"Ugh, waking a girl up at night, how cruel," Vina followed Algo discontentedly. "Did something serious happen, or did you just want to take revenge on me for something? I won't say that you have no reason to hold a grudge against me, but you don't have to be so cruel about it."
"Will you wake up already? I came here for a reason, although I don't know why Aileen considers it so important."
"What else is there? And where are we even going?"
"To Victoria. She has the Imperial coins that were with the assassins. Werner and I noticed that some coins are noticeably heavier than others."
"Well... aaah," the girl continued to yawn, involuntarily wrapping herself in a robe over her nightshirt. "There's nothing unusual here. Imperial coins have a high gold concentration, so they wear out over time if they were actively used. Sometimes, their weight loss can reach a tenth."
"Well, yes, but the ones that were more worn out were heavier."
"Hmm... well, in that case, they must be counterfeit. It happens. From dishonest minting to plain inflation."
"Simplify it."
"Well, when there are too many coins, and gold is not enough for everyone, they either introduce coins made of other metals or reduce the gold content in new coins. This sometimes leads to their depreciation or loss of trust among the population."
"So, does this mean that the coins are from different production periods? And what does that tell us?"
"It doesn't really tell us much. There are no substantial changes made annually, so they can differ by a year or two or even a hundred. But I doubt they've been in circulation for over a century; they need to be renewed, recast. If you introduced coins with a quarter of the gold concentration when the old ones had a third... you lose one twelfth of the treasury without withdrawing the old coins."
"But could they have increased the gold content?"
"They could... but usually, that's done during periods of economic growth to make their currency more attractive, like Leran does, to have merchants prefer Leran's gold. Given that the Empire has severed trade relations with our countries, I don't see any objective reasons for that."
"So, could it mean that the assassins were paid with Imperial coins that had long been out of circulation in their homeland, but might still be found in the treasuries of those who know nothing about the economic situation in the Empire?"
Finally, Algo's words woke up the shopkeeper.
"Ha-ha, unexpectedly well-thought-out for such an impulsive mind," the girl said, spreading into a malicious grin.
"I'm not that foolish! And why are you sneering like that?"
"If they truly differ so much from each other, then perhaps we can make good money out of it. Buying Imperial gold from Leranian nobles and then taking it to the Empire for exchange with a clear advantage, we can make double or even triple profits!"
"And can't you do without shady schemes?"
"It's just business. Learn how to make money if you plan to support your future wife."
"Hmph," Algo snorted disapprovingly, but he froze upon hearing a sharp rustle.
"We still need to find out how much they differ, mffmm," a strong warrior's hand interrupted the economic rambling. "What's that?"
Algo quickly hid the girl behind a column and pointed to several suspicious shadows creeping through the inner courtyard.
"Looks like someone came to finish what they started," Algo silently unsheathed his sword. "I'll try to hold them off in that direction—the royal chambers are over there. You hurry to Katrina."
The swordsman leaped out of his hiding spot and knocked one of the assassins off his feet as he was making his way through the corridor.
"Aah, damn it," the girl snarled at the reckless warrior and rushed forward. "Don't you dare die here before I return."
The girl ran past the assassins. One of them threw a dagger at the fleeing figure, but a sudden gust of wind diverted it.
"Deal with me first," Algo assumed a battle stance as the assassins slowly surrounded him. There were ten of them in total, and he could handle the bothersome interference. "This might be a bit challenging."
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper continued running through the castle corridors, pursued by three assassins who broke away from the group.
"You're so persistent," she had nothing at hand to defend herself, and she was clearly outpaced. "What the hell."
The only thing she had was a purse with gold coins. Grabbing a handful of coins, she hurled them indiscriminately at the assassins. The blades glinted in the darkness as the coins scattered with a ringing sound across the stone halls of the palace. The assassins didn't even realize what hit them, but the sound of gold hitting steel echoed through the corridors.
"Heh-heh, that should pass as a signal of alarm," even though the sound wasn't that loud, in the dark castle, it would draw the guards' attention. The girl turned the last corner and finally saw her target – the king's room guarded by two heavily decorated armored guards. "Hurry, help!"
The girl turned around, but the assassins were no longer chasing her.
"Stand!" Instead, the guards pointed their weapons at the suspicious girl.
"There were assassins!"
"Where?"
"Oh, forget it," trying to convince them was useless, and the girl rushed towards the neighboring room where Katrina was staying, and where Liri was temporarily resting. "Arguing with these stubborn people takes too long."
The assassins had momentarily retreated, but once they were done with Algo, they would head to the king, and these two pompous peacocks were unlikely to stop them.
"KAT!!!! Wake up!" The brazen shopkeeper didn't bother with politeness as she snatched the blanket from the princess.
