"Hm? Why are you curious about that?"
The eyes of the man who had been stroking his mustache sharpened in an instant.
My mind went blank at that strangely polite yet somehow icy tone.
This... what was I supposed to say?
"Well... I pick herbs for a living. I'm going around selling them myself, you see."
"Hmm, I see."
I had barely managed to cobble together an excuse on the fly.
"Hmm, I don't really know the details either. We're not close."
"Uh... do you happen to know where he lives?"
At that moment, the man looked at me fixedly.
Ah, had I asked too bluntly?
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
"He should be living in the eastern outer district."
Fortunately, he immediately withdrew his gaze, answered, and emptied his glass.
The eastern outer district... It was somewhere I had been once before.
Dareudan. It was definitely the place where I had met that fence bastard.
"That aside... you certainly work hard for your age."
"Ah... I don't have parents. I have to earn a living myself."
"Dear me, how unfortunate."
Phew, it seemed I had gotten past it for now.
But letting my guard down was out of the question.
That man... He wasn't a slit-eyed character or a glasses-wearing character, but he somehow smelled of a mastermind.
I should stay on my guard.
"Then, did you come here looking for customers?"
"Yes, well... It's a back alley, so I figured there would be many injured people."
I subtly turned my head toward the people who had been fighting earlier.
The man, following my gaze, nodded as if he finally understood.
"I see."
After a moment of thought, the man asked casually.
"Might I be able to see some of your herbs?"
"Ah, I only came to do market research today... so I didn't bring any. I'll show you next time. We'll be on our way now."
We hurriedly rose from our seats.
As we slowly headed toward the entrance, the man called out to us.
"It would be best if you came back next time having rolled around in a meadow."
"...Pardon?"
I stopped in my tracks and asked back.
"Herb pickers never lose the smell of grass from their bodies. If you want to deceive someone properly, you should account for that."
The cold sweat that had dried on my back earlier began trickling down my spine again.
...Did this person know all along?
Was he in league with that bastard? Should I attack him?
As I stood rigid, my hand twitching, he continued as if to reassure me.
"Don't worry too much. Whatever dealings you have with that Dail bastard... I won't interfere."
"..."
Not knowing what to reply, we hesitated for a moment before fleeing the tavern as if escaping.
"What should we do? Do you think they laid a trap at the place he told us about?"
"Well, for now, let's go."
We had no other choice but to go.
It was hard to believe I was seeing that man for the first time... but somehow, I felt he wasn't lying.
A contradictory feeling—trustworthy because he couldn't be trusted.
"If Lady Liv goes..."
"Then let's head there right away."
We immediately set off for the eastern outer district.
***
'This place is... still the same.'
An unpaved, bumpy road.
Stalls filled every narrow gap, and between them, people could be seen lying down. Whether they were beggars or simply exhausted residents, it was hard to tell.
It was too quiet to be called a market, yet it wasn't clean either. Still, it seemed this place had its own set of rules.
"This is..."
"A sort of unauthorized market, so to speak."
I answered Aileen's question.
Truthfully, I didn't really know the details either. It just didn't look legal.
"Can people... live in a place like this?"
"Wouldn't they? I've never gone further in than this, though."
The tents visible here and there... didn't seem to be for lodging.
There must be separate living spaces somewhere.
We scanned the streets carefully with our eyes, afraid we might miss something.
But at least within this district, there was neither the item nor the person we were looking for.
As we went deeper, a dilapidated tent village appeared.
This seemed to be their living space.
A woman sobbing while clutching a child. People fighting over a single small loaf of bread. A man lying on his back with hollow eyes.
Through the torn gaps in the tents, the misery of this place was revealed all too starkly.
Scenery that felt somehow ruined.
As we passed between the tents, people's gazes followed us.
...Of course they would.
Strangers like us walking around with our robes pulled low weren't exactly welcome.
Just as our fruitless search continued, a clamor of voices came from up ahead.
A brown-haired man was shouting in front of a group.
The bandages wrapped around his shoulders and a build that was clearly familiar.
It was definitely Dail, the one who had targeted Aileen yesterday.
"The down payment you promised this time—"
"Down payment? What down payment does a failure deserve?"
"Failure? You said all I had to do was take care of one little girl! You lied— kugh!"
Thud. Crash.
The man in front kicked Dail, and those behind him swarmed in.
They seemed to be thugs.
"Kgh... kugh... th-that's enough..."
"A parasitic street worm like you, and we gave you a chance, yet you kicked it away."
A man who had stepped back to look down at Dail spoke.
He was clearly the boss at a glance.
Long, faded blond hair, sharply slit eyes, and the face of a senior you'd never want to meet in the army.
"Ted, did you look into what he said?"
"Yes. No matter how you look at it, there's no talk of a wizard entering the city. He probably just made up excuses because he failed."
A wizard?
Could it be... me?
"Tch. I knew it. There's no way a wizard would get involved in something like that. What a waste of time."
"What should we do with him?"
"If we kill him, we'll just be grabbing our own collars. Rough him up and throw him in the dump."
"Yes, sir."
With that, the boss left.
Only the sounds of a beating and short groans echoed through the street.
Aileen frowned beside me.
"Could that man... be the one from yesterday?"
"Probably."
His condition was... severely damaged, making him a poor choice for a witness.
In that case, there was neither reason nor justification to save him.
But thanks to him, we had caught a clue.
It was certain that boss was the one who had requested yesterday's job.
A subcontract of a subcontract. What a complicated structure.
"What should we do?"
"For now, we've grasped the situation... let's go to the dump."
If Dail was still alive, we could get information out of him.
With that resolve, I watched Dail being beaten for a moment.
...I felt a little sorry for him.
But on second thought, that man was a hired hitman who had taken a murder contract.
