TCRDG 14

Chapter 14

I almost commented that they seemed to be getting along better than I thought, but decided it wasn’t something to say lightly and swallowed my words.

“It seems like the Third Prince really likes Your Highness.”

“That’s right. He follows me around unilaterally, so it can be a bit troublesome at times.”

Though he said that, Bidler’s face looked slightly pleased.

“It’s late. You should head in now. It would be problematic if some strange guy sees you wandering around.”

For some reason, the phrase “strange guy” made me recall the name of the First Prince—the one Seniel had warned me to be cautious of.

“Yes. Rest well.”

On the way back to my room after parting with Bidler, I struggled with the urge to sneak a look into the office.

But I figured that if I got caught by Bidler, who seemed even more capable than I’d anticipated, it could be trouble. So I obediently went back to my room.

The Next Day

I woke up at the crack of dawn and tried to leave the palace immediately, but Seniel, who was already awake, stopped me for breakfast.

Pretending to know nothing, I followed him into the office and subtly glanced over the documents to gather information on what they were collecting.

Though Seniel seemed more cautious than yesterday, stacking papers together, I still managed to catch some key terms.

Phrases like “Map of the Great Road,” “Magic Stones,” “Prince,” and “Guild Master.”

As soon as I left the palace, I headed straight home.

It had been a few days since I arrived in the capital, so I assumed the guild had already sent my location.

Sure enough, as soon as I turned the key in the door, it opened and a few letters fell to the floor.

Since the house technically belonged to Orbis, I gathered all the mail carefully and brought it inside.

As I spread the letters across the table and scanned through them, one envelope stamped with a raven emblem caught my eye.

“Knew it’d show up.”

Upon finding what I was looking for, I tore it open. Inside was a flyer:

[Parrot Fortune-Telling]
Parrots love rainbow colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
World’s Strongest—Rainbow—Power!

Though it looked like nonsense, it was actually a coded message pointing to the intelligence branch’s location.

I memorized the address and password, then threw the flyer into the fireplace and burned it completely.

“Letters marked with the raven emblem are too risky. I need to set up a new communication route.”

Since I knew Seniel was investigating Raven, I couldn’t afford to leave anything even remotely related to the raven lying around.

“I need to act fast.”

I’d been too consumed by my own problems to even consider that other factions might be targeting our guild.

But now that I’d seen the danger firsthand, I resolved to secure the guild’s safety first and foremost.

Because the last 10 years of my life—and my comrades’—were all tied to Raven.

With no time to waste, I headed straight to the address written on the flyer.

At the end of a dead-end alley, I spotted a stall decked out with all sorts of feathers.

Pushing aside the curtain-like covering that let you see inside, I found a man grinning at me with a clear crystal ball in front of him.

“Here for a fortune? Upfront fee: 100,000 Jeris.”

With heavy makeup and a room full of quirky items, he looked like your typical fortune-teller.

“What’s with the staring, miss? What do you wanna know? Love life? A curse?”

“I came to see the rainbow.”

His expression changed instantly. The playful grin vanished, and the atmosphere turned icy.

“The parrot?”

“Sigh… World’s Strongest. Who even comes up with these passwords?”

“Rainbow?”

“…Power.”

After the confirmation, the fortune-teller tossed his feathered fan into the air and rushed over to me.

“Prince! This is our first time meeting in person, isn’t it? It’s an honor!”

“Just show me the way.”

“This stall is the branch.”

Contrary to my expectations of being led into some hidden inner room, the “branch” turned out to be just the fortune-telling stall itself.

The man gently pushed me, still frozen in shock, into a chair and caressed the crystal ball.

“I’m William, head of the information branch.”

“You’re really the head?”

“Exactly.”

Judging by that sudden shift in his eyes earlier, I believed him.

Still, I’d envisioned some grand intelligence headquarters, so I couldn’t help feeling a bit let down. I decided to get to the point.

“Find out everything you can about Seniel of the Black Eagle Knights, Orbis, and the Second Prince.”

“We already have a lot of data on the Black Eagle Knights.”

