Chương 22: Distrust and Suspicion

Damn it, I didn't expect this at all. Awkwardly and with slight nervousness, Lucille walked straight to Alice as she presented a calm and brave face. This was the absolute worst-case scenario. After all, Lucille confirmed a creeping suspicion she had now that she found out that Alice could see through her cloak's powerful enchantments. She's no normal daughter of a wealthy magnate. No… she's at least a Grand Magi in strength.

In other words, Lucille and Alice were very likely on the same footing, at least in personal power. She would have to tread carefully.

"I didn't expect you to be here. I didn't know you conduct business with a newspaper now," Lucille nonchalantly said as she greeted Alice, who also smiled and laughed a bit.

"I can say the same about you, Your Highness," Alice said, tilting her head.

"I wonder if we have the same reasons why we're here." Both Lucille and Lorraine went silent; meanwhile, Alice simply smiled at them, not a hint of hostility in her eyes. The shock was brief, though, and Lucille managed to shake her head with a giggle.

"I sure hope not," Lucille said.

"Anyway, I am in a bit of a rush since I still have other matters to attend to. Though, maybe we can have a meeting at the Adventurer's Guild tonight?"

"Sure, I'm up for it. But why? Are we discussing adjustments to our contract?"

"No, I just wish to have a friendly chat with you. That's all."

"I see. Sure, I'm up for it, Your Highness." Lucille's eyes widened as Alice laughed lightly. Her divine blessing, [Moral Foresight], told her that there was not a hint of deception in Alice's words. She genuinely accepted Lucille's offer without ulterior motives. As always, Alice acted as she did when she met Lucille—friendly and without malice. Yet, Lucille also knew because of [Moral Foresight] that Alice was still hiding something from her even when she had no malicious intent, which was beyond contradictory.

It didn't help that the Oracle Network didn't know what this secret was, and looking back, Lucille realized how unnerving that was. All of this was too confusing. What was she exactly? Who was she? Was she, in truth, a wolf in sheep's clothing? The lack of answers fueled Lucille's anxiety, making her mind a jumbled mess. Could she even trust her [Moral Foresight]? Was she just misreading things and assuming the worst of Alice? There were no answers.

"I look forward to meeting you tonight." Lucille wore a fake smile as she nodded.

"Have a good afternoon."

"You too." And with that, Lucille and Lorraine left the newspaper headquarters. She felt lightheaded.

"... Are you alright?" Lorraine suddenly said behind her as they walked on the streets.

"You can just cancel meeting her if you don't want to."

"No." Lucille gritted her teeth as she raised her head.

"I have to check if she found out what we're doing or not." I need to make sure that she didn't find out, and if she did, I want to see whether or not she'll react badly to what I did. After finding out that the Oracle Network knew nothing about Alice, Lucille's anxiety was a little bit high for comfort. After all, Alice was lying. But why was she friendly and so genuine when she interacted with Lucille? Would that change if Lucille confronted her about her lies?

Would that change once Alice found out that Lucille was trying to buy information about her? Would she finally reveal her true colors? I also need to protect my supply of monster cores. That will be my top priority. If Alicia found out that Lucille was investigating her, Lucille hoped that she could talk things out and maybe buy some time until she found an alternative supplier of monster cores, though that was still far out of reach.

It was all the more reason why Lucille needed to talk to Alice and check if everything was still normal. Indeed, this was a difficult balancing act. She needed to appease someone so enigmatic to continue her project, but she also needed to find out whether she was a threat or not. I hope that my [Moral Foresight] isn't lying to me. The last thing Lucille wanted, after all, was a direct confrontation when she wasn't ready yet. Alicia failed.

For some reason, after talking a little bit more with the representatives of the Enterprise Daily Herald, asking about the Oracle Network, Alicia was turned around and promptly escorted out by security. They weren't hostile at all, and the guard who went with her was actually rather friendly, but Alicia saw that the strange employee she talked to seemed wary of her. Why aren't they letting me in? Did I mess up by going straight through their front door?

