Julius and the others investigated Night Sky Pavilion all the way.
Following the clues, they found the address of the villa, but when they arrived, what they saw was an already abandoned villa. Inquiring with nearby residents, they learned that an assassin had once attacked the owner of this villa, and from then on, the owner moved out and abandoned the place.
"If you're looking for the owner of this place, you can go ask the Count, or go to Night Sky Pavilion and ask their star girl."
A kind passerby pointed them in the right direction.
.
Julius said, "It seems the clues provided by Hawken and the Guild Master can only take us this far. Next, we must risk investigating the first Night Sky Pavilion, or ask Count Berlingtu, who is in charge of managing this territory, for information."
"But either choice might result in coming up empty, right?" Harris added. "That Count Berlingtu has long been identified as one of the investors of Night Sky Pavilion; I believe even if we go, we might not get any intelligence. And this first Night Sky Pavilion that opened might be just like the others—no clues to be found."
"Regardless, let's go take a look first."
Julius and his party arrived at the bustling commercial street. The shop right in the center of the street was that Night Sky Pavilion.
"Welcome, how may I help you?" Just as they pushed open the door, they heard a waitress's sweet voice.
"An Elf?"
The two looked at the shop assistant lady in surprise.
The one tending the shop now was, of course, Felimeth.
Although she had moved out of the villa and Tsukasa had given her a hundred-thousand gold coin card, raising over a hundred children plus several Reincarnators meant that hundred thousand wouldn't last long. The income level of a Night Sky Pavilion employee was considered quite high among all professions in this world.
It was higher than that of average Adventurers and mercenaries, and it was stable and safe. This was also the biggest reason why the people of Night Sky Pavilion didn't object to having restrictions placed on them—because the benefits and treatment were good enough! For such a job, let alone just a restriction to keep secrets, plenty of people would fight tooth and nail for it even if they had to risk their lives.
Felimeth naturally wouldn't give up this job either. Although she could definitely make more money as an Adventurer with her strength, she still had to take care of the children at home and didn't dare to become an Adventurer.
"..."
Seeing the surprised attitude of these guests upon seeing her, Felimeth felt quite uncomfortable. Recently, many guests had held prejudices against her because of her racial identity. If it weren't for Night Sky Pavilion's significant influence and the fact that the local lord was one of their partners, people would have already reported her and the guards would have come running.
The two also hadn't expected to see an Elf here.
"Haha, I never expected that Night Sky Pavilion, which took the lead in eliminating the Elf Race, would actually take in an Elf to work as a shop assistant here." Harris immediately started mocking her.
The effect was super effective.
Felimeth was so angry her chest swelled a bit.
These people knew nothing.
Yet they presumed to judge so freely!
"Are you here to buy something?"
Julius pulled Harris back and stepped forward to apologize to Felimeth, "I'm sorry, he often speaks so harshly, but he actually has no ill intent. I apologize to you on his behalf."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Harris also quickly followed up with an apology.
Seeing the two of them like this, Felimeth found it hard to hold a grudge, and her anger mostly dissipated.
"I forgive you, but next time you see an Elf, you should be careful not to hurt them. After all, not all Elves are like that. Some Elves are still young, and some left the Elf Forest long ago to sever ties with that place. Just as there are good and bad humans, there are good Elves too."
"I stand corrected." Julius humbly accepted Felimeth's reminder.
"That's good." Felimeth thought well of this young man. "What do you need? For the sake of this handsome young man, I'll give you a discount."
Julius hesitated a bit.
He had visited many Night Sky Pavilion shops recently and found that most of the employees were kind-hearted people.
Even the Elf was a good Elf.
He felt his judgment was decent; it was impossible for him to have misjudged so many people.
Moreover, they had previously tried to kidnap a clerk to scare them into revealing Night Sky Pavilion's secrets, but that clerk actually refused to yield even unto death after being caught.
That attitude didn't seem at all like the influence of a restriction; it was a sense of belonging from the heart. The employees of Night Sky Pavilion truly loved their jobs and truly wanted to protect Night Sky Pavilion.
With such subordinates, could the owner of Night Sky Pavilion really be an evil Demon Race?
When he first learned of Shurein's situation, he was indeed angry and even biased enough to believe the owner of Night Sky Pavilion couldn't be a good person.
But what he had seen and heard throughout this investigation made him start to doubt if he had guessed wrong.
What if the one controlling Shurein's body wasn't the owner of Night Sky Pavilion, but a villain hiding elsewhere, using Night Sky Pavilion to draw their attention?
Although Night Sky Pavilion indeed had many problems—after all, many of the nobles who supported the imposter were members of Night Sky Pavilion—this point alone couldn't confirm that the owner of Night Sky Pavilion was the mastermind.
Furthermore, Night Sky Pavilion hadn't done anything bad since its emergence; it had even done many good deeds. Although it had conflicts with the Adventurers Guild and its counterattacks were very sharp, it was the Adventurers Guild that initiated the attacks, while Night Sky Pavilion only defended itself passively.
Most crucially, although Night Sky Pavilion monopolized a large amount of materials, they not only didn't raise prices but repeatedly lowered them after the monopoly was established.
One could say that the more Julius investigated, the more mysterious Night Sky Pavilion's image became.
Although Night Sky Pavilion was highly suspicious, Night Sky...
...Pavilion indeed didn't seem like an evil organization.
Seeing Julius being so indecisive, Harris stepped forward and said, "We're here to ask for information."
"You want to buy information, right? What kind of information do you want? Just a reminder beforehand: we don't sell information regarding personal privacy."
"Of course it's private information; we want information about your master. Is it for sale?"
"I'm sorry."
Felimeth frowned. She had also heard the rumors coming from the Royal Capital. She heard that Prince Julius believed the current Prince Shurein was an imposter and suspected Night Sky Pavilion was the one pulling the strings behind it all. Many meddlers were adding fuel to the fire, spreading this rumor far and wide. Because the Hero was involved in this rumor, quite a few people were doubting Night Sky Pavilion's secrets because of it.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!