“Hello, Prince Davey.”

“Right, I’ve been waiting,” Davey said as he continued to scan the documents on his table.

Standing in front of Davey were three ordinary-looking men in similar yet different uniforms.

“Echo. Gorgon. Alkaid,” Davey murmured, completely silencing the three people in front of him. As he handed each of them a document, he continued, “Black Bird and Jackal, crime syndicates active in the Central Continent, have done human trafficking here without any fear. This are the information about the people who have been kidnapped and taken from this territory.”

Looking at the three men, Davey asked, “Can you find them?”

“It’s…really hard to find those who have already been sold off.”

Thud!!!

Davey immediately threw a large bag of money on the ground in front of the men. He declared, “A hundred gold coins. I will pay you in advance.”

“…”

Surprise flashed across everyone’s eyes. They were embarrassed by the money that had exceeded their expectations.

“I’m not commissioning only one of you.”

In fact, Davey intended to commission all three of the most famous intelligence guilds in the entire continent.

“You have to get this done even if you set aside other requests.”

“Are you telling me…that you’re willing to buy the entire intelligence organization for this?” asked the man standing in the middle with squinted eyes.

“That’s right.”

“You’re a bit short on money…to accomplish something like that.”

“How much do you want?”

“You have to give at least three thousand gold coins per head.”

Davey nodded at those remarks. He commented, “It doesn’t matter how much the cost is. Find them as soon as possible.”

Three thousand gold coins to find a commoner at most? That was not a small amount.

“But even if you’re willing to do that, we still can’t find them for you…”

“It’s better to stop thinking of me as some kind of pushover, Echo Guild’s Deputy Master.”

The man’s eyes grew wide. Even the two other men who stood next to the man looked at Davey in surprise.

“Do not try to negotiate with me on something that can be done easily. You’re not the only one whom I’m making a deal with.”

“The time…”

“I will give you three days.”

“…That’s a bit too much. Echo will reject this request.”

Those words silenced the other two men.

“Really? If you don’t want to do it, then you can quit.”

“…”

“Then, do the Gorgon and Alkaid Guilds also share the same thoughts?”

Of course, they wanted to say no. However, unlike the Echo Guild’s deputy master, the two of them could not readily refuse Davey’s request.

“You seem worried. Okay, let’s raise the stakes. For any information you bring me about crimes that happen inside Heins Territory in the future, I will give this to you as compensation.”

Thud!!!

The three men widened their eyes imperceptibly upon looking at the jewel that Davey had just retrieved from his Pocket Plane.

“You should know what this is since you’re a member of an intelligence guild, right?”

All assassins who came from the ancient era of heroes knew this myth and legend. One of the heroes in the Hall had taught Davey the Moonlight Steps and how to block and release his senses. Assassin King Hermesia was the one who had taught Davey the art of assassination.

The jewel that Davey had shown the three men was the legacy and inheritance of the Laticia Kingdom. It was a jewel that had supposedly been stolen during Hermesia’s lifetime and had disappeared from the face of the world ever since.

“I believe this is a legend to assassins like you. Am I right?”

“Is… Is this real?”

Although he was the one who had clearly said no, the Echo Guild’s deputy master was the first to ask about the jewel that Davey had taken out. He muttered, “The… The Laticia Kingdom obviously disappeared from this world hundreds of years ago…”

“This is genuine. You can check it if you want to?”

The jewel that was considered as the legacy and inheritance of the Laticia Kingdom could be identified simply by injecting mana inside. Once mana was injected in the jewel, it would emit a mysterious glow, a glow that only it could release in the world.

However, if Davey were being honest, he would admit that the jewel was not genuine. Was it not enough to create a similar jewel with the same shape and effects? A good thing would always be a good thing, right? As for its historical value? Well, no one would know the authenticity of it since they had never seen the jewel before.

In fact, the jewel being hailed as the inheritance and legacy of the Laticia Kingdom was not really made by someone with high craftsmanship. Needless to say, it was not that hard for Davey to make a replica that looked real enough.

