TIRS 26

CHAPTER 26. Bribe

Upon stepping inside, a small room came into view.

Given the name “Dark Guild Merchant,” I expected something gloomy and ominous, but the atmosphere was surprisingly ordinary.

“Welcome. How can I help you?”

A woman with lavender-colored hair greeted me.

Lavender – Dark Guild Merchant, Brillanta Branch

I glanced up at the sign above her head. The name was rather lackluster.

[1. Buy or sell items
2. Complete daily Dark Guild Merchant quests
3. Exchange 10 Worn Horn Flutes]

“I’m here to buy something.”

[<1. Buy or sell items> has been selected.]

“Oh my, here to shop? I’ve got some fine new items in stock.”

[You can purchase special items not distributed through normal channels. Most of them are illegal and may cause trouble just by possessing them, so be cautious.]

Alongside this friendly warning, Lavender showed me the items on display.

Item:
A mysterious device that reads the target’s thoughts. Only works on those lower in level than the user.

Item: <Cult Leader’s Scripture>
A suspicious holy book from a questionable religion. Reading passages lowers the faith of others nearby.

Item:
A ring commonly used by Azester men for proposals. Increases confession success rate by 500%.

Item:
A fan made from the tail feathers of the Wind Peacock. Creates strong gusts—can escalate into a typhoon if mishandled.

“These are clearly bizarre…”

Not only were the effects suspicious, but each item had a sky-high price.

Still, I was a princess with nothing but money. Since I’d come all the way here, I bought some items as a formality.

“I’ll take everything from here to there. It’ll be hard to carry, so have it delivered to the 3rd Princess Palace by carriage.”

Lavender flinched and asked again in surprise.

“A-All of them?”

“Yeah.”

“…!”

When I nodded, Lavender’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh my! We finally have a VIP customer at our branch!”

She rang a golden bell on the table.

Ding ding.

With that crisp sound, men in black, hidden throughout the room, revealed themselves.

“A VIP customer at the Brillanta Branch! Treat them with utmost respect!”

“Yes, Branch Leader!”

At Lavender’s command, the dark guild members sprang into action.

Shff!
Sha-shff!
Sha-sha-shff!

In an instant, they led me into a secret room within the dark guild merchant’s area.

“Fufu. Our Brillanta Branch was on the verge of closure due to poor performance, but you’ve saved us.”

She explained how, despite Brillanta being the largest city in the continent’s largest country, a lack of adventurers put their branch in danger—since most customers who came to places like this were adventurers.

“If you’ll sign here, customer.”

As I sat on a comfy sofa and sipped a drink they offered, Lavender handed over the receipt.

I glanced at the total amount at the top and signed smoothly.

[SYSTEM] You have spent over 100,000,000G and have become a VIP of the Dark Guild!
[SYSTEM] You have obtained .
[SYSTEM] You can now make requests to the Dark Guild! (Required Level: 50)

“You can use the VIP card at all branches across the continent. It allows you to make requests to the Dark Guild—though there is a fee.”

Lavender handed me a black gem engraved with the tiny letters “VIP” and explained.

Since I had given my inventory to Ancelot, I slipped it casually into my sleeve.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

She smiled brightly. Her overly friendly attitude made me ask:

“Can I buy a new horn flute?”

“Oh, sadly, our branch doesn’t carry those yet.”

She seemed genuinely disappointed.

‘So I can’t get horn flutes here either…’

Suppressing my disappointment, I browsed the other menus.

[2. Complete daily Dark Guild Merchant quests]

It looked like daily quests were also available here.

At a glance, it seemed like a system where requests submitted to the guild were given to players in quest form.

I wasn’t particularly interested in quests, so I skimmed through and moved on.

[3. Exchange 10 Worn Horn Flutes]

As seen in the item description, this was a menu to exchange Worn Horn Flutes.

I didn’t have any on hand since my inventory was with Ancelot. Even if I did, I only had one anyway, so no rewards for me—

‘Huh?’

At that moment, something caught my eye on the screen.

“This is…”

As I stared blankly, Lavender helpfully explained.

“Oh, that’s our branch’s Reward Ranking! When you exchange , we convert them into points and display your ranking. It’s a type of marketing!”

[ Reward Ranking
1st □□□□ □□□ – 18,000 pts
(180 )]

I’d heard that Forgotten Shadows implemented ranking systems with in-game characters to add a sense of competition to this otherwise single-player RPG.

So the sudden appearance of this reward ranking window didn’t feel out of place. But still—

‘Someone actually exchanged that many worn horn flutes?’

I blinked in disbelief.

“Plus, if you reach first place, you receive a monster suppression restraint as a bonus reward!”

Lavender cheerfully added, her capitalist smile dazzling. I gave a half-hearted response while pondering about the flutes.

The is a leftover item after summoning a basic monster.

‘That means someone summoned at least 180 basic monsters…’

But besides the monster Hezen summoned, I’d never heard of other monsters appearing in the capital. Besides, the horn flutes were hard to get there.

‘Could it be the same person who gave Hezen Aegir’s Horn Flute? But if that’s the case…’

I noticed boxes in the corner piled high with .

‘If that person’s goal was simply to awaken the player, this feels excessive.’

There was definitely something more behind those flutes.

Meanwhile…

Ancelot was in a very good mood.

Last night, he had snuck into Duke Hamilton’s bedroom and poured <Appearance Change Potion (Bald)> on his face.

