YWPWYLFDM 75

Chapter 75

Together, they hid in a back alley crowded with warehouses, holding their breath. Then, the man pointed his finger toward a ship.

“That one.”

“Oh, really?”

Now that she knew which ship it was, Candice intended to walk straight up and ask without hesitation. But she couldn’t.

The man had grabbed her arm.

“Why?”

“You can’t just march in there! Do you even know whose ship that is? That’s a Titeri Merchant Guild vessel!”

“Titeri Merchant Guild? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Candice scratched her cheek with a baffled expression. She had no idea why he was acting this way. As a foreigner, she couldn’t understand the significance.

The man let out a sigh and began to explain.

“Well, the Titeri Guild… They’re on a completely different level from lowlifes like us who scrounge around the backstreets. Rumor has it noble lords back them. They even have officials covering for them.”

In other words, if she tried to handle this with brute force the way she usually did, she’d cause serious trouble.

…That could be a problem.

Candice stepped back, looking a bit uneasy.

Not that she was scared of nobles or authorities. That wasn’t her style.

But she was the Head of the Mage Council of the Republic of Tamora—a representative figure of an entire nation. If it got out that she had slipped into another country under a false identity, poking around without so much as a formal notice, it could escalate into a diplomatic incident.

“Isn’t there another way?”

She couldn’t just walk away, not when she’d possibly found the very ship Aila had boarded.

When she asked with a troubled face, the man cautiously spoke.

“I… do have an idea. But it may cost you some money.”

“Money? That’s no problem.”

For her, money was never an issue.

Her family ran a trading company and was already wealthy. On top of that, she earned a decent salary from the Academy. Before leaving the ducal house, Roderick had forced some travel funds into her hands despite her refusals. And the Council provided her with a generous allowance to maintain her dignity.

She briefly wondered if using that “dignity allowance” to buy information from a shady back-alley broker was appropriate—but really, wasn’t avoiding a violent scene and settling matters neatly with money the very definition of “dignity”?

“In that case…”

The man began leading her somewhere, explaining the situation as they walked.

According to his investigation, one of the sailors on that ship had gotten himself into trouble with illegal gambling. His circumstances were dire.

If they bribed him, they might get the information Candice wanted.

“I even arranged to meet him, just in case. The meeting time is soon—you only need to persuade him.”

“Oh? You’re more capable than I thought.”

She had dismissed him as an annoying fellow who kept calling her “big sis,” but it seemed he hadn’t earned the title of information broker for nothing. He had prepared a solution before she’d even asked.

Thinking she ought to give him a fat tip afterward, Candice followed him to the meeting point—a secluded area near the lighthouse where hardly anyone passed by.

Before long, a broad-shouldered man strolled over. From his rough appearance, it was clear he was a sailor, much like those aboard her younger sister Natalia’s ship.

“You stay here. Don’t eavesdrop.”

Candice, hidden in the bushes, warned the broker before approaching the sailor. Of course, even if he wanted to eavesdrop, he couldn’t with her soundproofing magic—but still, better safe than sorry.

“Yes, big sis!”

With his obedient reply behind her, she tapped the sailor on the shoulder. Startled, he yelped and fell on his rear, having been silently approached.

It was a rather pathetic sight.

“W-What the hell! You called me here? Said it was about money?”

So that’s how he’d been lured—money.

“Exactly. As long as you answer my questions, I’ll pay as much as you want.”

Candice grinned mischievously, showing her teeth. The man’s ears perked, and he scrambled to his feet, brushing off his trousers.

But when he heard her question, his face turned pale.

“W-What nonsense are you talking about? A little girl? There’s no one like that on our ship!”

Though his words denied it, his stammer and panicked expression gave him away. He was clearly hiding something.

“If you’re going to ask stupid questions, I’m leaving.”

The sailor turned to flee, but Candice wasn’t about to let this chance slip by.

She used magic to levitate a pouch of gold coins in front of him.

She didn’t know how tightly their mouths had been sealed, but a man desperate for money would find it hard to resist the glittering lure before his eyes.

Sure enough, he froze, his hand instinctively reaching for the pouch.

But before he could touch it, she whisked it back into her own hand, like a fisherman reeling in a catch.

“Ah-ah, not so fast! Answers first. Let me ask again. A man missing his right hand, a man with a scar near his eye, and a girl with blue eyes. They were with you, weren’t they? Where did they go?”

“…They were with us partway, but I swear I don’t know where they went after. We dropped them off mid-journey.”

Unable to resist the temptation of money, the sailor spilled everything he knew.

“Dropped them off… midway?”

Candice sank weakly to the ground. She had hoped to finally learn Aila’s whereabouts, only to hit another wall.

“…B-But I can tell you where we dropped them.”

Greed glinting in his eyes, the sailor licked his lips. Hearing that, Candice’s dull gaze sharpened again.

He named a spot in the middle of a certain sea route. But since she wasn’t local, it wasn’t very helpful.

She hurriedly pulled out her map of the Incelcop Kingdom, along with a pen. It was a tourist map marked mainly with attractions, but it was still better than nothing.

The sailor drew a circle where he remembered the drop-off, then gladly pocketed the pouch of gold.

“You know this meeting never happened, right?”

“Of course! If the captain finds out, I’m dead.”

Earlier, he’d spoken gruffly, but with money in hand, his tone suddenly became polite. Candice gave a wry chuckle as she studied the map, pleased to see a circle drawn in the middle of the sea.

If they’d switched to a rowboat there, they couldn’t have landed too far away.

Considering the range of a rowboat… it should be around here.

Fortunately, as an islander, she knew a fair bit about boats. She marked an estimated landing zone on the map and pondered.

That would be her starting point.

Both the sailor and Candice were satisfied with the result.

After the sailor left, the broker emerged from the bushes, shuffling toward her.

“Did you find anything, big sis?”

“Oh, a jackpot. Thanks for your help.”

Candice smiled and tossed him a pouch—one even heavier than the sailor’s reward.

“Eh? Th-Thanks for your help? What do you mean?”

“I know where to start now, so I can handle the rest on my own.”

He’d been paid handsomely and freed from the company of a scary woman. He should have been thrilled. Yet strangely, the broker felt a pang of disappointment.

Perhaps he’d grown attached.

“Why the long face? Not enough money? Want more?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Looking conflicted, he clenched his fists, then suddenly blurted out:

“P-Please let me stay with you until you finish! With my knowledge of the land, I can only be a help, not a burden!”

Candice blinked at the broker clinging to her trouser leg. She couldn’t understand why he was acting like this.

Still, he had a point. Having a local guide would certainly make things easier. And an information broker who knew all the ins and outs would be even more useful.

“Really? Fine then. Go rent us two horses, and buy camping gear—we might need to sleep outdoors. The money I gave you should cover it, right?”

She shrugged as she spoke. The broker’s eyes lit up with emotion.

“Yes, big sis! I’ll be right back!”

Watching him dash off, Candice shrugged again. Somehow, she’d acquired a strange follower.

And just as she suspected, the broker—Bernie—proved to be quite useful.

He knew everything: hidden coastal caves, secret paths that others overlooked.

But despite his efforts, Candice’s detection device never lit up.

Disappointed, she tucked the device back into her pocket. Bernie, equally worn down by days of fruitless searching, asked weakly:

“…Not here either?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t seem like it.”

She sighed, doubt creeping into her heart. Does this thing even work properly?

But then she remembered testing it with one of Ophelia’s other magical tools—it had worked just fine. That thought quickly swept away her doubts.