novelraw Chapter 255: Fanatic Agency
Chapter 255: Fanatic Agency
"Buy something from my stall, and I'll tell you... I haven't done any business in a long time, and I don't have much alcohol left at home either. For the price of two bottles of wine, I'll selflessly share a little story about what's been happening on Patlusion Island recently."
Hearing his words, Alajina was about to pull money from her pocket. However, Fisher beat her to it; snapping his fingers inside his coat, he took out the coin pouch left behind by Eliog. He withdrew ten Naris gold coins from it and placed them on his stall.
"This should be enough... Now, tell me, what are those guys looking for?"
The old man's eyes lit up slightly. Unable to wait, he straightened his body and swept all the gold coins on the stall into his own pouch. However, he didn't immediately begin recounting the information; his eyes darted around, and he picked up an item from the stall to hand to Fisher.
"This is the price of you buying my item, not the price of the information. The affairs of the Company Dogs aren't worth this much."
Fisher was somewhat not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but he still followed the man's principles and accepted the item handed to him. It was a specially made terracotta figurine from the Northern Border, carved into the image of a humanoid warrior raising a sword with both hands. But what truly drew Fisher's gaze was the five-pointed snowflake symbol carved onto the back of the terracotta figurine.
Fisher had seen this symbol not long ago. On that small island only visible to those carrying a relic of a Child of the Phoenix, the young girl named "Valentiina" had this exact same mark on her body.
"An item of the Turan Family..."
"Ah, precisely. The snowflake flower north of the Northern Border. Over the past years, the Turan Family has always been the wealthiest people there. Although very few people have ever been able to meet a true member of the Turan Family, their legends circulate everywhere in the Northern Border. Some say the true head of the Turan Family is actually a sentient relic."
The old man named "Jesse" nimbly rolled the gold coins he just collected from Fisher between his fingers. Grinning at Fisher, he said."Legend has it that this mysterious family has lived for generations in a snowflake-shaped fortress amidst the wind and snow. Without even showing their faces, they can use money to control the entirety of the Northern Border's situation; their invested assets are everywhere. Even the brothels and contraceptive goods you gentlemen like best are funded by their family... But miraculously, no one has ever seen the true bodies of their family members. What you see are always middlemen, middlemen, and more middlemen..."
If Fisher hadn't indeed seen the true body of a Turan Family member on that island previously, he almost would have believed this man's very plausible-sounding relic conspiracy theory.
The members of the Turan Family definitely existed; that young girl sitting in a wheelchair was the proof.
Alajina beside him also cast a glance at Jesse at the stall, but didn't open her mouth to interrupt Fisher's conversation with him.
"Alright, what I want to hear isn't the secret history of a Northern Border family. I want to know, what did that group of Naris Pioneering Company people come here for?"
"Alright, alright, alright... but the Pioneering Company's matter isn't completely unrelated to what I just said. For example, the 'middlemen' I just mentioned."
"You know, when the Pioneering Company works abroad, they typically don't directly intervene in local affairs—either to showcase how much more superior they are, or because they find dealing with the complex local situations too troublesome. In such cases, they generally commission local 'middlemen'... or you could call them 'compradors', to handle matters for them."
"As it happens, there are Northern Border middlemen on Patlusion Island who cooperate with the Naris Pioneering Company. The person they just went looking for was a middleman in the market. I heard that group of middlemen seemed to have helped the Naris Pioneering Company find a group of grave robbers in the Northern Border to go digging for treasures in the Sema Mountains. Supposedly, it was an ancient demi-human species... the grave of some bird people or whatever. Although they were forcibly stopped by the people of the Turan Family halfway through the dig."
"But the truth is, they seem to have unearthed quite a few things the Turan Family didn't discover, and transported them out of the Northern Border. I don't know what's inside, but it should be quite valuable, otherwise that pack of Suit Dogs wouldn't have come over with such great fanfare to transport them away. It's that simple: a group of Pioneering Company animals ran all the way to someone else's house and stole things out... Just like what they do in the Southern Continent."
After hearing this, Fisher rubbed his chin, then nodded and looked at him, asking.
"You have bad blood with the Naris Pioneering Company?"
"Bad blood?"
Jesse shook his head. Taking a sip of alcohol, he laughed.
