Like a jewel in a barren wasteland, the capital of Elderan was a sight to behold. The city radiated with the wealth extracted from the poor. A pristine marble wall, free of blemish and dust, surrounded the city. Golden lights illuminated the streets at all times, casting a warm glow over everything. The polished surface of the castle in the center made the city shimmer, like a crown with the castle as its crowning jewel.

Silver-armored soldiers guarded the gate. After verifying our identities, they not only let us in but also pointed us toward our goal—the Monster Tamer Guild.

Surprisingly, the guild was open to the public. The first floor hosted various monsters, from salamanders to goblins. I was surprised to see they had creatures other than goblins, but the prices were outrageous. A goblin was worth 1 gold, but other monsters ranged from 10 to 100 gold. It was ridiculous—horses only cost 10 gold!

Well, it must be expensive to hire experienced adventurers to catch these monsters, so I could understand the price. Goblins were cheap since they had a spawner for them.

I browsed through the monsters until I reached the receptionist. I asked to meet the manager or someone high up, mentioning that I had a spawner for sale. The manager smirked, but when Hellhound opened our bag with a flourish, his expression turned to one of marvel, and he quickly went upstairs.

"Greetings, my name is Seles. You said you have a spawner?" A woman in a researcher's lab coat approached. My blood ran cold. Seles was one of my targets, one of those responsible for my mother's death. The moment I realized this, Eli nudged me inside my heart to make the first move, but I stayed put. We still had Droner Gustav and Tione to find.

"Behold! This is a spawner! This cursed artifact has the power to summon monsters and nearly brought ruin to our beloved town of Sami. We witnessed its terror firsthand—it summoned a dragon! Its majestic wings, its glistening scales filled us with dread. But we persevered! We slew the dragon guarding this treasure! All for the glory of Elderan, and thus, we offer it to you. We pray that you reward us accordingly." Hellhound held the spawner aloft, flourishing it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. I wanted to ask where on earth he learned to speak like that, but I refrained. A guild higher-up was watching us closely.

"I see. This is certainly a spawner," Seles said, her smile gleeful. But then she looked at us with suspicion. "How do you know this is a spawner?"

"Well, you placed a commission with the Mercenary Guild, didn't you? And at such a high price, too. We kind of need more money right now. I need new weapons, and the price hikes are hitting our families pretty hard. So, that's the situation." Hellhound coughed, hinting that he wanted a better reward than what was offered in the mercenary guild.

"I see. So, you need more money. I'll see what I can do." As Seles was about to leave with the spawner, Hellhound stopped her.

"Sorry, ma'am. We'll hand this over once appropriate payment is made," he said politely, asking Seles to return the spawner. With a blank expression, Seles handed the spawner back to him, and we left the building. Hellhound reassured her beforehand, "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll surely give you the spawner once proper payment is arranged. If you're not satisfied with the spawner's condition, we'll take our business elsewhere, like the Mercenary Guild, for example."

As we left the building, I frowned at Hellhound's decision. I hadn't come here to bargain the spawner for money but to interrogate the Monster Tamer Guild about the assassination of the previous Count of Shadowstep. But Hellhound was the leader of our group, so I had to follow his lead.

"Shouldn't we have just left the spawner with that lady?" I asked Hellhound once we reached a nearby pub. "She said she'd pay us later…"

"Tsk, tsk, you don't know how to deal with Elderan's nobles, my 15-year-old Loli. You can't hand over the goods before you've got the money in hand," Hellhound lectured me, acting all high and mighty as we entered a nearby eatery. His condescending tone was infuriating. He then ordered hot dogs and beers for everyone. I opted for fruit juice; I don't like beer, and I prefer to stay sober in this country. "Just look at her eyes. She really wants that spawner. There's no doubt she'll pay us 400, no, 500 gold for it—way more than the 300 gold the Mercenary Guild offered us! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"Are you sure we should be doing this, boss?" one of his members questioned.

"Hey! It's not like I'm extorting her! As long as she offers more than the Mercenary Guild, it's fine. She can decide how much this glowing ball is worth. We're being very generous, right? She can talk to her superiors or her noble backers, and then, once the price is set, we'll hand over the spawner! Everyone knew the Monster Tamer guild had government subsidies! They were drowning in cash!"

"I see. That's good, then! I support you. Hey, once we get the money, how are we going to split it?" all the members nodded. Hellhound's decision except me. I sighed as greed seemed to outwit me in this game. I think I just lost the chance to get close to the guild cordially.

"Hmm? We've got five members. If we get 500 gold, we'll split it evenly—100 gold each. If it's 400, then 100 each for me and Eli, and the remaining 200 split among the three of you. Fair? Eli earned the money. She worked hard against that dragon."

"More than fair! That's why you're our boss!" The team lifted their beers and toasted. As they celebrated, the door suddenly crashed open.

"Freeze! We are Royal Knights!" The knights barged into the restaurant and stormed over to our table. Without delay, they apprehended us and Hellhound.

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"Hey, what did we even do?" Hellhound shouted as we were being carted to the carriages.

"You're accused of employing an unregistered mage and spying for Althemer!"

"What? She's no spy! Everyone knew we had a peace treaty with Althemer; peddlers and adventurers are welcome!"

"Cease you mumbling! Come with us! Install the mana restriction bracelet on the girl!" the commander ordered. "Search their belongings. Find the goods."

They carted us out and threw us into their carriages. Through the thin wooden walls, I could hear their conversation.

"Did you find the spawner?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good! Let's move out." That short conversation told us everything we needed to know. They wanted that spawner so badly that they were willing to break the law for it. As the carriage headed to the prisons, I got a call from my earclip.

