After confirming with Blue about her task and where to find us, we left her home and made our way back to the mansion. We arrived at the mansion as soon as the sky turned a tinge of orange. The house servants loaned to us were already preparing the kitchen for later. We ran into Ian who was patrolling around the immediate vicinity. We had an exchange of short nods before Melanie and I entered. Rona was seated by the window near the entrance reading some book while Joran was nowhere to be found, but from what I knew of him, he should be helping the house servants in preparing dinner or doing some other miscellaneous tasks.
I sat down at the unoccupied sofa and asked for some tea from the attendant that appeared after our arrival. Melanie said she'll have to write the proper report from our end while we still have some idle time. I assumed she disappeared into a quieter room. Tea arrived later which helped me get myself ready for dinner later.
Just as the faint sound of a bell was heard, Cameron and Victor returned bearing news, but we all decided we can discuss it after dinner. It lasted for an hour and after everyone was done, we convened again at the makeshift operations room. The table at the center had various documents atop it, some were ones I recognize that we brought along, and some looked handwritten like reports.
"Let's start with what we learned today." He turned his eyes on me, prompting me to start first.
"We went towards the agreed upon meeting point beforehand. However, an unfortunate accident befell there which concerned our contact. Then, in a strange twist of cat and mouse, someone who claimed to be higher up the chain of command introduced themselves and offered to lend her assistance personally." The others gave me doubtful looks but before I could explain, someone knocked on the door then a servant's voice can be heard,
"You have a guest at the door.".
The room fell silent for a moment as we glanced at each other. Wordlessly, we agreed on caution and proceeded to head towards the entryway. There, we found the person I was just about to tell them about, along with a maid who attended to her while we were on our way.
"I apologize for my intrusions at this hour, but I have come across some information that may prove vital to your mission." The woman who spoke was our visitor, Commander Blue. Under the bright light of the modest chandelier, we can visibly see that underneath her traveller's cloak she wore a subdued black uniform that seemed unremarkable.
"Once again, I am Commander Blue of the Intelligence and Communications, and I offered my assistance after our agent got compromised." She continued as we observed but Cameron raised a hand.
"Let's not talk here. Follow us." He turned around and left, no doubt returning to the room we just came from. Everyone else followed suit.
Back at the operations room, we all did our introductions to her.
"It seems this mission of yours entail quite a bit of trouble." Blue said as she handed what seemed to be a folded paper. "These are my reports based on observations and information I gathered about your target."
I unfolded the paper and skimmed through it. I raised an eyebrow at her, "This seems troubling. Is this the latest or is this just gossip?" I passed the paper over to Cameron as I asked Blue.
"That I cannot be sure. However, assuming some other factors, we could say it was true at one point, before the group just mysteriously disappeared." At that thought she kind of paused, and looked down, mumbling something to herself.
The rest of us however, exchanged our ideas between how valid this information was and how recent it could be. It told that our target was in contact with suspected agents from the federation and it seemed they were the ones fuelling his every move. At this point, we cannot go on with our current plan of just letting him see the records themselves because of the off chance he was a spy.
I called out to her, "Can we rely on you to keep tabs on our target until we are ready to move?" She stopped her mumbling and nodded. "Good then. You can stay for the night too if you wish." But she shook her head, "My apologies I still have some business afterwards but thank you for the offer." She offered a bow and left the operations room.
We turned our attention back to the center of the table. Cameron led the discussions. "From what Commander Blue has investigated, our target has connections to the Federation." He glanced at Victor across from him diagonally. He straightened his back and reported on his findings.
"From what the locals know, he's a good fellow, but recently he was hanging out with a stranger from out of town and they spent most of their time at this house near the northern wall. I also heard that his parents died while he was in the public academy and that they took on odd jobs after that. It would explain how he got into contact with various people in numerous occasions." He said that and pulled one of the papers on the desk. "However, there is one other detail that seems vague. The local have different things to say about it too. His companion that he spend most of his time recently seemed to differ on height from time to time, although they look similar. We may take this difference in height to just visual inaccuracy but it begs the question on how often the residents seem to always point it out.
He then pulled up two sketches, "Most of the what residents said about their appearance were largely the same. A business suit, ill-suited to their surroundings and that's how it always stood out. There were not any crests or markings that may signify an allegiance or affiliation of any sort." We all nodded at his report to which he stacked the papers he took onto the side. "That's it from my end." He switched his attention towards Cameron and we followed his gaze.
