Chapter 77

The audience roared with excitement at the lewd gesture. Alongside the whistles and applause came cheers like a blaze.

“You bitch, spread it wider! Do you know how much I paid just to see that thick cunt of yours?”

The actress giggled without a hint of shame in response to the crude, unfiltered shout. Hunter was no different in his enjoyment. He clapped his hands and cheered before boasting to Eugène.

“She is the most popular girl in our theatre these days. Only nineteen this year, but she makes the sounds of sex just right.”

“Thank you for telling me something I do not find interesting. It is not something I particularly cared to know.”

“So uptight. And yet I am not the least bit curious about whatever it is youdofind interesting. Is the lower half of your body made of stone or what?”

When Eugène failed to show interest in the theatre’s sensational new star, Hunter grew rather sulky and grumbled. It wasn’t the first time he behaved so foolishly.

Eugène got straight to the point without replying to that.

“There is something I need you to look into discreetly. How much will it cost?”

“Whoa there, my friend. That is no way to start a deal. Have you ever thought about how much it hurts the person you’re asking if you start talking about money right off the bat?”

“To hear such a thing from a swindler like you is what really hurts. Do you think I have no idea as to what kind of trouble I would be in if I brought up the matterwithoutasking the price first?”

Even if one truly did not know, getting burned a few times is usually enough to teach a lesson. Hunter grinned at Eugène’s curt reply. He rested his arm along the back of their seat, his eyes twinkling.

“So what you are saying is, this is something you are willing to pay for, no matter the cost?”

“Is it not natural for an information trader to sell information and receive money in return?”

“Not at all. That is what the dim-witted ones do. It would be the height of laziness to demand only money from a client like you. It shows a complete lack of professionalism on the part of the merchant.”

Hunter, tapping the backrest with his fingertips, tilted his head and studied Eugène closely. Those meeting him for the first time often assumed he was sociable and carefree by nature, thanks to his flamboyant gestures and easy chatter.

But Hunter was, in fact, the most capable information trader Eugène knew, and a fence with the broadest distribution network in the Empire. Contrary to his outward appearance, he possessed a sharp and cautious temperament, and when it came to business, he almost never suffered a loss.

“dOE oDhC?”

“z HJ wJE EGBI hJwIN YbJh NJk.”

“z LJkSH bGEaIb NJk EGBI EaI hJwIN.”

v EODLz yOm mNXJ fm JFJy fA eOD OAAJtJz oJ CNLA mCJ zfFOthJ IJmmLJoJym mCNm ztNfyJz eODt fy-LNEI. sI fm CNRRJyI, v CNFJ N ANFOt mO NIX OA eOD.”

skwEIb’t tJ-vGSSIH “YGAJbt” LIbI, hJbI JYEIw EaGw wJE, LISS iINJwH LaGE tkva G hJHItE LJbH vJkSH iIGb. OkVèwI, LISS GLGbI JY EaGE YGvE, YJkwH EaI tQEkGEQJw EbJkiSItJhI, ikE aI aGH wJ JEaIb vaJQvI.

YmfLL, CJ CNz NymfhfRNmJz mCfI oDhC ECJy CJ AftIm zJhfzJz mO hOoJ mO dDymJt. MyLJII CJ ENI tJNze mO ENLX ODm OA mCJ tOOo Nyz NgNyzOy JFJtemCfyq, mCfI ENI mCJ ROfym Nm ECfhC yJqOmfNmfOy CNz mO gJqfy.

“…Then let us draw a line. Nothing illegal, nothing that would stain my honor, and nothing that could bring harm to the empire.”

“It will take place in international waters, so imperial law does not apply. As for your honor, there is no risk to it either. Why would I be foolish enough to ruin such a good card and render it unusable?”

When Eugène was beginning to waver, Hunter brightened and slipped in a subtle hint about his request. After all, if Eugène had a sense of what sort of task it might be, he would come to a decision more quickly.

“Be specific. What is it you want me to do?”

Eugène had not even heard the details of what was being asked of him, yet he was already negotiating the price he would have to pay.

Hunter, feeling as though he were being made to lay down his cards without having seen the other’s hand, found it displeasing. Still, he was in need of Eugène’s help as well, so he could not afford to draw things out for long.

“A merchant ship is set to depart from the House Baltenor next month. There will be two armed vessels, and I hear one of them is scheduled to carry contraband. I will find out which of the two it is. You just need to seize that ship. You can manage that much, can you not? You may no longer be able to act directly as you once did, but surely you can still exert influence within the Navy?”

Hunter asked Eugène to seize an armed foreign vessel with the same ease as someone asking for the salt to be passed. Eugène frowned in disapproval but fell into thought.

House Baltenor was one of the most distinguished in the Confederation of Five Nations and the most influential family in Randall. Though already a prominent house, their power had grown even stronger after marrying their daughter into the successor line of the House Lecaster.

The House Lecaster, bound by marriage to the House Baltenor, was a mighty family with sway across the entire Confederation of Five Nations. The head of the house, Marquis Revern Lecaster, had five children, all of whom he married off to prominent families in various nations. He had forged a force so unshakable with those powerful marriage alliances that even the royal family dared not challenge it. One of his daughters married into the royal family of Rodom was none other than the famous Queen Gywneth.

Count Baltenor used the power of his daughter’s father-in-law, Marquis Lecaster, to expand his power through a bloody political struggle. The old Randall was a place of many powerful men, and it was necessary to demonstrate overwhelming power to rise to the top.

