To find Sheila's whereabouts, Quena was hitting on an informant.
A city away from the capital of the king of Kuzela.
Compared to the capital, it feels small, but it is the second largest city in Kuzela.
Deeper darkness in the back alley of such a place.
There was a dirty place partitioned with cloth.
Quena enters there.
I'm looking for someone.
There was a girl with glossy gray hair inside.
Um, it's not Quenna-san, is it?
"It's been a long time, Ek."
The two have known each other for several years.
It was a good information shop for Quena, and even though it was a distance from the King's City, it was enough to go there if there was any necessary information.
Is that Sheila-san you're looking for?
“Yeah, I could use a sighting.”
It's a little expensive, isn't it?
Are you buying expensive?
You can rely on Ek's information.
If it had been purchased, Quena would not have spared it.
"I'll buy it." But I don't know much about it. In addition to that, it looks like you're being silenced, so why is it so strict inside? "
So, how much is it?
"Kongeku"
Ecu raises three fingers.
I even added a wink to say I'm sorry.
"Thirty silver coins?"
Nhah, three gold coins.
Pretty expensive.
It is an extraordinary price for the usual information fee.
Moreover, ambiguous sightings would be the main reason for looking for someone who would otherwise be of great value.
As Eckhart adds.
“There are two organizations looking for Sheila. One is the Knights of the Holy Republic and the other is the True Aztecs."
"You're trying to get information everywhere."
Ugh. Why do you think the three gold coins include a silence fee?
I don't think that Eku really cracked his mouth about the person who told him the information. Quena was sure of that.
But Quena has another point of concern.
"Did you give this information to anyone?"
"What about the sightings of Sheila?" No, not yet. "
Then don't sell this information to anyone.
”Nh, you want to monopolize it?”
Yeah.
Quena's words silenced Eku for a moment.
Then he laughed.
Well then, it's going to be thirty gold coins.
"... okay, but I only brought twenty, so I can't give you ten at a different time?"
"Normally, it's no good." But Ms. Quena is a guest, and I can trust her. It's special, isn't it? "
"Thank you."
Quena takes the linen out of her pocket and hands it to her.
Twenty gold coins that had been packed in advance were placed heavily on the desk and bumped into each other.
Every time.
Ek put the linen into his pocket without checking.
Then I looked towards Quena.
"By the way, why are you trying so hard to find out about Sheila?" Monopolizing means you want to find it before anyone else. Moreover, it means that there is only a return to paying for it. "
You don't have to worry about that.
Quena slashed at Ek's question.
It was to avoid unnecessary prying eyes.
"I'm sorry, it's just the informant."
Ehehe, Ek lightly lowers his head.
So, where's Sheila?
"Wait a minute."
Ecu takes out the cloth bag.
It is bound by several strings.
Each piece of string had its own characteristics.
Some are extremely long or short, with colors such as red and blue assigned to them, or knots that are different… Few will see that it's a magic item that acts as a cryptogram to keep information secure.
After Ecu touched each string in a complicated way, he took a piece of paper out of the sackcloth.
It is a map depicting the whole continent.
However, it didn't have any particular landmarks. In times of war, detailed maps were priceless, but now they're just one of the more common ones.
Now, it's easy to spray magic powder on this map.
Ecu takes four jars out of the sackcloth.
Then, first, I took out the blue powder into the palm of my hand and sprayed it on the map. Blue dots form in various places on the map.
Next, the yellow powder was taken out and sprayed according to the same procedure. This time, a yellow circle is formed that encloses some of the blue dots.
"This blue dot is Sheila's sighting." The yellow circle surrounding the blue dot is where the knights of the Holy Republic and the followers of the Asteans focused their listening. ”
I see. There's a lot of them around the Holy Republic.
Well, the next powder.
Ecu sprays black powder.
It was a date and a time slot.
What's this?
The time when Sheila appeared. I didn't write anything unknown, but I should know the approximate time. "
Metastasis is not something that can be done many times a day.
That's why the characteristics of Nerim's behavior pattern have been erased.
In some cases, the transferred Astea facility was destroyed, and in others, only one. And the latter is coming back and crushing at a later date.
He was moving to avoid fully understanding the movement.
”Huh... but if it's just this, it's difficult.”
That's right. I'll spray the red powder at the end.
The red dot does not overlap with blue or yellow, and refers to steep places such as mountain ranges and underground caves.
What's this?
Sheila-san's possible base location.
"... Isn't that too much?"
Eckhart's example is worth believing in, no matter how “likely” it is.
However, there were more than ten candidates for it.
And all of them are in dangerous territory.
If we were to search for everything, Quenna's effort would be endless.
Eckhardt nodded about it.
"No, it's true, but according to the information, Sheila is using metastases." Then I want you to praise me just by narrowing down the location of my base to this point. "
……
Quena twisted her neck with her arms together.
Think with full mobilization of the experience so far.
(If you think only about base defense, you can set up a trap in the underground cave... but considering the magic power consumed by the transfer, you won't be able to distance yourself from the Holy Republic... It shouldn't take long to build a base in the first place)
Suddenly, I realized that I was thinking about it.
And then to Ek,
"Can I have this map?"
