The Villainess Returns with a System Chapter 75: The Hit List (2)

"So you’re saying you can dig up a tunnel from your building to mine... under the street."

"Not just any tunnel... a secret tunnel."

"From your basent to mine."

"With secret doors."

"Secret tunnel, secret doors?"

"Yes, secretly secret.*

"Only you and I?"

"I and you only."

"Can I have my secret door through a closet? I always wanted to have a secret door through a closet."

"Get a closet down there and we will make it your secret doorway."

"Secret doorway in a closet!"

"You want sothing even better? A secret operation room between our buildings under the street."

"How secret?"

"Very secret."

"Vivian, you are the best stepdaughter a stepmother could ask for."

"Just... get your closet or whatever down there. A Duergar friend of mine is digging up the tunnel now."

A secret tunnel between Vivian’s and Isabella’s buildings. To Isabella, this was a dream co true since the days of her childhood.

A few hours later, she had the best-secured closet money she could buy fixed in her building’s basent and bolted tightly against a wall.

Vivian ensured the closet’s back was removed and waited for Voros to dig his way to the wall she kept hitting with a hamr. Half an hour later, Voros started removing bricks from the wall before getting out and dusting himself off.

"Voros, this is Lady Isabella De Clare, my elder sister." (Vivian)

"Stepmother." (Isabella)

"Bella, this is Mr. Voros Goldheart, ViTech’s Head Artisan." (Vivian)

"Chard!" Isabella greeted Voros whose appearance was a bit hard for her to process.

"Chief’s sister... respect!" Voros greeted Isabella in his usual way.

"Alright, Voros. Open a way enough for us to pass and make sure the end of this tunnel is secured."

"Mhm." Voros nodded and started breaking more bricks.

"Well, the only purpose for the basent here is to store things so don’t worry about anyone discovering the tunnel from my end." Isabella said.

"We’ll have more secret doors and Voros will expand the network later. For now, follow inside."

Isabella followed Vivian inside the tunnel which proved to be botherso since Isabella was taller than an average girl and had to keep her head low to pass through the dwarf-sized tunnels. Still...

"Viv, you’re spoiling !"

"I still can’t figure out what’s that love you have towards anything with the word secret in it."

"Are you kidding ? Secrets are what I live for."

Vivian gave Isabella a mysterious stare and then aid the lantern ahead.

"How about I show you so of my secrets?"

"Well well well, as long as they are juicy and dramatic, you shall have my utmost attention."

"Juicy and dramatic? I think you are setting the bar too low."

Vivian led Isabella into the secret hideout room underground and aid the lantern at the investigation board. It was a first for Isabella to see such a well-planned board and she slowly saw what Vivian was investigating.

"The Prince’s faction?" Isabella turned to Vivian as if she was afraid Vivian would head down that path eventually.

Vivian kept quiet and waited for Isabella to read the details she added recently.

"Richard Marshall: killed Reginald Ashcroft and probably assaulted Isadora Wellesley. Edmond Black: covered the murder of Reginald Ashcroft by pinning Isadora’s Assault on him and getting Isadora’s boyfriend to confess to murder. Ian Grayson: de facto leader of the Blackguards, deals in unlicensed Mithril. Valentine De Clare..."

Isabella read what was on Vivian’s board but as soon as she reached her brother’s article, she averted her eyes away for a few seconds before looking back again.

"... ntioned that he can launder the unlicenced Mithril by Ian Grayson."

Seeing Isabella making such a grim face, Vivian kept standing silently beside her until she got her thoughts in order.

"How do you know all that?"

"I’ve been doing so howork."

"And what do you want to do with all that?"

"A lot." Vivian replied and let out a long sigh before continuing, "I am sure you know what happened during my final exams. Those people tried to sabotage more than once and even though they have pulled back, it is only temporary. I understood the Prince’s motive for destroying ."

"And what is it?" Isabella asked.

