--- [Leanne’s perspective]
Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
“Excuse me, did you just come through the passage?” – Woman
I’ve been found already…
Whatever, I had to reveal myself sooner or later anyways.
Let’s just hope she isn’t too antagonistic…
“That’s right. I’m looking for someone called Gael Lux, do you know him?” – Leanne
“I don’t but… I’ve got to report this! As far as I know, there were no cross-faction meetings scheduled.” – Woman
Damn it!
If she reports me, I might be forced to tell the truth about why I’m here.
Or worse, they throw me back to the other side…
To them, I don’t really have any business being here.
“There’s no need. As soon as I find the person I’m looking for, I’m out of here.” – Leanne
“No can do. The higher-ups are going to want to know about a Urielite crossing the passage.” – Woman
Already off to a bad start…
“Listen… I can’t explain why, but you’ve got to trust me. I am doing what’s best for everyone, okay? If you snitch, you’re putting bigger things at risk than you would believe. I swear, as a fellow member of The END, if you let me go, the Emperor is already one foot in the grave.” – Leanne
“Yeah… No. You’re coming with me!” – Woman
She grabs my wrist and tries to drag me away, but it’s hopeless; I’m way too powerful for her.
“… Rank?” – Woman
“B.” – Leanne
“Fine.” – Woman
She lets go, and immediately storms off.
Based on her grip strength, she’s probably around the level of a C-rank hunter.
Maybe D.
She knew there was no point in trying to force me to come with her; a hunter of her caliber could never make me move.
She’s probably still going to tattle on me though…
I’d like to stop her, but there’s no way for me to do that without breaking the rules.
Be it knocking her out, or just using my specialty to temporarily trap her, it’d be seen as attacking another member.
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I have no choice but to let her go.
That means I’m on a timer.
Sooner or later, higher-ups will find me, and when they do, this little infiltration mission is over.
I need to find him…
Quick!
But where do I even begin?
I know nothing about him other than his name.
What does he look like?
What rank is he?
Is he well known?
How long has he been a member?
Where does he live?
Are there any places he frequents?
I just don’t know enough about him…
If it was Seth, I could probably find him without too much issue, but Gael…?
I don’t even know who he is!
Gah!
This is annoying…
I have no choice but to start asking around.
That lady saw me crawl through the door, that’s how she knew I was a Urielite.
Once I move further into the city, they’ll have no reason to think I came from the other side.
Unless I run into someone who knows me that is…
I might not be a higher-up, but I’m still a B-ranker.
If I stay here for long enough, I’m bound to eventually run into someone who knows who I am.
I need to move quick, but also lay low.
Okay…
Let’s think.
Where could he be?
I have no clue…
But!
He’s likely training somewhere like most of them.
If I ask the instructors, they might know who he is, and where he’s training, but it’s risky…
The first time I came here was right after I became a B-ranker.
There was some meeting happening, and they wanted me to go so that I’d get to see the other side of the city for once.
One of the Raguelites in the meeting was another B-ranker, and an instructor.
I remember that at some point he mentioned that all their instructors are B-rank.
Seeing how little their side of the city has changed, I doubt this has either.
What that means is that if I ask one of the instructors about Gael, and it goes wrong and they recognize me, I won’t be able to get away that easily.
Getting away from a C-rank hunter is no problem, but another B-ranker?
Nope.
Can’t risk that.
But…!
There might be a way to indirectly ask them instead!
I walk around for a bit, until I find myself in a shady alleyway.
There’s a suspicious looking individual there…
Perfect.
As soon as they see me coming, they immediately start packing up their stuff.
“Wait! I’m here to do business.” – Leanne
They stop and look back at me.
I pull out my wallet; money talks.
A crooked smile stretches across their face.
“You should have just said so from the start!” – Suspicious individual
Their eyes are glued to the cash, and they’re not even trying to hide it.
“What do you want?” – Suspicious individual
“I want you to ask the instructor over there if he knows where Gael Lux is.” – Leanne
“Sure. They’re busy training right now, but they should be finished for the day in about an hour or two.” – Suspicious individual
“That won’t do. I need you to ask them now.” – Leanne
“Hmm… That’ll cost extra.” – Suspicious individual
“How much extra?” – Leanne
“Double.” – Suspicious individual
This is all I have…
I don’t like doing this, but…
“Sure.” – Leanne
I put my hand in my back pocket, and carefully construct a bunch of coins identical to real ones.
Using my specialty to make counterfeit money is nasty, but I can’t help it.
I can’t find Gael without their help; especially not when the higher-ups might find me any moment now.
I hand over everything I have; I hope they don’t notice they’re fake…
“That should be enough, righ-” – Leanne
“Why did you not have them in a pouch, like with the rest of your money?” – Suspicious individual
Oh no, they might be catching on!
…
No, calm down, Leanne…
You made them perfectly; there shouldn’t be any flaws that’ll give you away.
“Oh, no particular reason. As you can see, I didn’t have much space left in my wallet, and didn’t have another one at home. I’m just here to do business, and knew I might need a little extra… My back pockets work just fine for carrying some extra change.” – Leanne
He looks me in the eye, trying to sus me out…
“Give me a minute, I’ll be right back. And don’t even think of stealing anything. I know exactly what I have. If you take even a single hair, I’ll know.” – Suspicious individual
“Of course.” – Leanne
He bought it!
Phew…
