The three of them began to walk towards the clock tower market yet again, but not before Victor went ahead and took his top hat that was standing on one of the chairs.
Jack took notice of the fact that he, up until this point, had never seen anyone wearing a top hat in this world, but chose to ignore it.
On their way there, Jack and Randam began to explain the situation to the long-haired old man, who listened very attentively without responding.
The old man was quite visible in his disdain for such practices. "But you, young man! I adore your proactiveness!" He twirled around with his cane, and the people around the street looked at him like they were at a circus. "I myself don't have the courage to do such things, but I can sure as hell cheer you on!"
Jack couldn't help but smile. This eccentric old man was somehow able to bypass the numbness brought by the sedatives.
"But not to worry!" Victor looked towards Randam. "I foresee that in the future, your life will become better than before. Fortune untold will open up to you!"
Randam felt a surge of excitement upon hearing those words, but before he could speak, he saw Victor's stride get interrupted by a beggar on the side of the street.
It was an old woman, without the ability to work anymore, clearly being ignored by any passing pedestrian.
He moved towards her and handed her a small bag of coins. He didn't stop to receive a thank-you, but he moved back towards them and indicated them to move forward while he was all smiles.
When Jack attempted to compliment his kindness, he stopped him and told him to focus on what they were talking about. He also noted that if he can provide and they clearly needed it, he will without fail help if it's possible.
"Ask and you shall receive," he added. "Beyond that, that coin may keep her alive, not dying outside hungry or cold." He was still smiling, but this time he had a tinge of sadness in his eyes.
Eventually, the three of them made it to the clock tower market, then they walked across it towards the Worker Street, where they stopped nearby the signpost that had the name of the street written on it.
It was there when they saw two guards on patrol going down the street towards them, both armored, only their chins visible.
One of them lifted his hand and waved at them before saying something to his partner.
Eventually, the two of them reached them and only one of them stayed behind. That one was Gardam!
It seems that we didn't need to bribe the other one.
Jack began introducing Victor and Gardam to each other before letting Mr. Randam lead the way to the building owned by Compes.
All of them went through the busy Worker Street and eventually stopped at a decently sized building that acted as both the home of Compes, a central point from where to manage the business, and a minor warehouse that stores some items for the general populace.
Victor made a comment about him expecting a smaller, much more humble building since he heard he was a middle-class merchant.
Jack shared his thoughts on the matter, but Mr. Randam told them that it is necessary to have a large building to store goods.
After some idle chatter, they entered the building and were greeted by a young man who was the son of Compes; he was acting as head clerk for the business.
Seeing the guard Gardam, Mr. Compes, and a man who looked like a high-class nobleman, he was quickly intimidated and led all of them to the office where his father Compes was.
He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a fine shirt and black vest, with short dark hair slicked back.
Seeing Randam, he exclaimed, "You!" But before he could finish his sentence, he saw who the other people were.
With a guard and a man who looked like a distinguished nobleman, Compes was instantly put on guard as he began acting innocent and friendly.
Compes attempted to victimize himself. His aim was Victor, who he believed was the one leading this whole matter.
He even attempted to convince him that he was being tricked and that he should believe him.
Not taking any more of this, Victor stepped up and waved his hand slightly. An inverted triangular symbol with an eye inside of it appeared and caused Compes to instantly enter a daze.
"You may begin your interrogation. He will only answer the truth in this state," Victor said, his mood dropping. While he took pleasure in seeing others do good deeds and help each other, the type of behavior Compes showed him was one which he hated.
Jack, slightly surprised, began to confirm everything that Mr. Randam had said. All of it was true. Even Jack's assumption turned out to be true.
Apparently, after the altercation with Randam, Compes went around looking for people to sabotage Randam—criminals and the like.
Hearing this, a woman, and in the words Compes used: "A beauty with large breasts and brown hair, dressed in a stereotypical witch attire with a pointed hat; she had a chubby orange cat with her." "She called herself a sorceress."
Chubby orange cat? It can't be!
Jack remembered the cat in the beginning, the one that guided him to the bakery!
When he tried to get more information out of Compes, he was left disappointed to learn that any facial features she may have had were left unseen, as—in the thoughts of Jack, "THIS DAMN BASTARD"—was only focused on the woman's blessings rather than her face.
This was the only information he had on the woman, because while he was staring at the woman's... brilliance... he suddenly blacked out, waking up later after he had just shown the tablet to Randam.
When asked about the tablet, he guided them to a locked door in which the clay tablet was sealed.
The clay tablet was ordinary, at least to Jack.
Seeing the tablet, Victor moved towards it and began to inspect it, and showed it to Jack while pointing to a line of text at the top of the tablet.
"If shown towards target of malicious intent." "Release signal using stored energy."
It had thin lines pointing towards many different symbols; one looked like a sound wave.
Seeing Jack curious, Victor began to explain that this is a decently advanced technique to send messages between mages; the problem with it was the range.
He began explaining to him that one of the symbols on it, which was a sun, could also mean light, and that it was used to reduce the mana cost of magic since words become inefficient alone.
Jack was curious, and Victor was willing to teach him about magic, but they were there on business, so they got back to work.
Victor explained to the confused Randam and Gardam that the tablet would send an image to the one who made the tablet, as well as the location where it was taken.
The two of them took some time to understand the concept that an image was basically a painting. Jack understood it since he was from modern Earth, but they were medieval people.
Victor told them that it was a one-time use. It had been a magic tablet before that point, but right now it is useless. One would need to make one again while inserting mana into the symbols as well as make a local storage... He tried to go on but stopped himself by simply saying, "It's complicated to explain, but right now it's just a simple clay tablet."
Jack saw another text down below, but before it was translated, Victor covered it in a cloth that he had with him.
By now, Victor had confirmed the guilt of Compes and urged Mr. Randam to come with him to the Lut Estate so as to turn Compes in to the lord family directly.
He went on and said that collusion with a sorceress, if you are not a noble, is to be punished by death. Most churches also endorse this punishment.
"What about the sorceress?" Jack asked.
"They are to be left alone," Victor continued. "Seven hundred years ago, they collapsed an empire with the help of devils in three days."
He also went on to say that the empire's fall became the year zero of the world from that day, and that the first emperor of the said empire was the reason the continent was called Eltaria.
Nobody had the courage to become the second fallen empire, so they left them to their own devices, and despite their proven strength, both devils and the sorceresses seemed to disappear from history after that point.
Seeing Victor's desire to take over, Jack decided it was best to not get involved with this matter any more.
Randam was thankful to Jack, giving him three Albus (silver coins) before they parted ways, leaving Jack yet again alone on the Worker Street.