THIEM 11

Chapter 11

An information broker wasn’t exactly a lucrative profession.

And among them, the broker known as “Twilight” was especially poor. Poor enough that they barely had food to survive.

If you asked why an information broker had no money, the answer was simple.

They lost the turf war.

The capital was ruthless.

Stores vanished overnight without a trace, while new ones appeared just as suddenly. Most people couldn’t even remember whether a shop had existed in the first place.

That was simply how things worked.

Even in Seoul, shops went bankrupt and reopened every day, didn’t they?

Same concept.

Currently, the most successful information guild in the capital was “Serpent’s Tongue.” It was even the same broker Kaishen used in the original story.

But there was a very high chance I wouldn’t even be allowed inside Serpent’s Tongue.

Their entry requirements were annoyingly strict.

In simple terms, they only opened their doors to people with a “premium” label attached to them.

Meaning a low-ranking maid in disguise like me could never use the place.

There were plenty of other information brokers too, but the reason I specifically chose Twilight was…

That’s right.

Because they were the most desperate.

If it was this place, I was confident money could solve everything.

I lifted the teacup in front of me and took a small sip. An employee had just guided me into the back room.

The inside of Twilight’s shop smelled like rotten wood and damp dust.

Ugh. Mold.

Do they even intend to run a business?

At that moment, a door creaked open somewhere deeper inside.

“…?”

A man stopped mid-step and blinked.

I frowned.

“…Are you not accepting customers?”

“Ah, pardon me. I heard someone was throwing money around, so I came to see what kind of customer it was.”

So he thought I looked poorer than expected?

I shrugged.

“Why else would I come all the way here to throw money around?”

“True enough. It’s just been so long since we’ve had a customer.”

Right. The whole reason I came here was because I didn’t want my identity discovered.

If I intended to use Evelynn’s status, I would’ve gone to Serpent’s Tongue instead—the place famous for ironclad confidentiality and flawless work.

Of course, thanks to the system restrictions, Evelynn couldn’t go anywhere near it anyway.

“So?”

The man dragged himself over and slumped into the chair across from me.

“What do you want to know?”

His tone inspired absolutely no confidence.

I hesitated for a moment.

Could I really trust this guy, who was picking his nose right in front of a customer?

Maybe I should just go somewhere else after all—

“….”

“….”

“…Ah, excuse me.”

So he was aware I existed.

I let out a long sigh and made my decision.

Well, it’s not like the information I wanted was anything particularly high-level anyway…

“…Please investigate the Second Prince, Rakiel Bernhardt. Everything about him.”

“The Second Prince?”

“I don’t need anything too detailed. Just compile some basic information. Personal background, gossip, things like that.”

It wasn’t because running around gathering information myself was annoying.

…Absolutely not.

The things I knew from the original story—or from previous regressions—were only fragmented pieces.

I’d barely even spoken to him before, so I didn’t really know what kind of person he was.

“The Second Prince, huh…”

The man tilted his head while pretending to rummage through a drawer.

[Current Disguise: Low-ranking Maid / Disguise Integrity 78% Maintained]
[…75%…]
[…71%…]
[…67%…]

Huh?

What’s this? Is someone staring at me?

I looked around, but the only thing visible was the man in front of me.

Frowning, I asked,

“…Excuse me?”

“……”

“Excuse me, this is a problem.”

He froze.

There was a reason I’d paid so much money, you know.

“If this is how you operate, then I can’t place my request. Why do you think I specifically came all the way to Twilight?”

The man stared directly at me.

“…How did you notice?”

“How could I not notice when you’re staring so blatantly?”

“Strange.”

You’re the strange one.

Why is an information broker trying to dig into a customer’s identity in the first place?!

“…My apologies. That was my mistake.”

Even his apology lacked sincerity.

Ah, now I understood why Twilight had no money.

Too much pointless curiosity.

Most people who visited information brokers didn’t want to risk that kind of thing. Especially customers with deep pockets.

[Current Disguise: Low-ranking Maid / Disguise Integrity 92% Maintained]

Oh, it shot back up instantly.

Looks like he’d completely given up trying to figure out who I was.

He was simpler than I thought.

“Is that all you want investigated?”

“Yes. How long will it take?”

“Hmm… about a week?”

Ugh, that long?

“Can’t you speed it up?”

“…Five days.”

