CHAPTER 26…………………………………………..
At that moment, the staff member stopped walking.
“Master is waiting for you.”
Jane’s eyes wavered at the employee’s words. If it was the Master, then it would be the head of this information guild.
“Why would he want to meet with Her Highness Vision?”
Trisha, on the other hand, remained calm. She had anticipated from the beginning that the Master would want to see her.
Trisha stepped forward.
“You’ll have to go in alone.”
Jane, who had been trying to follow, was blocked by the staff member.
Seeing Jane hesitate, Trisha nodded reassuringly.
“I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Trisha followed the staff’s guidance into the room where the Master was.
Inside, the room was surprisingly ordinary.
It was neatly arranged, like the office of any noble.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
Trisha turned her head toward the voice and saw a man sitting at a desk.
The desk was piled high with documents, as if he had just been working.
The man stood and gestured to a guest sofa for Trisha to sit.
A masked staff member set up tea and snacks before hastily leaving the room.
“Sit down. It’s nothing serious, I just called you because I was curious about something.”
A man with black hair, wearing a mask that completely covered his face.
He was the same person who had taught Trisha a code from the balcony in her previous life.
‘As I expected.’
Still, Trisha did not show any sign of nervousness and sat opposite him.
“Why did you call me?”
“You’re quite impatient, aren’t you?”
The man smiled. Although the mask made it hard to tell, the tone of his voice carried a trace of amusement.
“How did you find this place?”
“By the Master’s invitation.”
“Are you joking right now?”
Though the Master still seemed to smile, the eyes visible through the mask had grown cold.
Sensing this, Trisha picked up her teacup.
“If you’re asking how I knew the code, let’s just say I learned it from someone who knows this place.”
Fortunately, the Master did not ask the foolish question of who that person was.
“More importantly, isn’t the purpose of my visit here more important?”
“Ah, yes. Well, that’s true.”
Leaning back on the sofa, the Master crossed his arms and asked,
“What could bring such a beautiful lady to step into such a lowly place? I’m very curious.”
Trisha took a sip of her tea and set the cup down.
“I have information I want to sell.”
“Information you want to sell?”
At the Master’s question, Trisha removed the mask she had been wearing.
The Master tilted his head.
“What are you doing now?”
“I mean to prove just how accurate my information is.”
The Master let out a hollow laugh, looking somewhat incredulous.
“Do you think I would have let you in here without knowing who you were?”
“You must know. The staff would have heard that I came to the entrance of this place without a mask.”
“Then removing the mask doesn’t mean anything, does it?”
“It does, actually.”
Trisha smiled gently, and the Master paused.
“She can see my expression,” she indicated herself.
“……”
“I can tell from your expression whether the information I provided is false or contains uncertainties I’m not even sure about myself.”
Trisha’s soft smile slowly disappeared.
“We’ll make the deal with you wearing a mask, and me without one.”
The Master laughed softly, as if conceding that she had gained the upper hand in negotiation.
“Very well. A fascinating young lady… or should I say, Her Highness Vision?”
“Call me however you like. After all, I don’t know your true identity.”
“Alright then, let’s get to the point.”
Trisha’s audacious words earned a nod from the Master.
“What information have you come to sell me, beautiful lady?”
“There’s something incredible buried in the Argyle Mine.”
At Trisha’s words, the Master’s eyes immediately dulled.
“Hmm, the Argyle Mine…”
He muttered to himself, showing no real interest.
“You mean there’s probably a diamond or something buried there, right? You keep mentioning it.”
Then, a sudden question crossed his mind.
“But wouldn’t it be more advantageous for you to keep such important information to yourself? Even if you told me, openly discussing it at the main table earlier wouldn’t have helped you at all.”
“No one would believe me,” Trisha replied calmly.
“Moreover, the amount of money required to buy out the Argyle Mine isn’t small. Even if someone was intrigued by my words, they wouldn’t invest easily.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be better for no one to know rather than taking an uncertain risk?”
“If my information is correct, isn’t that good for you, Master?”
Trisha brought up an unexpected point.
“If someday the Argyle Mine really turns out to have immense reserves, and those who invested there strike it rich, people will start remembering that bet. And that will naturally spread rumors about this information guild. More people will lead to more information coming in.”
