I Am The Heroine's Father: The Cannon Fodder's Ascent-Chapter 41: Black Market: Part 2

"Are you serious right now?" The man bit his lip, trying to suppress the shock in his heart. From his facial features, he was definitely a born Aurelian, and like any other citizen of that empire, he revered its greatest hero.

Beatrice instantly pulled something out of her bra and threw it on the table. "Take a look at this," she said simply.

The man immediately picked it up, analyzing it closely—

It was a video frame, an Aetheric technology developed some time ago. It allowed users to imprint something they saw in their memories into video form—

In the video, Radhaan, Beatrice, and Raymond Daystar talked like casual friends, laughing and discussing.

The man, with his background, knew very well that these videos were impossible to fake. You would have to manipulate your memories to even attempt such a thing.

He passed it back with trembling hands and took a deep breath.

"So you really did betray them..." he sighed, making up his mind to immediately send this information to the Mantle of Rust—Mr. R. It would be his call whether to use this as leverage against Radhaan or reveal it to the world.

He would definitely receive a huge bonus to keep his mouth shut. After all, he was just a cog in the wheel. He had no right to even learn of something like this.

He motioned with a calling gesture, and a guard—with a long sword in his right hand, a shield on his back, and light black enchanted armor on his body—closed in, walking right up next to him.

"What information do you need? If it's something regarding the Midgard Empire, it's gonna be costly, I tell ya. They've closed all networks. Even traders can't enter. Our spies have no way to send information besides sacrificing their lives to deliver it." He shook his head, adopting a professional smile, like he just turned on his business mode.

Johan nodded, intrigued, but suppressed the desire to ask. The man was clearly trying to upsell him. "We want to know everything going on with House Matilda," he said directly.

"Especially the situation of Selene Von Matilda," Beatrice added with a smile.

Johan's lips curled into an evil smile. He was starting to like Beatrice.

'It's weird to say, but having someone who can read your mind isn't all that bad.' His eyes brightened.

Johan wanted it to seem like he was only interested in Selene—a popular topic everywhere. Daughter of a traitor. Youngest female to reach Stage 0. Wife of a Divine General. There were many reasons a 'traitor' like Beatrice might be curious about someone like her, and the man didn't have the right to ask.

All he could do was speculate, so giving him the wrong impression was always the best strategy.

"Of course, I have quite a lot actually. This information was very popular, so I made sure I had sufficient supply," he nodded excitedly, a bit surprised by their choice.

The guard beside him vanished and reappeared a moment later, passing a small bracelet to the man.

He took it with a smile, placing his one empty hand beside the hand holding the bracelet on the table.

"How much?" Beatrice spoke first, placing her soft hand in the rough, empty hand of the man.

'Why is she helping me so much? She even revealed Radhaan to them, just to build trust for information I wanted... this had nothing to do with her... and now she's also paying?' Johan's frown deepened.

There was no way she would do all this without a reason.

Beatrice grinned, reading Johan's thought.

"12,000 gold pounds. You know, supply increases demand, right? I hope you won't try negotiating," the man said firmly, shaking his head at the memory of how many people he'd had to escape from when he refused to haggle.

Beatrice's hands quickly slipped into the gap in her cleavage, and she pulled out a thick bundle of notes, making James inside Johan salivate.

The notes vanished from the bundle, appearing in the man's palm as she placed them there and elegantly took the bracelet from his other hand.

"Alright, have a good day." She immediately started walking out the front door, her face cold.

Johan looked around hurriedly, then followed her, with the rest trailing behind.

"What do you think, Master Lucifer?" the man whispered to the guard beside him.

The guard, who had seemed very stoic just moments ago, revealed his handsome face and started playing with the man's brown hair. "You did a good job, Orwell. This was definitely the man my friend was looking for!"

"Ah, I'm glad." Orwell genuinely smiled, gulping down another cup of beer.

"Yes, you should be. Don't forget to keep an eye on them. I have to send this information to my friend—that he has failed." The young guard groaned lazily and vanished again, a grin lingering on his handsome face.

The bracelet glowed violet-gold, then slowly molded into a piece of paper. A piece of paper with the ability to play a video.

'This world, no matter how much it looked like a medieval European empire, was far more advanced—almost sci-fi level. Writers used to say that's the realistic outcome if humans really had magic.' Johan thought, leaning in closer to Beatrice, who was holding it.

He didn't demand that she avoid reading something related to him, even though he wanted to. She was the one who paid, after all.

"How did they even get a video of this?" Sebastian asked, a bit amazed. Even though he'd made countless deals with black market traders, he usually received a written record—or at a price, an image. And this was supposed to be very confidential.

"Can we play it now?" Kirin asked, anxiously fidgeting her fingers behind her back.

Beatrice nodded.

[Darkness, heavy darkness. The 'cameraman' walked straight, passing through all of it until there was a bright torch in sight.]

[He stopped, placing his palm against the skin-colored brick wall. The wall, as if shattering, began tearing down—brick by brick falling to the opposite side.]

['He' quickly walked inside. Muddy walls, rocky ground, two torches—it was a cave, a cave with no end in sight.]

The 'cameraman' seemed to walk endlessly. If there had been a ten-second forward button, Johan would've smashed it by now.

[But, it finally ended, revealing a room filled with muddy swamps and strange, grotesque creatures—some looked like flies, but 30 feet tall; others like large ants; giant pigs eating each other, creating a mix of mud, blood, and shit. Then the 'cameraman' turned right.]

Johan, Kirin, and Sebastian's pupils dilated, their bodies trembling violently.