The next day, early morning.
Rudell and the party were walking down a foggy path.
“It’s morning, but there are so many people.”
“Same goes for Prucelium.”
It was quite early, but numerous people were bustling about in the fog.
The scene was not much different from the kingdom’s capital, Prucelium.
Yawn “Haaam… I’m so sleepy…”
With a long yawn, Leje wiped the tears from her eyes.
As it usually goes with exhaustion, a day or two of rest wouldn’t easily fix it.
“Should I massage your shoulders?”
“If you do, I wouldn’t mind.”
Leje nodded at Rudell’s question as he moved to stand behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Her shoulders were as hard as stone, possibly due to the tension built up in her muscles.
“Your muscles are really tense, I think I’ll need to press harder.”
“Really? Then please… Ah!?”
As Rudell applied pressure, a strange groan escaped Leje.
At that moment, the eyes of those around them turned to the two.
“Maybe I should do it later…”
“That sounds better…”
An awkward silence enveloped them.
With embarrassed voices, they stared off into the distance as if nothing happened.
After how long had they been walking?
“This way is the alley.”
Following the map, they headed towards a secluded alley.
A musty smell characteristic of damp alleys wafted around them…
“How much farther do we have to go?”
“I think it’s somewhere around here…”
In response to Leje’s question, Rudell examined the map he received from Aitri.
If the map was correct, their meeting point was nearby.
After wandering for a few more minutes, a building appeared before them.
“Devil’s Pub. Finally found it.”
A run-down tavern that could be found anywhere.
On the worn-out sign was a comically drawn devil pouring a drink into its own mouth.
“Why do they love taverns so much, even in the Royal Road?”
“Well… there’s probably a reason.”
Recalling her encounter with Jade in Prucelium, Leje tilted her head.
In response, Rudell let out an awkward laugh.
“For example?”
“Like getting information easily?”
There were various reasons for using pubs as a hideout, but the main advantage was certainly the ease of obtaining information.
When liquor is involved, people’s tongues tend to loosen.
While at a tavern, all sorts of rumors and information were bound to come flowing in.
“That makes sense.”
“Let’s save the chit-chat for later, let’s go in quickly.”
As the base for royal spies, it was better not to draw attention from others, so Rudell and the party hurried inside.
As they entered the tavern…
“It looks just like the kingdom.”
Looking at the ordinary tavern interior, Leje remarked.
Rudell approached the counter with a slight smile and handed the bartender a gold coin stamped with the royal seal.
“What would you like to order?”
“Forget the order, could you give us a room? Downstairs, please.”
“We don’t have a basement in our pub.”
Of course, this was just a passphrase for their meeting.
The bartender retrieved a key from below the counter and gestured for them to follow as Rudell and the party complied.
They descended through the door of a storage room, tucked away from sight.
Creak. With the sound of the door closing, they moved along the storage filled with all sorts of alcohol.
After walking for a while…
“Let’s stop here for a moment.”
At the bartender’s words, Rudell and the group halted.
The bartender approached the wall and carefully touched some bricks.
With each brick he pressed, there was a clack sound as it sank into the wall…
“It’s a trap mechanism. If you touch it wrong, poisoned darts will shoot out.”
“Yikes…”
At the mention of traps, Silphier let out a groan, and just then, with a heavy sound, the wall opened sideways.
Before them was a small room revealed.
A small space reminiscent of secret meeting spots from movies.
A large round table was set up, with candles flickering dimly to illuminate the surroundings.
“Wait here.”
“Um…”
The bartender politely bowed his head as Rudell and the group entered and took their seats at the table.
The dim light in the room created an atmosphere as if they had become members of a secret society.
Ten minutes passed…
Twenty minutes…
Nearly thirty minutes had gone by…
“It’s late! If you asked someone to come, you should be here on time!”
“Well… they might have their reasons.”
Looking at Leje’s disgruntled voice, Rudell chuckled awkwardly.
