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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Red Falcon
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“Fermented herring? Is that any good?”
Leon asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Hmm, it sounds gross. Do you really have to eat that, Lilis?”
“Yeah, that’s what I came here to eat….”
I feigned a sullen look as Theo tried to talk me out of it.
It was a typical conversation between noble children, but the woman was listening intently, not missing a single word.
She must have figured it out from our conversation.
The twins didn't know the true nature of this information guild, and the one with business here was the little girl.
Having quickly assessed the situation, the woman offered an apologetic smile.
“We don’t normally serve that menu, but if the customer desires, I can have it made for you.”
“Oh, really? Please make it for me!”
“Lilis, I told you not to use such formal language.”
“Leave her alone, you idiot.”
While the twins chattered away, the woman and I communicated with our eyes.
“Do you perhaps have a specific recipe you’d like us to follow?”
“Yes. Should I come and show you in person?”
“If it wouldn’t be an imposition.”
I slid down from my chair.
“Brothers, wait here for a moment. I’m just gonna pop into the kitchen, ‘kay?”
“Her taste in everything, from her hobbies to her food, is so weird.”
“Lilis, should I go with you?”
As Theo made to follow me, I pinched my nose.
“Ew. The herring smell is super strong…. You sure you’ll be okay, brother?”
“Ah…”
As expected of a born-and-bred noble, Theo hesitated.
“Heehee, the kitchen’s right over there. I can just hold this lady’s hand. I’ll be right back. Just wait a little bit.”
“Oh, okay. Alright.”
Leaving a reassured Theo at the table, I followed the woman’s lead.
She guided me straight to a semi-basement area connected to the kitchen. The scene was completely different from the restaurant.
“Rico, we have a visitor.”
A single, solitary door.
After a few moments of silence, a low voice came from within.
“…Let her in.”
The woman opened the door for me.
A couple of candles illuminated the dark interior, where the guild master, ‘Rico,’ sat in the center.
*Click.*
The woman let me in, then closed the door and disappeared.
*Ugh. This atmosphere is scary.*
I slowly approached Rico.
Just as described in the original novel, Rico wore a bizarre, black pierrot mask.
Rico, the master of the information guild , a man who despised ability users, nobles, and the Imperial family with a passion.
There was nothing about the capital that Rico didn't know.
He was also a man who risked his life to collect information that could become a ‘weakness’ for the nobility.
*And he’s the one who will become my dad’s loyal ally. Though that’s still a few years from now.*
When Dad began preparing for his rebellion, he learned of this information guild and sought out Rico.
The only reason I could demand a trade was because I was following the same method Dad used in the novel to find this place.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes, thank you.”
After greeting him, I placed my hands on the slightly high sofa and struggled to climb onto it.
Then, I took a deep breath.
“Phew. Just a moment. I’m a little nervous.”
“……”
Rico was observing me. The air was thick with scrutiny.
“How did you find this place?”
“Huh? You’re curious about that?”
I scratched my cheek.
“I could tell you, but…”
Rule number one of a trade.
To purchase information, one must pay the price.
Not with money, but with ‘information’ of equal value to what is sought.
“If you’re curious, you’ll have to give me a useful piece of information first, right?”
Didn’t that rule apply to him as well?
He couldn’t just ask for free.
“Ah.”
Rico let out a small sound. I could sense a hint of surprise from beneath the mask.
Soon, he spoke in a voice tinged with amusement.
“Now that you mention it, you’re right. Never mind. I’m not curious enough to pay the price. Let’s get to the point, then.”
Rico crossed his legs and folded his hands on top of them.
“I require payment upfront. If there is information you need, provide the payment for the trade first.”
He was telling me to offer up something useful.
I cleared my throat and spoke.
“Hmm, what would be good…. Ah! I heard Duke Enoch Rubinstein, who disappeared seven years ago, has returned to the capital! Did you know that?”
“I am aware.”
“Aha, you know. Then something else! I’m his daughter. Seven years old, name’s Lilis Rubinstein!”
“I am aware of that as well.”
“Ooh. You know that, too.”
“Did you come here to play games?”
“Nope, nope.”
I waved my hands and said.
“Actually, I didn’t come here to buy information. I came to ask for a favor! As for information, I already know everything worth knowing. Hmm, for example…”
“……”
“…the fact that Marquis Onyx has a hidden son?”
“……!”
“Ahaha! You’re totally surprised right now, aren’t you! This is some pretty high-grade intel, wouldn’t you say~?”
I made finger guns and feigned a playful shot, which made Rico let out a dry laugh.
“Yes, I am completely surprised. I’m incredibly curious how the seven-year-old daughter of Duke Rubinstein, who lived her whole life in Zenon without knowing her own status and only arrived in the capital four days ago, knows such a thing, and for what purpose she has sought me out.”
“Gasp.”
“Well, I did hear that the Master of the Magic Tower himself paid a visit to confirm your talent, calling you a prodigy.”
