The Deal

“Huh???”

Question marks practically materialized above her tilted head.

Miss Valente had been listening with relish, her eyes darting between the novel on the table and Lynch holding forth so eloquently. Even beneath her disguised features, her keen interest had been plain to see. Yet at this moment, she froze completely, staring blankly at Lynch, unable to process what had just happened.

Poor otherworlder, clearly never ravaged by the torture of cliffhangers.

Though chuckling inwardly, on the surface Lynch maintained a deadpan, serious expression. Taking the coffee served to him, he raised his cup in a toast toward Miss Valente.

“It's not very polite to tempt someone like that, you know.” Covering her lower face with the folding fan, her glistening eyes shot a dissatisfied glare over the rim. Yet she turned to the waiter who had brought the coffee and said, “Sir, put his coffee on my tab.”

“Oh? Then I'll have another—cough, never mind.” Under her piercing gaze, Lynch abandoned the dangerous thought. “Actually, there's no need for further analysis. Bringing all the clues together, the answer is already clear. This extraordinary noblewoman could be no one else but Miss Diana de Valente.”

“And then?” Once again, Miss Valente lifted her cup and touched it to her lips, casting her eyes down as if asking quite casually.

Lynch took a deep breath, his mind racing.

A good start. Passed the first hurdle. I've piqued her interest and even gained a sliver of goodwill. But now comes the critical part: what approach should I take from here?

She recognized who I was at a glance, clearly having done some research on me as well. Was it because Duke Vane promoted me, or did she learn about me from the hillmen?

Regardless of the source, neither side has established an adversarial stance yet, so I shouldn't show hostility right out of the gate. Furthermore, although the Valente family and the hillmen share close ties, they are two separate entities after all. There's no need to push them into an opposing camp right from the start. Drawing upon years of corporate experience, Lynch quickly made his decision.

“I would like to have a face-to-face meeting with Chieftain Nikolai.”

“Hmm?” Her hand clutching the folding fan trembled slightly. Miss Valente looked up at Lynch in surprise, as if she had never expected him to be so direct and unabashed. After her initial astonishment, she shook her head. “That's impossible. They don't trust you, Mr. Levive, and won't grant you this opportunity.”

“However, Chieftain Nikolai and his people have brought a great deal of trouble to my client,” Lynch said in a deep voice. “My client's issue cannot be delayed any longer.”

“Is your client that female reporter?” In her guise as a middle-aged noblewoman, she frowned. “But what does that have to do with me? You ought to know how troublesome this matter is. Anything connected to the Great Old Ones carries tremendous risk. Why should I get involved and arrange this meeting for you?”

Lynch fell silent for a moment. This statement confirmed his hunch: the Valente family and the hillmen ghouls likely only had a temporary partnership. After pondering for a few moments, Lynch smiled and said:

“Sitting here drinking coffee, you're probably not just experiencing the life of an ordinary noble, are you, Miss Valente?”

“Oh?”

“From the moment I noticed you, you've raised your coffee cup to touch your lips a total of six times, yet you haven't taken a single sip, nor even let the coffee touch your lips.”

Lynch took a sip of his own coffee. Well, he knew nothing about coffee flavours, but it tasted pretty good to him—perhaps because it was free:

“This coffee actually tastes quite fine to me. But to a high noble like yourself, street-side coffee might indeed be hard to swallow.”

Holding her cup, Miss Valente remained silent for a moment before chuckling and giving a gentle nod.

“If you were simply experiencing ordinary life, ordering a cup of coffee to confirm your purchase and sitting here reading a book would have been more than enough. There was no need to force yourself to make the gesture of drinking coffee. Any misleading behavior is intended to avoid drawing attention—more precisely, it's an act put on for others to see. In other words, you are in disguise for another purpose, and you don't want that purpose to be discovered by certain people.”

Miss Valente began toying with the folding fan again, looking at Lynch with a meaningful gaze.

