"My name is Aryan, sir. I am happy to be helpful." Aryan said with a small bow of his head before looking up at the Viscount's face again.
"So, Aryan, what can you tell me about the Henson family and someone called Pearl Henson?" Zack asked while maintaining his mask.
"Are you, by any chance, pursuing her hand in marriage, sir?" Aryan maintained a poker face himself since any expression showed in such businesses could be lethal for him.
"No comments."
"Then we should go somewhere more private," Aryan suggested as he pointed towards one of the private rooms in the bar.
It looked as though the bar owner and the information brokers were in cahoots since Zack could tell that the rooms were enforced with soundproof formations which meant that no one could listen to anything going on the inside.
[ Emma, be careful and keep using echo detection inside the room. I will do the questioning by myself. ]
[ Then make sure that you don't startle me suddenly since that could cause a crack in that mask you have surrounded both of us with. ] She replied with a sigh as they moved towards one of the rooms.
[ Private bar room
Cost: 1 silver coin per hour ]
The information of the room further confirmed that it was indeed a special place since there was no way that a common bar like that would have special rooms.
Zack took out a silver coin from his inventory and threw it at the bartender who caught it perfectly.
The trio then stepped inside the room as Aryan grinned and asked them to sit down on the wooden chairs in the room.
"I would prefer to stand than sit," Zack replied with a smile as Emma shook her head too.
It was because of the thing that had opened up in front of their faces.
[ Use of any object in the room will cost a silver coin. Refusing to pay the money will result in a penalty. ]
Zack and Emma decided to not take any chances and stand near the entrance of the room. They had to close the door to activate the formation due to which they were trapped with Aryan.
"I will pay you five gold coins to tell me everything you know about the Henson family and Pearl. I will also pay you five more gold coins to keep your mouth shut. You will have to swear an oath of existence. Everything is non-negotiable." Zack stated out the terms of the deal.
"You are straight to the point of business, sir. Would you like a drink?" Aryan asked while moving to the minibar.
"I don't drink." Zack politely declined as Aryan sighed and decided to tell them everything he knew.
"Fine, the Henson family used to be one of the four duke families and used to rule the southern region of the Eizenburgh kingdom. That was before the ruler of the great forest of Arnia revealed his presence.
He suddenly attacked the family without any reason and the duke and his wife, alongside a good number of people, were killed. King Jonathan, was the one who appeared on time and saved the remaining members of the family and the people living in the area."
Aryan then looked at Zack and Emma's faces to see that they were clearly listening. With a small smile, he continued his telling of the story.
"One of the survivors was Pearl Henson, the second child of the duke. His first child had died while trying to protect his sister so currently, Pearl is the heir to the Henson family. According to what information I have, her relatives treat her well enough. That's all."
Zack quickly took out ten gold coins and dropped them on the table before exiting the place alongside Emma.
Aryan just stared at the coins and sighed before picking all of them up and leaving the room too.
"So maybe she is kidnapped because the kidnappers want money or something?" Emma asked while the two of them left the village in peace.
"There are other ways to obtain money. They could have just kidnapped one of the lower nobles and could have easily gotten the money." Zack shook his head as he had a feeling that it was something else.
"Then it's done by the family members," Emma said in a confident voice as Zack raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.
Despite what Aryan had told them about the relationship between Pearl and her family members, there was a chance that it would be wrong.
'Speaking of the Henson family, I never knew that they were one of the four duke families.' Zack had only known that the southern region of the continent was under the control of the ruler of the forest of Arnia.
The other three ruling parties were the Momonga family, the Eagleson family, and the Tigerheart family.
"So, now we have to go to the Henson family residence and meet them there before gathering more information and finding Pearl all within 20 days." Despite how absurd the quest sounded, Emma had a smile on her face.
"You look pretty excited."
"It's because I am finally getting the fun of playing this game. I mean sure I was having fun but before, it felt oddly paced and a little too sudden. Like one thing ended, boom, here is another thing and another thing. It felt as though the game developers were pushing all their ideas at once."
"It's such a huge world inside Hikari so it would be weird if they weren't a little overexcited and did most stuff too quickly," Zack replied as the two of them made their way to another village a few kilometers to the west of the one they had visited.
"I can't really blame them. Anyways, after getting the location of the residence of the Henson family, we are directly going there. We also have to start getting more exp and leveling up." Zack added as Emma nodded.
The duo then continued the journey to the new village.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