“Oh, this is the Inselcorp Kingdom. Even though we are in the same maritime country, the atmosphere differs from our Tamora! Interesting!”
Candice got off the boat and looked around, holding her bag in one hand and shadowing her face with the other hand.
Unlike the Republic of Tamora, where you can tell that it is a ‘land of wizards’ due to the products of magic engineering that are visible as soon as you land at the port, this place is a typical image that comes to mind when you think of a ‘port’.
Fish were hung here and there to dry, and many merchants were seen bargaining loudly over the price of their goods.
It was an atmosphere that was hectic and lively, yet somehow relaxed.
“Are you okay alone? Won’t it be better to help me too?”
Natalia asked as she got off the boat with her hands full of her sister’s luggage.
Even though Candice had told her several times that she would take care of it on her own if I just dropped her off at Incelcorp, she couldn’t help but feel worried.
“It’s okay, go home quickly. It’s already late because of me. How long will my daughter and her parents wait? I don’t have the skills to be defeated by anyone.
What are you worried about?” Candice shrugged her shoulders and said incredulously.
Ophelia was so outstanding that she lived as the second-best all her life, and Candice was also a wizard who was considered a genius. Even then, Ophelia lost her magic, and now there was no one to follow her.
“…I would worry about that, human. I worry about whether I will eat my meals on time and whether I will accidentally lose something.”
Natalia shook her head and answered.
She was a very unreliable older sister who was only good at magic but was very poor at everything else.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”
They say they don’t believe in ‘taking care of it’. Natalia asked, shrugging her shoulders.
“But what is the range of that tracker?”
Although it was said that the scope was narrow, she was not told exactly how much it was.
In response to her sister’s question, Candice glanced at her from the corner of her eye.
“Uh? That is… 1km radius.”
“What? It’s that narrow?”
No matter how small the Inselkov Kingdom was compared to the Peles Empire, it was still a country. Does it make sense to search for Ayla with that narrow detection radius?
It would have been quicker to look for a needle in the sand.
“I can’t help it. It may be a bit of a struggle, but this is my limit for now.”
Candice sighed and said with a downcast look on her face.
Ophelia’s security magic was so thorough that it took several months just to break through one layer and enable tracking.
Natalia asked, shaking her head slightly as if she was exhausted just thinking about searching for Ayla with that narrow detection range.
“Where are you going to start looking?”
“Umm… Let’s start by looking into the underworld, right? Is there a hiding place where criminals who have entered the country illegally can hide?”
In response to Candice, Natalia nodded. Because it was a plausible approach. Even if she were given the same mission, she would look into it first.
“Then take care of yourself.”
It was a meaningless statement. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to Candice’s identity just because she was investigating dangerous places.
Rather, people in the underworld will become more dangerous.
“Are you going right away?”
“The sailors also need to rest for a few days… While I’m here, I’ll see if there’s any good stuff. After all, I am still a trader.”
“Okay, then it’s going well. I’ll contact you.”
Candice said goodbye to her sister and took a room at an inn near the port.
She was tired today, so she thought she would relieve her travel fatigue and move early tomorrow morning.
And the next afternoon.
“Are you here?”
“Yes, sister.”
This and that – including several weapons that had disappeared into ashes – had happened, but in any case, Candice, who had taken control of the Inselcorp Kingdom’s best intelligence guild in an instant, was standing in front of a bar in a back alley.
“It is said that all the people who have recently smuggled from the Peles Empire are gathered in this bar. I don’t know if they are the ones you are looking for.”
Until morning, one of the guys who had ridiculed and harassed Candice, who came alone to the information guild, rubbed his palms and said ‘Sister, Sister’ in a humorous manner.
She didn’t like being called ‘sister’ by a black and harsh gangster, but it would be nice if she could find Ayla.
Candice took the tracker out of her coat pocket just in case. But the tracker remained silent.
‘Then yes.’
It was ridiculous that she could find it so easily.
And, when she thinks of Byron’s image, these dirty back alleys don’t come to mind.
