After finishing breakfast, I headed to my private training hall.
Normally, I would have locked the door the moment I arrived and started my warm-up exercise.
But I didn’t do that today.
‘There’s a guest coming.’
I simply closed the door without locking it and sat down with my back against the wall.
I spent about ten minutes idling, gently stroking Yor’s mane.
Finally, the guest I had been waiting for arrived.
He didn’t make a sound—to the point where I wouldn’t have noticed his arrival if I hadn’t kept my eyes fixed on the door.
“Wow!
I didn’t know Senior Karbaldr would request a meeting with me in such a secretive way.”
As soon as he entered and met my eyes, the visitor locked the door and spoke with a cheeky grin.
My readers would have recognized the identity of the visitor through his way of speaking.
Still, to be clear, the person I was waiting for was Pret.
The ‘secretive way’ he just mentioned referred to the note I handed him during breakfast, telling him to come here while avoiding the eyes of others….
‘My baby dragon was the one who pulled it off!’
Pret had sat next to Yor during mealtime, and Yor was capable of moving his hind paws as delicately as hands.
So, I had asked Yor for a favor.
While eating, I wanted him to move his foot under the table and slip a note into Pret’s pocket.
Of course, no matter how delicately Yor could move his feet, he couldn’t do this without the pocket’s owner noticing.
Thus, if Pret had reacted with shock to something entering his pocket, the plan to secretly call him here would have ended in failure.
However, I was certain that Pret wouldn’t do that.
‘Slipping a note into a pocket to deliver information or announce a meeting place is a common method information agents use!’
Sure enough, Pret showed no reaction even when Yor poked the note into his pocket.
Even the original protagonist didn’t seem to notice.
Although Nas-e was basically developed from the first-person perspective of the protagonist, Reysir, it wasn’t as if there were no descriptions from the perspectives of supporting characters or villains.
Because of that, there was no guarantee the original author wouldn’t observe this.
‘Since I left the note for him to come before Pret moved, isn’t it highly likely he won’t be able to observe it?’
It would obviously be good if I could avoid the original author’s observation, but it wouldn’t matter even if I couldn’t.
After all, I intended to speak and act as ‘Karbaldr’ through and through.
What did it matter since I wasn’t going to reveal the fact that I was a possessor?
“Senior Reysir is extremely wary of me getting close to you, but our Senior Karbaldr is asking for a secret tryst alone with me?
I don’t know if this is okay.”
Since he had come after a sudden summons, the normal reaction would be to ask what his business was.
However, Pret sat down heavily in front of me and showed the leisure to crack jokes.
Playfulness overflowed not only from his words but also from his expression, but this was clearly a trick to take control of the flow of conversation.
I didn’t let myself be swayed by his light behavior and approached the conversation with a serious attitude.
“Yor is also here, so it can’t be considered a meeting between just the two of us.
Furthermore, is there anyone who informs a third party before meeting with someone from the Information Guild?”
“Pardon?
Someone from the Information Guild?
Me?”
The expression on Pret’s face as he questioned back was the epitome of bewilderment.
Most people would have been completely fooled by that acting and felt awkward, thinking, ‘I must have guessed wrong!’
But I wasn’t simply making a wild guess; I had spoken with the truth already in mind thanks to the original work.
Instead of losing confidence and becoming flustered, I deliberately let out a short, hollow laugh.
Then, with a stern expression, I stared at him and spoke.
“Are you trying to feign ignorance now, after acting so openly as if you wanted to be recognized?”
“What on earth did I even do…”
“Didn’t you use a similar tone and accent as when you kidnapped Hailga while ‘camouflaged’ as a mercenary, and even showed yourself to be proficient with traps?”
“I am merely a common performer from a circus troupe, and my [Camouflage] skill is only capable of changing the color of my Aether at best.
This is the first time I’ve heard that Senior Hailga was kidnapped.
And as for the reason I could handle traps, didn’t I tell you yesterday?”
“That because you worked in a circus troupe, your dexterity and observation skills improved, allowing you to easily handle a trap you saw for the first time in your life?
Do you truly think that’s a plausible excuse?”
“But it really became possible thanks to that.”
Now, his expression feigned grievance and frustration.
It felt as if he were provoking me to present more definite evidence.
However, I had only watched Pret for the past week, and I hadn’t witnessed anything like him meeting with someone from the Information Guild.
‘There’s no way I could have clear, undeniable evidence.’
Nevertheless, the reason I could be certain of his true identity was simply because I had read the original novel.
Since that was a fact I could never reveal…
I decided to throw a bait that he wouldn’t be able to resist biting.
“Aren’t you curious what kind of request I called someone from the Information Guild here for?”
“Ah!