Cameron closed his eyes and nodded. "I met with the representative of Lord Leonhart, and he says mostly the same things except for the number of federation mages who entered the city." He searched for a few papers and laid them out in the center, "He says that the mages entered by groups. Though he doesn't know the exact number, from his estimations it would be enough for what would count as a small company by Imperial Army standards."
We nodded at this. Typically, a company in the Imperial Army consists of almost three hundred soldiers, and the unit composition before it was a platoon that consisted of up to fifty soldiers. From Spawn's estimation, we could be facing anywhere from around a hundred to two hundred federation mages hidden in the city. Caution will be our utmost ally in apprehending all of them unscathed.
"With that additional information, I thought it was best for us to cooperate with Spawn and his associates as well. Given that we also now have the support of Commander Blue from the INC Bureau, we can outmaneuver those federation agents from causing disruption within the city." He searched for other papers from the pile and laid it out on the center.
"For now, please look at these." The papers he recently placed all looked to be profile files, with short descriptions of the person and a sketch. "These are only some of whom Spawn and his team suspects to have come from the Federation. Please be cautious of them."
We all each took a turn skimming through the profiles, with Melanie taking them from the pile and inspecting them first before handing it over to me. There were five papers, each labelled with a letter from the alphabet. "A" had a young man of tall height that was commonly spotted among the path to the fields, "B" had details of a woman with a speculation of being young due to her height being smaller than average and was mostly spotted in various taverns a waitress, "C" held information about an average height man who always had a companion with him of similar stature and physique, "D" was the designation for the "C"'s companion and lastly, "E" had the vaguest details. It only told that it had a mask and was skulking about in various alleyways in the city. Strangely enough, "A" and "B" had the same observation of clothing description with aworn-out traveller's cloak, "C" and "D" might match with Victor's earlier report of our target's companion and "E" had only a brief description of an all black uniform which may point out that he might be a covert operative.
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I passed the papers to Rona while I addressed the room, "It appears this will be delicate game of Cat and Mouse." Cameron nodded at my analogy, "How much force do we currently count in total from both of our informants?" I turned to look at Cameron, who handled most of the information and connections of the team.
"Counting Spawn and his team, that would bump us to about fifteen combat ready personnel, sixteen if you count Commander Blue, but from what I can surmise from her words, she would only help in information-gathering." I nodded at his answer.
"That will have to do for now." I closed my eyes and tried to organize my thoughts. Our team numbered seven and counting Spawn's team that would bump up to fifteen, which means he has eight combat ready personnel. Also, as an agent of Count Leonhart for intelligence, he should also have more agents with little to no combat experience. "If I may suggest." I spoke a bit louder to get everyone's attention. "It would be much more easier for reconnaissance if Victor would work with Spawn directly. While Melanie and I continue to get surface level gossips in the daytime businesses, Victor and Spawn can search through the nighttime establishments.
"Not a bad idea captain." Victor chimed in, "That means I would have the free time during the day to rest up yeah?" I nodded at his conclusion.
"Yes, during our investigation, we will also need to come up with how to approach our target. What did you have in plan Cameron?" I turned to question him.
"At first, we also thought we would just be escorting him back to the capital for the formalities of an interview but since the Federation might be involved, we might have to isolate him and extract him from this city and head back to the capital with haste, or if we are forced to a confrontation with the Federation agents, we might as well settle it as supressing terrorists." He said matter-of-factly.
I nodded, although with a reluctance. "I can see what you're going with but I would still prefer if we can solve this without disrupting the lives of the citizens. Let's this keep under the surface as much as possible."
They all agreed in unison and saluted.
"If that is all, then we can retire for the night." I said to which no one objected to. We all dispersed to do our own individual things, whether that would be heading to bed or some other before bed activities, I am quite unsure of what everyone has planned but I sure wanted to lie down and rest for the the following days will be filled with a lot of mental trials.
The next morning, we set out for what we decided last night. Melanie and I would be visiting the various daytime shops open that caters to most people starting from the eastern side of the city and work in a clockwise motion. Victor and Cameron would be meeting with Spawn to discuss the specifics of how they would actually work. However, before Melanie and I would set off, we would need a map of all the establishments in the city, which brings us to our true agenda of the day. We would be going to the city hall to ask the governor a list of shops and their addresses. That would suffice for now.
"The horses are ready." One of the servants who tended to our wagon horses said as we approached. "Thank you, but no need to hook them to the wagons, we would be riding on horseback for a change."
He took a bow and handed the reins over to us. We swiftly mounted them and went on our way towards the city hall.
"Too bad we don't really have enough horses for everyone but considering that not everyone would be moving around, you would think it turned out pretty okay." I spoke to Melanie. We were trotting through the streets, minding the sidewalks where people on foot would be using.