The effect was spectacular!

Hamilton’s famously full and healthy hair had gone limp in an instant.

Riding that momentum, Ancelot was now planning to make Prince Orent bald as well.

Just thinking about it put him in a good mood.

He wasn’t someone who found joy in tormenting others. It was just that—

“I hope our princess finds it amusing.”

He simply wanted to see Louibelle smile.

As he hummed cheerfully, Ancelot suddenly paused and furrowed his brow.

“I think I’m being too nice to our princess.”

Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered with such troublesome tasks.

Why am I even doing all this? Just as his mood was about to dip—

“Well, it’s all part of my noble effort to convince her to proceed with the scenario.”

Thinking of it that way made him feel proud again.

Of course, Louibelle might not change her mind, even after all these little tricks.

She truly didn’t want to proceed with the scenario.

‘No! I just want to live a comfy life in the palace!’

Recalling her fierce rejection brought a hint of worry.

What if she never changed her mind? What if they failed to defeat the Light Dragon this round too…?

‘Was it a mistake to make her the player?’

Maybe because she hadn’t been a player from the start, she was particularly resistant to the scenario.

But Ancelot didn’t regret it.

If he hadn’t stepped in, that damn player would’ve awakened by sacrificing her.

The death of Louibelle Azester—

“….”

It was a result so repulsive he hated even imagining it.

Shaking off that ugly emotion, Ancelot began searching for her.

“But where is our princess?”

She was nowhere to be seen—probably out.

And then, right at the palace gates, he ran into Louibelle returning from her outing.

“Oh? Princess!”

He smiled brightly and approached—then suddenly froze.

She wasn’t alone.

A neatly dressed man was escorting her.

“….”

Ancelot’s gaze swept over the stranger with a chill.

Platinum blonde hair down to his waist, noble features, and a height similar to his own.

‘Klaus Winster…’

He glanced at the blue name hovering over Klaus’s head.

A strange, twisting feeling welled up.

He strode over and blocked their path.

“Out on a stroll, Princess?”

He smiled with a cool voice that barely masked his irritation.

“Ancelot?”

“But you’ve brought something strange with you.”

His disapproving gaze landed on Klaus.

“Oh, this is…”

“I’m Klaus Winster. I was asked to escort Princess Louibelle.”

At Klaus’s polite response, Ancelot’s eyes narrowed.

“Our princess asked you for escort?”

“Yes.”

Klaus nodded calmly. Ancelot turned to Louibelle.

She hesitantly confirmed with a small voice.

“Uh, yeah. I did ask him…”

“Then I’ll take over from here.”

Ancelot extended his hand toward Louibelle.

But Klaus stepped protectively in front of her.

“She is a princess of Azester. I can’t entrust her to a stranger.”

“Stranger?”

Ancelot responded with a crooked smile.

“I’m Prince Ancelot of Luinhart. You won’t find anyone with a more legitimate identity.”

“That’s precisely why you’re dangerous.”

Klaus answered without flinching.

Having heard of Ancelot’s infamous reputation, he clearly meant, “I can’t trust Azester’s princess to a murderous lunatic like you.”

A dangerous glint deepened in Ancelot’s smile.

Louibelle instinctively sensed it.

Within that smiling gaze, a darker, more dangerous intent was beginning to stir.

“It’s fine, Sir Klaus! Prince Ancelot is trustworthy!”

Louibelle quickly intervened, grabbing Ancelot’s hand before things escalated.

“But, Your Highness—”

“He even escorted me at the last ball. So don’t worry, and please return.”

“….”

Klaus’s face stiffened at her decision.

‘Huh? Earlier, when he looked upset…’

Louibelle recalled that when Klaus had frowned before, his favorability had actually gone up.

‘Then this must be a good sign!’

“Thank you for today, Sir Klaus.”

She waved at him cheerfully and turned with Ancelot—unaware that Klaus continued to stare at their backs long after.

The unexpected confrontation between Ancelot and Klaus had nearly caused a scene.

Thankfully, it ended smoothly with Klaus’s withdrawal.

Not that she was entirely comfortable being escorted by someone who disliked her…

“You’ve grown pretty close to that guy.”

Ancelot mumbled sulkily after a while.

“Didn’t you see his favorability? It’s in the negatives.”

“Did you see it, Princess?”

“…?”

“Guess not.”

“What didn’t I see?”

“Nothing.”

Ancelot dismissed it lightly with a shake of his head.

“But I guess I’m someone you trust now.”

“Hmm?”

“You said it before. How could you trust me?”

‘But the method you suggested isn’t certain either. And how can I trust you?’

“Oh, that…”

I felt a bit embarrassed and coughed awkwardly.

“That’s a separate issue.”

I just… came to believe Ancelot wouldn’t hurt me anymore.

Despite his nickname as a murderous maniac, he had always protected me—except for our first, intense encounter.

‘Wait, since when did I become so soft? It wasn’t long ago that I followed his words and ended up as a player…!’

I quickly shook my head, recalling the terrible things he’d done.

“By the way, Ancelot, what did you do to Duke Hamilton?”

I changed the subject, and he narrowed his eyes languidly.

“You already know.”

He shamelessly admitted to making the Duke bald.

“Why’d you do something like that? He said some rude things to me, but taking all his hair? That’s too cruel.”

“But you found it satisfying, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but…”