Water Magician

Chapter 341: Doge Pietro

Two days after crossing the border, Ryo entered Mussolente, the capital of the Republic of Mafalda.

The capital, Mussolente, is a seaside trading city and surprisingly vibrant.

Looking at the surrounding energy from the window of the carriage, Ryo nodded repeatedly.

“It’s very lively.”

Like he was responsible for it somehow.

The carriage stopped in front of a seemingly high-class inn that was close to the city center but occupied a fairly large piece of land.

“Thank you very much.”

With a word of gratitude, he paid the coachman. With some tips, of course.

Travel funds were plentiful as he was funded by the mission.

In the meantime, an employee came out of the inn and carried the luggage loaded on the carriage to the inn.

Everything progressed smoothly.

There was no momentary delay or ounce of stress.

It was top-notch service.

Ryo was in a good mood and went through the door of the inn.

He entered a huge lobby.

The lobby was spacious with the ceiling 3 floors up and very well-lit with plentiful use of glass.

Even Ryo was overwhelmed.

So far, his best lodging on ‘Phi’ was probably the inn where he stayed in Marquis Heinlein’s territory as a mission to Twilight Land.

As an inn under the direct control of the noble family of Marquis Heinlein, everything was perfect.

However, this inn seemed to be just as good as that.

“Welcome to Doge Pietro.”

The lady at the reception also had a nice smile.

“Hello. For now, I’d like to request for three nights.”

Ryo’s job was just to hand the letter directly to the other party.

But it was already three o’clock in the evening, so he won’t be going out that day…

Hm? It’s already three o’clock, the time to get rid of the fatigue of the day, you know?

You can’t visit someone without an appointment at that time, yeah, you can’t.

Well, anyway, it was just handing over a letter, so it should be done soon but… Ryo seemed to be planning to stay for three nights.

In Ryo’s head, he had already made plans to tour the city.

And of course, he referenced the ‘Travel Guide’ for his plans.

When he left the dormitory, he borrowed an extra copy…

Surprisingly, the ‘Travel Guide’ contained quite detailed information about the only Republic in the Western Countries and even its capital city… even though there were no plans to go to the Republic during this westbound trip.

But the information was there.

Incredibly, he still had not found anything missing from the ‘Travel Guide’.

The room Ryo was guided to was on the top floor, the eighth floor.

In the room which was easily over 100 square meters, there was an open-air bath that was naturally attached to it.

Not only in the Central Countries but also in the Western Countries, was it a standard for luxury inns to have attached open-air baths…

Well, nothing beats being comfortable.

After crossing the border, some people kept an eye on Ryo.

They’re from the Republic Secret Services.

Not only are they capable of espionage, but they are also skilled in melee combat that rivals other knights. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the elite who support the independence of the Republic from behind the scenes.

However, even though they are such an elite group, their condition has become strained over the past few days.

“Is there still no replacement?”

“Yes. Headquarters persists to continue monitoring.”

“Damn… too many church personnel are entering… we don’t have enough people.”

Yes, in the past few days, many people related to the Western Church entered the Republic, and a lot of personnel were mobilized to monitor them.

Of course, many of those entered the country after going through regular procedures, so they can’t be put in jail…

But it’s possible that some may be entering to conduct sabotage.

They couldn’t let their guard down.

As a result, the monitoring of Ryo was always done by the same people.

Captain: Bangan.

Vice Captain: Amalia.

Member: Shuri.

These three.

Originally, it was supposed to be a system of five people, and every twenty-four hours, the five people would be replaced, but for the reason mentioned earlier, there weren’t enough people at all.

“Captain Bangan, how should we monitor the inn? With three people…”

Vice Captain Amalia confirmed the surveillance plan.

This time, it was too different from usual.

There weren’t enough people, no replacements… and what’s more, the target of surveillance wasn’t people from the church or potential enemy countries, but a dignitary from the Central Countries mission.

Furthermore, he stayed in a first-class inn.

When it comes to this class of inns, it is impossible to bribe the employees to collect information.

The employees are also carefully selected.

“It can’t be helped… Someone will have to stay on the same floor. I’ll …”

“Captain, that’s sly! Just because it’s a luxury inn that you rarely stay at…”

“W-What are you talking about? I’ll be staying because I can handle anything that happens, not because the dinner here is delicious.”

Vice Captain Amalia criticized him and Commander Bangan defended himself.

Shuri, who was further away, looked at the two of them and shook her head slightly…

In the end, the infiltration was called off.

Due to new instructions from the Headquarters, there were more targets to be monitored, so they had to send Shuri there.

Captain Bangan and Vice Captain Amalia, who were left behind, continued to watch from outside the inn while sighing over and over again…

The next day.

A delicious dinner, a comfortable sleep, and a delicious breakfast.

Everything was perfect.

Ryo left the inn after doing some light stretching after his meal.

To complete the job he had been contracted to do, which was to deliver the letter.

Naturally, the two intelligence agents who were monitoring Ryo, Captain Bangan and Deputy Commander Amelia, kept a certain distance and followed him.

The main task assigned to the two of them was to find out why this ‘Premier Duke of the Kingdom’ came to the Republic, and what his purpose was.

Also, if he tries to cause some kind of sabotage, they are allowed to stop him immediately.

For that reason, both of them were trained in close combat.

Ryo intentionally walked from the inn.

Of course, the inn tried to arrange a carriage, but he declined.

He wanted to walk around town for a while.

And…

((I’m being watched all the time.))

((It’s only natural for a country to monitor a visibly suspicious water-attribute magician.))

((A king from somewhere who doubts people from the bottom of his heart… I think it would be nice if the world was filled with a little more kind people. Like me.))

((If it weren’t for the last two words, some people might agree!))

The surrounding people didn’t know that such a conversation was being held using ‘Soul Resonance’.

Of course, the two people who were watching him didn’t know either.

((The address is around here, but… hmm, maybe I should ask the two people observing me))

((No, idiot, stop it. Don’t intentionally cause a fight.))

Ryo’s proposal was stopped by the king in the distant royal capital.

It is typical that people who are not on-site do not understand the hardships of the site!

Since it can’t be helped, Ryo entered a nearby cafe.

((Since Abel rejected my suggestion, I have no choice but to ask at the cafe. Yes, I have no choice. It isn’t because there is a rindo tart that looks delicious. It’s true!))

((Ah, yeah… I somewhat could tell before you said anything why you chose that cafe…))

However, the two people who were watching did not know the reason.

“He entered ‘Cafe Royale’…”

“Okay, we’ll monitor from the outside.”

“Captain Bangan, it’s the ‘Cafe Royale’, you know? That ‘Cafe Royale’? Their rindo tarts, which are said to be the best in the west, are famous… and so expensive that your eyes pop out…”

“Ah… no, I understand that, but…”

Captain Bangan broke into a cold sweat under pressure from Vice Captain Amalia.

You would think that the two of them should keep a distance from each other, but since they usually form groups of two or groups of three, it can’t be helped.

They could see the Duke of Rondo sitting by the window.

Happily eating a Rindo tart that looked very delicious…

“So jealous……”

Involuntarily, her true feelings leaked from Amalia’s mouth.

But they didn’t notice.

That there were people watching the two of them…

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