Chapter 405 - Chapter 388: Eavesdropping
A few days after being summoned to Grand Duke Noein Arqvist's mansion, Ludo was at the inn he managed.
Nowadays, Ludo left most of the inn's operations to his employees and only occasionally handled the practical work himself. He was here to fulfill a duty directly given to him by his liege, Noein.
Currently, three members of the Milleritz Trading Company were staying at this inn. They used this inn as their regular lodgings in the capital city of Noeina. They had arrived in the early afternoon today, taken their usual four-person room, and seemed to be resting from the fatigue of travel indoors without going out.
"..."
The inn had the reception desk and dining hall on the first floor, with guest rooms on the second and third floors. Ludo climbed the stairs to the third floor, striving to remain calm so that his tension wouldn't show in his footsteps. To make it look like he was working, he carried freshly washed towels and sheets in his hands.
Ludo had, of course, heard about the series of incidents showing hostility toward beastmen. When he had heard the other day that the Milleritz Trading Company was likely involved, he had been genuinely shocked.
Ludo had crossed paths several times with the members of the Milleritz Trading Company, who always visited this country as a group of three and engaged in small-scale trade. There was a friendly man, a somewhat rough-looking man, and a young man who was supposedly an apprentice. There was nothing particularly suspicious about them.
If he had to say something, the rough-looking man gave the impression of being hard to approach for a merchant. However, it was common for small trading companies that couldn't afford to hire mercenary guards to employ physically strong individuals as bodyguards, so Ludo hadn't questioned that point either.
"..."
Upon reaching the third floor, Ludo walked down the hallway, making his footsteps as quiet as possible. Then, he entered the vacant room next to the one where the Milleritz Trading Company members were staying and gently pressed his ear against the wall on the side of the trading company members' room.
Eavesdrop on their conversation and report the contents to the military. That was the role assigned to Ludo.
If he were to eavesdrop, using a beastman would be the quickest method, but almost all the guests at this inn were visitors from abroad. A beastman on the third floor, where guests with money to spare stayed, would stand out. If they happened to run into the Milleritz Trading Company members, it could arouse suspicion.
There were also methods to see through walls or pick up sounds using magic or magical tools, but unfortunately, none of the Grand Duke Arqvist's vassals were skilled in such magic. Magical tools weren't readily available either. Furthermore, since there were magical tools that could detect when magic was being directed at them, if the Milleritz Trading Company members possessed such tools, they would also notice that they were being investigated.
Therefore, this role was given to Ludo, who wouldn't seem out of place wandering anywhere within the inn and who, as the oldest subject, had Noein's trust.
"..."
Ludo strained his ears and listened to the conversation of the Milleritz Trading Company members.
"—Ah, that girl you picked at the brothel we went to last time. I remember. You requested her the time before that too, didn't you?"
"That girl is so cute, I can't stand it. I'd even want to buy out her contract."
"Gyahaha, an apprentice like you buying out a prostitute's contract? That's five... no, ten years too early. Think about it after you've gained more experience and can earn your own money."
The first thing he heard was casual chatter that wasn't particularly noteworthy. After that, inconsequential conversation continued for a while.
Then, the topic changed.
"...By the way, tomorrow's job is at two o'clock, right?"
"Yeah, our business partner is Murene-san."
"W-where is the, uh, place of the transaction?"
"The shop in the northwest block again... no, that place has been crowded lately, so Murene-san said their home on the east side of the southeast block would be better. Hahaha, don't get all nervous just because it's an important work talk."
"S-sorry. Hehehe."
"...We messed up in the last transaction with Luvon-san, too. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"Yeah, that was a terrible blunder. We can't let it make him that angry. We have to be careful."
At that conversation, Ludo strained his ears even more, focusing his concentration to listen intently.
In taking on this role, Ludo had received instruction from Baronet Yuri Granat on how to pick up important information.
If the other party were agents sent from somewhere, then from their perspective, this Grand Duchy of Arqvist was right in the middle of enemy territory. Even among only their comrades, they wouldn't necessarily discuss their work directly when carrying out some kind of operation. Trained agents would be wary, thinking they never knew when or where someone might be listening.
Therefore, they might pretend to have casual conversation and discuss their operation plans in code. So, even if it seemed like trivial talk at first glance, Ludo had been ordered by Yuri not to miss any topics that mentioned specific times and places.
