Chapter 42: Information Guild

The Student Council room after Louis left.

Anna, lost in thought, opened her mouth.

“Andel.”

“Yes, you called.”

At Anna’s call, a man in a deeply pulled-down hat appeared behind her as silently as if he’d been there all along.

“What’s the status of the task I gave you?”

“As you instructed, we are currently tracking down the remaining members.”

“So you’re saying you haven’t caught them all yet.”

“…I apologize.”

“Tsk.”

The group that tried to kidnap her twice recently.

It had been a while since she ordered them all captured, yet they were still being tracked.

Anna clicked her tongue in frustration.

“Then, what about the information on that guy?”

“Here it is.”

As soon as Anna finished speaking, the man handed her a document.

Anna immediately reviewed the document he gave her.

Various pieces of information were written at length.

Among them, one word stood out the most.

Rebellion.

So it was as she suspected.

She’d had a vague hunch.

The man who chased her to the mansion after she escaped with Louis’ help.

His words had been laced with anger towards her and the upper class.

It seemed that those who tried to kidnap her were rebels who advocated for revolution, dissatisfied with the system.

The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.

Anna continued to read the document.

Name: Cain. Age: 30.

A promising mage who had attended the academy in the past, but.

After graduation, he held a strong resentment for not being able to enter the Magic Tower because he was a commoner.

But as far as Anna knew, that shouldn’t be possible.

There were few places in the Empire where one could join regardless of status, like the Magic Tower.

Wasn’t the Magic Tower the only place where one was evaluated solely on skill?

Was there a misunderstanding?

Or was it a delusion stemming from simple arrogance?

Or could it be….

The possibility that such discrimination truly existed within the Magic Tower couldn’t be ruled out.

If so, she felt the need to confirm it as the Empire’s princess, and continued reading the document.

The rest of the contents were nothing special.

Information that they called themselves the Red Wolves, a rebel group aiming to overthrow society, formed a few years ago.

But this couldn’t be all.

Information about the carriage she was in and other details had been kept strictly confidential.

How did a rebel group made up of commoners find out about it?

‘This isn’t just a simple rebellion.’

Someone behind the Red Wolves instigated them to kidnap her.

And that person would undoubtedly continue to hinder her in the future.

A beast that bared its fangs at her must be killed.

That was how she had survived in the Imperial family.

As Anna pondered who might have leaked her information, she recalled Louis, who had just been with her.

“Oh, right. Didn’t you say Louis wasn’t hurt? What was that wound on the back of his hand?”

“I’m certain he had no injuries when I checked him then…”

“I don’t think I asked for an excuse.”

“…I apologize.”

At Anna’s cold voice, the man closed his mouth.

Louis, who helped her.

Anna felt a little uneasy about him being injured.

Although it wasn’t a serious injury, as Louis’ reaction suggested, it still bothered her.

Considering she was indebted to him, the wound on the back of his hand kept nagging at her.

Louis, who had hidden his face as if unwilling to reveal his identity.

She sensed his intentions, so she pretended not to know, even though she had immediately seen through him.

But.

“Follow him for a while. The rebels might target him. Andel, you personally protect him.”

“Understood.”

“You may leave.”

Louis was already entangled with her.

Therefore, people might target him in the future.

As soon as Anna finished speaking, the man behind her disappeared as if he had never been there.

After confirming the man’s departure, Anna stared down at the documents on her desk.

The enormous pile of documents.

Imperial matters, as well as academy affairs.

It seemed too much for her to handle alone.

She hesitated to start working again.

[Chirp….]

As if sensing her feelings, the Feylu, now awake, began to rub its face against her hand.

Taking comfort in that, Anna looked down at it for a moment before picking up her pen again.

There were no clues as to Lisa’s whereabouts.

In such cases, hardship usually followed.

But.

“I have this.”

The Sage’s Bookmark.

An all-purpose answer sheet that answered any question.

As soon as I returned to my dorm, I activated the Sage’s Bookmark.

Letters began to appear, emitting light.

“Where is the pink-haired woman named Lisa?”

As soon as I finished asking, the answer to my question began to appear.

-Capital. Outskirts. Ambrosia. Old church. Fallen wing.

A string of enigmatic words.

“Ambrosia…?”

I fell into thought at the unfamiliar name.

Was there a place with that name in the Empire?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t recall the name Ambrosia.

Then it was a place not mentioned in the comic….

I wished I could ask the Sage’s Bookmark one more question.

The Sage’s Bookmark was useful, but.

The limitations of only getting short answers and.

Being able to ask only once a day were sometimes bothersome.

It would have been nice if the question limit wasn’t unlimited, but at least a few times.

But then it would have been too overpowered.

Ambrosia….

‘Ah, maybe Verno knows?’

As soon as the thought occurred to me, I flung open Verno’s door.

“Verno!”

“Wah! M, Master?”

Startled by my sudden appearance, Verno turned around with a surprised look on his face, putting something into his bag.

…What was he doing?

Curiosity arose, but it wasn’t important right now.

“Do you know where Ambrosia is?”

“Ambrosia, you say? There’s a slum called Ambrosia west of the capital…. Why do you ask?”

West. Slum.

So that’s why I hadn’t heard of it.

“And what are you doing here, Master, instead of going to school?”

West wasn’t far from the academy.

Then I could make a round trip within today.

“…Master Louis?”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Master…!”

Ignoring Verno’s anxious calls from behind, I immediately left the dormitory.

The slum on the outskirts of the capital had a somewhat gloomy atmosphere despite it being morning.

I walked through the streets without hesitation.

Of course, knowing that this place was quite dangerous, I wore a cloak that covered my entire face.

Ambrosia, the Empire’s slum.

With the clue of an old church.

The range of choices had narrowed considerably, but.

The accuracy was still quite low.

I had already seen more than four churches on my way here.

I had no idea which one Lisa might be in.

A somewhat daunting situation.

But there was one method I could use in times like these.

The Information Guild.

The flower of fantasy, naturally, existed here as well.

As expected, the standard for searching in fantasy was the Information Guild.

And I knew of a rather competent Information Guild.

Bang!

“Someone get out here!!”

“Wah! What the-!”

As I kicked the door open with a powerful voice, the people inside looked at me in surprise.

In an instant, everyone’s attention was focused on me.

I succeeded in attracting attention.

But this wasn’t enough.

I needed a bigger distraction.

I immediately broke the leg of a nearby table.

“Where’s the boss! Tell the boss to come out!”

“Is this crazy…!”

As I started causing a commotion, people with grim faces began approaching me.

But when I swung the broken table leg at them, they flinched and backed away.

As the tense standoff continued.

“What’s all this commotion?”

“Guild Master!”

There he was.

A man with a deeply furrowed brow coming down the stairs.

He was the person I was looking for.

There was no way for me, someone with no connections, to meet the Guild Master through normal means.

That’s why I chose this method.

And as if to prove my choice right, the Guild Master appeared.

“Who are you to cause a disturbance in our establishment?”

Of course, if I stopped here, I’d just be a crazier who successfully attracted attention.

But I knew how to turn this situation around in an instant.

The Guild Master looked at me with wary eyes.

I muttered a single word to him.

“Dora.”

“!”

“Don’t you want to know where her pendant is?”

“How do you know that name…?”

I didn’t answer. The curiosity had been sufficiently planted.

Now all I had to do was wait for a reaction.

I cast a bait he couldn’t resist.

“…Let’s go inside and talk.”

He took the bait I threw in an instant.