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He could not afford the blades in Sol's shop, and he did not want the blades on the third shelf.

On top of that, he still had no idea what was happening with Aibe and Kazt.

So Corvin decided to go out.

Before leaving, he went back to his room, removed his weights, then gathered his gear and Bailey.

After coming downstairs, Corvin pretended to pace around the shop, slowly drifting closer to the door.

"Stop."

Sunny glanced coldly at Corvin's now-unweighted legs. How could she not know he was trying to sneak out again?

Corvin stopped and looked back at her. First he seemed confused. Then, as if he had just seen something, panic rushed across his face.

"Sunny, Bailey broke out of the chains! Catch him!"

"Hm?"

Sunny jolted.

Bailey represented a large sum of money. If he escaped, the loss would be painful.

She spun around and looked behind her.

She saw Bailey's baffled face.

Sunny realized she had been tricked. By the time she turned back, Corvin was gone.

Bailey keenly sensed that the mood had gone wrong. He crawled along the floor, trying to get farther away from Sunny.

After using Sunny's weakness for money to trick her, Corvin slipped out.

He planned to investigate Aibe and Kazt first.

At first, he had thought of spending some money in a tavern to ask around. Then he suddenly remembered Nightfall.

Tatamu might know.

With that thought, Corvin decided to go to Nightfall first.

Half an hour later.

Corvin arrived at the bar.

Behind the counter, Tatamu saw him push the door open, and a faint smile softened his usual blank expression.

"Welcome."

"Give me the same drink as last time."

Corvin sat at the counter and glanced around the bar. Wolf Rat was nowhere to be seen.

Tatamu nodded to him and began mixing the drink.

Corvin propped his chin on one hand and watched.

Before long, Tatamu pushed the finished drink in front of him.

Corvin lifted the glass, took a small sip, and went straight to the point.

"Tatamu, I want to buy some information."

"What information?"

"Do you know Aibe and Kazt?"

"I know them."

"I want their current situation."

Tatamu was not surprised by the request. He took a sheet of stationery from a drawer, pressed it flat on the counter, and pushed it in front of Corvin.

"Wolf Rat left it."

"Hm?"

Corvin was a little surprised. He picked up the sheet and read it.

There was not much written on the paper, but it was concise.

Corvin quickly finished reading and understood at once.

"They both got hurt? No wonder it's been quiet these past few days."

After Corvin escaped from the tavern that day, Aibe and Kazt had ended up fighting.

It seemed their tempers had flared badly enough that both of them eventually got serious.

In the end, their subordinates had not suffered heavy casualties. Instead, the two captains had both come away badly injured.

To keep other rivals from taking advantage, the cadres from both crews had acted decisively and stopped the battle at once.

Afterward, both sides carried their heavily injured captains away from Battleaxe Tavern.

"A bad temper really does cost you."

Corvin's smile was full of schadenfreude, with no self-awareness that he had caused the whole thing.

If not for his perfect string of dodges, and if not for that heavy slap completely breaking Aibe's composure, why would Aibe have tried to regain confidence from Kazt afterward?

If she had not tried to regain confidence, none of this would have happened, and the two of them would not have crippled each other.

Tatamu looked at Corvin's smiling face and said calmly, "The town knows."

"This?"

Corvin shook the stationery in his hand.

Tatamu nodded.

"That is a little troublesome. Forget it. If it spread, it spread."

The smile on Corvin's face slowly faded. Personally, he did not want fame. It would only interfere with his hunts.

"Right. How much for the information?"

"No charge."

"Then I won't be polite."

Since he was short on money, Corvin had no reason to pretend otherwise. He put the stack of Berries back into his pocket.

He took another sip from the glass and set it down.

"Tatamu, I want to buy a decent blade, but I don't know which weapon shop is reliable. Do you know anything about that?"

"You want a blade?"

"Mm."

"Wait here."

Tatamu looked at Corvin with slight surprise, then walked out from behind the counter and went upstairs.

Corvin had no idea what Tatamu meant to do and watched him head toward the stairs in confusion.

After a while, Tatamu came back down carrying six blades.

Seeing the six blades in his arms, Corvin asked in surprise, "Tatamu, does your bar sell swords on the side?"

Tatamu did not want to explain. He simply placed the blades on the counter.

These blades had been left behind by old customers.

Two had been collateral. Four had belonged to customers who caused trouble and were killed by Tatamu, leaving their weapons behind.

Seeing that Tatamu did not want to say more, Corvin did not press him. He focused on the six blades and immediately liked one long sword with red and black coloring.

The hilt was red. The sheath was black.

But neither hilt nor sheath had any pattern, which quietly made it feel a little less impressive.

Corvin picked up the blade. It had a satisfying weight in his hand.

Shing.

He drew the sword and held it across his line of sight.

The sharp, bright, straight-grained blade reflected Corvin's face.

"Tatamu, how much for this one?"

"Six hundred thousand."

Tatamu did not actually know the blade's value. That amount was simply the old collateral price.

Hearing that, Corvin instinctively touched the money in his pocket, then said without showing anything, "Too expensive. What about four hundred thousand?"

"All right."

Tatamu agreed without hesitation.

For a moment, Corvin felt as if he had lost money somehow.

He had the feeling that if he had offered three hundred thousand, Tatamu might have agreed just as quickly.

Still, he had bought a blade he liked.

Corvin took out four hundred thousand Berries and handed them to Tatamu.

Tatamu accepted the money.

The deal was done.

Tatamu brought the remaining five blades back upstairs, while Corvin gripped his new sword and swung it through the air inside the bar. He actually looked somewhat convincing.

Watching Corvin cut at empty air, Tatamu wanted to remind him to be careful, but he held back.

After a short while, Corvin finished testing the feel and sheathed the blade with satisfaction.

"I'll call you Dark Crow."

In an instant, Corvin gave the long sword he had just bought a name.

He had gotten the information, bought a blade, and felt fully satisfied. It was time to go home.

Just as he was about to say goodbye to Tatamu, the bar door opened.

The person who walked in was Laffitte, wearing a black top hat and holding a cane.

Seeing Laffitte enter, Corvin went still for the briefest moment.

Last time, he had not expected Laffitte to be in Mad Hatter Town, so the sight had caught him badly off guard. This time, forewarned, his reaction was not nearly as strong.

Corvin quickly withdrew his gaze and treated Laffitte like a stranger.

Laffitte went straight to the counter and placed a thick stack of Berries on it.

Tatamu accepted the money, then took a sheet of paper from a drawer and handed it to Laffitte.

On it was the information Laffitte wanted.

Laffitte read the paper briefly, then put it into his pocket.

He had asked Tatamu to investigate this two days ago. Now the exchange was complete.

After getting what he wanted, however, Laffitte did not leave in a hurry. He glanced at the long sword in Corvin's hand, then looked at the side of Corvin's face.

After studying him carefully for a moment, Laffitte showed a faint smile.

"Mr. Undertaker. We meet again."

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