"Hey, R666, that commission I mentioned? Sorry, but it looks like it got canceled because they found the spawner. Did you have anything to do with that?" R25B annoyingly asked me through my earpiece. After ensuring I was alone in a corner of the cart, I whispered back.

"Yeah, they just robbed me of that spawner…." I replied.

"Oh? Trying to get more money, huh? Naughty girl. Sorry, but that's going to be tough. You see, when someone makes a commission, they have to put up the money upfront, and it can only be returned after five working days. No organization just has 2000 gold lying around. Well, I'm disappointed, R666. I thought we had a better relationship than that. I guess this commission is a no-go, then?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Who are you talking to?" Hellhound asked.

"I'm talking to someone in Althemer," I lied. Technically, the Reaper organization has a base in Althemer, and R25B is from there, so it's not entirely a lie.

"Oh! Are you talking with Princess Claire? I knew you were someone influential! Please tell her to get us out of here! We've been falsely imprisoned!" Hellhound perked up immediately, and his idea sparked one of my own.

"Hey, could you send a message to Princess Claire? Tell her I've been imprisoned in Elderan's capital," I instructed R25B. "Seles and the Royal Knights are the ones who imprisoned me."

"Hm… that's a bit tricky. We don't have any other Reapers in Elderan. How does 100 points sound?" R25B suggested. However, he didn't sound troubled at all. I realized he just wanted to squeeze some points out of me.

"Ugh! Fine, 50 points, okay! Wait, Claire is in Elderan?"

"Yup, she's on her way there. Don't worry, your payment has been received. Reapers always do their duty with utmost efficiency! She'll get your message in less than a day."

"How did you do it?" I was puzzled. If he said there were no Reapers in Elderan, how did he get the message to Claire so quickly? Did he use some Magiphone like my earpiece and happen to know Claire's number? But phones here don't have numbers; they're made in pairs, like string phones.

"That's a trade secret. See you in the morning." R25B ended the call.

"What did she say?" Hellhound asked expectantly.

"I wasn't talking to Claire directly. But I was told she'll get my message tomorrow. Also, Claire is apparently heading to the capital."

"Princess Claire is coming here? Thank God! Thank you, Princess Claire! You're truly a goddess! She's so much better than these rotten crooks! Long Live the Princess!" Hellhound sounded relieved as he cheered with the others. Our journey to the prison was accompanied by Hellhound's rants about how terrible the nobles were and how wonderful Claire's benevolence was.

It must be nice to be so simple-minded. Claire's coming here is probably related to the peace treaty. I wonder how she's going to fix this mess. It's doubtful she'll help me at all. She might seem nice, but she's cunning. All her good deeds are calculated, just ways to improve her standing.

"Stay here! If you really are innocent, we will release you in less than a week!" The guard threw us all into a prison cell with no discrimination about gender. What kind of police did Elderan have? No wonder Althemer called these guys barbaric.

"Ugh!" I groaned, imagining her smug grin if Claire does end up saving us. It infuriates me. She might be on good terms with Elderan now, but she definitely has henchmen within the Monster Tamer Guild. That makes her my enemy, right?

I scanned the surroundings, assessing if I could escape, and sure enough, I felt like I could. This mana-sealing bracelet only blocks my magic, but I still have my skills like camouflage and enhanced strength and agility. If they opened the door, I could knock out the guards and escape.

"Hey, you're not lying when you said Princess Claire is coming to help us, right?"

"I never said she was coming to help us. I said Claire is coming to the capital, probably for the peace treaty ceremony."

"What? But she'll send someone, right? Right?" Hellhound asked, twice as worried now. But I'm not Princess Claire—I can't guarantee that two-faced princess will actually come to our rescue.

Just then, a guard came by with our meals.

"Here. Have som— Hey! What are you doing?" The guard pulled back, but it was too late. I had already stolen the gladius from his waist. Then, using it like a lever, I slipped the sword into the bracelet on my left arm and cracked the bracelet open.

"Help! The prisoners are escaping!" The guards shouted as I broke the bracelet on my other arm using the same method. As my magic returned, I summoned several dark tentacles—one to pick the jail's lock and another to cast hypnosis on the guards. After knocking them out and unlocking the door, I gestured for Hellhound to follow me.

"Let's get out of here," I said, but they just stared at me as if I were crazy.

"Are you nuts? Attacking knights and escaping prison is a capital offense! You're going to get us all killed!"

I looked at them, surprised and baffled. Why were they suddenly so law-abiding at this point? Well, they've always followed the law despite the bandit getup. I guess I'm the odd one out. But the deed is already done. All I could do was make sure the blame was on me."If you don't want to escape, that's fine. You can stay here. If the knights ask, just blame everything on me."

"Ugh! Why did you attack the knights! They just said we would only stay here for a couple of days if we were found to be innocent! Sorry, but we'll stay. The worst they can do is lock us up for a few months or years. I'm not risking capital punishment over some misunderstanding. Moreover, we have family here," Hellhound said. Apparently, they believed this was all just a misunderstanding. I wondered what Elderan's nobles would really do to them.

"If the judge asks, just tell them that Princess Claire knows Elidranthia Shadowstep—that's my full name. If you get killed, I promise I'll avenge you." With those parting words, I left the prison. Several guards were alerted, but I put them to sleep with my dark magic. Our belongings, except for the spawner, were placed on a table. After retrieving my things, I left the knights' station. Once out in the open, I used my camouflage, and nobody could sense me.

I felt disappointed and betrayed. I thought we were closer than this, but they made their choice. So, I left them in prison. Thinking back, they were never really part of this. The Monster Tamer Guild is my mission, not theirs.

Under the cover of the new moon, the night was as dark as my heart. I approached the Monster Tamer Guild with a purpose. To interrogate Seles. I should have done this from the very beginning. It was stupid of me to cajole these Elderans.