“Do you know that they’re planning to swallow our Raven whole?”

William didn’t even try to hide his displeasure, slamming the table.

“Oh, shit! What kind of horse bones nonsense is that?!”

“It’s the truth. The day the Map of the Great Road was stolen, the Second Prince was there with me.”

“What? A legit prince and a formal knight order stealing maps like some dark guild?”

“Exactly. It’s strange, right? I want you to find out what they’re up to behind the scenes.”

As the head of intelligence, William’s eyes started darting—he must’ve realized something.

“…Seems we missed something. We’ll investigate and contact you.”

“Make sure you pass this on to Railly at headquarters. There are people targeting the guild. Tell them to be on guard.”

“Yes, Prince. But—”

As I was about to leave, not wanting to linger at a stall like this, William spun the crystal and called out.

“Don’t you want your fortune told? I’m actually good at it now.”

“…I’m leaving.”

A useless suggestion, obviously.

After leaving the intelligence branch, I next went to the Imperial Bank—only found in the capital.

I was running low on funds and figured it was time to make a withdrawal. I was also curious about how much I had.

“Your name?”

“Rose Marlin Aisha.”

“Did you bring the seal and key?”

“Right here.”

Rose Marlin Aisha was the full name of the old lady. She used to handle my commissions.

After her death, her will revealed that she’d left me the bank’s key.

Soon after, a staff member brought a document listing the savings and items stored in my vault.

“Please check.”

I opened the papers without expecting much—and then blinked in disbelief.

“Are you sure this is mine?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

“The amount… It’s just way too much.”

There was far more money in the vault than I had anticipated.

Three billion Jeris. Enough to pay off my father’s debts and still have plenty left.

“This is a brief ledger. If you want detailed records, you’ll need to wait a few days.”

As I stood there dazed, the staff handed me a stack of documents showing all deposits to date.

Going through them, I realized that even the portion I thought the old lady had taken as commission had actually been deposited in my name.

“Did she think this would make me emotional?”

Grinding my teeth, I recalled the old lady who had always been so harsh with her words.

“Would you like to make a withdrawal?”

“Just this much.”

Shocked by the total, I decided to leave it all there and only took out a small portion.

As I reviewed the vault contents again, something odd caught my eye.

“What’s this?”

“Ah, we also store physical goods. Would you like it?”

“Yes.”

There was one more thing the old lady had left for me.

What the staff brought out was a deed to a piece of land and a key.

“She left me this? Why?”

“We wouldn’t know that. The address is written on it, so perhaps you could check it yourself?”

Judging by the listed price, the land didn’t seem particularly valuable.

I couldn’t understand why she’d leave me a property.

Opening up my map and scanning the location with my finger, I noticed something.

It was near the area I’d already circled.

“Wait… could it be?”

If my hunch was correct, this land was where my parents used to run their shop.

I couldn’t say for sure, but since I’d planned on checking that area anyway…

“Might as well go. Even if it’s a long shot.”

Meanwhile…

Chief researcher Kayan was completely drained from a string of failed experiments.

With bloodshot eyes and dark circles, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyelids.

“No good recruits again. What now?”

Despite the number of applicants wanting to join the lab, few lasted long. The place was constantly short-staffed.

Lately, the rumors about the difficulty had scared off even more candidates.

“I can’t just dismiss them… What a dilemma.”

He sank deeper into his chair and pressed his eyelids again, zoning out.

But the next moment, his eyes shot open in shock.

Something unbelievable had happened.

“Why… why did the color change?”

What Kayan saw was the black magic stone—the one Rosia had touched.

The jet-black stone was now tinged with a reddish hue. Something was clearly off.

Kayan immediately put his glasses back on and rushed to the lab to run detailed tests.

The stone, previously unrefined, had evolved into a state ready to be used as an artifact.

Having confirmed this change, Kayan called everyone in, desperate to find out who caused it.

“Who entered this room?”

“You don’t allow anyone in without permission.”

“Exactly. So who the hell… Wait. Don’t tell me—”

There was only one person who had entered this room with his permission.