Chapter 136.
"Over here."
I headed straight for where Milpia was sitting. "What did you call me here for?”
"Sit down first. It might be a long story," she suggested.
I sat down.
"Have you had lunch?” she asked, handing me the menu. This café seemed to serve as a restaurant as well.
I laughed as I accepted the menu. "Are you buying?”
Milpia had a serious look. "Ayy, you should buy it. You’re rich enough to throw around platinum coins like it’s nothing to buy information."
She was being sarcastic about the time I paid for the information with a platinum coin in Granwell. At that time, I had nothing but platinum coins, so I had no choice. However, since she didn’t know anything, she must have felt like she was being mocked from her point of view.
"I don't know. I don't know if this café will be able to properly provide the change."
Milpia gave a forced smile when I sarcastically reminded her about the time when she struggled to provide me with the change. It was quite an interesting memory now that I think back to it.
"Huhuhuhu."
"Hahahaha."
Milpia and I smiled as we glared at each other. As we were fighting a war of nerves, the café clerk came up to us and asked hesitantly, "Um… Would you like to order?"
"I'd like wheat bread, cream stew, and tomato pasta, please." Milpia smiled and ordered, and the clerk quickly wrote it down.
"I’d like a club sandwich, chicken salad, and a lemonade.”
The clerk finished writing, checked the order, and went back to the counter.
"Isn't this an information agency office?"
For some reason, I was suspicious that the clerk might be my aunt's subordinate, so I kept a close eye on him, but seeing his gait and gesture, he was just ordinary.
In reality, it was hard to distinguish ordinary people and knights just from their presence. They were all so weak that they just looked like ordinary people. However, there was a slight difference between the movements of a person who has mastered martial arts and a person who has not.
Milpia shrugged and denied it. "No, it's not."
I answered with soundproof magic. I didn't know what kind of conversation we were going to have, but I didn't think it would be good for others to hear.
"You could have just called me to an information agency office. Why did you call me to this place?”
"The information about you has been classified as top secret. A top-secret is kept secret from others even within the same information agency office."
If so, then it was understandable to meet at a café with no point of contact.
We could have met with me disguising myself as a customer at the information agency office, but since we didn't know how often we would be meeting in the future, it wouldn’t be good to come and go too frequently at an information agency office.
"But isn’t this being too careless?"
"Why? There’s even soundproof magic.”
"Oh, you mean the obvious magic that’s advertising itself as soundproof magic? I erased that as soon as I saw it."
I don't know how she rose to the position of head of the headquarters when she was relieved using such sloppy magic.
"What did you say?" Milpia was surprised and looked around to check for the presence of soundproof magic. Realizing that the magic she had cast had disappeared, she tried to cast the soundproof magic again. I easily scattered the mana to block her from doing so.
"Uh, don’t use that sloppy magic again. I put one up again."
"Sloppy?"
Milpia looked at me annoyed.
The truth is usually painful. "I can't sense anything."
"That's because your skills are lacking. You don't have to worry about it."
Soundproof magic was a magic that was only meaningful if people at a level of a decent madosa couldn’t notice it. If you boasted that there was soundproof magic here, it was as good as telling others that you were talking about secrets.
Milpia looked at me unpleasantly. "If you’re so skilled in magic, then I guess you won't need this." She took a small box out of her bag.
Based on the level of seal magic on the box, a considerably skilled person seemed to have cast magic on it.
"What's that?"
At my question, Milpia smiled and entered a keyword to unlock the seal.
"It's a magic suppressor that Big Mama wanted me to give to you."
The opened box contained a small bracelet.
"I'm sorry. I was arrogant!"
I bowed my head and apologized as soon as I saw the bracelet.
Milpia looked pompously at me with my head down. "But you do seem to have some magic skills, being able to recognize it at first glance."
Even at a glance, that bracelet was a masterpiece among masterpieces. I was amazed at how much magic was engraved into it and how many magical materials were used to make one bracelet.
“A hundred and twenty years ago, it was Galak Blade-nim of the Crow Tribe, who killed the Demon King, but the actual leader of the party that killed the Demon King was Wayne, the Witch of Pride. This bracelet was made by the Witch of Pride herself."
Public knowledge made it seem like my great-grandfather had killed the Demon King single-handedly. In reality, however, 12 powerful individuals of the time, including my great-grandfather, gathered at the end of the Demon Territory, which was called the Demon King’s Land, and invaded the Demon King’s castle.
They included Galak, chief of the Crow Tribe, Wayne the Witch of Pride, Selina the Witch of Greed, Saintess Oryana, and Drachen the Dragon King of the Dragon Tribe. There were also, Arpen, the current great elder of the Butterfly Tribe, Fraham, the captain of the imperial royal knights, the three great warrior brother trio of the Hunter Tribe, Marsen, the guardian knight of the Fairy tribe, and Marco, an adventurer called the mercenary king at the time.
