Roger, of course, wouldn't let it go.
But he knew there was no point in searching any further; this man called "Levi" would never show himself easily.
There was no helping it—the timing was wrong.
Under normal circumstances, Levi might not have run, but right now they were in the middle of fleeing after robbing a stash of drugs.
At a time like this, the last thing they'd want was anyone catching up to them.
So Roger didn't linger and soon returned to the surface.
When they reached the underground stairway, they saw those toll-collecting thugs again.
Somehow they'd gotten hold of a rifle; one man had it slung across his back, counting money carelessly. The moment they saw Roger, they raised the gun.
But the man beside him hurriedly pushed the muzzle down.
"Do you think people topside who carry guns are pushovers?"
From a distance, Roger heard that line. He caught Tours by the arm and smoothed down the sleeve he'd just rolled up.
He knew that if he left Tours unchecked, the big lug would definitely charge in and knock them all flat.
But this was the Underground; they didn't know the other side's background at all. Better to keep to their own lane.
So, under the gaze of the crowd, the three of them bypassed the long line, didn't pay, and walked straight up the steps.
The toll collectors turned their heads, pretended they hadn't seen Roger's group, and didn't try to stop them.
After climbing the long staircase, Roger reached the surface.
The carriage had long been prepared—and for quite some time at that.
Once aboard, Roger started discussing Levi with Nelly.
"Nelly, I know you're well-connected. Can you dig up information on this Levi?" Roger asked.
Nelly looked troubled.
He really was a fixer, yes—but only for the Stohess District. As for the chaos of the Underground, he had no sources there.
Still, it wasn't impossible to try.
Suddenly, Nelly threw open the door and hopped off the carriage.
"What is it, Nelly?" Roger frowned at the out-of-character move.
Nelly bowed slightly and requested, "Boss, I don't know anyone in the Underground, and I don't even know where to start looking for information on Levi. But I want to ask you to let me stay down there for two days. In two days, I'll come back to you with a full dossier on Levi."
Roger frowned again at that.
Tours, however, smirked and jeered, "No way, Nelly—you planning to run?"
"You think the Underground is better than Stohess? Why would I run?" Nelly shot back. "Let's be blunt, Tours: last time at the casino, I couldn't be there to fight at the boss's side, and yet he still gave me a hefty cut. I've always regretted that. Intel work is my specialty. Now that the boss needs something, I'm duty-bound. I want to repay him."
"All right," Roger nodded slightly. "Since you say so, I'll leave it to you. Spare me the flowery words. Tours, give him the handgun."
"Boss…"
"Give it to him."
Tours nodded, pulled out the pistol he'd taken from Nelly before, and returned it to its owner.
Taking the gun, Nelly bowed again.
"Please rest easy, Boss. I won't fail you."
With that, he headed back into the Underground.
Two days later.
He came back.
And as promised, he brought everything on Levi.
Roger had thought Nelly might have been roughed up—maybe missing an arm or a leg—but when Nelly stood before him, Roger was a little surprised.
He'd changed clothes, and this outfit looked even sharper than what he'd worn going down. He looked like a rich man.
"What did you go through, Nelly?" Roger asked, curious.
Nelly smiled. "Boss, do you remember the tavern we drank at in the Underground?"
"Of course."
"You'd said their 'wine' might be cut with drugs. I took a few sips and didn't taste anything like that, but I told the owner it had drugs in it and threatened to report them to the Military Police. They didn't have guns—so even if some had the guts to surround me, none dared rush me."
"And then?"
"Then I took the chance to ask about Levi and let them off the hook."
"So… was there actually any drug in that 'wine'?"
"Hm?" Nelly thought for a moment. "Probably not. I was just scaring them. Didn't expect them to fold that fast."
Hearing that, Roger smiled knowingly.
Nelly really did have skills.
"Tell me, if I hadn't given you that gun, what would you have done?"
"Then I wouldn't have tried that. I'd have taken it slow, chatted up the barkeep, and fished for info. Same trade—give a decent tip and most things are negotiable."
"Hah, that's you all right."
With Levi's dossier in hand, Roger started planning a way to engineer contact.
Winning someone over boils down to fulfilling their desires.
What would someone living in the Underground want?
Roger thought about it: surface residency and enough money.
He looked over the dossier page listing the members of Levi's pickpocket crew.
There were quite a few who could be bought—especially a man named "Yang Bradley," whose leg had contracted a disease common in the Underground and was already beyond treatment.
"If we send him to a hospital, and settle Levi and his other men on the surface, could we bring him into the fold?"
Thinking that, Roger opened the ledger and examined the organization's funds.
They still had plenty from the casino job—enough to place them all. They'd just need to work Military Police connections to slip a few of them topside.
"Nelly, come with me to see Kamen. I want to discuss something with him personally."
"No problem, Boss."
The two stepped out the door.
They boarded the carriage, passed through the royal capital's busy market district, and headed for Kamen's turf.
There were many children in the market, playing happy games by the roadside.
Through the window, Roger watched them.
Their joy reminded him of his childhood. The streets of the refugee district had been just as crowded, and kids would dart across the road from time to time.
But for some reason, when those children saw Roger, they suddenly stopped playing. Instead, they stared at him in surprise, whispering to each other.
"?"
Roger was puzzled and tried to look closer to see what they were doing.
Just then, the carriage stopped.
"Sorry, please get out for inspection."
"Hah? Are you blind? Do you know who you're talking to in this carriage?!"
"Please, respect our work. Anyone leaving the city must be inspected. Not even the king is exempt."
"Hey, kid, you're gonna get yourself marked doing that…"
The coachman and the gendarmes started arguing, the air growing more and more combustible.
Roger lifted the curtain for a glance and more or less understood what was going on, but he still had the coachman ask to confirm.
The coachman finally got the details, then lifted the curtain and said to Roger:
"Boss, they're looking for someone named Roger Eikam—a very dangerous wanted man, they say. What should we do, Boss? Do you want to get out?"
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