The date? Let’s calculate the exact date. (￣▽￣)ノ
‘No, you don’t have to. Just be quiet.’
Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck from the tension. To be honest, what I was doing right now was a complete outrage.
How long had it been already? After getting the card from Lycianthus as part of our deal, I met Vivi and fell into a coma within a week. When I finally woke up, I was in the Empress’s palace, and I had to restrict people from seeing me for fear of the Empress and Emperor’s dirty tricks. Besides, I was under the protection of the Kastraine family, so it would have been difficult for anyone to approach me at the Hecate’s Tavern.
My (future) client’s situation, which should have been peaceful, had become the center of attention. No one with an ounce of sense would dare approach me recklessly.
But!
They were the ones who said they would come within a week, and they were the ones who broke the terms of the deal. I had to use this as an excuse to squeeze a little more out of them.
Even after making up my mind, my commoner’s conscience kept poking at me. Conscience, be quiet for a moment.
I am a Karen right now! My soul is a Karen demanding to “speak to the manager”!
“No, no, if a client is in a situation where they can’t leave the imperial palace, they should, of course, find a good time to, you know, make contact! How can you make a client come all the way to this remote branch first!”
The corner of the veiled woman’s mouth twitched. The waiter next to her also looked dumbfounded.
“Look at this, look at this! This is a request voucher from Hecate’s Tavern, VIP use! I tried to make a request at the main branch in the capital, but it hasn’t been resolved yet!”
I raised my finger and pointed here and there. Debi’s eyes widened at my drunkard-like, obnoxious behavior.
“You’re a noble of the imperial family, are you not? Do you think I’m easy just because I’m young? If I hadn’t come to you, you would have just taken the advance payment and kept your mouth shut! You’d be a hit-and-run business! Is that how you run a business!”
“…So, the client who was like a bird trapped in the imperial palace came all the way here… to make a request to us?”
I brazenly replied, ignoring the voice of the person who sounded dumbfounded.
“Cough, hmph. Yes!”
At Hecate’s Tavern, using one’s status to pressure others was a fool’s game. Even high-ranking nobles wouldn’t dare mess with Hecate’s Tavern.
So, the truth was, no matter how much I had a voucher, shouting like this was foolish. The voucher was limited to one VIP request…
‘But the limitations were clear.’
As a place that buys and sells information, the main purpose of a request was literally to find or verify something. I had originally planned to just get some information and be done with it. But who would have known that a bomb would suddenly go off at the offering festival, which I thought would be peaceful?
The woman muttered in disbelief.
“The little client asked me to go on a business trip and begged me to help, so I wondered what it was about…”
‘Little client?’
I felt my ears perk up. The person who would say ‘little… client…’ was…
‘…Could it be Vivi?’
I swallowed hard. W-was our Vivi already using her connections at Hecate’s Tavern?
“Alright. What kind of request are you trying to make, making such a fuss, Princess?”
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and took the emoji sword off my waist. As I unwrapped the cloth covering the sword, the dazzling blade and hilt were revealed.
-Huh? Master? ( ˈ ∘ ˈ )? Why are you showing my pure, beautiful, and noble body to a stranger?
“This area is very wealthy, and… yes, the market is very prosperous. There are so many things being bought and sold that no one can keep track of them all, right?”
“Are you trying to test the ability of the establishment you’ve come to for a request?”
I could only see her jawline through the veil, but she was clearly a beautiful woman, and her voice sounded somewhat displeased. But she didn’t seem truly annoyed.
If I were her, and a princess with no real power, who had been causing trouble lately, came and spewed nonsense while pretending to be stupid… I would also want to poke at her to see what she really wanted.
It wasn’t much of a conversation, but one thing was certain. Hecate’s Tavern had the ability to know about all kinds of transactions that were happening in this city in real time. Even if it was an illegal transaction.
“My request is this… I need information on clients who would buy this sword, secretly and without regard for the price.”
The woman’s eyes changed. It was at that moment that the sword began to tremble as if in protest.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble! Rumble, rumble, rumble!
-Ma-ma-master! You’re trying to sell me! Me, who was made only for you! To a stranger! Why! Whyyyyyy?! 〣( ºΔº )〣?!?!?
