Plan ; agreement - 09

Alpha watched Lucian with an even sharper look in her eyes, as if trying to read every movement and word that escaped her lips. Lucian's reaction made her even more wary, and although Alpha remained calm on the outside, in her heart, alarms began to sound. An uneasy feeling began to creep up. She knew, in this world, nothing was truly safe-even in an isolated room.

Suddenly, two figures appeared behind Lucian. With quick movements, they brandished sharp swords at the left and right sides of Lucian's neck. The swords glowed in the dim light of the room, as if to remind Lucian that he was on the edge of a precipice, caught in a game he could not fully control.

Lucian remained silent, not showing the slightest fear. Instead, a faint smile was still etched on his face, though the situation was now more serious. "I'm guessing it's not just the two of us in this room," he said, his voice calm despite the threatening sword at his neck.

Alpha narrowed her eyes, her body leaning back slightly, but she was in no hurry. She preferred to analyze the situation more deeply.

"That..." Alpha suddenly stood up from her seat, and lowered her body slightly, one hand touching the table that was in front of her at the moment.

Suddenly, her voice style changed, no longer sounding as calm and formal as before. Now, her voice sounded rougher.

"Do you really understand what you're saying right now, huh?!" she said in an almost hissing voice, the informal tone sticking out like a spark of emotion that could no longer be hidden.

The atmosphere of the room instantly tensed up, the two men behind Lucian pressed their swords slightly, but Lucian just stayed where he was. Instead, the faint smile on his face became even more pronounced, as if he had just gotten what he wanted: a reaction that showed his guess was correct.

"Of course, I understand exactly what I'm saying," Lucian replied, his voice remaining calm. He looked straight at the person in front of him, his gaze sharp and almost piercing.

"In the beginning, I was just selling this information, because as I recall this guild buys and sells information, but I didn't expect the reaction shown from this person to be so excessive..." He muttered, while still maintaining his expression.

Of course Alpha was shocked to hear what Lucian had to say at this point, as she had tried everything to silence the rumors. From bribing journalists, to falsifying investigation reports, to creating small "accidents" for those who were too curious. The information about the dark money connected to Duke Reynald should have disappeared, lost in fear or money.

Lucian accidentally remembered about the slush fund while searching for information in the Hale family library. At first, he didn't think the information would be useful. In his memory as a player, the case was just a small part of the background of the game's main story, not as important as a major event like the summoning of the Hero. But now, with the empire said to have suffered sudden heavy losses, that piece of information began to look more relevant.

Reynald Florance's name appears several times early in the game's story. In one of the cutscenes of the hero's welcome event, there is a brief commotion involving a noble from the Florance family. At that time, the dialog of the NPCs only mentioned "funding issues" and implied an internal conflict. Lucian, as a player, never paid too much attention to it.

However, seeing the reaction of the masked man in front of him made everything clearer. The reaction she gave and how he tried to guess her surprise all indicated one thing: this man had a direct connection to Reynald Florance.

But one thing still didn't entirely make sense to Lucian. If Reynald Florance was indeed involved, why was there no major follow-up in the game's story? Why was it only mentioned in passing, almost like filler? Lucian looked deeper at Alpha, as if to test the theory in his head.

Alpha clicked her tongue this time, she turned her face away with slightly trembling lips. "What is your purpose in bringing that name here?"

Lucian didn't answer right away, he just smiled slightly. he moved one of his hands, gently touching the side of the sword that was still pointing right at his neck. "Before that, could you first remove the sword that is beside me right now?"

Lucian tilted his head slightly, but immediately stopped when he felt the cold edge of the metal almost scratch his skin.

"My neck feels like it can't move an inch," he continued casually, as if commenting on something so trivial.

Alpha snorted softly, but didn't give an immediate order. She glanced at the two shadowy figures holding swords at Lucian's side. After a few seconds of silence, she raised one finger and signaled for them to retreat. The two swords were slowly lowered, the subtle sound of metal scraping sounding as they drew them back. The figures then disappeared into the shadows as before, almost without a trace.

Lucian leaned back against the chair, taking a breath. "Thanks for the concern, I think my neck will be stiff after I leave this place," he said, still with a faint smile.

Now, Alpha's eyes behind her mask looked at Lucian seriously. She then sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, her hands folded in front of her.

"I repeat what I said before," she said in a flat voice, "What was your real purpose in bringing that name here?" she said with more emphasis on each word, as if to make sure there was no room for lies.

"Originally I only intended to sell the information I knew," Lucian said as he leaned back in the chair, his fingers stretched out casually as if he was enjoying the cool breeze. His eyes narrowed, taking in every detail of Alpha's changing expression.

