Chapter 58 Intelligence Network: The High-Energy Type of Large Dog

Franka led Ancia to the next floor, where paper intelligence was stored. Only two people were on duty on this floor, retrieving the information needed by adventurers who submitted inquiry requests.

Franka's steps did not stop there, but continued downwards.

After descending four or five floors, Franka led Ancia to a door secured with a sophisticated lock made by dwarves. From Ancia's angle, she couldn't see what Franka was doing, only the continuous sound of gears meshing and turning. After some magic was input, the door slowly opened.

Physical defense plus magical verification—what could possibly require such a high level of guard? Could it be a sacred relic from the Dark Night Guild, the Embrace of Shadows?

Ancia was drawn to the dim light emanating from the doorway. Following the light, she discovered that behind the door was a massive magical crystal screen covering an entire wall. Countless points of light flickered on the screen, each marked with a name. Countless lines connected the points of light, representing the connections between them.

This is the intelligence network of the Night Elf Guild.

Franka: "If you need information about someone, go and find out for yourself. You can check the entire intelligence network."

Her gaze fell on Ancia with some complexity. Franka couldn't understand why this ordinary new adventurer would be granted the highest intelligence authority of the Dark Night Guild by the guild master.

It was on the very night that this newbie, codenamed "Vine," registered...

Merriel tapped the table. "That adventurer looked unfamiliar."

Franka bowed her head respectfully. "He's a newcomer who just registered tonight, Samsung Mufa."

Murtrie: "Get me her file."

The newly registered user had very little information, just a thin piece of paper. Murtrie held that paper and looked at it for a long time, a hint of a smile flashing across his cold face. "Share my permissions with her."

Franka thought she had misheard. "Shared access? You mean all of the Night Elf Guild's resources and the entire intelligence network are open to this newcomer?"

Merri nodded slightly. "Yes, don't let her know."

Franka's vision went black, and she began to wonder if her boss had suffered a brain injury during a mission. However, under the gaze of those dark red eyes, she dared not voice any objections, quickly completed the formalities, and concealed the information about the vines.

What is her true identity? Is she the successor chosen by the chairman?

Ancia sensed Franka's gaze, but she assumed Franka was exercising his surveillance powers to prevent her from seeing anything he shouldn't.

The opportunity was rare, so Ancia directly selected the Eternal City. A densely packed relationship diagram unfolded before her. Before long, she found a light spot named Moreno Sanchez. She gently tapped it, and all the light spots and lines related to him lit up, while those unrelated to him dimmed.

"Moreno Sanchez, Marquis, Dark Element Affinity 69, former four-star mage, now six-star. This matches what Eve said, but a mage with this level of elemental talent shouldn't have such a rapid increase in strength after decades of dormancy..."

Ancia pondered to herself, continuing to read. His network of relationships included only one direct relative, Connor. He didn't even have the mistresses and illegitimate children common among nobles in this era, making him seem completely clean.

But Ancia quickly discovered something amiss; the Dark Night Guild's intelligence provided a very interesting clue.

"On [date], Lady Jenny went to the Marquis Moreno's residence late at night and left the next morning."

It seems to be just a coincidence, because in the information related to Moreno, this Mrs. Jenny only appeared once, and their points of light were not connected.

But when Ancia clicked on the light spot belonging to Mrs. Jenny, she smiled.

On [date], Mrs. Jenny went to the Nightingale Salon.

On [date], Mrs. Jenny went to the Nightingale Salon.

"On [date], Lady Jenny went to Viscount Zeco's residence and left the following morning."

On [date], Mrs. Jenny went to the Nightingale Salon.

...

Mrs. Jenny would only visit her lover's mansion.

As for whether Marquis Moreno was Lady Jenny's lover, Aurora would have to verify that for herself.

Ancia pointed back to Moreno's light. This marquis had not yet placed any commissions with the Dark Night Guild and had no transaction records with the guild. His past experiences were unremarkable; he was just a down-on-his-luck marquis with only the title of nobleman, excluded from the power circle of the Eternal City. Only recently, information about him suddenly increased, and he was expanding his power and accumulating wealth at an unimaginable speed. He was a rising star personally supported by the old king.

"What benefits did he offer that made him stand out from the nobles of the Eternal City and be chosen by the old king?"

Ancia murmured to herself, voicing the common question in the minds of the other nobles in the Eternal City. Her fingers tapped unconsciously on the crystal screen, accidentally opening the Connor node connected to the Moreno light point. Ancia glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, and her gaze suddenly stopped.

"On [date], Connor Sanchez issued Commission No. 35454."

Was the anonymous client, Connor, the one who commissioned the investigation into Eve's list of things she disliked?

