Eleanor of the Shadow Palace

XII

“Last question…” he stared at us, his expression was that of disbelief and surprise. “Have you two lost your minds?”

“”I beg your pardon?””

I couldn’t help but look at Mr. Fido like he lost his mind.

Why?

Because one, we were his customers, he was just being plain rude and two his question was very offensive.

“Mr. Fido, we paid you to get us some information not pepper us with questions.” I said after the long and awkward silence. “Now I believe we were promised the information we paid for?”

Mr. Fido blinked and looked like he was finally able to get a grip of himself.

“My apologies young miss and young sir. I was just very surprised when I was collecting the information you asked. I didn’t know people as young as the two of you would be curious about such things.”

“Are you even supposed to have such thoughts Mr. Fido?” Edmund asked, his voice a little edgy.

“It’s my job to observe the questionable and know the answers to the unknown. But anyway, here is the information you commissioned for.”

He gave us the stack of paper he had in his hand. As we read it, he also started talking about the information written on the paper.

“The Dandelion Candy Shop is in all sense a candy shop. It’s a legitimate one too. It is recorded in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and has an issued license. Most of all, it is run by Baron Gregalis, a merchant-turned-noble who’s one of the forerunners of the Merchant Guild.”

I knew the name.

Hubert Gregalis, a merchant who bought his noble status. In the general eye he ran legible businesses but in the shadows, he ran a trafficking ring. He sold weapons, drugs, even people.

-Of course. How could I forget about him?

Baron Gregalis wasn’t affiliated with any high noble families yet but in a couple of years he would become one of the vassals of the Vimi Family because of his connections to the underworld. I also had a personal grudge against him.

He abducted one of my few friends and sold him as a slave. Not to mention he and his son r***d a few others including my personal maid.

With that in my mind, I couldn’t help but hate the man. I had a bone to pick with him.

A sigh suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned to its source and saw Mr. Fido’s face becoming even more stressed.

-Is he supposed to even do that? Or is he doing that because he thought we were really kids?

“In connection, as you can see in the documents, Baron Gregalis is not an average noble. He has businesses both in the legitimate sector as well as the Black Market.”

The Black Market is the collective name of where buying and exchanging of goods in all sorts of illegal ways are usually found.

-Ed used to rule the Black Market back on earth as the don of Sceptre. It also used to be my playground.

“Not much people know about it but he’s one of the underground bosses that rule the south of Primavera Empire. And since he’s a merchant, he has connections in other countries. The Dandelion Candy Shop is just a front for his d**g trafficking branch in Ylvich. The store is where supplies are delivered and where the sellers get the goods they will sell on the streets or to a specific buyer.” Mr. Fido added. “My question is, how did you guys get involved with them?”

“I think that’s not part of the contract Mr. Fido.” I said and paired it with a sickly smile. “I think we should adhere to the contents of our contract. And have you ever heard of customer satisfaction? Businesses like this should always uphold such a thing you know?”

“Little Miss, we do have principles and ethics. Baron Gregalis is a big name in both the Merchant Guild and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. I think poking your noses around that doesn’t concern you is a bad thing, just saying.”

“And I’m saying you should take your own advice and stop questioning us. We are the customers at the moment. If it was up to me, I’d only give you half a star for your services at the moment, and that’s me being generous.”

“You’ve always been stingy when it comes to rating services though.” Ed whispered beside me. “Even your online delivery ratings were two stars at most on sellers, products and delivery.”

“Shush little brother.” I growled, elbowing him. I then turned to Mr. Fido. “I believe the information is adequate, thank you Mr. Fido. The Shadow Palace never ceases to amaze me when it comes to the accuracy of the content of the information I paid for. The people on the other hand… Well, I’m still undecided on that note, but we are grateful for your services. As per the contract, I think we should proceed with the spell.”

“Uhm, yes, of course. Once you exit this room, you will forget all about me as well as the transaction we just made, even the conversation we just had. The only things you will remember are the codes needed to render our services, as well as the fact that you commissioned us to gather information and receiving said information.”

I only nodded my head.

“Ah, before we go, can we perhaps commission you once again?”

“Excuse me?”

“We need information on an organization called Black Pandora.”

***

“Rude.” I growled and glared at the direction of the café.

Just a few moments ago, we got kicked out of the café. They did it in a nicer way but it basically meant ‘don’t-come-bring-us-trouble-and-stay-out!’. Yeah, I could feel I was right.

“But we’re still going to come to them right?” Edmund asked once we entered an alleyway not that far from the café. “We still need information regarding you-know-what.”

“Yes. It’s quite suspicious though. They obviously know something about that organization, if ever it is an organization, but they’re not willing to share.” I sighed. “If only I could remember who catered our commission.”

As the contract stated, customers would forget anyone related to the Shadow Palace whom they met during their transaction. At that moment, I knew somebody gave us the information but I did not remember who.

-Quite handy to be honest. I wonder what spell they used and who thought of such a thing.

“Let’s worry about that later.” I said as we neared the Commoner’s District. “Let’s deal with this d**g trafficking first. If Katherine really is using drugs to ensnare our father, then it is our duty as his kids to stop it and let him realize that Katherine is no good for him and his family. This is a start.”

“By the way El, you seem to know that baron mentioned a while ago.”

I couldn’t help but purse my lips.

“Unfortunately. “ I growled and clenched my fists. “He… he’s a very awful guy. He’s not yet affiliated with the Vimi’s so we have time.”

“Time for what?”

“Before Katherine gets her sparkly manicured fingers on him and his business, we have to take them down.” I turned to my brother and gave him a smile. “Baby steps little bro.”

“Ugh. Don’t call me that.” he shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t think the information we have is enough. Sure the candy shop is where those pushers get their supplies but how do we exactly take them down with just that?”

“Simple. This time, we’ll gather the information ourselves. The information from Shadow Palace is a good start, we can manage from there.”

“Are you sure?” Ed asked, looking quite skeptical.

“Yeah.”

“And how will we do that?”

“Many ways… we can do stakeouts, or infiltrations.”

“We do not have enough time for that.”

I just clicked my tongue. What Edmund said made sense. We were part of the imperial family, so stuff that would take days to complete would be quite impossible for us.

“Let’s do extortion then.” Ed suddenly suggested but he sighed. “No, that’s a bad idea. We need an adult.”

“We don’t.” I gave him a smile. “We just need a good excuse.”