Arnold and Flora ran along the rooftops of the city, checking to see if they could spot Lauran. It was obvious that she wouldn't be out in the open if she was taken by the gang.
Arnold had no idea where to begin looking. He had thought at first to check her father's store but concluded that that wouldn't make sense for her to be there. She was probably taken to one of their hideouts. Although he was an experienced player, he never bothered exploring the city. Its scale was much too large.
If only he had done those side quests that random NPCs give then maybe he would've at least known the geography of the city better.
'I should head to the information guild first. Perhaps they might have what I'm looking for. But is that really going to work?'
In order to discover the location of Lauran, he had to somehow seek information regarding all the best hideouts in this city. There were literally hundreds that he knew of but he didn't know which were occupied and which weren't. That was where an information guild came in.
They have their own league of spies who sometimes infiltrate organizations to obtain information. Information was valuable in this day and era. However, some was also expensive and hard to come by. In addition, it took a lot of time to obtain some information as well.
Even if he was the son of the lord of the city, he was doubtful whether they would even allow him to speak to an executive. The executives were usually the ones who had access to exclusive information.
'If I was still a player then I could just use coins to buy bribery gifts from the Star Shop to give to them.'
The Star Shop was where you could buy rare and limited edition items for a certain amount of money. Of course, it wasn't cheap. Given the situation, he had to find other ways to convince the executive to give him the information he needed.
However, he had an alternative plan.
Information guilds were the best choice when you want to find something out. But you should know who to seek that information from.
"Why are we here….?" Flora asked as she looked up at the Adventurer's Guild and the adventurers in front of it. Likewise, they were looking at her. Not just because of her clothing but also her beauty.
"You'll see."
Many of the adventurers were looking at the two of them strangely. Flora had a sword despite not wearing the right gear for adventuring. Then there was Arnold; he was only in a dark blue suit and pants and had no weapons. The people concluded that they were noble kids looking to flaunt their talents despite having no experience in adventuring.
The two of them entered the guild.
As expected of the guild when it was past noon. The entire guild was filled to the brim with adventurers.
"Oi! Don't cut in line!"
"B-But we were here first! You just shoved us aside!"
"You wanna say that to my fist, kid!?"
"So noisy." Arnold muttered as he looked around the guild.
'Bingo.'
Arnold made his way to the person standing next to the Guild Quest Board. The person seemed like any normal adventurer waiting for new quests.
"Hey." Arnold called out to the person. Looking at the person's frame, it was a woman.
"…?" She looked up and her eyes widened.
It was expected of her kind to know the city lord's son's face.
"…How may I help you?" The person asked politely. She was wearing a rather thick cloak despite the hot temperatures outside.
Flora decided to ask nearby adventurers if they saw a girl with red hair and blue eyes.
Arnold lowered his voice and spoke. "There exists no god. We are merely a simulation orchestrated by a higher being."
He spoke in foreign tongue. Specifically demon tongue. The person's eyes widened.
"Y-You…how do you know our secret code?" She grabbed Arnold's arm and pulled him into a corner.
Arnold smiled silently.
What he had just said was one of the most blasphemous lines one could ever spout in this world. It could mean one's certain death by a million judgment poles. Not only the phrase but the language he used to say it could worsen the sentence they could give him. Even a person of high authority must never spout such words. The pope does not allow such people to stay alive.
"Do you understand what would've happened if I wasn't one of them…!?" The woman whispered. "Your family would've had to pick up your head off the ground. And how the hell do you know demon tongue?"
"You can stop with the questioning. You should know why I approached you so brazenly, member of Serz?"
"Wha…!?"
Serz. One of the most mysterious organizations in the world of Star Fantasy. Their name is derived from the founder who was a demon from the Dark Continent. Their purpose was to obtain and sell high value information.
That information wasn't the legitimate kind. You could find out anything from drug deal locations, corrupt politicians, illegal monster and plant trades, and so on.