“No, whoa.”
Good heavens…
Rico really did know everything. I was once again struck with chills by his information-gathering skills.
“Mr. Rico-Rico!”
“…Hmph, yes.”
“I want to save that boy!”
“……”
Rico fell silent for a moment at my words.
With that one statement—that I wanted to save him—he must have realized.
That I knew everything… about the existence of Marquis Onyx’s secretly hidden illegitimate son, and the fact that this child was being abused.
“About that secret I just mentioned about the Marquis, please pass it on anonymously to someone who can save his son!”
“Aha, so you needed a messenger. To whom shall I deliver it?”
“My dad.”
“Pardon? Your dad, as in Duke Enoch Rubinstein?”
“Yes. Right now, all Dad knows is the boy’s face, so it’ll take him some time to find him. Dad just came back to the capital after a long time… so he doesn’t know his way around here yet.”
I folded my fingers one by one as I added.
“On top of that, he has family matters to attend to, and he has to return to the knight order soon…. He’s a very busy person.”
“Hmm, I simply don’t understand. It’s unlikely a seven-year-old child would have come to find me alone, so I naturally assumed it was on the Duke’s orders.”
Rico tilted his head, as if he couldn’t comprehend it.
“No. I came alone. Dad doesn’t know anything.”
“Well, I suppose so. You wouldn't be asking me to deliver the information anonymously if he already knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why not just tell him yourself?”
“Because then I’d have to tell Dad how I know such things.”
I sighed and added.
“I have a lot more things I’ll need to secretly tell Dad like this in the future.”
“Aha… It seems the young lady has a secret of her own. One you can’t speak of carelessly, one you wish to hide even from your father.”
“Ding, ding, ding!”
“Well, in that case, I understand why you’ve come to me. You want to use me as a messenger to leak information to the Duke—is that it?”
“Yes! If I tell him directly…”
“You’ll seem suspicious.”
Rico finished my sentence and fell silent.
No, to be precise, he was likely observing me from behind the mask, with eyes I couldn’t see.
It must be astonishing enough that I knew of the information guild’s existence and how to trade with them…
But it must be even more shocking that a seven-year-old child realistically had no way of knowing Marquis Onyx’s secret, yet I did.
“You seem to have a lot of questions…”
“Yes. I have a mountain of things I’d like to ask, but the rules I’ve set for myself prevent me from asking on an empty stomach.”
“Right!”
A faint smile touched Rico’s lips as he leaned back leisurely against the sofa and added.
“Marquis Onyx had an affair with a family maid twelve years ago. When the maid found out she was pregnant, she ran away. Because.”
Rico paused for a moment.
He seemed to be choosing his words to be less shocking for a seven-year-old.
“…nobles try not to create illegitimate children.”
Meaning, she ran away before they could kill her.
“Anyway, she gave birth to the Marquis’s illegitimate son and raised him alone, but six months ago, she sent only the child to the Marquis’s estate. His name is Chessier.”
I was amazed at how easily the words flowed from Rico’s mouth.
Truly a resourceful guild master…
“He is being raised in confinement, hidden from everyone so as not to tarnish the family’s reputation, and is being abused by his half-brother. That is all.”
“Wow.”
*Clap, clap, clap…*
I clapped my hands in admiration.
“Shall I deliver this to Duke Enoch Rubinstein?”
“Yes! That’s more than enough!”
“Very well, then.”
Rico sat up straight and leaned his upper body closer to me.
“In exchange for delivering this to the Duke, I want to know about you. What is your true identity, young lady? This is beyond the level of a mere prodigy.”
“Ummm.”
I shook my head firmly.
“That’s not a fair trade at all. You want to know my secret in exchange for delivering one anonymous message? You’ve seriously underestimated me.”
“…Pardon?”
“A man of your stature trying to pull a fast one on a little kid, that’s just too much. It’s not like this is your first day in business.”
“…Ha, hahaha…!”
After a moment of stunned silence, Rico burst into hearty laughter.
“My secret is very expensive. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get too curious…. Instead! I brought a gift, as a sign that we’ll be doing business together from now on.”
As I spoke, I rummaged through my bunny bag.
“My apologies, but I only trade in information. I know you’re the daughter of a wealthy family, but my circumstances are not so dire that I’d be swayed by a few gold coins.”
“It’s not money. I told you, I know everything. I know you’ve already made a lot of money, Mr. Rico.”
In truth… my purpose for coming here today wasn’t just to inform my dad about Chessier’s situation.
“What is that?”
Rico.
The information guild master who despised nobles.
His mother passed away when he was young, and his younger sister was afflicted by a wicked addiction magic.
It was all due to the tyranny of nobles who were ability users.
“A gift!”
I plopped a cloth bundle down on the table and, with the sly grin of a drug dealer, said.
“Now, sir. Why don’t you open it? I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