That wouldn’t do.

Slide.

Thunk.

“Two days.”

“Hey now, throwing money around won’t magically make information appear fas—”

Slide.

Thunk.

“Two days.”

“…We will serve you with the utmost sincerity, dear customer.”

If money can’t solve something, maybe you just haven’t offered enough yet.

Only after experiencing every imaginable level of shameless groveling—and receiving some weird “VIP exclusive” business card—was I finally allowed to leave.

I didn’t forget to toss a few gold coins as tips to the employee escorting me out either.

You had to be generous while you could. That way they’d come back later like grateful magpies repaying kindness.

“Please come again! We’ll welcome you with the full VIP course next time!”

“No, that really won’t be necessary…”

“We’ll escort you home as well!”

“No thanks. I respectfully decline.”

When I stepped outside the tavern, the sun had already set.

“Huaaam…”

Ever since my hundredth regression, I’d been running around nonstop without a single day of rest. The exhaustion was starting to pile up.

As I dragged my tired body back toward the duke’s estate, a system window appeared.

[Quest: Carry Grandma’s Luggage]
Reward: +6 Stats

Turning my head, I saw an elderly woman struggling to carry a heavy load.

Hmm. Well, it was better to gain stats whenever possible.

From the experience of the past few days, it seemed new quests took quite a while to appear.

Especially inside the duke’s estate, where I’d already run around so much that quests had practically gone extinct.

I was tired, but…

I quickly walked over to the old woman.

“I’ll carry that for you.”

“Oh my, miss, you don’t have to…!”

“It’s fine. I need the exercise anyway.”

Well, I was headed that way regardless…

[Quest: Help a Lost Child Asking for Directions]
Reward: +5 Discernment

This was on the way too…

“I can’t find the place where I was supposed to meet my mom…”

“There, there! Don’t cry. Tell me slowly where it is.”

[Quest: Pick Up Fallen Apples]
Reward: +5 Strength / 1 Apple

This too…

“Oh dear, I couldn’t sell anything all day, and now this happens…!”

Without a word, I started picking up the scattered apples one by one.

“Thank you, miss!”

After clearing three or four quests in a row, darkness had already fallen completely.

…I’d gotten much later than expected.

“Whew, I really need to go back now.”

Seriously. Really, truly, absolutely need to go back now.

It felt exactly like saying “Just one more game!” and ending up pulling an all-nighter.

Sighing, I crossed through a back alley.

“That lady over there.”

“…?”

Ugh, alcohol fumes.

A shadow staggered toward me from somewhere nearby.

Before I could turn away, he blocked my path.

“Where you rushing off to, miss? Have a drink with me.”

“Sorry, but I’m in a hurry. Could you move aside?”

“Aw, don’t be like that. Just one drink. One.”

A foul stench wafted from the man’s mouth.

Ugh, gross. Did he eat an entire truckload of garlic?

The man grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him.

“Ah! Sir! Let go!”

But the truly ridiculous thing was the system window that appeared at that exact moment.

[Quest: Drunken Citizen]
Objective: Safely escort the lost drunkard to the guards.]
Reward: +5 Fame / +3 Compassion / +6 Freedom

W-What?!

Why are the rewards so good?!

It even gives Freedom?!

“Oho, now that I look at you, you’ve got a pretty nice body. Let’s see if your face is just as pretty.”

At that moment, excitement filled me and I started breathing heavily through my nose.

I found it.

My stats!

I grabbed the man’s shoulder with my other hand.

“Sir, you’re drunk. Let’s go to the guard station together!”

My precious quest!

“I’ll help you! Because I am! A kind and righteous citizen!”

You—become my stats!

I immediately began dragging him out of the alley.

“Oho, little lady’s surprisingly strong.”

Even while staggering around, the man followed wherever I pulled him.

“Hey, miss, take off whatever’s covering your face. Hm? Let me see how pretty you are.”

Ugh, the smell.

The limits of my patience as a human being were collapsing!

The man raised a sticky-looking hand toward my face.

Silently cursing him with my eyes, I turned my head to avoid it and tried to smack his hand away.

Then—

Thud.

“That’s far enough.”

Someone caught the drunkard’s wrist.

“That’s enough. Unless you want to get hurt.”

A man stared coldly down at the drunk with icy red eyes.

It was Rakiel.