Chapter 276
–Aegir POV–
Early in the morning, a meeting is being held in the mansion .
Surrounding me are Leopolt, Myla, Celia, Irijina, and Melissa who is also worried .
Sitting beside me is Kroll, who is wearing a dark expression .
「Leopolt, report your findings . 」
I order him in an austere manner while pointing at the map of the capital spread out on the table in front of us .
「Understood . 」
He replies in his usual monotone voice, letting out a sigh before he starts to talk .
「First I will report on the target’s movements from yesterday . After shopping at a miscellaneous goods store, he roamed around the capital, then spent one hour talking in the park . 」
I start tapping my foot out of irritation .
「When it got darker, he went to a restaurant to eat…… at this store . 」
I reach the limits of my patience .
「It’s not like you to ramble on with all this useless information . The important part is how far he put it in . Just the tip? Or all the way to the root? And also, whether he came inside or not . 」
「Uwaaaa……」
Kroll lets out a pathetic voice but he can’t turn his eyes away from reality .
If you don’t get a grasp of your situation first, you can’t win .
Leopolt’s gaze seems to gradually grow cold . Celia doesn’t seem to have any interest in the matter either .
On the other hand, Irijina is enthralled and would have probably made a mess of things if I used her in the operation instead .
「……from what I saw, he did not go that far . After dinner, he only gave her a tiny kiss before heading back home, and while the man invited her to an inn, he was rejected . 」
Oh yeah, when I got home yesterday after eating dinner with Count Monashi, Alma was already there .
So he didn’t reach that critical stage even after getting to eat with her . What a worthless man . In that case, Kroll’s chances of winning may still be pretty high .
「Uuuuuu…… Alma…… kissed……」
Kroll is still making pathetic sounds . I thought that just now was a pretty promising report .
Leopolt continues without paying attention to Kroll’s groan . It looks like he wants to get this over and done with .
「After that, I followed the man until he reached his residence . As I reported last night in haste, the mansion belonged to a mid-level merchant family though his standing is unknown . The guards were alerted so we retreated to avoid being detected . 」
「My apologies . I was the one who made that blunder . 」
Gido lowers his head . Going by his expression, he doesn’t seem satisfied with himself .
It can’t be helped . The escort squad is not geared for covert operations . Sneaking around and doing investigations is not their strong suit .
「I’m not concerned with his background . Getting Gerald’s name and address is plenty . 」
I place several letters on top of the map .
Those are from Rebecca . I commissioned her to do a private investigation for me last night .
As expected of the capital’s proud lead information officer, she completely exposed this guy in one night .
I’m glad I wrote ‘urgent matter’ . One day, I want to completely expose Rebecca too .
「Gerald is the second son of Geissler, who is a middle-class weapons dealer . Because he doesn’t have to succeed his family business, he seems to be living as he pleases . 」
Celia was disinterested at first, but seeing Myla nonchalantly move beside me, she quickly begun reading the documents in my place as usual .
「The second son of a merchant family…… I have a bad impression of them so you should be careful around him . 」
Melissa speaks in a worried tone .
I agree . On top of not having the responsibility of succeeding the business, they have a large pool of funds at their disposal so the second sons of merchant families tend to be problematic .
「Er, let’s see here…… he appears to have three lovers at the moment . In the past he has often also gotten women, mostly employees, pregnant before abandoning them . 」
「……the worst . 」「What a disgraceful guy!」
Myla and Irijina are upset .
What a stupid man . He just needed to make all the women he’s made pregnant belong to him, what a waste .
The more women you have, the better .
「He takes money from his family and spends it wildly . Apparently, he is the leader…… of a group of youngsters he gathered from around the city . 」
「In other words, he flaunts his money to get delinquents to follow him and then acts like their boss . 」
This guy is getting more worthless by the minute .
If he has the money to throw at idiots, he should use it to play with prostitutes instead .
「He solves most of his problems with money, and is nothing but a small fry unrelated to any larger criminal organization . 」
Celia goes on to mention Geissler’s family structure and main clients, even reading the name of the partners the head of the family is cheating with .
「Finding out all of this in such a short time…… how reliable and frightening at the same time . 」
「She is dangerous . We must not let our guards down . 」
Myla and Leopolt’s faces become cloudy .
Why worry, Rebecca won’t become our enemy .
Celia continues reading .
「Uu……, a-ahem! According to the testimonies of the girls he abandoned, Gerald has a small dick…… And it appears Geissler has lent some gold to Viscount Binbo yesterday . 」
So he took out another loan ……I’m not going to shoulder your debt again, you hear .
「It’s a good thing he’s small . With the both of you being small, you can fight on even terms, Kroll . 」
I pat Kroll’s shoulder, though he doesn’t seem too happy .
「I have to save Alma…… from that worthless scum of a man…… I have to do something……」
「That’s right, I’ll support you but it has to be you who sees it through to the end . 」
Kroll looks at me and nods .
「Saving a girl from a villain! I’m getting all fired up!!」
Irijina is pumped .
Celia hands me back Rebecca’s letters with a pouting face .
「Read the last part yourself . I don’t want to look at it . 」
「Hm? ……fufufu, what a cutie . 」
Written at the end of the letter is an informal note saying “I mobilized 20 officers for this investigation . I did it for you because I owed you, but please refrain from making anymore personal requests” .
Also at the end is a simple drawing of what appears to be Rebecca’s face…… I guess Celia got jealous over that .
「Umm…… what is everyone doing?」
A voice suddenly calls out to us from behind . It’s Alma .
The early-rising girl has woken up .
「Uooh!」
「Ugyaa!!」
In order to distract Alma from looking at the map and documents on the table, I threw Kroll forward on instinct .
