Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 54: Scoop Not For Sale

Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that the meet-up place with a world-class information broker...

Would be at a crab restaurant.

Even so, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

There was a reason Ophelia was considered world-class. She had never once been caught—either because she escaped the authorities before they could close in...

Or because she killed whoever managed to catch her.

It didn’t help that the method I’d used to contact her was practically the equivalent of calling her home phone number and asking if she was willing to take a job.

Honestly, I was lucky she had been willing to hear me out at all.

However, the moment I stepped foot into the restaurant, I could already sense a shift. It was extremely subtle, definitely not enough for the other customers to notice.

The sensation itself was strangely contradictory, akin to something similar to a muted bloodlust. One that wasn’t aimed at any body, but lingered like a predator waiting in a bush, ready to leap out and crush their prey.

I reached to my side subconsciously. But to my dismay, the Spell Driver that was supposed to be there wasn’t because it had been confiscated.

Essentially, I was now walking unarmed to meet a potentially deadly assassin. What a wonderful decision that I just made.

’Though it might actually work in my favor. She’ll be more willing to trust me if I’m unarmed.’

Looking forward, all I had to do now...was take another step, and hope I don’t die on the spot.

’Here goes nothing...’

I closed my eyes and took another step forward...but when I realized my head hadn’t gone flying off or discovered any holes inside my body, I was quite relieved.

At the same time, the subtle layer of bloodlust from earlier had disappeared as well.

"Hey, are you gonna sit down or what?"

A voice came from the table beside me from a girl wearing a gray hat that concealed her face. She was casually breaking apart a crab leg.

’It can’t be...’

I had been so worried about the aura permeating the restaurant that I had overlooked Ophelia, who was sitting right next to the entrance.

’Or maybe it was some kind of Neural Interference Spell that allows her to create the hallucination remotely.’

Well, all of that didn’t matter now.

I cautiously approached the table and pulled out the chair from across from her before lowering myself slowly onto the seat.

Now that I was closer, I could finally make out her features.

She wore a beige cap pulled low over her head, with long gray hair spilling out from beneath it and flowing down her back.

Her outfit was equally simple: shorts, a white tee, and a black leather jacket. It was the typical attire of a "delinquent student", but maybe she chose it on purpose so that people wouldn’t approach her.

After all, the Ophelia that I knew from the game...

Was a thirty-year-old woman.

’Yet the girl sitting across from me couldn’t have been any older than seventeen.’

"Look," she spoke after a moment of silence. "I’m not gonna eat you or anything. If I wanted you dead, I would’ve done it at the entrance already."

"So spit it out before I finish my meal."

I shifted awkwardly in my seat. "Uhh, alright..."

"Do you know about the Red Smoke Incident?"

"Yeah," she nodded, wiping her mouth with a wet towel. "And I also know why you’re here. It’s not particularly difficult to predict what kind of information Nolan Midgard would be looking for."

"How do you—?"

"You’re just being sloppy."

She finally raised her eyes toward me. "Everyone knows your appearance by now. A face mask and some sunglasses would do you some good."

"Noted..."

She looked back down again and reached for another crab claw. "So, what are you looking for? I’ll have you know that I can’t break that girl out of Nidavel."

"I want you to look into Hyde Muspel."

For the first time since I’d sat down, she froze. Then she slowly looked up at me, a grin spreading across her face.

"Ahhh...something exciting for once?"

I had no idea what she was talking about. That probably wasn’t a good sign. But still, I continued regardless.

"Please look into all monster material transports going entering or leaving the region. And pay particular attention to anything registered as waste."

Ophelia leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of her drink and finally starting to pay attention.

"Alright, that shouldn’t be particularly difficult. Anything else?" She shrugged. "Your first commission is simple enough, so I’ll give you a freebie."

’Huh...she seems more cooperative than I thought?’

I leaned back in my chair and tried to think of something else worth investigating. Before long, one possibility came to mind.

"Then please look into the Seven Branches Tournament. Especially those involved in organizing it."

"Can’t you do that yourself?" she tilted her head in confusion. "Aren’t you part of your academy’s coaching staff?"

I wasn’t even going to ask how she knew that.

"Yes, but I only have access to the competitors and their coaching staff. I want you to investigate the people organizing the tournament itself."

She leaned forward in her seat, the grin on her face growing wider by the second. "You do know that Alfine is the tournament organizer this time, right? And you expect foul play from them?"

"Just the fact that a Midgard expects that of Alfine is a scoop in and of itself!"

I sighed into my palm, having expected this response.

"Which is why I can prove that any information you get from me..." I lowered my hand and met her gaze. "Will be unlike any scoop you’ve ever had before."

Ophelia studied me for several seconds before setting the crab claw back onto her plate. "That’s a pretty bold promise."

"Did you ever wonder how I found your private contact channel? I wouldn’t do so if I couldn’t keep it."

Her smile slowly returned.

"Alright, Nolan Midgard. Impress me."

Taking the pen and receipt that was placed on the side of the table, I quickly wrote some instructions and drew her a location.

I slid the entire thing to Ophelia, watching her reaction as she read it.

"What’s this...?" Her eyes narrowed. "Isn’t this just some random warehouse in Suigetsu?"

"Not quite." I shook my head. "That warehouse contains all sorts of valuable weapons and military-grade materials."

I gestured toward the receipt.

"All free for the taking, should you wish."

"That does sound pretty good." She nodded before looking back up at me. "But I feel like there’s more to this. You didn’t give me that location just so I could steal a few weapons, did you?"

"What do you gain from this?"

Despite my best efforts, a small smirk crept onto my face.

’I knew she would figure it out.’

"Suigetsu is a coastal city. So why would the Federation be hiding such a large quantity of weapons inside civilian warehouses?"

Ophelia sank back into her seat, deep in thought. "Well obviously because their military bases can’t hold all the supplies?"

"Precisely," I leaned forward, pressing on the issue. "Now why would every mililtary base surrounding Suigetsu suddenly be filled beyond capacity?"

That was when her eyes suddenly widened, her fingers tightening around the receipt. She then looked up at me, before uttering the only reasonable conclusion from this back and forth game.

"They’re preparing for war."

"So to answer your question. You can call me someone who’s quite...patriotic? Steal them, destroy them, sell them— I don’t particularly care."

I took a crab leg and began breaking into it. "I just need enough of their weapons to disappear that they can’t begin the war on schedule."

Ophelia’s expression suddenly turned serious, looking up at me with narrowed eyes. "How exactly does a 20-year-old kid know about something like this?"

I could’ve answered her question here, but she probably wouldn’t believe me. Because contrary to what everyone believed, the tournament wasn’t the real catastrophe awaiting us.

It was merely the end to the opening act.

The war that followed was what truly brought Ygg Empire to its knees...And bring upon the middle portion of the game, appropriately known as—

The Chaos Act.