"He wants to take my father down by taking down. If that was to happen, Robert could be the new head of House Moore and would dedicate every resource in our family to the Prince’s cause." Vivian replied.

"That idiot Prince had you as his fiancee. Why do all that?"

"Apparently, the Commoner Girl he took as his lover has sothing I don’t have."

"Nonsense."

"I’ve been wracking my brain over that matter nonstop, Bella. That’s the only possible explanation for why soone like Prince Liam did what he did."

"Even if it is true, why risk what is in hand for sothing risky? On top of that, even if she had more value than you, which is simply impossible, he is a prince and he can take a second wife, excuse for saying."

"It’s a dying tradition."

"Well, I am not minding it, so it is not dying anyti soon." Isabella said and then looked at the board then thought really hard before asking, "Do you want to take revenge?"

"Justice, actually." Vivian corrected Isabella, "Revenge makes one irrational. Justice is the right way to do it."

"I was going to say so wise words about not seeking revenge but you beat up to it." Isabella said with a tired smile.

"Don’t worry about . I have so tricks up my sleeve." Vivian assured Isabella.

"In that case, allow to fill in so gaps in your board." Isabella said as she picked the chalk from the board and started adding more points.

"Edmond Black is the heir to House Black which has a great deal of animosity towards my house. I dare say the fact that the De Clares can travel anywhere in the world and the Blacks being confined to the lands of Elgard has always vexed them." Isabella said.

"The Empire has everyone under its thumb one way or the other especially when it cos to its most loyal subjects. My house can’t hire Mages or own resource deposits, your house can hire barely a handful of Knights and Mages and all your operations must be related to trade." Vivian added.

"That’s how the world works." Isabella nodded and continued, "Back to the subject at hand, the first flaw in your map is that you consider the six to be subordinates to the Prince along with their houses. While that may be true in the case of Edmond Black, Ian Grayson, and Richard Marshall, only your brother Robert who is a die-hard supporter of the Prince against the interests of his own house."

"There is one in every family. Mine has two actually."

"Valentine isn’t a supporter of Prince Liam as far as I am aware as he stands to gain nothing from the Prince, still, he shows that he is on the side of the Prince so that he doesn’t make enemies with the most likely future king."

"I wouldn’t bla him for it."

"I would. Still, being in cahoots with that dirty lot is sothing I am not comfortable with as his sister. They want him to launder money for them, which is sothing Father will flay him for if it happens, especially if it is related to Mithril. On the other hand, Valentine has been up to sothing lately even though he is not showing much progress at making so business for himself."

"If you want to dig a little bit around him, I can do it. He was asking for my help during the Light Bulb announcent day and I told him I’ll look into whatever he needs help with."

"Good. I want to know what he’s up to as well." Isabella said and drew a few question marks around Valentine’s na on the board before looking at the last target, "Finally, Ronald Morgan."

"I have little on him." Vivian said.

"I have a few things on him." Isabella smiled.

"So..."

"He is not a subordinate of the Prince, the two just have a symbiotic relationship."

"The Morgans are powerful indeed."

"Not only are they more ancient than any family in Elgard, they are relatives to the previous royal dynasty. It is said that the founder of their House, Morgan the Witch, was the sister of Saint Arthur."

"I’ve heard of that. It is just propaganda though."

"That can be the case until you realize that Morgan the Witch wasn’t friendly to Saint Arthur to begin with. Sothing about the sister of the Saint being an enemy of his."

"You do realize that’s blasphemy, right?"

"Hey, it’s only between you and ."

"Isabella De Clare, the girl who has dirt on everyone including the Saints."

"Not quite actually, you know Mama Claudia is a historian."

"If the source is Mama Claudia, I’m afraid that won’t be enough."

"Unfortunately. She loves to make fanfictions out of historical events." Isabella shook her head, "However, I found so of her old scrabbles and to , it didn’t seem like she was writing one of her romantic fictions."

"Well, let’s keep facts from fiction while we’re here. Ronald Morgan, what do you have on him?"

