Chapter 161. Drrrk (2)
While waiting alone in the tent, the mage affiliated with Magno finally arrived.
Anagin briefly looked over the mage who had entered under Uma’s guidance.
A middle-aged man with short hair and a beard. He gave off a slightly different impression than expected.
Not that Anagin had any prejudice, but he had seen Magno-affiliated mages a few times before.
He had assumed they’d be wrapped in cumbersome robes, trying to exude some mysterious aura—but that wasn’t the case here.
He was wearing a robe, yes, but it didn’t cover his whole body. Thanks to that, his tall, muscular physique was fully visible.
More like someone engaged in manual labor.
It wasn’t just an impression either. His body gave off a distinct salty smell, and on one shoulder hung a net and a throwing spear.
He felt like a fisherman mixed with a mage.
“Well, now, nice to meet you. I’m Anagin. Now then, let’s discuss the detailed terms.”
“The detailed terms…?”
The fisherman mage asked back as if hearing that for the first time.
Ignoring that, Anagin tapped the seat across from him with his palm, urging him.
“We need to talk about how to split the spoils. Come on, have a seat.”
Though he looked puzzled, as if this wasn’t what he had heard, the fisherman mage sat down anyway and started with an introduction.
“I am Piscinis of Magno. But… spoils?”
True to his appearance, he didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
“I heard you accepted this job. As repayment for the help you received from Uma.”
Anagin glanced sideways at Uma, who was standing off to the side.
Even with both eyes covered by cloth, she skillfully sensed his gaze and conveyed through her expression that she hadn’t gone into detail about the “help.”
Well, it’s not like she’d go around blabbing about Anagin clashing with both the Argonaut Expedition Team and the New Argonaut Expedition Team.
If that rumor spread, Anagin would be painted as the villain.
In her own way, Uma had been considerate.
But that was that, and this was this.
“That’s why I’m negotiating. Normally, I refuse most requests. I enjoy turning down desperate pleas.”
The fisherman mage raised one eyebrow crookedly.
“I heard you accepted, and in return, you’d ask for a small favor.”
“Either you heard wrong, or she said it wrong.”
Anagin pointed at Uma.
Honestly, he didn’t know whether Uma had pulled something or if this fisherman mage was the one scheming. But frankly, Anagin didn’t care either way.
The negotiation was already underway. All he had to do was push through his will.
The fisherman mage narrowed his eyes and looked at Uma behind him.
Seeing that, Anagin cut in.
“Words tend to change a bit as they pass through people. No need to glare like that. I’m fine with it.”
Anagin said shamelessly that since he was fine, he shouldn't blame Uma.
The fisherman mage looked at Anagin with an incredulous look, as if wondering what kind of guy this was.
He stared like that for a long time.
“Uma. You, leave.”
He dismissed her, wanting to speak privately.
Uma complied willingly, and only Anagin and the fisherman mage remained.
“I came here believing you’d fully cooperate with us and just fulfill a few requests.”
“What a shame. So, what do we do now?”
Anagin’s tone practically said, If you don’t like it, let’s break it off. And that was exactly what he meant.
But the fisherman mage pretended not to notice.
“It’s simple. Do as I heard.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Then we’ll judge the Pebble Traveling Troupe as having betrayed Magno and deliver appropriate punishment.”
“Do as you like.”
Anagin shrugged. The casual gesture carried sincerity—because he genuinely didn’t care.
He had already thought about this while waiting for the mage.
Wasn’t it obvious?
A group claiming to protect mages exploiting the Pebble Traveling Troupe—why wouldn’t they resort to coercion or hostage-taking? Naturally, Anagin already had an answer prepared.
“I heard you received considerable help from us.”
“So what?”
Anagin’s speech grew shorter. At this point, their true intentions were already showing; there was no need for formality.
“Planning to grab me by the hair with that and swing me around? Not my style.”
“……”
“Oh, of course. It’s not like I’m some ungrateful bastard either. I was well-raised, believe it or not.”
“What are you trying to say?”
The fisherman mage’s speech was also shortened.
Good.
“If you try any funny business, I’ll return the favor. Whatever you do from now on, I’ll do my best to interfere. I’m pretty good at that.”
Anagin, who had once ambushed Hippomenes alone during the Groom Tournament, spoke with confidence.
The fisherman mage didn’t take it as a bluff.
That was fortunate for him.
Because Anagin meant it.
