Chapter 196 – Detective Game
After the countermeasures meeting for Johannes’ betrayal, he went to work as usual at the Black Moon’s home base, the slave trade.
Although Hergel has not formally handed over his position yet, Germi is doing all of his practical work, so it is no different from handing over virtually all authority to Germi.
At the refreshment table set aside for visitors in one corner of the office, I sat with the other women, watching Germi sitting at the desk reading the slave-keepers’ reports.
“Germi, the weaving mill needs someone.”
“You need a hundred slaves?”
“Yes, it would be better to pre-select 100 slaves to work in the textile mill. There should also be a slave to manage the spiders, and a few gang members to manage the slaves.”
“I’ll have to tell the kids, Take!”
Germi called out loudly and one of his men opened the door and came in. He’s a bastard who once held Thermia hostage.
“Yes, lady.”
“Go downstairs, talk to the manager, and pick out about 100 people, healthy ones. These are the guys who will work at the textile factory later.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Take bowed his head politely and withdrew.
“I definitely feel like a boss now.”
“Of course.”
Germi nodded her head as if it was no big deal.
I can’t afford to be dignified. As I was looking at Germi with her warm feeling, the old woman next to her pulled on my sleeve.
“By the way, who will say he will kill Hergel?”
“Huh?”
“No, even though Johannes has subordinates under him as an executive officer, will those subordinates really obey the order to kill Hergel?”
“… Would you mind giving me money?”
“Philips, who has been working under Johannes for a long time, seems to know Johannes’s reputation, considering that he simply came over to us rather than trusting Johannes.
“You mean you don’t think you’re going to ask your subordinates to do it?”
“Huh. After all, I think it would be best for me to sneak into his house and keep an eye on him.”
“Um…”
If you want to achieve perfection, it is right to do what Roin said. However, I am concerned.
What if the old man gets caught because of a small unintentional mistake? Germi’s standing in the organization will be diminished if she even goes around telling the neighborhood that Johannes has planted a spy in his house. Leaving aside Germi’s poor standing, I don’t want to imagine what would happen to her if Roin got caught by him.
“No worries, and since Phillips is asking for information about him, that should be enough.”
At best, he’s a bullying bully. Whatever you do, it’s in the palm of my hand.
“Um… I’m glad you care, okay. Since Hanseong is fine, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Roin nodded his head, unable to hide his slightly embarrassed expression. I gently stroked the old man’s shoulder and looked at Thermia sitting across from him.
“After Danian finishes preparing the factory and all the slaves are settled down, Thermia-san has to teach them skills.”
“Yes, no problem.”
He confidently said that Thermia was a simple matter.
Everyone is so reassuring.
Now, wait for Johannes to betray him, catch him, return to Arpagon after Jojin, receive the spider, and start the textile factory.
“I just need to make a business partner, but which would be better…”
I spent time thinking about where a large amount of fabric would be needed.
Late at night, as I was drowning in the sea of women for a while, I heard an unpleasant knocking sound.
“Sir, a guest has come.”
“Yes~”
Phillips is the only one who comes to visit at a time like this. Sure enough, when I came down to the first floor, I saw Phillips’ face on the same table as yesterday.
“You’re back after a day, did you find out anything in the meantime?”
“Yes, that means… I went to work in the morning and asked the employee who was on the night shift if anything strange had happened. Then he said that Johannes had been outside last night.”
“Hmm… Okay? Don’t you usually go out late?”
“Yes, it was quite different from usual. Isn’t that too suspicious to go out on the evening of the betrayal plot? So I thought I was going to go out today, so I hid around after work, but I went outside today too. Quiet by yourself, without an escort!”
“So?”
“I secretly followed him, but he went into a back alley in Harlem.”
“What did you do when you went in?”
Phillips gave me a dark expression at my question.
“I haven’t been able to confirm that yet. There are so many homeless people in the back alleys of Harlem that I can’t follow them.”
“Hmm… Is there such a thing as a contractor over there… ?”
I don’t know why I went to the back alleys of Harlem, but it must have a deep relationship with betrayal. Perhaps, as the old man expected, he might have gone to a contractor or something, fearing that rumors would spread that he had his subordinates do the work.
As I pondered for a while, I felt Phillips’ stinging gaze.
“Thank you very much, Phillips, you are very sincere. Your virtue is very great, and I will definitely repay you if we can get clear proof that Johannes betrayed you.”
“No. I just did what I had to do.”
Phillips replied with a wide smile at my compliment, and he secretly looked at me. Then he opened his mouth.
“Uh, are you going to punish them later?”
“Punishment?”
“Johannes and Herendal. What do you plan to do with those damn bastards…”
I was thinking of using it, but I still don’t know what to do. Didn’t have a plan Why is this guy curious about that?
“Why are you curious about that?”
“Oh no, that… If you plan to dispose of Herendal, I really want to do it…”
“…”
He stared into Phillips’ eyes.
Herendal said that she wanted to kill herself, so there might be some kind of resentment between the two.
Johannes has the power he has, so he will kill him yet, but he can’t say what he will do, but Herendal is different. Even if you kill him, there’s nothing left.
There wouldn’t be any problem with giving his head to an informant as faithful as Phillips.
“Okay, when I get rid of them later, I’ll leave it to you, Phillips.”
“Thank you!”
Phillips smiled and rose from his seat.
“Then I will go. I will come back when I find out something different.”
“Okay.”
Phillips’ steps are light. It’s a fluttering light, exciting look. That step bothered me. It felt like the gait of a person who inevitably makes mistakes due to a lack of attention to the surroundings.
“Philips.”
“Yes?”
“Always be careful, you’re doing the job of a whistleblower. Pay attention to your actions so that no one will doubt your actions.”
“Ah, yes… I will be careful.”
At my warning, Phillips nodded and left the inn with a somewhat calmer gait. After staring at the door Phillips had left, he returned to his room.
Perhaps because he had already stopped flowing, everyone was getting ready to go to bed after wiping their bodies clean.
“Germi, do you know anything about the back alleys of Harlem?”
“The back alleys of Harlem? It’s a place where there are only homeless people, so the organization doesn’t care at all. Why are you there?”
Germi pricked up her ears and expressed her question.
“Philips says he saw Johannes heading down the back streets of Harlem last night and tonight. I wondered if there was a hitman or something over there.”
“Hitman? What the heck is that ugly guy? I’ve never heard of such scary people, but since there are assassins in Black Moon, there’s no need to hire outside contractors.”
“Ah…”
If you look at it, it is. Take, who had kidnapped Thermia earlier, was also an assassin.
“If you’re curious, why don’t you go and check it out?”
Roin came out of the bathroom, wiping the moisture from his hair with a towel.
“Are you going by yourself?”
“Yeah, they say there are a lot of homeless people there, but Johannes has an unusual appearance, so if you go and ask if you’ve seen him, I think he’ll tell you.”
“But…”
Johannes is black.
And Johannes is the only black person I have ever seen in this world.
If you hand a coin to the homeless and ask them, they will surely tell you.
“Then I’ll have to walk around Harlem tomorrow.”
The next morning, after sending Germi and Thermia to the Black Moon, they headed to the back alleys of Harlem with Natalia and Roin.
“Is this the place Germi told you about?”
“Yes, I think you are right.”
In the middle of the boulevard where people were busy wandering around, I saw a narrow alley hidden by the shadow of the building and not even light.
What are the emotionless eyes of a homeless man chasing after sitting on a pile of filth in the shade and looking at the shining street?
Our eyes met. Did this guy see Johannes? Do you know what Johannes came to do?
Now, let’s start playing detective.
