Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 126

Freedom’s Thread.An item Anagin had obtained by chance when he visited the second Ruin to acquire Orichalcum.

On the surface, it looked like a worn-out scroll, but in reality, it was a magical tool.

And quite a unique one at that—one that allowed multiple people to share information.

Anagin himself had found it fascinating enough to ask about its functions and how to use it.

Of course, he lost interest not long after and handed it over to Sphinx.

Well, to be precise, it was closer to him leaving it with Sphinx because it was more troublesome to use than he expected—but that wasn’t what mattered.

“Is that true?”

Tramachus was surprised at Sphinx’s words.

They had put quite a bit of effort into hiding the Coins of Greed, yet the rumors had already spread.

In contrast, Lynceus, who stood beside him, reacted as if he had expected it.

“Well, it’s not that strange. The newspaper openly mentioned the Coins of Greed… If you dig around just a little, it’s not that hard to guess who might have them, right?”

That was true.

That Ponytail bastard had blatantly published that the Coins of Greed had appeared in the paper. Anyone with an interest would investigate, and it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out that they were here.

“So Ponytail was the root of all evil. Damn it, what a bastard!”

“It’s not necessarily like that, brother. A lot of people saw the Coins of Greed anyway, so they would’ve found out eventually.”

“I know. I just said it because I felt like cursing at Ponytail.”

As Anagin spouted nonsense again, Sphinx narrowed her eyes and shot him a look full of contempt.

However, Anagin wasn’t one to be intimidated by that. He was always confident in himself.

“But what are the ‘Descendants of Giants’? I vaguely remember hearing about Magno before, but this is the first time I’ve heard of them.”

“A supremacist group composed of Gigants. That’s not what’s important right now. The situation is what matters.”

As she answered Anagin’s question, Sphinx spread the Freedom’s Thread out on the table.

People naturally gathered around.

The first to speak was Lynceus.

“Where did you get this? I’ve only heard of Freedom’s Thread—I’ve never actually seen one before.”

“I picked it up by luck.”

“Picked it up? Where?”

“From the corpse of a dead mage.”

“……”

“I didn’t kill him. And he wasn’t a good guy either.”

Anagin criticized Miscellaneous Doll Neiron, the one who had attacked him.

Although Anagin had been the one to strike first by collapsing the dam, that fact wasn’t important. What mattered was that Neiron had directly attacked him first.

More importantly, it was the bronze statue that had taken Neiron’s life.

Therefore, Anagin could say that he hadn’t taken the Freedom’s Thread by force—he had simply picked it up. Fair and square.

Of course, Lynceus didn’t seem convinced.

Lynceus of Farsight narrowed his eyes and muttered,

“I’m sure you did…”

“You look like you don't believe me? Why not? Pinku-Pinku, you believe me, right?”

“Brother, be quiet and look over here.”

Perhaps she had suffered too much at Anagin’s hands, as Sphinx responded coldly.

Without hiding his disappointment, Anagin turned his gaze to where Sphinx was pointing.

Black ink began to seep into the worn scroll, then rose up as if blooming, forming letters large enough to read easily.

[Information Exchange]

The first words to appear at the top.

It seemed to be a space for sharing information.

However, contrary to the name “Information Exchange,” the users didn’t seem to have any intention of sharing information at all.

[Selling information on the Coins of Greed. The details provided will vary depending on the price.]

[Can provide the types, number, and location of the coins. Each sold separately.]

[I know who currently possesses the Coins of Greed. Payment will be accepted in items, not money.]

Despite being called an exchange, everyone demanded compensation—money, rare materials, magical tools, and the like.

Ah, but it wasn’t just sellers.

[Buying information on the Coins of Greed. Payment will be made with one of the items listed below.]

[Will reward anyone who provides information about the types of Coins of Greed.]

[Did the coins really appear? Provide detailed circumstances, and you will be properly compensated. The amount is…]

There were just as many buyers as sellers, and all of them showed significant interest in the Coins of Greed.

