Only I Am A Reader

The process of registering was pretty simple, but getting his face drawn by the guy named Airen felt like it took forever, though Leo had to admit that the guy was quite the miniature artist.

\'That\'s one thing done with.\'

Although Leo\'s first goal of joining the association was thankfully completed, Leo didn\'t immediately go back to the inn. Even this goal was nothing but a step towards his main objective.

The Association\'s Sword Identity was quite versatile, but it wasn\'t the only place where Leo could get something like it. The real reason Leo became a member of the Association was for nothing other than the value that made them reach their current position, information!

A novel\'s details might be enough for a reader, but they were far from enough for an actual resident of its world. Despite knowing about all the notable events that happened in the novel, Leo couldn\'t just reach his hand forward to take it, he required the details that were usually omitted from the novel.

\'Only some manual labor is left now.\'

The Gigant Sword Association was able to attract most of the continent\'s Swordsmen for a reason. Different from how other guilds operated, the Association made use of its information network to provide all the intel they had on a set mission, making it so that the members-only needed to use their \'sword\' prowess to finish said mission.

"Um, hello, I was sent here by the Association."

Arriving back at Swordkeep\'s gate, Leo approached the closest guard to him and handed him a piece of paper. The guard was surprised at first but quickly nodded before running off.

"Just wait here, I will go get the captain!"

In order to reach the location of the first \'Hidden Piece\' he had set his eyes on, Leo planned to accept a certain mission that would provide him with the information he needed. Unfortunately, just getting registered wasn\'t enough to start accepting missions…

"Nice to meet you, I see you have accepted the guard mission. You will be with us for the next ten days, but don\'t worry, I\'m sure we will both find it a pleasure to work together!"

The captain that came out of the guard station had an amicable smile on his face as he directly shook Leo\'s hands. He may be just a guard that\'s still stuck at grade-1, but he wasn\'t as ignorant as not to notice that the youth before him was special.

\'This is a great chance to make some ties with someone from the upper echelons!\'

"Likewise."

As one of the organizations had a piece of the pie that is the great City of Swordsmen, the Association was responsible for providing some of the labor force that the city required, and that was exactly where the newbie missions came in.

If one wanted to enjoy the privileges that the Association offered, he first had to contribute through one of these missions as some sort of deposit before he would be able to start a mission of his choosing.

As for Leo, he had directly dismissed the rest of the mission and chose the member favorite \'City Guard\' mission. Unless something special happened, he essentially had to do nothing but be on site for 6 hours a day, and even then he would still be paid 10 silver coins daily!

Having already planned on this, Leo had found an inn to stay in first before he registered. Otherwise, he would have to search for one at night when business was the busiest.

"They look great on you."

"Thanks."

After exchanging formalities with the guard captain, Leo changed into the guardsmen\'s light armor and attached a sword to his waist, for the next ten days he would be assuming the identity of a guard, but Leo\'s heart was somewhere else.

\'It\'s only about time before I get my hand on that place…\'

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

Elsewhere, at the true capital of the Empire, Sky Pierce City.

Within the dining hall of one of the nobles\' mansions, a dark-haired youth was sitting at the main chair surrounded by a beauty at each side, lost in thought as he absentmindedly put food into his mouth.

"Master! We have received information that \'he\' has left the town once again. However, his current location remains unknown."

At this exact moment, a man clad in nothing but pitch black stormed through the door and knelt before the dining table as he reported his findings.

"Again…?"

Putting his fork down, the dashing youth quickly came to only to fall back into thought once again, only clearing up a few minutes later.

"Right, have you confirmed your suspicion of his possession of Sword Breath?"

"Yes, it took a while because we didn\'t want to make it obvious, but after his first disappearance, \'he\' certainly had Sword Breath coursing through his body."

\'How?\'

The youth was truly confused for the first time in a while. He couldn\'t understand just what was happening anymore. He had left there so he wouldn\'t bring trouble to them, but he still did the same while away. Now that he finally made sure nothing would happen, why did the one who was destined to stay normal his whole life have to suffer and tread on the same path as him?

"We also caught a lead as to who might be responsible for the occasional infiltrations. So far, it doesn\'t seem to be related to any organization we know of…"

The youth\'s thoughts were paused by the reminder of the man\'s report, turning his confused gaze into a murderous glint.

"That\'s not enough. Follow whatever lead you find and don\'t stop before you have obtained an identity or a location. Whoever is behind this has to learn not to touch my family! Also… don\'t forget to send \'that\' and keep me informed about the latest findings in regard to my brother\'s situation."

"Understood!"

After one last bow, the man covered in black suddenly disappeared, letting the youth fall back into his absentmindedness as the two around him bitterly smiled at his situation.

\'Just where are you… Arthur?\'