A cafe across from Blondin Street in the theater district.
At the hidden base disguised as a café where he regularly received reports from his subordinates, Sakis Lubas was staring intently at the newspaper.
The Lambart Daily.
The city’s highest-circulation newspaper had been running stories for days about the same incident.
<A Mysterious Lightning Strike Hits the Slums>
Last Saturday night, a large lightning strike occurred on Chapel Street in central Lambart.
According to eyewitnesses, a violet bolt of lightning suddenly struck from a cloudless sky without any warning, and it lasted approximately nine seconds.
The incident caused 42 wooden buildings on Chapel Street to burn down completely, with an additional 137 suffering fire damage, but no accurate information on casualties has been released.
The capital’s security forces stated that “the entire disaster site has turned to ashes, making identification of bodies impossible, and uncooperative behavior from local residents has made counting the dead difficult.”
The Royal Magic Department’s Bureau of Safety Management has classified the event as a Level 1 Magical Disaster, and anxiety among the capital’s residents is on the rise after this unprecedented disaster.
Some voices were raising suspicions that this may have been a deliberate arson by the Laurencia authorities to clear out the slums.
In response, Public Safety Director Bo Pilar stated, “We believe this incident was not a natural disaster, but a criminal act committed by a mage.”
He added, however, “Please refrain from spreading baseless rumors,” and “We are doing everything we can to swiftly uncover the truth.”
“A mage who attacked the territory of the Thieves’ Guild, huh…”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Sakis Lubas tapped his fingers on the newspaper, lost in thought.
He had already read it several times. Enough to have memorized it word for word. But he felt that hidden between the lines were fragments of truth he had yet to uncover.
His instincts screamed it at him.
“What am I missing?”
Like a fisherman waiting for a catch, Sakis Lubas’s gaze lingered on the flow of the words.
Before long, a fish called realization bit down on the hook.
Just as a single word among the lines of the newspaper was about to surface in his consciousness—
Ding-dong.
The doorbell broke his train of thought.
Sakis Lubas set aside his regret and turned to the visitor.
“Looks like I really should cut back on the drinking, Jamie.”
“Sir? What do you mean by that?”
“Just talking to myself. You’ve come with a report, haven’t you?”
“Yes, sir. Winter Winslet attempted to make contact with our information network.”
Sakis Lubas took a cigarette from his pocket and put it between his lips.
As he lit it, he asked Jamie,
“What information did he ask for?”
“A personal record. He wanted us to find out about someone called Nice Goodman.”
“Nice Goodman, you say?”
“Yes.”
Sakis Lubas drew in the cigarette smoke deeply, then exhaled it in a thin long stream. This was his usual habit when deep in thought.
Only after some time did he finally speak again:
“Nice Goodman…”
That name was the very one Sakis Lubas and Longsoniere were most alert about—
And in recent days, it had become one of the hottest topics in the underworld of this city of Lambart.
The masked mage.
A mysterious powerhouse who, just a few days ago, appeared in the criminal underworld without any warning and wiped out an entire territory belonging to the Thieves’ Guild.
The lightning he summoned was so devastating it could be seen even from distant cities, and the incident left the citizens of the capital plagued with fear and anxiety for several days.
It escalated to the point where a royal investigation team was dispatched—
And in a rather ridiculous turn of events, the security forces who were usually busy guarding the wealthy neighborhoods ended up raiding territory belonging to the Thieves’ Guild.
Thanks to that, Oliver Ljungberg, the head of the Thieves’ Guild and one of the Heptangam society’s key figures, was likely still dealing with the fallout.
And the man behind it all. Nice Goodman.
To hear that name come from the mouth of Winter Winslet, another core member of the Heptangam society…
“I even thought maybe Winter Winslet himself could be Nice Goodman.”
“Did you? From what I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be any connection between them. Has some new information come in that I’m not aware of?”
“No, just a hunch.”
“A hunch?”
“Nothing to take seriously. It’s just one of the many possibilities I’ve been considering. The odds are probably less than one percent.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, did Winter Winslet say anything else?”
“He said he’d offer information that might help us find Nice Goodman.
According to him, Nice Goodman has a grotesque scar on his face and is at least a fifth-class mage.”
“Fifth class, huh? That’s laughable.”
The destructive force that had erased an entire district of Low Chapel was not something a mere fifth-class mage could produce.
At the very least, seventh-class or higher.
That level of power could only be displayed by a high-class mage of exceptional caliber.
“Then Winter Winslet… maybe he doesn’t know much about Nice Goodman either?”
“Maybe he doesn’t even realize that the lightning that swept through Low Chapel was Nice Goodman’s doing.”