To that end, Count Baltenor committed atrocities, which included not merely the political elimination of his enemies, but direct purges, and countless noble families fell victim to him. Among them was Hunter’s own family, House Caivenne, who held the title of ‘Count’.

“The Imperial Navy is not a band of privateers. The only vessels we are authorized to seize are those with clear evidence of piracy or smuggling. Without proof, it is we who face trouble. Are you confident you can identify the right one?”

Hunter was only seventeen when his family was suddenly wiped out in Count Baltenor’s purge. He had barely survived, boarding a smuggling ship that brought him to the empire.

Hunter’s father, Count Caivenne, better known by the nickname ‘Blue Shark,’ had struck a desperate bargain with the Imperial Navy to save his heir. In exchange for his son’s survival, he offered up the harbor schematics of Regalec Isle, his domain. The one who answered that plea was Captain “Old Olaf.” At that time, Eugène was in charge of Captain Olaf’s cabin.

“Of course. I already obtained the original shipping declaration they falsified to evade taxes, and I have planted a tail among the crew who will stay in contact.”

Given how they first met, it was only natural that Eugène was familiar with Hunter’s long-standing grudge against House Baltenor. He had helped Hunter in his revenge before, often to the extent of the law, in exchange for his assistance.

“This time, since I will not be acting directly, I will not be able to assist in the handling of the contraband. Even though they are subordinates, the disposition of seized goods falls under the sole authority of each ship’s captain.”

“That does not matter. It is for my pleasure. You just need to see the main business through properly. So, what is it you wish to ask of me?”

When Eugène finally agreed to the deal, Hunter, satisfied and relaxed like a cat that swallowed a canary, leaned back and asked. When in a good mood, he had an awful habit of becoming suddenly flirtatious; he reached out with the arm draped over the seat and idly toyed with Eugène’s earlobe.

Eugène, without reacting, brushed the hand off and calmly disclosed the matter that had brought him here.

“There is a commission I need investigated.”

“If you are bringing it to me, I suppose it is not a commission with a clean background.”

“Of course not. The Surmulot are involved. I need to find the mousetrap they have hidden.”

Hunter’s information did not come cheap, so much so that it was rarely within easy reach, but it was fast and accurate. Unless it involved the imperial court, where his reach did not extend, there were few who could match his intelligence-gathering prowess.

“Do you know anyone among those sewer rats? Or at least have a description?”

He asked with the confidence of someone who could find anyone with a face to go on. Eugène recalled the final words spoken by the leader of those sewer rats before his death and spoke his name.

“Guillaume. He said his name was Guillaume Meville.”

“… Guillaume Meville? Do you mean Clawhand Meville? The one who was dumped in a back alley not long ago with a hole blown clean through his forehead?”

Even if the man had a nickname like “Clawhand,” Eugène, who knew little of the reputations of back alley criminals, would not have recognized the name. However, upon hearing the detail that the man had been found with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead beside an abandoned carriage in an alleyway, he was convinced it was indeed the one he was seeking.

“If his corpse was found next to a discarded carriage with no explanation, then he is likely the one.”

“Do not tell me it was you they attacked? Word is, seven of them went after a man, four were butchered, and two left half-crippled.”

Eugène nodded his head silently in response to his fussy question. Hunter, seeing him admit it, looked at Eugène with an exaggeratedly surprised expression.

“Damn, you monster!”

He’d always know that he was a competent officer, but there was a gap as wide as the two banks of the Salpine River between earning distinction on the battlefield and slaughtering men in back alleys. It felt strangely surreal to learn that this upright officer was the very same man who had turned the slums into a pit of terror overnight.

Even in the slums, where human lives were scarcely valued more than flies, it was rare for five or six to fall dead all at once. So ruthless and resolute was the hand that struck down those who attacked that even several days after their deaths, the rumors showed no sign of dissipating.

You mean to say that this strait-laced soldier can be that merciless once he makes his move?Hunter filed the newly acquired information deep in his mind. He had a pleasant feeling that one day he could put this information to good use.

“Hey, Hawkeye, what the hell have you been up to out there? How does some noble brat end up getting ambushed by the sewer rats just walking down the street? If it was Clawhand, he was one of the pricier ones among the Surmulots, you know.”

The iron rule of the Surmulots was that they would do anything for money, but it was not common to receive commissions to kill people. Whether among the slums or the highest courts, it was all the same filthy mire. Hunter made no effort to let Eugène know, but he had a rough idea of how things were unfolding around him, gleaned from the whispers he had picked up here and there. He clicked his tongue inwardly

“That is exactly what I want to know. Find out who paid them.”

In a composed tone, Eugène laid out the situation. He told Hunter that before his death, Guillaume Meville had spoken the strange name ‘Thierry Kiatek,’ that skilled marksmen had been waiting to clean up the aftermath, and that the marksmen were probably military veterans. He advised that, if possible, it would be worth tracking the marksmen’s trails as well, and to this, Hunter nodded without protest.

“And…”

Eugène hesitated as he began. The fact that the Emperor’s secret organization was investigating the vicinity was a confidential matter that could not be easily shared with outsiders. He suspected that Hunter, whose gaze missed nothing in the slums’ every hidden alley, had likely noticed unfamiliar figures roaming nearby. But he would not yet know their direct ties to the Emperor himself.

“There are others investigating the matter as well. If you cross paths with them, you will be the one who gets hurt, so be careful not to get caught.”

Nearly half a month had passed since the day of the attack, yet the Emperor’s counterintelligence organization had yet to deliver any useful news.