[Vol. 8] Chapter 93: Rumors, All Just Rumors!
As soon as those words were spoken, the bar staff, customers, and even the black-clad figures who had jumped down from the roof, all of whom had pulled out their weapons the moment the black-haired girl threw the "hidden weapon", suddenly stopped in confusion. They all turned their heads with puzzled looks.
But the female bartender didn’t explain. She quickly ran out from behind the counter, still holding the small metal square tightly, and walked straight up to the black-haired girl.
Without hesitation, she dropped to one knee.
“Bevra Merlin, Head of the Shadow Guard Division's Holy City branch, greets the Queen’s Envoy. I deeply apologize for offending you earlier, I did not recognize your identity. Please forgive me.”
“Clatter!”
Her voice and movements were like a strict command. In an instant, everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing. Whether they were hiding in the shadows or pretending to be guests or workers, they all revealed themselves, bowed respectfully on one knee, and faced the black-haired girl.
The movements were so synchronized that the only sound in the room was Bevra’s voice just moments before.
From the very beginning, when the three girls opened the door, when Bevra talked with them, when the “attack” happened, and now this sudden and dramatic shift, no one among the undercover guards, staff, or customers had said a single extra word. Their discipline was so impressive that even a certain blonde girl standing behind someone couldn’t help but feel moved.
“As expected of Queen Lilya’s most elite intelligence force. If Miss Violet hadn’t brought me here, I’d never have guessed this place was one of their secret bases…”
“Haha, well, they are an undercover group after all. This is just one of their many changing contact points. I brought you here directly to save time. But hey, don’t go thinking about taking advantage of it, okay~?”
The blonde girl, strong and confident in her casual clothes, which couldn't hide her impressive figure, quickly waved her hands.
“What are you saying… Queen Lilya and I are friends. Our two nations are allies. Unlike the Austre Empire’s intelligence bureau, which is always causing trouble in secret, the Holy Empire is open and welcoming to people from all lands. As long as someone doesn’t break the rules too badly, the Church quietly allows them to operate here.”
It was, of course, a priestess, a dragon god, and the current Pope of the Holy Empire who spoke so nonchalantly about things that would shock anyone else.
Just as Violet had said, the Tulip Bar was one of the main contact points for the Shadow Guard Division in Holy City. The reason the priestess knew about this place was because one of the member had told her about it during a past mission. They had mentioned that if she ever needed help and they weren’t around, she could come here and ask the others for support.
As for the strange drink order earlier. Of course, that was a secret code used between members of the organization. Normally, there would be a few more steps to confirm identities, but the priestess found all that too troublesome. So, she simply threw out the command token that Queen Lilya had secretly given her long ago, a token that could be used to give direct orders to any subordinate of the Human United Kingdom, as if the Queen herself were present.
The shadows working in an important city like Holy City would definitely be directly connected to Lilya, and would surely recognize the Queen’s personal token. So the priestess wasn’t worried about making a mistake.
Still, she hadn’t expected the seemingly ordinary young bartender to actually be the top leader of this whole area… Well, at least that saved her a lot of trouble.
After taking back the Queen’s token, which Bevra had respectfully offered with both hands, the priestess looked around at the large crowd kneeling in the bar. There were clearly far more people here than it seemed, easily close to a hundred, filling the main hall. She casually waved her hand and said,
“Let everyone go back to what they were doing. I don’t have any urgent business, I just came to ask about some news.”
“As you command.”
The young shadow guard leader, who had been pretending to be a bartender and called herself Bevra, raised her hand. At once, the other shadow guards stood up and returned to their places. Some jumped back up onto the beams, while others turned into shadows and disappeared again. Only Bevra remained, still kneeling on one knee and lowering her head, waiting for orders.
The priestess girl gave a helpless shake of her head.
“Alright, alright, you can stand up too. Why do people from the Human United Kingdom always kneel so much?”
Miss Shadow was like this too. All of Lilya’s shadow guards were so serious and by-the-book. Maybe that’s just how large organizations work...
“Yes.”
With permission, Bevra didn’t hesitate. She quickly stood up. Although she had taken off her disguise as a bartender, her overall look and attitude didn’t change much. Before the black-haired girl could say anything else, Bevra carefully asked:
“Your Excellency… Are you the legendary Lady Violet?”
“Oh? Have we met before?”
“No, no, I joined the Shadow Guard Division after Her Majesty became Queen. By that time, you had already left the Human United Kingdom and gone off on your travels.”
“But back when I was still in training… I often heard the senior members talk about how you stayed by Her Majesty’s side and helped her turn the situation around. They’d tell stories of how you crushed the other princes’ schemes and helped her take the throne step by step. In our organization, almost everyone admires you, the Queen’s most mysterious, powerful, and close friend. I’m no different.”
Bevra kept her head down as she spoke honestly, though she couldn’t help sneaking a few curious and admiring glances at the girl in front of her.
“It’s not a secret among the higher-ups that Miss Shadow was sent by Her Majesty to assist you. When she showed up at one of our bases a few days ago, we pretty much guessed that you had come to Holy City too.”
“Also, while your appearance isn’t strange, your features are still very recognizable, your face has been talked about among the shadow guards for a long time. And that Queen’s token you showed, only a few of those exist in the whole world. So it really wasn’t hard to guess who you are.”
“…Isn’t that ‘close friend’ title too exaggerated? We're more like acquaintances."
That Lilya… Violet didn’t even need to think to know that it was definitely her doing. She must have told the older shadow guards to feed the new recruits with exaggerated and dramatic stories, all to build up loyalty through idol-like admiration for the Queen.
From a ruler’s point of view, it made sense. But why drag poor Violet into it too? It’s fine to say she helped, but “close personal helper”? Really?
She's not really "helping" anyone, it was more about her adapting to the new world and finding ways to use whatever was available to her.
At that time, it was her very first time being isekai'd, so she didn't grasp anything about skills or how this place worked. But there's no way she could have said that, right?
And why did it feel like more and more people were randomly becoming her fans lately!?
Violet shook her head again, half amused and half frustrated. She didn’t bother explaining all the strange rumors about her and the Queen, weird rumour that sounded overly intimate or even scandalous. She also pretended not to hear the “Tch, sneaky cat number one” sound made by a certain dragon god behind her.
Trying to move past the gossip, Violet quickly got to the point.
“Ahem… Anyway, yes, I am that Violet. So, is Miss Shadow here?”