NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32: Spy
"Lady Eli, open your mouth! Aaa." Alicia fed me my breakfast at the cafeteria. The spying work I did last time bore no results, and I only got 2 points from it. Since I fed her sleeping pills in the evening, she slept until sunrise and was absolutely refreshed. Unlike me, who looked haggard.
"I have never seen a noble who lets their maid do whatever they want like Eli. Alicia looks more like your mother now than your maid. We wouldn't know if not for her maid attire," Nana muttered. Was I embarrassed? I was too tired to feel ashamed. I considered taking a sick leave. But I was not actually ill, so I got dragged by Alicia outside.
"Lady Eli, it is not good to skip classes."
"I already got good scores…"
"It is no longer perfect like before, right? That's why your teacher no longer allowed you to skip classes. Moreover, there are etiquette classes today," she said while wiping my mouth.
"Nya…"
"A! How cute!" she immediately rubbed my head. I glared at her.
"Whoa!" Safira dropped her spoon. Nana also squealed in surprise.
"Ah! Lady Eli's glare! Don't worry, Lady Eli. I wouldn't hurt you!" Alicia continued to rub my head. She no longer feared my glare and seemed to ask for it lately. I tilted my head in confusion.
"Was that Eli's infamous magic impression?" Safira asked.
"Yes. Sorry about that."
"No. It's nothing. I had one too. My body's temperature was lower than normal. I got sick often during my childhood because of it. It was only when a teacher sent from the capital came that I was able to fix it two years ago."
"Could you do it again, Lady Eli?" Nana said. Since there was no one in our immediate surroundings, I indulged her. Safira and Nana's bodies jumped, but they held their voices.
"It is scary, isn't it?" I asked them.
"Your face didn't change. However, I felt a pressure inside my heart. It gave a sense of fear. Quite fascinating," Safira commented.
"Lady Eli is not scary at the least! Her eyes are beautiful! If you get used to it, it gives you a sense of excitement instead! I love it!" Alicia raved about it, seeming proud to be able to withstand my intimidation.
"Alicia…." I turned off my intimidation. Safira and Nana gave out a sigh of relief.
"Whew. That was quite an experience."
"Haha. I wonder what led Lady Elidranthia to develop that kind of magic impression? It was said that magic impression was formed due to our innate desires. For me, I adored ice when I saw an ice sculpture in the winter. That's why I have that kind of magic impression. What about you, Nana?"
"I don't have a magic impression," Nana admitted. She was the same as Alicia then. When she looked at the clock, she picked up her bags in a hurry. "Let's go. We are almost late."
The lesson went by in the blink of an eye, and night soon came. I slipped out of my dorm and went to the noble quarters. The guards were patrolling, but they stood no chance against my camouflage and illusion. The target this night was Baron Kharn.
Just like last night with other nobles' villas, I jumped the fences with my skills. Since the door was locked, I went through the chimney. Chimneys were still used despite the smokeless magical stoves, either because they were fancy or added there as extra windows. Nobody thought a thief would go in there. It was too small for an adult.
Then, I crept into various rooms. The doors leading outside were locked, but doors inside villas were often left unlocked. These noble manors often had the same designs, just slightly fancier or worse, to denote their standings. After opening the study, I installed several wiretaps. These tools were expensive. I would have to pick them up again next week. I groaned every time 15 gold coins of these magic tools were left in somebody else's house.
"Alright. This and yesterday will make up for 5 houses under our surveillance. Don't forget to check any documents in their drawers or study. Photograph them if you find something interesting, especially if you find any finance reports."
"Will these be worth it? We spent almost 60 gold coins here."
"You are such a child. If we found evidence of corruption, we could prevent thousands of golds in damage. Moreover, we could score a good relationship with the country. Or if they didn't want to budge, we could use this as blackmail material."
R25 B's words slapped me with some reality check. Just as he said, I was still a child. 60 gold was more than a year's worth of salary for peasants. But here, the guild risked it to spy on random houses of nobles. R25B even admitted that since these were just villas, we might not even get anything.
After I photographed everything, I unlocked the window and left the villa. That's how I rolled for a week. In total, I got paid 20 points for my trouble. When the king then made an announcement about the new law for mages, mages were happy about it. However, commoners were a bit conflicted. They were delighted about getting protection, but they seemed a bit irked since they knew it was mainly for mages.
