“…A bandit?” Tim looked taken aback. Was it because he heard something he didn’t expect? Or if he wasn’t…
‘Is he connected to the bandits?’ Zich carefully studied Tim’s behavior.
“Hm, now you mention it, I do remember hearing something about a band of bandits near here.” Tim talked as if he didn’t know about them— but was that really the truth?
“Then, do you not know anything about it?”
“Pretty much. It’s hard for me to say this with my own mouth, but I’m a normal gangster who just wanders around the back alleyways. I can’t compare myself to scary guys like that.” Tim shuddered, and Zich smirked.
“Are you aware that you are a gangster?”
“Kurgh! Do you think guys like us lack any sense of self-awareness? Types like us actually have better self-awareness than most clueless people. Of course, it’s different from saying this about myself than hearing the same thing from somebody else.” Then, Tim glared at Zich, perhaps indicating that he didn’t want to be called a gangster.
Zich didn’t get angry. Tim was a gangster because he acted like this.
“Did you not even hear a floating rumor?”
“Let me see…” Tim crossed his arms and thought deeply. Zich showed him the jewel he had placed in his belongings again. Tim’s eyes glittered as he stared at the jewel.
“I can’t give this to you if you don’t give me the right price for it.”
Tim’s face darkened. Anyone could see that he wasn’t satisfied by the situation. It was only natural for Tim to not get his payments if he failed to provide Zich with the information he wanted. However, Zich knew that Tim didn’t think this way.
‘He must think it’s only natural for him to get the jewel. And my questions are just part of a sly plan and a hindrance to stop him from getting it.’ Even a clear stream that flowed deep into the mountainside would be harder to see through than Tim’s heart.
Swish!
Zich threw the jewel towards Tim, and Tim caught it in surprise. He smiled at the glint of light that sparkled clearly even in the darkness momentarily and stared at Zich.
“I thought you weren’t going to give me anything without a price.”
“It’s a prepayment.”
“Prepayment?”
“Use your connections to find out more about the bandits. Depending on how important the information you get, I will give you more money.”
“…And what if I don’t find anything?”
“Of course, you won’t get any more money, but you won’t have to return the prepayments I gave you.”
Tim looked at the jewel he was holding for a moment and tucked it in with his belongings.
“Can I assume that you’ve accepted my offer?”
“…Where do I go when I get some information?”
Zich told Tim the name and location of his current lodging and said, “Come to me around dinner time. I am also busy during the day.”
“Looking for bandits?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask why you are looking for these bandits?”
Zich smirked. “Why would I look for those pieces of trash other than to capture and destroy them all?”
“They must have hurt you.”
“That’s not the case. The people who want to screw them over are not only their victims.”
“Are you employed by the city then?”
“This is all the information I can give you. You don’t need to know, and it’s none of your business. All you have to do is give me information about the bandits, and I will give you the money. How simple is that?”
“Fine. I will try looking. If I find anything, I will go to you.”
“To just give you a heads-up, I advise you to find your information as fast as possible. I also won’t be playing around, and you aren’t my only information-gatherer.”
“I will keep that in mind.” Tim turned around.
“Ah, let me ask you again. Do you really not know anything about the bandits?”
Tim stopped his feet. “…Isn’t that what I said?”
“You did. I just wanted to make sure of it one more time. You can leave now.”
“How pointless.” Tim spat on the ground once and left the back alleyway.
Left alone, Zich stared up to the sky for a bit and saw a large moon.
‘He has that habit even now.’
Whenever he lied and hid something, Tim had a habit of wiggling his right thumb. Although it was such a slight movement that most people would miss it, Zich knew about it since he had spent a long period of time with Tim before the regression.
‘Tim definitely has some connection to the bandits.’
It was a question of how he was connected with them. Zich had to find that out. In the end, Zich followed the path that Tim had disappeared off to and hid his body in the darkness.
* * *
Zich continued the investigation for the next couple of days. He inquired about the bandits and recklessly ran around the city’s surroundings, hoping to catch an ambush in the middle of the act. However, he couldn’t find even a trace of these bandits. Yet, that didn’t mean the bandits’ ambush had stopped. They continued to attack the merchants heading towards the city with no signs of stopping.
‘It seems like these guys made their base in the city.’ This would make the situation even more complicated. Even if skilled bandits were quietly infiltrating a city, they were moving around the city like it was their backyard.
‘I don’t know if they found a dog hole that people don’t know about or something, but if they can go in and out of the castle walls like this, they probably have an insider among the administrators.’ This thought also made Zich even more hesitant to reveal his identity to the city’s management. If there was a spy among the administrators and Zich worked with them, there was a high chance that the bandits might hear of Zich’s plans whenever he came up with them. As he thought, it seemed better to work independently for now while trying to not attract too much attention.
Zich also thought of following Tim but discarded the thought. Fitting his past nickname, the Werewolf, Tim’s ability to sense his surroundings was extremely outstanding. Zich only managed to trail him last time thanks to his high skills and because Tim was less wary during that time.
‘But it’s different now.’
Even a simple guy like Tim could realize that Zich might trail him. If Tim was really connected to the bandits, he was probably on his utmost guard, meaning that trailing him was impossible.
It would be impossible to secretly follow him. Zich decided to first wait until Tim brought information to him. Several days passed like this.
Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked on Zich’s door late at night.
“Come in. I didn’t lock the door.” Zich called the person in without even checking who the visitor was. When the door opened, Zich could see the visitor.
It was Tim. Zich pointed at the chair in front of him as if he was waiting for Tim all along. “Sit.”
Tim sat on the chair Zich pointed to. He leaned against the back of the chair and twisted his body to the side. His posture was a textbook definition of a gangster’s pose.
“Judging by how you came to find me, I can safely assume that you have information to give me, right?”
“Yep. It was a very difficult job.”
“Good, so tell me what you know.”
“Hey, why are you being like this? Don’t you have to give me money first?”
Zich smirked and pulled out a pouch from his pockets. He put it down on the table and pulled the pouch string as if to show it to Tim. Flashy gold coins reflected the candle’s lights and sparkled. Tim reached out his hands towards the pouch as if he was enchanted. However, before his hand could reach it, Zich took the pouch back in his arms.
“What the hell are you doing!” Tim growled as if he was going to jump on Zich at any moment.
Zich took out a handful of gold coins from the pouch. He even used his mana to take them out, and the number of gold coins in his hand was about half the amount in the pouch. Zich threw the half-empty pouch towards Tim.
“I’ll give you half of it first. I’ll give you the rest if I’m satisfied with your answer.”
“Satisfied? That was not part of the condition!”
“Then did you think you could earn this amount from random rumors floating around the marketplace? No matter how freely and impulsively you’re living your life, your conscience should still be intact.”
Zich moved his hands, and the gold coins clicked against each other. “If you want this, give me information first.”
“Damn it!”
Thud!
Tim roughly put his legs on the table; his behavior was extremely rude, but Zich did not even blink his eyes.
“Fine! I’ll tell you!” However, unlike his loud voice, Tim had no intentions to offer all the information he knew. He planned to give information bit by bit to scrape out Zich’s money.
However, there was no way that Tim, who was infamous for his lack of brain before Zich’s regression, could beat Zich in a psychological battle.
“By the way, I know that the bandit’s home base is inside the city.”
Tim was shocked. ‘What the hell, this bastard! How did he know that!’
Even the city officials didn’t know that information yet. Tim was shocked that this information came out of Zich who just seemed like a rich wanderer.
Zich continued, “So tell me some different information.”
“…How could there be bandits inside the city? What are you saying?” Tim first denied Zich’s words. However, there was no way Zich would fall for such a bluff.
“It was a pretty easy task. I looked for the bandits outside the city on my own, but they weren’t there. So the only place left is inside the city.”
“They’re not outside the city? The soldiers sent out by the city are still searching outside the city right now, so how would you know this information? There’s still a possibility that they’re outside—”
“Nope.” Zich cut off Tim’s words, and Tim’s eyebrows twitched.
“It’s extremely basic information that the bandits are inside the city. If you didn’t even figure that out, I guess there’s no need for us to continue our deal.” Zich threw the gold coins in his hands on the table, and they scattered everywhere.
Then, he pointed at the door. “You can go. There’s no need for you to come here anymore. I’ll give you the pouch with half the money, so take it before you leave.”
“…” Tim didn’t move. His sharp eyes glared at Zich. However, Zich treated him like a non-existent person and got up from his chair without looking at him.
Tim put down his legs in frustration and shouted, “Damn it, fine!”
Zich sat back down. “Information.”
“I got it, shit!” Tim let out a big sigh and shouted, “Yeah, you’re right! The bandits are inside the city!”
“I told you. I know that already.”
“And their method…”
“I also don’t need that. They probably have an insider among the city officials managing the city.”
Tim’s eyes widened.
“Don’t look so surprised. Bambis is the center of Campbell’s commerce and trade. No matter how weakly the city guards its walls, it’s not a place where random bandits can go in and out whenever they want. It’s obvious that there’s a rat inside the management group, whether or not they joined the bandits to gain an advantage or whether they were threatened to do so. So if you want to stay, you have to give me a different piece of information.”
“…” Tim completely reassessed his judgment of Zich at that moment. He gulped his saliva and stared at Zich. Zich’s abyss-like eyes dug deep into his heart. Tim gritted his teeth. If he got sucked into Zich’s pace, he felt as if he would unwittingly say everything he knew.
“…Fine, you said information other than those two, right?”
“You have other information?”
“Of c…!” Tim closed his mouth. He seemed to ponder for a while and then clenched his teeth. “…Just wait a bit more. I’ll find out more.”
“Well, there’s no reason for me to say no. Okay, you should come back after finding out more.”
Tim was about to get up when Zich said, “Wait. You need to return the money.”
“…Didn’t you give this to me?”
“Ah, did you not understand my words? That was just a parting gift for when you weren’t able to fulfill my expectations. But you’re telling me that you’ll find out more information. Therefore, that means you want to continue this relationship, right? Then you should return the pouch because you weren’t able to give me any information at all.”
“…”
Thud!
Tim threw the money pouch on the table.
“Fine. But I really have to risk my life for the job I’m about to do right now. So you better prepare a lot of money for the job I’m about to do.”
“Of course. I have a lot of money. You just have to give me what I want, so I sincerely hope you bring me good information.”
Tim angrily stormed out of Zich’s room. Zich stared at the roughly shut door with a complicated look on his face.