Chapter 1364: Chapter 1364: The Stonemason Guild’s Spy
This ti following Margaret to visit the Stonemason Guild, Shard initially thought he would have to disguise himself as a guard. But then he rembered that Margaret’s visit was secret, so he could wear regular clothes.
Around one-thirty in the afternoon, Shard bid farewell to the ladies of the Opera House and boarded a carriage at the intersection to et with Her Highness the Princess. Together, they set off for the Stonemason Guild, which was half a city away from Wilder Opera House.
Today, Her Highness the Princess had switched out of her ornate gown and removed her luxurious accessories. Over her long dress, she wore a lady’s coat with a hem reaching the knees. A brooch with the Holy Emblem of the True God "Father of Peace" hung on her chest. Silver earrings adorned her ears, and her light golden hair was simply tied back, adorned only with a modest ribbon besides a cat-shaped yellow sapphire hairpin.
Modest, yet not overly so. She looked just like a young noble lady traveling alone.
Once Shard got into the carriage, Margaret shyly turned her face away, not allowing Shard to look at her. She pulled her personal maid, who also had slight Witch Power as a First Ring female sorcerer, to shield her.
The maid, equally beautiful yet modestly dressed, smiled at Shard and said:
"Her Highness, oh, I an Miss, Miss didn’t wear much makeup today, hence she doesn’t want you to see."
"No makeup? I thought this was already made up."
Shard said, and Margaret smiled, finally turning to him:
"You always know just what to say."
"What do you an always know what to say..."
[It’s best not to ask this question now.]
"She" kindly reminded, so Shard refrained from asking. In fact, he really couldn’t tell if the ladies were wearing makeup, as it was not easy to discern.
"I know you have things to do tonight, so I won’t take up too much of your ti."
Margaret spoke about the afternoon’s plans:
"I will have a eting with President Calvin Pigman in his office. Besides my own people, there should also be one or two vice presidents or managers from the Stonemason Guild. If all goes smoothly, the eting should end around four o’clock. Oh, if you feel bored, you don’t have to stick with ; feel free to wander around the guild. If anything cos up, I’ll have soone fetch you."
The guild president shares the sa surna as Saint Byrons’ principal.
"Then I’ll just wander around the guild."
Shard said, and Margaret hesitantly looked at him:
"What do you plan to do?"
She knew Shard well; he wasn’t the kind to wander aimlessly.
"Maybe I can give you a surprise."
Shard said, and Her Highness the Princess hesitantly nodded, then asked Shard again:
"What do you think of my outfit today?"
She imdiately added:
"Don’t just say it’s beautiful, that would be perfunctory."
Shard thought for a mont:
"Later, when we leave the Stonemason Guild, can you wear this and let
kiss you?"
The maid blushed, and Margaret turned her head again to avoid letting Shard see her smile.
This ti, Margaret, besides her maid, also brought along a female secretary and two female bodyguards. Of course, she wasn’t reckless; in reality, the royal guards had already infiltrated the Stonemason Guild under various disguises. If sothing went wrong, she could quickly summon a firepower squad to break through.
Entering the old town in the east from the Randall Valley City Center was like stepping back in ti as the carriage rolled forward. Arriving at Stonemason Street, where the Stonemason Guild was located, seeing the statues along the street and the craftsn busy in their shops felt like a return to pre-Steam Industry tis.
At the guild’s entrance, people ca and went, and Shard’s group’s appearance didn’t attract much attention.
Margaret, with her head down, held Shard’s hand as Shard led the group to the counter:
"We have an appointnt with President Pigman."
Shard said to the receptionist, and the uniford middle-aged lady asked:
"Sir, may I have your surna?"
Shard glanced at Margaret:
"It’s under this lady’s na, the appointnt na is... Hamilton."
The princess showed a barely noticeable smile, while Shard found it intriguing to use his surna in this world, even though Hamilton isn’t an uncommon surna.
The receptionist quickly found the appointnt, and led the group to the third floor. Although there were tensions between the Royal Family and the guild, Margaret, arriving with goodwill, made the guild’s upper managent aware of the importance of the visit. The third-floor office area looked no different from when Shard and Luviya sneaked in at midnight before. However, on closer inspection, all the room doors and gas lamps had been cleaned, and so of the wall paintings had been replaced with new ones, showing the guild’s way of expressing goodwill.
Shard was curious about how Margaret communicated beforehand.