‘Aaaah! It’s bait to catch the enemy! I’m not really selling it!’
-Sniff, sniffle, sniffle! 。：゜(；´∩｀；)゜：。It’s a liiie! How can you abandon me, who is as cute as a winter rabbit and as cheerful as a summer sunbeam?! You always said I was useless, but don’t tell me, after you forgot me last time! After you let me be passed around by strange men and women! Now you’re going to sell me for good! Ohhhh!
The terrified sword went on a rampage. The woman watching this scene narrowed her eyes.
“It seems the sword hasn’t agreed to this. Besides, isn’t it that great sword that saved the imperial palace from a crisis? You’re going to sell it?”
“I said I need ‘information on clients who would buy it,’ didn’t I?”
My voice was a bit shameless. Even I thought so.
No matter how great of an information group Hecate’s Tavern was, there was no way they would have information on potential clients who would ‘secretly’ buy a noticeable and unique sword like the emoji sword without caring about the price. Well, not without putting the real thing on the black market.
The information that Vice-Count Cortez whispered to me was useful.
‘Hecate’s Tavern has information about the black market where I was injured. Though they didn’t take our family’s request.’
Hecate’s Tavern is an information group, but it is selective about its customers and requests. This is a policy for their own self-preservation. As most of their clients are wealthy merchants or nobles, they have always acted to avoid incurring their collective wrath. It would be a problem if they got caught in a revenge feud between enemies and one side got mad at them, saying, ‘We’re in this mess because that group gave our information to our enemies!’ and took their anger out on them.
So what I was doing right now was forcing them to do something unreasonable.
“What did you and Vice-Count Cortez talk about for you to act so foolishly, Princess?”
“Hecate’s Tavern is a famous information group. But have you ever thought about this? Even if you have all the information, it’s meaningless if someone decides to take over Hecate’s Tavern, despite all your passive survival strategies like avoiding requests from dangerous clients.”
“…What?”
A voice of disbelief came back. Silence fell all around.
“Someone could, of course, start a rumor like, ‘The Kastraine family seems to be using Hecate’s Tavern to their advantage. Who knows how many supporters they have behind them? They might even be secretly nurturing an assassination group.’ And then attack you. You refused the request from Vice-Count Cortez because it would be too dangerous, right? Don’t you think there are people among those whose requests you’ve refused who see Hecate’s Tavern as a thorn in their side? How long do you think you can survive with such a passive defense strategy?”
In the original story, Hecate’s Tavern became the protagonist’s enemy at some point, out of nowhere. It was as if the reputation of the dignified and secretive information group had changed overnight. They started accepting low-class requests that they usually didn’t touch. They released information that would disrupt the current market and cause chaos in the country without hesitation. When a civil war broke out and prices skyrocketed, causing people to suffer, they helped merchant groups sell food at dozens of times the profit by taking their requests in the already chaotic situation.
Later, when the war ended and a proper king took the throne, he would not forgive Hecate’s Tavern or the merchants who helped with such things. He would likely make an example of them and have them executed. If they changed like that even though they must have known… it means they didn’t change of their own will. For example, the entire organization was taken over by enemies, or the owner was replaced.
“If you think you don’t have to worry about the ‘usual guys’ because you have a tacitly cooperative relationship with the Kastraine family, that’s a misconception.”
I smiled sweetly and whispered to myself,
‘Now, can you shine?’
-Sniff, sniffle, sniffle, Master! You must think I’m a noble… a noble… a pure sword that only follows your orders no matter what happens! You’re right, but isn’t this too much?! (┳◇┳) Sniffle, since I’m disconnected from the <Gloriana’s Emblem>, I won’t shine very brightly…
‘It’s okay as long as you can do it! Showmanship is the most important thing in the world, right? Hmm? Hmmm?’
The sword sparkled and shone brightly. If it had been like the sun when it shone while sweeping away the demonic beasts in the imperial palace, it was now at the level of a firefly’s light. But in the dark space, it was bright enough. I wore a confident smile.
“Wouldn’t the real problem be when the ‘usual guys’ aren’t the ones you’re dealing with?”