“So he’s looking for Nice Goodman for a completely unrelated reason. Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
“Either way, this works out well. We were already collecting information on Nice Goodman, so we can fulfill Baron Winslet’s request along the way.”
“Now that you mention it, I had left the investigation of Nice Goodman in your hands, didn’t I?”
Jamie had actually come face-to-face with Nice Goodman once at their disguised base in Gray Chapel.,
This made him the ideal person for the task.
“From the look on your face, it doesn’t seem like you’ve come up empty. How’s the investigation going?”
“I’ve identified a location that’s likely one of his bases. Apparently, on the day he showed up at that restaurant Grizzly runs, he even placed a delivery order. Bold move.”
Grizzly was the man in charge of the disguised base Jamie often visited to pick up salad lunch boxes.
He’d been given that name because he looked like a bear.
Judging by his experience, it wouldn’t be surprising if he held an executive position in the organization—
But for some reason, he was stuck guarding the place like some pitiful watchdog.
Rumor had it that he once defied someone high up and got thoroughly blacklisted for it.
However, all the veteran agents of equal rank to Jamie treated him with respect,
And more importantly, he was well-liked for his cooking.
Aside from occasionally nagging like an old man or putting things like raisins in salad, Jamie didn’t have anything against him either.
“I tracked the address left by Nice Goodman when he placed that delivery order.”
“Were you able to confirm the location?”
“It was a place called Miller Orphanage. According to the director there, this Nice Goodman fellow has a large burn scar on his face and always wears a mask to hide it.”
“That matches what Winter Winslet mentioned. Sounds like credible information.”
“If that’s the case, our job just got easier.”
For those who operate in the shadows of society, a noticeable scar is a critical weakness.
A scar so severe it can’t be hidden with makeup and requires a mask would inevitably leave witnesses wherever he goes.
“If he’s skilled in black magic, he might be able to alter his body to some extent. But black magic leaves distinct traces, so that’s another trail we can follow. I assume you’ve thought that far as well, Jamie?”
“Yes. I’ve sent instructions to each branch in the city to locate anyone with facial scars and signs of deep involvement in black magic.”
“Well done. Search every face in the capital if you have to and find him. Now then…”
Sakis Lubas took another drag of his cigarette before asking,
“Miller Orphanage. You said that’s where Nice Goodman is based?”
“Yes. It’s the same orphanage in Gray Chapel we tried to acquire last time to turn into one of our bases. We attempted to purchase it, but Mrs. Miller, the owner, wasn’t interested in selling, so the deal fell through.”
“What’s the connection between that orphanage and Nice Goodman?”
“He’s apparently one of its benefactors.”
“Since when?”
“I heard it’s only been a few days.”
“I see. Now that they’ve got a benefactor, Mrs. Miller will be even less inclined to sell.”
“That’s right. Nice Goodman’s involvement has essentially disrupted our plans.”
“He’s turning out to be an unusually persistent thorn in our side. Maybe we ought to be more cautious around him.”
“Do you think Nice Goodman poses a long-term threat to our organization?”
“I do. The fact that he’s been snooping around one of our front operations might not be a coincidence. For instance, there’s the possibility that some of our information has leaked.”
“But our cover is airtight…”
“There’s no such thing as perfection in this world, Jamie.”
Jamie looked at his worried mentor with a puzzled expression.
He was a man known for outsmarting enemies with exceptional insight. But at times, he could be unreasonably paranoid.
“Do you think it’s serious enough to warrant your concern, Master? In my opinion, Nice Goodman may be a powerful mage, but he doesn’t seem to have any clear reason to oppose us.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t told you yet. This came in today. News from the Laurencia Intelligence Bureau. The name ‘Nice Goodman’ is being circulated.”
“The Royal Intelligence Bureau?”
“That’s right. They seem to believe that Nice Goodman is an informant working for the Empire.”
“The Empire? That’s quite a twist. Things are escalating quickly.”
“I don’t know how those sluggish fools in Laurencia got the information before we did, but it’s something we need to keep an eye on.”
“But why the Empire of all places? ‘Empire’ and ‘mage’ are hardly words that go together. If someone that skilled were on their side, we would’ve heard rumors long ago.”
“According to our sources, Nice Goodman isn’t originally from the Empire. He’s a freel mage they hired.”
“Then we’ll need to verify that.”
“Exactly. Get in touch with our agent inside the Imperial Embassy and confirm whether it’s true. Also, instruct the Laurencia nobles who are cooperating with us to apply pressure on the embassy as well.”
“Understood.”
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