"Sigh…"
"What's with the long sigh?" Isaac, who was waiting right outside of the room, asked while watching me standing in my place.
"Isaac," Giving him a glance, I continued, "We're going to get busy so protect me while we're at it, got it?"
Isaac shot me a glance before answering, "As long as you pay me, I'll obviously continue doing my job. It's only natural."
Patting his shoulders, I chuckled, "Let's go downstairs. I have to do something while I eat. Of course, this time, you should consider eating."
Giving me a weird look, Isaac eventually gave up and said, "All right."
…
'Knowing the response I've received from Robyn, I guess making an appointment with His Majesty has already been declined. In the end, my proposal of supporting a naval base has been rejected by the royal family themselves.'
Drinking a glass of wine while remembering the promise of Verl from the achievement I've done in the orphanage accident, I can't help but sulk. Honestly, I wished it could work.
Scratching my head in annoyance while feeling that the wine didn't get me drunk at all, I let out a cough and move my gaze to the person beside me.
"So, while you were eating and picking food at the tables, do you hear any gossip pertaining to the Lorance family?"
"Is that the reason why you let me join you to eat? You're such an awful person. Besides that, why are you looking for that family? I don't know them," Saying so, Isaac answered flatly while looking at my face and said, "For some reason, the air around you is not good. Did something happen in the room?"
"Didn't you hear it?"
"Some sort of magic is probably placed on it so I couldn't hear it. Setting that aside, barging on someone's talk is rude, especially if they are trying to make it private." Isaac answered, saying his view on some matters.
"I see… Well, there's no need to tell it then,"
Slumping my back on my chair, I let out an exasperated sigh before looking at one particular family who is conversing with other nobles beside them.
It was obviously the Lorance family with their two sons and daughter. With detailed documents about the family, I roughly memorize the information regarding them.
I wished to tell Isaac anything related to what happened this week but since it was part of the contract and deliberately spilling it might trigger Freya and others, attracting unwanted attention and development.
"All right, do you wish to know rumors and information regarding the Lorance family?"
"Really? You'll do that?"
I didn't know Isaac could be this proactive when it comes to doing something without me ordering it.
"There's an exchange of course," Isaac glanced at the sword on his side, "This sword you've given to me at that time will be mine."
That time… you mean at the prison? Isn't that already given? It will be just a free exchange on my side, with nothing to gain on yours…
Well… I needed something to tell Freya so it wouldn't be that bad, I guess.
"Tell me if something is weird with Christopher's movement or any of their family. And keep your voice down like what I was doing. Who knows who's listening."
"About that, I already did so earlier when we started watching people on the second floor like idiots. Not to brag, it's one of my recently acquired powers," Isaac flaunted as he let out a smile,
Oh, the snap earlier which you also did at the time in the hospital… I see, it's really a power to keep everyone from hearing someone's conversation…
Nodding my head in enlightenment, I recollected myself, straightened my back, pointed at the group of people, and began observing the Lorance Family.
"You can start now."
Looking at Isaac, who was already looking at the family I was, I realized that pointing my hands was needless. He already knew whom I was mentioning and he acted as soon as he did.
'This guy… is actually curious about what I was doing? Isn't this a good thing? Besides that, he already stopped calling me trash… I guess this day isn't bad at all…'
I found myself regaining my vigorous self.
In the middle of the night when nobles are conversing with their peers, the two of us watching the Lorance family stayed silent. I was waiting for Isaac's observation which I could fully trust since he might be receiving help from the system.
"Their mother Cristina and their children are doing fine. There's nothing wrong with them. They are happily chatting with their peers. Their daughter, Alivia, is slightly different as if she was feeling guilty and depressed about something.
"Now, Christopher's reactions are different from the other nobles. His eyes… are darting from time to time. Nobles seldom touch his shoulders, and he responded by jolting, slight shriek, and shivering. He's agitated about something. And—"
As he spoke, my face changed. It's both due to the information Isaac was passing and Isaac telling me this.