It was probably because of that, since Alicia didn't have any connection with them. Though, considering Lucille visited this place, Alicia wondered if she went to the Oracle Network to ask for information about Alicia, thus making the Oracle Network wary of her. It wouldn't be surprising because Alicia created an extremely close partnership with a crown princess who's in a succession crisis, and she wore a mask so mysterious while doing it.

Anyone dealing with Alicia would therefore, naturally, try to find information about her. It was why, from the start, she had been meticulous at constructing this 'Alice Kasperska' persona. She anticipated that the Oracle Network was also going to gather information about her once she tried to buy information about them, so before coming here, she improved the measures she took to keep her identity clean and unblemished.

For example, she double-checked her records to make sure that they were much more consistent than her previous identity in Polonia, and that her paper trail was clean and unsuspecting. She even created a false, high-level artificial spirit that completely matched Alice's behavior and appearance that would materialize whenever Alicia left her home here at Lorienval.

That 'Alice' acted as a proxy who would guard her property here and also make sure that no one would suspect at all that she was a teleporting vampiric archmage who lived in Vael and not in Lorienval. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Such measures meant that if someone were to observe her from a distance or check existing papers and records about her, Alice Kasperska would only appear as a normal businesswoman who immigrated to Lorienval.

So all in all, even if the second scenario was happening, this was a manageable issue. The only actual problem she had was that the Oracle Network was temporarily closed off to her right when she needed it to cultivate more business contacts. I should have gone here sooner. Then again, if she had come here earlier, she wouldn't have any countermeasures in place against the Oracle Network.

For now, her best bet was to either wait things out and let the Oracle Network finish investigating her—assuming that they were doing this—find out nothing, and then decide to work with her, or Alicia could try finding someone connected to them, and maybe they could help Alicia gain access to the Oracle Network. The best option Alicia had then was Lucille. After all, she did seem like she managed to talk with the Oracle Network earlier. Luckily, they had a scheduled dinner tonight.

So she waited for their agreed time for their meeting tonight and made sure that she got early. To her surprise, though, Lucille and Lorraine were waiting for her already. Things started off lightly. Alicia and Lucille first exchanged greetings and discussed what food to order. Though, Alicia noticed that both Lucille and Lorraine was slightly wary of her for some reason.

Deciding to give them a friendly overture to loosen things up, when Lucille ordered only a simple salad and fruit juice—probably because she had no appetite to eat anything more than that—Alicia made sure to order the same. Just that action alone managed to slightly lower the guard of Lucille's wary knight, Lorraine. With that out of the way, the two continued their little chat.

"How's your business doing, Alice?" asked Lucille, clearly curious.

"I hope that things are improving on your end."

"They are," Alicia said, smiling.

"Currently, I'm making inroads finding more buyers of monster cores. Oh, and the steel mill I'm working on is being constructed faster than I expected. I plan to open more businesses soon in my homeland."

"Is that so? What exactly are they?"

"It's still yet to be decided."

"I believe there's an increase in demand for common furniture right now coming from peasants moving into the cities to become workers."

"I see… I might just try to take advantage of that, then." Alicia, of course, knew about this already. It was why her next goal was to open a lumber mill and maybe a furniture factory in Orevogorsk. Of course, she still lacked the necessary workforce for it, but, if she could sell either lumber or furniture straight into the Alsatian market while its prices were on the rise, it would be a massive boon for her balance sheets.

More Alsatian ducats meant more money to import machinery, equipment, and other necessary items for industrial expansion. Hence, she needed the Oracle Network to keep her operations smooth and expand her business contacts. So, she bought it up in front of Lucille.

"It's actually why I'm trying to gain access to the Oracle Network," Alicia bluntly said.

"Since I know they're the best when it comes to providing information unknown to the public, I hope that they will give me a bit of an edge." Upon saying that, Alicia noticed Lucille becoming visibly nervous, her hold on her fork trembling a bit. It was so minor that it would have been unnoticed by the untrained eye, but Alicia wasn't someone that could be easily deceived by emotional suppression. She could tell, concretely, that Lucille was triggered when Alicia mentioned the Oracle Network.

