In the lower district of Igwinte, far from the bustling areas, amidst the dirty and chaotic alleyways where countless city bottom-dwellers lived, two figures dressed in casual clothes and wearing masks were lurking at the entrance of a dark alley. They observed the situation inside the alley from behind the corner of a wall.
There, they saw the target they had been tracking all along: a little girl wearing a black cloak standing deep inside the alley, holding up a box high as if showing off her achievement. Standing in front of her was a tall, thin man with a pale face, dressed as an elegant gentleman.
'As expected... that little girl was instructed to go to the secret gathering. The one who instructed her wants to sell the society's items without revealing his identity!'
Observing this scene before them, the two men thought to themselves, a sneer also appearing in their hearts.
'Hmph, very cautious, but still too green. He doesn't understand the society's influence in Igwinte. How could people from the society not attend the gathering at Gray Hill? Now we've caught his tail...'
While thinking this, the corners of the two men's mouths curved slightly. They continued to observe, and saw the little girl holding the box speak again.
"Mr.! The subsequent payment you promised!"
After the little girl finished speaking, the pale-faced gentleman smiled. Then, after affectionately stroking the girl's head, he took out a banknote from his pocket and handed it to the girl, then took the box.
"Thank you! Kind Mr.! May the Holy Mother bless you!"
After excitedly receiving the banknote, the girl bowed deeply to the gentleman before her. After giving her sincere blessing, she ran off happily, and the gentleman holding the box walked silently towards another path.
Seeing this, the two hidden men exchanged glances, then quickly followed.
Continuing to hide, the two men continued to tail the gentleman with the box. At this point, they had a clear objective: to track down this mysterious man who dared to sell the society's items, find his hiding place, gather as much intelligence as possible, report back to the society, and then wait for the society to take action, apprehend the target, interrogate him about the source of the items in his possession, and finally make him pay a heavy price.
And they, who provided the crucial intelligence, would also accumulate merit and receive generous rewards from the society.
Thus, under the lure of merit, the two men continued to track the gentleman ahead. What they didn't notice was that above them, a pair of eyes was looking down upon the ground.
The gentleman holding a cane strolled leisurely forward. His pace was neither hurried nor slow, as if he were taking a relaxed walk after dinner. Occasionally, he would stop and look up, leaning on his cane, and sometimes he would give alms to the child beggars beside him. Although he was in a dirty and chaotic alley, his behavior remained graceful.
Just like a true gentleman.
However, the gentleman's leisurely attitude made the two men following behind feel a sense of urgency in their hearts, wishing that the target they were tracking would immediately run to his hideout.
Although the gentleman's pace was slow, he continued to move forward. Gradually, he walked out of the alley and onto a normal, bustling street. The trackers behind him also followed. On this main street, they could track him better.
After tracking for a while, the two men discovered that the gentleman ahead had actually arrived at the riverside plaza. At this time, many citizens of various types were strolling here, enjoying the cool river breeze. Today was a rare day when the upstream factories were not operating, so there was no pungent industrial waste gas in the river breeze.
Among the strolling citizens, the two men could hide better. They approached the gentleman they were tracking within the crowd. At this point, they noticed that the gentleman was standing by the riverbank railing, staring motionless at the large river where ferries came and went.
'Is this guy... going to admire the river view here too?'
Seeing this scene, the trackers hidden among the crowd couldn't help but feel anxious. Just as they were thinking about how long the other party would spend here, the gentleman suddenly turned around.
Turning around, Edrick looked at the crowd before him, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Then, he took off his hat with his right hand and placed it on his chest, held his cane behind his back with his left hand, leaned forward, and bowed, performing a standard gentleman's bow towards the crowd, towards the trackers hidden within who had followed him all the way.
Immediately after, Edrick straightened up, maintaining his smile, spread his hands, and leaned backward, falling into the large river behind him.
Seeing this scene, the two trackers were startled, then quickly rushed out of the crowd, hurried to the riverbank, and looked down. However, they could only see the surging river water flowing forward, with no sign of a person.
Seeing this, the two men exchanged glances, both feeling that something was strange.
"Must report to the society immediately..."
After nodding to each other, the two men immediately set off, ignoring the citizens nearby who had also witnessed the scene and were screaming, and blended back into the crowd.
The two men walked very fast. They moved forward through the lower district, and after walking two blocks, they turned together into an alley. After going straight ahead, they stopped in front of a mahogany door with steps.
Then, the two men began to knock on the door in an orderly manner a few times, and also said a few passwords. After that, the door opened, and they both entered together.
However, on the rooftop opposite this wooden door, a black crow was standing on the railing at the edge of the rooftop, silently looking down, recording the scene that had just occurred.
It, from beginning to end, had never left the area above their heads. Their actions, from beginning to end, were in its eyes.
And on the bustling street not far away, on the second floor of a cafe, a white-haired girl who had just been seated, wearing a white top, a gray long skirt, and dressed simply, received the coffee served by the waiter and gently said thank you.
After adding eight lumps of sugar to the hot coffee before her in one go, Dorothy slowly stirred the cup with a spoon. After the sugar had completely dissolved in the coffee, she picked up the steaming coffee, blew on it gently, and then took a small sip, a look of satisfaction appearing in her eyes.
Then, she placed the coffee back on the table. After briefly recalling the information she had observed with her distant sight, she softly murmured.
"Elm West Lane... No. 22?
"I've found you..."
Dorothy's lips curved into a slight smile. She knew that this counter-tracking operation had been successful. For her, today had been quite fruitful.