‘What’s with that person?’

Until I became aware of them, I didn’t even know they existed, but once I noticed, they really caught my attention.

Although they were just sitting casually with arms folded, the man had a strangely commanding presence.

‘…It seems like he’s looking this way.’

But it’s too shadowy to make out clearly.

“So, um, what kind of request brings you here?”

At Leonard’s question, I looked at him again.

Right, this is the main point. I pushed the suspicious man to the back of my mind and faced the proprietor.

“I came because I want to catch evidence of my cheating fiancé’s infidelity.”

“Ahem.”

Leonard coughed again, making a strange sound.

“Ch-cheating? Your fiancé?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, puzzled by Leonard’s extreme surprise.

I thought infidelity cases were one of the main sources of income for information guilds, but is it different here?

“I-I see, ahem. Of course, our guild handles such matters professionally. Please, come this way.”

Fortunately, the proprietor quickly understood and guided me to a seat.

As expected.

Feeling relieved inside, I sat down across from the proprietor.

“So. Do you have any suspects for the affair partner?”

“My younger sister.”

“Cough, cough!”

Leonard coughed loudly.

It seemed like he had choked suddenly, and his coughing fit looked quite painful, so I handed him a handkerchief.

“Ah, thank y-…ou, cough. I swallowed wrong, ahem. Um, could you please repeat the details of your request?”

I looked at the flustered Leonard with slightly suspicious eyes.

I thought this place would have reliable skills since it was recommended by Wilhelm and vouched for by a trustworthy pawnshop.

Sighing slightly, I summarized the request details concisely.

“I told you my fiancé is having an affair with my younger sister. I intend to gather evidence and break off the engagement.”

“…Oh.”

Though his face was mostly hidden by the hood, I could see Leonard’s mouth fall open.

He seemed quite shocked.

‘Well, is this the normal reaction?’

After being backstabbed repeatedly by those beastly people, this kind of response felt rather refreshing.

Leonard stammered as he spoke.

“That’s… I see. Of course, as the proprietor of an information guild, I’ve seen countless such cases and am used to it, but… still, this is… I mean, I’m used to it, but… we’re not in the animal kingdom… Ahem, so that’s your situation.”

“It shouldn’t be difficult to gather evidence since they brazenly meet not only in my dressing room, but even in the garden. Plus, I hear this guild actively uses cameras.”

At this point, the camera has only been invented recently.

In a few years it will become widespread at an amazing pace, but at this time it’s still an unfamiliar object.

There were rumors that having your photo taken would trap your soul, so many people were even more wary of it.

‘That works out even better.’

Elena and Lucas won’t have the slightest worry about their shameful acts being preserved on paper in the form of a photograph.

There’s no better tool than a camera for gathering evidence.

No matter how much evidence like the hair I found yesterday I collect, it won’t have more destructive power than one photo of the two of them together.

“Please take a photo of the two of them together. That’s my request.”

Just then, creak.

The door made an eerie sound as it opened once more. At the same time, a cheerful voice was heard.

“Phew, why is it so cold toda- Oh! We have a customer?”

A man who entered by pushing open the door as if it were his own home looked at me with round eyes, then at Leonard behind me.

Then he blinked his eyes rapidly a few times before giving me a bright smile.

“Ah! The master… is attending to the customer in my place? Customer, please leave it to me now. I’m the… reception specialist.”

Leonard briefly explained my request to the man who introduced himself as the reception clerk.

The clerk shook his head.

“My, a fiancé cheating with a sibling… what beastly people! But catching those beasts is our guild’s specialty.”

The clerk’s confident manner as he pounded his chest seemed quite reliable.

Now it finally felt like being in an information guild.

The clerk spoke while quickly scribbling various details in a notebook.

“First of all, you’re quite enlightened to request the use of photos. Many customers still don’t trust cameras since they’re such a new technology. Let’s see, when do you need the work completed by?”

“Please do it within two weeks. I need to finalize the broken engagement and focus on the new marriage by then.”

“A new marriage?”

The clerk who had been responding smoothly and skillfully showed a surprised expression for the first time, then clapped his hands with an impressed look.

“Wow, so you’re switching to a new carriage right after sending off the old one! You’re quite a bold and decisive customer!”

The clerk quickly put on a business smile as if he had never been surprised, and gave a thumbs up.

Then he whispered in a subtle voice.

“Actually, we’ve recently acquired some excellent medicinal herbs that are very popular with newlywed customers.”

“Pardon?”

“Just one cup of tea with these herbs and that night will be… How about it? Since this is our first transaction, I could offer you a special price- Oof.”

The clerk suddenly made a pained expression and stopped talking.

“Ahem, hem!”

Leonard could be seen gritting his teeth at the clerk while clearing his throat.

“No, that’s alright.”

I shook my head with a light smile.

“My new husband is unable to have relations anyway.”

Crash.

There was a loud clattering as Leonard stumbled greatly, knocking over some furniture.

The clerk blinked his eyes widely and whispered to me in a flustered voice.

“Y-you mean, ahem! He’s impotent…?”

“Something like that.”

When I answered simply, this time a choking sound came from Leonard.

The clerk looked at Leonard and me in turn, then spoke with a sympathetic expression.

“Oh my, I see. We will definitely complete the request you’ve entrusted to us to ease your worries within the deadline.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

After paying the deposit, I left the building.

With barely a month left until the St. Verdicto Festival Opera, and the wedding to be held three days before that, there wasn’t a moment to waste if I wanted to set off a series of brilliant fireworks.

I hurried my steps towards the next appointment scheduled for today.

“Well, well. What an interesting customer indeed.”

The reception clerk, no, the guildmaster of the information guild Yor, chuckled as he gazed at the closed door.

There were many who came crying and begging to catch their cheating husbands, but this was the first customer to state their business so calmly.

“Don’t you agree, Sir Rio?”

The master turned to Rio and grumbled.

“But why did you have to step on my foot so hard? I thought it was going to break. Did I do something wrong? I noticed you were acting as the guildmaster, so I quickly pretended to be a clerk too, but did I miss something els- Aaagh!”

Instead of answering, Rio glanced somewhere.

The master followed his gaze and was shocked nearly to the point of fainting.

He had just noticed the figure blending into the shadows in a dark corner.

“Wh-when did you…”

A man who could conceal his presence well enough to fool even someone as experienced as himself.

And the only man that Rio, the direct aide to Duke Heigenberg, treated with such tension.

It could only be Duke Heigenberg himself.

‘I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?!’

The master’s mind raced frantically.

While the information guild Yor was occasionally inspected by the duke’s house as a subordinate organization, it was the first time the duke himself had ever set foot here.

It was already flustering enough to receive him without proper preparation, but to make matters worse, the duke didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

Though he hadn’t said a word yet, the master’s finely-honed intuition was screaming.

This man’s mood is currently extremely sour.

“P-please feel free to look around, you two! I’ll take my leave! Please call for me anytime if you need anything!”

The room was filled with silence after the master fled at top speed.

So quiet that even the sound of Rio swallowing could be heard.

In the midst of the oppressive silence, the man slowly opened his mouth.

“A body that cannot embrace a woman…”

He murmured, tilting his head back towards the ceiling.

“Rio.”

“Y-yes, Your Grace.”

“Why does that woman think I’m impotent?”