Arriving back in the hotel, Charlotte passed through the gate and the glass doors before giving a greeting to the receptionist who was busily going through papers.

“You seem quite busy there, something happen?”

“Oh miss Logan, welcome back. Well, we just had an interesting pair of girls book a room today.”

“Really? Why do you say ‘interesting’?”

“Well, the two just came here with nothing but recently bought clothes and a lot of money. If you ask me, I think the old one is a runaway that took an elf servant with her.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“You see, after I had helped her up to her room, I had a chance to talk to the older girl for a bit. She asked me a bit about the surroundings and about the guild, as it seems she was trying to find a job. But here’s the thing, according to her she’s a mage.

“Oh, so she’s a mage? Quite the impressive lass isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid most people aren’t geniuses like you Charlotte. I asked Victor after talking to them, and he said the two looked rather weak. That’s why I’m certain she’s got to be the daughter of some noble, otherwise I don’t see how she could have learned magic with how little talent she seems to have.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Have any ideas why she would run away?”

“After interacting with her for a bit, she doesn’t seem like someone who goes out much or has contact with strangers. She most likely has lived a very sheltered life until now. My guess is that the lass was probably engaged to someone and when she finally got to know him, she was disheartened that he wasn’t the prince charming she had read in her books and decided to run away. Wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened. I’ve already sent contacted the higher ups as well as sending a missive to the guild to watch out for her and her servant, so they shouldn't push her towards anything too dangerous. Wouldn’t want to anger the wrong family by accident you know.”

“Is that so… And what’s the name of these girls, and in which room are they staying at?”

“Their names are Alex and Alice Morgan, pretty sure they’re using aliases however. They’re staying at room 713, two rooms away from yours. If you could, could you please take a look at them and see if you recognize them. Although I plan on seeing if there’s any family that’s reporting a missing person, it would help a lot if you could identify them for me. Is that fine miss Logan?”

“Of course, don’t worry about it. I’ll check them out later and tell you if I recognize them, alright?”

“Thank you miss Logan.”

Waving goodbye, Charlotte began making her way to the 7th floor where she and her companions rooms were located. Once she had made it up to the 7th floor, she began walking in the direction of her room but stopped before reaching it. Looking at the door in front of her that read 713, Charlotte began to smile before continuing on her way not to her room, but the room right in front of hers.

Knocking on the door, Charlotte stood outside patiently until a black haired man opened the door and came out. Greeting him with a kiss, Charlotte asked:

“Hey Ed, how was your day?”

“It went fine, I just stayed here and relaxed while reading a book my friend recommended me. How about you, how did your day go? You made it back pretty late.”

“Oh it went fine too, just met up with an old acquaintance I saw on the street. Hey Ed, do you know if those two are back from their date?”

“Mhmm, I don’t actually know. I don’t feel like knocking on their door to find out either…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it~”

With that, Charlotte began making her way to Allen’s room where both him and the princess stayed in despite her having her own room, all the while Edwards closed his eyes and released a sigh at what he knew was about to come. Charlotte meanwhile, Knocking on the door loudly, screamed:

“HELLO~ ANYONE THERE? OR ARE YOU TWO TOO BUSY TO ANSWER?”

A few seconds after her shouting was done, the door opened as an angry Allen appeared and yelled in a hushed tone:

“What do you want you crazy woman! Why are you screaming at night inside a hotel?!”

Hearing his yell, Charlotte put on an innocent face as she replied:

“Just wanted to see if you two were back, no need to be so mad~”

At her words, Allen turned his head and looked at Edwards as the man put on an apologizing face. Releasing a sigh, Allen looked back at Charlotte and said:

“Go get Zilva and tell her we’ll have our meeting in 10 minutes, Diana needs to change.”

Taking a good look at Allan who was wearing a white shirt and sweatpants with disheveled hair, Charlotte put on a sly smile as she said:

“Ohhhh, I see. Seems today went well for you two. We’ll, I’ll go fetch the elf. Oh, could you tell Diana to MAKE SURE SHE’S ACTUALLY READY IN 10!”

“OH FUCK OFF”

With a smirk on her face due to Diana’s reply, Charlotte made her way down to Zilva’s room. Before she could knock on the door however, Zilva opened it and walked out as she looked at Charlotte with a tired expression.

“Oh, hey there~”

“I’ll be in the lounge…”

With that, Zilva made her way to the lounge as Charlotte simply shrugged her arms and made her way to Edwards room. Before 10 minutes had passed, Charlotte and Edwards came out of his room and saw that the rest of the group was already there waiting for them. When Diana saw Charlotte, she glared at her while having a smug look on her face, to which Charlotte simply rolled her eyes in response.

Once they were all seated, Allen began the conversation by saying:

“When me and Diana passed by Ventome earlier today, we received a letter from Diana’s father with some new information and instructions. I’m afraid we’ll have more work to do during our time here.”

Continuing where Allen had left off, Diana spoke up as she said:

“Yes, not only do we now have to search for whatever was summoned by the cultist, but we now also have to track the Golden Hand on top of that.”

Then, taking the letter out, Diana began to read its contents to the rest of her party. The letter contained information regarding activity by the Golden Hand that they had managed to pick up, as well as the fact that the executive Love Machine had been brought to oversee the transaction. Due to this, it was clear that the transaction was something major and that it was required that the group provided aid to Ventome and his organization in discovering the intentions of Golden Hand, as well as finding out the specifics behind the transaction and with who it was they were dealing with. In case they came across Love Machine, they were to immediately retreat and call for backup unless the situation was extremely favorable for them. They would also be staying at Dene until the situation with the Golden Hand came to an end.

With Diana finished reading the letter, Edwards decided to speak up saying:

“Does this mean that we’ll be changing our plans for tomorrow?”

The one to answer his question was Charlotte, who turned to him and said:

“I believe it would be for the best if we make a few modifications.”

Now looking around at the entire group, she saw that everyone was paying close attention to her. Nodding her head, she opened her mouth and began proposing her new plan.

“With the Golden Hand being here, it would be for the best if don’t all go on our separate ways. Diana and Zilva should go together to the guild and talk with the guild master before following Diana’s planned patrol route together. Allen and Edwards should both travel together and map out the more suspicious parts of Dene together. That way if something happens, they’ll be better able to defend themselves. As for me, I’ll continue with my usual route as well as oversee Zilva’s route and see if I find anything suspicious. Even if it takes us longer to properly search the city this way, we no longer have the time limit of a week to worry about.”

“Won’t you be in danger by yourself?”

Asked Allen with a rare look of worry for the little mage on his face.

“No I won’t. After all, I have the best stealth capabilities in this group. I’d actually be in more danger walking around with one of you.”

With that, the group decided to accept the general Idea of Charlotte’s plan, although they continued to discuss for the better part of an hour the specifics of the routes they would take, as well as the time they were expected to meet up with each other again. Thus, with their plan for tomorrow ironed out, the group went back to their rooms as they tried to get a good night's sleep, before their long and tiresome mission began tomorrow…