As she was hiding in a back alley full of warehouses with him, trying to silence anyone, he pointed at a ship with his finger.
“That’s the ship.”
“Oh, really?”
Candice, who had figured out which ship it was, was about to go and ask without hesitation, but was unable to do so.
It was because the man caught her.
"Why?"
"You can't just go! Do you know whose ship that is? It's the ship on the upper Titeri."
“What is the top of the Titeri?”
Candice scratched her cheek, a puzzled expression on her face. As a foreigner, she couldn't understand why.
The man sighed and began to talk about the top of the Titeri.
"That's it, the Titeri upper class... is on a whole different level from people like us who wallow in back alleys. There are even rumors that the nobles are supporting them... They even have backing from the government."
So, what he was saying was that if you try to solve it by force like you have done so far, you will end up in trouble.
‘...That might be a bit difficult.’
Candice stepped back with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.
Of course, she wasn't afraid because of the nobles' involvement or because she was close to the public authorities. She wasn't that type of person.
But she was the Chairwoman of the Magiv Council of the Republic of Tamora. After all, she was a representative of a nation. If it were discovered that she was infiltrating other countries under false pretenses and scheming without notice, it could have led to diplomatic problems.
“Isn’t there a way?”
She found a ship that Aila might have been on, but she can't just leave it like this.
When Candice asked with an embarrassed look on her face, the man opened his mouth cautiously.
“I... have thought of a way to do it. But... it might cost you some money.”
“Money? That’s no problem.”
She wasn't at a level where she had to worry about money.
Her family ran a merchant business, so she was already wealthy, and her salary from the academy was quite substantial. When she left the ducal household, she received a small amount of money as travel expenses from Roderick. She refused, but he kept offering her money, so she had no choice but to accept it.
And the maintenance fee given by the National Assembly was also quite a lot.
She wondered if it would be okay to use that dignity maintenance fee to buy information from a back-alley information dealer, but what else could be 'maintaining dignity' if it wasn't resolving it politely with money rather than invading the top management of another country and turning it over like a thug?
“If that’s the case...”
The man led her somewhere and explained the situation.
According to his investigation, one of the crew members was involved in illegal gambling, and things were very bad.
The explanation was that bribing the sailor with money might give Candice the information she wanted.
"I thought something like this might happen, so I called him first. The appointment is coming up soon, so just go and try to convince him."
“Oh, are you doing something?”
She didn't like the way he called me 'sister, sister', so she thought he was a really bad guy, but it seems like he wasn't just calling himself an information dealer for nothing.
He prepares a solution before the customer even asks.
Thinking she'd leave him a hefty tip after work, Candice headed to the lighthouse, their meeting place. It was a secluded spot, a quiet place with few visitors.
And soon after, a broad-shouldered man strolled up to them. He had a striking resemblance to the sailors on her sister Natalia's ship, and he was clearly a sailor.
“You stay here. Don’t eavesdrop.”
Candice, hiding in the grass, warned the informant before approaching the man. True, even if she wanted to eavesdrop, she wouldn't be able to due to her soundproofing spell, but she said it anyway, just in case.
“Yes, sis!”
After hearing his polite reply, she approached the sailor and tapped him on the shoulder. The sailor, who had been searching for the one who had called him, stumbled in surprise at the soundless appearance and tap on his shoulder.
It was truly a spectacle.
"What, what! You called me? You have some, uh, money to spare?"
He wondered how she had summoned him, and it seemed she had summoned him under the pretext of asking for money.
"Graham. If you just answer my questions, I'll give you as much money as you want."
As Candice grinned mischievously, the man stood up with a smug expression and dusted his butt.
But when he heard her question, the sailor's face turned pale.
"Wh, what are you talking about? A little girl? There's no one like that on our ship."
Although he was clearly trying to hide it in words, judging by his flustered expression and his stammering, it was a suspicious situation where he was clearly hiding something.
“Well, if you’re going to ask such useless questions, I’m going to go now.”
The sailor said this and was about to leave, but Candice was not one to miss this opportunity.
She magically floated a bag of gold coins in front of the sailor.
