I knew that judging by appearances was not a good habit, but to my eyes, the man seemed closer to being the mercenary leader than the woman.

So Adel vaguely thought that she would finally meet the leader of the mercenary group.

However, the woman simply wiggled her index finger and casually ordered a drink.

“I’ll have a cup of strong brewed tea with lemon honey preserves. What would you like, Your Highness?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

When Adel answered in bewilderment, the woman winked and finished placing the order.

“Then a glass of water for the lady here. With lemon honey preserves, of course.”

“I’ll prepare it right away.”

The man closed the door carefully and left the room as if this was a familiar routine.

Just as Adel was about to doubt what she had seen and heard, the woman continued, chuckling as if understanding Adel’s confusion.

“That’s my husband. I’m in charge of managing the merchant guild and the mercenary group, while he handles dealing with the rough mercenaries.”

“… A merchant guild?”

“Yes. The Golden Hawk Merchant Guild is the one I run. Oh, I’m late with introductions. Please call me Louisa. Have you perhaps heard of our guild?”

The Golden Hawk Merchant Guild was one of the top-ranked guilds in the South. When Adel nodded, Louisa smiled enchantingly.

The man who had gone out to fetch the drinks soon returned.

The tea and lemon water served in luxurious glass cups fit for royalty hinted at the exceptional wealth of the Golden Hawk Merchant Guild.

“Thanks.”

After the man nonchalantly accepted the greeting and closed the door on his way out, Louisa picked up her teacup and offered one to her as well.

“Please, have some. The lemons are especially delicious these days. Especially these, which are preserved in honey. My husband makes exceptionally good lemon honey preserves.”

Imagining the man, with his bear-like bulk, sitting in the kitchen cutting lemons, made her laugh without realizing it. Adel spoke in a more relaxed tone.

“You two seem to have a good relationship.”

Louisa glanced towards the closed door and grumbled.

“Of course we do. But do you know how much we fought to get to this point? He said it wouldn’t suit his image to serve me? Only when I took over managing the mercenary group and the finances improved dramatically did he finally agree to do this much. And he makes such a fuss about it!”

“I see.”

“You saw Yoan, right? The one who brought Your Highness here earlier. He’s the one who somewhat…”

As she listened attentively, it became quite exhausting after a while.

Adel felt that all of this somehow seemed like the woman’s technique.

To induce a sense of ease, and to make the other person reveal more information from their attitude. In fact, just from listening to her for a short time, Adel had already begun to feel a certain intimacy towards Louisa.

“Oh my. Look at me. I’ve gone on about myself again.”

The woman pursed her lips and took a couple of sips of the now cold tea, then asked with a warm smile.

“So, what brings you here? We can do anything for you. As long as you pay us handsomely, of course.”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Someone?”

Louisa tilted her head, then pulled out a smooth sheet of paper and unfolded it.

She dipped a quill pen in ink, preparing to take notes, and said,

“Please tell me the last known location, age, and description as much as you know.”

“Her name is Grita. A woman under forty. Brown hair and brown eyes. A face that looks a bit older than her age, with her right pinky finger slightly twisted. The last known location is… not certain, but they say it’s Pragma.”

“Pragma, is it? Any other distinguishing features?”

“She seems to be wandering without a fixed residence. That’s what I heard. She should be someone who entered Pragma less than a month ago.”

“Oh, that makes things a bit easier.”

Louisa stood up from her chair and went to a wall covered in notes.

She mumbled something under her breath as she examined the papers on the wall.

“Hmm… Not this one, not this either. This information is too vague. This one has blue eyes… Ah… I told them not to buy information from here… Brown hair, brown hair… Yes, right pinky finger too… Here it is!”

Louisa turned to Adel with a bright smile, as if she had finally found the information she wanted. She was clutching a note she had torn from the wall. She returned to the desk, waving the note in her hand.

