That was great. Setting down his cutlery, Ed leant back into his seat with a satisfied sigh. He looked across the table to find that Elaine had also finished her steak and was now patiently waiting while enjoying her cup of tea. Looks like it’s about time for her to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about. Ed sat up in his chair and made direct eye contact with Elaine.

She took one final sip of her tea before setting the cup down. “You must be wondering why you’re sitting here, right?”

“Yes, but I’m assuming you want something from me?” Ed asked.

She nodded slightly. “That is correct. I’m curious as to how you found the suspect despite only accidentally getting involved in this. How did you manage to find him in such a short time?”

I probably shouldn’t tell her. “My apologies, but how I did it is a private matter, so I can’t tell you.”

“That’s reasonable. We all have our secrets, and I wouldn’t want to intrude.” Elaine said.

At this time, a servant entered the room and whispered something into Wilfred’s ear. Wilfred nodded and sent the servant back out of the room before turning to Elaine. “Your Highness, we have just received news that the assailant was spotted up north, an hour away from the outskirts of the city.”

“Good. I want to see that vile snake squirm for what he’s done.” Elaine said coldly.

“I’ll prepare the car right away your Majesty.” Wilfred bowed before making his exit.

Elaine stopped to think for a moment before turning to Ed. “Why don’t you join us? I believe your skills could prove quite useful.”

It’s probably not a good idea to say no to her, plus I’m also curious to find out what’s going on. “Then I will follow your lead your Majesty.”

“Mm.” She nodded before making her way out the door. The servants quickly went to work cleaning up the room until it was the same as before Ed had shown up.

Whelp. This is gonna be interesting. Ed left the room and followed behind Elaine.

They quickly made their way down the hallway and out of the building. Looking back, he found that he was in a comparatively small castle that was an offshoot of the main palace. However, the place did still dwarf any other building Ed had seen in Hell outside of the royal estate.

Following behind Elaine, Ed was brought to a lineup of vehicles.

Wilfred walked up to them and bowed to Elaine. “The guards are ready to move out your Majesty. Please follow me.”

Elaine walked to the middle car and sat in the backseat area, while Wilfred brought Ed to a second vehicle. “We will be taking this car.” He said. “Her Majesty must not be disturbed.

Not seeing a reason to complain, Ed got into the back of the car. The inside of the car was similar to that of a limo, with luxurious padded seats facing one another, and a glass panel blocking the driver from the passengers.

Wilfred went around, doing final checks to make sure everything was in order, before returning to the vehicle and sitting across from Ed.

The convoy started up and made their way out of the estate. The princess’ car was in the centre, with the rest of the cars flanked out to prepare for any possible situation. Ed found himself in the car between the princess and the lead vehicle.

As they made their way north, Ed was able to see more of the city. They drove past countless businesses; both big and small. He came across everything from restaurants to weapons stores as he made his way up north. Unlike the town of Balestone, everything seemed to share a similar aesthetic and architectural style, at least on the outside. Seems like appearance is really important to Lord Superbia. He must be very strict whenever a new building is being built.

“How much do we know about the suspect?” Asked Ed as he turned his attention back to Wilfred.

“We know that he’s a resident of the Envy circle, and that he’s most likely not working alone. Thanks to you, we now know exactly what he looks like and have been able to pull up a bit of information. We’re still waiting for his history, but we’ve been able to figure out a lot about what he’s been doing since he entered Pride City.

He arrived not too long ago, just a few days before his first attack on the princess. He has been jumping from hotel to hotel, never staying in one place for too long.” Wilfred said, listing off the information he has at hand.

Hmm. It seems like it’s very easy for them to track down a person when they know who they’re looking for. “Do you think he fled north to meet up with whoever he’s working with?” Ed asked.

“That’s entirely possible. I’ll make sure to remind the guards that he might not be alone.” Wilfred said before turning his head back to the information.

Ed looked back out the window, staring absentmindedly into the distance.

After a long time driving, the convoy finally made it to their destination. The vehicles came to a stop in an empty carpark.

Oh, thank God it’s finally over. I almost thought this city was endless.

Ed and Wilfred exited their car, as did a large portion of the guards that came with them. The guards were split into two groups; one dressed in plain clothes that quickly left to search the area, and the other group that stayed behind to protect the princess.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

While the first group disappeared, the second group flanked out, quickly finding the best areas to fend off attackers from based on their expertise and equipment.

Ed stood their awkwardly as he watched the professionals in action. He didn’t know what to do, as Wilfred had gone off to discuss matters with Elaine. I’m kind of surprised that the princess would just be allowed to leave the palace like this when she’s under attack. I guess she is well-guarded, but what if something goes wrong? If an accident was to happen, the princess could get injured.

Ed sat in his thoughts for a moment before something else came to mind “I don’t want to have to deal with this pest for any longer than I already have.” How could I forget. She’s the daughter of the strongest ruler of Hell, she’s by no means a normal princess. This attack is probably nothing more than an annoying itch to her. Ed calmed down a little, now a lot less worried about the situation at hand. Who knows? She could probably handle this all by herself.

Over time, the plainclothes came back one by one, having swept through almost everywhere in the area. Most of the area was quickly cleared out, yet there were still no signs of the target. One by one, Wilfred crossed off different parts on the map he had of the area, before eventually circling one building and noting it with a question mark.

