Einbeast’s capital was strategically relocated in the middle of a wasteland, where trade routes from different tribes merged. Once you entered the city, however, the level of enthusiasm in the air would make one forget about the wilderness outside. Various races gathered here: cat-eared girls, female reptiles, pale-skinned elderly, winged men, among others.

「There’s been a steep price jump in iron. We’ve been notified to even make use of scrap iron to melt and turn into weapons.」

「Harvest was abundant last year, but the rice and wheat we’ve stashed away are all sold out. Everything. Now, we’re struggling a bit on food.」

「People from all over the place are gathering here. Looks like a large-scale recruitment. Sorry, human girl, but Ponsonia discriminates against us Beastmen too much. They got too cocky.」

A girl was going around town, listening to gossips. She had short pink hair and curious eyes that blinked incessantly like a mischievous child. She donned a fluffy wool coat and wore short leather pants, tights over her legs.

Alice Sunborn studied the information she had gathered and arrived at only one conclusion.

Einbeast is raring for war. But why? There should be a ceasefire with Ponsonia right now.

Alice was a spy who trained under Unken. She wasn’t that skilled; in fact, she only had a low-level Imperceptibility which allowed her to sneak into an ordinary person’s house unnoticed.

When he was still alive, Unken lamented the incompetency of Quinbland’s spies. Hikaru thought Alice wasn’t fit to be a spy either. Still, she continued her work, partly because she had no other source of income. There was also the fact that Quinbland’s spies were not all that competent. The Empire couldn’t part with Alice, who could do her job fairly well.

Alice was in Hopestadt by the Empire’s orders.

I didn’t expect a direct order from His Majesty himself. He was right on the money, though. That man’s got a keen eye, all right.

Alice walked the streets while eating roasted sheep intestines on a skewer. While it was considered a bizarre food, this country loved food with strong aroma. At first, Alice had to force herself to eat so she could blend in better, but eventually she grew to like the food. She loved how the spices tingled her tongue.

「Hello. Oh, Alice.」

「Hi.」

Alice entered an Adventurers Guild in Hopestadt. There were many adventurers in this city, so three guild branches had to be built. Alice came to the smallest one of the three.

The receptionist—a pretty lady with bunny ears—at the counter seemed like she had a lot of time in her hands. She would be getting married this coming spring and retire from her job. She had too much free time that she even told Alice about this.

「Slow day, huh?」Alice said.

「Yeah. Nothing we can really do about it.」

There was a reason the receptionist didn’t have much to do. Not because there were three guilds here. Normally, all three branches would be packed with adventurers. But something happened in the last few days.

The adventurer party that the incredibly popular and charismatic lion king of Einbeast, Gerhardt Vatex Anchor, summoned to the palace, had entered Hopestadt. A B-ranked party, its members were all beautiful ladies. It was no wonder that adventurers had taken an interest in them.

The Four Stars of the East arrived at the biggest guild in the city, so adventurers flocked there. The ladies went back and forth between the royal palace and the guild. Adventures desperate to catch a glimpse of them gathered at the guild, some of them even challenging the ladies to a fight. Their leader, Selyse, took on the challengers and beat them utterly in no time at all. This only made them more popular.

All this, however, had nothing to do with Alice. She didn’t care. In fact, she could avoid drawing attention this way.

「Can I use the back room?」she asked.

「Sure. I must say, that’s an interesting request. Market research, correct?」

「Haha, yeah. What do you call this kind of job again? Price Hunter?」Alice said as she handed her guild card.

【Adventurer Guild Card】

【Name】Alice Sunborn

【Registration】Quinbland Empire Capital Adventurers Guild

【Rank】E

【Job Class】—

Alice had a face that said she was an adventurer who simply wanted to fulfill requests. Her low rank and the fact that the guild card couldn’t be forged made it easier for her to gain people’s trust. The registration field might show that she was from Quinbland, but it didn’t matter. Requests made for a good cover, like a delivery quest to Einbeast, or like the job she was working on right now: Market research. She went around checking prices of goods and sent the information to Quinbland using the communication device that the guild possessed.

Alice entered the back room where the device, Linga’s Quill Pen, was kept. She already knew how to use it, so she just handed the receptionist the payment. As for the catalyst, she brought her own.

「All righty, then. Time to report to the boss.」

Alice quickly wrote down the prices of minerals, iron, and food and sent the information. Prices had gone up, an indication that Einbeast was preparing for war. There was no need to write that down as well.

There were rumors that Linga’s Quill Pen could be tapped, so sending top-secret information as is would not be wise. She ended her report with “I’m heading to Einganstadt after this,” a code that meant the army would be heading there, a town near the border between Einbeast and Ponsonia.

Linga’s Quill Pen was an extremely convenient means of communication. Other magic items would be too expensive for one spy to use. Fast horses were very unreliable. Not only that, if a problem arose, intel wouldn’t reach the recipient. Worse, it could get stolen.

Even though Linga’s Quill Pen could be tapped, all you really had to do was encrypt the intel as something harmless. The only downside to it was higher ranked adventurers would have a harder time gaining the trust of the guild.

「Phew. Aaand we’re done.」

After confirming that the message was sent, she used a brush to scatter some catalyst.

「Disguising intel as market research. Smart.」

「What?!」Alice jumped about thirty centimeters.

「Wh-Wh-Who’s there—」

「Ssh. Quiet now.」

When she turned around, she found a blade by her throat.

「Ah…」

A familiar person stood there, the hood on his cloak hung low over his eyes, and a silver mask on his face. A boy with a weak presence who seemed to disappear if you didn’t keep your gaze on him.

「Silsil!」

「Stop calling me that.」

Alice met Hikaru back when she infiltrated Margrave Grugschilt’s residence, where she got busted by the sharp instincts of Lawrence and Aglaia. Hikaru chased her as she made her escape, after which she brought him to her master, Unken, on the condition that he punched the guy. Hikaru introduced himself as Silver Face, then. They hadn’t seen each other since.

Ultimately, Unken threatened her, causing her to run for dear life. In the end, Hikaru didn’t have much of a bad impression of her.

「Uh, wait. Did you see what I sent? It’s supposed to be confidential…」

「I did, but it’s fine. It’s probably for Kaglai, right?」

「Wha?! How’d you know?! Wait, you’re speaking of His Majesty like you’re close?!」

The boy’s mouth curved into a smile.

「I arrived in town just a while ago, but I already learned a lot.」he said.「Thanks. So Einbeast is keen on crushing Ponsonia.」