A while later, I hear a carriage arriving at that noble’s mansion. I carefully peak over the roof to see who was arriving.

The carriage is a bit on the higher class, but not enough to be the carriage of a noble. There is also a crest painted on it, but I don’t recognize it. The man disengaging the carriage is quite small, and he kind of reminds me of a rat.

The attendants lead him to the viscount’s office, and he greets him overly humbly. Ugh, just listening to their small talk is disgusting. But they soon end the pleasantries and go over to their business discussion.

The rat starts with giving an income report. I see, he is a merchant backed by that noble. Apparently he is from Saule Trading Company. I feel like I heard the name somewhere. Seems like they made quite some money.

“That sounds great. What about our other businesses?”

“It also made a good profit. Here are the details. Unfortunately, two of our older goods broke, so we are working to replace them through our usual channels.”

“I see. Well, it can’t be helped. Some of our customers have quite an interesting taste. So, it’s no wonder that some of our older models cannot withstand that.”

What is he talking about? An image is coming up in my mind, and I really hope it’s not that. But the more they talk about it, the more disgusted I am. The business they talk about is a brothel for a more special clientele, for people with special tastes they cannot get in a normal brothel. Therefore, they, of course, use slaves as prostitutes.

“Well, if you get the new goods, send me a message. I think I am going to get a taste for myself, too. Haha.” The way he says it sent shivers down my spine.

“But of course.” It feels like I can hear the disgusting grin in their voices.

“Also, I might send some new goods soon, too. It shouldn’t be long until I get my hands on them. I’ll give them to you after I get bored. They are an elf and a foxkin.”

“Oh, that sounds great.”

At that, I clench my fist. He is going to do what? He was definitely talking about Rika and Thalia. After hearing that, I was almost overcome by my rage and left my hiding spot to beat him up. But I can’t do this, since he is still a noble. So, I forced myself to calm down.

When I was calm enough again to focus on my senses, they already went to the next topic. They are talking about the people who soon can’t pay the interest rate anymore. Seems like he is also offering credits with illegally high interest rates. And if they can’t pay anymore, they have to pay in other ways. For example, with giving their daughters.

I think I found one of their ways of how they resupply their brothel. I really don’t want to hear any more of this. It is just disgusting. But I have to endure it. I need more information to bring him down, and I am definitely not letting him have Rika or Thalia. I swore that to myself.

I continued listening in on their conversation, but there was no more useful information, and it soon became dark again.

It’s time to head back to the inn. Unfortunately I can’t jump over the roofs to the library on my way back. The distance is too big because of the front yards. So, I jump down to the street and follow it to the library. I also use my senses to avoid any patrols.

Upon arriving at the library, I jump on the roof again. Well, I didn’t reach it with just one jump, but I could jump high enough to reach the roof with my hands. All I had to do then was to pull myself up.

The next morning I eat breakfast with Rika and Thalia, and fill them up on what I found out. 

“So, he even knows about me… I can’t believe he even has a spy inside the guild.”

“Yeah, it was quite shocking when I found out. I’ll definitely tell the guildmaster, but I’m not sure, wether I should tell her immediately or wait until I got some evidence.”

“Right. I guess informing her without evidence doesn’t get us anywhere.”

We also talk about the Saule Trading Company, and Rika fills me in with more general information about them. Apparently, they are one of the biggest trading companies in the country, dealing with miscellaneous goods, like household wares, spices and other stuff.

They also look like they want to ask how I got all this information, but they don’t. They probably think I don’t want to talk about it, like with my ability to track down monsters. Well, they would be right. Although, I feel bad about keeping it a secret. She also told me the location of their main branch.

“So, what are your plans for today?”

“I think I’ll visit the guild first. I want to know more about his spy. But it will be difficult, since I can’t just wait for hours. That would make me suspicious. I’ll just pretend to take a look at the request board. After that I’ll visit the Saule Trading Company.”

After breakfast, I split up with them again and walk to the guild, immediately heading to the request board. I pretend to carefully read the request notices while completely focusing on my senses. I caught up a few conversations in the back, but nothing of interest.

I feel like one receptionist is watching me more often than, but other than that, I got nothing useful. Well, even the receptionist watching me isn’t something I can use.

My next stop is, as planned, the main branch of the Saule Trading Company. Although it might be a bit risky, I don’t think there should be a problem. From talk of the head of the company with the noble, I didn’t get the impression that they know the details between me and that orc noble. Even if the company is involved, I don’t think they involve regular clerks in their shady business. But more importantly, there is no way they are aware that I know about their connection.

“Welcome. How can I help you today?”

Upon entering the store, I get immediately greeted by the clerk.

“Hi, I am just doing some window shopping, so I have nothing special on my mind. Is it okay if I look around?”

“Of course. Feel free to call me if you have a question.”

The store is actually quite big, as expected from one of the biggest trading companies in the country. With the amount of money they should earn through their regular business, there wouldn’t be a need to do further business in the shadows. But I guess that’s not true for some greedy bastards.

The store is a three story building, with different departments on the first two floors. The first floor consists mainly of daily goods and household wares, while the second floor has some higher quality goods, like spices or tea.

The third floor is off limits to customers. There are the offices for the head of the company and his attendants. I know that, because I can smell a few people up there, with one of them being the guy who visited the viscount.

I’d really like to look up there and maybe figure out the location of some of their underground business, so I can report that to the guildmaster. Information like this should be really helpful, to weed out that noble.

Maybe I should come back at night?