"Lady Eli? Are you okay? You seem easily exhausted lately." Alicia muttered as I rested my head on the school table. She didn't feed me since I was grumbling all the way. The capital felt peaceful. However, reports from R25B were anything but. The discordance between what I saw and what R25B said was making me nervous.
"Eli! How was school today! We would like to have you at another tea party!" Prince Ludwin's voice jolted me awake. I stared at him, releasing my intimidation. "Eli? Who is Eli? Why didn't he use any honorifics?" my thoughts screamed in irritation. But Alicia swiftly covered my eyes with her hands in a practiced motion. She was used to doing this.
"Greetings, Second Prince Ludwin Seraphim. May I help you?" Alicia greeted him.
"Ah! My apologies, Alicia and Elidranthia. I came here merely to invite you to another tea party. This law seemed like a success, and I wanted us to have a party together. Will you come to our salon?"
"Lady Eli seems to be under the weather lately. We shall see if we could make it there?"
"Very well. I shall await your response." Ludwin smiled as he waved goodbye.
"Happy birthday!"
"I love you, honey,"
"AH! AH! Oh my God. It feels so good."
A mixture of voices came from multiple wiretaps R666 installed in noble villas since a week ago. It ranged from nobles having affairs, parties, and lukewarm dinners. The Ministry of Defense had issued a quest to gather intelligence on a possible rebellion. R666 had a tip from the royals. The focus of the intelligence gathering was then moved from commoners to nobles.
"We spent hundreds of gold planting wiretaps in your houses. But all you do is copulate like animals…" I muttered.
"R25B, how is it going there?" R24B asked for my progress. Five operators with an extra ten reapers were tasked to monitor the wiretaps. In total, we put surveillance on over 30 houses plus the financial reports R666 and others photographed for us.
"Nice! I got a porn audio tape over here. You want it?" My flat voice denoted full sarcasm mode. She chuckled before returning to her desk.
"Lol. I don't want a fat-ass porn audio tape." She said "lol" instead of laughing to humor me. She too was tired of listening to some nonsense.
"R25B. Will R666 be more available? She only clocked less than 3 hours for a critical mission last week." Senior 3 was pressuring me.
"R666 has already done more than her share of work, didn't she? She has noble duties, too."
"Ah! She was a noble? I forgot. Then, would it be possible to sneak into the castle?"
"Huh? But why? It's impossible to plant a wiretap inside the castle. Moreover, she is a new noble. Why don't we ask R25, R145, or R224? They are nobles, too." I answered.
"R224 was missing in action yesterday. He screwed up. R25 and 145 are not in the capital. I did not want a wiretap but a recorder. Will that be possible?"
"Who's going to pick it up? If the castle is cleaned and it is found out, R666 will be screwed. I know you are impatient. But we shouldn't endanger our agents."
"Ah! Found it! Found some evidence!" R24B exclaimed. "Here! The finance report of Baron Kharn reads that he earned more than he should."
“Huh? Wait! Let me see! Isn’t this just a normal bribe because that fat ass sold his mage daughter to some nouveau riche count or viscount’s son?”
“Oh yeah. That could be it.”
“Maybe there wasn’t a rebellion and the Ministry of Defense simply jumped at shadows?” I said slovenly to Senior 3.
“Maybe! However, the fact that R655 found weapons in an abandoned building in the slums raised an alarm throughout the ministry. Some of them were mining explosives, too. The ministry wants hard proof there was no rebellion, and if there was, they wanted proof of who did it. The commission is 1000 gold! Divided among all participants.” Senior 3 shouted to encourage us all. But we knew it was just a market scam. We employed many reapers and personnel. That 1000 points will be divided into many, and even the guild takes a cut from it due to the tools the guild provided.
“Hah…” I sighed.
“Listen! The weapons have been found by those damn reapers! What about the other locations? Huh? What? Do you want to change the plan again? Let's meet at the castle tomorrow! The underway will be secured; I will make preparations.” The sound from wiretap number 6 caught my attention. The sound was male. Did he talk through a phone? Only his voice was heard inside the villa.
“Alright! Alright! Got it. So, plan C? I need to talk with Mala then. Yeah. Okay! Hail King Stephen. Glory to Elderan Empire.” A shudder came up within me all at once. Spy from outside? Among nobility?
“Sir, I found something,” I reported my findings to Senior 3.