Rather than bluffing about paying a high price, they either presented specific amounts or asked the seller to choose from a list.

As expected, countless replies began piling up beneath each post, one after another. There were also those begging for information or simply trying to attract attention.

[I want to obtain information about the Coins of Greed.]

[Did the coins really appear?]

[I saw it myself. The coins have resurfaced. I even know who has them now.]

[Has the creator of the coins appeared again?]

[Beware of rumors. There are many scammers.]

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“Ah, damn. My eyes hurt.”

Having read too many messages at once, Anagin rubbed his eyes and complained in pain.

Thanks to that, he was able to better understand the impact of the coins. Still, one question remained.

And that was…

“How do they handle the money transactions?”

“Hm?”

“Everyone here keeps talking about buying and selling information, but how are they actually exchanging money?”

“Ah…”

It was a valid question.

Exchanging information was possible thanks to the Freedom’s Thread.

But what could be exchanged through it was only information. It didn’t extend to transferring money.

“From what I can see, there are methods. Like burying it somewhere and telling the other person to find it, or having it delivered to a specific location.”

“That sounds like it’s begging to get scammed.”

“I think that’s why everyone’s careful when making deals. It seems like transactions mostly happen between people with experience…”

He understood what that meant. Having a lot of transaction experience implied trustworthiness. But there was a problem.

“What about beginners like me? This is rotten.”

“Looks like beginners just use intermediaries for transactions.”

“Intermediaries?”

“You’ve heard of them?”

“I’ve heard roughly. People who’ll do anything for money.”

“Close enough. The buyer deposits the payment at a shop run by the intermediaries, and the seller goes there separately to collect it. They say if you give the password, they hand it over without asking who you are.”

Oh, that was pretty interesting. It wasn’t completely foolproof against scams, but at this level, it was probably the best they could do.

Just as he was admiring the interesting way the Freedom’s Thread was used, Sphinx tapped a specific line.

And that line was…

[I belong to the Descendants of Giants. If you tell me the location and destination of the Coins of Greed, I will pay a corresponding price.]

The line overflowed with confidence—no, arrogance. It was unmistakably Gigant-like.

“Doesn’t look like an impersonation. If you look at the replies below.”

[└Silent Hunter: This person really is from the Descendants of Giants.]

[└Labyrinth Explorer: Then that means the Coins of Greed really have reappeared?]

[└Lion Hunter: Do you accept unconfirmed information?]

Perhaps they had built up credibility over time—no one seemed to doubt their identity.

It seemed almost certain that they belonged to the Descendants of Giants.

Because of that, the atmosphere in the Information Exchange grew even more heated.

“This is everything that was posted earlier, and this is what was posted recently.”

As Sphinx lightly pushed the Freedom’s Thread, the ink broke apart and reassembled, forming new text.

[Notice. The Coins of Greed are in the possession of the Practitioner Killer. It is presumed they will be taken to the Temple of Delphi.]

[└Enraged One: You son of a bitch! Why the hell are you dropping top-tier info now?!]

[└Honorable Miser: Ah, damn it… I lost my money…]

[└Onlooker: Oh, it seems like it’s real?]

[└One Step Ahead: Of all times, you do this right after I bought the info?]

[└Cautious Collector: Doesn’t this seem suspicious? Why would someone just release information like that?]

“Some people doubt the information itself or suspect it might be a trap, but most seem to believe it.”

“What’s there to worry about? Even if they know, so what?”

“So what? They’ll try to ambush you and take the Coins of Greed.”

“Nothing happened on our way here.”

“That’s only because this information just came out today. After this, who knows? Give it a day or two, and people targeting the coins will start lying in wait around the Chiron Tower. Maybe some are already there right now.”

Thinking that Anagin didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation, Sphinx spoke quite seriously.

The Coins of Greed carried that much influence.

Even for Anagin, who had defeated Hippomenes, it wasn’t something he could take lightly.

Defeating a powerful enemy and being continuously attacked by an unknown number of opponents were entirely different matters.

The chances were low, but he might end up falling in vain.

