Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Reunion
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"What is Abigail doing here?"
The woman who’d caught my eye with her white dress, swaying her hips ever so gently, was none other than…
My nanny, who had raised me since I was a child.
She offered a bright smile and shrugged.
An immense sense of impropriety washed over me.
I thought she was just a beautiful young lady strolling through the city, but it was my nanny.
'A disguise she's used from time to time.'
Looking at her now, the disguise was quite familiar.
I was just a little surprised because I never expected Abigail to show up in the Pennant Marquisate.
Wasn't she traveling all over the continent on a certain mission I'd given her?
My expression hardening slightly, I quickly scanned our surroundings.
But all I saw was the peaceful, everyday life of an upper-class district.
"I checked thoroughly; no one followed me. Who would bother keeping tabs on a nanny who's away on a trip?"
"True, it's not strange for a nanny to visit. Still, we need to be careful. Let's get out of here first."
"Yes."
She linked her arm with mine naturally, and I smiled, leading her to a more secluded part of the city.
Acting like a playboy who'd successfully charmed a woman.
As a member of the family, Abigail's access to the assassination guild's safe houses wasn't restricted.
But I couldn't talk about the Riverune survivors in a place teeming with eyes and ears.
We left the city at once and headed to the villa district in the eastern part of the Pennant Marquisate.
'There's no safer place than this.'
The assassination guild must already know that I've been looking to buy a house.
Visiting the villa district with a woman to show her a potential future home was a natural act.
Besides, the area was abuzz with activity due to the tomb excavation, so there was no chance of our conversation being overheard.
"It's been a while. How have you been?"
"Busy. Someone keeps asking me to look into this and that."
"Sorry. I've only given you trouble."
"It's still much more comfortable than my time as an agent. With no surveillance or pressure, I can work at my own pace."
"Wow! Maybe I should reduce your expense allowance."
"Oh? How did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"Just kidding. Anyway, what's going on? To show up without any notice."
The pleasantries about how we'd been were over in an instant.
For my nanny to come in person, something must have gone wrong.
I stayed alert to my surroundings and casually asked the question.
Abigail then opened her fan, covering her mouth as she whispered the information.
"It's about our recent investment. I came because I had something to tell you urgently."
"The survivors, you mean. It's certainly a big one."
"Yes. One of the two has vanished without a trace, and the other has been captured by the Reilton Knight Order and is currently being transported."
Reilton was the name of a marquis family in the northern part of the Empire.
Its location wasn't too far, so the situation was manageable.
It was a distance I could easily cover during my break.
Of course, I'd have to set up a double in the Pennant Marquisate and operate in disguise.
"Fortunately, I have some time. My break is a bit longer this time."
"You'll probably have to hurry."
"Why?"
"Felton and Everfilt have dispatched their elites. It seems the House of Marquis Reilton is weighing its options for a ransom."
The Empire wasn't heavily involved in the fall of Riverune.
It had merely stood by and watched the activities of the beastly families.
Perhaps that's why, upon capturing a Riverune survivor, their first thought was to sell them off.
"Could there be an armed conflict between them?"
"They'll probably try to compromise with money at a reasonable level. Their paths may differ, but the goals of the two families are the same."
"This captured one must be pretty important, huh? Important enough for them to send their elites."
"Nothing is known for certain, but it's highly probable. This is just my speculation, though."
"If they held a high position in Riverune, there's a good chance they know the location of the inheritance."
"Probably."
Abigail believed I was chasing the survivors to find Riverune's hidden fortune.
After all, within the Rantzverger family, I was just a troublesome direct descendant with no backing.
The inheritance of a thousand-year-old family would be enough to create a background where there was none.
She followed me without any particular suspicion.
"Thanks for coming all this way."
"The matter was too urgent to use our usual contact methods."
"I see. But what about the other one?"
"Their last known location was Troven, but they've vanished completely."
"They must have heard the news."
"That's what I think, too."
"Alright, I understand. For now, stop your current activities and do something else for me."
"A double?"
"You catch on quick."
"Hehe. I have my experience as an informant. This much is basic."
"Experience? You only did it for a few years before you were pulled out."