“You did the bet deliberately for me?”
“I also had something I needed, so I went all out.”
Trisha was getting to the main point.
“After the bet at the main table, invest in the Millanet Bank if it looks profitable.”
“Not the Argyle Mine?”
Trisha crossed her arms and replied boldly,
“I said there’s something incredible buried there. I didn’t tell anyone to invest.”
She had already passed that information to someone else.
“And anyway, no one would believe me. Just hearing me isn’t enough to risk investing such a large sum.”
Finally, the Master understood the scheme Trisha had devised.
“I thought you expanded the game unnecessarily compared to the bet’s stakes, but now I see why.”
Trisha had said she would compensate five times the cost of her outfit if she lost the bet.
‘Yet she never mentioned what she would gain herself.’
That meant the outcome of the bet didn’t matter to her.
“Yes, this will likely be my last visit here.”
Trisha had no intention of returning. As proof, she had already designated which account the money should be taken from if she lost the bet.
“After all, this isn’t where you normally stay, right?”
The Master was genuinely impressed.
“I’ll come to that place next time.”
Trisha spoke confidently, as if she knew the guild’s true headquarters.
“And where would that be?”
“You’re going to tell me, aren’t you?”
The Master seemed to reward Trisha’s confidence, pulling out a card from his pocket, like a business card.
“Come here and give the staff the same code.”
“A tailor shop? Unexpected.”
It was random, but somehow made sense. A bar as a hideout would have been too cliché. Trisha nodded lightly.
“See you there next time, beautiful lady.”
Trisha let out a small laugh and stood up.
Just as she was about to turn the doorknob, she spoke as if she had just remembered something.
“By the way, thanks for stopping me from getting hit by my aunt before. I was planning to just take the hit and move on…”
The Master paused at her words.
“It wasn’t so bad having someone step in after all.”
“……”
“Thank you, Millard.”
Without giving him time to react, Trisha left the room.
After the door closed, the man left alone slowly removed his mask.
His hair changed from dull black to brilliant blonde.
“…So you knew.”
And yet she pretended not to know until the end—truly typical of her.
Then,
“What do you mean you knew?”
Millard’s subordinate, Liam, opened the door and entered.
“Why are you muttering like that?”
Millard was silent for a moment, then hardened his expression and put the mask back on.
“It’s nothing.”
Seeing Millard’s hair return to black, Liam continued the report.
“You know that Duchess Mason held a bet and left, right?”
“I heard it directly from her.”
“She disappeared without mentioning the stakes?”
“She probably did that on purpose.”
Liam sighed at Millard’s words.
“Well, the scale of the bet grew, but the amount the Duchess has to pay isn’t large, so it shouldn’t be a problem. If needed, we can pay and settle it ourselves.”
“Why do you assume the Duchess will lose?”
“Huh? Well…”
Liam trailed off, unable to finish.
‘Because the Argyle Mine is so small you’ve probably never even heard of it!’
He couldn’t bring himself to say it. Millard’s mood seemed oddly tense.
“True, one never knows with people.”
With that, Millard’s intensity eased a little.
Liam decided to change the topic.
“But why did you say the guild’s entry code would go to the third floor?”
A code indicating to go to the third floor, instead of the first or second. Strange.
“Wouldn’t it be better to say the seventh floor or something like that?”
The third floor was a little ambiguous. Sometimes people mistakenly thought the building had a different number of floors and said the third.
Anyway, the real guild wasn’t here.
‘Still, it’s a bit inconvenient.’
It was a waste of manpower and time.
“Why the third floor?”
“Because it’s my favorite number.”
“Didn’t you like seven when you were young?”
“I just like three more now.”
There was nothing more to say. Liam wasn’t genuinely curious; he just asked on a whim.
“There’s nothing urgent to report. Let’s have a quick meal first.”
Liam’s suggestion prompted Millard to rise.
At that moment, one of the documents piled like a mountain fluttered to the floor.
Liam picked it up without even looking at it and placed it back on the desk.
Then he followed Millard out.
The document Liam had picked up contained someone’s personal details.
“Trisha Mason
Born: March 3, 933”
It was the reason for a code known to only one person.
