Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 112 - Topside

Medrauta and Viviane hurried through the tunnels.

The brigand who'd assisted them early had beaten a hasty retreat during the brief confrontation with Ricardo's guards, taking the opportunity to slip away at the first opportunity. Of course, Medrauta had noticed the man's attempts at slinking back into the shadows, but the knight didn't exactly see the point in keeping the brigand here.

After all, he had served his purpose and he would've simply been another liability that Medrauta would need to keep her eye on. She considered the possibility that a fool like him could return with reinforcements to try and exact revenge, but Medrauta felt pretty confident she could take on anything the brigand threw at her.

Not being able to compensate the man for his aid had left Viviane slightly miffed, but Medrauta didn't think much of it. After all, the man was a denizen of the underground for a reason, and Viviane quickly forgot about the brigand as she explored several complicated lines of questioning with Ricardo that left Medrauta's head spinning.

Though hesitant at first, Ricardo quickly found himself having a penchant for investigations and dove headfirst into helping Viviane uncover whatever secrets lurked behind the transactions he'd helped complete over the past few days.

As a middleman, his policy had always been to refrain from asking questions. There was little need in the market for an overly inquisitive fixer, and he'd built his reputation on secrecy and expediency. However, he was quickly discovering that his talents lay not only in connecting individuals, but also unearthing whatever secrets they were attempting to hide.

Of course, some secrets were a little more difficult to uncover than others, but with Viviane and Ricardo working tirelessly together, even those challenges seemed to be a breeze. Most of the work was done poring over documents and ledgers, and though Medrauta wished to help, she'd nearly fallen asleep several times causing her to be relegated to guard duty.

"So... Run me through the whole thing again, Viviane?" Medrauta asked. She and Viviane were currently being led back to their point of entry by Gerard, one of Ricardo's guards. Since their original tour guide was now gone, Ricardo had no choice but to lend one of his men to the pair.

"Well, to begin with, there was a hefty sum of silver that passed hands just the day before we arrived. There were a few other exchanges of money, but that one was the most suspicious." Viviane explained.

"Why's that?"

"Well, we could find a reason for the other ones. Ricardo likes to keep tabs on his customers just in case. He doesn't really ask much about the jobs that he's setting up, but apparently when it comes to the customers themselves, he looks into them a little. He told me it's a safety precaution for the people who work down here."

That it is. Medrauta nodded. Even the most discreet fixer dug up dirt on their customers, not out of curiosity, but solely for the purposes of blackmail in case anything went wrong. After all, living in the underground generally meant things went wrong quite often in one way or another.

"Anyway, the other transactions seemed to be the usual: money laundering or moving assets out of the fief. It seems like even nobles from other fiefs are worried about Lord Bastiche's recent activities," Viviane continued. "That's what made the silver payment so suspicious."

Medrauta frowned, not really following along. She understood that nobles who dabbled in illicit trades sent their hirelings to launder money or participate in illegal events like slave auctions, but she had no idea how that made a transaction of silver suspicious. After all, not all nobles were as rich as Viviane.

"It's because the duchy is on the brink of civil war." Viviane clarified as she saw the confusion on her knight's face. "Of course, payments will be made even during war, and moving assets is common. However, it's strange for someone to pay such a large sum when we're on the cusp of war, especially when that money might be needed during or after the war."