Chapter 125: Investigation
Eren walked back into the luxurious restaurant, pulling the tie of his little ponytail and shaking his head.
He was frustrated. Entirely pissed off.
All he accomplished just now was busting into an independent smuggler den, interrogating an old man, and retrieving only two girls of The Substance. He left the rest of the case for the guest who would arrive at the location in two minutes, she would take care of the rest of the things.
But...
He still didn’t know if this thing was exposed to the purple-haired girl. Violet wasn’t the type who would trust anyone easily, not even Alice. So even if he asked her if she got any suspicious potion to suppress her curse, she might not give him an honest answer.
He sighed, running his hand through his hair to comb it back. "The Royal Academy Carnival is in three months. I need to cut it down before the disaster even begins,"
His head fuming with so many thoughts running through his mind... right up until he opened the heavy mahogany door of the VIP suite.
The second he saw them, the noise in his head calmed,
Inside, the three beauties sat together around the VIP table, chatting animatedly and laughing like lifelong friends. They were having refreshments after completely obliterating their high-course meal.
The moment Emma noticed him, her eyes lit up. "Oh, the idiot is finally back in action."
Norelia took a sip of her juice, giving a dry look. "That was quite an extraordinary washroom break, Eren. Should we be concerned for your health?"
Mira leaned forward with her massive bust bouncing, giving him a suspicious, lewd little smirk. "Or maybe...the young master was taking care of a very specific, urgent problem all by himself in the stall~?"
"Ah. I apologise. I had to wage a solo war against something back there," Eren chuckled, brushing off the accusations without a shame.
He walked to the table and paused right beside his busty red-haired sugarbaby. Gently cupping her soft jaw, he wiped a smear of dessert from the corner of her plump, red lips with his handkerchief.
"Ah!—Ehh~!" Mira let out a surprised, soft whimper noise at his sudden care, her green eyes widening and her face already bright.
Eren dropped back into his soft chair, leaning back with a smirk as he rested his head on his palm, looking at three lifelines of his fuking chaotic mess. "Alright... so who won the grand competition? Who gets the unrestricted, one-day pass to use their boyfriend however they want?"
The muscle mommy, the petite genius, and the busty maid all slowly turned their heads towards each other, giving a suspicious synchronised nod of unspoken agreement they made while he was away.
"About that, my dear Eren..." Norelia started, her tone suddenly mischievous and her eyes burning with unholy promise.
Eren’s smile froze slightly.
’Yep. That tone. That’s the ’we decided something while you were gone and you’re not going to like how much you’re going to enjoy it’ tone. I’m in danger.’
***
Meanwhile, back at the quiet apothecary shop...
Seraphina’s red eyes narrowed as he looked at the underground steps. She was hooded, came to the place just like Eren said a few days ago. She turned to her elite swordmaster knight standing beside her. "Do you sense any ominous signatures from below?"
"None, Your Highness," the swordmaster in civilian dress reported.
Seraphina let out a quiet sigh. In truth, she still couldn’t bring herself to fully trust Eren. The man was an absolute wild card, whom she couldn’t trust in this dirty politics. But he was currently her only solid lead on the supply line.
"We move down," Seraphina commanded, stepping onto stairs that looked like they led straight into hell. Her elite squad followed close behind. But the moment Seraphina reached the final step, her entire team froze in their tracks.
Even Seraphina’s composure cracked completely, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the massive iron vault door had been destroyed. It looked like it had been repeatedly punched through and warped outward, as an enraged, mythical beast had casually torn its way out of a cage with bare hands.
"What in the absolute hell happened here...?" one of her veteran knights muttered under his breath.
Seraphina stepped through the shattered doorway, scanning the room. She found more than twenty mercenaries, all groaning, weeping, and thrashing in pathetic agony. Some were completely unconscious; others were clutching limbs and broken ribs.
"Did... did he really do all of this completely by himself?" Seraphina whispered to herself in genuine awe.
"What did you say, Your Highness?" her female knight asked.
"Nothing," Seraphina replied instantly, snapping back into her commanding persona. She gestured at the writhing men on the floor. "Secure every single one in this room. Transport them directly to my private facility. Ensure no official imperial records reports are filed regarding this raid."
"At once, Princess!" Her knights dispersed immediately, rounding up the broken criminals.
Seraphina walked past the carnage to the solitary desk resting at the far end of the room. Resting right in the center of the desk was an open wooden crate containing rows of vials and sitting right beside it was a tiny piece of paper.
Curious, the white-haired princess picked up the note, unfolded it, and read it.
’Taking two samples for my personal research. Thanks for letting me take charge of the heavy lifting!
Yours truly, your E.V ;)’
((=^・^=))
Seraphina stared at the horribly drawn doodle of a cute cat face for a long moment before letting out an exasperated sigh, her lips twitching upward into a reluctant, amused smile.
"How in the world did Aria manage to fall for an idiot like him...?" Seraphina muttered under her breath, folding the note and tucking it into her cloak.
"He really is... dangerously weird."
__
An hour later, the shop was completely sealed off by masked, elite guards in nondescript private armor while Seraphina was standing under the shade of a neighboring textile shop, she was in her disguise while her female knight handed her a list.
"Your Highness, this is the complete manifest of the seized compounds, illegal goods, and weapons recovered from the warehouse."
"What about the customer records? Did we recover any ledgers, transaction receipts, or buyer identities?"
"Nothing so far, ma’am," the knight admitted with a light grimace. "They’re running a network from behind the scenes operated strictly anonymously. There isn’t a single name written down."
Seraphina sighed in frustration, her white brows furrowing. "Of course. Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to me... Fine. We’ll have to squeeze things from the thugs once they wake up."
The female knight hesitated for a moment before curiosity got the better of her. "Forgive my presumption, Your Highness, but... how did you manage to get the location in the first place? This smuggling business is even hidden from royal intelligence."
Seraphina casually waved her hand. "A certain arrogant idiot casually dropped the address..."
Her voice suddenly trailed off as her red eyes spotted a guy in the street surrounded by three girls.
__________
{Images of three girls in date outfit}