Chapter 8
The traveling merchant followed Elizabeth with a tense expression.
As he walked down the long corridor of the mansion, he turned his head this way and that. His anxiety was obvious.
It wasn’t surprising that the merchant was so uneasy.
Though their power had greatly diminished, the Niberius family had once ruled as kings of the underground world.
Until about thirty years ago, when the first head of the family was still alive, they were notorious enough to be feared even by civilians.
Over time, the current head became a very gentle person, and the family itself lost much of its strength, but the old prejudices remained difficult to shake off.
However, since the merchant rarely got a chance to meet nobles directly, he had carelessly stepped into the mansion.
Elizabeth stopped walking.
She politely pointed toward a door and said,
“The young lady is inside here. You may enter.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. The young lady said she has something she wants to see privately. I will open the door for you.”
“Ah! Wait a moment…!”
Before he could even prepare himself, the door opened.
Unlike the reception room earlier with no windows, warm sunlight streamed fully into the room.
The room was obviously luxurious. In the center were two sofas with a table between them.
Elizabeth nudged the merchant’s back. He hesitated but then stepped inside.
When the door closed, he met eyes with Cecilia sitting on the sofa opposite.
The merchant held his breath.
Her silver hair, shimmering in the sunlight, looked dignified like moonlight rising over the night sky, and her mysterious violet eyes shone beautifully like an ornament made from crushed shells from a distant sea.
He had heard rumors that the Niberius lady was beautiful, but not to this extent.
Like a perfect portrait of a beauty from the Western regions, Cecilia’s appearance left the merchant momentarily stunned.
Snapping out of it, he hurriedly took off his hat and bowed his head.
“I am Marco Bottle, traveling merchant. It is an honor to meet such a noble lady!”
“Yes, raise your head. No need to be so formal. That feels awkward. Please, have a seat.”
Cecilia smiled awkwardly and gestured to the seat before her.
He seemed touched by her kindness and quickly sat down.
Cecilia, as a noble, felt awkward maintaining such decorum.
“You said you wanted a particular item?”
“Ah, hmm.”
Cecilia cleared her throat.
This was her first time doing something like this. Should she just ask for information?
While she was thinking, Marco rummaged through his bag and pulled something out.
“Today I happen to have many rare items. How did you know? Actually, these were meant for the upper-class nobles, but I will show you first, especially.”
Marco took out a neatly folded piece of muslin cloth. Inside, a bright blue silk rolled up was revealed.
“This is blue silk I personally imported from a Western ship. How do you like it? Such a vivid color is rare even in the capital.”
He shrugged proudly with a confident look.
Blue was a rare color beneath purple at this time, so Cecilia was surprised.
But soon she frowned and slowly shook her head.
“This is not what I want. I…”
“Oh dear. I wasn’t going to show you this one.”
He then pulled out a leather pouch from inside. It was smaller than a baby’s fist, making Cecilia tilt her head.
He opened the pouch to reveal tightly packed black granules.
The merchant grinned slyly and whispered as if no one else could hear.
“Pepper.”
“Pepper?”
“Yes, pepper more expensive than gold. A symbol of wealth. You run a salon too, right? If you sprinkle just a little over a meal, everyone will look up to the Niberius family!”
Cecilia blinked in surprise but sighed quietly.
Though pepper was rare in this era, it was not what she was looking for.
“This is not what I want.”
“Not enough, you say? Then…”
“Stop. You don’t need to take anything else out.”
“Huh? Then…?”
The merchant tilted his head. Cecilia’s expression hardened and she asked.
“You wanted to meet me to buy information, didn’t you?”
The merchant blinked.
He seemed a little startled by the sudden question, but then his expression completely changed.
“Ah, so that’s it. Then you made the right choice finding Marco.”
“Good. Naturally, nothing we discuss today must leak outside.”
“Of course! I, Marco, have been a merchant for twenty years. I have never let information slip once!”
He confidently thumped his chest and puffed out his nose proudly.
Cecilia nodded and went straight to the point.
“Well then, Marco, is there any talk about our family in the capital?”
“Huh? The Niberius family? Not really…”
Marco’s once proud shoulders drooped like the sky falling.
“Really? No secrecy involved?”
“No, no. I really haven’t heard anything.”
He waved his hands to deny it. From his expression, it didn’t seem like a lie.
Her fiancé said rumors were spreading among the capital nobles, but it seemed it hadn’t yet become public enough for merchants to know.
While Cecilia thought seriously, the merchant glanced around nervously before speaking.
“Um, Miss.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know about the Niberius family rumors, but there is something similar.”
“Similar? Tell me.”
“Ah, but this is a bit… The upper provinces have even issued orders forbidding civilians to talk about it, so it’s dangerous information.”
He smirked while checking his surroundings. All his earlier tension was gone, replaced by the greed of a merchant.
Cecilia took a gold coin from a nearby box and placed it before him.
He quickly pocketed the coin and chuckled.
“Recently, there have been incidents where high-ranking nobles around the capital have been attacked.”
“High-ranking nobles?”
“Yes, the attacked territories are the domains of Pamonclu, Delsia, and Luces.”
Just the names indicated their high status.
“Who attacked them?”
“Strangely enough…”
He stopped talking and looked around again. Then, leaning toward Cecilia and covering one side of his mouth, he whispered.
“All of those who attacked the nobles were commoners.”
Cecilia froze for a moment in disbelief, then her expression darkened.
“Are you joking with me?”
Her cold voice made the merchant flinch.
The rumor sounded absurd.
High-ranking nobles always traveled with at least one highly trained knight.
The combat skill of knights was incomparable to mercenaries. Their training was completely different, and most were the children of lesser nobles.
Especially since one needed a title to be knighted, there was no question.
Yet commoners defeated knights and nobles?
Even a hero’s tale wouldn’t be this ridiculous.
“The conversation is over. What a waste of time.”
She realized it was a mistake to trust the merchant so much.
The merchant opened his mouth awkwardly and urgently said,
“It’s confirmed information!”
“Commoners beat knights? That commoner must have been a spy trained in advanced assassination techniques?”
She was about to tell him to leave.
He protested desperately.
“No! They were just commoners! All of them wielded strange weapons!”
“…Weapons?”
“Yes! Weapons! They defeated five knights with mysterious weapons never seen before!”
Cecilia’s eyes grew wider.
Weapons, huh?
A drop of rain on barren information.
Like an oasis rising from the desert, various hypotheses surfaced in her mind. Quickly, thoughts flashed and intertwined, drawing her to a conclusion.
The Niberius family today barely maintained its name through mercenaries and connections, but that wasn’t always so.
The biggest reason the Niberius family ruled the underground world was because they controlled both the manufacture and distribution of weapons.
And her grandfather, Vermut Niberius, the first head, was a genius unmatched in weapons.
Could it be the suspicion from the royal family was because…
They thought the source of those strange weapons was the Niberius family?
“I need to change my question, Marco.”
“Yes?”
She grabbed a handful of silver coins from the box and scattered them across the table.
“Tell me that story in more detail.”
