Part 9: Guardian (4)

Bellato rubbed his neck with one hand.

The chilling sensation still lingered vividly in his mind. The gleaming trajectory of the dagger was seared into his memory.

The owner of the Abaris Trading Company.

Even he had never felt such an overwhelming gap in strength before—not even with the merchant lord.

There was no way someone that young could be so powerful.

And he handed over gold bars without hesitation.

That left only one possible conclusion.

Bellato quickly deduced Aiden’s true identity. If Aiden was ‘that,’ then everything made sense.

Stepping outside, he flipped the sign hanging on the door.

Closed.

After locking up the general store, Bellato moved to a small room on the first floor.

There was only a single table inside, and on top of it rested a crystal orb.

As he reached out, the orb trembled.

Vrrrrrrr.

Vrrrrrrr.

Before long, a man’s image emerged within the orb.

“What is it?” the merchant lord’s tone was curt.

“I’m tired of hearing you whine about relocating the branch.”

“Consider that request canceled as of today. I’ll be staying in Centum for the foreseeable future.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

“I met someone interesting. Someone worth studying further.”

“Well, that’s fortunate,” the merchant lord remained indifferent.

Normally, when someone mentioned an interesting person, he would at least ask who they were. But not this time.

He had only three concerns in life:

Money.

Opportunities to make money.

People who could make him money.

Bellato detailed his deal with Aiden and put in a request.

He wanted a prosthetic hand crafted from chronium.

It had to be coated with the finest synthetic human skin and embedded with a mana circuit.

He also requested the implantation of a Class 2 Fire Magic spell.

At last, the merchant lord’s voice brightened.

“You landed a major contract for once. A five-gold-bar deal is rare even for our company.”

“I do have a knack for business, don’t I?”

“Is the client reliable?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Can you figure out his identity?”

“If there’s money involved, nothing is impossible,” the merchant lord chuckled.

“How much?”

“One gold bar.”

“Isn’t that ripping off one of your own men?”

“Tsk tsk tsk. You still have a poor man’s mindset. If something is necessary, spend a fortune on it. If it isn’t, don’t waste a single silver. Have you forgotten that’s our company’s principle?”

Bellato frowned at the scolding.

It wasn’t wrong.

But that didn’t mean it sat well with him.

He was already fairly certain about Aiden’s identity. Yet, confirming it would cost him one of the gold bars…

After some hesitation, Bellato finally nodded.

“Fine. I’ll pay upfront.”

He lifted the carpet beside the table.

A hidden, intricate magic circle was revealed beneath. Bellato placed three gold bars on top of it.

Two for the prosthetic order.

One for the information.

He had received five gold bars in total.

But after all was said and done, he would only be left with two.

That stung.

Whoooosh!

A brilliant light flared from the magic circle, and the gold bars vanished without a trace.

“But how are you going to figure out his identity?” Bellato asked. “You don’t even know his face or name.”

“I have a special ability.”

“You’re not just making this up, are you?”

“When it comes to money, I never joke. Neither the one giving it nor the one receiving it would find it funny.”

A brief silence followed.

Bellato tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the answer.

Would his guess be correct?

If so, how should he treat Aiden from now on?

“Do you have a suspicion about his identity?” the merchant lord finally asked.

“Yes.”

“And? Who do you think he is?”

“A dragon,” Bellato’s response was full of confidence.

The only beings who could explain Aiden’s strength and wealth were dragons.

“You’re wrong.”

“What? He’s not a dragon?”

“He’s human. And stronger than a dragon.”

Bellato’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

This was beyond anything he had imagined.

A person was either human or a dragon—not both.

A human stronger than a dragon?

His understanding of reality shattered. His legs nearly gave out beneath him.

“You’ve reeled in an unbelievable client,” the merchant lord said. “From now on, he won’t just be a VIP—he’ll be classified as an Overlord Client instead.”

“Overlord Client? That’s a thing?”

“It is now,” a chuckle laced the merchant lord’s voice.

“Make sure you hold onto him. Centum is about to become a very interesting place.”

*  *  *

The moment they stepped out of the general store, Victor turned to Aiden.

“Where the hell did you get all that money?”

“You know I’m an assassin, right?”

“Of course.”

“It’s a reward for completing a dangerous mission.”

“…Just how dangerous does a mission have to be to earn five gold bars?”

“It’s better if you don’t know.”

Aiden’s mind drifted to memories from years ago.

The Calamity Dragon, Cassis.

A beast once feared as a walking catastrophe across the continent.

Aiden had assassinated it alone and looted the treasure hoard hidden in its lair.

The sheer amount of gold and artifacts he acquired that day…

Even if he squandered it over several generations, it would never run out.

“If you have that much money, why bother working as a store clerk?” Victor asked.

“It’s not about the money. I wanted to live a normal life.”

“So it’s just a rich man’s hobby, huh? Damn, must be nice.”

“Don’t tell Mister Carl about today.”

“You’re my benefactor. Of course, I won’t say a word,” Victor said, nodding firmly.

“Honestly, I was touched. You stood up against the shop owner to defend me, and then you just… handed over gold bars without hesitation.”

“……”

“I have no idea how I’ll ever repay you.”

“It’s fine. I did it because I wanted to.”

Strictly speaking—

Aiden had no reason to help Victor.

They had only met twice before.

However…

There was one thing he could not ignore.

Victor was someone precious to Carl.

And since Carl was precious to Aiden—then Victor was precious to him as well.

In the Realm of Illusions.