You were going to put in a request with the Information Guild?
Then, rather than poking around at just anyone like this, wouldn’t it be better to visit the guild officially?
A child of a Ducal House should be able to find out the location and contact method of the Information Guild easily enough.”
“I suppose you’re not curious why I called you here despite that.”
“……”
The mouth that had been rattling on without a moment’s hesitation suddenly clamped shut.
However, his eyes were clearly saying it.
He was incredibly curious.
“……It’s probably information you want to find out behind the Duke’s back, or something like that.
Isn’t that how everyone our age is?
We want to do everything behind our parents’ backs and don’t want unnecessary interference.”
He spoke in a tone as if it were no big deal.
But the curiosity in his eyes was asserting its presence even more clearly.
He was probably writing a scenario where the Duke of Austri was trying to hide something from his child, and I was looking for someone from the Information Guild to find out what it was.
‘If that were truly the case, I could have really piqued Pret’s curiosity…’
Regrettably, I had to crush those expectations.
“It’s not particularly grand information that I need.
It’s even less something my father would interfere with.
It’s just something I could receive within one or two days if I told the butler to prepare it.
So if you keep feigning ignorance like this, I intend to just contact the family.”
“Then why did you look for someone from the Information Guild?”
“Why are you curious about that?
You’re not even from the Information Guild.”
“Wouldn’t anyone be curious in this situation?”
The thought that Pret looked disappointed flashed through my mind for a moment, but his curiosity didn’t fade completely.
It was likely because the reason I was looking for someone from the guild had become even more mysterious.
Since this was enough to spark his interest, it was time to cast the line.
“That’s true.
Actually, if you were a member of the Information Guild and one of the mercenaries who accepted Tridric’s request to kidnap Hailga…
I thought a trade might be possible since it would mean you have information you want to get from me.”
I nodded and spoke as if agreeing with Pret’s statement.
Then, the other person’s eyes snapped open, revealing an even clearer sense of expectation than before.
“What?!
By a trade, do you mean you’ll answer whatever I ask?”
“Why do you ask that?
Didn’t you say you weren’t from the Information Guild anyway?”
“Well, that’s true, but…
Oh, man!
You’re making me want to ask all sorts of things while pretending to be part of the Information Guild.”
This time, a look of conflict appeared on Pret’s face.
Because he knew that what was swaying in front of him was bait hooked on a line, he couldn’t just snap it up.
And yet, he couldn’t completely erase the thought of wanting to bite.
‘As I thought, he definitely has information he wants to get out of me!’
I knew it.
A person who was the successor to the head of the Information Guild wouldn’t have kidnapped the daughter of a noble house just because he was short on money and accepted a request from someone like Tridric.
There must have been information he wanted to obtain, even if he had to cross a dangerous bridge.
And since the biggest figure involved in that incident was ‘Karbaldr,’ the owner of this body.
“After denying it so much until now, there’s no way I’d believe you if you suddenly said that, is there?
Unless you show me some evidence.”
If the opponent feigned ignorance due to a lack of evidence, it was enough to make them admit it by presenting evidence themselves.
Moreover, if I could instill the perception in the opponent that they were the one in need, the effect would be doubled.
“Um, but why is Senior Karbaldr trying to make such a ‘trade’?
You must have more than enough money, so you wouldn’t gain anything from a trade….”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable?
Having someone from the Information Guild lingering around, trying to dig up information about me.
Rather than just leaving it be, I decided it was better to check what information the other party wants from me and sell only the information I’m willing to give in exchange for a price.”
“Aha!
That’s an extraordinary way of thinking!
Usually, if someone is suspected of being part of the Information Guild, people would be wary and try to distance themselves.”
Judging by the reaction, my answer seemed to have piqued his interest.
That was very fortunate.
“I intend to do so from now on.
There’s no evidence that you’re part of the Information Guild, but there’s no guarantee that you aren’t, either.
We probably won’t have a private conversation like this ever again.
And of course, I won’t be leaking any of my personal information to you.”
“That’s quite a problem.
I like you, Senior Karbaldr, and I want to become friends.”
“If that’s the case, you can either show me evidence that you’re part of the Information Guild and trade with me, or simply prove that you’re nothing more than a common circus performer.”
If it was the person I knew as Fret Grimur, he would definitely choose the former.
While it was easy to prove he was part of the Information Guild, proving that he wasn’t was incredibly difficult.
Furthermore, he wasn’t the type of personality that could easily kick away a chance to satisfy his curiosity.
Besides, wasn’t he feeling interested in me?
Then, he would want to establish a trading relationship with me, if only to continue interacting.
So, as I sat there with a cold expression, quietly staring at Pret’s face, he finally raised the white flag.