Nolani blocked the smile on her lips with the rim of her cup, only barely managing to compose herself.
“Alright, let's get down to business.”
She set down her glass and leaned forward slightly.
The band had switched to a slow, soothing tune, and the noise from the dance floor began to quiet down as well.
Sitting in a corner against the wall, as long as they kept their voices down, it would be difficult for anyone nearby to overhear what they were discussing.
Nolani suddenly raised a hand, waving it in front of Celine.
“But before that, shouldn't we talk about this first?”
Her wrist was completely bare.
Yet the moment she raised her hand, Celine clearly felt the Soul Thread wrapped around the elf's wrist.
She paused. “You knew?”
“Of course.” Nolani pinched the empty air with two fingers, as if plucking an invisible thread. “I've felt it ever since you wrapped it around my wrist.”
As a Nature Attribute elf, she was naturally much more sensitive to the life force and mana flow around her than ordinary people.
The Soul Thread was stealthy enough, but not to the point where it could completely escape her notice.
Celine looked at her. “Since you noticed it, why didn't you remove it?”
“It didn't drain my mana, and it didn't hurt me.” Nolani shook her wrist, her tone quite relaxed. “I thought this was just your special way of making friends.”
Celine denied it. “We are not friends yet.”
“So you really don't trust me.” Nolani drawled, a hint of hurt in her eyes. “And here I went out of my way to dance with you.”
Celine had no intention of sugarcoating her actions. She said:
“I don't know your background, nor do I know your true purpose in investigating the Green Shade Merchant Guild. Half of the information you share is incomplete, and you have a habit of running off. Under these circumstances, why should I trust you?”
Nolani stared back at her for a moment. Instead of getting angry, she burst out laughing.
“You really are incredibly direct.”
“It saves time.”
Celine raised her hand and lightly flicked her finger. The Soul Thread wrapped around Nolani's wrist uncoiled and slipped off silently.
Nolani rotated her wrist, still looking a bit fascinated.
“Taking it back so soon?”
“Reluctant to see it go?”
“Not really.” Nolani picked up her glass again. “It just suddenly feels like my hand is missing something.”
Celine didn't reply. Realizing she still didn't have detailed information on the elf, she focused her attention on the woman sitting across from her.
【Fog Mirror Earrings】 flickered with a faint light.
【Would you like to probe the current target?】
Yes.
【Probe active】
【Name: Nolani Mowindori, Daughter of the Forest, Thousand Flowers Flying Star, Companion of the South Wind】
【Race: Elf】
【Primary Class: Nature Attribute】
【Sub-Class: Common Class, Free Spirit】
【Class: Bard】
Only her basic information was displayed.
The combination of Nature Attribute and Free Spirit perfectly matched her style of chasing after unusual occurrences.
After being stared at for a moment, Nolani slowly set down her glass.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” She touched her cheek, her face suddenly lighting up with realization. “Could it be that after our dance, you've finally been captivated by my elven beauty?”
Celine pulled her gaze away, exasperated. This elf was incredibly narcissistic.
“I was just wondering if an elf's confidence is also a racial talent.”
Instead of catching the sarcasm, Nolani nodded with mock gravity.
“Pretty much. After all, for an elf as beautiful as me, it really is hard not to be confident.”
“...”
Celine had no intention of continuing this meaningless conversation and finally got to the point:
“You mentioned earlier that you sensed an aura in the Red Kite City-States similar to the one on me.”
At the mention of this, the smile on Nolani's face faded slightly.
“It wasn't exactly the same.” She glanced around and lowered her voice. “The aura on you is very faint, constantly suppressed by another power. I briefly sensed a similar aura near the Green Shade Merchant Guild before, but it didn't come from that carriage today.”
Celine's brow furrowed slightly. The 【Decayed Residual Root】 was currently stored in her inventory.
It could not be discarded or transferred, and it occasionally gave her the feeling of being watched from the shadows.
She had originally assumed that the power of decay was only related to the treant, but now it seemed that another source might be hidden within the Red Kite City-States.
Celine temporarily changed the subject and asked, “What did you see inside the Green Shade Merchant Guild?”
Nolani replied, “Just as I said before, the Green Shade Merchant Guild has been buying up plants with abundant life force at high prices recently.”
Leaning back in her chair, Celine said dismissively, “It's not unusual for a merchant guild to buy plants.”
“Of course buying plants isn't strange.” Nolani shook her head. “The strange part is that they aren't transporting them to shops, and they haven't even sent them to the auction houses.”
“In nature, a plant's life force is often the most pure. Especially those rare plants that have lived for decades or centuries.”
Celine looked up at her, somewhat puzzled. “What does that have to do with decay?”
Nolani said, “We can't be sure there's a connection yet, but decay loves nothing more than devouring life force.”
Celine remained silent, but she felt a faint sense of unease.
Could the treant's contamination by the 【Decayed Residual Root】 be related to the cargo being transported?
“Was the carriage you chased today carrying those plants?” Celine asked.
“Most likely.” Nolani nodded. “The transport records showed a batch of cargo leaving the warehouse today. The crate numbers and seals were recorded very clearly, but the destination was erased. I wanted to see exactly where they were taking these goods.”
Celine asked, “So, did you find out?”
“Of course,” Nolani said. “After entering the northern district, it suddenly broke away from the convoy, bypassed the main street, and headed for the Old North Gate warehouse district.”
The Old North Gate.
The details of the contract she had read quickly flashed through Celine's mind.
The warehouse that the Rosalind family was about to hand over was located right at the Old North Gate.
Before the official transfer, the warehouse still belonged to the Rosalind family, and the Castro family was only responsible for its management.
Without the owner's permission, the manager was not allowed to sublet it, nor could they store any unregistered third-party goods.
If the Green Shade Merchant Guild's carriage really entered that warehouse...
Then the breakthrough she had failed to find after flipping through dozens of pages had actually delivered itself to her doorstep in such a coincidental manner.
“Are you sure it entered the Old North Gate warehouse district?”
“Positive.”
Nolani raised her hand and tapped a spot on the table.
“The carriage didn't come back out after entering. I wanted to keep following, but I found that there were twice as many guards there as usual.”
“What kind of guards?”
“They had silver wheels on their clothes.”
The coat of arms of the Castro family. Now even the guards matched up.
Celine's suspicions were further confirmed, but she didn't show it immediately.
“Did you see which warehouse the carriage entered?”
“No.” Nolani shook her head. “The outer walls are too high, and there are guards at all the entrances. If I had gone any closer, they would have spotted me.”
She paused, seemingly feeling the need to explain herself.
“An elf showing up near a warehouse at night usually invites a lot of questioning.”
“So you do have some common sense.”
“I'm just bold, not stupid.”
That was a fair point.
Looking at the routes drawn with spilled alcohol on the table, Celine had already made a rough assessment in her mind.
If that batch of cargo was indeed stored in the Rosalind warehouse, she only needed to find the Green Shade Merchant Guild's goods and prove that they had been brought in during the period of Castro's management.
She would be able to successfully stop the official transfer three days from now.
Rate on N.U.