He seems to fully accept the help of the system. If this goes on, he will be much stronger a year later. His information, on the other hand, much to my expectations, is detailed.
'Agitated… His eyes are restless… Shoulders tense… What's there to be afraid of when you could even tell me that you are currently in the safest place in the world right now? I mean, Dalton is here…'
After an hour, Isaac takes a few minutes of break and continued giving his views while I tried to justify them, giving my side of things.
We come up that he was indeed hiding something and was afraid that people will find it out. Since he was invited, he was restless that someone might discover the secret he was hiding, now that Dalton is here.
There are also other theories planted on our conjectures maybe he was just like that or he might be in a scandal and afraid his wife would find it out…
Nevertheless, our first point was the most believable and close to the truth.
"He's leaving."
Glancing at each other, we both straightened our backs and walked out to the second floor without acting suspicious. We gave a tacit agreement with each to follow Christopher and where he was going.
…
Instead of going on the main road, we used the dark alleyways and streets to follow Christopher, who was already out of the main place of the gathering.
It was common for the people to enter and out of the gathering since it was already happening after Ferdinand deliver his speech. Hence when we got out, the guards only glanced at us before focusing on their job.
"Noelle, you should tell me now what's going on."
"I actually don't know how to explain it. You could say I swore an oath."
"Swore an oath…"
Isaac muttered to himself before I used my hands to gesture to him to stop since the person we were tailing to had done the same thing.
Christopher seated down on a bench while he was pressing his top hat to cover his eyes. After a few seconds, an inconspicuous man seated down right beside him even though there are other benches a few meters away.
"They are talking to each other." Isaac, who understands his job, describes the scene to me, "If we're much closer, maybe I could hear it but that's too much of a risk. Christopher passed some sort of document to that man."
"The person talking to. Can you tell who it is?"
Isaac was silent for a moment before saying, "Isaiah Garod. The current family head of Garod Family."
'Isaiah Garod… This doesn't ring a bell from my knowledge. This name was only mentioned on the documents from ma'am Freya. Was he part of the kidnapped nobles? No, is Christopher's family had been kidnapped at that time? What about their friends?'
I felt something was brewing behind the scene than what meets the eyes…
'In the first place, there hasn't been any reason given from my knowledge of the novel or senior's memories why the noble kidnapping had happened. The only thing I knew is that it's connected to the rite of massacre which both happened in the maze… Rite of massacre…'
The more I think deeper about it, the more it made me confused, losing the reasoning for what really is the truth and the real explanation.
For now, I understand what I needed to do.
Report this to Freya as fast as possible.
"Isaac, do you know the person who had the alias, Balance?"
"Yeah, she's a very famous person. Everyone knows her."
"Please find her and tell her to meet me right away. You can escort her to some place to meet up. Tell her 'Noelle has some reports that might help. The person in front of you is a trusted subordinate. You don't need to worry.' She will understand what it means."
Isaac understand the grave in my tone and even though this is far from his job description, he was curious and serious at the same time.
"I'll take care of it. What about you?"
"I'll watch the two for the time being and see if there are any developments." Giving him a confident smile, I continued, "I'm very fast at running. If there's a problem, I could escape. Do the job now."
I paused, "If you are interested to know more, that could be arranged."
Looking in my direction, Isaac loosened the handle of his sword that I'd given to him and handed it over to me.
"I'll be fast at running without it. I think you could protect yourself with this," He turned around and spoke his final words, "I'll be right back."
'What a guy,' Seeing him already running without any sound, I feel contented before moving my gaze to the two talking once more.
Their talk goes on for half an hour until the business they were talking about seems to finish and Christopher went back to the gathering. I followed closely behind and also headed back to the event.
Coming back to the second floor but moving to a table that is easier for me to look at Christopher, I continued watching him while feigning ignorance from time to time if our eyes somehow met.