107(1) – Zenyo! (III)
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PART 1 – Capital of the Empire!!
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Irkins Capital, a morning like any other. The people don't even know that the Golden Claw branch has been exterminated.
Verna, the cause of all this, found Zenyo, who had just woken up from his beauty sleep.
“You reek of blood!” – Zenyo says while taking a meal from his storage. Verna didn't even bother to reply.
…
The two went to the city's Teleportation Matrix. A rather busy place, but frequented by the upper class who could afford to use it.
Verna and Zenyo queued, waiting for about an hour until it was their turn. An old man with a long white beard was sitting, taking notes.
“Where to?” – He asks without even looking at the pair.
“Imperial Capital.” – Verna says.
“Hmm… that's 6,000 Gold Zyrps per person.” – The old man says calmly, looking at them.
The information about a Demigoddess cost 400,000 Gold Zyrps. Normally, using a Teleport Matrix costs around 2,000-3,000 Zyrps, but because it's the Empire's Capital, the price is higher.
Verna obtained the equivalent of 12,000 Gold Zyrps. The old man observed, analyzed, counted, and then handed badges to the pair. – “Go to the matrix operator, give him the badges and tell him the location; he will configure it and send you there.”
Nodding, Verna goes towards the matrix operator. He receives the badges, the location, and begins to configure the arch. In less than a minute, an explosion occurs, and from the center of the arch manifests a blue and purple mass, distortions of space that stabilize.
“You can enter!” – The operator said, Verna and Zenyo advance, their bodies are pulled and pushed, their senses go into chaos, until calm returns and they emerge in a different place.
The instant she crosses the portal, Verna feels the changes in the environment, the rich and dense presence of magic. But she soon frowns in disgust, feeling the artificial touch in the ambient mana.
“Welcome to the Imperial Capital, may I know your purpose here?” – asked a beautiful, petite woman, clipboard in hand, pressing it against her large, tight breasts in her suit. The buttons of her suit seem to be at their limit.
“Hello, I’m Verna and this is my friend Zenyo. We’re just passing through, where we plan to pay for the use of the Great Teleportation Matrix tomorrow.” – Verna said politely.
The woman nods and jots things down on her clipboard. She pulls out her pen, pointing it at the two of them. A faint flash appears; she presses it against the clipboard, and Verna sees that her face and Zenyo's have been accurately drawn on two different pieces of paper.
“Okay, since you've already paid for the teleportation and your objective is just a stopover, you can stay in the capital for a maximum of one month. If you continue after one month, you must go to a citizenship administrator to specify more details of your identities so you can receive temporary citizenship that will last three to five years.”
The two nod.
“Before I release you, may I know your classifications?”
“Legend.” – They both say. The woman stops writing and blinks as she observes them. Even though legendary individuals aren't uncommon in the capital, we're still talking about powerhouses who have survived decades or even centuries hunting powerful monsters and finally reaching Level 21.
It's an arduous task for anyone, even Imperial Princes, who must spend an unimaginable fortune to be trained and carried through Dungeons to reach Level 21.
Being a Legend places you among the true Elites of the world. And now, two Legendary figures stand before you.
“Since you are Legends, I apologize for any rudeness, but I will request more details about your identities. We don't normally do this, but the danger that individuals of your positions can pose is too high to simply ignore. I expect you to cooperate, otherwise you will have to deal with the security team.” – She had a stern look.
Verna found it amusing, a short human, who probably wasn't even Level 5, speaking in an authoritative tone to her and Zenyo, who could crush her in an instant. But Verna liked this, this law and order.
Where no matter how strong you are, within the lands of others, you must follow their laws.
Verna nodded respectfully and spoke of where she came from. One of the smaller continents; she even mentioned which one she came from, as she naturally gathers information about smaller continents.
After the details of who they were, the rest was smooth sailing. They didn't ask details of their objective; it would be too impolite for people of their power. But of course, they wouldn't just let two legendary figures pass without first trying to recruit them.
Legends who achieve such a position on their own tend to be the elite of the elite. Nobles desire to control such peculiar individuals. Especially royalty, who always aim for as much power as possible.
But Verna had no interest in serving the crown; she wanted to be free and explore the world, the same for Zenyo. Refusal is not uncommon, but the Empire still decided to establish bridges, as they always need capable hands.
…
It could be said that a large part of the day was spent answering questions, where strange devices were used to measure something on them. They were quite astonished by Verna's results, which made her understand that it might be capable of measuring levels.