“Your Majesty, we have reason to believe that the target is in this building. He hasn’t been spotted leaving the area, and we’ve already checked everywhere else.” Wilfred said to Elaine, who had at some point in time rolled down her car window.

“Why are you not certain whether he’s in there or not?” She asked.

“We were refused entry to the building when in disguise, so we can’t confirm that he’s in there. I have reason to believe that it’s an invite only bar and that we’re going to have to find another way in without causing chaos.”

Elaine pondered over his words for a moment, considering the best course of action. “That’s probably for the best, I don’t want to give him a chance to escape. Try and see if you can find a way inside.”

The guards quietly surrounded the perimeter of the bar, preventing anyone from escaping, while also searching for a way to get in.

Elaine noticed Ed standing there and said something to Wilfred before winding her window back up.

Wilfred walked over and caught Ed’s attention. “Her Majesty wants you to try and find a way inside and locate the target. She believes that you are best suited to this task and hopes that you won’t disappoint her.”

I feel like she’s trying to test me. This might be painful, but if I play my cards right, nothing bad should happen. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

“Your mission is simple; you need to find a way inside and locate the target. Don’t attack him, and don’t arouse his suspicion. Just keep tabs on him and inform us if there’s anything of importance. Once he leaves, follow him. The entire place is surrounded, and we’ll be ready to attack him once he’s left.” Wilfred said.

Sounds easy enough. I’ve just got to try and find a way inside; the rest should be easy. “Got it. How do you want me to contact you?” Ed asked.

“Take this phone. It’ll give you a direct line to me. Just pass on any information through text, we don’t want to arouse any suspicion.” Wilfred said while handing Ed a phone.

Taking the phone, Ed followed one of the plainclothes guards to the bar. Where should I even start?

The entrance to the bar was in quiet alleyway. Ed stood out across the street, watching as people came in and out of the alley. “Which building is it?” He asked.

“The one on the left. There’s a small restaurant out front, but we suspect that the majority of the building is taken up by the bar and other private businesses that we can’t enter freely.” The guard said.

“Thanks. I’ll see what I can do.” Ed crossed the street and walked to the alley on the other side of the building, which was fairly deserted. He sat down in a quiet place where no one would notice him. The bar should be within range from here. I’ll try and find a way in.

Grasping onto his own string, Ed closed his eyes and sunk into the void. Keeping time frozen, he walked away from his body and out of the alley. Wrapping around to the other side, he snuck in past the guard and walked through the crowd. Where could he be?

Ed found the man in the corner to his left, sitting at a table with another person. He’s not working alone, got it. Now how am I going to get in?

Ed walked back outside, and rewound time to see how people were able to enter. Each time someone got to the door, they would be stopped by the bouncer, and would then have to show a special coin to the bouncer before being let in.

Ed stopped to study the coin for a while. How am I going to get my hands on that? He doesn’t seem to be looking at it too closely, maybe I could try making it myself. Ed left the void and sat there in the alleyway

Having memorised the coin, Ed spent a little while making it. Thankfully it was far less complex than making a person, but the small details were still difficult to perfect. After a while, he was finally satisfied with his work, so he walked around to the entrance. Getting stopped by the bouncer, he showed the coin and was let inside.

Stepping inside, he ignored his target and went up to the bar to order a drink. “Just a rum and coke please.”

Getting his drink, he went and found an empty seat where he could overhear his target’s conversation. Now I’ve just got to wait. Hopefully, I can get some useful information to send out.

Taking small sips from his drink, He listened into their conversation. Minutes passed as nothing of interest came up. They’re just having a normal chat right now. I assumed they came here to talk business, maybe they already did before I got here.

He sat there for half an hour as they enjoyed their meal, with nothing of importance coming up. He had sent a few texts out to Wilfred, just to keep him updated, but the entire situation was fairly boring. There were plenty of discussions and deals being made across the entire bar. None of them held any interest to Ed, but he sent it over to Wilfred regardless of that, while making sure to specify it wasn’t related to the targets.

The only interesting thing that happened was a heated argument on the other side of the bar, that almost turned into a fight before it was defused by the bouncer, who threw one of the men out of the bar.

At this point, his targets had finished their meals and were knocking back a few drinks.

“Whelp, it’s about time we got out of here.” The snake said as he stood up. His partner joined him as they collected their things and walked to the exit of the bar. Ed shot a text out to Wilfred telling him that they were leaving. He waited for a few moments for them to leave before getting up as well.

Staying at a distance, he tailed them as he pretended to be drunk. He blended into a small crowd for a while and watched as the targets walked down a quiet alley. He got closer to the alley to continue following them when he noticed a blur fly down from the rooftop above. In an instant, the blur crossed the height of the high-rise building and crashed into the snake man, kicking up a cloud of dust. It was so fast that Ed couldn’t even see it move. What was that?

At the same time, guards blocked off all escapes, trapping the other target and holding him at gunpoint.

As the dust settled, Ed saw Elaine standing on the chest of the fallen snake man, her wings stretched out behind her as she stared down at him fiercely. She twisted her foot, digging the heel of her shoe through the man’s chest and into his heart.