Among them, Wayne, the Witch of Pride, was a monster who was one of the four greatest madosas of the time. In terms of magic level, she was a legendary great madosa, considered to be several levels higher than the elemental magician Arpen Pendria, a great madosa considered to be the top of the current four great madosas.
Although she died in the final decisive battle against the Demon King and this was a magic tool made more than 120 years ago, it was still the work of Wayne, the Witch of Pride. In terms of value, it could be considered as one of the most valuable treasures in the entire country, or even in the world.
"Now, just how much did you look into it before coming here?" she said.
I took out all the platinum coins that I had in the pocket space. I wanted that bracelet even if I had to spend all of my money on it. If it is not enough, I would even be willing to rob the imperial treasury!
"Hold on, wait! I'm kidding!"
Milpia panicked and beckoned me to quickly put it away. In fact, I used magic so that no one except she could see it, and it would seem like I was touching the empty air for everyone else. So she didn't have to be so surprised, but I put it back in the pocket space without saying anything.
"Wow, I already knew it, but you’re very rich. Why are you working as a civil servant?"
"I just want to live a normal life."
I flashed the kindest smile I could and rubbed my hands. My attention was directed solely at the bracelet.
"Well, if you really don't want to tell me, I won't ask."
I told her the truth, but she didn't believe it. I really didn't have a specific purpose for being a civil servant.
"I'd like to ask you to buy it, but it's yours because Big Mama-nim asked me to give it to you." Milpia sighed and pushed the box towards me.
"Aigoo! Thank you. Please tell my aunt thank you for me."
I quickly put the bracelet on my wrist. Just a quick grasp of it could amplify mana, suppress magic, keep warm, supply oxygen, and preserve pressure. It was a magic tool that was useful for survival in all sorts of situations. With this bracelet, you could literally survive even if you somehow landed in the middle of space. It was that amazing of an item.
But what caught my eye was definitely the magic suppression function. With this function, even if I used attack magic, I probably wouldn’t be able to blow up the capital by accident. It was good to think of it as changing my wide area of effect magic to one for ordinary people without any need for complicated calculations. Of course, the power would be reduced as much as it has been suppressed, but now I would be able to use magic in a variety of ways.
"Big Mama said that she is afraid you might destroy the capital while you’re asleep, so she said you should always wear it.”
Milpia's message made me feel a little hot inside.
"Keuhmm, I'm not even a child, why would I accidentally use magic in my sleep."
In reality, there have been a few times shortly after I left my hometown when I almost accidentally let out some magic. There was even a time when I woke up in surprise because I suddenly felt mana when I was having a nice sleep. When I woke up, I realized that the culprit was me. Although I was relieved, I couldn't sleep well for a while because I was afraid that random people would die.
In the case of Uncle Bloody and Aunt Talaria, their bases were weaker so even if they made a mistake while asleep, only the room would end up being destroyed. But if I make a mistake, at least one house would collapse.
Well, by the time I arrived at the capital, I had already gotten used to it and was able to control it, but I was careful every time I used any attack magic other than basic magic like magic bullets.
I avoided Milpia's suspicious gaze and turned my focus to the bracelet. The more I looked at it, the more I admired this ability.
How did she put all the magic essence into this small bracelet? It was to the point that I wondered how much magic would have developed by now if the Witch of Pride had still been alive.
Before I knew it, the food was ready and the server brought the meal.
I asked while eating the club sandwich, "Is this it for business?"
Milpia dipped the bread into the cream stew and handed me a bunch of papers. "I heard you're going to the ruins this time. These are information about the ruins.”
I frowned as I accepted the pile of papers. "Did you do a background check on me?”
She already knew what I heard just before coming here. Milpia was afraid of my aunt's background and didn’t meddle, but it was different for everyone underneath her.
Milpia seemed to have guessed what I was thinking and said smilingly, "I didn't do a background check on you, so don't worry."
"Then?"
"It came up during a background investigation of Glont von Asilante, the guild director, and Rosellis von Asilante."
"Why the two of them?"
"Ah, information about the Adventurers’ Guild Director and the platinum plate adventurers are usually quite expensive."
In short, they were gathering that information to make money. Well, it didn't really matter as long as it wasn't a background check of me.
"But why are you giving this to me? Do I have to pay you?” I asked, examining the documents she gave me.
Milpia gave a playful smile. "It’s fine this time. Just think of it as a bribe to a future important customer to take good care of us."
It was suspicious, but I decided to take it since she was giving it for free.
I was drinking lemonade while putting the documents in my pocket space when Milpia looked behind me and waved her hand.
"What? Why are you here?”
Behind me stood Alice and Yuria. Milpia spoke so quietly that only I could hear her.
"Ah, you asked why I decided to meet here when it wasn't even a branch office?” Milpia had a mischievous smile. "I'm supposed to meet my friends here. There’s no need to go through the trouble of changing locations, right?”
Hahaha, this girl!