Of course, Verna possesses artifacts and even talents that help her hide her level; she doubts that anyone would create an extremely powerful artifact to measure levels, one that surpasses the artifacts that hide it.
It doesn't make sense, because if you have artifacts to hide your level, you are either very rich and influential, as not just anyone can have such items. Either you are extremely powerful and of a high level.
Creating such a precious artifact just to see the levels of potentially powerful figures, which could offend them if discovered, isn't worth it.
But the device used was something Verna never anticipated. It seems to have assessed something beyond her level; she doubts it's attributes, she didn't sense anything while examining her body or magic.
This means there's something capable of measuring her approximate level. Being Level 40, they probably noticed she might be close to the level of a Demigoddess. This is a headache, but Verna won't make a fuss about it, but she obviously desires the knowledge behind this device.
Perhaps it holds secrets to further strengthen her perception, a new form of vision. Her curiosity has increased like never before.
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PART 2 – Curiosity!
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Verna spoke to Zenyo. – “Let’s leave the capital for a while. I want to know more about the device they used to measure if we’re actually legends.”
“It must just be a powerful level meter. It wouldn’t be strange for such a powerful nation to have something like that.” – Zenyo shrugged.
Verna rubbed her temple; Zenyo’s anxiety to get his cure was making him ignore many important points. – “Are you that impatient, you dwarf? You’ve lived over 100 years with this body, can’t you endure a few more days?”
Zenyo snorted. – “Okay, what’s so special about it?”
“I didn’t feel any energy fluctuations swirling around my body when they measured that we were indeed Legends. In fact, I didn’t feel anything. I can even sense the assessment ability of a Demigod Archmage and prevent them from evaluating my attributes and levels. But this device, even without any specific fluctuation, still measured something. And from the surprise on their faces, they know I’m close to becoming a Demigoddess.” – Verna said seriously.
Zenyo frowned. – “Doesn’t that mean they might try something? I doubt this nation wouldn’t want to have control over a future Demigoddess. It’s even likely that if we don’t leave soon, they’ll send someone high-ranking to come to us.”
Verna nodded; this was a concern. – “But I still want to know more about this device. It might have something that can help me become stronger.”
“You could probably destroy this entire supercontinent in minutes, do you need even more power?” – Zenyo rolled his eyes.
“Zenyo, know that no matter how strong you are, there will always be someone stronger!” – Verna said seriously, and Zenyo fell silent.
……
Verna went in search of criminals. No matter how prosperous a place is, there will always be crime and corruption, even in sacred places. Even in Krugar, an example was the attempted kidnapping of one of her children.
Of course, that was many years ago, and she made the criminals pay dearly for that transgression, especially the culprits. But with time, the cockroaches always reappear, regardless of how many times or how well you clean the house.
Thus, within a few minutes of investigation, she found places with strong language, as well as somewhat dubious speech. Enough for Verna to search, find, and know that they were bandits.
There is no slum in the Capital of the Empire; such a powerful nation would not allow the existence of slums or beggars on its streets, nor even zones that radiate poverty.
Since arriving here and wandering around a bit, Verna had never encountered any children begging for money, or people in tattered clothes. Low-income people exist, but not the poor.
If there are any, they're probably expelled from the city to maintain appearances.
…
Verna calmly looks at the men and women, some with broken arms and legs, faces covered in bruises, all on their knees, fearing Verna sitting before them.
“I want details about intelligence organizations here in the capital, how to find them and which are the most reliable. And if you know anything about the devices used to measure someone's approximate level, I would greatly appreciate it.” – Verna smiles as the thugs begin to speak.
“The Golden Claw is one of the main-” – The moment a woman said that, Verna silenced her.
“I don’t want to know about this pathetic trash. They’re disloyal and greedy. A client they barely know shows off his wealth, and they decide to assassinate him to take his things. Yes, I’ve dealt with this trash before. They tricked me with information and then tried to kill me.” – Verna spits on the ground, and they immediately start talking about others.
Naturally, they have no idea what kind of device Verna is talking about; they’ve never needed to use it, especially since it’s apparently only used when someone claims to be a Legend.
Verna memorized the names of informant organizations and codes to interact with them. Having gotten what she wanted, she left some potions on the ground and thanked them, then said, “You know, if Golden Claw were actually such a good organization, you wouldn’t have suffered so much. Maybe you would never have seen me in your lives. But they had to be useless, unprofessional, so trash like you becomes a target to be the intermediary for collecting this kind of information.”
