A Narrow-Eyed Nobleman Is Always Misunderstood

Episode 199 – Information Merchant James

My name is James.

He is an official guild member and information merchant of ‘White Crow’, an information guild operating in Bellion Territory.

However, I could not say that my job was in the information industry.

This is because the job of an information merchant, which was established in people’s minds, was ‘a great person who moves secretly and quickly and knows information that others do not know.’

Okay. Let’s admit it. Let’s admit it honestly.

I don’t look like an information merchant.

If I were to describe my appearance, I look like an ordinary middle-aged man often seen in the neighborhood.

A beard of appropriate length, well-groomed hair, and a forehead that is starting to shine a bit.

Even if you look closely, he was just an ordinary middle-aged man.

However, the fact that it is common can actually be an advantage.

I could sneak into a crowd of people, and no matter where I was, people wouldn’t misunderstand me.

This is an exceptional talent for going among people and gathering information.

If you approach a stranger and offer them a drink and ask casually, “This is my first time meeting you, are you from out of town?”, You can naturally get information.

So, during the day, I work as an ordinary street vendor and get information, and in the evening, I go to a bar and buy drinks from people and get various information.

Finally, when I go home, I organize the information and make it into a document, and on my way to work in the morning, I stop by the market and hand over the document to a White Crow Guild executive disguised as the owner of the mill.

Then, my usual life was to make money by paying for the information I gave last time at the guild’s guard post disguised as a flour mill, or receiving snacks sold in other areas and selling them.

And then a person appeared in front of me.

“Hey, good morning. Mr. James.”

“You came today too, good morning. Al.”

That was a man who introduced his name as ‘Al’.

He was a man who did not fit in with this ordinary estate, but had the appearance of a nobleman, something you would see in any large city.

It was a little disappointing that the narrow eyes that were almost invisible did not match the smile that was always on my lips.

This man, Al, would look like a cold nobleman if he didn’t smile.

However, since he was smiling like that even though he couldn’t see his eyes, it seemed a bit suspicious.

It seemed like it should be called a dark scene, like something you would see in a play.

Why, what, I mean… All the bad things that happen in the story were planned by this person, and he is the kind of person who gives a suspiciously eerie smile every time his plan succeeds.

‘What on earth does this person do?’

Anyway, I had seen information about many people while working at the White Crow Guild, but there was almost no information about a man who looked like this.

However, when it comes to people who are as similar in appearance as possible, an example could be a person named Adalbert Reinmed.

“What can I give you?”

“Hmm. “Can I trust Mr. James’s insight again today?”

This man is definitely testing me.

It is clear that he knows that I work for the White Crow Information Guild.

Otherwise, wouldn’t there be a reason why only my street vendor would come among the many street vendors in this market?

Among the street vendors who set up stalls here, I was the only information merchant working for the Information Guild.

Suspicious. Something is suspicious.

This man must have approached me with some purpose.

“The one Mr. James recommended was much better than the ones sold at other stores.”

Look. Now this man is lying.

Dessert I’m selling? To be honest, this was just an ordinary biscuit that a good person in our guild made every morning.

The same goes for other biscuits sold at our estate.

However, the ingredients used in our guild were just a little better, and there were fewer ingredients used to make it sweeter.

Still, since it is made with craftsmanship and only high-quality ingredients, a very good gourmet may be able to notice the difference.

However, most people like to eat sweet biscuits with sweet pickles, so the biscuits I sell rarely sell.

It’s really, really, really ridiculous, but this suspicious-looking guy named Al… Does this mean you are such a great gourmet that you can even tell the difference?

At least among the people I know, there was no one like that.

Remembering the impressions and appearance of important people is something that every employee of the Information Guild must do.

If you don’t know the important people properly, you could miss a really good opportunity.

For this reason, I knew most important people intimately.

If an important person happened to visit the information guild, it was to guide them to our white crow guild.

However, this man did not have a single piece of information that matched any of the gourmets in my head.

I pride myself on knowing everything about the gourmets living in our empire, but this man was a mystery.

“Were the ones I recommended that delicious?”

