"You don't need to know that much. You just need to take me through the route once. When we get there, I'll leave on my own." The black-robed figure drew a hand back into the robe. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, none at all, of course not. Whatever you say." Schneider bowed and scraped, then shot a glare at the young man beside him. "You go rest first. I'll have someone notify you when it's time to leave. Londo, go. Take the guest over there to rest. If the guest ends up dissatisfied, I'll dock your pay."
"Oh. Right away." The young man called Londo quickly answered, then stepped in front of the black-robed figure. "This way, please."
The black-robed figure nodded silently, followed Londo through the ring of Schneider's men, and headed for a tent not far away.
Once the two of them had gone some distance, Schneider hurriedly drove off the greedy underlings who had been staring at the money pouch, then impatiently picked it up and checked the Galleons inside.
They really were gleaming gold Galleons, no fakes mixed in.
Schneider's eyes practically turned green. The greed in them was impossible to hide.
"This deal... I've struck it rich." As he watched the black-robed figure walk away, the fawning smile on his face slowly became a cold smirk.
This black-robed person was a big fish. Schneider was sure there was even more money on them.
The young man called Londo led the black-robed figure toward a tent.
Along the way, Londo sneaked more than one glance at the figure, but the black robe covered them too thoroughly for him to make out their face at all.
Soon the two arrived beside the tent. Londo said, "Please rest here for a while. We'll come let you know when it's time to leave."
"Mm." The black-robed figure responded indifferently, then bent and went inside the tent.
Londo shrugged in disappointment and turned away.
What he did not notice was that at some point, a jade-green seed covered in tiny barbs had stuck itself to his clothes at the shoulder.
It was not long before Londo returned to Schneider's side.
At that moment, Schneider was excitedly counting Galleons. Not far from him sat a bronze brazier with something apparently burning inside it, and a thin wisp of blue smoke curled upward.
"Well? Did you see anything?" Hearing Londo's footsteps, Schneider looked up and asked.
"No. That guy hid himself too well." Londo stared at the Galleons in Schneider's hand and could not help swallowing. "Boss, how much money is in there?"
"What's it to you? Get back to work. After this run, I'll toss you a little extra." Schneider sounded impatient.
Londo had never expected this miser to share any of it with him anyway. He had only asked casually. After being scolded, he did not get upset, but simply squatted down beside Schneider and asked, "Boss, are we really taking that person with us?"
"We already took the money, and you're asking me that now?" Schneider snapped back irritably.
"But that person is way too suspicious. They can casually pull out that much money and still won't show their face." Londo muttered, then suddenly raised his voice. "Boss, do you think they really robbed Gringotts?"
"Keep your voice down, damn it." Schneider smacked Londo hard on the head and barked, "If Gringotts got robbed, do you think Gringotts wouldn't know? If something that huge had happened, it would've been in the papers already. Cut the crap and get back to work."
"Oh." Londo scratched his head and turned to leave. Behind him, the seed moved on its own despite the lack of wind, drifting lazily off his back and onto Schneider.
Schneider sat there alone for a while, then got up and walked over to the brazier trailing blue smoke. He tossed in a handful of Floo powder and watched the nearly extinguished flames flare back to life as line after line of writing slowly appeared...
Inside the tent, the black-robed figure sat quietly in a chair. Beneath the robe, the face writhed like a mass of worms, while a pair of eyes glowed with mingled green and silver light.
"There's definitely something wrong with this smuggler..." Leonard's lips curled upward, pulling at the tendrils covering his face and making them squirm. Just one look was enough to make anyone's sanity drop.
For the past few days, Leonard had been investigating the smugglers in Knockturn Alley.
Chercy and the others had used smugglers' routes. Those routes could not possibly be exposed casually, so Chercy's disappearance and the disappearance of the others had to be tied to those smugglers somehow.
So Leonard had taken a sum of money big enough to turn heads and used it to test the smugglers, to see whether they would do something reckless under the temptation of that much gold.
But he had come to investigate the person who leaked Chercy's movements, not to run a sting operation, so simply flashing money was not enough. He also had to show strength far beyond that of an ordinary wizard.
An instant, silent, wandless Flame-Making Spell was perfect for making an example.
If anyone wanted to make a move against a powerful fat sheep like him, then they would inevitably have to find powerful help.
Most smugglers did not have that kind of access, and the ones who did usually would not be content to remain ordinary smugglers.
There was still a chance he had picked the wrong person, but this was already the best method Leonard could think of.
And from the looks of it, the results were not bad. After testing so many smugglers, he had finally found one with both the nerve to stir up trouble and someone backing him.
"Using Floo powder for long-distance communication... So there probably isn't a fireplace stably connected to the Floo Network. They can only use this method to pass along written messages."
Through the vision of the Bitterthorn seed, Leonard watched Schneider communicating with someone else, smiled, and then could not help touching his own face.
To avoid exposing his appearance, Leonard had no intention of taking part in this sort of thing with his real face. But since he was traveling alone to a foreign country, he had no way to prepare enough Polyjuice Potion.
So he gave up on disguising himself as another person with Polyjuice and used a new plant instead.
The Living Tree Vine, a magical plant from Africa whose leaves resembled human faces, had been bought by Midgard from a smuggler.
After Leonard enhanced it, the Living Tree Vine could grow tendrils with face-changing properties. All he had to do was cut off a section, roll it into a lump, and stick it to his face to change his appearance however he liked.
It only worked on the face. The Living Tree Vine could not alter a person's build, which was something of a drawback, but it was enough for now.
Even with the disguise provided by the Living Tree Vine, Leonard still had no intention of taking off the black robe and openly showing his fake face.
Wouldn't that be the same as telling everyone the face was fake? Better to layer on some suitable disguise and confuse people instead, just in case the enemy he ran into this time proved troublesome enough to let some survivors slip away.
"I wonder what kind of surprise this Schneider will bring me. Could he be connected to the same people who attacked Chercy?"