The guild president, along with a slightly plump middle-aged gentleman in a red waistcoat and monocle, awaited them in the office. Margaret, wearing gloves, did not extend her hand, so Shard did, introducing them:
"Your Highness Margaret, I have been looking forward to this eting for a long ti."
Because the office door was already closed, the two middle-aged n bowed:
"It’s an honor to et you here on this ordinary afternoon, Your Highness Margaret."
"Then Your Highness, I will be outside. Please call
if you need anything."
Shard spoke softly, then pretended to check the window before leaving the room.
He pressed down his black hat, discreetly returned from the third floor to the first, and then exited the guild from the first-floor lobby. However, he did not go far, turning left and entering a second shop. This shop did not sell art sculptures but specialized in decorative stone carvings. In today’s era, with the advent of steam factories, many products can be mass-produced through simple assembly line processes, thus old craftsman’s handmade goods have received more attention than ever before.
The shop was large, and after entering, Shard declined the conversation from a young apprentice who approached him, instead heading directly to the counter. He knocked four tis with his ringed finger while staring at the elderly man behind the counter.
The latter squinted his eyes and looked at him:
"What does the custor need?"
"Six paperweights for a desk, made with the finest stone, ready to be picked up in six days."
The old man concentrated and asked again:
"Six days is too urgent, how about sixteen days?"
Shard continued the recital:
"Sixteen days is too long, I can pay a higher price."
"How much more?"
"Sixteen Krones and a brand new silk hat."
The old stonemason nodded, his expression unchanged:
"Alright, please follow
to the backyard to see the materials."
He then walked out from behind the counter and led Shard through the yard filled with wood and sundry items, up the iron staircase on the exterior of the building, arriving at the third floor. After opening the door, they entered the corridor and went into a study obviously modified for high-end business collaborations.
"Who are you? Sorry, I shouldn’t ask your identity, but it doesn’t seem like it’s ti for handover yet."
As soon as they entered, the old man nervously inquired. Shard gestured for silence, checking behind the cupboards and curtains. Then he tightened the drapes before speaking:
"You don’t need to worry about who I am; just know that we’re on the sa side. Your daughter is doing well living in Tobesk, so you don’t need to worry."
He leaned against the wall with the window, his back resting on the curtain and wall. Hearing this, the old man stopped asking:
"Is there a new task to be arranged this ti?"
"No new tasks. You’ve done a great job in the Randall Valley over the years; as you approach retirent, the Sixth Division won’t make things difficult for you. Once the matters with the Stonemason Guild are concluded, you can leave the organization with severance pay; you’ll be free then."
Shard wasn’t lying; that’s exactly how it was stated in the docunts.
"That’s good. In my youth, I was sent to go undercover in Velindale, going through both big and small matters. In middle age, unexpectedly, I was involved in the work of royal tomb constructions and went through that disaster, which is why I ended up here. I entered the workforce to serve the country; stone carving was just a small hobby from before. Who would have thought that in my old age, instead, I would spend more than a decade honing my craft, becoming a renowned artisan locally."
The old man dejectedly sat on a chair, while Shard remained standing:
"You should have been keeping an eye on Princess Margaret’s interactions with the Stonemason Guild, right?"
"Yes, the report stated it very clearly. It’s certain that Princess Margaret wants to facilitate negotiations between the royal family and the guild. But there’s a lot of resistance, especially from Prince William, who doesn’t want the princess to accomplish this—not for any other reason but just to avoid appearing incompetent compared to himself in the Randall Valley."
Shard showed a mocking expression:
"That incompetent fool, I heard he’s attending banquets in the Randall Valley every night, only returning to his accommodation late into the night?"
The old stonemason shared a similar low opinion of this prince:
"It was more than half a month ago at a banquet when Old Hack didn’t kill him; he’s really lucky."
"So, does Prince William want to stop Princess Margaret from achieving this?"
"Yes."
The old stonemason nodded cautiously:
"There’s so intelligence I haven’t had ti to pass up. At a banquet last week, through Ston Osenfort. Oh, that’s a wealthy local rchant, through him, Prince William got to know Vice President Giles of the Stonemason Guild."
Shard raised an eyebrow; he was talking about that obese middle-aged man with a monocle.
"Giles is the kind of greedy and incompetent person who will do anything for money. In theory, he would be the best person for Princess Margaret to approach in the Stonemason Guild."
That’s why he was present today.
"Ston Osenfort has a terrible reputation locally... very terrible. Since he’s involved in this, I’m almost sure that Vice President Giles has already received a promise from Prince William and will surely block Margaret Anjou’s interactions with the Stonemason Guild."
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