My name is Akatosh,

I'm drawing from the bottom of the kettle.

—4E, 201, Moon of Fire, 6th, 11:45 a.m.

"Hello, Miss Satya, I would like to post a rumor of missing persons."

"Are you sure? Guest, if it's just a rumor, it's unlikely that anyone will be willing to help, is that okay? Well? ”

The "mare banner" at noon was very lively, eating and drinking, the collision of cutlery and wine glasses, boasting and laughing, and even the sound of scolding and brawling made the whole inn extremely noisy, but this environment was an excellent cover for those who wanted to buy or sell information in the rooms on the second floor of the inn.

"Well, ah, yes, since I probably know that people are actually fine, I just need to spread the word that 'someone is looking for her'." Parry looked like he was in a hurry, and his eyes didn't know where to look.

Hmph, isn't it just a Red Guard maid who lowered her neckline a lot? Seeing that this rookie adventurer was frightened, if he dared to take the initiative, the other party would pull away without a trace, just with this experience and courage, he also wanted to fight Emir's idea?

Looking at Parry, who was desperately avoiding Satya's touch, Sapphire wordlessly cast her eyes into the lobby downstairs.

This time she comes out with Parry, and there are three tasks to complete, only to mess up one as soon as he goes out.

It was requested by the lord "Leila the Buffalo" to "reconnoiter the Blacklight Tower, judge the danger of the occupiers and deal with it appropriately." ”

The first half of the task was done well, and it was initially confirmed that it was a group of witches who liked to catch robbers and conduct some kind of magic experiments, but the second half of the mission failed directly when he just stepped into the tower - he accidentally destroyed the key node of a magic array, and directly caused the witch leader's daughter who was conducting magic experiments to teleport away, if it wasn't for them to confirm that she was still alive by some means, this kid probably wouldn't have been able to get out.

As a result, he had to promise the witches to spread rumors in the taverns of the towns he passed, which roughly meant "Good girl, your mother is looking for you, please go home as soon as you can, and if there is a guy who doesn't look like a good person looking for you, don't hesitate to give him a hard lesson." "Of course, to change the specific statement in order to be suitable for the spread of gossip in the tavern, at least it should not sound too strange to ordinary people.

For example, "There was a blonde and brown-eyed witch from the Black Tower, who seemed to have a deep background and a short temper, and anyone who dared to strike up a conversation had been taught a hard lesson." ”

…… How smart does this girl have to be to understand what it means!

For the sake of this unknown rumor, Parry had to buy two bottles of Black Thorn Honey from Satya plus two bottles of regular Nord Honey, which was more refreshing than Heimsco of Evasteide, a hundred gold coins, and the price was clearly marked.

Speaking of mead, the second quest is related to this, and like the previous quest to burn the Golden Manor Hive, it was released by the Black Thorns.

Because Golden Manor violated the contract signed with the Black Thorn family, it was natural to resell the honey produced to the higher bidder, but as its purchaser, the "mead land" that produced ordinary Nord honey wine was only carrying out normal business dealings and was entrusted by the Black Thorn family to "teach a lesson", which proved their arrogance from the side.

Due to Xue Man's declaration of neutrality, the power of the Black Thorn Family does not have much influence here, although they have bribed a hired worker in the mead field to "assist", but they can guess without meeting with that person, this kind of little person's method is most likely to pollute the barrel and let the officials find out, if you really implement this kind of street gangster-like means, not only will the other party be released within two or three days, but also make the thieves' guild lose face.

There is a consensus within the guild on the commission of the Black Thorn Family, that is, it must be completed to avoid being suppressed by it, but they must not be allowed to benefit from it to strengthen themselves, otherwise one day they will completely clean up the rat path when they think they have enough strength.

If there were any quality problems that caused the reputation of the "mead land" to deteriorate, the sales of Nord honey would naturally be overwhelmed by the blackthorn mead, so the "lesson" to it should not be taken from this aspect, but should be allowed to blow up a problem that sounds serious, but is completely unconcerned by ordinary drinkers - that is, political problems.

Here, I have to mention the third task of this outing: whitewashing a snowy prisoner.

The Imperial man named Ian is not a resident of Snowman, he originally lived in Dugu City, and appears to be a city patrol guard, who recently escaped from there with some kind of important information from the Imperial Legion, preparing to throw himself into the Storm Cloak through the Warmania family, but was caught drunkenly attacking the guards as he passed through Snowman—he must have been charmed by Satya.

The Warmania Clan is not sure if the lord will send him back to Dugu City, but as soon as he reveals his connection to the Warmania Family, they will be immediately suppressed by the Graymane Family, who lean towards the Imperial Legion, so ask the Thieves Guild to change the man's confession after his arrest - if it is related to the Warmaniac Family.