The fisherman mage fell into silence, clearly weighing his options, and Anagin didn’t rush him.
After all, the more one thinks, the more likely they are to choose the worst move.
‘Ah, wait… what if his worst move ends up being bad for me too? Chasing them around and wrecking everything might get a bit annoying…’
Just as he was starting to worry it might become too troublesome and considered speaking—
The fisherman mage suddenly moved.
Drip—rrr.
He pointed at the water bottle on the table, and the water inside moved on its own, pouring into his cup.
Judging by his appearance, he seemed to wield water-based magic.
That was a bit interesting.
‘Did he dress like that on purpose to match his magic? Considering his age… that’s a bit…’
“What do you want?”
“What do I want? Nothing much—”
“—Drop the polite speech. Just speak normally.”
“Ah, sure. That’s better. Anyway, it’s simple. I’ll give you basic cooperation, but don’t think I’m beneath you. Meaning, if you give stupid orders, I’ll do things my way.”
“Fine. Next.”
“I want the objective clearly defined.”
“Objective?”
“The goal is to catch the priest who's trying to become an archbishop, right?”
“That’s correct, for now.”
“Then I can take the rest?”
“The rest? Do you even know what you’re talking about?”
“I don’t know exactly. But if it’s the Barbaroi Cult, there’ll be beasts, right?”
Anagin spoke based on his memories of Hippomenes, who worshipped the pig god.
“One of my magical tools gets stronger by feeding on beast blood, and it’s not in great shape right now. I want to let it fill up on the beasts there.”
After confirming the usefulness of the Beast Devourer, Anagin had made feeding it a priority. Better to prepare in advance.
“That’s not an easy condition to accept.”
As expected, they planned to take all the other spoils.
“If you don’t like it, forget it.”
“Any other conditions?”
“Of course. Last one.”
“What is it?”
“If you give up midway and flee, the priest you were after becomes mine.”
The fisherman mage’s expression twisted.
After all, Anagin was asking for the very objective of the mission.
But Anagin had no intention of yielding.
“Are you joking?”
“Listen properly. I said if you give up and flee.”
“You think we’d give up?”
“If it were easy, you wouldn’t be dragging me into it. If it’s difficult, failure is possible.”
“……”
The fisherman mage couldn’t deny it.
“If you fight to the end, I’ll help. But if you flee, that priest is mine.”
“…Why are you after the priest?”
“Same reason as before. I want to use them as materials to strengthen my magical tool.”
Having confirmed the usefulness of the Beast Devourer after absorbing Pigmenes, Anagin showed his greed.
Who knew? Maybe there’d be a second Pigmenes.
At the very least, it was worth trying.
“What guarantee do we have that you won’t slack off for the sake of your tool?”
“Who knows? But if you’re going to doubt me like that, this whole conversation is meaningless. Trust me or don’t, that’s up to you.”
Anagin said no more.
Anything further would sound like deception, and he had no need to convince them with messy words.
If the negotiation broke down, so be it. If the Pebble Traveling Troupe suffered, then he’d just make Magno’s life miserable afterward.
Simple.
After a long silence, the fisherman mage finally spoke.
“Your conditions are not something we can accept under normal circumstances.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
Anagin immediately moved to stand up.
“But I’ll persuade them. In return, I have a condition. A personal one.”
Drrrk. For the first time in a while, the sound of gears turning in someone’s head could be heard.
“What is it?”
“To be honest, I have no interest in capturing the priest.”
“Then what are you interested in?”
“The magical tool he has.”
The fisherman mage revealed his true intent.
You could tell just by his eyes.
“I’m not interested in research—I care about power itself. If you help me seize that magical tool with everything you’ve got, I’ll try to convince my comrades to accept your terms.”
“Deal.”
Anagin accepted immediately.
Sure, he might end up wanting the tool himself once he sees it, but refusing now would be ridiculous.
The fisherman mage trusted Anagin’s promise more easily than expected.
“If you were the type to break promises, you wouldn’t have proposed those terms in the first place.”
“Oh, we understand each other.”
“Then let’s move immediately.”
“Oh, even better. I like that.”
Praising the fisherman mage’s decisiveness, Anagin stood up.
Unlike the mage who had just arrived, Anagin had already unpacked some of his belongings, so he needed time to prepare.
“Hurry up.”
“I know, I know.”
Anagin responded and told Sphinx to get ready to depart.
Sphinx entered to pack up and asked quietly,
“Did it not go well?”
