Fateless (13)

"Hmm, is my disguise sufficient, Joseph?"

"Yes, it is, your highness. Nobody will be able to recognize you with so much cloth covering your features."

Back in the room assigned to her by the viscount, Seraphina showed off her disguise to Joseph, preparing to head out to the streets. Being a princess, it would not be a good idea to roam around, announcing your presence while having only one knight along. There were many who wished harm upon the royal family.

"Very well, let us head out now."

They stepped foot outside of the castle and roamed the streets of the abnormal prefecture. While looking around, Seraphina noticed that the stalls were much less protected than the other prefectures, and surprisingly, the common populace was much more relaxed even though they were suffering from famine.

'I don't see many suspicious eyes lurking in the dark corners too, this is quite fascinating.'

Seraphina moved closer to one stall selling ornaments made from cheap stuff and began to inspect the merchandise. The owner picked up the cue and began his sellout.

"Quite a good choice, my lady. This ornament was imported from the far province of Eldera, made from the highly valued stones called..."

Seraphina patiently listened to the babbling old man until he finally stopped, and asked him a question.

"This is quite a valuable ornament you're selling, won't somebody steal it and run off?"

"Steal? Ho, you're new to the area, aren't you, miss?" The shopkeeper said with a smug smile as he thought he found the perfect person to earn big. Joseph on the side was about to say something, but one sharp glare from Seraphina made him shut up.

"Well, I guess it was pretty obvious. Is there something in the area that makes you less protective of your things?"

"Indeed there is! There's a guardian who protects us poor folk from the criminals of the scum. Recently, a new figure came into power in this town's underworld. No one except a few of the top dogs of the underworld knows what he looks like. He set up 3 rules for all the underworld to follow, and anyone who is found breaking these rules is killed in the most horrific ways."

'The intel from the viscount matches up, but it seems like this guy is willing to tell me more than that viscount told me... I guess the viscount doesn't really want me to interfere here.'

"Oh, how does this 'guardian' have eyes and ears all over to discover such crimes? Are there his secret agents hidden all over the place?"

Seraphina used this opportunity to find out more about this mysterious person, she had a hunch about this persona, but she wasn't sure of it yet.

"Haha, the funny thing is, he has no one, yet everyone on his side! Most of the time, it isn't even us who report any crimes, but the partners-in-crime themselves. Suppose a shop is robbed by someone, if a friend of the robber finds out about this, he could report that crime safely and be rewarded for it. There are even people lurking among them who get close to gangsters, get a hold of evidence of their crimes, and make a living by reporting it to the guardian."

"How is that sustainable though, is the guardian very rich?"

"Hmm... I don't really know. The guardian is a mysterious figure with unknown power. He could be rich, he could be not. Moreover, he doesn't punish everybody, he has some exceptions to his rules.

First, poor children are exempt from the rule of stealing. It is rumored that he is sympathetic towards children, so he doesn't punish them. Second, rich and affluent people are not protected by his rules of theft. I can understand that since they hoard stuff without really needing it for survival. Greedy bastards like them do not deserve the wealth they hold, it is much better when it is used to feed some more poor mouths."

Seraphina could sense the contempt held in his voice for the rich and powerful. It wasn't anything unexpected, the commoners have held contempt for their rulers whenever the circumstances become dire. However, she noticed one topic he did not speak of when conversing.

"You haven't told me, what exactly are the rules that guardian has set."

The merchant looked up in surprise before realizing something,

"Of course, I forgot that visitors don't know this. Go to the central plaza where the dried-up fountain is. You will see a wooden board with the rules written on it colored in dark red. Many say that they are written in blood, to instill fear of the guardian."

'Writings in blood?... It feels awfully familiar.'

"I'll surely check it out. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Seraphina said before she glanced at Joseph, indicating to him to buy something from the stall. He began enquiring about the prices of his ornaments, the merchant happily bargaining with him.

A few minutes later, she found the sign the merchant was talking about. At a single glance, she was able to tell that the sign was really written with blood. Also, she found the handwriting familiar, as if she had seen something exactly like this once before. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she kept it in the back of his mind.

In front of the sign was a mailbox with a scribe sitting in front of it. The scribe looked pretty free, but while she was thinking about approaching that scribe, an old man did it first.

The surroundings immediately went quiet when the old man took a seat in front of the scribe. The old man started speaking in hushed tones to the scribe, who was diligently noting down whatever was said on a piece of paper. Once he was finished, the scribe bent down and grabbed a pouch filled with something heavy. It was probably a pouch filled with coins.

Seraphina observed the scene and formed a conclusion.

'Since people can't write, the scribe, who is likely a henchman of the guardian, writes down the complaints and rewards the one who has reported. Then, the supposed guardian would collect these reports and act at his discretion.'

With these hints, Seraphina had established quite a bit of detail on this 'guardian'.

'It is highly likely that he is a challenger. The timing and his actions are way too coincidental. Plus, he is likely some lone powerful figure who is doing all this through his sheer strength. Lastly, he wants to increase his public opinion for some reason, likely his objective for the trial.'

Seraphina made a nervous smile as she reconsidered her future actions.

'This is quite an impressive wild card. I need to meet him at least once...'