The Spy in Plain Sight

Jorgen was sitting in the theater, watching the performance of the "Coastal Sunflowers" troupe. On stage was a comedy. The beautiful heroine was a maid of a princess. She was impersonating her mistress and teasing the princess's suitor, who was the king of another country, in every possible way.

Jorgen knew what the next plot was: the king's attendant would also pretend to be the king to pursue the real princess. In between, there was also a tangled story of a minister and a female bandit. After a series of misunderstandings and revealing their true identities, there were three happy couples. He had seen it twice. Today was Jorgen's rare day off, and he was determined to see it a third time.

The name "Coastal Sunflowers" was difficult to comprehend, let alone it was now stationed in Auberdine - where the sun was always filtered into dim light by the gray mist. But Jorgen liked their performances, although his partner Elin Tias had teased him a lot about this:

"I see, I see. So the detective, who is past the age of splashing water on the beach with girls, likes to watch lively romantic comedies."

"Comedy is not the only genre they perform."

" I have thought about this issue for a long time, Jorgen. Your only hobby has been sleeping for a long time. I didn't expect you to become a drama fan now. There must be a logical explanation for this."

"Just say it."

"We all know that the leader of the Coastal Sunflowers is a woman. She is single and supports such a troupe on her own. It's really not easy. Although she's a bit older, buddy, I know what you're thinking. After all, the identity of a 'loyal audience' is easier to get close to her than 'detective'...Don't mind, she's not my type."

Such conversations often ended with Elin losing interest, and Jorgen would quickly turn the topic to work.

The two of them were assigned to Auberdine two years ago. As a port inhabited by humans, dwarves and night elves, Jorgen had to learn to deal with many new types of troubles here. The human residential area, after experiencing its peak of development, was in a serious decline. As a detective stationed by Stormwind, he was required to focus his energy more on the security of the human side than on the security of the whole area. This made him very uncomfortable.

At the moment, the heroine on stage was soliloquizing to the audience, describing her disturbed heart. Jorgen could almost recite this part. Just then, he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder from behind.

Jorgen turned around and saw the panicked man. He frowned and said in a low voice, "Why are you here at this time, Dores? Didn't I tell you to stay home today?"

"I didn't want to either. Help me, Jorgen. Someone is following me."

Dores Stryfe's sawdust-covered palms were clenched tightly, and his shoulders were hunched forward.

"I just went to deliver goods this morning, you know, to make that thing for the Fire Festival. Then these guys followed me. Now they're probably in the back row, two men in black clothes...I can't look back."

"Wait for me here."

"Are you going over there? Wait, Jorgen..."

Jorgen walked straight to the back of the audience. The two men in black stood by the door, somewhat at a loss when they saw Jorgen coming.

"Is there anything, Mr. Jorgen?" One of them spoke.

Jorgen didn't speak, sizing them up. These were two boys he had disciplined before for fighting in the street.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Watching the play, just like you."

"Also," the other boy said, "this guy finally plucked up the courage to ask Senoni for an autograph."

"Ugh, I didn't say that."

Jorgen's stern gaze quickly dispelled their quarrelsome mood.

"I've been told you were following him. Is that true?"

"Um, that's right. We...couldn't find the entrance when we got around here, so we followed the gentleman in."

"Behave yourselves. Don't make trouble or I'll catch you."

"Yes, Mr. Jorgen."

Jorgen returned to his original seat. Dores looked at him with frightened eyes, waiting for him to speak.

"How did you get into this mess, Dores? You were just scared by two children."

"But they were following me."

"You can't be so suspicious. You shouldn't come here to meet me without prior arrangement. Fortunately, there are not many audiences now. "

"Is that so, I...really shouldn't have. I'll go home right away."

"Stay here. I warned you not to go out today, everything can wait. Now that you're out, don't act alone until Elin completes his mission and comes back."

"All right."

On stage, it came to the scene where the king revealed his identity, but Jorgen no longer felt like continuing to watch.

"Dores, I feel you're under a lot of pressure. I understand. But you can't let the pressure affect your judgment."

"It seems I have disappointed you."

"No, over the past two years, you have been doing very well and helped us a lot. But if this continues, not to mention our work, you yourself will first encounter danger."

Dores did not speak. Far older than Jorgen, he now looked like an honor student who occasionally messed up an exam and did not know how to face his own mistakes.

"I want to ask you something. Tell me the truth." Jorgen said. "Do you want to quit?"

"No."

Dores looked up and said "no" resolutely, which did not surprise Jorgen. He had never doubted Dores' determination. However, Jorgen could not express unreserved agreement with this word.

"That's good. But half the decision is on our side. When Elin and I feel that you are no longer suitable for this job, regardless of your personal will, we will terminate our cooperation with you. Do you understand? "

"I've understood that since the first day."

"Well then," Jorgen said. "I think Elin will be back soon too. Let's finish watching the play now."

Dores was one of the many new problems Jorgen needed to deal with. Due to the existence of the remains of the Old Gods on the coastline, Auberdine had always been one of the areas where the activities of the Twilight's Hammer cultists were rampant. After several large-scale crackdowns, the cultists' activities became more and more disorganized and elusive. As a repentant Twilight cultist, Dores was still in the organization, concealing his identity while cautiously providing information to Jorgen.

At the moment, Elin was leading men, based on Dores' information, to crack down on a small gathEling. In fact, Jorgen did not really object to Dores coming to find him, because it was convenient for Elin to verify the information with each other after he returned.

After all, doubting Dores' determination did not mean that Jorgen did not doubt his behavior.