Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Whale Changes Dance Partners
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Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Sion had taken the lead with Schwartz the Administrator to meet with the local notables of Burgos, laying the groundwork for businesses targeting the adventurers—namely, the users—who would soon arrive.
Of course, to do it properly would require staying at least half a month longer, but with Schwartz the Administrator now fully in Sion's camp, his influence proved quite effective, smoothing everything out effortlessly.
The most crucial factor, however, was the sheer scale of the investment, which had even startled Schwartz himself, one of the local notables.
To Sion, it was pocket change, but to the Burgos locals, it was a substantial windfall—and since Sion didn't mind tossing around such small sums, it made everything possible.
Rather than waste time bickering over a few coins, Sion found it far more profitable to hand them out like charity and get things done quickly.
Moreover, with only the basic framework established and the actual work handled by Jenna Ollot and her Information Guild crew at the helm—they were now practically Sion's limbs—the investments proceeded even faster.
All that remained was for Jenna's appointed successor as branch chief to wrap things up and keep reporting progress.
Having thus finished his business in Burgos, Sion departed with his four companions in tow—unlike his solitary visit here seven years prior.
* * *
“Wasn't there some kind of request from the Burgos branch recently?”
The shield emblem of the Information Guild, depicting a horse and a pigeon, hung on either side of a woman whose eyes were covered by an eyepatch.
At the large desk beneath it, a man in his mid-40s, who had been poring over documents, lifted his weary, fatigued face.
A man around 30, holding a stack of files awaiting approval, answered.
“Yes. It seemed trivial, so I handled it at my discretion.”
“I see. What was it?”
“The Burgos branch chief wanted to step down. She requested a successor, so I told her to figure it out herself.”
“The Burgos branch chief? Oh, who was it again?”
“Ollot.”
“Ollot? Gabriel Ollot?”
“That was the previous chief. The current one is his daughter, Jenna Ollot.”
“Gabriel's dead? When?”
“It's been a few years. Headquarters even sent condolences.”
“Hmm, I see. He was a useful fellow.”
The middle-aged man, Stan—one of the Information Guild's vice-guildmasters—clicked his tongue in regret before continuing.
“How's the current chief? Decent? Why does she want to quit?”
“She's average. She kept sending transfer requests, and when they were denied, she probably decided to resign.”
“Transfer requests? How long has she been in Burgos?”
“She's been there about seven years, and it's been three since she took over as chief after her father died.”
“Hmm. At that point, couldn't we just transfer her somewhere else?”
“She followed her father around as the previous chief, but she became branch chief without proven abilities. Plus, moving her elsewhere would require adjusting her position, and I figured other branches wouldn't accept her.”
“Hm. True, Gabriel never stayed in one place long.”
Stan, who had been nodding, suddenly paused.
“Huh? Then why did he stick around Burgos for so long?”
He couldn't quite recall the last time he'd seen him, but Stan remembered that Gabriel Ollot rarely stayed in one area for over a year.
Gabriel had moved ceaselessly, sending reports by the year.
Of course, back when Gabriel was alive, Stan had been in field management, transitioning to headquarters mid-level, so he hadn't known the details of Gabriel's reports.
That was because Gabriel Ollot was one of the Information Guild's field managers with a special, high-autonomy role: a 'Scout.'
And Scouts' individual reports went only to the Council of Eight, the guild's uppermost echelon.
Composed of the active guildmaster, one vice-guildmaster, and six elders, the Council of Eight was one Stan hadn't yet joined.
It rarely convened and held little real power, so he didn't particularly regret it, but the fact that Gabriel Ollot—a Scout who reported exclusively to the Council—had stayed in one place for so long definitely piqued his interest.
“That's odd...”
“Isn't it because of the Dragon Wastelands near Burgos?”
“If that were the reason, we'd have kept the same personnel at Eltis Island or near the Northern Great Snow Mountains too. Doesn't she know branch chief terms are maxed at five years?”
“......”
Stan clicked his tongue briefly at his stone-faced subordinate and continued.
“We have to be fair with personnel. Besides, as Gabriel Ollot's child, she's been in the business since childhood, so it's not like she lacks experience. Send her wherever she wants.”
“I already notified her. Once a new Burgos chief is appointed...”
“That's that. The branch probably has fewer than ten people anyway. After seven years there with her father, she'd have promoted someone capable herself. Let her pick the new chief, and approve the transfer.”
“Yes......”
“Right. Anything else?”
“Oh, yes. There was an attached report too...”
“And?”
When Stan frowned at the man trailing off awkwardly, he shrugged and replied.
“It was either a joke or written drunk—total nonsense, so I discarded it.”
“......What?”
Stan's eyes narrowed.
He set down the document in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and said lowly.
“Hey, Jens.”
“Yes.”
“Since when do lowly info aggregators discard branch reports at their whim?”