Due to the resurgence of the dragon, the Imperial Legion and the storm cloak at this time, and the endless emergence of beasts and robbers in various places, this low-priority confession will not be seen by Lord Balguf for several days, Sapphire only needs to change the contact person in this confession to the owner of the mead land, the lord will not investigate such an ordinary case in detail, and Black Thorn has no way of knowing the real reason why the owner of the mead land was arrested, killing two birds with one stone.

Lord Balguf seems to have a habit of taking a nap, so after Parry and the Red Guard maid have reached an agreement, they will set off for Longxiao Palace...... Well?

Sapphire's gaze, which had been wandering around aimlessly, was suddenly drawn to a table of guests in the lobby downstairs, one of whom was Anorias, a hunter who often sold meat in the plains market, and there was nothing special, but the person sitting across from her firmly attracted her attention.

It was a Nord woman in delicate black heavy armor, blonde hair and blue eyes, and the more striking thing was the arch-like forehead ornament on her face, and the whole person had an indescribable power, which made the Anoslia in front of her refer.

Although she did not remember the existence of this person, Sapphire still felt that she was inexplicably familiar, so she quietly pressed her right hand on the dagger at her waist, and at this moment, all kinds of noise in the inn, and even the interaction between Parry and Satya disappeared in her ears, and the conversation between the Nord woman and Anolias sounded clearly.

“…… So, you've been discovered by the other party. The woman said.

"Well, he won't know my name." Arnolias' voice trembled.

"'The man who always steals my prey' is enough, otherwise how do you think I found you?" The Nord woman's expression remains the same.

"I ...... Is it too late for me to apologize? The hunter's words sounded panicked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to bring the money with me."

"But I've spent it all—"

"How many with as many as you want."

"Uh......"

I see, Sapphire thought, having wondered when he passed by his stall before, how could this man sell prey with distant habitats at the same time? He also claimed to have hunted it with his own hands, and now it seems that he stole all the meat from others, and it is likely that it is a hunter organization that is not too small, no, they have hired people from the Dark Brotherhood to clean him up.

But when will those lunatics ask for a reason for assassination? Still trying to mediate?

As Anolias held her head in distress and thought, the woman gracefully took a glass of honey wine and drank it, closed her eyes slightly, and then suddenly opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the sapphire.

The original blue eyes have turned into dazzling gold, and the shape has changed to vertical pupils as sharp as a dragon.

“……！” Sapphire shook his hand and didn't hold down the dagger, and the noise around her came again, while Satya and Parry were still discussing the details, and when she looked at the two people in the corner of the lobby again, she found that the Nord woman had just put down the cup, and her eyes were still gentle blue, and there was no golden shadow at all.

——13:20——

"Huh? The princess of the empire left Dugu City and is suspected of going south, what kind of information is this? ”

The halls of Longxiao Palace are heavily guarded, and it is naturally difficult to sneak in through the main entrance, but its dungeon is not so tight in comparison, and Sapphire met Ian in the dungeon before going to change his confession.

"Of course it's of no use to Xue Man, even if she is discovered, Barguf will have to treat her well and send her out," Ian is a middle-aged man with a gloomy face, and he can see that he is very afraid of Sapphire and Parry who can sneak in front of his cell, and he explains very happily, "But for Storm Cloak, if you can catch her, this war is half the victory." ”

"You mean the emperor is willing to give up a province for her? It's just a princess, not a prince. Sapphire asked suspiciously, thinking of her own experience, she was very skeptical that there was a father in this world who valued his daughter so much.

"Of course, didn't you see that the emperor gave her the entire Eastern Empire Company in order to keep the princess from being short of money? Moreover, even the elite of the 'sharp-eyed eagles' who protect themselves have all been dispatched, and it is said that only some old, weak, sick and disabled people are left in the capital. Ian swore an oath.

"Ahem!" Parry, who was watching the wind outside, suddenly coughed to warn of the approaching guards.

"No matter who asks you after that, you have to insist that you don't have anyone in Xueman, and the previous confession was drunk and nonsense, understand?" Sapphire said quickly to Ian.

"Of course, the guards won't stop if they can't ask anything at first, but it's not the fools who have to get the results that are responsible for the review, but the 'smart people' who like to think too much." Ian nodded.

This guy is quite experienced, I'm afraid he's not a repeat offender.

Sapphire glanced at Ian more, sneaked out of the cell to greet Parry, and prepared to go to the back house of Longxiao Palace to revise Ian's confession.