The man wearing the black suit sat quietly in a corner, sipping red wine out of an expensive glass.

"Did you really have no hand in freeing the slaves?" Margaret asked, bending towards him with a broad smile on his face.

"Of course not," he replied, sipping his wine, "I came to know of it only after you told me that the guards brought the freed slaves here for lodging."

If there was anything that he was good at, it was lying. Even if he himself wasn't convinced of something, he had enough skill to convince others of it. It was, more or less, the skill which helped him become one of the top detectives back on Earth.

The waitress sighed, giving up, "Well, anyway, I shifted all three of your friends to a single room."

"That's good," Nox replied, "Are they awake?"

She shook her head, "None of the slaves is conscious yet… the healers expect most of them to wake up by tomorrow…"

"Excuse me," called out a woman standing behind the chair across from him.

She wore a blue dress extending down to her knees, along with white gloves reaching up to her elbow. Her long, curly black hair was open, and a few strands of it swayed over her head, which she gracefully swept back with her hand. Her skin was smooth and a little tanned.

An expensive-looking, brown leather handbag hung from her shoulders.

Her physical features were almost perfect, and her beautiful brown eyes and amazing smile could steal anyone's heart at a single glance.

She was one of the four women who had been sitting at the other corner of the inn, staring at the man wearing the black suit.

Margaret glanced at the woman who had just arrived before offering the man a smile and swiftly walking away.

"Hi," she greeted, "My name's Cyra; what's yours?"

The man didn't reply, instead kept on drinking his wine.

"Actually, I don't know anyone here… May I take a seat?" she asked after awkwardly waiting a few moments for his answer.

Taking a sip of his exquisite wine, he nodded.

As if she had already anticipated his answer, she slid herself onto the chair before making herself comfortable.

She glanced behind at her group of friends, who were observing the duo intently.

Cough. Cough.

She gracefully covered her mouth with her hand, before slowly turning her face towards the man, trying to act shy.

"The thing is… love," she said, looking deep into his eyes, with her gorgeous, big dark brown eyes, "I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you…"

Her voice was calming and sweet, soothing the soul itself. Her voice felt like a rose petal being slowly slid across the skin, calming the body while still tickling it a little.

After all, she said, the man didn't utter a word.

'He must be too astounded by my beauty," she thought, slyly smiling.

"I understand this is all too sudden, and it's difficult for you to reply right now…" she said in her calm and sweet voice.

Taking out a piece of tissue paper kept at the centre of the table and a red lipstick from inside her handbag, she scribbled a few letters and numbers on the tissue paper.

"This is my teleball ID," she said, sliding the parchment towards the man.

The man looked at her for a few moments, deep in thought.

'He must be lost in my love already, ready to give his all to impress me," she thought.

"Teleball?" he mumbled, confused by the term he had never heard of.

Finishing his drink, he got up before taking the tissue from the table and looking at it, trying to understand what the numbers and letters meant.

After a few moments of looking at it, he finally gave up. He wiped his face with it and stuffed it in the empty wineglass before heading towards the elevator room.

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The woman's head slowly turned towards the man, who didn't even bother to turn around.

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.

.

The night ended before the following day began, marked by the rising of the dazzling sun.

The red-haired waitress swiftly made her way through the crowd in the inn with a tray of food in her hand.

"Breakfast!" she exclaimed, placing the food on the corner table, where the man wearing a black suit was seated.

"Thank you," he replied, placing down his teacup and digging into the dish, one of the Indian breakfasts, chhole bhatore.

Within the span of just a few minutes, he devoured the entire dish, leaving behind a spotless, shining plate.

The food was beyond amazing. But during his stay in the Tower, he had more or less gotten accustomed to its fabulous food.

"By the way, Nox, the blacksmith who made your dagger, wished to meet you," informed Margaret as she cleared his table.

He wanted to meet with him too; after all, the moon dagger was only a few more scratches away from completely falling apart, but he had never expected it would be the other way.

"I see," Nox replied, sinking back in his chair.

She offered him a slight bow, before sliding away to serve another table.

'I also need to meet with Daniel today,' Nox thought, staring blankly at the random people walking in and out of the inn.

They had already decided to meet this particular day before Nox wreaked havoc. Right now, Daniel was a crucial source for the workings of the slave organisation.

