Chapter 21 — I’m Just a Normal Merchant, But in Babel?! (6)

“Therefore… I have been waiting for this moment. The day when people with the power to restore our kingdom would appear and shine light upon us.”

The old man—who had a beard long enough to brush his knees and introduced himself as Merlin—spoke in a grave voice.
Glasses nodded seriously.
The pale, sickly-looking woman also listened attentively.
The eyepatch boy, still in his edgy “middle-school chuunibyou” phase, wore the exact same expression.

Meanwhile, I alone sat with my chin in my hand, bored out of my mind, observing the scene.

…Is this what it means to be a proper hunter?

Being able to dive into the scenario and accept whatever happens without panicking?

Shouldn’t they be surprised right now?

There was a secret passage under the tavern floor.
And a man suddenly crawled out of it.

Am I the only one shocked by that??

The path of a hunter must truly be harsh.
Maybe to become a real hunter, you have to stay calm at times like these.

As I blinked hard to swallow my sarcastic comments, Glasses asked with a voice full of responsibility:

“So, what do you need us to do?”

“The kingdom is on the brink of destruction. There is only one way to resolve this crisis.”

Well, I knew what he was going to say.
He’d probably ask them to deal with the dark mages.

“You must retrieve the artifact hidden in the royal palace’s secret vault and use it to seal the Dark Mage.”

“Mm.”

The murmured reaction that followed was so expected that Merlin shot a sharp look in that direction.

I quickly looked away and pretended to be staring somewhere else.

Even if he looked like an old beggar, Merlin claimed to be the First Court Mage of the kingdom.
He said he lost all his mana in the previous battle and could only watch helplessly as the kingdom fell…

But whatever emotional story he had—

He’s still an NPC.
And I’m a fake NPC pretending to be one.
I should not draw attention to myself.

One person discovering my identity—Chae Geundam—was more than enough.

Anyway, everything I needed to do on the 49th floor was already done.
I even delivered items I never planned to deliver.

Now it was quitting time.

The battlefield should be left to actual professionals.

‘I just need to leave and pray the 49th floor gets cleared.’

Maybe I should check which stocks might rise when the 49F clear is announced…

“The artifact is kept in a vault connected to a hidden passage inside the audience hall. Since the barrier hasn’t been broken, it seems the dark mages haven’t reached it yet.”

“By audience hall… you mean the royal palace?”

“Yes. The palace is currently occupied by dark mages. Entering safely will not be easy, but to end this war, we absolutely need that artifact…”

The group continued their very serious conversation.

I, who had been thinking about stock prices five seconds earlier, suddenly felt embarrassed and decided I should leave ASAP.

I coughed lightly and stood up awkwardly.

“Um, Glasses— I’ll be going now.”

“…My name is Lee Minjung, not Glasses.”

“Oh, right, Minjung-nim. Um… I don’t think there’s anything else I can do here.”

I ignored Merlin’s piercing stare and bowed only to Glasses, focusing all my acting on her.

I even gave a polite wave to Eyepatch boy and the sickly girl.

Then, dramatically, I clasped Glasses’ hands with trembling fingers.

She flinched, eyes shaking.

With my most sincere voice, I whispered:

“Please… save the kingdom.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Poor Glasses nodded, completely fooled by the fake NPC’s heartfelt plea.

Now, all that was left was the dramatic exit.

As I slowly walked away with a worried face, Merlin continued explaining the main scenario behind me.

“You must take the artifact from the vault and set up the magic circle. Entering the palace will be dangerous, but even once you retrieve it, you will surely be pursued.”

“Our guild master Geundam hyung will break through that.”

“No, Geundam has been fighting monster waves nonstop. He’s exhausted. Our defense squad should block pursuers. For infiltration, let’s send Riji…”

Glasses—no, Lee Minjung—seemed very experienced with planning raid strategies.

If they could plan systematically like this, the main scenario should be much easier than the horrible sub-quests.

“However… there is one more troublesome matter.”

After all the difficult things he’d said so far, Merlin now sounded like he’d reached the most difficult one.

Not my problem, though.

Minjung looks smart. She’ll figure it out.

Strategists exist to find solutions in desperate situations.

But then—

I stopped walking.

“To seal the Dark Mage, you must know the true name of the one they now call the ‘Lord of Darkness.’”

“…Huh?”