Her earlier assumption might have merit.

"Did you try buying information about me from them?" Alicia asked again before Lucille managed to get out a response. This visibly placed a lot of pressure on the princess. Before Alicia knew it, Lucille immediately cracked, her tone defensive.

"Yes, I did," Lucille answered.

"I went there to ask for information about you, yes."

"... I see." There was silence between the two parties. Alicia saw Lorraine's hand twitching uncomfortably close to the hilt of her sword. Lucille was frozen, unable to say anything further, as if waiting for Alicia to make her response. As for Alicia, she was completely unsurprised. She had already suspected it earlier, and due to her measures to protect herself, she knew she shouldn't be largely affected. I do have to be more careful from now on, though. Alicia thought.

And I can tell that Lucille is more wary of me than usual. I guess being told that I'm 'normal' didn't satisfy her. A sigh came from Alicia. This was a potential headache incoming, considering Lucille was her most valuable connection in Alsatia so far.

After all, she was the crown princess meant to ascend to the imperial throne of this nation, so literally, losing her would be the greatest fumble for Alicia, so she would probably have to make overtures to smooth things out with Lucille, but for now, her hands were tied. Alicia had no idea yet about Lucille's true nature, so she didn't exactly know yet what she could do to make Lucille distrust her less. So, all she could do for now was act friendly.

"Well," Alicia tried to smile a bit to ease things up after their awkward exchange earlier.

"Since you did that, that means you have access to the Oracle Network, right? Can you help me out? I need them too."

"You…wish to be referred to them?" Lucille asked, surprise clear in her eyes.

"You want my help for this?"

"Of course. I would really appreciate it, Your Highness."

"... Okay." Lucille leaned back before whispering something to her knight. As for Alicia, she breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that Lucille was going to start having a panic attack about being discovered, but it seemed that things were alright for now. Lucille looked back at Alicia.

"I'll have my knight escort you there," Lucille said.

"She's known to the employees of the Oracle Network, so if she gives them a good word for you, they'll let you in."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help, Your Highness." Alicia smiled. Lucille, on the other hand, was still dumbfounded about Alicia's behavior for a good while, but, after this conversation, their chat went on much more smoothly. Mostly, they just talked about current market trends in the capital, alongside nice landmarks in Alsatia that Alicia hadn't yet visited, something that the princess seemed proud of.

In the end, somehow, even if Lucille was more wary of Alicia than usual, it didn't seem like she was fully spooked by Alicia just yet, and their partnership should still be stable. It was a great relief for Alicia. Soon, Lorraine and Alicia left the Adventurer's Guild to return to the headquarters of the Enterprise Daily Herald. Unlike Lucille, it was clear that Lorraine was still more standoffish and wary of Alicia.

Throughout their walk, there wasn't a single word from the knight, and Alicia could tell that Lorraine was watching her back a little too much. Well, I can't exactly blame her. Even if things didn't go so badly earlier during their meeting, Alicia knew just how utterly suspicious she was acting. The fact that she had the boldness to just go and ask for Lucille's help, after Lucille revealed that she went to the Oracle Network because of Alicia, was probably a little bit disconcerting for the princess.

But no incident happened. Lorraine was polite and straightforward at guiding Alicia throughout the newspaper's headquarters. She accompanied her to meet the special employee that Alicia was talking to earlier. Lorraine and the employee talked for a few seconds while Alicia stood on the sidelines, and before she knew it, the employee relented and said that Alicia should follow their lead. Before that, though, Alicia turned to Lorraine to give her thanks.

"Tell Her Highness that I look forward to meeting her again," Alicia said with a friendly smile.

"Have a good evening, Dame Lorraine."

"To you too, Ms. Kasperska." Lorraine gave her a neutral nod before turning around and leaving. As for Alicia, she finally got what she wanted, as she followed the employee to the true headquarters of the Oracle Network. It was time to find people who could help her with the lumber mill project.