Ask.
If you think about it carefully, it would be out of place.
It's a quiet place, but this is a place for Eco to do business.
Yeah, go ahead.
More than I've already disclosed, it's information that could already spread out out of Ek's hands. Therefore, there is no problem if it is taken out as long as it is on the map. It was even more so if the information was proprietary to Quena.
Quena took out the map after confirming that Ek had accepted it lightly.
"Thank you. I'll be back."
Ahh, here you go again ~
Quena leaves the room, turning her back on Ek's voice.
◇
The Waila Empire.
In the heart of the Imperial Capital.
There was a giant castle where the Empress lived.
"--Hmm. After all, I don't know why Sheila ran away."
Luxuriously decorated room.
There were three shadows in a clean and tidy room where not even a single piece of dust was allowed.
One was Empress Ruina.
I was sitting on a sofa built exclusively for Luina by a master.
Behind them, the closest Yui was responsible for protecting Luina.
And it was a girl who was facing them.
”Ugh. I feel like I won't let you pry another word.”
I'm counting on you, aren't I?
"I'm sorry for my lack of strength."
"Fine. Quenna knew about the other informants, and you were the first one to jump." You are the one Quena believes in the most. ”
If you take Ruina's words honestly,
(It means there are other people who are breathing.)
That's what happens.
Although it was by no means moderate, it was clear that the opponent could not do anything against it.
That's because you lent me the Weira Empire's information network, too.
Ecu is not officially a serviceman.
It was just like Ruina's private army.
Yui used to do the same.
Even if you subtract it, it's excellent.
“The main thing is, I get bruised. I want to succeed Yui-san, but I don't have the strength to be a shadow unit. I will allow you to do this".
……
Even if praised, Yui doesn't make a fuss.
It was like a doll or a corpse.
Even a thoroughly erased presence evokes fear.
“Don't be modest. I'll be a few steps stronger than I was obliged to learn to fight in the Imperial Court.”
Well, I can do it alone, though.
Intelligence is a dangerous profession.
It's a business that's used up after buying information, and it's better to eliminate it if you consider the risk of leakage...
They were often attacked all of a sudden.
Of course there is a price for that.
"Oh, and that was for this year." I'll get it ready for you, so please pick it up when you get home. "
Thank you very much. The Waila Empire trembles because it pays well.
"Haha," says Ek with a laugh.
In fact, the amount that Ruina is giving to Ekku is not a chalet.
A one-year bounty on Ecu could feed a dozen families for the rest of their lives.
Young Eku may have no other way of making money than this business.
“Speaking of which, why would you bother to hand it over to a union or bank?”
"Thank you. I'm worried about numbers."
Hmm, I see. You must be careful.
"Well, that's what I'm saying." Information is such a fussy thing to use for business, and the things around it are certain. "
Hmm, that's interesting.
I know that it is safer to keep it and it is much easier to transfer it. But it was also a belief that Ek didn't want to change.
"There's one more thing I'd like to ask you, but is it okay?"
"I'll take the money for the information?"
"Ugh..."
Ekku's expression was blatantly harsh.
"I'm just kidding."
"It's easy to help..."
Ruina laughs with satisfaction at Eko, who played a series of plays.
So, what do you want to hear?
"Hey, why are you surrounding Quenna?"
I couldn't figure out why Ruina cared more about Quena than I did. That's all the good informants have to offer.
It would be advantageous to lend just that much to others.
Ecu knew that Queena was unusually hostile to Ruina.
But Ruina returned lightly.
It's just troublesome to be able to think of taking the reign now.
It symbolized an extremely simple but troublesome society of power.
There are few people with the same bloodline as Ruina anymore.
Not to mention that the "legitimate" lineage that retained the right to inherit the throne in the same period had nothing but Ruina and Quena.
Ruina said that Quenna could shake the Weylla Empire - at least to the point of dividing the country.
"Hmm, but I've given you an informant before." Shouldn't you have killed Quenna? "
Ecu was merely cold-hearted.
I don't hate it, and I want you to live if you're not an enemy.
However, after we have sorted out Ruina's story, we have pointed out that it is not a good idea to allow Quena to survive.
"Hey, hey, don't ask me questions."
Ruina expressed discomfort.
Besides, Eku bowed his head honestly.
"I'm sorry, but we can get rid of anything that gets in the way." Even in the Weira Empire's power struggle that happened once, Ruina-san "got rid of" it, right? "
Yui's murderous intent was felt by a vigilante like Eku.
I regretted and reflected in my heart that I had cut this far too much, but because I could not stop it, I could say that I had achieved so much as an information dealer.
"Well, that's right." If you want to get in the way, you better get rid of it. just..... "
Ruina looks up at the ceiling.
It's like seeing a distant past.
"He'll look like me. If we're gonna make sure he's really dead, we're gonna have to look him in the face, right? It's physiologically disgusting. That's why you're surrounded alive."
I see.
Ruina was a natural "Empress".
Be selfish and act like the world belongs to you.
For Ekku, even though he felt uncomfortable that the only material that would determine human life was the power struggle and his own feelings, it was not unnatural that Ruina cared most about her own feelings.