She didn't know how thoroughly anyone was careful about what they said, but she thought that the jingling gold coins in front of their eyes would be too tempting for someone desperate for money to refuse.
And just as she thought, the man froze in place. Then, without realizing it, he reached into his pocket.
But before answering, it was a no-brainer. Candice pulled the pouch back into her hand as if she were retrieving a fishing rod.
"Oh, where are you going? You have to answer first. I'll ask again. A man without a right hand, a man with a scar under his eye, and a girl with blue eyes. They came with you, right? Where did they go?"
“...That’s right, we came together halfway, but I really don’t know where they went! I mean, they got dropped off halfway.”
The man, unable to escape the temptation of money, ended up revealing everything he knew.
“They got off in the middle?”
At an unexpected conclusion, Candice collapsed to the floor helplessly. She'd thought she'd finally figured out Aila's whereabouts, but the wall was blocking her once again.
“...I can tell you where they got off.”
The sailor, who had been lusting after the bag of gold, gulped and opened his mouth. And at those words, Candice's eyes, which had been completely engrossed in the matter, sparkled again.
The man said it was somewhere in the middle of a certain sea area, but it wasn't a very helpful answer for her, as she wasn't from that country.
She quickly pulled out her map of the Inselkov Kingdom and her writing utensil. It was a tourist map, so it mainly marked tourist spots, but it was still more helpful than just hearing about it.
The sailor circled the location he remembered and accepted the money bag with satisfaction.
“It’s a secret that we met, you know?”
“Yes, of course! If I get caught by the captain, I’ll die too.”
The words had clearly been short, but the sailor spoke louder because she was paying. Candice chuckled at the sight, but she looked contentedly at the map with a circle drawn in the middle of the ocean.
If they had changed to a ferry here, they wouldn't have landed so far away.
'Considering the maneuverability of the ferry, this is about it.'
Fortunately, Candice, who was an islander and knew a little about ships, was lost in thought as she drew the expected landing area on the map.
That's where it would have started.
It was a very satisfying result for both the sailor who received the money and Candice.
As the sailor returned, the information dealer who had been hiding in the grass approached her timidly.
“Did you get anything, Sister?”
“Oh, that’s really great. Thanks for your hard work.”
Candice smiled pleasantly and tossed him a bag of money. It contained a little more than the one she'd given the sailor.
“Huh? Well, you said it was hard work?”
“Now that I know where to start, I can go on my own.”
He must have received a handsome salary, and he might even escape his terrifying older sister. It was certainly a welcome development, but the information officer felt a bit resentful.
It seemed like they had become quite attached to each other.
“Why are you crying? Are you short on money? I'll give you more.”
“No, that’s not it...”
He was confused, not knowing why he was doing this, but soon decided to follow his heart and clenched his fists, and shouted.
"I'd like to take care of you until you finish your work and return home! My knowledge of the area will be helpful, not a hindrance."
Candice looked puzzled, staring at the information guild hanging from her trouser leg. She couldn't figure out why.
But his words were true. Having the help of a local would certainly make things easier. And if it were a knowledgeable information broker, it would be even more helpful.
"Really? Yes, then go and borrow two horses. And bring camping gear, in case we have to sleep out. Is that enough for the expenses?"
When Candice asked with a shrug, the information officer's eyes lit up with a strangely moved expression.
“Yes, Sister! I’ll be back soon!”
"A mysterious subordinate has appeared," Candice said, shrugging as she watched the information officer run off.
And as Candice expected, Bernie was quite helpful with the information.
It was thanks to the fact that there was nothing she didn't know, from hidden caves along the coast to side roads that others didn't know about.
But despite Bernie's efforts, unfortunately, Candice's detector didn't light up.
As Candice put the detector back in her pocket with a disappointed expression, he asked with a dejected expression. She was tired of the situation that had been repeating itself for days.
“...Isn’t this the place too?”
“Yeah. I don’t think there are any around here.”
She sighed. Then she began to question her invention. "Is this even working?" she asked.