"W-Wha…" The woman took off her hood and looked at Arnold in shock.
She was a girl with heterochromia. Her right eye was blue while the other was green. Around her neck, there was a Race Altering necklace to make her appear human.
"You must be on break for you to be in the open like this." Arnold said as he glanced over the crowd of adventures.
"I see three more of you." He could see three more with the same vibe as the woman in front of him. Although they weren't similarly dressed. The others were wearing casual clothes and blending in with the rest of the people rather easily.
"You bastard...How did you know about us…" The girl didn't care that he was a duke's son anymore. If given the chance then she'd attack him on the spot.
She took out two poisoned daggers out from her back.
"I suggest you listen first before attempting to start a fight, miss. You should know who I am by now." Arnold said calmly.
Starting a scene would waste time and be troublesome.
"…." She let go of the daggers and nodded. "What do you want…?"
"I am looking for a certain gang's hideouts. I am willing to pay whichever amount you need."
"Gang? Sounds easy enough." The woman let her guard down and listened.
"The Felix Gang, specifically."
"Eh…" She quickly lost interest. Although they were a gang, they weren't that well-known by the underworld of the continent. "You want me to dig up some small gang's hideout? Boring…"
She sighed.
'A major character is in danger, you idiot! What does it matter what kind of gang it is!?'
Arnold stopped himself from retorting and only got to the point.
"Find out all the hideouts they are using. Narrow it down to the ones they have recently used. Say, a month or a week ago."
The woman nodded in the end.
"Very well. I'll get it done." Her gaze then sharpened. "But once I do, you have some explaining to do."
"Of course. I am aware of that." Arnold shrugged.
She nodded again.
"Follow me then." The woman gestured him to follow her out of the backdoor.
'So it seems even the Guild master is aware of their presence in this city and is working with them. Seeing as how they have their own meeting place in the guild. Well, I guess just issuing quests doesn't always put food on the table.' Arnold thought as he looked around to see if anyone was paying attention.
Arnold considered taking Flora but decided to leave her. It wasn't exactly smart to tell her that he knew of a Dark Society Organization that was linked to demons.
The two of them arrived in a dark room. Arnold could see a light embrace the woman. Her skin turned a chocolate brown and her ears grew in length. She had long silver hair.
"A dark elf, huh?" Arnold said in surprise.
Elves were originally from the Forest of Tiliu which lay southeast from this nation. Dark Elves, however, were off-spring born from a demon and elf. They mostly lived in the shadows and weren't welcome in the forest of regular Elves.
"You used Dark Magic items to disguise yourself? I can't blame you, though. Dark Elves aren't exactly welcome in this part of the land."
"Can we stop this idle chatter? You want me to look for the gang hideouts. Correct?"
Arnold nodded. She was surprised to see that he wasn't shaken up by her real appearance. Dark elves were despised by society as they were the evil breed of the pure elves. Her favorability towards him went up a notch.
"First; what can you offer us?" The woman sat down on a chair by a table which had a single burning candle atop it.
"What are you on the market for?" Arnold asked his own question. The woman narrowed her eyes but responded regardless.
"We are looking for a Dryad's essence for a certain experiment. If you can promise to bring such a thing to us then I can give you the information you seek within half an hour."
Arnold whistled.
"You understand that getting such a thing is very difficult, right? Dryads are rare and few these days. They only appear in mana rich environments. Such hotspots are rare in this world." Arnold explained calmly. She was basically pressuring him to get her such a thing just to get information faster. He wasn't stupid to say yes right away.
Plus, he didn't want to have a debt to settle with a Dark Society Organization. He would only do it if he was certain that he'd be able to find it. Since this was a new world, totally different from the original "STAR FANTASY", he couldn't trust his knowledge of the game completely. If the plot had changed, albeit a little, that meant that other things were different as well.
"I'm sorry but that's impossible."
Arnold shook his head.
"Tch. Then you'll have to wait half a day then." She was about to stand up to leave.
