Chapter 19. Finally Found

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“…….”

“…….”

Most had followed Riena to the greenhouse, leaving only a few people behind. Among them were Ael and Ino.

‘So that’s why they invited me, seriously.’

Ino tugged at the uncomfortable formal attire of Denertum, revealing his irritation.

‘No wonder Nisha didn’t want to go.’

Last night, Nisha had called him and said,

〈Ino, attend the tea party at the Marquis’s  house tomorrow. The daughter of the Marquis requested that a senior member from our side attend.〉

〈Why me?〉

〈It’s the branch manager’s order. Just go.〉

〈That’s ridiculous. You’re passing it off to me because you don’t want to go, right?〉

〈You know too much. Die.〉

〈This is tyranny! Why do I have to go? No! It’s a tea party, so it’ll just be full of laughing ladies from Denertum. What am I supposed to do there? Besides, while the Marquis family might be friendly, the lady herself doesn’t seem to like commoners from the Empire that much. What am I supposed to do in such a place?〉

Ino cried out that he didn’t want to go, but Nisha was firm.

〈Have you forgotten your task? Callon ordered you to find someone proficient in ancient languages. Go to the tea party, make some connections, and find someone. Where else but among the nobles would you find someone with such a skill?〉

At the mention of Callon’s order, Ino had no choice but to droop his shoulders like a rain-soaked puppy and trudge out.

‘But can I really find someone here?’

He didn’t know what was going on among the women in the social circle, but after some strange conversations, the tea party ended quickly.

Riena rose, saying she would introduce some new plants in the greenhouse, taking only those who seemed close to her.

〈Oh my, there are so many guests today. It seems like we won’t be able to hear the explanation well.〉

Riena said it would be difficult to have so many people enter at once, so she would introduce them in two groups. But it was clear that those left behind were not to her liking.

‘I’m included in that group.’

To call them necessary and then leave them like this, Ino thought, thinking Riena was an unlikable woman as he turned his head.

At that moment, he saw Ael, sitting a bit apart, staring at the table.

‘That woman too…’

Ino, who was feeling sorry for her, noticed what was in front of Ael. And moments later.

“Excuse me!”

Ino exclaimed in surprise, jumping up from his seat. He quickly approached Ael.

“Excuse me, but may I take a look at this?”

The sudden approach of a man she had never spoken to, speaking in a tense voice, made Ael flinch and move back slightly.

‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’

Anyway, there was no harm in letting him see it, so Ael nodded with difficulty.

Ino snatched the paper in front of Ael like a hawk catching prey.

When he looked at Ael, she had been solving a quiz placed on the table.

Recently, the quizzes that the Ash Merchant Guild had deliberately popularized were becoming a big topic among the nobility as well.

Of course, they were interested not for monetary reasons like commoners, but to flaunt their intellect.

Even nobles have competitiveness. In fact, aren’t they the ones who are eager to boast of their superiority?

It had become customary to have the week’s new quizzes at tea parties as a small amusement, with people trying to solve them together.

If a host didn’t prepare quizzes, they were considered out of touch with trends.

So Riena also prepared quizzes next to the tea party tables.

Of course, thinking it was too lowly to use the same cheap printed paper as the commoners, she ordered her servants with good handwriting to transcribe the quizzes onto high-quality paper.

Feeling bored sitting alone, Ael had picked up a few sheets, thinking she might as well do something.

Ino thought she had taken an unnecessarily large number.

‘Those are quite difficult.’

Maybe she could solve the first few easily, but the difficulty increased rapidly as she went on. So there weren’t many correct answers submitted each week. Most were wrong anyway.

‘So even if she took that many…’

She’d probably scribble on the first few and then stop.

Thinking that, he watched idly.

But contrary to Ino’s expectations, Ael picked up a pen and wrote down answers without stopping.

She paused to think briefly but continued writing answers almost without stopping until the end.

‘What? Did she just write randomly?’

The quizzes currently circulating in Denertum, except for a few, were all created and distributed by the Ash Merchant Guild.

Ino, having participated in their creation, knew well the difficulty of each quiz.

‘There wasn’t anything that could be solved so easily.’

Ino became increasingly curious. Did she really get the answers right?

When Ael pulled out a new quiz and began solving it, Ino’s eyes widened. Even from a distance, he could tell from the first question that it was this week’s quiz.

It was understandable since he had included an ancient language problem that had been haunting his dreams lately due to Callon’s nagging.

He thought the first question would be challenging, but Ael moved her hand immediately, like she was solving a simple math problem like “1 plus 1 equals 2,” and moved on to the next question.

From that moment, all of Ino’s attention was focused on Ael.

‘Oh, my god. Dear Lord. Am I seeing this correctly?’

If she was really solving the ancient language problem, and if she had the ability to solve all the quizzes…

Ino’s legs couldn’t stay still. He wanted to grab Ael and run to the Ash Merchant Guild, shouting, “I’ve brought her!”

‘No, calm down. She might have just written random answers.’

Ino’s heart was already pounding wildly, trying to calm himself with that thought.

If she was truly the talented person he had been searching for…

‘I can finally sleep peacefully!’

He thought of Callon, who had been glaring at him for not finding a talented person yet, and Nisha, who looked at him with disdain.

The thought of finally escaping their cold stares brought tears to his eyes.

Ino exercised all his patience, waiting for Ael’s hand to stop. When her hand finally stopped, he stood up and shouted.

Ino quickly checked the quiz answers. Ael had indeed solved the quizzes that were distributed through newspapers, magazines, and posters.

The answers hadn’t been revealed yet.

‘A few of the codes interpreted by the headquarters were modified and included, so few people know the answers.’

About five people, including Callon, Nisha, and Ino himself, knew the answers perfectly.

Moreover, with the inclusion of ancient language problems, even those five wouldn’t be sure without the headquarters’ interpretation.

Ino compared Ael’s answers with the ones he remembered. As his gaze moved down, his hands began to tremble.

Oh my god.

Seeing the final answer, Ino covered his mouth with his hand.

‘They’re all correct!’

Am I seeing things? Did she really write all the correct answers?

Ino looked back and forth between the paper filled with perfect answers and Ael’s face, trembling with joy.

Ael, seeing his eyes filled with fervor like a zealot welcoming a deity, retreated a bit more. That brought Ino back to his senses.

It was still too early to rejoice. He needed to verify before reporting to Callon and Nisha. Then he remembered that Callon had put next week’s questions in his bag.

He hurriedly opened his bag and pulled out the quiz planned for next week’s distribution.

“Th-this! Could you possibly solve this?”

“Pardon? Ah, I can solve it quickly, but… why this…”

“Please, I beg you. Think of it as saving a life and please solve it.”

To think he would plead so earnestly for her to solve a quiz everyone enjoyed as a pastime.

‘He said he was from the Ash Merchant Guild.’

Ael recalled the images of Kyle and Nisha she had met. They were both good people. Good enough to want to meet again.

‘He must be working with them.’

With a gaze mixed with envy and admiration, Ael looked at Ino before accepting the new quiz he handed her.

She didn’t know what was going on, but there was no reason not to grant such an earnest request.

It wasn’t particularly difficult either. And… somehow, she felt that by helping him, she might continue her connection with the people from the Ash Merchant Guild, whom she thought she would never meet again.

Ael picked up a pen.

The new quiz didn’t seem that difficult either.