Chapter 59: Let’s Become a Spy
“Did that man give you something?” Alicia tilted her head.
“Dunno. It looks like a letter.” Eli opened it and read the contents.
‘Please go to Trinity Street, number 35.’
“Ah… such a place is not for you, Milady. Please ignore him. He is likely a crook or scammer,” the hairdresser said, bowing politely as she continue to comb through Eli’s blue hair.
“What do you know about it? Is it a famous building? I’ve never heard of it.”
“I do not know about the building itself. But I heard that address lies in the worst part of the slums. Many criminals live there—pickpockets, illegal gamblers, even robbers.”
“Have you been there?” Eli asked.
“No, Milady. But it is located in the slums. The slums are not a place for fine young ladies such as yourself. You might be kidnapped. Once taken, you may never return.”
“Never return? Wouldn’t kidnappers usually ask for ransom? If the parents could pay, surely the child would be returned, right?” Elidranthia tilted her head, wondering if the hairdresser was exaggerating because she was young.
“Well… no. Demanding ransom is dangerous—it exposes the kidnappers. Their entire family could be executed. Instead, they often sell the girls to brothels or even overseas. And since you are mages, your chances of returning would be even lower. Underground syndicates frequently force captured mages to work for them.”
“…I see. That’s frightening. I didn’t realize mages could be enslaved.” Eli whispered.
“Mages are powerful, yes. But they still have families. They still have weaknesses. Though… I’m not too familiar with it myself. It’s only hearsay. I’ve never been to the slums,” the hairdresser said with a polite smile.
Eli noticed how pleasant the hairdresser smelled—likely an expensive shampoo. A subtle sign that, although she was a commoner, she earned enough to afford small luxuries.
More than an hour later, the hairdresser finally finished with Eli and Alicia. Toward the end, conversation ran dry, and the hairdresser focused quietly on her work.
All the while, Eli’s thoughts lingered on the mysterious letter. She was curious.
Why had he chosen her?
Why Trinity Street?
And what awaited her in the slums?
Such questions lingered. As one chosen by the gods, she had an obligation to right the wrongs of the world. If these slums were holding prisoners stolen from their families, she had to rescue them.
“Alicia, let’s go to this place this evening,” Eli said, her expression firm.
Alicia looked at her and nodded. “All right! I’ll bring my sword!”
As the sun began to set, they changed into plain dresses and cloaks. Eli and Alicia slipped quietly into the slums, asking passersby for directions to the address the mysterious man had given them.
The slums were exactly as Eli had imagined. Dirty, unpaved streets where filth lined the roadside. Poor people sat motionless along the paths, as if waiting for a miracle that would never come.
It wasn’t the dirt or poverty that made Eli's frown. Shadowstep was a rural and impoverished territory too. Only its central plaza was paved. It was the atmosphere that disturbed her. The despair that hung in the air.
She knew these people weren’t sitting idly because they were lazy. They sat because they had lost hope. Society had stripped them of agency. They were denied opportunity, forced into backbreaking labor for pitiful wages, with no promise of a better tomorrow.
Shadowstep was poor, but its people still had hope. They had family. They had purpose.
These people had neither. No one cared about them. No one would mourn if they died in a ditch. Such was the cruel fate of the forgotten.
Despite their efforts to blend in, the two girls still drew attention. They wore simple cloaks and dresses—but in the slums, even ordinary clothing marked them as outsiders. To the hollow-eyed residents, they looked like pampered bourgeois girls pretending to be poor.
After all, their clothes were clean. Their posture was upright. Their hair and skin were without blemish. Proof that they did few menial labor. The previous day's manicure and pedicure worked against them today.
Eli sighed. She knew she had already been identified as an outsider. She had just received a manicure yesterday. No matter how modestly she dressed, she couldn’t hide her smooth skin—untouched by years of hard labor.
“Ah. The maid lady from yesterday. Want to buy some flowers?” a girl in ragged clothes asked as she approached Eli.
She was the same girl who had scammed her yesterday—selling a bundle of wildflowers she had picked outside the city for an entire silver coin.
“…Yesterday? You’ve been here before?” Eli asked.
“Yes. You see, I was looking for an underground evil organization yesterday. I heard they were somewhere around here.”
“An underground evil organization? Is this one of your prophetic dreams again?” Eli asked Alicia.
“Maybe? I don’t think they’re that evil. But they’re big,” Alicia said. She strained her mind, trying to recall how the Reapers operated. She remembered they had influence across multiple countries. They weren’t just a local rogue group—they were something far larger.
“What kind of organization is it?”
“It’s called… um… I’m not sure.” Alicia almost said Reapers, but she stopped herself.