If he was about to marry Eve, it seemed reasonable for him to investigate his fiancée's dislikes beforehand, but Ancia sensed something subtle in it.

Why did he only investigate things he disliked and not things he liked? If he really wanted to improve his relationship with his fiancée, wouldn't his likes and dislikes be important?

The Sanchez family is all very strange. Ancia mentally labeled the Marquis Moreno and his son as "close targets" but has not yet obtained any other clues.

Ancia: "How often is this information updated? How many query attempts do I have left?"

Franka: "Regular intelligence is released once a week, while important intelligence is updated constantly. Your query count... is still high. You can come anytime."

That would mean checking intelligence would become a weekly task, with no limit on the number of times.

Ancia returned to the carriage and learned the art of disguise from Aurora. She needed to learn how to draw a vine-like face on her own. Soon, the art of disguise became her skill and appeared in her attribute panel. She then mentioned the information she had found in the Dark Night Guild.

“Mrs. Jenny may be having an affair with Marquis Moreno. You can look into it.” Ancia looked puzzled. “Also, Connor is investigating Eve’s dislikes, but he only has dislikes, not likes.”

“Then he definitely doesn’t want a marriage alliance,” Aurora said confidently.

"Why do you say that?" Ancia asked, somewhat curious.

“Little Ancia, you may not understand, but in the eyes of nobles, marriage is merely a means of binding interests together. After marriage, the couple can each do their own thing without needing to go to such lengths to investigate. If he truly loves her, it doesn't align with his current behavior. Therefore, he must want to end this relationship, but he doesn't have a say in it himself and can only hope that the beloved princess will take the initiative to dissolve the marriage,” Aurora said.

Ancia frowned and wrote down these words. "I will observe his behavior in the academy. If it is really as you say, he will also be a breakthrough point."

The carriage returned to Gracia, and Ancia quietly walked back to the shore of Moon Lake. From a distance, she saw Skalk standing at the door of her villa. The tall figure was looking up at the dark window, and she didn't know how long he had been standing there.

Hearing footsteps coming from behind, Skark's wolf ears twitched, and he turned around alertly. When he saw that it was Ancia, his wary expression quickly turned into a bright smile.

"Ancia, I missed you so much!" Skalk ran over, his eyes shining, picked Ancia up and spun her around and around and around.

"Stop, stop, stop, I'm a little dizzy..." The scene in front of Ancia turned into a kaleidoscope as it spun rapidly. No one knew where Skalk got the strength, but he kept spinning it until her eyes were blurry.

"Hehe, I forgot you're a priest." Skulk quickly stopped, looked at the dizzy Ancia, buried his head in her shoulder and rubbed against her. "I missed you so much, it's been three months since I last saw you."

It really resembles an affectionate pet, and it's a large, highly energetic dog.

"Didn't we meet as soon as school started?" Ancia touched his short hair. "Have you been standing here for a long time?"

“Not long after, I thought you were asleep, so I wanted to take a look down here.” Skulk’s tail wagged back and forth, his tone cheerful. “It’s so nice to see you for another day.”

He was always talkative, and now, after not seeing her for three months, he had a lot to say to Ancia. "Every time I missed you during summer vacation, I would practice my sword. I've already advanced to a five-star warrior. Summers on the snow mountain are very cold. This is a snowflake I brought for you..."

Skalk took out a thermal magical device, which was a box filled with snow. Ancia's name was written on the snow, and a small wolf paw was drawn next to it.

He was a little nervous. "Will you like it?"

Ancia stared blankly at the snow, which was impossible to see at this time of year. "When...did you do that?"

Skalk thought for a moment, “The first day back home. I used to be happy to return to the snow mountain, but I wasn’t happy that day. I missed you so much. When I was at the academy, even if I couldn’t see you every day, I could still smell your scent as you passed by. But the air on the snow mountain is too clean, and there’s no scent of you in the wind.”

He pulled the snow box back a little sheepishly. "It seems a bit childish, not the fiber paper you like. After I participate in the upcoming Black Pine Forest Ruins expedition and get the reward, we'll go to the Eternal City and buy lots of pretty fiber paper, and other things too. We'll buy anything you like..."

Ancia tiptoed and planted a soft kiss on Skalk's cheek.

She accepted the box of sincerity born from the summer snow-capped mountains, saying, "I like it."

Looking into Skark's amber eyes, which were filled with surprise, Ancia repeated, "I like it, really."

Skalk covered his cheek and left in a daze, still laughing even as he bumped into a tree.

The task progress data in the system's backend fluctuated repeatedly, with the progress bar representing Skalk increasing linearly until it reached 99%.

Then it suddenly dropped another portion, down to 70%, before it began to rise slowly again.