Edward Frost.
He woke up from his coma roughly around two years ago. Instead of recuperating for a few months after breaking the curse and regaining consciousness, he started working as usual.
But before that, he mysteriously vanished for two weeks along with his closest aides before reappearing at the Imperial Palace.
I think he was collecting evidence on Marquess Esdal, the man responsible for his curse.
Oh, Thank god! His current location is the capital Volos.
"Phew..." I let out a sigh of relief.
It is where he was assigned by the Imperial family to assist in the investigation regarding the series of murders with the Commander of the Imperial Knights, Alex Herrmann.
"Happy?" Jack asked with a satisfied smile.
"Yes!" Although I was avoiding him on purpose, I unconsciously answered in high spirits from having a burden lifted off my chest.
Then I remembered where I was and immediately corrected myself.
"I mean, yes. The reports are very thorough"
For inexplicable reasons, the number of nightmares I've been having has exponentially increased since the start of our journey.
I used to dream about walking on a beach hand in hand with a handsome guy, whose face I have never seen. But now every single time I close my eyes, I see myself reflected in a mirror caught by a man with a pair of red eyes.
It was 'Nightmare on the Streets of Orion'.
I continued reading the report on Edward with more enthusiasm than I had ever had in my life.
Turns out Edward has fully embraced the fact that he is a widower. And according to this, he spends a lot of time standing over the cliff of Mount Zion staring off into the raging ocean.
Aka the place where the late Duchess was murdered.
This guy is such a...
"Romantic..." A voice came from behind me.
'I was gonna say drama king. But...'
"Yeah"' I smirked mockingly.
He's so romantic that he proposed to his girlfriend on the site his wife was murdered.
Romantic indeed.
Wait a minute. Who said that?
"!"
I flinched at the unexpected sight of Jack earnestly reading the report on Edward from right behind me.
I was about to punch in reflex but stopped myself at the last second.
When did he get behind me?
Wasn't he sitting in front of me seconds ago?
"Ahem... Excuse me?" I glared at him, irked by the invasion of privacy.
Sneaking up on someone was already bad enough but, sneaking up on someone who is sneaking up on a bunch of people was worse.
"Ah... sorry. I came for the tea"
He smiled, unfazed by the annoyance etched on my face.
Holding up his hands he pointed at the trolly before scurrying away. Soon the room was engulfed with the fragrance of aromatic tea.
Jack leaned on the wall beside the pneumatic tubes with a cup of tea in hand. After adding three cubes of sugar to the tea, he stood there quietly as he mixed it with a spoon.
Anyway, if Edward has been visiting Mount Zion a lot then there can be only one explanation as to why.
'The Infamous Proposal Scene'
I think he's planning his extravagant proposal for Helen. Which in turn means that the storyline is going as per track.
Ok! Back to the report.
Edward investigated the group of masked men, who were left for dead along with injured Frost Knights. On interrogation, they were found to be part of the assassination squad that killed the Duchess.
Unfortunately, they were unable to escape the scene because of a sudden monster attack that caught them in the blind. Or so the report went on.
Monster attack? I was confused.
There weren't any mons... Ohhh, I nodded understanding the true meaning behind the curtains.
It is a cold case as of now.
Next is the star of the show, Helen Layton.
I can see that she arrived at the capital right on schedule. Shortly later, she became very popular in the capital after she cured Edward.
Her current residence is also in the capital.
Or to be more precise.
The Frost residence!
Helen and Edward's relationship is progressing just as I expected. In the novel, Edward had Helen stay in his home and even arranged her room next to his so that she was always within his arms' reach.
YAAAY... I can hear the sound of holy bells ringing everywhere.
I'm saved! All of this suffering was not in vain!
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.
"Hmm?"
When I flipped the page, there was nothing more in the report. That was the last page. Yet, there was still one more person I had asked to investigate.
"Is there a problem?" Jack asked as he placed the teacup on the trolly.
"I asked for information on six people. But there are only five in here"
"Ah about that. The first five were prominent figures in high society. We get a lot of requests about them and had pre-prepared reports. But the last guy is not. So we had to investigate from scratch" Jack shrugged.
"But it should be here any minute now"
Right then a cylinder popped out through one of the pipes next to Jack. He caught it in his hand perfectly as if he was waiting for it.