Now able to read him at a glance, Sphinx sensed something off just from his expression.
“No, I thought it’d be difficult, but it actually went easier than expected.”
“Then why do you look like that?”
“I keep hearing it.”
“Hearing what?”
“The drrrk sound of someone grinding their brain.”
Anagin looked at the fisherman mage.
It felt like he had another agenda.
* * *
While the fisherman mage continued grinding his gears, Anagin finished packing.
He had never intended to fully trust a mage he had just met anyway, so whether the man schemed or not didn’t really matter.
As long as it stayed in his head, there was no problem. And if it came out, Anagin would simply respond accordingly.
Still, just in case, he asked Sphinx to immediately eavesdrop and inform him if she sensed anything suspicious.
“We’ll ride this.”
After parting with the Pebble Traveling Troupe and walking a bit into a distant forest, the fisherman mage spoke.
He took out a small model ship from his chest—then, in an instant, it transformed into a massive airship.
It resembled the one Chiron had shown before.
Just smaller.
‘That’s really small.’
Still, Anagin was a man with manners, so he didn’t bother pointing that out. Instead, he asked something else.
“Hey.”
“What?”
"Is an airship of this size on the cheaper side?"
“Brother.”
“What?”
He had finally found a chance to ease the resentment of having to travel by carriage due to not owning an airship, yet Sphinx scolded him, and the fisherman mage simply ignored him.
"Talk about miserable."
Though the fisherman mage was stingy enough not to answer such a trivial question, the airship itself was quite fast.
“Looks like the mages modified it a bit. Though the ride’s rough because of that.”
Sphinx, feeling the strong shaking throughout her body—unlike Chiron’s airship—gave her evaluation.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to ride it for long.
Thanks to its speed, they arrived quickly.
"It's here."
As the fisherman mage shrank the airship back down, he pointed to a large mansion standing in a remote area.
Inside, mages had gathered. All of them seemed to be affiliated with Magno.
“This is…?”
“Anagin.”
The fisherman mage answered briefly, introducing Anagin and the mages to each other.
Though “introduction” was little more than exchanging names.
“And her?”
One of the mages pointed at Sphinx and asked.
“My younger sister.”
“Hmm…”
Personally, Anagin didn’t like mages much.
That particular look in their eyes, the way they appraised things, was irritating.
But he hadn’t come here to make friends, so it didn’t really matter.
After the brief introductions, the fisherman mage explained the additional conditions Anagin had proposed.
The reactions were exactly as expected.
“What?”
“That’s not what we agreed on.”
“Ahem…!”
Everyone showed clear discomfort and displeasure.
Of course, Anagin didn’t care.
Judging by how things were going, even if they complained, they’d reluctantly accept in the end.
Even if the deal collapsed, it didn’t matter. Since he had come this far, he could just tail the Magno group and eventually find the fishing village.
“First, hear me out.”
Amid all that, the fisherman mage began persuading them. It seemed like he just needed to wait a bit.
“Hm? Who’s that?”
Right in the middle of the persuasion, Anagin spoke up. The fisherman mage frowned, annoyed at being interrupted, but when he saw where Anagin was pointing, his expression changed.
It was the look of someone thinking, "You should know this, too.
“A subordinate of the priest we’re after.”
The fisherman mage explained while looking at a woman tightly bound in a net, with a gag in her mouth.
She was quite beautiful, but equally, there was a sharp, venomous edge to her. She seemed to think she was hiding it.
“…Can I talk to her for a moment?”
“Talk? Why?”
“I’ve got a condition where I have to hit on pretty women whenever I see them.”
(T/N): LOL
Anagin lied without even blinking.
No—Anagin didn’t lie; he just spouted nonsense, so it was more accurate to call it bullshit.
As if to prove that, the fisherman mage didn’t believe him.
“Tell me the real reason.”
“I’m curious what a Barbaroi Cult member is thinking. I was too busy killing Hippomenes to ask why they worship pigs. Not that I was that curious.”
A way of speaking that sounded like he was just saying whatever came to mind, without any real structure.
Surprisingly, it worked.
Perhaps exhausted from dealing with Anagin, the mage allowed it. Or maybe he thought a simple conversation wouldn’t be a problem.
“You may only talk.”
One of the mages added firmly as he removed the gag.
And so, right after arriving, Anagin spoke with the captured collaborator of the Barbaroi Cult.
Before long, he realized one thing.
This woman, too, had that same drrrk sound going on in her head.