However, when she tried it out with Ophelia's other magical tools and saw that it worked, her doubts soon disappeared.
“That’s the ship.”
“Oh, really?”
Candice, who had figured out which ship it was, was about to go and ask without hesitation, but was unable to do so.
It was because the man caught her.
"Why?"
"You can't just go! Do you know whose ship that is? It's the ship on the upper Titeri."
“What is the top of the Titeri?”
Candice scratched her cheek, a puzzled expression on her face. As a foreigner, she couldn't understand why.
The man sighed and began to talk about the top of the Titeri.
"That's it, the Titeri upper class... is on a whole different level from people like us who wallow in back alleys. There are even rumors that the nobles are supporting them... They even have backing from the government."
So, what he was saying was that if you try to solve it by force like you have done so far, you will end up in trouble.
‘...That might be a bit difficult.’
Candice stepped back with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.
Of course, she wasn't afraid because of the nobles' involvement or because she was close to the public authorities. She wasn't that type of person.
But she was the Chairwoman of the Magiv Council of the Republic of Tamora. After all, she was a representative of a nation. If it were discovered that she was infiltrating other countries under false pretenses and scheming without notice, it could have led to diplomatic problems.
“Isn’t there a way?”
She found a ship that Aila might have been on, but she can't just leave it like this.
When Candice asked with an embarrassed look on her face, the man opened his mouth cautiously.
“I... have thought of a way to do it. But... it might cost you some money.”
“Money? That’s no problem.”
She wasn't at a level where she had to worry about money.
Her family ran a merchant business, so she was already wealthy, and her salary from the academy was quite substantial. When she left the ducal household, she received a small amount of money as travel expenses from Roderick. She refused, but he kept offering her money, so she had no choice but to accept it.
And the maintenance fee given by the National Assembly was also quite a lot.
She wondered if it would be okay to use that dignity maintenance fee to buy information from a back-alley information dealer, but what else could be 'maintaining dignity' if it wasn't resolving it politely with money rather than invading the top management of another country and turning it over like a thug?
“If that’s the case...”
The man led her somewhere and explained the situation.
According to his investigation, one of the crew members was involved in illegal gambling, and things were very bad.
The explanation was that bribing the sailor with money might give Candice the information she wanted.
"I thought something like this might happen, so I called him first. The appointment is coming up soon, so just go and try to convince him."
“Oh, are you doing something?”
She didn't like the way he called me 'sister, sister', so she thought he was a really bad guy, but it seems like he wasn't just calling himself an information dealer for nothing.
He prepares a solution before the customer even asks.
Thinking she'd leave him a hefty tip after work, Candice headed to the lighthouse, their meeting place. It was a secluded spot, a quiet place with few visitors.
And soon after, a broad-shouldered man strolled up to them. He had a striking resemblance to the sailors on her sister Natalia's ship, and he was clearly a sailor.
“You stay here. Don’t eavesdrop.”
Candice, hiding in the grass, warned the informant before approaching the man. True, even if she wanted to eavesdrop, she wouldn't be able to due to her soundproofing spell, but she said it anyway, just in case.
“Yes, sis!”
After hearing his polite reply, she approached the sailor and tapped him on the shoulder. The sailor, who had been searching for the one who had called him, stumbled in surprise at the soundless appearance and tap on his shoulder.
It was truly a spectacle.
"What, what! You called me? You have some, uh, money to spare?"
He wondered how she had summoned him, and it seemed she had summoned him under the pretext of asking for money.
"Graham. If you just answer my questions, I'll give you as much money as you want."
As Candice grinned mischievously, the man stood up with a smug expression and dusted his butt.
But when he heard her question, the sailor's face turned pale.
"Wh, what are you talking about? A little girl? There's no one like that on our ship."
Although he was clearly trying to hide it in words, judging by his flustered expression and his stammering, it was a suspicious situation where he was clearly hiding something.
“Well, if you’re going to ask such useless questions, I’m going to go now.”
The sailor said this and was about to leave, but Candice was not one to miss this opportunity.
She magically floated a bag of gold coins in front of the sailor.
