The Devil Tears: Lord of the Night
Arc 2 Chapter 5: Conspiracy

[City of Freidburg, Year 735 Months 5 days to 15]

After Luciel and Liz see the results of the selection, they leave Leon looking badmood and Sara. Luciel and Liz plan to have dinner at the Hunter Guild to celebrate Liz's admission to the Knight Academy. Luciel and Liz then arrived at the Hunter Guild as the third bell rang out and the sun began to set. When Luciel and Liz opened the doors of the Hunter Guild, they immediately heard the rhythm of the music played by a Bard and various random chats of the Hunters.

“Oyyy! Liz! Luciel! Come here!” Then they heard someone calling him.

There were 4 people sitting at the table. A Tanker Man, A Brawler Woman, An Assassin and a Mage Man. Izzy waved his hand signaling to join in. The two of them then sat down to join the four.

“Hey, where have you been Luciel?” ask a tanker named Nolan.

“Well... end of – end order is quite a lot, but I have finished everything,” replied Luciel.

“Then, what did I miss?” ask Luciel

“Event extermination on the Belmonte River. There is a Drowner and Peranakan Nymph nest there,” replied A Mage named Finn.

While the men were chatting, Izzy and Brawler named Jeny were questioning Liz about her selection of entering the academy.

“Hehhh... You can actually hurt an instructor,” said Izzy half praised him and half interested.

“But the Instructor showed no real ability and was only targeting parts of my body that were not vital. If not, maybe I will lose,” Liz replied.

“Ah, you just low Liz. I still remember when you defeated an Orc with just one slash!” jeny.

They then enjoy the night by chatting – talk and drink – drink.

***********

That night, a dark auction was held at Freidburg Duchy. The auction was followed by – people who have influence and wear magic masks to cover their identity.

“Master – master and Mistress – mistress. On this night, we have – items that are very interesting to show you all,” said a promoter who was standing on a stage.

The auction place was in a building that had a high level of magical invisibility and was difficult to find by people who did not have the access code.

“For the opener, we will auction off one of the rare Artifacts that were lost when the Saxon magic tower was destroyed 120 years ago. This object has the function to perform shapeshifting without any consequences within 1 hour. We will start with the price of 1000 Gulden, is anyone interested?!” said the man.

“1100 Gulden!” said a woman while lifting a wooden board numbered 43.

“Is there any other offer besides number 43!?”

“1150!”

“1200!”

The atmosphere of the auction started to heat up with the large number of people bidding. On the other hand, 2 masked men of wolves and an owl were discussing something.

“Mr G, how about our deal about weakening the Eagle's nest?” ask the owl-tongued man.

“Master J, my subordinates have planted – bait baits near the Eagle's nest. I think next year we can start harvesting – children of this Eagle,” replied the masked man of the wolf.

They have a conversation with a specific code – code so that it is not easily spread and solved if heard by an eye – eyes.

“The Octopus Head has made a deal with the White Bears to behead the Lion,”, said the owl masked man.

“Then, the war will resume a while longer?” ask the masked Wolf.

“Yes, at the end of the year there will be a lot of white bear blood and golden lions that will spill,” he replied.

“According to my informant, Eagle – young eagle in this year is very good. I think I have a plan to exterminate them before they become a problem for our plan later,” said the masked wolf man.

“It won't be much. Our main goal is to kill the Golden Eagle Wife's candidate so that the alliance will instead end up being a conflict that will lead to war,” said the masked man wolf. “If we fail in this, then our final goal will be difficult to achieve and will make the Eagle and Lion stronger,” he added.

“Yes. Amid the chaos that caused Part of this Continent to occur, the Wolf and Octopus will rise to replace the Dominant position of the Eagle,”, said the masked man.

“There are 3 stages for us to reach the final destination,” said the masked wolf man. “Weaken Eagle Nest, Ruin the Alliance of the Eagle and the Lion, Destroy the potential Eagle – Young Eagle,” clear Masked Man Wolf.

They then reach a conclusion from their conversation and switch to talking about their business in person.

“2000 Gulden!” said arrived – arrived The masked man Wolf.

For a moment, no one returned an offer from the wolf-masked man.

“Is there a higher offer!?” ask the Promoter.

Back, no one spoke to a single person.

“Then this artifact falls into the hands of Number 4!”

**********

“Luciel! Luciel! Luciel!”

“Gorgon! The gorgon! Gorgon!”

Luciel was fighting who was stronger in drinking beer with one of the senior Hunters. The Hunters that swarmed them started to shout their names.

“Glek! Gluey! Gluey! Give up bang Gorgon, this is already the 11th glass. You can – can not wake up until the next month,” said Luciel who spent his 12th glass.

“Hiccupp! Gluey! Gluey! Shutup! As a senior, I have to show you how to respect older people,”.

Luciel was in this situation because Gorgon approached Liz to ask her to dance. And Liz said to him ‘I'll dance with the senior if the senior can beat Ciel in the drinking race’.

“Glek! Gluey! Gluey! Ahhh... beer made by Uncle Herling is the best,” said Luciel.

“Hey... it's the 15th glass, right?” ask a Hunter who's betting Gorgon's gonna win.

“Yes, how his legs can still stand upright after drinking that much,” reply one of the hunters.

Seeing that Luciel had finished his glass, Gorgon began to hold the glass that was filled with beer.

“Glek! Gluey! Burghhhh!” Gorgon then spits out the beer he was drinking.

Then he began to stagger and his gaze began to sway.

A bang! The Gorgon fell unconscious.

“Winner, Luciel the Iron-Savvy!” said Guild Master while raising Luciel's hand.

Luciel then started drinking new beers.

“I won Izzy,” said Liz who saw her match together with Izzy.

“Sial! How could he drink that much without his body being affected by anything!” Izzy protests while giving a piece of Gold Coin to Liz.

“Well.. I think the record for most drinks is 25 glasses when we celebrate new homes and stores. At that time, he was even able to do a wrestling match with Rono and win,” Liz said with a smile remembering her.

That night was the last time Liz enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere as a Hunter. Starting tomorrow, he would begin training as a recruit of the Great Eagle Knight Academy.