Half a day had only passed since they’ve arrived at the Nightwell Territory, but Leon’s group was already heading out again on new horses to make their way to Desdero.

Jaina told them that it’d take them a couple of days to get to Desdero from their household. Royland managed to locate the merchant city on a map and found the fastest way to get there. From the estate, they’d just have to travel on a road before arriving at Desdero.

Desdero had another name, “The City of Sin”. Despite having such a promiscuous name, it was considered quite a larger city. Its main attractions were its red-light district, slave trading, gambling parlors, bars and other points of interest. Looking at these, it seemed that any person could truly delve into their desires whilst visiting this city.

---

Once the three young men arrived in Desdero, they decided it would be best to go their separate ways since it’d be faster to gather information that way.

They determined it would be best to meet up after a certain time to discuss any leads they may have found and see if they could go anywhere from there.

Leon made his way to different bars looking to see if he could find any information that would lead him to any signs of the revolutionaries as well as the whereabouts of Jaina’s spies.

However, after some time, having visited several different bars, he would receive one of two different answers regarding The Revolutionary Faction.

One of the answers quietly praised the revolutionaries, calling them heroes and such. They’d shower them in praises and badmouthed Queen Elaine for her mistreatment of them during the war against the demons. To Leon, it looked like these people wanted to vent their frustrations.

Some of them may have had family that were conscripted into the army but later received no pay afterward, resulting in them becoming revolutionaries. Others may have had loved ones who died in the war yet still received no compensation. In the end, these people were ones who were averse to the crown.

However, they’d never show it outwardly in fear of having the Queen’s knights arrest them for treason. Instead, they’d vent their frustrations quietly and pray that their close ones in The Revolutionary Faction were safe.

The other answer denounced the revolutionaries and what they’ve been doing to the kingdom. They’d call them idiots for having gone against the crown and causing a mess with the trade routes of different merchants.

They believed the revolutionaries were harming Kandarynd with their actions which had left them open to attacks from the other two nations and any leftover demons and beasts from the war.

“Hah…”

Leon sighed.

He was beginning to get fed up with his idea since he wasn’t getting any definitive answers. He made his way one last time and looked up at the sign up in front of him.

“The Angry Swine”.

It was nearing the meeting time so he decided this would be the last place he’d check out before gathering back with Royland and Dedric.

‘Well, I’ve nothing to lose,’ Leon thought to himself.

Determined and hoping he’d be lucky with this last visit, Leon entered “The Angry Swine”.

---

Bam!

“Argh!!”

Nevertheless, only a quarter of an hour later, the sound of a man being hurt was heard from the bar followed by a fight and the sound of arguing.

“… And stay out!”

“Hmph…”

Leon stepped out of the bar with an annoyed expression on his face with his sheathed sword in hand.

It turned out that coming to “The Angry Swine” was a worse idea than he thought.

He’d come into the establishment asking about any sighting of revolutionaries only to be bombarded with the owner praising them for their cause against the crown. If it was only this, Leon would have been fine with it and just leave with no definitive answer.

However, when he was about to leave, some men called out to Leon and began to flirt with him, thinking he was a good-looking girl.

This was the last straw for Leon.

After having spent most of the day making no progress on his aim to find any clues, he was immediately bombarded with requests to go back to their room with some men wanting to play with him.

One of them even went up to Leon to grab his hand. However, this only earned him a punch to the face, causing him to fly back and smash the table the men were at. Dumbfounded for a moment, the men realized what happened and their looks of lust into those of anger.

They stood up and rushed their way toward Leon, fists ready. Watching them dash to him, Leon armed himself with his sword but kept the sheath on. He decided it would be best if he just knocked the men out instead of having blood splatter all over the place. He didn’t want to cause too big of a scene.

After having decided to just knock them out, Leon made quick work of them. He aimed for weak spots and openings on the enraged men and managed to knock them all out without any of them losing life or limb.

Instead of blood, however, Leon didn’t account for all the furniture that was broken and smashed in the aftermath causing the owner of the bar to be furious and arguing with Leon until he left the place.

‘Well, I suppose I should make my way to Royland and Dedric empty-handed now…’ he thought to himself.

He noticed something strange and then began making his way towards the meeting place before walking into an alley beside “The Angry Swine”.

“All right, who are you and what do you want?”

Leon turned his head and found the hooded person who was following him.

During the tavern brawl, he noticed someone watching. This person watched Leon as he beat up the men around him, as well as when he argued with the owner over the destroyed furniture. Now, that he was alone with this person, it was time to find out who they were and what they wanted with him.

“Wow, you’re pretty good, ain’t ya?” the person tailing Leon said to him as they took down their hood.

Leon got a good look at the person who called out to him. She had short blonde hair and a curvaceous body underneath her hooded cloak. Leon found her face attractive once she took off the hood. She wore simple leather armor with a bow behind her back and a dagger strapped to her side. She had a smile on her face while she leaned back on one of the walls of the alley.