"It would seem so captain, however, everyone knows, to an extent, of how to ride a horse. It would be pivotal in certain circumstances." Melanie said. I wonder why she always seemed so serious and spoke only the obvious instead of actually handling a conversation.
"While we wait for the official list of registered shops, we should investigate the establishments around the city hall to make use of our time. We can cross out their names once we receive the full list. That sound okay or did you have another plan in mind?" We continued on our pace as I asked her.
"I came to the same conclusion as you captain." Well, at least it wasn't that distant of a response.
I nodded, "Very well then. Let's pick up the pace a bit." I spurred my stead onwards.
We reached the city hall in about five minutes and gave our notice to the guards on duty. We were then escorted to the governor's office shortly after and told him of our request.
"Very well. I can arrange for the list however, it will take time to retrieve the records and write them down. If you would like, I will send the list to your lodgings once it is finished." He said with a pile of documents on his desk.
"That would be great. Thank you for your cooperation."
He waved a hand, "Pay it no mind. Anything for the Empire."
We bowed and left his office and soon found ourselves outside the city hall. It was still a couple hours before the noon bell and there were few people milling about.
"Where should we head first?" I mused aloud. I don't expect much proactivity from Melanie but she surprised me with a response.
"If I may suggest, we can start with general goods store and head to inns and taverns during mealtime. That way, we can efficiently spend our time and our probing at the most optimal times for the shops." Never thought she cared that much about efficiency but it would be a good starting plan.
"I see. We can adjust our approach if we don't find much information with this tactic." I scanned around our surroundings for any shop that would fit the bill and there would numerous ones. A medium-size general goods shop that was just down the main street, a clothing store from the street we came from, and a few small butcher shops and weapons store.
"We can start with the general shop down the street and work our way back into the center, then come lunch there are a few inns and taverns in front of us, then we can finish off our day with the street that led to the mansion with the few inns dotted there and the clothing shop. Any questions?" I asked her but she shook her head.
"Then it is settled then. We'll leave the horses until it's time to head back, I doubt many shops will have enough hands to tend to horses from their customers." We then left our horses to the care of the stable hands at the city hall and walked towards the medium-size general goods shop down main street.
The general good store we eyed was a three-storey store that spanned few blocks and was quite occupying a bigger area than I imagined. The double doors at the entrance looked to be heavy, with some metal visible in their hinges and was wide enough to accommodate six people shoulder to shoulder. The name of the store was called 'Sunshine's'. It was engraved in metal plating, plastered on top of the heavy double doors. The were windows that we can peak into the shop and sure enough, there were an assortment of goods available to purchase, from daily necessities to other niche items.
"Seems like quite a spacious store. Let's take a look inside."
We were greeted with an energetic "Welcome!" by one of the idle clerks who then walked up to us, "How may I be of assistance to you?" He said. He wore a nice uniform similar to a butler with a bow tie. I waved my hand, "We're just here to look around. However, what would you recommend as this store's best products?". the clerk nodded enthusiastically and led us around the various shelves on display.
The first item he showed to us was a doll of a girl, which was surprisingly lifelike. "This is a doll of the namesake of this store. Stories go that this was the kind of doll the founder's daughter was very fond of and eventually it stuck as one of the best sellers we have." I nodded at intervals during his speech and urged him to continue on to the next product which was quite a oddity.
It was a mask or styles of masks. They were all animalistic and were available in white or black initially but they sold accompanying paint materials at discount if you purchase them together. I grabbed one of the masks and felt that they were sturdily made and asked how its history. "These masks were inspired by an encounter of the founder's successor. It was said that an unknown female adventurer helped him fend off bandits and he was awestruck with her mask which then led to the development of this product. His wish was to make contact with that adventurer again."
"Quite an interesting tale." I said as I glanced towards my companion who still had a non-expressive face on. "Is there anything else?" I continued the conversation."
The clerk nodded, "Yes yes, of course! There is still the most prized daily necessity, lamps that shine like the sunrise!"
He led us to a lamp on display and demonstrated how it looked but since it was almost noon, it wasn't that noticeable. "The colors will be noticeable once dark comes so I'll recommend you to come back at night if you want to see the true light it casts or to take a look at the fields around at night."
"I see, we will keep that in mind then." Now that it seemed that those were all the best-sellers in this store, I think it would be time to move on to the next one.
As we headed back to the exit, we passed by the masks again and with some sort of nagging feeling, I picked up a fox mask. "I think I'd like one as a souvenir." I mused as I caressed the mask.