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–––Ciel’s viewpoint

Having gotten in contact with the Thieves’ guild, we no longer had a reason to loiter around the capital aimlessly. We thought of doing our own independent investigation around Stied’s nobles, but we did not really know how or what to look for. It was best to leave the experts to do their job, and just patiently wait for them to bring their findings to us.

After we hired that man from the Thieves’ guild, later on we learned he was called Gordo, no one stopped us or spoke up to us in the inn the next day, everything seemed normal. The men we had an altercation with also refused to look our way. I guess that was the authority of the Thieves’ guild around there… or they were simply scared of us.

“Hey, I’ve noticed not a single guard has passed near this inn since we arrived. Do they not patrol these areas?”

One morning I spoke to the owner while I ate, he was busy washing dishes, and replied with a rough voice.

“Guards never really pass around here. They know it’s not the best place to be for them, and the guild is paying off their current commander anyway. That’s why guards never really drop by the slums.”

That made sense. The bribed commander aside, guards and soldiers usually only acted on orders, and they would do nothing unless they had a clear arrest warrant. That worked in our favor, though I also felt disappointed in the way the city essentially gave up on keeping order. Though that also gave us the possibility to walk around without worry.

I had gotten quite acquainted with the slums after we decided to stay in that inn. Before I never really was in contact with those areas of the city, they seemed almost like a foreign world. But being so close and experiencing life here for myself made me think about all sorts of things.

First I noticed there were many vagrants and orphans who I never noticed in the large streets of the city. Most of them were thin and starved, sometimes not eating for entire days. They wore rags that could hardly be called clothes, and it was nearly impossible to find one wearing shoes. On top of that, there was no well around here, so they were not in the habit of cleaning themselves which made them stink horribly. Whenever we passed next to them, they would turn their sad eyes, like a dead fish’s, raising their scrawny hands and silently begging for something, which was almost scary to witness.

But as I watched them I began to notice some odd things. They were basically at the bottom of society’s ladder, lacking essentially everything. In a way they were living corpses. If they could not get any food in a day, they would starve to death, if they got something, someone stronger would take it away from them, leaving them to die too. But somehow they were all still alive. I tried asking the inn owner about that when I got back, and he scowled as he replied.

“The guild distributes rations for them. Though we don’t have enough to feed them three meals a day, so it’s just one time a day.”
“That’s surprising. I never imagined the Thieves’ guild would do charity work.”

Seeing me react so surprised hearing that, he snorted as if making fun of me.

“Are you crazy? We just maintain them in case there’s someone useful who could join us. Who cares if the rest starves.”
“Huh? But where are the bodies-”
“A corpse still has its uses. They’re perfect to experiment with necromancy, or to test the edge of a new sword. Dead bodies without relatives who make a fuss can be used for whatever you want. I heard they sell pretty well too.”

For a moment I had earned some respect for the Thieves guild, but I lost all of it instantly. They really were a cesspool of degenerates. I hated that I was working with them, but we really had no other recourse. I drank a glass of water to wash off my anger, and saw one of the guild’s members arrive, Gordo.

“Excuse me.”

He did not seem to care about my bad mood, sitting right next to me without asking for permission. The owner handed him a cup, which he emptied instantly.

“Alright ladies. Sorry for the long wait, but I have good news. We’ve tapped into Prince Magna’s whereabouts.”
“”?!””

Karin and I stood up in excitement, but Gordo waved his hand telling us to calm down.

“Listen, it’s not like we’ve contacted him directly, it’s still not verified information. But the chances are high. Do you still want to hear it?”
“Of course, that’s why we hired you. But if it’s not accurate information you’ll have to search again.”
“I see. Let’s talk then.”

He seemed in a good mood after the drink he had. Gordo took out a note from his pocket, which listed everything he had found out, and he began speaking.

A week had passed since we first hired him to find Prince Magna. Apparently he went straight to the higher ups of the guild, mobilizing everyone to search. The Thieves’ guild information network was vast and covered basically the entire country, but the ones who worked the hardest were the ones closest to the capital and the surrounding areas.

They would have needed way more people if they wanted every province searched as thoroughly after all, and it was easier to watch who came and went from those places anyway. Not to mention that there had been no sightings of Prince Magna after the attack, so the guild had reasons to believe he was still in the capital or nearby.

The members of the guild were extremely varied, from cutthroat bandits like Gordo, to workers at food stalls, traveling merchants, and even vagrants on the street. Thanks to that, they could investigate from the strongest fortress to the humblest of homes. There were many nobles living in the capital, so they started by investigating if there was any mansion that had changed its routine lately.

“We found there’s one noble family pretending to be part of Stied’s group, but they’ve been acting odd.”
“Odd? Because Prince Magna was seen inside the mansion?”
“No, the opposite. We couldn’t see anything, or rather there was no one in the guild who could get inside.”

In other words, that mansion’s security was unusually high. The guild could infiltrate even the royal palace, but they were unable to check that mansion. It was easy to conclude they were hiding something or someone they did not want anyone to see.

“We concluded that that place looked extremely fishy, so we began investigating the trash that came out from there, to see if there was a difference in their food consumption compared to before. And here’s the kicker, ever since the coup happened, they’re consuming more food and there’s more general trash coming out. If he and some of his knights are hiding in there, that could easily make up for that increase.”

“You used such a method to conclude that? That’s incredible.”
(She’s right. That really is an incredible feat…)

Karin sounded thoroughly impressed. I did not say anything, but I shared that sense of wonder. The difference numbers can make truly is incredible. I doubt even someone known for being smart like Prince Magna would have ever thought of such a method.

“So, who’s the owner of that mansion?”
“Oh right, he’s Marques Bilargo. He’s a core member of Stied’s group, he was only recently instituted as a noble, though he’s been going up the ladder quite quickly. I always thought he was a bootlicker who basically bought his position from Stied… But who would’ve thought he’d be the traitor protecting Prince Magna.”
“But he did nothing to stop the surprise attack, did he? Would Prince Magna really trust him with his life?”
“You’re not exactly right there. Prince Magna’s death was never confirmed. In other words, someone must have warned him of the attack, giving him enough time to prepare an escape.”
“Yeah…you have a point.”

Karin did not seem fully convinced, crossing her arms and frowning deep in thought. I really wanted to be on the same side as Karin, but I had no choice but to agree with Gordo’s assessment. Even if Bilargo is working as a double agent for Magna, it was hard to imagine he had the influence to stop the coup. He was already a core member of Stied’s group, making his position all the more precarious, and all things said a spy’s duty is merely to leak information. When the attack happened, rather than coming out as a traitor, it was best to remain in the enemy’s ranks and work in secret to overturn the situation in the future.

“Anyway, that’s about everything we got. Anything more than this will be too difficult for us. If we try sneaking in carelessly we’ll get killed without mercy. That’s your job.”

His eyes seemed to ask what we would do. We finally had something we could do, so we had no option but to take it. There was no need to question our decision.

“We’ll sneak in, obviously. As silently as possible.”
“Though I have a feeling we’ll need to use force in the end…”

Even if we tried announcing we were Luvias’ friends, it was unlikely they would take us to him. It was very likely we would need to fight our way in.

“I see. I’ll be praying for your success then. And if you actually find Prince Magna inside-”
“I know, we’ll pay you. Either Prince Magna, or our employer will.”

He seemed relieved hearing that, and then he grinned. We quickly finished our breakfast, double checked our outfits, and walked out of the inn. No one knew what would happen, but we would try getting inside Bilargo’s mansion.