“Judging from your subtle movements and subconscious reactions to the surroundings, your target is the city hall. Perhaps to confirm the comings and goings of certain people, or perhaps to keep someone under surveillance.”

Concealing their previous two encounters, Lynch feigned deduction:

“Whichever specific goal it is, for you to carry it out in person means it must be extremely important to you. And breaking with convention by bringing neither maids nor bodyguards—not even having them stand by nearby—was likely deliberate, because this matter is far too dangerous for them, and being on standby might still put them at risk.”

“You could even deduce that they aren't on standby nearby?”

Nonsense, I guessed it because last time I saw you disguised and escaping in a hired carriage. Though thinking that inwardly, Lynch pointed mysteriously to his eyes with an enigmatic smile. “It's apparent that your progress isn't going very smoothly. After all, surveillance without proactive action is often a desperate measure taken when there's no other choice.”

Miss Valente fell silent for a long time, then suddenly lowered her folding fan, sighed, and nodded gently.

“You were right earlier. You have no reason to help arrange a meeting between Chieftain Nikolai and me. But what if we help each other?”

“Can you help me achieve my goal?”

“Whether I have the ability or not, you should already have your own judgment in mind, Miss Valente.”

“Very well, I can accept this exchange. I can help arrange a meeting between you and Mr. Nikolai. However, I cannot guarantee that the female reporter's issue will be resolved; that is an internal matter of their tribe, and I never meddle too deeply. I can only promise to do my best to persuade Chieftain Nikolai not to harbor hostility toward you. But before that, you must complete my commission first and help me investigate what I've been pursuing.”

Tipping his hat with a bow, Lynch said with a smile, “Private detective Lynch Levive, at your service, Madam.”

“I hope you can truly pull it off, Mr. Levive. In fact, completing my commission is the best way to earn Mr. Nikolai's trust, because my commission is directly related to them.”

“Oh?”

“You should be aware that the hillmen oppose the construction of the tunnel. In truth, the purpose behind building this tunnel is far from pure. Someone deliberately influenced the engineering design, altering the tunnel's route to what it is now. By doing so, it implicates an ancient city slumbering since the Third Age: Zur-Baha-Sahr.”

Lynch realized in enlightenment that the pronunciation Maya hadn't remembered was the name of a city. Hearing the complete syllables, a chill crept up his spine. Though it quickly faded, the chill made Lynch realize that the name itself likely carried mysterious power, just like the first time he had heard the name Mordiggian.

“The specific details are their tribe's highest secret, which isn't appropriate for me to pry into. But it is certain that this act violated the hillmen's strictest taboo. More critically, the other party's goal is likely far beyond merely angering the hillmen; their true objective is very probably related to Zur-Baha-Sahr, and perhaps even to the Great Old One behind it.”

Miss Valente explained:

“Therefore, you must cooperate with me to uncover the identities and motives of these people. Anything concerning these old memories is extremely dangerous. So whether for the sake of Mr. Nikolai and his people, or for the safety of Lande, this matter must be investigated thoroughly. Otherwise, once construction begins, it will all be too late. Now that you understand the gravity of the situation and the immense danger involved, are you still willing to go through with our deal?”

“My honor. I assume I have the honor this time?”

Lynch knew he had touched the core of the Bester Mountain Tunnel incident. It seemed Miss Valente was the key factor in investigating the tunnel affair. Furthermore, he realized he was forging deeper and deeper connections with Mordiggian. By now, avoiding it was likely impossible. Since he had to investigate thoroughly anyway, having one more paying client was all the better.

“Heh, then it's a deal. I will organize the information over the next couple of days and pay you a visit in a few days, Mr. Levive. At that time, I will brief you on all the commission's details.”

Miss Valente took a small medicine vial from her handbag and handed it to Lynch:

“Drink it if you're willing to trust me. The odor on you has practically spread across the entire square. This potion can purge the rancid stench clinging to you.”

Looking at the green-glowing liquid inside the vial, and then at Miss Valente's half-smile, Lynch hesitated for a long while before gritting his teeth, throwing his head back, and gulping it down.