Chapter 538 – The Information Broker

The mature woman led Eve and I down a long corridor that seemed too long to fit in the love hotel judging from outside appearances. It can be safely assumed this place was a small pocket dimension or a completely different place in the world, connected via a teleportation enchantment or something of the sort.

The hallway was made of marble, and had simplistic but neat decorations. Glass cases holding torches inside were placed on the walls, and the windows were made of stained glass. There was nothing outside to see anyway.

As our footsteps came to a stop, the woman knocked on the door in front of us, and spoke.

“My lady, you have two customers.”

“Huh?!” A growl came from the other side. “Didn’t I say I had enough funding, and wasn’t going to do any work this week? Why did you bring them here?!”

“… My apologies, my lady, but they knew the code…” The woman said hesitantly, and at this, the door suddenly opened, revealing a short but cute girl on the other end, wearing nothing but her pajamas.

Her very, very translucent pajamas.

“…”

“…”

“Y-You… you didn’t tell me there was going to be a man! Look away, dammit!”

“S-Sorry!” I quickly averted my gaze and turned around so that my back was to her. The little girl whimpered a bit, and quickly pulled on a set of proper clothes.

“… Come in,” she said after a while, and I slowly turned back around, letting out a breath of relief. Eve, noticing this, gave a soft giggle.

As the two of us entered the little girl’s room, the older woman shut the door behind us and left so that we may have some privacy. And as for what was happening inside…

“Waah~! Eve!” The little girl bawled as she leaped into Eve’s arms, sobbing and crying. “You finally came to see me… I was so lonely here…”

“Haha…” Eve laughed awkwardly and patted her head, like an older sister. I arched an eyebrow at this.

“You two know each other?”

“Of course,” Eve replied. “I told you, didn’t I? I knew some reliable information brokers here. This one right here is named Erin. She’s a demon, as you can probably tell.”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t think you would know each other on such an… intimate and personal level,” I muttered quietly.

“Heheh, Eve is my blood-sworn sister!” The little girl boasted, tiny devil wings on her back flapping a bit. “But… who are you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “I’ve never seen a man travel with Eve before. She detests men.”

I blinked. “She detests men… as a succubus? That’s a first.”

“It’s more like I look down on them,” Eve clarified, smiling innocently. “They are just a delicacy to succubi, nothing more. You, though… are different~”

“… Uh, thanks, I guess,” I replied, then cleared my throat. “Ahem. In any case… we should get down to business. Erin, you’re… an information broker, correct?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Came here looking for info? On my day off no less? The price isn’t going to be cheap, y’know—even if Eve is my sister.”

“I have plenty of money to spare,” I said with a chuckle. “As long as you tell me the info I want, I can buy you anything in the world that can be bought with money.”

Erin stared at me for a while, then burst out laughing.

“… Pfft~! Did you hear what he just said, Eve? Buy me anything in the world that can be bought with money? Ha! That’s the first time I’ve heard such an arrogant boas-“

“He’s not boasting though~” Eve said with a wink, and Erin froze.

“… Eh?”

Eve only smiled, and like a well-oiled robot, Erin mechanically turned her head towards me.

“Y-Y-You’re really… that rich?”

“Probably amongst the richest people in the world, yeah,” I replied calmly.

“Oh… my… god.”

Erin immediately scurried back to her own seat across from us, and pulled out her notepad, a top hat, and a monocle, like some kind of professional detective.

“Alright,” she said in a low, serious voice. “What do you want to know?”

The attitude changed so quickly!

“… I need you to find a person’s whereabouts. Her name is Qing Ruo Lan. She is slightly shorter than me, has long white hair, and blue eyes. She’s very beautiful, and is a human. A reliable source told me she was last spotted in Demon Territory—I need to find her.”

“Oh yeah? What’s this? Had a fight with your girlfriend, and now you’re looking for her?” Erin giggled evilly.

“… She’s my mom.”

“Ah-” She froze momentarily, then averted her gaze. “Well, ahem. That was… awkward. Sorry about that.”

I sighed. “It’s fine. I need you to find her location as soon as possible—it’s a matter of life and death. I don’t care what other jobs you have, make this your priority. I guarantee you your other customers won’t be able to pay you as high of a price as I can.”

“Don’t worry, I’m confident about that,” Erin said, folding her arms.

I tilted my head. “How?”

Eve leaned into my ear and whispered, “She has no other customers.”

“H-Hey!” Erin yelled, blushing furiously. “I heard that, y’know! I just, u-uh, have high standards when it comes to customers! Yeah, that’s it!”

I stared at the little girl dubiously, and whispered back to Eve.

“… Hey. Is she really reliable?”

“I heard that too, y’know!”

“Well, as much as she seems like an immature child, she is quite skilled at information gathering. She will deliver, I am certain. Though… the reason she doesn’t have customers is because she often calls for high prices far beyond what other brokers offer information at.”

“Ah. So… a scam.”

“Yes, you could say that.”

“HEYYYY! I’M RIGHT HERE, YOU KNOW!!!”

“Fufu, my bad,” Eve said with a soft laugh. “In any case… please fulfill my husband’s request. It is very important to him.”

“Yep, don’t worry, Eve! I got thi- wait.” Erin suddenly realized something, and turned her head to me. “He’s… your husband?!”

“Mhm. Is there a problem?” Eve asked, smiling innocently.

“W-Wha- you’re the queen of the succubi! How can you marry a man! He’ll die the moment you try and have kids!”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Eve giggled. “I already tested that not long ago—he has an even greater sex drive and stamina than I do. We can do it day and night and he won’t fall.”

“W-Wha… what the… KYAHHH! I don’t want to hear it anymore, get out!” Erin shrieked in embarrassment, covering her ears. Eve laughed at this, and rose from her chair before winking at me.

“Come on. Let’s go, hubby~”

“We’re not even married yet…” I muttered quietly under my breath, as the two of us left the information broker Erin behind.

*****

After stepping out of the elevator and returning to the first floor, we exited the love hotel. Eve tugged on my arm and looked up at me sadly, on the verge of tears.

“We’re… really not going to take advantage of this opportunity?”

“No, we’re not. And stop the acting,” I scolded, to which she giggled and let go of me.

“Fine, fine. Your mother… she must mean a lot to you, huh?”

I frowned. “What kind of question even is that? Of course she does. She’s my mother.”

At this, Eve smiled sadly. Not the fake kind—it was real, genuine sadness.

“… Where I come from, the word ‘mother’ has no meaning. I’m just another one of the countless offspring she had with all kinds of different men, nothing more.”

“Oh…” I forgot about that. The succubi race… it was a cruel one. “… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh… I just… did it out of common sense. Sorry.”

Eve shook her head. “It’s alright. It doesn’t bother me much, anyways. Now… what do you say we check up on how the other two are doing?”

I nodded. “Nael and my father are both capable negotiators. They should have already finished on their end as well…”

*****

– Inside a Tavern –

“… So, what’s going on here?” I asked, folding my arms. My gaze was completely deadpan, staring straight at the table a few meters in front of me where three people sat, playing some kind of poker.

“Two pairs!” My father yelled triumphantly. “Can’t beat that, can ya?!”

“I have… a Four of a Kind,” Nael stated, aggressively slamming his cards down on the table as if to assert dominance. “Can you… beat that?”

The two men were staring at the hooded figure on the other end with hate burning in the eyes. Beside the hooded figure was a large wad of cash, most likely taken from my father and Nael.

“Fufu… still as playful as ever,” Eve murmured from beside me, but my focus was on the hooded figure and the hooded figure alone, as she turned her cards wryly with her intricate, soft hands.

“Too bad… I have a straight flush.”