However Leopolt moves calmly to hide them from sight, resulting in Kroll’s pain becoming for nothing .
「Kroll was being scolded for a mistake he made . 」
Nice follow, Myla .
「Is that so…… it’s still early for breakfast but since everybody is up, shall I make something?」
「It’s fine . Everyone will be going out for an important business today . Alma can take the day off . 」
「Eh? Even though I rested from noon yesterday as well?」
I insist it’s fine for Alma to take a break by giving her some allowance .
If she’s going to meet Gerald again, that will be our time to settle things .
「W-wait Alma . I have something to ask you!」
The writhing Kroll who was unnecessarily slammed into the floor recovers .
「……What is it?」
「You met up with a friend yesterday, right? With who…… and what did you do?」
After staying silent briefly, Alma looks down at the floor .
「It has nothing to do with Kroll . I just went out shopping for a bit . 」
While staggering to get up, Kroll continues asking .
「……did you have fun?」
「……yeah . 」
Alma’s cheeks turn a pale red .
She runs off, saying she has to wash her face .
「K-kissing that guy…… was fun? Uuu, Alma’s going to be stolen at this rate……」
Kroll falls to his knees . Then I realized a change .
「Kroll, your crotch……」
「What?」
「No, it’s nothing . 」
I thought I saw something bulge out from his crotch, maybe that was my imagination .
Kroll has been impotent for so long after all . I’m sure it was my mistake .
「We have all the information . We just have to wait for Alma to go out before we start our operation . 」
When I use a more forceful tone, Celia and the others straighten their postures and salute .
「Celia, pick a few members from the escort squad who are quick on their feet and form a scouting unit . I’ll leave the reconnaissance and tracking to you . You’re in charge . 」
「Right!」
「Myla, organize a support group for Celia . If you see that she needs help, don’t be afraid to jump in . 」
「Yessir!」
「Irijina, choose a few members with a nice build and form the assault squad . However, don’t make any moves unless you get an order from me . 」
「Got it!」
Alright, this is good .
「Leopolt will stay by my side and take command of the whole operation . 」
「……」
Leopolt stares at me through slightly narrower eyes than usual . He didn’t give me any response .
「Each and every one of them are idiots . 」
He just woke up…… no, Tristan’s probably going back to sleep .
Be quiet . I’m not taking you anyways .
「There’s something I’m curious about so I’ll stay in the mansion . I think this matter is much more important . 」
A disloyal person like Tristan needs to be punished .
I’ll get a mountain of those green peas he hates to be piled on his plate for dinner .
After that, all of us hid in the storage closet, pretending to go out, and waited until Alma left before commencing the operation .
「We received a message from the scouting unit! The target has arrived at Geissler’s shop and met up with a man . 」
「She’s here!」
I am using the second floor of a certain brothel as headquarters .
I am acquainted with both the shop owner and the prostitutes, and as long as I’m renting a room, I won’t attract any attention .
It’s not strange for men to enter and leave frequently either so the messengers reporting to me don’t look suspicious .
「The scouting unit will continue to tail the target, only retreating if cover is blown and will pass off the mission to the support group . Support unit will, on the assumption that the scouting unit will scatter, cover a wide area around them and prepare to provide backup without delay . 」
Leopolt gives out the instructions .
His expression is exactly the same as if he were ordering soldiers on the battlefield, though there is a tinge of fatigue in his eyes .
「The assault squad requests permission to head out!」
「Denied . Be good and stay still . 」
What does Irijina intend to do by charging forward all of a sudden?
Rushing in and beating up Gerald would make us look like bullies .
「The target has entered the Grupp bar . 」
Grupp, huh…… I’ve been in there once and thought it was a place where no-good punks hang out .
I didn’t think the son of a wealthy merchant would take a girl to a place like this for a date .
「Have the scouting unit enter the bar . Split up and take different tables so it doesn’t look suspicious . Support unit, surround the building and monitor both the front and back entrances . Assault unit will stay on standby in a nearby bar until new orders are given . 」
Leopolt’s orders are precise .
「But it’s frustrating . I want to be on the frontlines too . 」
「Lord Hardlett stands out too much . Everything we’ve done will be wasted if you’re discovered . 」
I don’t sense any intentions from him to stop me .
Honestly, it feels like he doesn’t care whether the plan is ruined .
「I won’t screw up . I’ll be in disguise . Kroll, you come too since you’re the main actor . 」
「Right!」「Do whatever you want . 」
I put on a hood to cover my face .
Next I wrap myself in a cloak to hide my body and try to walk while looking down as much as possible .
I’ll immediately find a spot nearby when I get into the bar and watch the events unfold .
As Kroll and I enter the bar, Celia beckons us to sit next to her .
「That appearance…… did you get stopped by the guards?」
Celia asks worriedly .
I did . But I asked them to overlook it this time . I’ll have to apologize to Erich later .
「So where’s Alma?」
「She’s using the toilet right now . Over there is that guy called Gerald . 」
「Him……」
I look to where Celia points and see a man propping his feet up on the table while chugging alcohol vulgarly .
His face is the same as what I saw before but the effeminate feeling I got from him yesterday is gone . He’s a proper delinquent now .
Not long later, a group of boorish punks who were drinking nearby approached Gerald with nasty grins .
「Gerald-san . That girl, is she feeling up to doing it yet?」
「She’s got a pretty face…… but her body is lacking . 」
「Heh, doing a flat girl once in a while isn’t too bad . Besides, she’s remaining chaste despite being in love with me . Forcefully pushing her down and fucking that kind of girl really gets you going, doesn’t it?」
「You never change Gerald-san, you’re terrible . So, you’re gonna pass her around to the guys after you’re done with her, right?」
「Yeah, wait how many people are here? If everyone gang bangs her, she’ll break after one round . 」
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