"However," Arnold held up his hand. "If I were to have it in the future, would that mean I can request for anything?"
"Yes. But since you can't get it to us at the moment then this job is down the list of our priorities."
"It's fine. Just get it done." Arnold took out two scrolls.
They were communication spells.
"Take one of these. When you get the locations then inform me by infusing mana into these."
The woman nodded.
"By the way, what's your name? I'm going to need it if I call you next time." Before leaving, Arnold asked.
"Liumiala."
"Well then, miss Lumialia, see you next time."
"That's not how you say it!" The woman shouted with a red face at his mispronunciation of her name.
Arnold left before she could lash out of him.
◇◇◇
"Have you found anything yet?" Arnold asked Flora after he came up to her. She had chosen to sit down on a corner table next to a window.
Flora shook her head.
"None of them seem to know anything about the underground gangs in this city. By the way, who was that woman you left with?"
"She is an agent from a certain agency tasked with finding people." Arnold glanced around the guild as he lied through his teeth. "Sure is lively today. What's the occasion?"
"I heard from some of them that a dragon has been sighted around the east."
"Dragon? What breed?"
"They aren't certain yet. Some villagers saw a humongous flying creature descend in the mountains a few weeks ago. The Guild Master has issued an emergency request and ranked it S. The reward is 200 gold."
"That's a hefty amount. No wonder there's so many. I can even see a lot of newbies."
'Do they think they'll score big or something?'
Adventuring was a serious job in this world. Looking down on it would mean looking down on the power and effort of the ones in the profession. You could die anytime while out on a subjugation or escort mission. It was plain stupid for newbies to try and undertake an S rank mission.
This world held many mysteries that even the most experienced players didn't know. "STAR FANTASY" was supposed to be a big open world game with lots to discover. It would've been boring if it were anything less. That was why Liam fell in love with the game.
If he wasn't a DOP, then he'd never have even found out about the hidden bosses of the game like the Chaos Dragon Lord for example.
It was one of the hardest bosses to beat, however, the rewards were immense and the struggle was worth it.
'It's rare for dragons to just show themselves like this. Is it breeding season?'
While Arnold was talking with Flora, someone came up to them.
"E-Excuse me?" It was a timid voice of a boy.
Arnold and Flora stopped their discussion and looked at the person.
"What is it?" Flora asked in annoyance. "I've told a dozen of you already that I'm not into you even if I am single."
Arnold tried his best to stop himself from smiling. No matter where she went, her beauty would always draw attention.
"N-No. I was wondering if y-you were adventurers too. I don't have a team to join the Joint Adventurer Raid Party yet. I've been looking for days now."
Arnold assessed the androgynous boy. He seemed to be Luke's age and was short and had a thin build. He had big green eyes and light brown hair. In his right hand was a simple wooden staff and he wore a simple magic robe. There were a few scrolls tied to his belt.
Arnold's eyes gleamed. It was another magic user such as his in-game character, the Great Sorcerer Lufulur. However, the current Arnold wasn't a magic user as the character Liam used from the game.
"Apologies for asking first but when does this dragon quest begin?" Arnold's voice was suddenly gentler than usual. Flora looked at him as if she saw a ghost.
"I-It's fine. It begins in three days. We're departing two days from now to Whitage city."
"The quest is near the city?"
The boy nodded. "It's in the forest near there."
"I see…" Arnold added. "To answer your question, we're not adventurers. We only came here for information."
"Ah…" Arnold imagined the boy had ears and a tail that drooped when he heard his sad voice.
"...Sorry for disturbing you then." The boy bowed before walking away. His back looked so lonely as he headed towards the front reception desk again.
"I forgot to ask him what kind of magic he can use." Arnold sighed.
"Are you planning on joining that party?" Flora asked.
"I don't have any interest in the raid party per se." Arnold continued looking at the crowd of adventurers.
'Although the dragon sighting sounds interesting.'
"Anyway, let's go check out the quest board while we wait."