"But, after seeing your reaction..." Lucian raised one eyebrow, his smile deepening. "I seem to have changed my mind." he said, letting his words hang for a moment.

"What do you mean...?" asked Alpha finally.

"It seems you have a direct relationship with that man," Lucian leaned his body deeper into the chair, one hand moving slowly towards his chin, touching it with a casual gesture. "So, I'm going to offer you a special deal...."

Alpha sighed for a moment, her head lowered slightly, then her fingers touched her temple, before she finally said. "Don't beat around the bush. Just tell me the information you want to get now."

Lucian smiled wryly, the satisfaction evident on his face at this moment. He crossed his legs slowly, his movements calm yet stressful, then began to open his voice, "First, I want you to find someone. An old beggar who's always babbling about treasures and such... he probably hangs around the underground market area or the slum district."

Lucian paused, letting the sentence hang before continuing, "Secondly, I offer something more valuable than just a little information, cooperation. The Servant Guild will work with me... as partners."

He leaned forward slightly, emphasizing His point. "Not with the Hale family, but with me personally."

Alpha paused for a moment, his expression remaining unseen due to her mask, but from the slight tensing of her shoulders, it was clear she wasn't taking this offer lightly. "It depends on the information you provide," she replied finally, her voice sharpening slightly.

Then she leaned back, staring at Lucian as if in disbelief. "And also, sir... you want us to look for someone with just those characteristics?! A beggar who babbles about treasure? You think that's enough?!"

"Isn't that enough of a reason for me to come to this guild?" She said while shrugging lightly, as if implying that if their guild was indeed as great as rumored, the request shouldn't be a big deal. "If I had known better I wouldn't have done such a troublesome thing."

Alpha paused for a moment, she tapped the table in front of her slowly, as if she was considering something at the moment.

"I should kill you right now for daring to carry that name and trying to play us," she muttered softly, almost as if talking to herself. But then, she laughed softly. Not a hearty laugh, but the laugh of someone who finds something interesting in chaos.

"You know," she continued, the laughter fading, replaced by a colder, sharper tone. "If it wasn't for the name you mentioned... and the way you spoke that implied more than you said, I might have ordered them to cut your throat by now."

Alpha leaned closer to Lucian, she looked at the man before her now behind her mask, "I agree with your offer."

Lucian didn't reply immediately. He simply raised one eyebrow, both interested and wary. He knew, deals from guilds like Servant never came without hidden consequences. "However, there is one thing you need to understand," Alpha said slowly. "We don't accept offers of cooperation at random. But if you do have value, then we can... consider it."

Alpha leaned back in her chair, then folded her hands in her palms, "So, let's listen to that offer you're about to make."

Lucian sighed softly, then leaned his body back a little, the sly smile not fading a bit from his face. "You really are impatient," he said lightly. "But fine... let's start from the simplest."

He looked at Alpha with a more serious look. "I suspect that Duke Reynald is not the mastermind of the case. There are others who benefit more from the collapse of the Florence family name."

Alpha raised her eyebrows behind the mask she wore, as if hearing Lucian's words was a very trivial matter, she then sighed softly. "That's not conjecture, that's reality."

"I'm not done talking yet," Lucian interrupted, looking at Alpha with piercing eyes. He knew that his next move would determine the direction of this conversation, and he had to play every word carefully.

Lucian leaned forward slightly, narrowing the distance between them.

"And also," he said softly, but with pressure, "if you understood what I said before, you would have understood it right away."

The room's atmosphere tense again, Alpha didn't answer immediately. She bowed her head, then her thumb and forefinger touched her chin as if to indicate she was thinking hard at the moment.

"Don't tell me..." she murmured softly, almost as if talking to herself.

Alpha's mind traced back to Lucian's earlier remark, about how there is always a greater beneficiary in the destruction of a great name. In this case, the collapse of the Florence family's reputation had created a space of power that could not be ignored. And of all the names involved in this game... only one came to mind now.

The Queen.

Lucian noticed the change in expression on Alpha, his faint smile growing. "I think we're of the same mind," he said, his voice calm but full of conviction

Alpha lifted his face slightly, "Don't digress. We've looked into it," he said in a firm voice, though there was a faint hesitation behind his words. "There is no specific evidence that could point to him in this case."

Lucian laughed softly, but it felt like the only appropriate response to the situation. He leaned in slightly, his hands intertwined with each other, and gave the man before him a slightly cynical look. "You must have also heard about His Highness the Crown Prince's current scandal, right?"