"First, he is the Heir to House Morgan despite having a lot of older siblings. It is said that the Magic Ring he inherited is one that belonged to a powerful family ancestor."

"Aha! That’s why the little runt was chosen over his older brothers." Vivian said and then frowned about sothing, "But I thought that magic rings were personal for each Sorcerer and can’t be inherited."

"You Moores and your ignorance about Magic!" Isabella shook her head wryly, "In rare cases, so rings can be inherited as long as the original owner and the inheritor are of the sa lineage. Still, a lot of other conditions need to be fulfilled for the stars to align. Also, inheriting a magic ring doesn’t an you can inherit its power."

"Alright, so what’s the big deal?"

"The big deal is that each Magic Ring has its unique spells whose user develops over ti via the process of Spellcraft. If your ring is recently made, you will spend a great deal of ti trying to figure out and unlock its potential but if it was inherited..."

"I assu I don’t need to figure out a thing and just review the notes of the previous owners."

"Pingo. Furthermore, you can keep developing the ring spells from where they left off."

"I see now. So that’s what Ronald Morgan’s magic is like?"

"Yes. As for his personality, he is a sort of a mystery but as I said, he has a symbiotic relationship with the Prince and his faction. With you shedding light on Ian Grayson’s slave operation, I now can see it more clearly."

"What is it?"

"Guess who is the biggest client of the Blackguards’ slave market."

"The Morgans?"

"Ronald Morgan himself."

"How did you get such information?"

"I hear the birds chirp every morning, my dear. Wherever my birds travel to, they always bring news." Isabella laughed and dodged Vivien’s question.

"Fine, won’t ask." Vivian didn’t press for answers either then asked, "Is that all you have?"

"Hardly." Isabella shook her head and returned to the blackboard, "Have you heard of sothing called Bliss?"

"Bliss? I’m afraid not."

"Well, it is all the craze among so of my friends lately, especially those who work in the delicate forms of art."

"A drug, you an?"

"Not just a drug, honey. I have seen so people use it and I must admit, it was enticing at so point."

"Uh-oh! Why were you enticed?"

"Not anymore believe ." Isabella raised her hand in defense, "I just saw the people who inhale it simply bringing their creativity to the peak. It gives them this ability to be so very focused to the point where they can just do magic."

"But?"

"Well, after a few days of constant intake... I have no words to describe it actually. Have you seen how flowers wilt before they die?"

"Mhm." Vivian nodded.

"Almost like that. No one has died yet but it is only a matter of ti. But that didn’t look like life either, believe ." Isabella said with a complicated face.

Seeing the cheerful Isabella making such grim expressions, Vivian realized that this was a fatal situation for Isabella.

"Alright." Vivian said but then turned to the board, "Where does this Bliss situation fit on here?"

"Here!" Isabella advanced to the board and added the sentence "Bliss Supply" under "The Blackguards’ Market" in the section of Ian Grayson.

"Fuck!" Vivian swore without care and advanced to the board, "Ian Grayson; weapons, narcotics, and slaves. How the hell did a 17-year-old achieve all that?"

"Human greed can do much worse. We all know that, don’t we? Also, it is a thing the Graysons have been working on before he shows up. The little bastard only took it to the next level."

Vivian only nodded but deep within, she was still in shock. Arms, drugs, and human trafficking, that is called the unholy trinity of cri.

If Prince Liam’s whole campaign is being funded by such dirty money, then this Empire is going to be ruined. The best course of action is to abandon ship while there is still ti.

"This information is all I can provide for now. I have so other intel but I don’t think I can share it before crossing the references you had on the board with the other uncertain rumors I can gather. For now, let’s keep our heads low and try not to get ourselves in trouble." Isabella said.

"I am inclined to disagree, sister." Vivian said and turned to her, "I want you to provide with fresh intel on their ongoing operations most of all."

"Why? What will you do?" Isabella asked.

"Oh, I will just tip so Bloody Swan I happen to know."