My Glasses Will Be Able to Conquer the Whole World, I Suppose - CH 62

“I’m looking for an informant that can tell me information about what happens behind the scenes. Do you know anybody, old man?” I asked.

There may be some negotiation methods that are unique to the underworld, but unfortunately, I don’t know anything about them, so I just asked him straightforwardly.

Fortunately enough, I do have some money on me. I don’t know what is the price for information fees, but I think I can at least negotiate a bit with what I have.

“Heh. An informant, is it?” The old man sat down on the ragged leather rug, giving off a completely different impression from when he was ready for battle, “Sorry, but I can’t tell you about it this easily.”

“Alright. I’ll ask someone else then.” I turned around and started leaving.

“Wait, hold on a second.” The old man called out to me. What is it now? “Are you going to give up so easily? You think I know something, right? If what you want is right in front of you, then how can you give up this easily?”

Yeah, that’s true, “But you can’t tell me about it easily, right? Then I’ll just find someone who can tell me about it easily. So it’s alright.” I replied.

The search for an informant has just begun.

This person is not the last candidate. Or rather, he is the first one.

If he tells me that what I’m asking is too much, then I’m sure he’ll extort me for the information. I’d rather finish the negotiations before they even start in that case.

Besides, it’s dangerous to go too deep into the underworld.

… Though it’s kinda strange that someone who wants to learn the skills of an assassin doesn’t want to go deep into the underworld. Assassins are the people who work in the underworld, after all.

“Alright, alright. Listen up, kid.” The old man laid down on the rug.

Is he unmotivated? Well, I guess he can be when he is as strong as he is.

“I’m not an informant, but I know behind-the-scenes things and I also know people who are informants, and I’m not against introducing them.

“What about it, kid? If I can answer what you want to know, I’ll answer.

“As for the informant, those people are expensive. It costs money to introduce them, and the information itself will be even more expensive. Especially if you want to know information about what happens behind the scenes.

You don’t have that much money on you, do you?” The old man told me.

As for money… Well, I do have some, but it’s certainly not a lot.

Learning what happens behind the scenes is expensive though… In other words, information about the underworld is expensive.

In that case… Ah, right, how about this.

“Then can I ask you something? It’s not information about what happened behind the scenes.” I asked the old man.

“Not behind the scenes? Well… That’s fine, say it.” The old man replied.

I’ve been thinking about it. The contact point here must be the same as the one in the capital.

If each city has a different contact point, it would cause unnecessary confusion for the assassins.

Also, if one hides too much, it may be hard to completely protect yourself from the outside world.

If you work completely unknown, then you might get unexpected contrivances during work, and anyone looking for your services would struggle a lot to find you.

And if an assassin avoided public view and always acted suspiciously, like buying poison under a secret connection, it would probably be inevitable for them to be eventually found, and that would become a weakness that could be used as blackmail.

Therefore, assassins would get in trouble if they hid themselves too much.

On the other hand, if you are known to some extent, like being connected to a certain low-key organization, then the unrelated people will shy away from you.

I think it’s better to create a public organization that can serve as your face, instead of being only an assassin. Especially back when the kingdom was actively supporting the assassins, as there would never be any worry of the small organizations being crushed by the people in power.

Therefore, I think it’s quite likely that the contact point for the assassin’s guild was the same in all cities at some point in the past.

With this in mind, there is only one question that I need to ask this man, “I’m looking for an employee of the old hunter’s guild that existed in this city. Someone that worked there ten or so years ago. Do you know anybody?”

I don’t know who the contact point is now, but if they’re related to the old hunter’s guild, then I should be able to find them, as I’m sure this person is living a normal life on the surface.

And even if this guess is wrong, then all I need to do is to restart my searching.

******

I returned to the inn and stayed the night there.

On the next day…

“Welcome! How about the original meat roll! This is the best breakfast of Haidiga!” One salesperson exclaimed.

What, meat?

As a meat lover, I can’t simply ignore meat, but… Wasn’t the meat roll I ate yesterday the original one? Yet this is the original too?

