Boss of the Owls
In the headquarters of a dark guild in the border region of Triaria Kingdom, leaning on a chair with a look of disappointment was the boss that leads the criminal syndicate 『Moonlight Owl』.
There was a peculiarity on the ears of the man called Forbach. They were long, pointed ears different from those of a human’s. Yes, Forbach, the boss commanding the 『Moonlight Owls』, is an elf.
From his appearance which looks to be in his prime, it could be surmised that he is far from being 100 years old.
Sighing, he put on the ring that had been placed on the table and his characteristically long ears changed its shape to that of a human’s. For the elf Forbach to lead as the boss of a dark guild in the human supremacist nation Triaria Kingdom, it was necessary for him to falsify his race with an Illusion Ring.
Having been exiled as a criminal in Yggurle Kingdom, Forbach used the Illusion Ring to falsify his race and ran to Triaria Kingdom’s underworld.
And for many months and years after that, he trudged on muddy waters as he steadily climbed to the top.
In the process of rising in the underworld, Forbach had gotten involved with every possible kind of criminal act. Having continued to fight in the forefront for many years, Forbach’s elven-like body was covered in an armor of muscle. In exchange, Forbach lost the voice of the Spirits. He had lost Spirit Magic, which is the elves’ strongest asset.
Spending his long elven life with violence, Forbach had built up the dark guild 『Moonlight Owl』 as the continent’s top organization.
『Moonlight Owl』 gains income through every possible criminal act, but a chief factor of those earnings are drugs. As they handle production to sale, they used it on the assailant that attacked Takumi with the aim of improving on the drug that would increase a body’s capabilities dramatically. Developed over several years through repeated human experimentation, the drug which causes the user to be numb to pain as they continue moving until they self-destruct was a failure. No matter how many disposable people they have, if it was known that consuming that drug causes death, even the tip of the members would run away if they knew they’re disposable.
Kon konHearing a knock on the door, Forbach gave permission to enter the room.
「Boss, about the stop of communication from the bases in Valkyra Kingdom, all members might have been arrested.」
「All of them, ………… you must be kidding. Are you saying that they raided all of the bases? Let’s say that is the case, do you think it is possible for all members to have been arrested?」
The information reported to Forbach was utterly implausible. Valkyra Kingdom has been having several booming fiefs recently, and that went hand in hand with profiting from work behind the scenes. Spending copious amounts of time and money on the bases they use in a country for all of it to be exposed was truly beyond Forbach’s imagination.
「I had some people go there but only five out of thirty men had come back. I was told that the hideouts were being guarded by garrisons of Valkyra Kingdom.」
「And the ones unable to return?」
「The intelligence division of the country have set a net around the bases and all persons moving suspiciously were arrested.」
「Damn it, just how much time and money do you think it took to make that many bases in Valkyra?!」
The usually composed Forbach slammed on his desk in rage. Still, why did Valkyra Kingdom begin cracking down on the dark guild so proactively, to the point that one might say it was all of a sudden? Forbach couldn’t understand.
「…………was it the failure to assassinate that youngster?」
What came to mind was the reversal during the assassination job on a young man in Volton city. Forbach remembered that the client should have been a noble similarly from Valkyra Kingdom. He accepted the job so the assassination could also serve as a test for the drug, but the target was stronger than expected and Valkyra Kingdom ended up securing the corpse of the assailant as well as the sword coated with special poison.
「Are you making progress with that mission?」
「We’re in the middle of reinvestigating the target’s data again, but we’re unable to gather information because the target is elusive and now we’ve also lost the bases…………」
「Continue gathering information on the target even if you have to increase the number of people. Also, find out why this happened to all the bases at this time.」
「Yessir!」
The guardsman left the room.
Forbach leaned on the back of his chair and closed his eyes.
He supposed that the attack on the young man and the recent base crushing incident are not directly related. The assassination attempt on a lone young man who isn’t even a noble wouldn’t have led to the shut down of all their bases in Valkyra Kingdom. The result of the simple investigation on the targeted young man is that he is an excellent magic device craftsman. Those magic devices had drastically improved Valkyra Kingdom’s sanitary circumstance and the economy is booming. Just that wouldn’t have led to the destruction of all the bases.
Forbach descends into thoughts of bewilderment as he couldn’t reach an answer.
There was no way the organization would have ever realized that this series of events was started because of Sophia and the women’s anger towards the organization’s assassination attempt on Takumi.
It’s either Valkyra kingdom is doing good job keeping takumi’s identity and influence hidden, or moonlight owl’s remaining spies are incompetent.
I’m leaning towards incompetent as it say it was a “simple investigation.” They may have been able to do some better investigation if they tried, but they looked down on him and got lazy, ultimately leading to their own downfall.
You should also take into consideration that said spies would only know his adventurer grade and he builds magic tools for a merchant.
There should also be information about Wedgefort and the barriers he placed, but that should be slightly more guarded and require them to either goto those locations or have people inplace before hand.
OTOH, the main reason everything fell apart so quickly is that the great spirits are actively helping those taking down the bases. I imagine that also means hindering those that are scrambing to gather further info on their target.
I would think they didn’t even figure out that he’s an adventurer. He’s an A-rank adventurer, common knowledge says a single A-rank can best 1,000 soldiers. They sent a single non-combatant on experimental drugs.
I know this is a late reply, but here’s my thoughts on this. The key point of the attack was the poisonous blade. They didn’t expect the assailant to survive or beat him singlehandedly. The enhancement drug was suppose to help land a single blow on him. If he didn’t have light magic he might have died. (Might because it depends on whether his companion can get to him on time to heal him if he didn’t have light magic) That said, as an a ranked adventurer he should have health potions and antidotes on hand for emergencies. So I… Read more »
So, the top dog of the biggest crime organization is an elf. Probably related to that orc elf that keep trying to get Sophia.
Thanks for the chapter! Awesome translation! God bless you!
i wouldnt be suprised if there were connections in the past, or even some in the present, but likely the current situation isnt directly connected. The hit was paid for by a noble in Valkyra.
Kind of wonder if the girls will be able to backtrack everything to the nobel as well…
Oh, we know that noble doesnt have much time left on that planet.
Thanks for the treat.
[Those magic devices had drastically improved Valkyra Kingdom’s sanitary circumstance and the economy is booming. Just that wouldn’t have led to the destruction of all the bases.]
why would he think that isn’t related. Man, you have something that makes your life better, and someone try to mess with it, you try to stop whatever is messing with that something, is easier that 1+1
Villain didn’t have life experience because author want it to, so they can be crushed easily. Lazy writing at is finest
It makes perfect sense for the kingdom to want to protect Takumi. But they aren’t the sort of people who can track down all the bases.
But if the leader had heard that Takumi made zealot detection devices, he might have come to a conclusion they could make criminal detection devices too.
This guy have negative value IQ.
If he dug deeper, he would have been privy to the fact that Takumi is involved with the lord of Voltan and the king.
Say, you tried to kill the prime minister (this is an understatement as Takumi is possibly more influential and brought more benefits for the kingdom), would you truly think that the government and king wouldn’t crack down on your organisation?
Guys like this are so hilarious. He is paying the consequences for looking down on our MC. I am looking forward to the moment when the girls arrives to crush the headquarters and the boss asks “Why?”, then Sophia will say “Because you harmed Takumi-sama!”
In the end, he would realize how foolish he was.
YOU PICK THE WRONG MAN FOO’
Thanks for the chapter!