Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

"Reporting, boss, Team B has reached the designated location." In the darkness, a group of people dressed in night clothes surrounded an inn. "Please give instructions."

"Team A is in position," another group of people said in front of a door.

"Let's get started—the enemy is a witch, don't let your guard down." As the instructions came, Team A ignited a projectile and then smashed the inn door open and threw it inside.

Then, the members of Team A, all well-trained and wearing gas masks, rushed into the room.

According to intelligence, the witch must be fast asleep at this time—such a surprise attack would be fatal even for a witch. This magic spray that isolates magic will render the opponent powerless for a period of time, allowing us to catch her off guard. Tsk tsk.

"Team B has surrounded the hotel area to ensure she can't escape."

"Very good." After receiving the report from his subordinate, the boss behind the scenes was clearly in a good mood. "As long as Frank's intelligence is correct, victory is already in our grasp."

As a member of the same Merchants' Council, he started his business in the slave trade and became a leading figure in the entire kingdom's slave industry.

The variety of slaves he sold was countless—he had a high-quality hunting team that retrieved high-quality slaves for him.

Now, he has his sights set on that witch from another land.

This wasn't the first time he'd hunted witches—even witches, if their magic could be restricted, were no different from mortals.

Such "goods" can fetch a high price in his business.

If she were even more beautiful, she could fetch an even higher price.

He had his eye on Elena the moment she entered the country. The reason he was only taking action now was because he was completely certain that she had no connection whatsoever with the forces in the country.

If I were to take action upon her arrival, and she happened to be related to one of the hearing members, I wouldn't be able to handle the situation properly.

Although I'm not afraid of those shameless guys making things difficult, it's never a pleasant thing to be targeted by people at the hearing.

In business, what matters is interpersonal relationships; building good relationships and making money together peacefully is the right way.

Based on his observations over the past few days, and the information he had obtained from Frank, he was now certain of her background and identity. A young woman with no connections whatsoever—truly a high-quality "commodity."

But the result is...

"Team A did not find 'Sheep'." Team A searched the entire room but could not find the target.

"Squad B didn't see the 'sheep' either." Squad B had already surrounded the entire hotel like a toilet, but no one came out.

"How is that possible?" The boss behind the scenes immediately looked rather grim.

"'Sheep' is lost, repeat, 'Sheep' is lost." The entire mission ended in a sudden failure; it seemed that Elena wasn't even in the inn.

The intelligence network, which bought information from Frank, clearly indicated that the prey they had their eye on had returned tonight.

Could it be that Frank is lying to himself? What good would that do?

He can lie, that's true, but he would never lie for something that doesn't benefit him—so throughout our many collaborations, we've always believed his intelligence is accurate.

I really don't understand what he's doing.

……

“What a wonderful collaboration, Miss Angela.” Frank smiled at the blue-haired girl on the other side of the table, tapping his fingers lightly on the surface. “Are you satisfied with the result?”

"So-so," Angela said, taking out a bag of gold coins. "This is the reward I promised you. In addition, I will give you some high-quality intelligence from other countries."

"That's quite generous. But may I ask a few more questions? You know, I, as an information broker, always enjoy being curious." Frank calmly accepted the money pouch.

“You can ask, but that doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily answer,” Angela said.

"How cold-hearted. Our ancestors were old friends hundreds of years ago, weren't they?" Frank said dismissively. "Speaking of which, if it weren't for you coming to find me, I would have thought you were all dead long ago."

“Hehe.” Angela smiled but did not answer.

She remained silent in response to Frank's probing.

Even someone as skilled at reading people as Frank would find it difficult to glean any useful information from Angela. In fact, she was essentially a puppet at that moment, completely devoid of any expression.

He did all this entirely because of the doll in front of him.

If it weren't for Angela, he would never have been interested in Elena. Going all the way to do business with her for a mere twenty gold coins? That's ridiculous! He must have wasted so much time earning gold coins just running there.

He had seen countless witches, and if he wanted, how many witches would be willing to become his sworn siblings? But even the most beautiful girl is still a pink skull; is she as pretty as a gold coin?

But since it was Angela's request, and Angela had given him quite a few incentives, it wouldn't hurt to help Elena.

It was his own arrangement to deliberately remind Elena and sell false information to that old friend. Although it might damage his reputation, errors in information are always inevitable.

Compared to that, getting advanced magic blueprints or something would be a really big deal.

Besides, in this country, deceiving each other is just a normal game.

Deception is a tool as long as it allows for personal gain.

"Why don't you do it yourself? Instead, you ask me to do it," Frank asked with a smile.

“Haa~” Angela did not answer.

“Never mind, knowing your information doesn’t mean much to me, since Beatrice is too far away,” Frank said. “So, Miss Angela, is there anything else I can do for you?”

"No need, you can stay in this idyllic place." Angela bowed and left. "Just like before, heh."

……

It had been some time since Elena had left that somewhat dangerous country on her broomstick.

Upon entering the country, she had considered that even as a witch, she would face countless threats in such a chaotic and neutral nation. Therefore, she rarely slept soundly each night and had deployed numerous reconnaissance spells around herself.

Fortunately, nothing bad happened in the end, and they left safely.

Having seen everything I needed to see, it's time for me, as a traveler, to leave.

At the end of the broom sat a sculpture that had hardly moved—I don't know if the talk therapy had worked, but at least this guy was persuaded not to commit suicide.

I really don't understand why I spouted that string of words like a machine gun. When did I become so good at reasoning?

Looking back now, I actually feel a little ashamed.

I'm not going to think about it anymore—I just hope that hearing these words will make his life a little better.

Now, I should start thinking about where I'm going next.

(Just a reminder: don't jump to conclusions about what kind of person someone is; human nature is multifaceted. Judging someone as a "good person" or a "bad person" is very one-sided.)