Although Nox didn't wish to intervene in the underworld affairs, if he was forced to do so, it'd be best if he knew more about them than he currently did.

"Did you hear about the rumours?" asked the man sitting on the table next to Nox's.

"Rumours?" inquired the woman sitting in front of the man.

"Yeah. Evidently, the golden guards weren't the first ones to discover the place where the slaves were being kept," whispered the man, bending closer to the woman.

"What!" she exclaimed, making sure that her voice wasn't too loud.

"My friend was around there that night. He told me that it was only after a series of blasts in a local bar that the knights arrived. There's also a rumour that when they arrived, everybody related to the slave organisation ran away, except for four of them who were unconscious and locked up in cages," the man replied.

"I guess the golden guards were really hungry for credit. To think that they stole another person's credit, how revolting!" scoffed the woman.

"Did you hear about the robbery that took place yesterday night?" excitedly asked a middle-aged man, who had just arrived, taking a seat beside her.

"What do you mean?" asked the woman.

"Some weirdo broke into a Snella's yesterday," he replied.

"Isn't that the store that only sells normal clothes, with no enchantments or anything?" inquired the man sitting in front of him, "I still don't understand how they're still in business."

Bending closer, the middle-aged man said, "That's not the end. The robber did steal clothes, but he also left money on the reception desk."

The trio broke out into a burst of laughter.

The man wearing the black suit stepped out of the inn with a slight smile visible on his handsome face.

.

.

.

"Are you really telling me that we needed someone else to tell us where the slaves were being kept!!!" yelled a middle-aged man.

He had a bulky but fit build, with tanned skin and black hair. A scar ran down to the side of his mouth from the top of his right eye.

He wore a white full-sleeved overcoat with golden stripes, a white shirt, and white pants underneath it. Both his hands were covered in white leather gloves. His attire displayed no part of his skin except what was above his collar.

He was the 'head of all the affairs' related to the zeroth floor. In other words, he could be considered the king of the settlement on the Zeroth floor, Stath Orion.

He was a ranker residing on the Zeroth floor who was chosen by the leader of the 'Golden Guards' himself, to manage the zeroth floor's settlement.

"Not exactly, sir. If we were given a few more days, we would have easily discovered their hideout," replied the man standing across the table.

He had a much sturdier build than the one he was talking to and wore a similar outfit compared to the man in front, except that his overcoat had silver stripes instead of golden ones.

He was the captain of all the guard orders on the zeroth floor and Stath's old friend, Rhaulstall.

Both men were in a considerably well-decorated room. A chandelier hung from the wall, illuminating every corner of the room.

Shelves of books were kept on one side, while the wall opposite it displayed invaluable paintings.

An expensive wooden desk was kept in the middle of the room, with extravagant leather chairs on either of its sides.

The two men stood facing one another on opposite sides of the table.

"A few more days!!? Those bastards were right under our noses this entire time!! The last I remember you were spreading out your troops to search outside the kingdom!" shouted Stath.

Rhaulstall's face flushed in embarrassment. He knew that he was in the wrong this time. But, as one of the few remaining barbarians, his pride didn't allow him to accept it.

"The captain of the sixth order happened to be nearby when it happened. Luckily, he saw no civilians on reaching there, which allowed us to take credit," replied Rhaulstall, combing his long, unruly hair with his hands, an act which he often did whenever he was embarrassed and wished to change the topic.

"That's the only reason why I haven't suspended you yet. By the way, what was the name of the captain of the sixth order?" Stath inquired as he calmed down and sat down on his chair.

"Tyalluf. It's only due to the quick thinking he displayed by blocking anyone nearing the place that we could plant some evidence that we were there first. He's a smart man for someone so young," Rhaulstall replied.

The king nodded before taking out a pouch of gold coins from his desk and throwing it to his friend.

"Give it to him. People like him are necessary for our growth," he said, leaning behind his chair.

Rhaulstall picked up the gold pouch before making it disappear into thin air before sitting down in front of the king.

"What do you know about the one who first discovered the place?" Stath inquired.

"Nothing. He didn't leave a single trace behind, except for those goons affiliated with the slave organisation. All of them say that they were attacked by someone wearing a white mask and black cloak," Rhaulstall replied.

Stath took out a file and started going through the information they had obtained from torturing the four goons.

He suddenly froze in shock.

"I-is t-this true? His voice shivered as he passed the file to Rhaulstall.