Leon kept his eyes on her while he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword.

“Woah, there. No need to act hasty now, do we?” the woman held her hands up, trying to get on Leon’s good side.

Sensing no hostility coming from her, Leon removed his hand from the hilt and questioned her.

“Who are you and why are you following me?”

“Quick-witted, ain’t ya? The name’s Valerie and I think we can help each other out,” the woman said, keeping her smile and raising her eyebrows.

Although she was attractive, Leon kept his guard up against her.

“Hear me out, will ya? I’ve been following you for a while now and your goal is pretty obvious. I what you want.”

“…”

“You’re looking for those red-clothed guys, right?”

Leon’s interest in Valerie grew after hearing those words.

“And? I suppose you have some information on them?”

“Better than that. I know where you can find one of them,” Valerie replied with a toothy grin.

‘Finally, a lead… no, wait a second.’

Leon thought he’d finally found something, but he was still suspicious about Valerie.

“What do you gain by telling me this? What’s in it for you?”

Valerie’s expression turned serious.

“It’s a bit of a long story. If I tell you, you’ve to help me with my problem…” she trailed.

“I’m willing to listen,” replied Leon.

Although he still had to go and meet Royland and Dedric, he thought they’d understand and wouldn’t mind if he was a bit late.

And so, Valerie told her situation to Leon.

---

Valerie was born into a lower house of nobility in Desdero. Although they were technically nobles, her family held no real power amongst the other higher noble houses.

When she was older, for their family to have some real authority amongst them, Valerie’s parents set her up in an arranged marriage with a nobleman from a higher house. With her being taken as a wife, their family would have a connection to the upper nobility of the kingdom and be treated as such.

Although this was their chance to a higher position in life, Valerie disagreed with her parent’s decision. She didn’t want to be married to a person she’d never met or heard of. But her parents were reluctant to break off the engagement.

Valerie was at a loss of what to do since her they wouldn’t listen to her. So, when her marriage date approached, she decided to run away from home. In one night, she abandoned her family in exchange for her freedom. She didn’t say goodbye to her father, mother, or her cherished little sister.

She and Valerie were half-sisters. They shared the same father with different mothers. The two of them were very close to each other as they grew up. She played the big sister role well and was always looking out for her little sister’s best interest.

Thus, it broke her heart having to leave her younger sister behind. Valerie believed her sister would be better off staying with their parents rather bringing her along since she had no real plan after escaping.

After she ran away, Valerie became an adventurer. She’d been on many different quests and missions, amassing gold hoping one day she could return home to help support her little sister. Valerie believed she’d understand her decision of running away and hoped she would forgive her whenever she would return.

Two years passed when she received a letter regarding the situation of her family from a friend that kept in touch with her in Desdero.

Her family became fallen nobles. Her parents amassed a debt too large for them to handle causing them to lose their standing amongst the other nobles. For the sake of lowering their debt, Valerie’s parents sold her sister to the slave traders.

Distressed, Valerie hurriedly returned to Desdero to get her younger sister back. Even if she couldn’t take her back, she’d be able to at least buy her back with the money she earned as an adventurer.

When she returned, however, she was too late. He sister was already sold to someone. When she wanted to find out who, she was told that that information couldn’t be disclosed to her. Nevertheless, after having interrogated the trader, she found out that her sister was sold to someone noble from House Porcus.

Having found her sister’s location, she went to go investigate. Therefore, she went to House Porcus with the thought of stealing her sister back. However, she’d found that they were upper nobility and their residence was heavily guarded. It was unlikely she’d succeed by herself in getting her sister back.

She secretly watched the residence for days, keeping track of what went in and out. Something she found consistently was men wearing red cloths around their bodies. Wanting to think of a plan, she went to a bar to think and found herself Leon.

---

“So, you want my help in rescuing your sister and in exchange, you’ll bring me to where you saw the red-clothed men?” Leon asked after hearing her story.

“Glad to see we’re on the same page here,” answered Valerie with a trademark smile.

‘Hold on. I could just use the Nightwell name to get her sister back, but I’m not sure she’s telling me the truth, to begin with. If she’s not, I’d be making a fool of myself and my family. If she is telling the truth, then Royland and Dedric could be of help to her as well. We need information on the whereabouts of Duchess Sofia and finding some revolutionaries would be our best bet.’

Weighing the advantages and disadvantages in his head, Leon decided to trust Valerie and help in her situation.

“All right, you’ve got my help.”

Valerie’s expression brightened incredibly, and her smile caused her eyes to take a crescent shape.

“Perfect! A couple of girls like us should be able to rescue my sister. Especially someone with your skill!”

Pop.

The sound of a vein popping could be heard from Leon.

“G-girls?”

“Hm, yeah. You and I are going to go and get my sis–… wait, why are you looking at me like that? You don’t look too happy and you’re getting a little too close, ya know? Hold on, why are ya grabbing – Ah!”

From the alleyway, the scream of a young woman and menacing laughter from a young man could be heard.