"Everything we currently have."
The information broker's voice remained calm as ever.
"The usual conditions apply."
Lethe nodded.
"Thank you."
The information broker accepted Lethe's thanks with a small nod before returning toward the back room. Whatever happened after the transaction was no longer his concern.
Meanwhile, Moses had already opened the envelope. His eyes moved quickly across several pages while Hamiel shamelessly leaned over his shoulder to peek at the contents.
"Move."
"No!"
"You're blocking half the page."
"I'm reading the other half!"
"..."
Lethe sighed.
A few minutes later, the documents were returned to the envelope and the trio finally stood from their seats. The relaxed atmosphere from earlier had mostly disappeared. Whatever information they had just received, it was clearly important enough to put their mission back at the forefront of their minds.
As they prepared to leave, Hamiel suddenly paused.
Then she turned around.
Her gaze landed on the masked man who was still sitting comfortably at the counter.
The tavern's self-proclaimed puppeteer had already finished eating and was currently leaning back in his chair as though he hadn't just turned a group of mercenaries into the evening's entertainment.
A bright smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Thank you for the show!"
Several nearby customers nodded in agreement.
Honestly, she wasn't wrong.
Knox placed a hand over his chest and gave a small bow from his seat.
"The pleasure was all mine~"
Moses didn't say anything. He merely spared Knox a brief glance before looking away again.
Lethe, meanwhile, remained standing where she was.
The white-haired girl crossed her arms and looked away for a moment before finally speaking.
"...Although it looked like a vile trick."
The words came out reluctantly. Painfully reluctantly.
"But your control wasn't bad."
That was probably the closest thing to a compliment she was willing to offer.
Hamiel blinked.
Moses glanced sideways.
Both of them looked mildly surprised.
Meanwhile, Knox looked genuinely touched.
He even placed a hand over his heart.
"What an honor."
The reaction immediately made Lethe regret speaking.
Then Knox continued.
"Hehe. It's my honor to entertain the likes of you~"
The sentence sounded perfectly harmless.
At least at first.
Hamiel didn't seem to notice anything unusual and simply tilted her head in confusion.
However, Moses's eyes narrowed slightly. Across from him, Lethe's expression also stiffened, yet neither of them spoke immediately.
"The likes of you."
Such a strange choice of words.
Not "all of you."
Not "you three."
The likes of you.
As though the masked man had already placed them into a specific category.
Or perhaps...
A specific affiliation.
The realization lingered in the air for several seconds. It was long enough for Hamiel to notice the subtle shift in atmosphere, prompting her to glance between the three of them in confusion.
"...Did I miss something?"
Nobody answered.
After a brief silence, Lethe finally looked directly at the masked man. The irritation from earlier had disappeared completely, replaced only by curiosity...
And caution.
"...Just who are you?"
Knox blinked once before tilting his head.
"Hm?"
A brief silence followed.
Then, a grin slowly spread beneath the mask.
"Is that a pickup line?"
A vein instantly bulged on Lethe's forehead, shattering the tense atmosphere in an instant.
Hamiel's eyes widened in surprise, while Moses quietly closed his eyes.
"..."
He had a feeling this conversation was about to become exhausting.
And Lethe's fist clenched so hard that the sound of cracking knuckles could be heard from several meters away.
For some reason, everyone nearby suddenly felt sorry for the masked man.
Fortunately, Knox seemed to possess excellent survival instincts. The moment he noticed the vein on Lethe's forehead, he immediately raised both hands.
"Ahem."
Then came his answer.
"Char."
"...Char?"
"My name is Char."
Silence followed.
Lethe stared at him. Or more specifically, she stared at the mask, as though wondering whether the person behind it was genuinely serious... or simply born that way.
For several long seconds, her gaze remained fixed there, as though sheer determination alone might somehow reveal the face hidden underneath.
Who was he?
A mercenary?
An adventurer?
A spy?
Nothing quite fit.
The more she thought about it, the less sense he made.
