Chapter 76: Combat Mode
"Buy today’s latest gazette! Today’s latest gazette! The Bloody Swan strikes again! Reports of the Bloody Swan attacking a patrol of guards at Roseville and Monroe! Read it in today’s gazette!"
It has been three days since Isabella joined the Bloody Swan hideout as an information gatherer and analyst. Vivian carefully revealed to her that she was the Bloody Swan, which royally freaked Isabella out as she demanded Vivian halt these reckless activities at once.
However, the fact that Vivian was already a 1-star Bronze Knight changed things and Isabella wasn’t sure what to do with all that information she was gathering. It seemed like a good idea to cause some accidents but it goes without saying that Isabella was worried sick about Vivian’s actions.
As for this morning’s news, Isabella sat on the balcony as her servant brought her the gazette and she read it over a cup of tea.
"... the rapid sound of gunfire echoed through the conjunction of Roseville and Monroe late at night as five members of the Blackguards were shot on the spot and fire was set to the wagon they were driving. Witnesses claim that a strong scent could be smelled with the smoke as it indicated that the wagon was transporting some sort of herb, which begs the question, why are the Blackguards interfering with the herb trade?"
Putting down the newspaper, Isabella realized that Vivian had just killed 5 individuals and burnt a wagon to the ground. This was one of the recent intel Isabella has provided to Vivian about the Blackguards transporting ingredients for their drug production. What Vivian did last night was an attempt to beat around the bush of the Blackguards’ operations and see whatever jumps out.
Isabella couldn’t help but feel like she was dazed with worry and decided to head to see Vivian immediately. Knowing her nowadays activities, she’s probably down in the hideout.
As Isabella descended from her end of the tunnel down into the secret hideout, she discovered that the place was expanded and now she could walk straight into the tunnel without lowering her head. On top of that, it seemed that Voros had fixed some torches and lanterns for illumination after managing to make some ventilation holes through secret chimneys.
As she entered the hideout, Isabella found that Vivian was organizing the place from inside and had added some personal touches to it. A few old seats, a table, some barrels and blanks, a few old rugs, and a cupboard filled with all sorts of clutter.
"Feels homey, eh?" In the middle of all that, Vivian greeted Isabella who just walked in.
"The news is all over." Isabella said as she put the newspaper on the makeshift table for Vivian to see.