Greycastle, inner city garden mansion.

Today was the scheduled day for exchanging information. Tassa leaned back in the soft chair in the living room, waiting for the arrival of the Pigeons and Top Hats Acrobatic Troupe members. After autumn arrived, the inner city gate closure time was brought forward to dusk, and secret gatherings had to be changed to the afternoon.

The first to arrive at the mansion was always Hill Fox.

He was wearing a blue velvet open-collared jacket, light gray tights and deerskin boots, and a white bow tie around his neck, looking every bit the aristocrat. After bowing, he returned "The History of the Kingdom's Customs" tucked under his arm to Tassa, who took the book and glanced at him with interest. "Finished reading?"

"Yes," Hill nodded, then hesitated. "Won't you teach me some fighting sword skills... or assassination techniques?"

"Why?"

"During the outbreak of the Evil Plague, you said you would train me to be a qualified intelligence officer," he scratched his head. "But so far, you have only given me some strange books to read."

"Are you talking about 'The History of Customs'?" Tassa poured himself a glass of wine and threw in two ice cubes. "This is not a strange book. It records the origins, traditions, family crests, and famous specialties of nobles in various parts of the kingdom. As an intelligence gatherer, you must first be knowledgeable to be able to roughly judge whether news from various places is valuable. As for swordsmanship and assassination?" He smiled. "I don't plan to have you infiltrate an organization or go deep into the enemy's interior to investigate news. That's dangerous and time-consuming. With that effort, it's better to spend more gold dragons to directly buy off insiders."

"But not everyone can be bought," Hill insisted.

"And those watertight organizations are also difficult to plant eyes in. It's unlikely to infiltrate them without a dozen or twenty years." Tassa swirled his glass and took a sip of iced wine. "A qualified intelligence officer only needs to do two things: distinguish news and hide himself. These books I gave you are the basis for distinguishing news, as for the second point... as a member of the acrobatic troupe, you should have more experience than me. For example, your outfit today is very good."

"..." Just as Hill Fox was pondering the meaning of these words, the Clown and others also arrived at this remote residence one after another.

"Sir, everyone is here."

"In that case, let's begin," Tassa put down his glass, opened his notebook and said, "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first, sir," Rock Mountain, the most robust in physique, spoke first. "A new batch of people has moved into the camp outside the eastern district of the royal capital."

This news made the bodyguard's eyebrows jump slightly, unexpectedly the first piece of information he heard wasn't good news. Since the Royal Capital Knights suffered heavy losses, this camp set up outside the suburbs has become the garrison of the militia. Any rats, fugitive slaves, and criminals conscripted by Tiffeau are stuffed into the eastern camp before going on an expedition. A team of more than a thousand militiamen had just been sent to the Western Territory a little over a month ago, and now there are new recruits again?

"How many?"

"There are only two or three hundred people at the moment, most of whom seem to be from the Northern Lands... In addition, there are some Bloodsail Gang rats, but compared to the first two times, not many rats are willing to go."

"Closely monitor their movements. Report to me every time the camp adds more than two hundred people," Tassa instructed.

"Yes, sir."

These people have only one use, and that is to be used as consumables after taking the pills. Now that Queen Bieshui has gone north, there are no rebellious forces in the Southern Territory. Tiffeau will undoubtedly continue to attack Roland's territory. He must send this news back to Border Town as soon as possible.

"Next, Clown will bring you classified information, or rather, idle talk after drinking," Clown said in an exaggerated tone. "I can't verify the truth of this news, but the merchants said it with such detail that it might as well be true. They said that Garcia Wimbledon's Black Sail Fleet appeared in the Eternal Winter Kingdom and launched an attack on the church, and the siege of Wolfheart City was therefore disintegrated. They are also preparing to take some scarce goods there to sell during the period before winter."

Queen Bieshui actually went to Eternal Winter? Tassa was a little surprised, but it didn't matter whether the news was true or false. Her choice to leave Greycastle and go north was equivalent to giving up the right to compete for the throne. "Is that all?"

"Okay, I know this matter is a bit far from Greycastle," he stuck out his tongue. "I'll try to find out more useful news next time."

"Cough, cough," Hill coughed twice. "Sir, there are new clues about the task you entrusted to me. Tiffeau has built a new workshop in the inner city and hired a lot of mud craftsmen. The large batches of saltpeter recently purchased have been transported there. However, the workshop is heavily guarded, and my people cannot further find out the use of those saltpeter."

"Oh?" Tassa perked up. "They really transported the saltpeter into the workshop?"

"That's right," Hill nodded. "I also personally tailed a cargo cart."

This was extremely valuable intelligence. After staying with Roland for a long time, he naturally knew that the indestructible gunpowder was an alchemical item, and its main component was saltpeter. Since the saltpeter from the saltpeter farms around the royal capital was purchased in large quantities, he noticed this and arranged for Hill Fox to find out the whereabouts and uses of the goods.

Now that the other party has transferred the saltpeter from the Alchemy Association to the workshop, the intention is very obvious. The transfer from alchemical experiments to workshop production shows that they have mastered the gunpowder formula. The priority of this intelligence is even higher than the increase in soldiers in the eastern suburban camp.

"Well done," Tassa praised.

...

After the secret meeting, the group left the mansion in batches.

Before leaving, Hill suddenly asked, "Sir, can what we are doing really push Tiffeau off the throne?"

"Of course," the bodyguard smiled slightly. "Didn't you see the letter that Roland sent through the defeated soldiers? His throne is already teetering."

In the evening, returning to the Underground Trumpeter Tavern, Tassa met an unexpected acquaintance: Sean.

Like himself, he was also a bodyguard of the Fourth Prince.

Walking into the guest room on the second floor, the two exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Tassa drew the curtains and asked in a low voice, "How did you know I was here?"

"His Highness gave me a token and asked me to find Ms. Magret, she knows where you are." Sean took out a crystal clear red gem and shook it.

"Does he have a new mission to assign?"

"Not a mission, a gift," Sean smiled, walked to the window, opened a crack in the curtain, and whistled. Three gray-brown birds flew into the room and landed on the table, chirping at him. After feeding each bird some wheat, they calmed down.

Tassa saw such intelligent birds for the first time, "This is..."

"Messengers trained by witches." Sean stroked the gray bird's neck and explained, "Unlike carrier pigeons, they can travel back and forth between two places on their own, without having to be taken away and released home by someone. You only need to say a specific password to the birds, and they will send the message to His Highness. If all goes well, you only need to wait one day to receive a reply from His Highness."