"Actually, yes, I would like some candy," Elyra said in a calm tone as she took out a silver coin. "You don't happen to have more, do you?"
"Yeah!" the little boy said with a bright smile as he took more candy out of his pockets and handed them over while keeping the silver coin Elyra had given him.
Elyra opened the wrapper and placed the candy in her mouth, savoring the sweet caramel flavor. Without a doubt, she was tasting Japanese sweets for the first time, the same ones Seraphina often spoke about in her stories. It was good in her opinion, though it would have been better if higher-ranked ingredients were used.
"Mm~ this is so good. Do you have more?" Elyra asked.
"No…" the child said with hesitation, clearly keeping a secret.
"Are you sure? I can pay you more for them."
"No!" the child shouted before running away between the trunks of the trees, or what counted as alleyways in this kingdom where gigantic trees served as buildings.
Before the child disappeared, Elyra cast Shadow Mark, marking the boy before following after him. Once she was hidden in the shadows, she entered the Shadow World and tracked the mark while reporting to Bastion through telepathy.
'Master, I may have a lead on the hero of this kingdom. I was just offered a piece of candy with Japanese writing on it that I recognized from Seraphina's personal notes.'
'Follow it and get me a list of suspects to personally visit. Do not show yourself or let anyone know of your interest.'
'Yes, Master.'
She followed the boy to an orphanage where more children were happily handing over money to the caretaker, an old lady with a cheerful countenance. Given the surprise and concern in the old lady's eyes, it was clear the children were doing this of their own accord to help keep the orphanage financially stable.
Still, this didn't prove that the old lady was the source of the candies, so Elyra began scattering her marks among the children, hoping to eventually follow one back to the source. An entire night passed while Elyra simply watched and waited, and by morning of the next day, she followed one particular child who slipped out before breakfast.
He made his way to the upper districts of the city, wearing much cleaner clothes that wouldn't draw suspicion in the affluent neighborhood higher up the trees. Eventually, he reached the back of a manor in the upper section of the trunk, with private branches forming a courtyard and no less than five stories of space.
There, a slave received a few silver coins in exchange for a full bag of candies. Based on the math, the slave sold them for 5 coppers each to the children, who then resold them for 10.
Likely having found the source of the candies, Elyra marked the slave and followed him inside the manor, where she was able to get a proper look at the place. The manor likely belonged to an unlanded noble who worked for the courts. Based on its scale and wealth, their title was likely a viscount or higher.
Eventually, Elyra reached a room where a young ragdoll cat demihuman woman was being tended to by the slave. She had long, silky white fur with brown accents on her head and tail, striking blue eyes, and carried herself with a light, cheerful composure, though the deep sadness in her eyes didn't escape Elyra's notice.
'Master, I have a likely suspect worth visiting,' Elyra reported through telepathy. 'It may be the daughter of a noble in the upper district. The manor belongs to House Fennwhisker.'
'Investigate them,' Bastion replied.
'Yes, Master.'
Elyra, having spent years dealing regularly with information brokers to gather intelligence for Bastion, knew them well enough to find them anywhere in any city. The trick was understanding their modus operandi.
First, they were almost always merchants since they used information to gain even more money, so their place of business could be almost any store. Second, they often dabbled in illegal activity, meaning they tended to operate in areas that catered to the lowest of society, such as the lower district or the slums if the city had them. Third, they favored businesses that anyone could enter freely, whether a beggar, a prostitute, an orphan, or even ordinary citizens and guards, usually places offering general goods and services.
Strolling through the lower district, Elyra didn't take long to find such a place. She wore an all-black cloak over her maid uniform that concealed her appearance with an enchantment before entering a seedy pawnshop. The establishment happily bought anything of value for money, whether physical goods or information, stolen or otherwise.
"I would like to purchase information on House Fennwhisker. Everything you have. Money isn't an issue," Elyra's altered voice demanded.
"My kind of customer," the merchant said with a wide smile before heading to the back and returning with a book. "Ten platinum coins."