Then, that raised the question of where the real thing was, right? Davey was sure that those jewels were still slumbering inside Assassin King Hermesia’s lair. He hadn’t touched the lair yet, but he was looking out for an opportunity to ransack it sometime later.

The jewel that Davey had shown them was just a beautiful gem on the outside.

“As far as I know, this is a magical jewel. As long as you possess it, you can use its power to block the surrounding area,” Davey said calmly as he tapped on the jewel. “Well then, since Echo declared that they wouldn’t do it, then they’re out of the equation. Alkaid and Gorgon, what are you going to do?”

“Please… Please wait. Prince! We’ll do it! We’ll accept your request!”

Hearing the Echo Guild’s deputy master’s flustered shout, the other two men stepped forward as if to keep him in check.

“What’s the point of leaving it to the dark Echo? You don’t have to leave your trust to a guild that has lost its credibility after prioritizing money. Let Gorgon take over. I’m not sure about the information about them yet, but as long as we put our back into it, we’ll be able to find them quickly. Three days are enough for us.”

“No. Alkaid can give Your Highness the information that you want in two days.”

Davey smiled coldly at the men who were appealing to him. They sounded to be in competition.

“Echo, do you have something else to say?”

“…I’m sorry. I was too short-sighted. Please give me a day. I will find them all within a day.”

“Echo! You should have a commercial bottom line!”

“That’s right! If you think you’re going to lose, then step back.”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

The expression that appeared on the Echo Guild’s deputy master turned grim under the onslaught of insults coming from the other two men.

“If that amount of compensation is at stake, then the story changes.”

“Well, if all three of you can’t give up, then that’s fine. Since there are three of you, and there’s only one reward, let’s do it this way. I’ll give this to the person who gives me the information that I need first.”

What about the other two? Well, in this line of work where their speed and credibility was at stake, being late would be shameful. It was also enough for them to receive nothing.

“The deposit that I offered is not a small amount either. The choice is yours. If you think that it would be impossible for you to do compared to the two other guilds beside you, then you can step down,” Davey said. He could see the obvious desire for the jewel flash in everyone’s eyes.

That jewel was the most precious treasure to all assassins. Aside from being useful, the jewel itself had a tremendous symbolic value. Was the jewel cheap? Of course not. If that jewel’s existence was known to the world, it would be sold as a collector’s item for an exorbitant amount of money. However, that jewel was just one among the many common jewels in Davey’s eyes.

“Alright. Each of you will probably have to meet with your guild leaders and have a meeting. I won’t hold you here any longer. You can start competing now. Feel free to let yourself out.”

The three men disappeared in an instant. Nothing more had to be said.

Echo, Gorgon, and Alkaid were all very huge guilds that worked in the underworld[1]. Of course, they would definitely have information on medium-sized and large-sized organizations like Black Bird and Jackal, especially with the relationships that they had formed. This meant that they already knew but had kept their silence about the matter.

They had chosen to refuse Davey’s request because of their intentions to negotiate. It was also because of their credibility. Even if they tried to cover up those things to maintain their credibility, the story would change if the compensation that was at stake was very tempting. In the first place, they did not have any obligations to protect human traffickers, who played by their own rules.

“I’ll make sure to make you pay dearly for the things that you have done here,” Davey spat coldly as he looked down at the document that listed the information of the three missing people.

“I am someone who protects my citizens.”

Davey thought that a competition between those three large guilds was a very rare sight to see. However, he was confident that the results would soon be placed on his table. And just like he expected, they brought the urgent information in just half a day.

Echo Guild was the most powerful among the three. They provided all of the information about the three missing people as well as the route that they had been taken, the people involved, and the destination. It only took half a day. It was obvious how determined this large guild that worked on a continental scale was with the results that they had given Davey.

“It’s so easy to find people, huh?” Davey said, smiling coldly as he checked the information that the Echo Guild member had handed over to him.

1. The underworld they are referring to here is the dark side of the world, the criminal syndicates ☜