“To seal him, you need the artifact, a caster, the magic circle… and his true name. But it is written nowhere. Perhaps the old Magic Tower outside the capital holds records of dark magic… but even that is uncertain.”

“Then before invading the palace, we need to check the Tower first. Geundam hyung won’t be able to hold the next wave alone, so let’s send two mages to assist him. Meanwhile, Hyunjun and I will run to the Tower in the next hour. Tell the others the plan, Riji.”

“I’ll explain it well.”

“Are we going now?”

I blinked.

Excuse me?
I thought I was leaving?

And wasn’t I the one who completely derailed the intended scenario structure of this floor already?

***

‘The Dark Mage’s true name is Pernicies.’
…Yeah.

It was given to me openly by Alessandro, the last Knight Commander of Placon.

Sure, this is a scenario and will reset after clearing…
But Alessandro lived through this horror in his real past.

I remembered it clearly.

If I tell them the name, they’ll clear the scenario faster.
And then I’ll get to the 50th floor sooner… where my brother might be.

After a long, intense inner struggle, I quietly turned around.

“Um…”

I had whispered it, but all four of them looked at me instantly.

Under their mixed stares, I shrank a little and said:

“I know the name.”

* * *

“Pernicies. I’ll remember it well.”

A random merchant knowing the Dark Mage’s true name was basically walking up and saying, “Hello, I’m suspicious.”

But the moment I quickly mentioned Alessandro Hale, suspicion evaporated even faster than it appeared.

“Were you acquainted with the Knight Commander? Forgive me for not recognizing your connection!”

Merlin grabbed my hand like it was a lifeline and shook it firmly.

I had failed to escape.

“I’m not sure how you met him, but—”

“…You said ‘this woman’?”

“I said ‘this bond,’ my dear.”

Oh. Right. I was still pretending to be a Placon resident.

I’d accidentally responded like a modern Korean.

No one noticed, though; all the Wolf Fang members were too busy discussing strategy.

“Do you know where the Knight Commander is now? I haven’t seen him since the war began…”

“Uh… well…”

I shut my mouth and nodded vaguely.

What was I supposed to say?

That Alessandro wandered the dimensional rift until meeting me, drank my free potion, and then yeeted himself into some unknown abyss?

Yeah, no.

“I shall remember this, Ms. Ihye. Thanks to you, Placon may rise again.”

It was really hard to ruin the mood when he thanked me like that.

Then—

“Ms. Ihye, do you perhaps have detox potions?”

Two big, bulky men approached me.
Their rugged faces made them look like they chewed rocks for breakfast.

Given the timing, I knew instantly:

They were the infiltration team heading into the palace.

“Yes, I can give you A-rank detox. How many?”

“As many as possible.”

“A lot, huh…”

I glanced at them as I opened the Friendly Market.

Their expressions were dead serious.
They were ready to march straight into death.

Since they needed the highest-quality antidotes, I knew right away they were the infiltrators.
The palace was filled with thick dark-magic fog.

…Fog that didn’t affect me at all, thanks to Babel marking me as an unattackable “extra.”

I clicked on the A-rank detox potions in the shop—

—and froze.

Ugh… Once you notice it, you can’t un-notice it.

I had already helped them more than enough.

But my conscience, which used to be tiny and quiet, had grown significantly after everything that happened today.

Damn it…

Behind me, the two bulky guys spoke softly:

“Let’s not die, yeah?”

That one simple line landed way too heavily on my heart.

When I didn’t know anything, it was easy to stay detached.

But now that I knew their situation… it felt heavy.

I let out a sigh without meaning to.

“You don’t have A-rank detox?”

“Then do you have any other supportive potions?”

Their desperate voices made me squeeze my eyes shut.

Well… looks like going home early is impossible now.

And if I don’t help them, I’ll just lie awake all night replaying this moment in my head.

So…

“…Okay. This will sound really suspicious, but…”

Even as I started speaking, I hesitated.

The 49th floor was supposed to be the place where I’d sell items, finish my job, clear my market promotion quest, and leave.

Yet here I was, going way beyond what I planned.

I’m too softhearted…

I could give them a safer way in.
Even if it cost me time and energy, I could prevent these people from dying.

So I took a deep breath and said:

“Actually… I kind of… have a friend among the dark mages.”

Technically not a lie.
I was treated like a VIP over there.

Everyone stared at me like I had grown a second head.

I swallowed and forced the words out:

“I can go to the palace for you.”