“…couldn’t you have just asked?” “Don’t show me your teeth, young man, or I’ll rip them all out. But no, because I doubt you’d accept it willingly if I came knocking on your door asking about it.” Verna rolls her eyes, laughs, and walks away.
(Author: He talked too much and got what he deserved.)
…
Verna arrived at a large inn; its size was comparable to a football stadium. It had several internal gardens and structures for entire groups of adventurers and even mercenaries to stay in. There were also small residences that could be rented for a relatively cheap price compared to other places in the capital.
It was here that Verna rented a space with two bedrooms. She liked the place; it was cozy and welcoming, and they even offered a huge variety of high-quality prostitutes.
One could say that the profit for these people comes from those who rent the rooms for a long time, when large groups arrive, but mainly when they pay for the high-quality beauties.
Verna checked in at just the right moment to see an effeminate man choose from a row of beauties; he chose a beautiful orc woman with a huge penis. It was interesting to see.
In any case, Verna didn't choose this place solely for that reason; she knew it was possible to get information safely from there.
While Zenyo was already heading to his room, avoiding the quality services provided, Verna wandered through the corridors and gardens. She really liked this environment; it's a shame that for something like this to work, it needs to be an extremely prosperous and bustling place.
Krugar doesn't have a place where something like this would work, unless it was built as an inn for high society, not for adventurers and mercenaries. The Imperial Capital has many ways for these people to make a lot of money.
Unfortunately, Krugar's sources of income are through combat, quite scattered. The Krugar Capital is far from being home to something like this.
…
Verna found room number 1, which is located in a hidden place that, unless specifically looking for it, she won't find.
Descending the stairs, Verna knocked on the door, which opened, and a familiar scent assaulted her nostrils, a similar scent whenever she visits Grisaliel. Inside was a woman with a relaxed expression and long ears, her eyes reddish. “Yes?” she asks.
“I heard I can buy information here,” Verna said.
“Ah, client. Come in.” She gestured to the smoke, Verna entered, and the door closed.
“So Verna, what are you looking for?” she asked, puffing on her pipe and sitting on a large cushion, her bare foot resting on her calf, smiling slightly and analyzing the woman in front of her.
Verna pulled up a nearby chair to sit down, not bothered by the fact that she knew her name. It’s the least one expects from a group that gathers information.
“I’m interested in the device the portal administration used to measure and confirm that I’m a Legend. What is it, how does it work, and would I be able to get my hands on its details?” Verna is direct, the woman smokes and closes her eyes, humming, then says.
“The talking device is called the Kevel Wave Meter, named after Kevel, a rather arrogant but brilliant fellow in one way or another. I'm not very interested in that thing, but I know it measures Kevel Waves, a frequency naturally emitted by someone, even if they try to hide it with artifacts or abilities, it's still emitted, and this measures the approximate level, but it's only used to measure Legends and above.” – She exhales, trying to remember something, and continues. – “I know the margin of error is around 5 levels…”
Verna nodded. – “Is it possible to get our hands on the studies about Kevel Waves?”
“Yes~ it's also possible to get a device, but it won't be cheap.” – Saying this, she shows more of her cleavage, smiling seductively.
Verna frowns.
“The price will be 60,000 Zyrps, that’s with the discount; without it, it will be 80,000 Zyrps.” – She taunts.
“And I presume I have to do something about that?” – Verna asks, crossing her arms. The woman smiles, looking more relaxed.
“I want to know why you massacred one of the Golden Claw branches. If you tell me, you’ll get this discount.” – The woman said, laughing, enjoying provoking Verna.
Verna hadn’t expected this; she had underestimated the intelligence gathering, but shrugging, she didn’t hesitate to state her motives. Of course, she didn’t go into detail about what she wanted, but she mentioned the useless information in exchange for 400,000 Zyrps, then the attempted assassination.
The woman listened with interest, seeming quite pleased to hear this.
“The price for what you want will be 50,000 Zyrps; the information you have is better than I imagined.” – She laughed sweetly. – “Your things will be delivered at dawn, but make the payment beforehand.”
Verna puts down the money, the woman doesn't count, and with a wave of her hand the door opens. Verna says goodbye, but as she leaves the doorway, she feels a tug on her waist and moments later the open door slams shut.
Laughter and then moans become constant.