In the NovelPhoenix, Eli had joined the Reapers and killed men, women, and even children. They were a secret organization—portrayed as well-intentioned extremists.
But that wasn’t the point. Alicia didn’t care about that orgaization. She had a single goal in this life: she would not allow Elidranthia to become a killer.
The Reapers were assassins and spies. If Eli joined them, assassination would become inevitable. Unfortunately, Alicia had already said too much. Eli’s interest had been piqued.
“So, will you buy flowers again, Miss Maid?” the girl asked innocently, oblivious to the tension. She clearly hoped to sell another bundle.
“I’ll buy them,” Eli said, handing over a silver coin. “Here. Now, do you know any bad people around here?”
She didn’t care about the flowers. Information was what she truly wanted. She would gladly pay gold for it.
“Bad people?” the flower girl tilted her head.
“I heard rumors about Trinity Street, number 35. Do you know where it is?”
“Ah, it’s right there,” the girl said, pointing down the street. “Turn left. It’s the biggest building there.”
She hesitated. “Lots of bad people live there.”
“Bad people?” Eli asked. Her lips curled into a grin.
She knew there was something wrong with that place. It was probably a den of human traffickers. If she could gather records of how many people had gone missing in this area, she would have solid evidence.
“Yeah,” the girl said. “They keep people out. Lots of scary men there.”
“Okay. Thanks. See you,” Elidranthia said as she turned to leave.
But just as she walked away, she caught sight of several older men intercepting the girl at the corner of her vision.
Eli froze. She suddenly realized the truth.
The scene reminded her of beggar syndicates in third-world countries from her previous life. No matter how much money she gave the girl, it wouldn’t help her. The money wouldn’t belong to the girl—it would go straight to the syndicate leader.
This had likely happened yesterday as well without Alicia noticing. Alicia had never faced such hardships before. Her knowledge of syndicates came mostly from video games. To her, it probably looked like an older brother collecting money from his sister.
“Hey! You!” Eli shouted, stomping forward. Her eyes glowed red. “Are you extorting her?”
“This is our turf, young lady,” one of the men replied coldly. “She is our employee.”
“Employee?!” Eli snapped. “What kind of company are you? You don’t have uniforms. I doubt you even have an office—or pay taxes!”
“Listen here, girl—” The thug loomed over Elidranthia.
But before he could approach, another man grabbed his arm.
“Careful,” the second man muttered. “She looks like a noble. Only nobles have maids. And that maid is armed.”
His gaze pointed toward Alicia.
Beneath her cloak rested her prized sword—Épée de Cour. Its white sheath, adorned with jewels, stood out unmistakably. Alicia’s hand already rested on its hilt.
She was eager. The sword was elegant. Beautiful. Fashionable. But it lacked one thing. It thirst for blood! Alicia believed that only after tasting the blood of wrongdoers would it truly become a hero’s blade.
“Tch! Selen. Let’s go,” the bandit ordered. The flower girl timidly followed him.
“I said stop! Release the girl at once!” Eli stomped the ground again. Her mana pulsed outward, and the earth trembled beneath their feet, knocking the bandits off balance. Several rocks rose and floated behind her.
Alicia immediately turned toward her mistress and drew her blade, pointing it at the gang leader.
“Oi! You really want a war?” the leader sneered. “You’re outnumbered, girl.”
The three henchmen drew their knives. Alicia responded in kind. Her blade shimmered with an ethereal blue glow. The effect was purely decorative—but no one there knew that.
To them, she was a mage.
“There are only four of you,” Alicia said coldly. “We are mages. Do you really want to test us?”
A small fireball formed at the tip of her sword, crackling with heat as she aimed it directly at the leader.
“…We’re leaving. You can have the girl,” the bandit clenched his teeth, slowly standing. He turned to retreat.
But Elidranthia wasn’t finished. If she let them go, they would simply return to prey on the helpless.
“Alicia. Capture them all,” Eli ordered. The floating rocks shot forward like bullets.
knowing the mages wouldn’t let them go, the bandits screamed and fled, panic overtaking them. But they didn’t get far. Alicia cast fireballs around their escape path, explosions forcing them to the ground.
Smoke filled the air. Before long, they lay on the ground, defeated. Thanks to them not resisting, they were no deaths.
“Alright! Line up, you lot!” Alicia commanded, hands on her hips. Her sword lowered—its glow fading. In truth, it had always been decoration.
“I give up! I give up! I’m sorry!” one of the bandits cried. “I’ll never come here again! I’ll give you anything you want! Please—spare me!”
“Good,” Eli said calmly. “Now that you understand your situation, I want answers.”
She stepped forward.
“Let’s begin the interrogation.”