There was no need to sympathize with him.
A short while later, the thugs stopped beating him and talked amongst themselves before one of them began dragging the man away.
"Let's follow."
"Yes."
We quietly tailed them.
The thug openly dragged the man through the streets.
The residents paid no particular attention to the scene.
This street was firmly under their thumb, it seemed.
That wasn't welcome news for someone who would have to deal with those thugs.
"Can we handle this on our own?"
"Hmm... honestly, I don't think the two of us can manage it."
Aileen quickly became downcast.
I could probably handle three or four somehow, but the group we had seen earlier numbered well over ten.
Even if that was their entire force, fighting alone would be overwhelming, and there was no telling how many more there were.
"Then how—"
"We'll have to find the person we were introduced to."
Sir Chad was the only one who knew about Aileen's situation.
A person like him wouldn't have introduced someone unreliable.
"Ah! I see."
"For now, we'll interrogate him, then look for help step by step."
Only then did Aileen regain a determined expression.
Her expressions changed more easily than I expected. I had thought she was a cold person at first.
As we turned into a narrow alley, dark shadows fell over us.
Inside the alley, heaps of garbage were piled up, and a damp stench pierced my nose.
After looking around, the thug shoved Dail through a gap barely wide enough for one person to pass.
"This should do."
He dusted off his clothes and went back out to the alley.
Dail lay motionless on top of the garbage.
I turned to Aileen.
"Let's wait a moment. It'll be troublesome if more show up."
"Yes."
We hid in the shadows and watched for a while.
Fortunately, no one else came.
I cautiously stepped forward.
As I approached Dail, I condensed water in one hand.
A droplet formed at my fingertip. Just in case he attacked, for defense.
"You're Dail, right?"
I spoke in a low voice.
He weakly raised his head.
"...Who... who are you..."
His voice was hoarse. The smell of blood was thick.
"We're enemies of those guys too. Let's talk for a moment."
"Enemies...?"
Dail let out a hollow laugh for a moment before grimacing.
"Ha... well... it's already come to this... anyway... I'm done for..."
I sprinkled the condensed water droplet on his face.
Dail sputtered for a long time as the water went places it shouldn't.
"Who's done for? I'm going to save you, so talk."
Only then did Dail's hazy pupils turn toward me.
My heart felt heavy, but I had to keep him here somehow.
"...Those bastards... told me to find a kid... a girl... brown hair... a little girl..."
I subtly glanced at Aileen.
Aileen's face had hardened.
"Who ordered it? Exactly."
"I don't know... above him... above that... it's all brokers... the client... I don't know..."
Damn it. So it wasn't just a subcontract of a subcontract, but even more layers?
His breathing grew increasingly ragged.
"They kept promising me... the down payment... they'd give me more... but because I failed... they said I'm not needed... I'm... finished..."
Dail laughed emptily and turned his head away.
His eyes were half-closed.
Aileen stepped forward and knelt down.
"Can you save him?"
I shook my head.
"No."
My life had been far removed from medicine.
What I had said about saving him was only to put him at ease.
[Condense]
I let the water gathered at my fingertips flow over his wounds.
Some of the blood washed away.
It was only a temporary measure, but it should be enough to prevent infection.
"For now, let's get him out of here. It's dangerous to stay too long."
"Got it."
Aileen slipped her arm under him.
I raised a water droplet once more and surveyed the surroundings.
Dail's last mumble lingered in my ears.
"...You have to run... they're all... crazy... this district is..."
What the hell is this bastard saying.
From our perspective, he was just another crazy bastard.
We quickly escaped the outer district.
It felt like darkness, stench, and unseen threats were pushing at our backs.
Only when we hurried into the central district, as if fleeing, could we finally breathe.
By then, a red sunset was already spreading across the sky.
"Already..."
"We'll have to search again tomorrow."
Dail, who had lost consciousness at some point, was tied up with a rope and thrown into a corner of the inn room.
Only after a rough shower could I finally lie down on the bed.
Sigh, tomorrow would be busy again too.
***
The next morning.
I had come out to the dining hall and was chatting about this and that with Aileen when Barrett approached.
"Lady Liv, good morning."
"Ah, good morning. You seemed busy yesterday."
I hadn't seen Barrett's face at all yesterday.
I wondered what had happened.
"No, I was just going around trying to replenish the mercenary troop's numbers. Nothing special has happened yet. Rather, you seemed busy, Lady Liv?"
"Haha..."
An awkward laugh escaped me without me realizing it.
Well, things had been truly hectic lately.
Since I couldn't speak in detail about the request, I vaguely brushed it off by talking about the outer district.
"Is it about the outer district?"
"Yes. Do you happen to know anything about those thugs over there?"
Barrett stroked his chin in thought for a moment. Then he nodded as if recalling something.
"Ah, they were completely wiped out once before."
"The thugs? By whom?"
"Yes. They were running rampant when they happened to poke a wasp's nest..."
"A wasp's nest?"
A wasp's nest? Whom was he talking about?
"Kalsia. They messed with that woman and got swept away."
"Ah..."
If it was Kalsia, that red-haired woman with the spear... so it was her.
So there had been a reason those thugs had fled at the mere sight of her last time. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
"Actually, a rather unpleasant epithet stuck after that incident."
"Huh? Isn't it a good thing that the thugs were taken care of?"
"Taking care of them was fine, but the scene was apparently... horrific."
"Ho... how horrific could it have been..."
Honestly, I couldn't imagine it. I had assumed she just beat them up, but to hear it was horrific...
"If you recall her epithet, you can probably guess."
Her epithet...
I pondered for a moment before it came to me. And in that instant, a chill ran down my spine involuntarily.
Ah, right. It was Bloody Princess.