“......I'm sorry. But it was really absurd nonsense.”
He didn't say something like, *She's got a grudge against me, so on her way out, she wrote that crap.*
Jens was arrogant and cocky, but not enough to provoke his direct superior.
“Sigh... Fine, let's say that's true. What did it say to make you call it drunk rambling or nonsense?”
“'The whale changes dance partners and returns to Dragon Palace.'”
“What? What kind of bullsh—...”
Stan nearly blurted out *bullshit*, then cleared his throat at Jens's *I told you so* expression.
“Ahem! That's all?”
“Yes. Just that one line. That's why I tossed it.”
“Ha...... Geez.”
Dumbfounded, Stan stroked his chin.
*'The whale changes dance partners? Returns to Dragon Palace?'*
What nonsense is this?
“Wait a sec.”
Stan narrowed his eyes.
As a vice-guildmaster of the Information Guild with over ten years in field management collecting intel, he knew about the special informants called 'Scouts,' including Gabriel Ollot.
He also knew that Scouts, who reported directly to the Council of Eight bypassing intermediates, used codes—unlike regular branches writing in plain language.
“What if... this is a code?”
“Yes? No way. A regular branch chief using codes on her own...”
“Are you an idiot? Jenna Ollot's father, Gabriel Ollot, was a Scout!”
“Y-Yes?”
Stan felt exasperated at Jens's wide-eyed shock, then realized.
“You didn't know? Well...”
Scout identities were Class 2 secrets in the Information Guild. Everyone knew they existed, but only high-ranking officials learned who they were—and even then, only those relevant to their duties.
Jens, soon to be promoted to chief aggregator but currently just one of a dozen Class 1 info aggregators, would know of Scouts but not their numbers or identities.
“If Jenna Ollot succeeded her father, she likely inherited his Scout status too.”
“No way... Could that happen without even you knowing, Vice-Guildmaster?”
“When did I become vice-guildmaster?”
“Yes? Ah......”
Stan had been vice-guildmaster for less than two years.
Meaning he hadn't been privy to matters about Gabriel, who had died even earlier.
He'd only just learned of Gabriel's death moments ago.
“Damn it!”
Cursing harshly, Stan shot up from his seat.
“Follow me.”
“Yes? Where to?”
At Jens's still-bewildered question, Stan bellowed unwittingly.
“Where else? To see the Guildmaster about that report you discarded! What if it's a real Scout code, you idiot? Just follow!”
Even after getting yelled at and cursed, Jens said nothing and scrambled after Stan.
* * *
“Um, Sir... no, Sir Seilun?”
As the only one among the group who knew Sion's true identity, Jenna barely swallowed the 'Your Grace' on the tip of her tongue and addressed him cautiously.
“Yeah. What?”
Pressing close to the black horse, Jenna whispered so the others wouldn't hear.
“I... I'm terribly sorry, but I didn't fully learn the code system from my father.”
“Hm. Well, he passed suddenly, so that makes sense. So?”
“Yes. I'm sorry, but we're heading to August Territory first, right? I don't know what to write for it in the report...... Truly sorry.”
“That happens. Let me see, August...”
Having lived long and gone through several dedicated informants, Sion was familiar enough with the Information Guild's code system.
He knew that his code name, once the Sixth Lion, had changed to Whale at some point—after the guild's top brass learned of his immortality.
Thus, he knew his Sion Dukedom was called Dragon Palace, the whale's hometown.
“'The whale rests briefly under the olive tree' should work.”
“Olive tree... you mean?”
“Yeah. August Territory's specialty is olives. Though Sion's olives are more famous, of course.”
“Ah, yes. Got it.”
“Good. Ask if you're confused or don't know something. Anything else?”
For his slave—no, vital subordinate who was part of his plans and working diligently, Sion showed some consideration.
“Yes, if you say that... If I may ask one more thing?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead.”
“I sent two matters to headquarters: the branch chief replacement and something about Sir Seilun. They just replied to handle it myself. Does that happen?”
“Who knows. I didn't check every guild report myself, not even in your father's time. They said handle it yourself, so just do that, right?”
“As I thought. Especially since it's about you, Sir Seilun.”
“Yeah, could be.”
At Sion's response, Ollot finally relaxed.
In terms of importance, this man outranked the current Obla King—not to mention any other king or noble in the world.
Even the guild's top echelons couldn't meddle, so they'd left it all to her, the field chief.
*'People really need to pick the right side. The work's tough, but someday I'll be a headquarters exec too. Heh, wish I could see Jens's face.'*
Imagining headquarters' Class 1 info aggregator Jens trembling in jealousy as he stamped her orders, Jenna felt all her recent fatigue melt away.
But Ollot didn't know.
That because of her report, Class 1 aggregator Jens wasn't just trembling in jealousy—but gripped by terror that his limbs might be torn off in reprimand.
(To be continued)