"A Nobody like me is just a small bug in other people's eyes; crushed and forgotten. It can't be called bad blood... By the way, thanks for your gold coins; it's enough for me to drink for a very long time."
"You earned it."
Fisher took one last look at the compass on his body, then stood up and bid him farewell. He and Alajina walked toward the stalls selling magic materials. However, after leaving Jesse's stall, his expression didn't relax in the slightest; instead, it grew increasingly solemn.
Alajina noticed his furrowed brows and subconsciously took hold of his hand.
Behind them, Aoxi, seeing that Fisher didn't refuse, turned her head to look at Fisher and then at Alajina, feeling she had inexplicably learned something new again.
Originally, she thought Captain Alajina should be the same kind of lady as herself—someone not very good at romance. But looking at it now, that didn't seem to be the case.
At some unknown point, this matriarchy lady who had never associated with other men had actually become so experienced. Aoxi felt she should study under her more... Mhm, regarding how to save money and how to date.
"What's wrong?"
Fisher naturally noticed Alajina's little movement, but now wasn't the time to mind it. Moreover, her hand was very cool and soft; it felt very comfortable to hold.
"No, this matter isn't as simple as he claimed..."
He shook his head and looked at the Pioneering Company employees who were still grandly discussing matters as they walked out of the market. Stringing together the bits of information he just received, he quickly noticed something amiss.
"The Naris Pioneering Company is indeed very flamboyant when acting abroad, but not to the point of stupidity. What's more, their current situation is nothing compared to before."
"Previously, in the Southern Continent, I witnessed with my own eyes how they secretly sold weapons and supplies to the city lords of Schwari and Kadu. This was treason in a certain sense, but for money, they didn't care at all. At that time, their operations were extremely covert; an ordinary person truly wouldn't have discovered them."
"But now, ever since the largest shareholder of the Naris Pioneering Company met a tragic end at the hands of Elizabeth, this company hasn't been able to sail as smoothly as before. For them to still be so arrogant now, it's hard to say there isn't official Naris backing behind this... Moreover, since they stole something from the territory of the Northern Border, the Turan Family wouldn't fail to notify the local government..."
"The most likely situation is that the Naris people knew the Northerners or whoever else would have their eyes on this item, so they used that suited company employee completely covered in magic just now as bait. The true backup force hasn't shown themselves yet. And there are two types of Naris official personnel who might appear here: one is official members of the Naris Hidden Affairs Bureau, and the other is members of the Naris Overseas Occult Bureau... If it's the latter, things will be rather troublesome."
Alajina wasn't aware of the specific details regarding the internal intelligence agencies of Naris. She had only heard that Naris had an agency that privately handled national security incidents—the Hidden Affairs Bureau—but she hadn't heard there was also a [Naris Overseas Occult Bureau]. Therefore, appearing somewhat confused, she asked.
"The Overseas Occult Bureau... are they very dangerous?"
Fisher strolled among the magic material stalls in the market while softly explaining to Alajina behind him the various compositional details of the political agencies in Naris.
"Dangerous? No matter how dangerous they are, they are still just humans. It's not about how powerful they are, but rather that the composition of this agency is rather unique."
"Naris' recycling system for garbage is renowned throughout the West Continent. The parliament geezers will always squeeze out the last bit of value from any matter, and people are no exception; otherwise, they wouldn't have proposed sending prison criminals to the Southern Continent for reclamation work. The reason they had such an idea was based on the founding experience of the Naris Overseas Occult Bureau."
"There are quite a few dangerous criminals in Naris: gang members, magic lunatics, and steam engine maniacs. These criminals who committed grave sins and should have been sentenced to capital punishment were given an alternative way out by the parliament-approved [Atonement Charter]: to contribute to Naris' overseas work. Work for the Overseas Occult Bureau abroad, and when the term is up, you are released; whether you return to Naris or go elsewhere is up to you. For this reason, the Naris Overseas Occult Bureau is also called the [Fanatic Agency]..."
"Of course, hope amidst despair is often an even more profound despair."
"Unless they achieve incredibly important merits, many of them will work for the Overseas Occult Bureau until they die. Moreover, in order to guarantee they won't abscond to avoid punishment, the Magic Association was invited to participate in designing a [Communication Magic] capable of locating, controlling, and transmitting information. It's a magic crest in the shape of a tattoo. I read the Magic Association's solicitation notice but didn't participate in the design; I just know what that magic looks like..."