“Hmm. Mr. James, I don’t think you know much about the value of the biscuits you recommended?”

Don’t be fooled, James. This man is just trying to scare me.

Someone who knows the subtle taste of biscuits comes to a town like this?

Isn’t this suspicious to anyone?

Because of my job as an information dealer, I am often suspicious of people, but this time I am especially more careful.

My conclusion from my long experience is that among those who pretend to be experts, there are no real experts.

Because true experts are different from their actions.

Haha. Actually, I don’t know much about biscuits. “I just accept it from the store thinking it will give me good products.”

However, there is no need to panic. Because I’m an expert. Don’t panic, just respond calmly.

Isn’t it true that I get things from the store anyway?

I’m not lying, so there’s no need to panic!

However, cold sweat is inevitable. What if the man in front of me is really a gourmet I don’t know?

If so, I need to find out information about this man and document it.

“I see, I like it because it’s honest.”

Uh, what? You like it because it’s honest? What? Is this a new way of floating?

I was so taken aback by the words of this man in front of me, Al, that I forgot what to say.

“In other places, there were many cases where low-quality products were sold by disguising them as high-quality products. However, Mr. James’s biscuits were different. The biscuit ingredients were of superior quality than those sold elsewhere. But I didn’t know that and sold it at a very low price.”

Is that so? Actually, I don’t know much about biscuits.

He was a guy who insisted on using good materials until the end and called it craftsmanship, and I guess that was true.

“Well, that’s why I like Mr. James. Unlike other street vendors. Huhuhu.”

However, even if it is the same compliment, it is very scary when a scary-looking person says it with a smile.

But you have to be patient. First of all, this person standing in front of me is a gourmet.

If you can tell such subtle differences, you must be a gourmet.

If not, the problem is simply correcting the information.

“Haha, thank you for your kind words. Rather, I heard from merchants that there are strange rumors going around in the capital these days… “Is there anything you know?”

Still, after clearing the air, I asked something else. For example, about a strange rumor going around in the capital.

This had to do with one of the people I was talking about earlier, a man named Adalbert Reinmed.

“I passed through the capital recently. What are the rumors?”

“W-what was it? Is it Albert Lenmed? I often hear rumors about a person called Rainmed among merchants passing by. “I asked the customer if he knew anything.”

As soon as the name Adalbert Rainmed came out of my mouth, his face looked a little worse.

There was definitely something to do with it.

“Well. I’m not sure. However, when I went to the capital, people kept asking me if I was Adalbert, but I didn’t even know who that person was.”

Hmm. I guess I made a mistake. This person appeared to be unrelated to Adalbert.

However, since their appearance is similar, I think it will be enough to record that they mistook them for the same person and reacted slightly with shock.

“Is that so. Anyway, the merchants said that the gentleman was called the White Reaper or something. However, there are widespread rumors that he entered Noble Academy with bad intentions.”

“Is that so? Is that possible at Noble Academy?”

Haha. What do I know? However, this is just something I picked up while doing business here, but there are a lot of very bad rumors spreading about that person named Adalbert.”

At the same time, I shared some of the information I had obtained from the White Crow Guild so as not to embarrass the guests.

The story goes that the person named Adalbert Rainmed was actually a fake from the beginning, and that he went undercover at Noble Academy for a purpose.

And the purpose was to infiltrate someone to destroy the Elpario Empire.

In fact, everything about him was a lie, from the way he spoke, his actions, the things he liked, to the statement that he was a fraud full of lies.

“Well, I say so. But honestly, I don’t believe it. “Rumors can be greatly exaggerated.”

Haha. I guess what Mr. James said it is true. Rumors are something that differ from the original fact and tend to be greatly exaggerated.”

Saying that, Al, or rather Albert, bought a few more biscuits.

I came out the next day and waited for him, but he didn’t come out.

He did not show up at the market the next day, or the day after that, or even a week later.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if Albert might have been Adalbert Reinmed.

If that’s true…

I am…

I am…

What on earth have you done? …

Oh God…

Forgive this sinful man…