Demon Reconnaissance V

The next day arrived slowly. Kies spent the entire night trying to figure out how he would carry out his investigation on his past here while doing the mission. There were a lot of things to take into consideration, and in the end, the only thing that he could come up with was to move on his own. But that was going to be difficult because it was agreed on by the demons that they would be moving together as a team. Kies will have to find opportunities to slip out.

When the sun rose, the group immediately moved out, leaving Jasyeu behind with Messa. The two had grown surprisingly close to each other in just a few hours while Kies had been in town buying things. Their destination was the palace, but since they couldn't get in right now with how tight security is, they had to find some other place for now until things calmed down. After some thinking, they all agreed that it would be best if they just gathered information in town.

This was perfect for Kies since that meant that there was the chance that might meet that girl again. The only issue was how he was going to manage to talk to her with the other two around, but that was something that he would figure out if he ever did meet her again.

Kies led the two through the alleys and they arrived at the town. Just like yesterday, it was bustling with activity. The three waited for when there was no one looking to exit the alleys and blended in with the crowd. After all, if the three of them just walked out like that, it would draw suspicion.

"There are so many rats- Er, I mean people here," Falte corrected himself. He was wearing a casual shirt and pair of pants and had his dagger hidden underneath them.

"Thank god that no one heard you, else we'd be in trouble already," Ammine said. Just like Falte, she had taken off her cloak and left it back at the slums and was wearing something normal that wouldn't draw attention. Kies was the only one that was still wearing a cloak and also wearing something to cover his since unlike the other two, he couldn't let his face be seen.

It was Falte's suggestion since one person walking around with a cloak on already looked pretty suspicious, not to mention how three would look. With Falte's disguise magic, both he and Ammine looked just like normal humans. Kies had asked if it was possible for Falte to change how his face looked so that he wouldn't have to wear all this, but apparently, he couldn't so he was stuck in this outfit. It was weird how he could change the height of a person, but couldn't change someone's face, but Kies wasn't going to ask why that was the case.

Kies looked around at the masses of people and saw that there were even more soldiers patrolling the area here than before. The reason for that was probably because of him using magic yesterday to save those two.

"The number of guards here is no joke," Falte observed. They needed to be extra careful to not get found.

"Hey Kies," Ammine turned to him.

"Yeah?" he mumbled through the cloth covering his mouth.

"Are there any underground places here?" she asked in a low voice.

"Underground places?" Kies didn't really get the question. "As in actual places that are under the ground? That dungeon was one, wasn't it?"

"No," Ammine hooked her head. "What I'm trying to ask is if there are any places owned by illegal organizations here. You know, black markets, underworld fighting rings, and the such," she clarified for Kies.

"Hm, good thinking. That's probably the fastest way for us to get the information we need," Falte jumped in and said. In a place as big as this, there was bound to be a place like that. All they needed to do was find one and they could work from there.

"I'm not sure." Kies didn't remember if there were any places like that in Silverfield. He did know that most of the nobles here were corrupted, but didn't the beastman they met back in the forest say that the new king got rid of them all? Maybe there were still a few around in hiding. Kies brought this up with the other two, "Most of the nobles here do a lot of shady things. We can try to find one of them."

"Hmm... That is an idea, but didn't that beast-" *Cough* *Cough* Falte faked a cough when he saw that a soldier was walking past them and was looking at Kies suspiciously. "We better get that medicine soon. I think I'm catching it too."

Ammine and Kies had no idea what he was talking about and looked at Falte with confused expressions. "Guard," he whispered to the two.

"Oh, yes. We better get it soon before I catch it as well," Ammine said, following along with Falte. "And while we're at it, I think we should get you a thicker cloth to cover your mouth with. That one doesn't seem to be doing its job."

"Uh- Yeah..." Kies started to fake a cough. The three of them continued the act until the soldier walked away.

Falte let out a deep breath after the soldier was gone. "D*mn, that was close," he said while scanning their vicinity in case there were more guards or if there was someone watching them. "Anyway, as I was saying before, didn't that beastman tell us that all the nobles are gone?"

"They might be hiding somewhere," Kies suggested.

"That is true," Falte agreed. "But where exactly would they hide?"

"The sewers?" Kies pointed out. Soldiers don't go down there for many reasons. That was where murderers, thieves, and other kinds of criminals hid. It was their territory, and the king didn't dare send people down there to deal with them.

"Heh. Like actual rats." Falte found the thought of there being humans who lived down in the sewers along with rats somewhat amusing considering that was what he called them. "Alright, let's go hunt some rats- Oof"

Ammine elbowed Falte, glaring at him to be quiet as another soldier walked by them. He was also giving them a strange look. It looked like he had overheard Falte talking about hunting rats. "Let's go hunt some raccoons. They have been pestering me for weeks now. I want to get rid of them already," Falte cleverly said. The soldier raised an eyebrow but walked past them, leaving them alone.

"Why are there so many guards here? Did something happen here recently?" Falte asked in an annoyed voice. Kies averted his eyes from the demon and put his hands in his pockets. He really hoped that they wouldn't find out that it was his fault.

"Let's go find a quieter place to talk," Ammine suggested, seeing that there were too many people here for them to talk.

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