Chapter 65 — In which they have plans (4)
Tangeri double-checked the building across the street.
Its facade was nothing but neat and clean. The big sign ‘Eternal Happiness Foundation’ written with a round cursive appeared very friendly.
And yet, her guts were telling her that something was very wrong here.
But she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Looking at the glass of the window of the shop she was standing under, Tangeri made sure that her smile looked natural.
It was an art that she mastered during her time at the General’s manor.
And she mastered it well.
Her face expressed nothing but cheerfulness and friendly mischief.
With this mask on, she headed towards the door of the foundation’s office.
“Welcome— oh.”
Monachra or at least someone, who appeared to look like her, looked up from the book she was reading at the sound of a bell, which rang when Tangeri opened the door.
She froze for a second, her expression unreadable.
“Hi!”
Tangeri pretended not to notice it, as she strolled inside and put the basket she brought with her before Monachra.
“I brought blueberry and raspberry cupcakes, would you be so kind miss, and exchange for them a few minutes of conversation?”
Monachra’s expression immediately switched to just as mischievous as Tangeri.
“Oh, I’m not sure, estimated lady. Will a poor clerk like me will be able to satisfy lady’s high standards? I’m afraid such precious cupcakes are too valuable for me to deal with. Should I call somebody of a higher position?”
“My, my. How could there be someone of a higher position here, when they have such an excellent clerk here?”
“Ah, you’re most right, estimated lady. Perhaps because I’m so excellent, all higher ups ran away, and I’m left here alone. So I’m afraid, if I won’t be able to satisfy you lady, then those cupcakes will go to waste.”
‘Ah, so there is no one but you here? That’s good to know.’
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Tangeri smiled as she grabbed the seat and said:
“Well, miss. I’m sure we will never know if we don’t try, right?”
Then she started to unpack the sweets prepared by her parents this morning, while Monachra cleared the table.
Tangeri caught a glance at the book she was reading.
But it was in a language she didn’t know.
‘… Monachra didn’t know any foreign languages when I last checked…’
Tangeri, out of caution, made sure to memorize a few words to check them later.
She set up the sweets, while Monachra prepared tea.
“Sorry, I only have this one here… I didn’t expect guests.”
Monachra was a bit embarrassed as she brewed a herbal tea, which Tangeri recognized as a mix that was particularly good for stomach problems.
“It’s fine, I’m not picky about tea. Do you have stomach issues?”
“No… I just came to like its flavor as the years went by.”
“Huh, you really changed.”
“… Is that so?”
“Yeah, Monachra I knew was such a baby about bitter tea. I remember you whined even when I put four spoons of honey into it.”
“Haha, of well, I suppose people grow to like bitter things.”
“Well, in case you didn’t grow enough, it’s not a worry, because we have those full of sugar cupcakes!”
Tangeri covered up the feeling of discomfort sprouting from this conversation by stuffing her mouth with a raspberry cupcake.
Her parents seemed to be very generous with fruit, because the red juice of raspberries filled her mouth and smeared on her lips.
Monachra laughed.
“You look like a bloodied vampire. Very lady-like.”
“Ah, don’t jest. I didn’t expect to be assaulted by a wave of raspberries.”
“Okay, okay…”
To suppress her laughter, she reached for a blueberry cupcake and also stuffed herself with it.
The small drop of blueberry juice slipped from the corner of her mouth, like a trail of black blood.
Tangeri forced herself to stop thinking about dark things, and spoke:
“Tell me all about what you were doing all those years!”
After that, their conversation continued, as they exchanged stories about the past.
And Tangeri successfully distracted Monachra for a few hours.
*-*-*
Few hours later.
Tangeri left the Eternal Happiness Foundation’s office and crossed a few streets.
After making sure no one was tailing her, she sat down in the shade of a tree and waited.
And, a few minutes later, she suddenly jumped and tossed her hat into the face of somebody who sneaked up behind her.
“Ack!”
Apric dropped a bunch of leaves she was holding in her arms and clearly was planning to drop on Tangeri’s head.
“Damn it! How did you notice me?”
Tangeri just pointed at the building opposite of them, with big, clear windows, which reflected them perfectly and said:
“Experience.”
Apric just pursed her lips in response.
“How did it go?”
As the two of them sat down again, Tangeri asked, and Apric’s pouted face changed to a bright one.
“Excellent. Our Lady’s gift was very useful.”
Apric wriggled her fingers wrapped in a thin glove.
As she moved them, small hooks appeared and disappeared.
It was something that Saffra gifted both of them.
Those simple looking gloves in fact hid multiple tools handy with climbing, opening locks and so on.
‘I don’t think it’s something you can buy at the market…’
When they asked about it, Saffra just shrugged and said she found it on the market, when she went out with Mimosa.
Apric and Tangeri didn’t even pretend to believe it, but they understood the message and didn’t ask any further.
“So?”
“I planted a bug as Lady instructed. And I also went through her things.”
The mission Apric received was to sneak into Monachra’s residence, which was located in the backrooms of the Eternal Happiness Foundation’s building, and make some digging.
She fell into thoughts as she organized the information in her head.
“Most of the things were something which you would expect from a young noble lady. But what struck me as strange, there was not a lot of personal items. Those I found were old and didn’t seem very well taken care of. Ah, there is also something I wanted to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“Did Monachra ever show any interest in alchemy?”
“No. As far as I know, no.”
Apric frowned.
“That’s strange. I found an alchemic set. It seemed to be well taken care off.”
*~*~*