"I've been active on my own, too. Who do you think I'm doing all this for?"
"Oh! I almost forgot your most illustrious career."
Abigail was in her mid-thirties and hadn't been active in the Owl Strike Division for very long.
The Owl Strike Division was the assassination guild's intelligence agency, overseeing the Discret Guild and the information teams of each branch.
Those who chose to be informants rather than assassins were assigned to the Owl Strike Division.
Come to think of it, there wasn't much of an age difference between my nanny and me.
She'd spent her entire youth as my nanny, so it was basically a case of a child raising a child.
"I need to ask you a favor."
"I'm a master of disguise. Don't worry. I'll make sure to leave a clear trail of the Young Lord's presence."
"Thanks. Well then."
I gave her a light pat on the shoulder and was about to leave when Abigail suddenly grabbed my wrist.
Seeing the sorrowful look in her eyes, I felt a pang in my heart.
She was one of the few people on my side in the harsh life of an assassin family.
I nodded as if to say I'd be fine, but my nanny didn't let go.
"Young Lord?"
"I'll be back safely, so don't worry too much."
"That's not it."
"Huh?"
"Please give me my expense money before you go. Why haven't you been sending it lately?"
"…"
At Abigail's words, my face froze as if I'd been struck by a hammer.
In my single-minded focus on saving up for a house, I had forgotten to send her expense money.
No wonder I'd saved up more than I expected.
"I'll give it to you."
Only after paying all the overdue expense money was I able to escape my nanny's grasp.
"Are you sure you came because of urgent information?"
"Of course."
"You seem more like someone who came to collect money."
"Of course not. It must be your imagination. You'll be late. You should get going."
"Yeah."
As I was practically pushed out of the villa district, I muttered with a vacant expression.
"To be cleaned out of five thousand geld… This is a nightmare."
It was money I had to pay anyway, but losing it all at once felt like a loss.
The amount I still needed to earn was now twenty-five thousand geld, but this was no time to worry about a property deed.
Leaving things to Abigail, I immediately headed for the Reilton Marquisate.
This area was under the jurisdiction of the northern continental branch.
However, a branch's jurisdiction was only meaningful near its base of operations.
'With such ambiguous boundaries, it's hard to pay close attention.'
Sure enough, the Rantzverger's Reilton branch office was completely quiet.
If news of a captured Riverune survivor had spread, there would have surely been some movement.
'I need to rescue them before Felton and Everfilt arrive... But with no inside information, I'm at a loss.'
I absolutely loathed reading the long intelligence addendums on mission directives.
It was faster and more reliable to confirm things myself than to cram my head with all the superfluous details.
But right now, I was desperate for even a scrap of intelligence.
Of course, that didn't mean I had any intention of reading directives more carefully in the future.
"Well then, I'll just have to dive in headfirst."
During my ten years of grueling training, I also received thorough instruction as an informant, and I was confident in my disguises.
Even the massive intelligence organization, the Valiant Guild, couldn't see through my disguise as Keros.
The reason was this very technique.
Crack. Craaack!
As I circulated my aura in a set pattern, the shape of my bones began to change dramatically.
It was the Seven-Joint Face-Changing Technique, an essential skill for Rantzverger agents.
It allowed one to alter up to seven physical features, making dramatic transformations possible.
For instance, transforming into someone with a completely bent spine.
The more parts one changed, the greater the strain, so agents usually altered only one or two features.
Even that was enough to completely change one's appearance.
Of course, it wasn't a technique just anyone could learn.
I immediately disguised myself as an old man with a hunched back.
The perfect person to use as an informant was a hunchback, so I had no choice but to endure the strain.
"Gasp!"
The man gasped when I suddenly appeared before him.
How shocked he must have been to see someone who looked exactly like him.
But the hunchback couldn't scream.
A blade was already pressed against his throat, glinting ominously.
"Let's get this over with quickly. Dragging it out will only prolong the pain."
A short while later, the hunchback emerged from a dilapidated shack and began to walk somewhere with a steady gait.
He was a man who had always staggered around cleaning the barracks with eyes like a dead fish.
But today, his aura was completely different.
The old man lifted his head slightly, his eyes filled with a chilling energy.