Inside a small, dilapidated house in a densely populated residential area of Gede Town.
Curtis walked into a room, opened the door to the basement, and slipped inside.
There were already four people in the basement. When they saw someone enter, they all gripped the weapons at their waists. Upon seeing it was Curtis, they maintained the posture for a moment before their bodies relaxed.
"Why is it just you? Where is Kate?"
The leader, a man dressed in coarse leather clothing, asked. Beneath his cloth outer layer, an exquisite suit of leather armor was faintly visible.
"Captain Braden, I'm sorry. I waited at the meeting point for a long time, but Kate never showed up. So, I abandoned the rendezvous to go out and gather some information."
"I heard that a man with brown hair, blue eyes, and a scar on his left cheek was caught by the Guards. That should be Kate."
"I went back and checked again; the meeting point hadn't been tampered with, so I came straight here."
A commotion immediately broke out among the group as some tried to speak, but Braden stopped them and said slowly:
"No rush to relocate. We'll leave after we've finished cleaning up our tracks."
"If Kate took my previous words to heart, he won't reveal our information until tonight. We still have time."
Only then did the others present react to Braden's reminder, relaxing slightly.
"How was he discovered? Hasn't the person we found to make the fake documents been doing it for twenty years?"
Braden inquired. He needed to know the specific circumstances of Kate's arrest to judge whether his team's fake documents were still usable.
Curtis had a strange expression on his face, and only after a long pause did he speak:
"It seems he was suspected by a Guard because he refused to give up his spot while waiting in line... Captain, you know our weapons are custom-made. A real search would definitely uncover them, so he didn't manage to escape."
Hearing his words, the others looked at each other, confused by such a reason for suspicion. Wasn't waiting in line the natural thing to do? Why would one need to give up their spot for someone else?
Braden was stunned for a moment before he realized, saying through gritted teeth:
"Damn it, Kate. Did he really undergo infiltration training? The person standing behind him was a Formal Mage..."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood why Kate had been caught. Curtis defended Kate, saying:
"Captain, Kate probably didn't want to look around and show any flaws..."
Captain Braden waved his hand, signaling Curtis to stop, and then said:
"Alright, Kate's fate is up to his own luck now; we can't do anything about it... If he can still make it back, I might only punish him for the failed mission."
"As for us, let's talk about our objective..."
He paused for a moment before continuing:
"Kosti, before you arrived, we discussed the intelligence we gathered—and found nothing. What about you?"
He looked at Kosti with expectant eyes, hoping he would bring some good news.
But Kosti shook his head and said:
"Sorry, I haven't made any progress either."
The temperature in the entire basement seemed to drop, and only the faint sound of breathing could be heard.
It was Braden who broke the silence in the basement, continuing:
"So no one found any information. Where on earth is that thing... Damn it, wasn't it said that thing would be here? Why are there no signs at all?"
At this point, Kosti suddenly spoke up:
"Captain, is it possible that the item has already been collected by the master of this town, intending to offer it to the Alliance..."
His speculation was immediately met with doubt.
"What are you saying? Other factions might need that item, but the Magic Alliance certainly won't want it. They already have enough internal lords..."
But another person interrupted him.
"It's not impossible. Although he wouldn't offer it to the Alliance, what if he just wants to study it himself? You know how those mages are—they want to study anything they come across, even if their colleagues consider it junk..."
However, the first person immediately retorted:
"If you're saying those mages would take that thing, then we have a lot of targets—counting the mage Kate ran into today, three Formal Mages have already passed through this town this month..."
"And with our team, how are we supposed to get that item from a group of people at the official rank? We might not even win in a sneak attack..."
Kosti spoke up immediately to calm everyone down:
"Alright, stop it. Discussing this is useless. Let's talk about how we're going to search next."
As he spoke, he looked at Captain Braden, and the others followed suit, looking at Braden with expectant eyes.
Braden waited a moment before speaking, his voice carrying a hint of uncertainty:
"If that item is in the hands of those mages, there's no need for us to try and take it from them..."
Immediately after, he continued:
"The mission I received from my superiors was to assist our ally. If that item really is here, we only need to report its exact location."
"If our ally truly wants this item, let them come here to the Alliance and take it themselves!"
"If our ally is willing to pay a high price, the Alliance will surely give the item to them."
His words also revealed his dissatisfaction with their ally, who had actually sent him to investigate this matter instead of sending their own people.
This was clearly a case of fearing the Alliance, which is why they sent 'assisting' personnel like them.
For this, he had even lost a member. He had no confidence in whether Kate could return; after all, this was the Alliance, where even a Guard might know two Spells.
Not to mention the Administrators dispatched by the Alliance to various cities; almost every single one of them was a powerhouse at the official rank.
It wasn't like this in their own country. Finding someone with the potential to reach the official rank was extremely difficult, so there was no way they could push all such people into administrative positions.
"Alright, start packing... We'll carry out the original plan: infiltrate the Gede Town Administrator's residence to see if that item is there. As for those mages, we'll deal with that when the time comes."
Following his command, everyone present began to move. Braden walked to a corner and took out a piece of paper with an image of the item they were looking for printed on it.
Out of professional spy etiquette, they used the phrase 'that thing' to refer to it during their conversation.
This item was both important and unimportant. It was important because it was a token for a territory in the Antier Antire; obtaining it gave one the chance to occupy that land.
The unimportant part was that only those lords could use it, and it had to be used right next to the lord's own territory.
Even without such a thing, there were other ways to acquire that territory; it was just that this method was more convenient and wouldn't leave behind any hidden troubles.
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