After indirectly experiencing the death of someone dear to him, Aiden had changed.

Empathy and compassion—concepts he had once only understood in theory—were now tangible to him.

In the past, he had considered the idea of feeling for others as if they were himself to be nothing more than foolish sentimentality. But now, his perspective had completely shifted.

To put it bluntly, if one lacked empathy and compassion, they weren’t human.

A person who viewed others as mere objects would inevitably come to see themselves as one as well.

And the greatest example of that was Aiden himself.

Because he had never understood empathy or compassion, he had always thought of himself as nothing more than a cog in the machine.

“You found out one of my secrets today, Mister.”

“It wasn’t intentional, but yeah, I suppose I did. Don’t worry, though. I may not look it, but I can keep my mouth shut.”

“That’s not enough. You have to tell me one of your secrets too.”

Of course, he had no intention of using a secret to blackmail Victor.

He just wanted to be ‘friends’ with him. Sharing secrets—that was what friends did.

“I don’t have anything as grand as you do…”

Victor trailed off and suddenly flinched.

Then, after glancing around, he gestured for Aiden to follow him into a secluded alleyway.

When they stopped, Victor turned to him with an unusually serious expression.

“Shit… I really shouldn’t be saying this.”

“Now you’ve got me even more curious.”

“I haven’t told anyone—not even Carl.”

Victor exhaled a deep sigh, lowering his head.

“I have no…”

He left the sentence hanging, not because he was hesitating, but because he hadn’t finished it at all.

“I didn’t catch that.”

“Damn it! Fine! I have… no hair!”

Victor practically howled the words.

With one swift motion, he placed a hand on his head and pulled back his wig.

The moment the wig came off, his perfectly smooth scalp was revealed, gleaming under the sunlight.

“That’s your secret? It’s just hair. Lots of people don’t have it.”

“It’s because… I used to tease Carl and everyone else about their hair! Imagine what’ll happen if they find out I don’t have any!”

Victor’s face and ears flushed a deep red with embarrassment.

Hurriedly, he slapped the wig back onto his head.

“Well? That’s a big enough secret, isn’t it? You have to keep it to yourself, alright?”

“Of course.”

And just like that, Aiden and Victor became secret friends.

A week later.

Aiden and Victor returned to Bellato’s general store.

The fitting of Victor’s prosthetic arm had gone smoothly.

Thanks to the use of an advanced memory-shape alloy known as chronium, the prosthetic fit Victor perfectly.

Whish.

Whish.

Victor swung his regained right arm through the air, grinning widely.

“It feels just like a real arm!”

“As it should. That prosthetic cost five whole gold bars,” Bellato said, as if it were nothing.

“Unless it’s a legendary blade, nothing will be able to damage your arm. It’ll even serve as decent protection in a fight.”

“……”

“Just as promised, I also implanted a few fire spells into it. Use them in an emergency.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank him.”

“Thanks, Aiden.”

“It was nothing.”

Aiden looked at Bellato’s handiwork.

The prosthetic arm was indistinguishable from a normal one.

There wasn’t even the slightest sense of artificiality.

In other words, Victor was ordinary again.

Aiden realized that normalcy was something that could be lost.

And something that could be regained.

Aiden and Victor returned to the tavern.

“Wow. Where’d you find a prosthetic like that? It’s just like a real arm,” Carl exclaimed after inspecting it.

“Aiden introduced me to a good shop, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Judging by the quality, I bet it wasn’t cheap.”

“Aiden took care of that too. Consider it a favor from a friend.”

“Thanks again, Aiden. I owe you one.”

Carl suddenly pulled Aiden into a tight hug.

Aiden let him.

He could feel Carl trembling, hear the soft sound of his sniffles.

He felt warmth.

The quivering and vibrations he experienced now…

They were nothing like the ones he had known as an assassin.

They weren’t born of fear, anger, or loss.

“I owe you so much more, Mister. I still have a long way to go before I can repay it all.”

“You’re even starting to talk like a gentleman now.”

Carl pulled away and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“What about you, Victor? Now that your arm’s back to normal, are you heading back to the barracks?”

“The barracks? Hell no. I’ve had enough of that life. I just want to take it easy now. Like I said before, I want to work at your tavern.”

“I’d be more than happy to have you.”

Carl opened his arms in welcome.

And just like that, Victor became an employee at the tavern alongside Aiden.

*  *  *

With Victor now working there, Aiden gained days off and had more free time.

Not that his daily routine changed all that much.

He simply had more time to listen to his music box, take walks, and write in his journal.

Victor treated Aiden warmly.

Even though he knew Aiden had once been an assassin.

Even though he knew Aiden had enough wealth to own gold bars.

He treated him like a normal person.

Was it because Aiden had given him the prosthetic?

Because they had shared secrets?

Aiden had observed him carefully and concluded it was neither.

Victor had simply always been that kind of person.

He was a skilled lute player.

The lute was the predecessor to the guitar, and Victor would sometimes sit in an empty seat and play it.

His performance was exceptional.

His singing voice, which often accompanied the music, was just as beautiful.

The customers loved it.

Even Aiden enjoyed it.

One day, Victor called Aiden over.

“Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. You got me that prosthetic arm, right?”

“It’s not a big deal. It’s in the past.”

“It is a big deal. I can’t just let it go. So, I want to give you something in return. Is there anything you need?”

“Something I need…”

Aiden stroked his chin for a moment, then smiled.

“Actually, something just came to mind.”
 

To be continued

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