As Fisher walked, his hands gestured outlining a ring-shaped seal tattoo broken in multiple places. It seemed his impression of that thing was extremely profound.
"They're even more outrageous than the official employees of the Hidden Affairs Bureau. Based on this real-time linked information magic, the moment my tracks are discovered by them, Saint-Nazareth will immediately receive intelligence that I've appeared on Patlusion Island, aboard the Iceberg Queen. Even silencing them would be of no avail... Furthermore, to those lunatics yearning for freedom, I, or Isabel, would be a key to unlocking their shackles; they won't give up easily."
Alajina quickly realized how serious the situation Fisher described was. She unconsciously used her figure—which was taller than Fisher's—to completely shield him, deeply afraid Fisher would be discovered by others.
"What's the probability that it's the people from the Overseas Occult Bureau?"
"It depends on the situation. If people are going to die, there's a high probability the Overseas Occult Bureau is in charge."
"Then I'll take you to the Pirate Harbor. Over there, official Naris people won't come over so easily."
Fisher cast a glance at the Alajina before him, who was looking at him with utter seriousness. Her ice-like blue pupils completely reflected his image, and even the muscles near him had grown slightly stiff. She was clearly worrying for him.
He took a deep look at the captain before him, always feeling that the uncontrollable scorching heat within his body was burning increasingly vigorously. A long time had passed since Eliog left last time.
But facing the Alajina in front of him, Fisher strenuously suppressed that erratically flowing evil fire. He opened his mouth but didn't bite down to suck on her fair skin; he merely inhaled a breath of the icy air between them, then took a step back to maintain some distance.
"No need to be too nervous. They haven't discovered us yet, but if we stay on the island any longer, being discovered is only a matter of time. We'll leave quickly right after buying our things; we just shouldn't wade into these muddy waters involving the Northern Border and Naris."
Alajina looked at him withdrawing from her embrace with some reluctance. She was just about to reach out and pull his sleeve, but lacking that straightforward courage, she watched his retreating fingers and ultimately didn't dare to act decisively.
"Mhm, I will go notify them."
She nodded and said as such.
"Aoxi, you and Fisher wait here for now. You absolutely must protect his safety just like I protect him, do you understand?"
"Okay..."
"No problem, no problem..."
The port of Patlusion Island had no place to berth a massive warship like the Iceberg Queen, so it always anchored in the sea area slightly farther from the coastline. It would still take a certain amount of time if she went to notify it to return. Not to mention, before that, the Iceberg Queen still had to prepare all necessary supplies, otherwise even if they left, they couldn't travel very far.
For safety's sake, after buying the magic materials, Alajina booked a room for Fisher in a hotel by the roadside, letting Aoxi and Fisher stay here. Once Alajina finished handling everything, they would immediately depart this island.
Fisher knew that rashly showing his face would very likely have the opposite effect, so he could only obediently stay in the room of this hotel.
If only he had brought [The Undoer], the mask he got from researching Renee, then he could have disguised himself and wouldn't be discovered by others. But the problem was that at the time, he was being pursued by Elizabeth and had no time to return to his rented apartment to fetch it. And even if he didn't use it, carrying it on his person would constantly siphon his magic energy.
Arms crossed, Fisher leaned by the window, watching Alajina put her captain's hat on her head, walk out of the hotel, and hasten toward the other direction of the street, quickly disappearing from his line of sight.
Just as he wanted to close the window of the room, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a very nicely decorated storefront at the intersection between this street and another one.
Floor-to-ceiling windows serving as a full glass facade, wooden square panels, and even groundbreakingly painted with two cute black cat ear patterns...
Fisher's gaze shifted downward, quickly reading the text written upon it.
"Cloudtop Cafe"
His expression turned somewhat peculiar. But when he turned his head and saw the Second Mate Aoxi, holding the parrot, obediently sitting on the bed and staring at him, his expression became even more peculiar.
Although saying those words to Alajina earlier wasn't his intentional design, for now, it seemed only he and Aoxi were in the room, and it would still take a while for Alajina to return...
Did that mean now was the absolutely perfect opportunity to research the Cangniao-kin Aoxi?