The man in the portrait didnât look like a mercenary. He seemed like the young master of a noble house who had never worked a day in his life. He seemed gentle and tender. So when she saw the portrait for the first time, Evita thought, âReally? This is the guy?â.
âThat was commissioned a few years ago, so heâs definitely older now. But still, itâs only been three or four years. It seems like heâs a totally different person.â
Evita had fallen for him at first sight. She had managed to find another copy of the portrait and secretly hid it away. Whenever she thought of him, she would take it out and appreciate him. To be honest, she had looked forward to today. She didnât think anything would happen. She just wanted to enjoy the eye candy.
There were many instances of a portrait being completely different from reality. Sometimes the painter adjusted a few features, or a simple lady was transformed into a beauty for a premium price.
A manâs portrait, however, was not beautified. Instead, there was more movement and it was more three-dimensional. Thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, a strong jaw, a straight nose. The features of their face coexisted in harmony.
The man was handsome. He was eye-catching.
However, when Evita met him for the first time, all she could think was, âHeâs scary.â He seemed too intense. So intense that all the good feelings brought on by his handsome figure were swept away.
Not everyone would think the same way as her. Because of her line of work and her life experiences, she saw people differently. More than their outward appearance, she judged someone based on their temperament. While this sensitivity was a weakness, it was also a gift. She had never been wrong when it came to her first impressions.
âThe painter of that portrait might be an idiot. Or this man might have just hidden his true self in front of the painter.â
Evita guessed that it was probably the latter. This man would never reveal his true self to be copied onto a portrait.
Knock, knock-knock, knock.
She heard four knocks following a rhythm. The door opened, and a man entered holding a large envelope in both hands. Evita spoke to the man as he approached her.
âGive it to this man here.â
The man handed over the envelope to Kuhn. Kuhn opened the envelope and took out the contents inside. He quickly skimmed over the papers before putting them back inside.
âThis information wonât leak out anywhere, correct?â
âI swear to you in the name of Olga. The moment we sell the information, the ownership of that information is given completely to the buyer. We never share information that has been sold.â
Kuhn gestured to Russ with his chin. Russ took out a small bag from his breast pocket and tossed it over to Evita. Kuhn got up from his seat.
Once their clients had left the room, Evita ordered the man that had brought the envelope.
âTake care of the rest. Get rid of anything related to the information we have just sold.â
âYes, butâŠâ
The man hesitated.
âIâve pieced things together, and I think I know who it is. I think I know who theyâre looking for.â
There was a person that Kaligo had been secretly searching for years. The scale of their search was incredible, and most information organizations had received a commission from them.
What kind of crazy bastard had antagonized Kaligo? Thatâs what everyone thought. This was because Kaligo had told everyone that there would be a âbountyâ for finding this person. That word had a connotation. It was usually associated with a criminal.
The sum of money was huge. Many information organizations leaped to work as they salivated over the bounty.
But alas, nothing was free in this world. The Kaligo were extremely stingy when it came to giving anybody any information about the person they were looking for. Even a description wasnât given. As time passed, those that were unable to find anything eventually gave up and walked away.
Olga couldnât even afford to start looking in the first place. They had come across this information by chance. They were really lucky. Feeling as if she had found a cash cow, Evita finally saw the light at the end of this dark tunnel.
A lot of things happened as Evita inherited Olga. As with any other organization, whenever the leader changed, there was gossip. Olga was no different. Right when the organization was finally recovering, it had fallen back down into a wreck.
The information they had obtained by accident was like precious water in a desert. If they lost it, that would be the end. They couldnât trust anybody.
When they alerted Kaligo that they had the information they were looking for, they added a condition. They wouldnât sell it to them unless the head of Kaligo came personally to retrieve it.
After the successful transaction, Evita finally felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
âWho theyâre looking for is none of our business.â
âYesâŠâ
Evita shut it down with one stroke. However, she was still curious.
âWho is it?â
âI believe it has to do with the massacre that happened 25 years ago. It looks like theyâre looking for a survivor of that event.â
Evitaâs face hardened. Politics. It would be troublesome to get involved in something like this.
âI feel like weâll be able to get more information if we continue digging around. Does this mean that Kaligo has some interest in the Empireâs politics? As you know, a reward from Kaligo is a hefty amount. Even if we find out something small, we can sell it for a lot of money.â
Evita thought for a while before shaking her head.
âDonât do it. Itâs none of our business.â
For a moment, she wavered. They needed the money.
âWe canât afford to make any enemies.â
The man smacked his lips in disappointment.
âListen well. Have you ever met anyone who has lived to tell the tale after getting on the Kaligoâs bad side? If you get caught by that man, you wonât die a pretty death. Is money more important than your life?â
Evita scolded in fear that he was going to go off on his own. The man sighed.