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Chapter 5
“Huff… Huff…”
The information broker, who had been acting like a dying man, suddenly walked up to Evelyn and spoke fiercely.
“Are you crazy?”
“Huh?”
Me? Not you?
Evelyn wanted to ask that, but she held herself back.
She didn’t want to ask such a personal question the first time they met.
Wasn’t it only polite to show some consideration?
Even if the other person had no intention of showing her the same courtesy, she didn’t want to become like him.
“You’re crazy, aren’t you? If you weren’t, you would never ask for that kind of information!”
The information broker jumped up and down as he continued shouting.
“Of all things… why that information?!”
“That kind of information?”
“That person.”
The information broker looked around nervously before whispering,
“Grand Duke Gracias?”
“Shh! You must never say that! It’s forbidden! Look at this!”
He opened his mouth wide and showed her the inside.
I don’t really want to look inside someone’s mouth…
Thinking that, Evelyn leaned her head back.
But the information broker had no intention of letting her avoid it.
He asked again,
“Do you see it?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Why is he showing me this?
Evelyn tilted her head in confusion.
The information broker continued,
“See? I’m missing several teeth.”
He was right.
Several teeth were gone.
Evelyn nodded.
The corners of the information broker’s eyes turned red.
He looked as if he were about to burst into tears, making Evelyn feel flustered.
“You see… information brokers have one unwritten rule.”
“And what’s that?”
“We never buy or sell information about that person.”
“Why?”
“Because if we get caught… we end up like this! Even then, I got off lightly. I only lost a few teeth and had both my legs broken!”
“What?”
The “that person” he kept talking about clearly meant Grand Duke Gracias.
If this is getting off lightly… what happened to the others?
She became curious.
But she decided not to ask.
The information broker’s face had already turned completely pale.
She already knew the Grand Duke had a terrible personality.
But she never imagined he treated information brokers this way too.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, chills ran down Evelyn’s spine.
Could I end up like that in the future too?
She tightly clasped both hands together and lowered her voice.
“So… you were caught selling information about Gra—”
“Shh! Just call him ‘that person.'”
“…Alright. So that person came here and did this to you?”
“Exactly.”
The information broker nodded firmly.
“So go home. I’m not selling any information.”
He pulled Evelyn to her feet and immediately began pushing her toward the door.
Since he was actually smaller than she was, the sight was rather strange.
But somehow she still found herself being pushed outside.
“Wait! Just wait a moment!”
“There is no ‘wait’!”
Before she realized it, she was already standing outside the tavern.
Behind the closed door came the loud sounds of crashing furniture.
“Hmm…”
Evelyn stood there blankly for a while before walking away.
Just in case, she visited several other information brokers.
Every single one reacted the same way.
One of them held a holy relic while reciting prayers.
Another threw salt at her.
One even fainted on the spot.
“Huh…? Um…”
The more she watched their reactions, the more uneasy she became.
Grandfather… do I really have to save Grand Duke Gracias?
Looking up at the sky, Evelyn let out a long sigh.
“You must always repay kindness.”
Those were the words her grandfather had often repeated while he was alive.
She also remembered the voice in her dreams urging her forward.
“You have to save him.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
She was scared.
Very scared.
But she couldn’t give up.
If that was the case…
She would have to gather the information herself.
It’s going to be dangerous.
If she got caught, she might end up just like those information brokers.
So she decided to start with small things that were unlikely to get her noticed.
Maybe, little by little, she would find another way.
That single decision…
Became the beginning of every hardship that followed.
Sometimes…
A person’s talent awakens in the most unexpected way.
Since every information broker refused to help her, Evelyn had no choice but to investigate on her own.
At first, it was difficult.
She fell over countless times every day.
She chased people until she was exhausted.
And all she gained was another useless day.
But during that process…
Evelyn awakened a talent she never knew she had.
She possessed an extraordinary gift for gathering information.
At first, the innocent Evelyn could barely follow someone without being noticed.
Little by little…
She became better and better at uncovering information.
“Ah… another dead end.”
She searched through the trash that came out of the Grand Duke’s mansion.
“Today he stopped by the blacksmith to have his sword maintained, then ate at that restaurant. Hmm… Grand Duke unexpectedly likes sweet food. And when he punishes people, he seems to care a lot about how satisfying the hit feels.”
Every day, she carefully wrote down everything she learned.
The routes he traveled.
The food he ate.
The clothes he wore.
The severity of the punishments he handed out.
Little by little…
She gathered information that no one else had ever managed to obtain.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But…
The Mad Dog was not called the Mad Dog for nothing.
“What a rotten mood.”
Kite frowned and complained.
He always had plenty of complaints.
But lately, he had become even more irritable.
“What has put you in such a bad mood?”
His vice commander, Seren, asked carefully.
Who upset him this time?
Should he start looking for a doctor in advance?
While Seren was thinking that, Kite continued.
“Someone has been following me lately.”
“What?”
Seren couldn’t help asking again.
Kite possessed strength worthy of admiration.
Unfortunately…
His personality was absolutely terrible.
Because of that, Seren often regretted becoming his subordinate.
And yet…
Someone was following a man like him?
“Is it Young Master Orlan?”
Only someone with an incredibly deep grudge would dare do such a thing.
So naturally, he thought of the young master whose arm Kite had broken recently.
“I don’t think so.”
Alex, the red-haired man standing nearby, answered instead.
“He even wet himself that day. There’s no way he’d be crazy enough to do something like this.”
Then who could it be?
There were simply too many people who hated Kite.
No one could guess.
Still…
One thing was certain.
Whoever it was had incredible courage.
After all…
Kite had already “educated” every information broker in the capital simply because he didn’t like people snooping around him.
Some of them had even been hung from the famous fountain in the capital’s main square as an example.
Of course…
They had been left half-dead.
“My goodness…”
The knights couldn’t hide their shock.
Who in the world was insane enough to try something like this now?
Did that person have ten lives?
While everyone whispered among themselves, Kite spoke honestly.
“Even I don’t know who it is yet.”
Seren’s expression immediately changed.
“Shall we capture them?”
If they sent enough people, no matter how skilled the stalker was, they would eventually catch them.
But Kite clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“No.”
There were too many reasons not to act immediately.
At first, the stalker had followed him clumsily.
But day by day…
Their skills had improved.
Sometimes they even disappeared completely from his sight.
The stalking techniques kept becoming more impressive.
Yet…
Kite felt no killing intent.
So he decided to wait until he understood the person’s true purpose.
Unfortunately…
That decision only made the other knights even more curious.
“So they’re not an assassin.”
“Then they’re probably not a professional spy either.”
“Could it be some woman who’s in love with the Commander?”
“What kind of crazy woman would—”
He stopped halfway.
“There actually have been some.”
It wasn’t as if no women had ever followed Kite before.
No matter what kind of rumors surrounded him…
His appearance was undeniably handsome.
But any normal woman quickly gave up.
And even the abnormal ones never lasted very long.
“How long has this been going on?”
Seren asked carefully.
Kite answered,
“It’s been two weeks.”
“That’s a long time.”
For someone following Kite, even one week was unusually long.
Yet this person had continued for two whole weeks.
They still didn’t know whether the stalker was a man or a woman.
But everyone’s curiosity had already been stirred.
Then one man whistled.
His name was Alex.
He and Lersen never got along.
Despite his handsome appearance, his carefree personality often surprised people.
“Anyone want to make a bet?”
Alex grinned.
“I bet one gold coin they last three weeks.”
Hearing that, Lersen frowned.