I wonder if there is any difference in their meaning… Maybe there is no meaning in the first place.

In any case, I bought it from a young man at a stall, then walked while eating it.

Mmm… The pork has a simple salty taste, but it’s sprinkled with citrus juice and has a very refreshing aftertaste. There are also some crispy vegetables accompanying it, which were fairly nice.

In terms of taste, I preferred the meat of the first one, but the vegetables of this one are better.

Overall, both are good. I may choose which one to eat depending on my mood on the day.

But in any case, it was now early morning, and there were only a few people on the main street.

I also booked another day of accommodation at the inn I’m staying at, on top of the two days I paid for initially, and I left my luggage there today.

I had to walk around a lot yesterday, so I have a good idea of where is each thing in Haidiga.

And the arranged meeting place, was in front of a small tavern near the slums.

It’s a cheap tavern that was open from dusk to dawn, but that stayed closed during the morning.

Last night, when I asked the old man about the staff of the old hunter’s guild, he told me he’d investigate it, and that I should wait in front of this tavern on the morning of the next day.

It might be too early, but I’d rather wait a bit long, than to be ambushed at arrival, so I decided to go there early.

And well, if things start looking troublesome, I can always run away.

And in front of the tavern I saw… The old man wasn’t there, but there was a girl.

She was slender and had short bright red hair. Her eyes were also quite intense.

She didn’t seem to be as intense as Chace and Florentine though, so I wasn’t bothered that much… And in the first place, I don’t care for this girl.

She stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the building right across the tavern.

This girl is… An adventurer, I guess? Her age, stature and physique are similar to mine. I don’t know how powerful she is, but she seems to be fairly strong.

… Ah, our eyes met.

She’s glaring at me.

Or is that just what her eyes are normally like? It’s hard to be sure.

… Well, I don’t care. I just stood next to the girl and waited for the old man.

“Hey you.” The girl called out to me sharply.

“Sorry, I’m waiting for someone. I don’t want to be hit on.” I replied.

“Hitting on you…? Hitting on you!? Me!? Hitting on you!?” The girl strongly denied it.

Just like her hair color, she seemed to be a fairly fierce person… The kind of person I really don’t want to get involved with. I’m really bad with those types.

“That’s not it at all! You-” She started saying.

“Oh, hey, a cat.” I said as I stared at a cat passing nearby.

“Listen to me! Don’t go! Don’t chase the cat! Look at me!” The girl screamed.

… The cat ran away because of her shouts.

I’m getting entangled with the type of person that I really don’t want to get entangled with… if this wasn’t the meeting place, I would have definitely run away already. Run away with the cat.

… I wonder if the cat at the assassin’s village is doing well… Though it’s not a cat.

“Hey, you! You wanted to meet an informant, right!?” The girl shouted.

Eh?

As expected, I couldn’t ignore those words.

“Could you be the informant?” I asked.

“No, but-” She replied.

“Then this is pointless.” I said.

“Why don’t you listen to what people have to say until the end!? Why are you so quick to shut others down!?” The girl shouted.

It’s just that I really don’t want to get involved with you…

But considering that she knows the circumstances, then I think I have no choice but to deal with her properly… How annoying.

“You met the old man yesterday and negotiated, didn’t you? I came here as a substitute for him.” The girl told me.

Ah, a substitute for the old man.

“I was only asked to guide you to a certain person. I can’t answer any of your questions.” She told me.

“Alright.” I replied.

Seems like the employee of the old hunter’s guild has already been found. The old man works fast.

… Or maybe he already knew of the staff’s whereabouts from the beginning.

“If you try taking me to a strange place, I’ll shout.” I told her.

“Isn’t that my line!? Isn’t that the woman’s line!?” The girl replied.

“But you’re the one who is taking me. I swear I’ll call a man.” I said.

“The hell is wrong with you!? The hell!?” She shouted.

After saying that, the girl started running while muttering something about how she was absolutely going to shake me off.