It wasn’t a very deep relationship, but 15 years ago, when Ophelia was dispatched to the Weisshaven estate on Academy work, she came with him, so she had known Byron for a long time.
Byron, the bastard’s first prince, was in exile at his friend Roderick’s estate after an accident occurred in the capital.
To her, who remembered his arrogant appearance, Byron had the image of someone who could not give up his bravado and lived a luxurious life even though he was being chased.
‘…Still, I guess I should go in first.’
You can’t just go back just because the detector doesn’t respond. It is said to be a den of criminals who fled from the Peles Empire, so I doubted anyone would know Byron’s whereabouts.
“Go in.”
“Yes, sister!”
That damn sister sounds again. Candice shook her head slightly and entered her bar.
The dark inside of the bar was just as shabby as it looked from the outside, and there was a musty smell of dust, cigarettes, and even the sweat of the men, whether or not they were properly ventilated.
Candice frowned slightly at the smell that assaulted her nose and took a seat at the corner table. Her intelligence dealer followed her in, sat down across from her, and pointed with her eyes at a man.
“It’s him. Whether you come from the Peles Empire or go out from here, smuggling and smuggling are impossible without going through that guy.”
The man was sitting in the center of the store and talking loudly. It was as if the store had been leased out.
He was the epitome of a painted gangster, wearing a white sleeveless top, a thick gold necklace, and a huge skull-shaped tattoo on his exposed, rugged forearm.
“Wow, this is so amazing! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a gangster who looks like a gangster like that.”
As she slapped the forearm of the informant who came with her and shouted, all the gangsters around turned their heads to look at Candice.
“Well, that’s right. But sister, lower your voice a little…”
Jeong Bo-sang broke into a cold sweat and looked at his surroundings. It was obvious at a glance that the atmosphere was getting worse.
“Hey, why are you looking at me? We are also proud guests.”
Candice nudged the informant’s side with her elbow. There was a sharp pain as if being stabbed by a knife.
Although he had already witnessed her magical abilities with his own eyes, it was a power that made him question the necessity of it. Why is magic needed? This pointed elbow is already a weapon.
“Hey, lady. Do you use the store alone? Wow, my ears are going to tingle.”
And, as if Candice’s loud voice was unpleasant, a group of gangsters started a fight.
She didn’t like the dismissive tone of voice and the calling her ‘ma’am’, but it was also unpleasant to hear the protest of ‘be quiet’ from someone who had been making noise as if they were the only ones in the store.
Does this mean that some people can talk about it and some people can’t?
Candice smiled mischievously and raised her eyebrows slightly.
“I don’t have time to deal with you. Why don’t you just keep drinking the alcohol you’ve been drinking?”
“This lady knows where this is…!”
When Candice said this with a hand gesture as if swatting away a pesky fly, the gangsters, who could not hold back their anger, started approaching with their knuckles making a threatening sound.
But that was only for a moment. As if they had all frozen together, they stopped in place. It was not voluntary. It was because Candice had cast a spell on them by snapping her finger.
It was a magic that controlled the air around their bodies and bound their bodies. It was a spell that could be broken if you were strong enough, but unfortunately, the strength of the local gangsters was not that good.
“What is this?”
“What have you done to my body? You witch!! Can’t you solve this right now?”
Even though they had not done anything to their bodies, they were so scared that they started screaming.
‘I should have covered my mouth too.’
Candice picked her ears at the loud noise and walked steadily towards her target. That gangster is said to have a tight grip on smuggling and smuggling with the Peles Empire.
“I want to ask you something.”
When Candice smiled and spoke with her teeth exposed, the gangster, holding a beer mug the size of her face, looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Don’t fuss and just go. This brother is busy drinking beer.”
He turned his head and tilted his glass of beer, ignoring the strange woman who suddenly spoke to him. But she never got a cold beer down his throat.
Confused, he looked at the beer glass and found that the beer was frozen in the exact way he tilted it. He turned the glass upside down to see if he was dreaming, but the frozen beer did not become liquid again.
“Shall we talk now?”
Candice grinned, blowing on her index finger, which released a ray of cold steam.
