Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended [Part Two]

CHAPTER 228: The Information Broker

The sun had just about made its descent beyond the distant mountains when the party returned to the inner ward.

Lumielle walked in silence, her head lowered and lips drawn into a thin line. "Our circumstances are already complicated enough... and yet, Eleonore's words were anything but clear."

Lyndoria huffed, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "All she did was speak in riddles. I suppose that's what happens when you spend too much time in isolation."

Sensing the tension, Zephyr let out a low, sympathetic whimper.

Daisuke gently placed a hand atop the princess's head. "It's alright," he said with a reassuring smile. "Yeah, the old lady was cryptic as hell, but we still got the gist of it."

Lyndoria's eyes narrowed, her jaw tightening as she glared at his hand. "Is that so? And what exactly was she trying to say?"

Daisuke's gaze grew somber. "In short, the Mhaledictus haven't infiltrated the palace in numbers—it's a small, tight-knit group, slowly swaying powerful figures to their side."

He crossed his arms and exhaled. "Rooting them out won't be easy. They've crafted a narrative that's got the people wrapped around their fingers. If Eleonore abandons her post to confront them directly, they could easily twist public opinion and turn the masses against her. This gives them the perfect excuse to take control of the tower, which is essentially the same thing as giving them a bomb."

He glanced at Lumielle. "She's walking on thin ice. Sharing too much with us risks exposing her, and if that leak leads back to her, everything falls apart."

"Then?" Lyndoria pressed.

Daisuke glanced at the tome in Lumielle's hands. "We find the broker before she slips out of the city and trade it for information."

"In that case," the princess said softly, offering him the book, "this is our strongest bargaining chip. It's safer in your hands."

"Got it."

With a flick of his wrist, the grimoire vanished into his inventory. In its place, a pair of elegant hair clips appeared in his palm, forged from the Flare Stone he'd retrieved from the Armored Arachnid.

"I've got something for you both," he said, glancing between Lumielle and her ever-prickly attendant. "I have a feeling the situation's about to get more dangerous. If you keep these on you, I'll always be able to find you. And if you're ever in trouble, I'll come running."

Lyndoria flushed, cocking her head to the side as he gently placed the accessory in her hand. "Did you actually think stalking us like some creep would be comforting?"

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Some people are just impossible to please."

"Hmph." She tilted her chin defiantly, sneaking a glance at him from the corner of her eye. "I don't need some half-baked man coming to my rescue," she muttered. "I can take care of both myself and the princess, thank you very much."

Lumielle smiled softly as she graciously accepted the gift with both hands.

Lyndoria's eyes widened in disbelief. "Princess!"

The image of Sophia Everwinter watching over her like a guardian angel brought a blush to Lumielle's cheeks. "We'll be in your care," she murmured shyly.

Zephyr, naturally, voiced a complaint in his canine tongue, clearly miffed at being the only one excluded from the gesture. Fortunately, a barbecued Kobold rib quickly soothed his wounded pride.

Lyndoria cringed at the pup's enthusiastic gnawing. "I guess it doesn't bother him that Kobolds might technically be part of his family tree."

"Clearly," Daisuke replied dryly.