Chapter 96

[Yes, I’ve also received the same information . ]

[Probably . ]

[It might become complicated though if we were to negotiate with her using gold . ]

She’s not the type who looks like their eyes would glow after seeing money .

[However, there’s an information I got that kind of worries me . ]

Seras came a bit closer to me .

Lowering her voice, she whispered .

[Apparently, she seems to have had enough money to buy her freedom back two years ago . ]

[Hmm? Then, for the remaining two years, is it that she had been earning money to spend after she had became free?]

Well, it must have been that .

And now, she must have been able to save quite a lot .

[I’ve also thought that was the case, but it seems that it’s different . ]

[What do you mean?]

[It seems that she’s trying to buy back the freedom of another person . ]

[So, she has been trying to earn extra money for these two years for that?]

Fumu…

[Whose freedom she’s trying to buy or the whereabouts of this person— as expected, you wouldn’t know huh?]

[No . ]

Seras held out a piece of paper .

[This is…]

I received the paper and checked the contents .

There was a name written on it, along with some brief information about her .

[A child?]

[This child had been sold here in Monroy by the slave trader at the same time as Eve . ]

[Is she Eve’s daughter?]

[No, she’s not a were-leopard . ]

[Funnn…]

It seems that there are some surprisingly complicated circumstances .

[Either way, I don’t think there’s any chance that we could solve this with gold . ]

I remember that time when I talked with Eve about the Witch of Taboos .

That impression I had about her .

I had the impression that she’s stubborn and stiff when it comes to her decisions .

It’s possible that she’s feeling gratitude towards the Witch of Taboos .

To make someone like her talk, it may be necessary for her to have more gratitude towards me .

I started pondering about it .

[Now then, I wonder what bargaining chip we could use…]

I want some kind of clue .

She has already earned enough money to buy back the freedom of the young girl Seras had mentioned before .

………………… .

Should we just drop asking the information from Eve and just directly enter the Demon Zone?

Or we could—-

—hire Eve as my guard immediately after she buys back her freedom…

[Also, I have one more thing that I want you to hear . ]

[………… . . ]

How much information does Seras have?

The amount of information I collected can’t even be compared to hers .

[Can I ask you one thing before that? How did you get these information…?]

Hesitating for a moment, Seras replied .

[I went towards an information broker . ]

[Information broker?]

[They weren’t found in Mills, but in large cities like Monroy, you could find information brokers that handles information that usually weren’t opened to the public . ]

So, that’s why she went to another district huh…

They may also know a place where you could sell the Azure Dragon Stone…

I can’t make light of such a place .

Speaking of which, she was the leader of a company of knights .

Did she usually get information that weren’t opened to the public by going to the information broker?

[I learned from the princess about the “dark room” . I heard that there were times where conspiracies were rampant inside the royal court . It seems that the princess managed to protect herself by skillfully using those people who were from the underworld . ]

The underworld who handles the dirty jobs .

In this world, it seems that they were called people from the “dark room” .

I see…

This may also be the reason why Seras is really knowledgeable .

So, it’s the influence of the princess who she served .

[I apologize for going to the information broker alone without telling about it . It’s because they extremely dislike it when they’re talking with someone accompanied by people who don’t know about their existence…]

[It’s up to you to decide . You don’t have to worry about it . However, how would they know when someone knows about them or not?]

I asked just purely because I’m kind of interested .

[I understood how their “etiquette” works . That “etiquette” can only be learned by the “customers” of the information brokers and this “etiquette” is the proof that you are a “customer” . They would be able to easily see through if you’re just imitating their etiquette . ]

Is it something like a cipher that only they could understand?

It seems that group was quite thorough with their confidentiality .

I finally understood why Seras has to go there alone .

I don’t know about these “etiquette” .

If I were to go together with her, I might thoughtlessly make the information broker vigilant towards us .

[However, I should have told you about making use of the information broker… I apologize . Umm, also—]

Seras timidly held out something towards me .

It’s the small bag I gave her earlier, now empty .

[All of the money I received was used to buy these information . Umm… It seems that bargaining for prices with them was a bad move . ]

[That’s alright . It’s thanks to this that we acquired valuable information . Rather, I should be thankful to you instead . ]

[Milord really is kind . ]

Seras looked quite relieved .

[……………… . ]

No, there’s really no reason to scold her now though .

If you just think about it normally .

[And, what’s the other thing you wanted to tell me?]

[Yes, about that—-]

Without any change in her expression, Seras said .

[Have you heard that most of the strongest Blood Champions in the past have died in their last duel?]

[Yeah, I’ve also heard about that before . ]

Most of them have lost their lives in their last duel .

For this reason, the final duel would get everyone excited .

Their probability of survival is really low .

It’s as though, it’s just like the Disposal Ruins .

[However, isn’t it because it’s their final duel that it would just simply be a straightforward battle where she defeats her opponents?]

I don’t think that kind of information is necessarily something that can’t be released to the public .

However—

[It doesn’t seem like it’s just that . ]

Seras started looking around the area .

Subsequently, she went even more closer .

Standing on her tiptoes, she brought her mouth closer to my ear .

[It looks like one of the dukes who manages the Blood Colosseum is doing something disadvantageous against the Blood Champions to make them lose on the day of their final duel . ]

That’s not an admirable act at all .

No, you could even say that’s purely foul play .

It’s an act that unfairly tramples on the hopes of the Blood Champions .

However, that’s something that I—

[Funnn…]

I will seize this wonderful opportunity .

I completely realized that I really am a piece of trash .

[I guess this would be our clue…]