The east side of the southeast block. Two o'clock. Murene. Luvon. Firmly committing that information to memory, Ludo confirmed through the wall that the trading company members had gone out to eat, waited a while, and then left the room himself.
.....
"...I see. A transaction at two o'clock tomorrow at the home of a person named Murene on the east side of the southeast block."
Noein, who had shown Ludo into the reception room after he came to report to the mansion, listened to his story and gave a thin smile. As usual, Matilda was in attendance at his side, and Guard Captain Pence and Yuri, who had come from military headquarters, were also present.
"I don't think there's any influential person named Murene or Luvon living in the southeast block, but what do you think, Ludo?"
"As Your Excellency Arqvist says. I am acquainted with almost everyone who owns a house in the southeast block, but I know of no one with such names."
Ludo answered Noein's question.
The area that is now the southeast block was the first to be developed in the history of the capital city Noeina. It is now inhabited by long-established citizens who have become landowners and wealthy merchants, and it is also where the homes of nobles and retainers who are vassals of the Grand Duke's family are gathered. It is, so to speak, the district for the wealthy of this country. The grounds of the Grand Duke's mansion are also included in this southeast block.
There are about a hundred commoner households with homes in the southeast block, and Ludo, being one of the oldest citizens, knows most of them well. At the very least, there is no house whose owner's name he hasn't even heard. There are no names like Murene or Luvon in Ludo's memory.
"They probably thought they were cleverly disguising it with code, but it's a crude trick."
It was Yuri who gave that assessment of the Milleritz Trading Company members' conversation.
"The residents of the southeast block are all deeply loyal to Your Excellency Arqvist. The probability of one of them cooperating with foreign agents is extremely low. 'Murene' is likely a code indicating the type of their action. It's conceivable that graffiti on walls is called 'Murene,' and attacks on beastman passersby are called 'Luvon.'"
"That's probably it. The 'blunder in the last transaction with Luvon' is likely about the incident where they killed a beastman passerby. If their goal is to create inter-racial conflict within the capital city Noeina and disrupt public order, they probably thought escalating matters to the point of causing deaths at this stage was too hasty."
Pence agreed with Yuri's analysis as he spoke.
"Well, even if it was an unforeseen circumstance for them too, the fact that my beloved subject died remains unchanged, so it's too late for them to regret it now."
Noein said this in a calm voice, but his voice contained a bone-chilling anger. So much so that everyone present involuntarily shuddered.
"...The reason they are considering committing their crimes in the southeast block instead of the northwest block is likely because the military has been particularly strengthening patrols in the northwest block, so they are avoiding it. Since many of the series of crimes occurred at night, 'two o'clock' probably refers to 2 AM, not 2 PM."
"That means they'll move tonight."
"Yeah, that's right."
Yuri nodded at Pence's words and turned towards Noein.
"Your Excellency. I believe we should mobilize soldiers from the Grand Duchy's army tonight to keep watch on Ludo's inn, track the three Milleritz members when they move, and capture them at the scene of their crime. As for personnel... I think thirty men would be enough. I would like to gather elites from the infantry units and, if possible, borrow Honorary Retainer Konrad and several members of the Guard."
"That's fine, proceed with that. Pence, I'll leave the selection of Guard members to you, okay?"
"Yes. I'll send three teams total, consisting of beastmen with good night vision and particularly excellent individuals."
Confirming Noein's permission, Yuri finally turned to Ludo.
"Ludo, it's your inn. To move secretly from a third-floor room in the middle of the night, tell me what routes they might take to leave the inn's premises. We'll deploy the soldiers based on that."
"Y-yes. It's likely that—"
Ludo explained that to leave the building, they might use the back stairs to descend to the first floor and go around to the back door, or use a rope from a window to descend to the roof of the stable below. To leave the premises, they might use the service entrance instead of the front, which was occasionally used even at night, or climb over the fence into the neighboring property, which was a rental warehouse and therefore unoccupied at night.
"Alright, then we'll set up surveillance centered on those two spots... Well then, Your Excellency, I will now proceed to organize and command the execution unit."
Saying this, Yuri stood up, and the operation to capture the three members of the Milleritz Trading Company, who were behind the series of incidents, began.
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