all directions…

One was grabbed by the arm and thrown.

One was kicked and sent flying into a wall.

One was about to swing a club when his hand was kicked, sending the club flying… then he was grabbed and thrown backward.

In an instant, four were subdued. The rest didn’t even know how they were subdued. They thought they were attacking from a blind spot, but the next moment, their vision was flipped, and they found themselves slammed to the ground.

Thud.

Seeing Najin dragging two people by the nape of their necks who had been hiding in the back for support, the leader laughed dryly and raised both arms.

“Surrender, surrender. This isn’t working, Supervisor?”

Sitting on the ground, he laughed dryly.

“Even if we rushed in with real swords instead of clubs or wooden swords, it would be difficult, wouldn’t it? Are you really a Sword Expert? Not a Sword Seeker?”

“I am an Expert.”

“Huh, you look young too. Impressive. At this rate, couldn’t you aim for the youngest Sword Seeker?”

“I’m twenty-eight years old.”

“……”

The leader turned his head to look at the supervisor.

Is that true? No matter how he looked at it, the young man in front of him didn’t look like he was in his late twenties.

“…According to the recorded identity, that’s correct.”

“Hmm…”

Pretending to sigh, the leader swung his arm.

It was a throwing knife thrown the moment Najin’s line of sight turned away. A throwing knife that accurately targeted a blind spot. A throwing knife that normally couldn’t be caught if not seen with the eyes.

Grab.

However, Najin easily caught the throwing knife with a light swing of his hand. Of course, even though it was called a throwing knife, it was one with a blunt edge made for such tests.

“No, look at this. His reaction speed isn’t normal? How did he catch this?”

The leader spoke incredulously as Najin so easily caught what was thrown from a blind spot. Supervisor Juberoa was equally surprised. Najin’s movements were truly flawless.

Clean and concise movements. Performance that perfectly fulfilled the conditions without any deduction points. Additionally, his instantaneous judgment and reaction speed were also flawless.

Escort and suppression.

It was one of the highest difficulty requests and also one of the most important tests in the promotion examination.

‘Due to the overly strict conditions, it’s a test that has failed many adventurers, but…’

Supervisor Juberoa remained silent.

It wasn’t that the hired mercenary group was sloppy. It was just that the adventurer named Ivan was exceptional. Surely before the test began, she had resolved to evaluate strictly and thoroughly, but…

At this point, she had to acknowledge it.

“I will terminate the first day’s test early.”

There was only one evaluation she could write on the paper.

Perfect score. Flawless.

Not knowing how long it had been since she hadn’t written any deduction points on this paper, Juberoa laughed dryly.