"Mm? What's going on?" Reluctantly, the girl parted with her sleep.
"Assassins, here! Algo needs help, so wake up already!" A water jug left on the nightstand came in handy. The shopkeeper poured water on the drowsy princess, and the electric shock quickly brought her back to her senses.
"Huh?!—a couple of seconds were enough for Katrina to grasp what her friend was trying to convey—"Wake up Liri, I'll go help."
"Without a water jug, that's going to be a bit challenging."
Ignoring the shopkeeper's sarcasm, the princess raced through the castle corridors. Using the magic of lightning to increase her speed, she covered the distance that took Vina five minutes in just one. And now, in the darkness, figures in cloaks loomed over the fallen swordsman.
"Hiyah!" without stopping, Katrina flew into the crowd, knocking down two assassins with lightning strikes. Three more had already been defeated by Algo, but the swordsman himself had taken quite a beating, deep wounds in his legs and right side hindered him from getting up. "How are you?"
"I'll live... probably," the swordsman involuntarily coughed.
"Then, we should deal with everything quickly," Katrina clapped her hands above her head, and a net of electric discharges rolled through the hall.
The assassins quickly jumped back, and the princess leaped towards the one closest to her. One precise blow, and the discharges immobilized his body, but at the same moment, sharp pain pierced the witch's leg. Another assassin, sacrificing his comrade, threw a dagger at the girl. The blade didn't go in too deep, but Katrina could no longer step on her leg calmly.
The sorceress created an electric field around herself to keep the enemy at a distance, but due to her injury, she couldn't attack either.
The assassins exchanged glances and slowly circled their injured prey. The princess threw lightning at them, but the criminals easily deflected the attacks. They weren't just going around the girl; they were getting closer to the swordsman lying behind her. He posed no threat to them, but Katrina trying to protect her comrade might expose herself to the blow, and that's exactly what happened.
"Algo, get away!" Overcoming the pain, Katrina leaped in front of the assassins, whose attack was predictable, and one of them easily approached their target. But as he raised his blade, another lightning bolt flew at him from the corridor. Finally, the second sorceress joined the battle.
"How daaare you!!!!" The furious roar of the sorceress shook the walls along with thunderclaps. One powerful volley, more potent than all of Katrina's spells combined, shook the room, though it also depleted the sorceress. When the sparks subsided, only two bandits remained standing. The balance was no longer in their favor.
A smoky veil enveloped the hall, and the figures retreated before the guards could arrive.
Soon the clinking of armor could be heard, and finally, the guards deigned to visit the crime scene.
"Princess!" Victoria rushed to Katrina to inspect her wounds. "I'll call the doctors right away."
"First, find the criminals. There are only two left."
"But—"
"Never mind, they probably won't tell us anything anymore," Katrina pushed one of the subdued criminals. "It seems they finished off their own before retreating."
The sorceress smoothly sat on the floor next to her comrade and tore a piece from her robe to bandage her leg.
"I didn't think they'd dare to attack again like this."
"We just got lucky. They were well-prepared for the attack and managed to bypass the guards' patrols," Algo leaned against the wall, pressing his side wound.
"What were you doing here?"
"Well, Aileen helped us find inconsistencies in this seemingly incriminating evidence, and I asked Vina to look into it. It's hard to accuse someone from the Empire when you don't know much about it," Algo grinned but was forced to cough due to the pain.
"Algo, wait for the doctor!" Liri was busy dressing the wounds on the swordsman's legs. "I hope, with Aileen's help, we'll soon get to the bottom of this spectacle, and you won't be in danger anymore!"
"Yeah, it would've been tough without her," Katrina exchanged a glance with Algo. "And who's guarding the cell?"
"Werner, and I was going to call Vivien, but I didn't have time..."
The princess tried to get up, but due to the pain, she only managed to rise on one knee.
"Kurone!! If you hear me, contact Werner, quickly!!"
...
"Kurone?"
"I-I'm sorry, it's not working. He's not responding. Maybe he's busy with something..."
"Liri, run to the dungeon, hurry!!"
"Damn!" The sorceress abandoned her clumsy attempt to help and rushed to her feet. She was now the only one who could reach the dungeon promptly.
Kurone quickly established communication among her comrades. Vivien and Levris were at Victoria's house, which meant it would take them too long to get to the castle's prison.
"I can't reach Werner, but there are other people with him. I don't know if they are friends or foes," Kurone relayed the message to all her comrades.
"Kat, why did you send me to the dungeon?" Liri continued her descent.
"I don't like something about this attack; it's as if they didn't act together with the previous assassins. But still, it's never too late to shift all the blame onto the Empire."
"But while Aileen is in the dungeon, she couldn't have sent them."
"But if we eliminate her, we can present it as getting rid of a captured agent."
"I hope you're wrong."