“Here, this is the location where a woman matching the description you gave is staying.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Brown hair, brown eyes, twisted right pinky finger, wanderer. Correct?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“I couldn’t confirm if her name is ‘Grita’. From what I can read, she seems to be not quite right in the head. It would be hard for you to read in this state, so I’ll translate it into Denburg language for you. Of course, you’ll have to pay me before I hand over the information.”

As Adel hurriedly tried to take out a pouch of coins from her bosom, Louisa raised her hand to stop her.

“I’m not really asking for money from Your Highness the Duchess. This kind of information isn’t even that expensive. Of course, I did pay a fair price to those who gathered the information for me.”

“Then what? What do you want?”

Adel asked again, unable to hide her impatience. Louisa opened her eyes wide, then burst into hearty laughter.

“I’d like to advise you that it’s not good to show such desperation to a merchant like me. Of course, I’ll make good use of this opportunity.”

“…”

“What I need isn’t much. That bracelet Your Highness is wearing on your wrist…”

“This is not possible.”

Louisa’s eyes widened at Adel’s firm refusal.

“You misunderstood. I’m not asking you to give it to me, I was about to say that I’d like to examine it more closely.”

“This bracelet?”

Adel said reluctantly. Of course, she really was reluctant.

This bracelet given by Valentin had the power to block magic.

Although it appeared to be just a gold bracelet set with emeralds, it was hard to guess what information Louisa might glean from the intricate patterns engraved on its surface.

Adel shook her head from side to side.

“This item is a gift from someone dear to me, so I don’t want to show it to anyone carelessly. I’d rather pay in money.”

“Hmm… I’m sorry to say this, but Your Highness, I’m a merchant. I buy and sell people’s desperation. Of course, the price varies depending on the size of that desperation.”

“… Louisa. Are you threatening me now?”

“Not at all, of course not. Couldn’t you consider that I’m just as desperate to examine that bracelet?”

“Why?”

“It’s just personal curiosity. I swear I won’t sell or pass on this information to anyone.”

“… On your name?”

“On the entire Golden Hawk!”

Louisa exclaimed earnestly, clasping her hands together. Adel pondered, feeling half reluctant and half strangely fond of Louisa.

Just as Adel was about to shake her head and refuse again, Louisa threw up both hands and exclaimed.

“Oh, forget it! I’ll throw in one more piece of information that Your Highness absolutely needs!”

“…”

“The gag that Golden Hawk puts in its own mouth, no one can remove. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely nothing will happen that could harm Your Highness.”

Louisa emphasized ‘absolutely’ three times. With such pleading, even though she was reluctant, Adel couldn’t refuse any further.

As Louisa said, she had revealed all her desperation even before reaching the negotiation stage.

Even if Louisa changed her mind and asked for thousands in gold, Adel had no other option.

Of course, if it came to that, her relationship with Ansgar would be irreparably damaged, all the merchant guilds that had expanded to the North would have to close their doors, and their accumulated reputation would take a considerable hit, but…

In any case, maintaining friendly relations as they were now would bring more mutual benefits than having problems with Golden Hawk.

Adel reluctantly nodded.

“Then just for a very brief moment. You can’t draw a picture to keep or tell anyone about its design.”

“Of course!”

Louisa answered quickly, almost cheering. Adel extended her wrist with the bracelet onto the desk.

Louisa gently pulled her wrist closer and examined it carefully.

Her sharp eyes scrutinized the elegant light flowing across the surface of the gold bracelet, the high-purity emerald, and the intricate patterns embossed on the surface.

During this time, incomprehensible exclamations kept escaping from Louisa’s lips.

“Is this enough now?”

When Adel, who quickly became uncomfortable, asked anxiously, Louisa obediently let go of her hand.

Adel noticed that her cheeks were flushed.

“Louisa, do you perhaps know what this bracelet is?”

“I do. Of course… How could I not recognize it? Of course…”

Louisa answered, half in ecstasy. However, she soon seemed to remember her position and spoke clearly.

“But if Your Highness wants to buy my information about this, you’ll have to pay a considerable price.”

“Is it such expensive information?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

A mischievous smile appeared on Louisa’s face.

“Because it would be such desperate information for Your Highness.”