She didn't know how thoroughly anyone was careful about what they said, but she thought that the jingling gold coins in front of their eyes would be too tempting for someone desperate for money to refuse.
And just as she thought, the man froze in place. Then, without realizing it, he reached into his pocket.
But before answering, it was a no-brainer. Candice pulled the pouch back into her hand as if she were retrieving a fishing rod.
"Oh, where are you going? You have to answer first. I'll ask again. A man without a right hand, a man with a scar under his eye, and a girl with blue eyes. They came with you, right? Where did they go?"
“...That’s right, we came together halfway, but I really don’t know where they went! I mean, they got dropped off halfway.”
The man, unable to escape the temptation of money, ended up revealing everything he knew.
“They got off in the middle?”
At an unexpected conclusion, Candice collapsed to the floor helplessly. She'd thought she'd finally figured out Aila's whereabouts, but the wall was blocking her once again.
“...I can tell you where they got off.”
The sailor, who had been lusting after the bag of gold, gulped and opened his mouth. And at those words, Candice's eyes, which had been completely engrossed in the matter, sparkled again.
The man said it was somewhere in the middle of a certain sea area, but it wasn't a very helpful answer for her, as she wasn't from that country.
She quickly pulled out her map of the Inselkov Kingdom and her writing utensil. It was a tourist map, so it mainly marked tourist spots, but it was still more helpful than just hearing about it.
The sailor circled the location he remembered and accepted the money bag with satisfaction.
“It’s a secret that we met, you know?”
“Yes, of course! If I get caught by the captain, I’ll die too.”
The words had clearly been short, but the sailor spoke louder because she was paying. Candice chuckled at the sight, but she looked contentedly at the map with a circle drawn in the middle of the ocean.
If they had changed to a ferry here, they wouldn't have landed so far away.
'Considering the maneuverability of the ferry, this is about it.'
Fortunately, Candice, who was an islander and knew a little about ships, was lost in thought as she drew the expected landing area on the map.
That's where it would have started.
It was a very satisfying result for both the sailor who received the money and Candice.
As the sailor returned, the information dealer who had been hiding in the grass approached her timidly.
“Did you get anything, Sister?”
“Oh, that’s really great. Thanks for your hard work.”
Candice smiled pleasantly and tossed him a bag of money. It contained a little more than the one she'd given the sailor.
“Huh? Well, you said it was hard work?”
“Now that I know where to start, I can go on my own.”
He must have received a handsome salary, and he might even escape his terrifying older sister. It was certainly a welcome development, but the information officer felt a bit resentful.
It seemed like they had become quite attached to each other.
“Why are you crying? Are you short on money? I'll give you more.”
“No, that’s not it...”
He was confused, not knowing why he was doing this, but soon decided to follow his heart and clenched his fists, and shouted.
"I'd like to take care of you until you finish your work and return home! My knowledge of the area will be helpful, not a hindrance."
Candice looked puzzled, staring at the information guild hanging from her trouser leg. She couldn't figure out why.
But his words were true. Having the help of a local would certainly make things easier. And if it were a knowledgeable information broker, it would be even more helpful.
"Really? Yes, then go and borrow two horses. And bring camping gear, in case we have to sleep out. Is that enough for the expenses?"
When Candice asked with a shrug, the information officer's eyes lit up with a strangely moved expression.
“Yes, Sister! I’ll be back soon!”
"A mysterious subordinate has appeared," Candice said, shrugging as she watched the information officer run off.
And as Candice expected, Bernie was quite helpful with the information.
It was thanks to the fact that there was nothing she didn't know, from hidden caves along the coast to side roads that others didn't know about.
But despite Bernie's efforts, unfortunately, Candice's detector didn't light up.
As Candice put the detector back in her pocket with a disappointed expression, he asked with a dejected expression. She was tired of the situation that had been repeating itself for days.
“...Isn’t this the place too?”
“Yeah. I don’t think there are any around here.”
She sighed. Then she began to question her invention. "Is this even working?" she asked.
However, when she tried it out with Ophelia's other magical tools and saw that it worked, her doubts soon disappeared.
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