Unfortunately, no amount of staring could pierce a mask.
Eventually, Lethe exhaled quietly before turning around.
"We're leaving."
Moses followed without comment.
Hamiel lingered for a moment longer before waving cheerfully.
"See you again, Mister Char!"
Knox waved back.
"Hopefully under less violent circumstances~"
Hamiel giggled.
A moment later, the tavern doors closed behind the trio, leaving only the faint sounds of the Neutral Zone outside.
For a while after the trio left, Knox remained seated at the counter while the tavern slowly returned to normal. Customers resumed their conversations, mugs were refilled, and a handful of exhausted employees began dragging away the furniture that had been sacrificed during the evening's entertainment.
One worker glanced at a shattered table, then at Knox, before deciding that asking questions would only make his life harder.
Knox kindly pretended not to notice.
The playful mood from earlier gradually faded as he watched the activity around him. The encounter with Lethe's group had certainly been interesting, but it wasn't the reason he came to the Neutral Zone.
The tavern fight, the information broker, and even the unexpected meeting with three future powerhouses of the Holy Federation were merely side events. Entertaining side events, admittedly, but side events nonetheless.
The real mission had started the moment a certain cloaked man quietly left the tavern.
At first glance, there had been nothing remarkable about him. If anything, the man was memorable precisely because he wasn't memorable at all. He wasn't loud, wasn't drunk, wasn't gambling, and hadn't joined the crowd enjoying the fight.
Sitting alone in a corner, he blended into the background so perfectly that most people would've forgotten his face the moment they walked out the door.
Yet somehow, Knox couldn't.
His eyes had unconsciously drifted toward that corner several times throughout the evening. Looking back, he couldn't even pinpoint a concrete reason. The man hadn't approached the broker. He hadn't interacted with Lethe's group. He hadn't revealed any suspicious behavior whatsoever. If Knox were forced to explain it logically, he'd probably fail.
The problem was that his instincts didn't care about logic.
Most people would've dismissed such a feeling without a second thought. A vague sense of unease wasn't evidence, nor was it something that could be presented as proof. But Knox had learned long ago that a Newtype's instincts had an annoying habit of being right.
They rarely explained themselves, never provided convenient answers, and often felt completely irrational. Yet ignoring them usually ended badly. That was especially true tonight.
While everyone else had been distracted by the tavern fight, the cloaked man had remained unusually composed. He watched. He observed. Then, almost immediately after the information broker handed the envelope to Lethe's group, he left without hesitation. There had been no curiosity, no lingering glance, and no attempt to gather more information. He simply made a decision and acted on it.
The timing bothered Knox.
Maybe the man was innocent. Maybe he simply had somewhere else to be. Maybe Knox was overthinking the entire thing.
Still, if there was even a small chance that the cloaked figure was connected to Gideon, letting him disappear into the city would be a mistake.
With that thought in mind, Knox finally rose from his seat and stretched lazily. To everyone else, he looked like an ordinary traveler preparing to leave after dinner. Even the bartender only gave him a casual glance while wiping a mug behind the counter.
"Leaving already?"
"Unfortunately," Knox replied while placing a few coins on the table. "The star performer has prior commitments."
The bartender stared at him for a moment before snorting.
"Try not to destroy any more furniture."
"I'll do my best. No promises, though."
After receiving a look that clearly said that's exactly what I'm worried about, Knox pushed open the tavern door and stepped outside.
As he stood at the edge of the street, memories from earlier resurfaced one after another. The brown cloak. The man's build. His walking pace. The direction he chose after leaving the tavern. Small details that most people would've forgotten had already been unconsciously recorded inside Knox's mind.
A faint smile appeared beneath the mask.
If his instincts were wrong, he'd spend the next few hours following a random stranger through the Neutral Zone.
That would be embarrassing.
On the other hand, if his instincts were right, then tonight's mission was about to become a lot more interesting.
With that thought lingering in his mind, Knox blended into the crowd and quietly began the hunt.