Without question, Elyra paid the absurd price and took the book before reading it on her way to the Wanderer's Trove. On it she found information on the current Viscount Fennwhisker and his comfortable position in the courts as a mid-tier administrative noble, responsible for overseeing taxation logistics and local trade disputes within the upper districts.
More importantly were the Viscount's greater aspirations for wealth, status, and influence, to the point that he would happily sacrifice his own daughter, Daisy, to achieve them. She was being raised in the same manner as Ariel, treated as a political bargaining tool to further his position in the courts through arrangements with other nobles, with a number of suitors already lined up for her. It was exactly the kind of drama-filled situation that made for the perfect beginning of a hero.
Once she reached the carriages, she handed the book to Bastion and delivered a concise summary of its contents. He listened in silence, then immediately scheduled a meeting with the Viscount.
A few days later, Bastion and Seraphina stood within the Viscount's manor, both dressed in noble attire that blended into the noble atmosphere. Across from them sat the Viscount and his wife in a meeting room, where polished wooden furniture and carefully maintained surfaces reflected both wealth and the Kingdom of Paws's nature-inspired aesthetic influence.
The Viscount and his wife, like their daughter, were ragdoll cat demihumans with soft white fur and brown accents, their features refined yet softened by a life of administration and etiquette. It wasn't difficult to understand the source of the Viscount's ambition, as domestic cat demihumans were often funneled into bureaucratic roles due to their more docile nature compared to more predatory species that took on roles of power.
"You are interested in my daughter's hand in marriage?" the Viscount asked, studying Bastion and Seraphina carefully.
"Yes," Bastion replied. "You see, my wife here has taken an interest in your kind and has requested that I take on a concubine of the same species."
The Viscount's wife tilted her head slightly. "May I ask why?"
"I have an appreciation for your kind's fur," Seraphina replied with proper decorum. "I promise your daughter will be in good hands."
"If that is the case, why do you not simply convince one of the many other cats in the kingdom?" the Viscount asked. "Surely, you do not specifically need my daughter for that."
Seraphina immediately adopted a look of disdain. "I am not interested in such a low pedigree. I have standards and am unwilling to touch anything less than what meets them. Your family falls well within my acceptable range. Preferable, even, I might say."
"You're not going to... skin my daughter for her fur, are you?" the wife asked cautiously.
"If we were," Bastion replied coldly, his Rank 2 aura flaring slightly, "we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Ahem!" The Viscount coughed loudly to distract from his wife's rather insulting insinuation, his tone turning far more pleasant. "You said you were traveling merchants?"
"Former nobles who have escaped the confines of a Rank 2 kingdom," Bastion said. "Now we travel the world freely as merchants."
"That is highly commendable."
"You might say so."
"I am not entirely against this… arrangement, but there will have to be… further discussions."
"Of course," Bastion said, understanding the implication behind the vague request. "Perhaps we can discuss this after we have met your daughter?"
"Of course," the Viscount accepted, before instructing a servant to call her over.
"In private," Bastion added.
"In private?"
"Yes. It is important that we ascertain your daughter's true feelings, and I do not believe we will get an honest answer with her parents in the room."
The Viscount took his time, considering it before ultimately agreeing. "Very well. But… you will understand if we leave her personal attendant in the room?"
"That is acceptable," Bastion said.
Soon, Bastion and Seraphina were ushered to Daisy's private room, the same one Elyra had followed the slave to. Once inside, the doors closed behind them, and Bastion immediately cast a marking spell on both Daisy and her attendant. He then took out a metal plate engraved with a magic circle and activated it, creating a magical barrier around the room that sealed off all sound.
"Now," Bastion said as he flicked his hand, casting his final spell, a basic Apprentice Rank Sleep spell that knocked Daisy out.
"You must be the hero from Japan," Bastion said, staring directly at the slave, an orange tabby cat demihuman whose cat-like face had twisted into a furious expression.
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