Even practitioners with great reputations sometimes met meaningless deaths in this line of work…

However, contrary to Sphinx’s concerns, it wasn’t that Anagin failed to understand the gravity of the situation.

The truth was, Anagin simply didn’t use his head much—not that he was stupid. At least, that’s what he believed.

Anagin judged that the situation wasn’t that dangerous.

And for good reason—he still held the initiative.

If people were lying in wait around the Chiron Tower, then conversely, it meant they couldn’t attack the tower itself.

Anagin was currently inside the tower, which meant he was safe for now.

So there was no need to worry already.

When Anagin said this, Sphinx let out something that wasn’t quite admiration, yet not quite not.

“Aren’t you worried that once you leave the tower, you might face countless attackers?”

“Nope. That’s a problem for the future. My future self can deal with future problems. Not my issue.”

“I think future brother will curse current brother, though?”

“I don’t care what some pathetic bastard who blames others has to say. And I’m not planning to just sit around either. I’ll think of ways to avoid or deal with the people after the coins. In fact, I just came up with something good.”

“What is it?”

Tramachus, who had been listening quietly, asked. Even to him, the situation felt frustrating, so he was curious what kind of plan Anagin had come up with.

“I’ll take an airship. If I go through the sky, what can those bastards even do?”

Tramachus almost swore on the spot—true to his epithet of Flame—but barely held it in with remarkable restraint.

At a glance, it did sound plausible. If they traveled by airship, most pests wouldn’t even dare attempt an attack.

Unless they had flight blessings, magic, or airships of their own.

However, there was one fatal flaw in Anagin’s plan. That was…

“You don’t have an airship.”

“Your master does. Ask him to lend it.”

“You crazy bastard.”

At that utterly ridiculous suggestion, Tramachus finally snapped and let loose a stream of curses.

“Hey, that’s a bit harsh.”

“Ha, harsh? What you said is what’s harsh! Do you think an airship is something you can just lend out if someone asks?”

Even among the Kingdoms of Hellas, only a handful possessed airships. It wasn’t something you could just borrow.

And yet, Anagin remained unconvinced. If anything, he complained.

“Fine, then. I’ll just get my own airship someday.”

“Do whatever you want. Just come up with another plan.”

Though Tramachus replied irritably, Anagin didn’t take offense and instead began thinking seriously.

“Hmm, then I’ll assume fighting is inevitable and plan around that. We move through terrain where we have the advantage, and make it so the attackers can’t rush in carelessly because they’re busy keeping each other in check. Something like that.”

It was still abstract.

Even so, seeing Anagin take things seriously, everyone looked at him a bit differently.

“What?”

“You suddenly seem motivated. Is there a reason?”

“Nothing special. I just heard there are people targeting me, so I want to do well. Thinking about how I’m going to crush those bastards.”

“Crazy bastard.”

Everyone shook their heads at such a very Anagin-like reason.

Still, part of them felt anticipation.

After all, this was Anagin—the one who had acted however he pleased even in a royal palace, defeated Hippomenes, and saved Atalanta from being forced into marriage.

They were honestly curious what would happen if someone like him truly set his mind to it.

Perhaps the reason Tramachus, Thyreos, and Lynceus had decided to help Anagin take the Coins of Greed wasn’t just for their training, but also to satisfy this curiosity.

Regardless, Anagin sank into thought, forming plans, discarding them, and gradually shaping them into something more concrete.

As time passed and they were about to wrap things up for the day—

Anagin noticed Kori and Pais, the siblings, who looked like they had something to say.

“So, got something to say?”

Anagin asked.

Kori and Pais answered at the same time.

“We have a request.”

“We have a request.”

“No. Go back. I’m not taking you with me.”

Having a rough idea, Anagin rejected them outright.

However, unusually, his prediction was off.

“That’s not it. We want to ask for something else.”

“Something else?”

At the unexpected response, Anagin frowned.

He thought they would ask to come along again…

“What is it?”

“We’re sorry, but… please help us officially enter the Chiron Tower.”