Chapter : 403
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Chapter : 403
The resort town was packed with tourists. People wore bright, colorful clothes. They ate sweet treats from wooden food stalls. They laughed and took pictures near the water. The local shops sold shiny seashells and large beach towels. The atmosphere was incredibly peaceful. It did not look like a dangerous place at all.
They reached a massive, luxurious hotel. The building was made of pristine white stone. It sat right on the edge of the sparkling blue ocean. A polite worker opened the tall glass doors for them. They walked into the grand lobby. The floors were polished marble. Tall palm trees grew in large indoor pots. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.
The government diplomat walked to the front desk. He showed his official papers to the hotel staff. The staff gave him a set of golden keys. The diplomat walked over to Princess Iris.
"We have the top floor private suite," the diplomat said quietly. He handed the golden keys to the Princess. "I will go to my bedroom and rest. You may use the main living area for your operations. Good luck."
"Thank you, sir," Princess Iris nodded gracefully.
The group walked into a private elevator. The doors closed. The elevator zoomed upward to the top floor. The doors slid open. They stepped into an absolutely stunning, massive private suite. Huge glass windows offered a perfect view of the entire ocean. The room had plush white couches. A shiny glass table sat in the center. A large balcony overlooked the sandy beach below.
The diplomat walked straight into his separate bedroom. He closed the door. The lock clicked loudly.
Princess Iris waited for a few seconds. She made sure the door was completely secure. Then, she turned around to face her team. The polite, relaxed bodyguard act vanished instantly. Her violet eyes turned very serious. She looked directly at Sayma.
Sayma nodded. The Vice-Captain pulled a small magical device from her pocket. She walked slowly around the large suite. She scanned the walls. She checked under the white couches. She checked behind the long curtains. The device blinked with a green light.
"The room is completely clean," Sayma confirmed. She put the device away. "There are no hidden listening devices. Nobody is spying on us. We are totally safe to talk."
Naomi locked the main door to the hallway. She turned around and crossed her arms. "Alright. The diplomat is asleep. The doors are locked. What is actually going on, Princess? Why are we really here?"
Laxmi sat down on a plush white couch. She crossed her legs. "Yeah! I knew this was a fake mission. We are an elite vanguard. We do not just babysit boring government politicians on vacation. There has to be a fight somewhere."
Princess Iris walked to the center of the room. She clasped her hands together. "You are completely correct. The escort mission is just a convenient political cover. The Upper Council needed a perfectly normal reason to smuggle us into this specific city. Our true, high-stakes objective is to launch a covert investigation."
Ken sat down on a soft chair near the window. He kicked his shoes off. He wiggled his toes in his white socks. He slouched deep into the chair.
"A covert investigation?" Ken asked lazily. He stared at the ceiling. "That sounds like a massive amount of reading. Can Sayma just do all the reading? I will stay here and guard the hotel snacks. The mini-fridge looks very suspicious. I should inspect it."
Sayma ignored his ridiculous joke. She walked over to the glass table. She opened her neat notebook. She clicked her pen. "This is a massive economic crisis, Ken. It affects thousands of ordinary citizens. The Upper Council received some extremely alarming reports last week."
"Reports about what?" Zinia asked. The strong earth mage leaned against a marble pillar.
"Seafood," Sayma answered simply.
The room went quiet for a second. Ken stopped staring at the ceiling. He blinked his sleepy dark eyes. He looked at Sayma.
"Seafood?" Ken repeated. He tilted his head to the side. "Are we seriously investigating fish? Did a fish commit a crime? Because if a crab stole a wallet, I am officially retiring from this unit. That is way too ridiculous for me."
"It is not a joke, Ken," Sayma stated politely. She pushed her thick glasses up. "The price of local seafood in this entire coastal territory has skyrocketed. It happened very suddenly. It is a highly illegal, economically devastating uprising. The prices went up by four hundred percent in just one single month."
"Four hundred percent?!" Naomi gasped. Her green eyes widened in absolute shock. "That is totally impossible. Normal people cannot afford to eat at those prices. They will starve."
"Exactly," Princess Iris said sadly. She looked out the large glass window. "The common citizens are struggling to survive. Food is becoming entirely too expensive. The local economy is crashing. Small businesses are failing every day. The Upper Council noticed the massive price surge. They sent us to find the truth."
Ira stared blankly at the wall. Her face showed zero emotion. "Statistically speaking, a price increase of that magnitude violates basic supply and demand principles. It cannot occur naturally in a stable market. Someone is intentionally creating this crisis."
"Ira is absolutely right," Sayma explained. She tapped her pen on her notebook. She broke down the complex economics of the situation for the team. "I analyzed the market data thoroughly. Simple, everyday fishermen cannot artificially inflate prices like this. Normal street vendors cannot coordinate a massive price hike across an entire territory. They do not have the political power. They do not have the financial resources."
Laxmi frowned. She tossed a tiny orange spark between her fingers. "If the regular fishermen are not doing it, who is responsible?"
"The wealthy local lords," Princess Iris declared firmly. She turned back to face her unit. "The corrupt nobles who govern this coastal territory. They control the docks. They control the shipping routes. They must be the ones secretly approving these massive price hikes behind the Upper Council's back. They are manipulating the market for pure, unchecked greed."
Zinia cracked her knuckles loudly. "So the rich guys are cheating the system. They are stealing money from the commoners. That makes me very angry. Let us go down to their mansions. We can kick their doors down and make them stop."
"We cannot just attack them, Zinia," Princess Iris warned gently. "We have absolutely zero proof. The local lords are doing this entirely in secret. They are hiding their tracks perfectly. They are falsifying their financial reports."
Sayma nodded in agreement. "If we just accuse them without solid evidence, they will deny everything. They will claim the ocean is simply running out of fish. They will call us liars. We would trigger a massive, violent jurisdictional war between the capital and the coastal lords. We cannot start a political war without absolute proof."
Naomi uncrossed her arms. She understood the tactical problem completely. "So we have to catch them in the act. We have to figure out exactly why they are manipulating the market."