Kotori was currently on the prowl for a young boy.
What?
Not like that!
The reason she was currently looking for young boys was that she was looking for the boy who gave her the initial invitation to the party.
Kotori who was currently lugging a bag of silver around was planning on paying for information on the boy. She was paying them a piece of silver for anything they knew.
Unfortunately, for Kotori, the orphans were quite tight-lipped. They were all comrades in arms after all.
None of them wanted to spill the beans on the orphan boy Kotori was looking for.
Kotori sighed, it seemed she would have to use [Charm]
To be honest, she disliked the skill.
It didn't just make the affected user like user. It was a skill that made the affected person madly fall in love with the user.
Of course, it was a temporary effect that would wear off after a few hours, but it was troublesome to deal with.
She located an orphan who seemed hesitant to answer the question and cornered him in an alleyway.
The boy was olive-skinned on account of the sunny nature of the city and his unkempt brown hair hung loosely on his head
"I'm not talking no matter what you pay me!" He said
[How brave] Kotori thought
Her party kept a lookout while Kotori cast [Charm]
She made sure to tell them not to look at her while interrogating the boy.
The boy's expression slowly changed from one of defiance's to hesitation, to one of nervousness.
"Hey…" He said.
His earlier prickliness seemed to have all but disappeared and it looked like he was blushing.
Kotori put on her best smile.
"I know you don't want to talk but you don't mind telling a little to onee-san right?"
The boy shuffled his feet blushing even harder than before.
"I can't betray Yukio like that…"
Kotori prepared her shota seduction trump card.
"My, oh my, I don't like boys who hide things from me." Kotori said faking a disappointed look
The boy looked extremely troubled.
"Ok, maybe a little…"
Kotori put on a beaming smile.
"Thank you! I like you!"
The boy almost looked like he was about to pass out after hearing Kotori say "I like you".
[Whoops gotta be a little careful around boys inexperienced in love] Kotori though.
"His name is Yukio, he works in the slums and works under Mr. Gerard…"
[Well, I already knew that] Kotori thought
She gave the boy an expectant look.
"Yukio processes… sweet leaf" The boy said
[Oh?]
"And?"
"Do you know where he works?" Kotori asked.
The directions the boy gave were to the place where she had tracked the orphan earlier
"Thank you dear, You've been absolutely lovely~"
The orphan was giving a slack-jawed smile.
[I feel a little bad but this was the only way.]
"Ok, onee-san is going to go do something real quick please sit her and wait ok~"
The boy nodded vigorously.
In truth, Kotori was never going to come back the alleyway the purpose of this was to let the orphan sit there until the [Charm] slowly wore off. Hopefully, the orphan wouldn't get too mad over the fact that Kotori charmed him.
The information Kotori got confirmed the fact that Gerard was dealing in sweet leaf. All she had to do was capture him, and bring him back to Fawks inn. Since it would soon be known that she was investigating the orphan she had to act fast.
Kotori told her party her plan
It was time for kidnapping.
** ** **
Dim dusk had covered the night and there was a sweet smell in the air.
Kotori and her party was waiting outside of the house that they had initially followed the orphan boy.
She was planning to capture the boy as he was getting back to the building. They were waiting in a nearby alleyway.
The cloying scent of sweet leaf hung in the air and it was extremely unpleasant. Kotori wanted to capture the boy as soon as possible, but it seemed like he didn't get back to the sweet leaf facility until late in the evening.
As for why this facility could stay here and be never raided or found out. Well, the town guards didn't really patrol these areas their only purpose was to keep them safe, the main tourist areas and areas where merchants would go to. Slums were not really a place the town guard would frequent and they didn't care to go either. If a person was murdered in the slums it was highly unlikely they would be found out.
The same could also be said for kidnapping.
They waited even longer and soon their target appeared. A boy was sneaking across the road as if he didn't want to be spotted. Unfortunately for him, Kotori could sense his mana the moment he entered the area.
Three pieces from Kotori's tiara instantly shot out and bound the boy
Two bound the boy around his arms and legs and the other, covered his mouth gagging him. The boy froze in shock before instantly struggling against the bonds.
"Shu grab him!"
Shu dashed forward and grabbed the bound boy.
[Target secured!] Kotori thought as they dashed away with the boy in tow.