The moment Rena found out what I was up to, she demanded to be brought along. Surprisingly, so did Alvis. He seemed to have similar reasons for wanting to go as Keane. It made me wonder again why he had become Headmaster instead of Head of Medical Research.

Callia, the current Head of Medical Research was not pleased to have Keane and Autumn leaving on an impromptu investigation, though she completely agreed it was necessary. Callia had always been strict, and so was her twin sister Claudia, who was the Head Librarian. However, when it came to Keane she always seemed to have a soft spot. She trusted him completely.

Both sisters insisted I did my research before I went anywhere to make sure I had the proper preparations. I was given a private room in the library along with a large stack of related books from each sister before being left alone.

“I wonder if Keane ever has to deal with things like this,” I muttered as I examined the title of the first book. “Seaborn Illnesses? It does come from a fishing village. Ten Ways to Avoid Being Talked Out of House And Home by a Merchant? I feel like Alois knows the opposite of this book by heart. And why only ten?”

Rena joined me inside. “Wow. That is a lot of books.”

“It is,” I agreed, “I doubt I can read all of them, but some of them are things we should definitely know. Some of them might even be worth taking along.”

“Definitely,” Rena agreed as she looked through a few titles, “But I doubt Puffer Fish Lingo is going to help much. Are they even near the coast?”

“No idea,” I admitted, “That might be an interesting read for later if anything else.”

Rena settled down with a book on seaborn diseases. This one focused on those carried in sealife. I ended up reading the one about not being sweet-talked by merchants. It was a surprisingly amusing read, but it took longer to get through than I expected and I had to hurry and look through the overview of climate and topography of the seaport so I would know what to bring.

Once I knew what I was doing I wrote up a list and had it sent out, then I double-checked the list of operatives I would be bringing with me.

“You still need to select a bodyguard,” Rena pointed out.

I grimaced. “I guess I do, but trying to find a suitable one that won’t raise suspicions on such short notice will be near impossible.”

“I can think of one person who would love the job, but technically they need a bodyguard too.”

I paused. “Rena. Did Maximus ask you to convince me to let him come?” I accused.

Rena bit her lip. “I owed him a favor.”

“You should know full well that it is not something I can give permission for. He is the apprentice of the king himself right now, which is a bit different from being a prince,” I scolded.

“I know, but we both figured there was no point in convincing the king if you were against him coming.”

“Well, he is a bit… He stands out,” I managed, thinking of his constantly sparkling appearance that defied reality, “Besides, what is the point of getting myself a bodyguard that needs a bodyguard? This is without mentioning how downright foolish it would be to use him as a bodyguard at all in his current position.”

“Okay, I get it,” Rena surrendered, “I will see if I can find one for you, but if I can’t, I don’t know what we are going to do.”

“I would ask Alois to help find one but he is up to his ears dealing with the incident with the old headmaster,” I muttered, “Not to mention the fact that Alvis is coming with us.”

“Couldn’t you just make Alvis your bodyguard?” Rena asked.

“I asked about his skills before and he proclaimed himself as a strict noncombatant,” I told her, “and I am not about to try to wake up the founding Head Magician either.”

Rena sighed. “Fine. I get it. I am going,” she complained and headed off.

Technically, the unit that I was taking already had three bodyguards, but they weren’t the type that worked out in the open so I needed an obvious bodyguard as well. While Maximus was obvious, he didn’t have the intimidating air I needed. Also, I did not want to spend this trip with his constant attempts at flirting. He was the type that refused to give up.

Unfortunately, I did not think Rena would be able to find anyone either so I would have to go search for myself. There was always the option of hiring a mercenary but mercenaries were unpredictable and were often spies for someone or another.

In the end, I decided to ask Rosalind for advice.

“I don’t recommend mercenaries,” Rosalind warned, “but if you really can’t find anyone on short notice in the castle then you have two options. Ask the king if you can borrow a palace guard, or try summoning one. Considering the current state of affairs I am not certain Nero will agree. You may have to ask one of your shadow guards to come out into the open.”

“Thank you,” I told her and headed out again.

I wanted to avoid that if possible, so I went back to searching. Rosalind had been right. After the incident with Osmond, everyone was busy. The only reason I was able to put together a unit was because they were my personal unit as the tenth princess. I was terrible at summoning magic so it could only go badly.

Frustrated, I headed to a restaurant in the city to calm down a bit so I could think clearly. However, as soon as I walked in I saw someone unexpected. A silver-haired man was trying to pay with some strange coins and the owner had come out to argue with him.

“I am sure they are worth a lot, but you will have to trade them for our currency and come back,” the owner sighed, “I cannot give you your food until then.”

The man looked up and saw me. “Ah, it’s you. Come pay for my food.”

I walked over, still in shock. “What are you doing here? Did someone summon you again?”

“No. This time I came on my own. I was curious.”

This was the first time I had ever heard of a summon coming back on their own, and of all the people for it to be, it was him. I was about to refuse him and tell him to go home when I suddenly thought of something.

“I will pay for your food if you will let me hire you as a bodyguard for a while,” I told him.

“Interesting,” he said, “Alright.”

Didn’t he agree a little too fast? “Don’t you want to hear the details?”

“We are in public,” he told me, “Business should be discussed without prying eyes and ears. Pay for my food and I will hear you out.”

It looked like that was the best I was going to get, but the food he had ordered was ridiculously expensive. “By the way, what is your name?” I asked him.

“Storm,” he replied, and took the food, “Where do you want to discuss business? I have to warn you that it is my policy to only take jobs I am interested in.”

I think that perhaps I got in over my head with this one. I grimaced. “My office in the castle.”

“Interesting,” he commented with a smile.