"If they kept him in the Marquess's mansion, I can go nab him." I began.

"It is too risky, Milord. The notion of flying above the Royal Capital itself is already dangerous as it is. Constructed by the Saint of Boreas himself, the complexity of the barrier and the strength are on a whole different level." Refuted Renata.

Humming in concur, Clara waved her hand. "I'm with Assassin on this one, Shepherd. Everyone knows you're strong and all, but that's just suicide. Unless you can thrash even the Saint, don't even think about doing something like that."

'Hm...They do have a point. It's not the time yet for me to act like the whole world is below me. In the state I am now if they are to stall for time, then it's game over for me...' Tapping the desk, I pondered.

"Good ol' infiltration might be our best bet if we want the fastest results. But with all the mercenaries hanging tight around his place, It'd be hard." Added Clara.

"Milord...As it happens, that snake, Melkor has the Marquess on his list of customers. We can use that as our way in." Suggested Renata.

Lurching her body forward, Clara asked seductively. "Hoh~ What do you have in mind, Assassin?"

"Simple. Invite him. Kidnap him. And use him to get our target." Answered Renata unfazed.

'Right, we need to change a few things, but we can use that plan with Melkor to get our hands on the Marquess...' I nodded along quietly while musing inside.

"That does sound good. With the blade on their master's neck, his guards will have no choice but to let us in...Holy shit! I just had the greatest idea!" Out of the blue, Clara shot up and smacked the table hard.

Chuckling mischievously, she looked at each of us. "Rather than forcing him to take us in. Why don't we let him take us in?"

'Huh? The fuck is she- Wait...Don't tell me...' And it dawned on me. "He will take the slaves back once he bought them..."

"Right!?" Roared Clara zealously.

"No. That won't happen. You promise me, Shepherd." Reminded Trodin sharply.

"Hear us out first, you hulking brute. We will sell slaves to him...But it'll be us, right there on the stage." Pointed Clara to the silent Renata. "Assassin and I...I'm sure you can guess where I'm going after this much, can't you?"

"...It is doable." Agreed Renata, not even waiting for Trodin's reaction.

"That's what I'm saying! Look at it this way. Not only it won't be as messy as the other plan, but who knows, he might bring us next to that dwarf's cell. What say ya'll?" Inquired Clara firmly.

'Hm...It does have far fewer risks compared to holding the Marquess a hostage.' Truth be told, I was already sold on the plan at that moment, but I figured maybe others could offer some missing insight which I missed. It wouldn't hurt us to be more prepared and careful, after all.

"What about the slave contracts? Marquess Pearl isn't the kind of man who will fall for some cheap play. He will only bring you two back to his house if he sees the stigmas of a slave on both of you."Opened Margareth after a brief pause.

"I can take care of that, Merchant." I chimed in.

"I'm about to offer a dude I know to craft us a fake Contract, but as expected of our Shepherd. he gets the job done!" Laughed Clara.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She was about to get more comfy than that, but one menacing look from Renata was all it took to douse Clara's frisky impulse.

Ignoring the two of them, I declared. "I'm in with this plan. But change the actors from two to three. I'm coming with you."

"Milord! It is blasphemy to have your holy self be implicated in such a wretched state." Argued Renata vehemently.

"Why~? I think the more, the merrier. Having Shepherd himself coming will be too much, I agree, but it's nice to have a backup, ain't it?" Voiced Clara, looking at Trodin and Merchant.

"Shut your trap, Spy. How dare you put such a notion inside Milord's head." Scolded Renata bitterly.

"Enough. I am coming, and unless you can give me a more good reason than blasphemy or something along that line, then that's final, Assassin..."

"...By your will Milord." Gretting her teeth, Renata replied in a rugged voice.

"Alright. Then let's do it like this, we will have the plan split into two parts. The first one will be carried on as planned. Shadows will be posing as slaves, and once they are bought, they'll use that chance to kidnap and interrogate the nobles who bought them to find out everything they can about the Phantom Squad, and also for any leverage we can use to blackmail them in the future." The cold air danced mutely inside the room.

"The second one is to have the Marquess Pearl buy the slaves, which will be Assassin, Spy, and I...We will enter his mansion and take that chance to find Helios...Any objections?" I asked, mainly looking at Trodin, who had been staying neutral so far.

"Hm..." Sensing my deliberate gesture, Trodin hummed in agreement soon before long.

"Then, Assassin, please have the Shadows deliver Melkor's sales record to me. Also, his list of buyers. I will also join the bidding war and do whatever I can to at least have the other bidders spend as much money as possible to ensure Marquess Pearl's victory in the last bid. But that man, Melkor, will have to do his part." Hinted Margareth.

"I will tell Melkor to specially leak the information to Pearl." Ensured Renata.

"Yes, that will be good." Replied Margareth.

"I will have James accompany you, Merchant. He has extensive knowledge of these kinds of stuff. He will do well." Joined Trodin calmly.

"I will appreciate that, Paladin." Responded her softly.

"Fufu~" Out of the blue, Clara started giggling.

'That's the sound of someone who's itching to start trouble if I ever heard one...'

Seriously, she sounded exactly like a five-grader brat who was about to pull a prank. Can you picture it? It is that annoying.

"What is it?" Demanded Trodin, disturbed by her sudden action.

"Nothing~...It's just, I think it'll be hard to hold my laugh when the day comes."

'If it's nothing, then it is nothing...why bother saying something in the end...' I rolled my eyes subtly.

"...What do you mean?" Asked the man once again.

"Can I, really? If you want to, I guess I have no choice, huh? So, with the three of us posing as slaves and Merchant as a bidder, guess who'll play the host~? Fufu, bingo! The huge walking oaf!" Clara then began laughing out loud without minding her surroundings.

"Hmm...!" In response to Clara being Clara, Trodin could only groan, burying the irritation stale in his guts.

"Hahaha! It will be so fun to watch Paladin's acting performance live, right in front of our faces, won't it? Can you believe it? Him, acting his ass off like some mysterious big shot? Hahaha!" She was completely unhinged. I felt for the poor man...I really did...

'Well, now that she put it that way...I kinda wanna see it, too. The last time was entertaining enough, so I wonder how about this time...' Then again, she did have a point.

Jokes aside, we finished the council without a hitch, discussing all the details.

What can I say, they're all very capable individuals. Most of them were crazy as shit, but they always got the jobs done. And that was what mattered.

Thus, I finally headed home.

And to my fucking surprise, someone was waiting for me inside the room, sitting comfortably, while busying himself with the book in his hand.

'Fuck...'

"You are back, Alex?" Said the man calmly. He closed the book and took off his glasses. And in his elegant posture, he peered at the opened window, ignoring the illusion of me sleeping peacefully on the bed.

"...Um...Good evening,"

And that man was none other than George Von Dawson.

"Father..."

It was at this moment that I knew...

'I fucked up...'