They were labeled as spies, but they were practically spies.
Like spies operating in foreign lands, it wasn’t unusual for something unexpected to happen.
Just then…
“Sorry for making you wait. I had an urgent matter arise…”
The passage they entered opened, and a familiar man walked in.
An agent from the kingdom’s intelligence department. It was Aitri.
“You’re late!”
“Sorry… something unexpected came up.”
“Is it related to this matter?”
“That’s… I can’t say for sure yet.”
In response to Rudell’s question, Aitri sighed briefly and took a seat.
“As you all may know, not too long ago in this area of Pensburg, a level 1 suspect… known as Kentric was discovered.”
As he spoke, Aitri pulled out a few photos from his pocket.
The black-and-white photos showed the mad scientist from the church that Rudell and Kurt encountered in the kingdom’s underground.
It showed Kentric’s face.
“…”
“When was this photo taken?”
“About two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks…”
In truth, that was long enough for him to have left the Empire by now without it being strange.
“Was there any sighting information after that?”
“None.”
“Hmm…”
Rudell let out a low groan in response to Aitri nodding.
When considered logically, the likelihood of him still being here was slim.
However, based on prior experiences, there was also a strong possibility he might still be in this area.
How should one decide in such a situation…
While Rudell was deep in thought about the plan ahead, Leje stood up and shouted.
“What are you thinking so complicatedly for?”
“Leje?”
She exclaimed while looking at Rudell.
Taken aback by her reaction, Rudell raised an eyebrow.
Did she have some clever idea?
“Aitri, do we have any identification for other church members besides Kentric?”
“There are a few identified. Why are you asking?”
“Can we get a list of those people and their locations?”
“It’s not a difficult task, but…”
In response to Leje’s request, Aitri nodded to the attendant waiting outside, who then stepped away.
“What on earth are you doing…”
As Rudell lowly groaned at the unfolding scene, Leje smiled at him.
“Kentric being sighted here means there are church folks around too, right?”
“Um… That would be the case?”
Kentric was a high-ranking member of the church.
Since the church was publicly recognized among various churches of the continental deities, his movements would be limited.
If he was casually walking around the streets, it meant that the church’s influence had already established itself to some degree in Pensburg.
“So, shouldn’t we just grab someone and beat them up until something comes out?”
“Huh?”
Rudell couldn’t hide his astonishment at her suggestion.
To just grab potential church members who could belong to the Empire and interrogate them?
In the middle of the Empire’s capital?
“Um… This isn’t the kingdom, you know…”
“I know that much too. But what’s the problem with that?”
“There are a lot of problems! This isn’t the kingdom; it’s the Empire! If we cause a diplomatic incident, what are we supposed to do!?”
The kingdom had gained independence from the Empire, so the Empire viewed the kingdom as former slaves.
From the Empire’s standpoint, they were traitors who dared to break free.
In the current age, there might be many private exchanges, but from a national perspective, the relationship between the kingdom and the Empire was still one of animosity.
In such a situation, if nobles from the kingdom secretly caught an Empire citizen for interrogation?
If that fact got out, it wouldn’t be surprising if a war broke out.
“That’s not all; those folks are total fanatics. Even if you kill them, they won’t talk.”
Whatever they did, church followers were unwaveringly loyal to their church.
In that situation, it was unreasonable to expect much from interrogating the followers for information.
“So what are we supposed to do? Just sit on our hands?”
“That’s why I’m trying to devise a plan.”
“Hmm…”
Rudell and Leje were in a back-and-forth argument.
While Kurt and Eleor were observing the two bickering and letting out groans, Silphier cautiously raised her hand.
“Um, um…”
“…?”
“Yikes…!!”
The one who had silently observed the situation, Silphier, tentatively raised her hand.
All eyes in the room turned to her, and from her lips came another groan.
But, just for a moment…
“I… I think I might be able to do something…”
With a face that looked like she could burst into tears any second, she spoke up.