The golden cylinder turned into dust leaving behind a red-colored file. Jack placed the file in front of me and sat back in his seat.
"My job here is done"
I took the file and checked its contents.
However, there was one thing that was different about Kalan's report compared to the others.
Unlike the rest, it had Kalan's picture added to the information.
"Why is it this is the only report with a picture?" I asked, confused by the mismatch in continuity.
"Well... Most people already know how the 'High Five' looks like so we didn't see the need for it"
"High Five?" I scoffed.
Seriously? Like a K-pop band? Heh...... Cause that would be hilarious.
"It's what the people in high society call them"
That was a surprisingly sloppy answer. I don't care, so...Kalan Verglas. I turned back to the report.
Kalan is the head of Orion merchants that specialize in ancient relics. His father was a Knight. That explains his physique and speech.
Blah blah blah... most of this I already know.
Kalan was part of an excavation team in Napal, where a few archaeological sites were discovered dating back to the founding of the empire.
Although Napal is owned by a dangerous demon. Kalan did not come in contact with neither him nor the other members of High Five.
Kalan is clean.
No need to be overly suspicious of him anymore.
I closed the report with a satisfied smile.
Now all that is left is to pay the fee and get out of here. I've been here for too long. If I don't return now, Momma Jade will ground me.
"What's the price?" I asked Jack.
I did bring a lot of money. But in case it is not sufficient, I can get some more from Noah and Oliver. The sacrifice of the Golden Lion mercenaries will always be remembered.
While I calculated the service fee, Jack pulled out a small notepad back from his jacket pocket and started writing.
When he tore it from the notepad, the small note flew towards me like a leaf twirling in the wind and landed on my hand. It was a receipt.
"What?!" I stood in shock up seeing the amount written in it.
Is this for real?
"T-t-ten gold coins?" I stuttered.
My eyes were as round as saucers.
"It's a reasonable price" Jack answered calmly, completely entertained by me losing composure.
Are you kidding me? The one request I placed last time cost me two thousand gold coins.
And the multiple information requests cost only ten gold coins?!
"Don't get me wrong" Jack motioned me to sit down, "It's because of the discount coupon you gave us"
He opened up a drawer and placed a small blue tassel on the desk.
It was the tassel attached to the assassin's knife I gave to the bookstore clerk at the front desk to gain entry.
"I would be grateful if you give us the other half too"
For a fraction of seconds, there was a shadow cast over Jack's eyes. It was as if I had no choice but to give it to him in order to leave this place.
Honestly, I don't feel much threatened. I do enjoy a good fight and everything.
But at the moment, I do not have the luxury to draw attention or get arrested.
And I don't have any use for that knife. If anything, it was a constant reminder of that part of my life.
Now it was time to let go.
"Sure"
I removed the assassin's knife hidden in my boot and placed it on top of the reports along with ten gold coins from my other boot.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Customer. See you soon"
~ For any future requests, come find us.
Jack stood up and extended his hands with a professional smile.
Through the corner of my eyes, I noticed that the magic door has opened, silently urging me to get out.
"Same here"
~ I'm never going to come and I don't want to see you ever again
I took his hand and with that, the business was over and I headed towards the door.
"Wait"
I stopped on my feet when Jack called me.
"Are you not taking these?" He pointed towards the reports on the desk.
"No need" I said as I walked through the door,
"Trash em' or burn em'. Your choice"
Meanwhile, at the town square, preparations were complete for the ceremonial dance. Excited spectators waited for the dance to begin crowding the area.
"They are late" Jade searched for his missing colleagues among the wave of people.
While Raeden, Jade, and Eugene were busy with work. Ann and the twins had disappeared for hours after separating at the guard tower under the pretext of exploring the town.
"They were way past the agreed time to re-group"
"They are here" said Raeden, glancing behind Eugene before looking away.
In his eyes were reflected the sight of Ann shushing him as she sneaked up on Eugene.
"Where?" Eugene asked, tossing a piece of popcorn in his mouth.
"Check this out!"
Ann jumped from behind Eugene, causing him to jump in surprise. The jump had caused the popcorn in his hands to scatter all over his clothes and hair.
"Oh my god!" Eugene exclaimed, holding his chest.