“Were you sleeping?”
The incredulous voice pulled Elena from her slumber.
The heavy drowsiness in her limbs told her she had dozed off.
Having set out at dawn to reach Etin, she was more tired than she’d realized.
“You’re back?”
“You make yourself right at home,” Camila remarked.
‘Is she being sarcastic?’
“I’m the client.
I’m allowed to rest.”
Elena stretched, loosening her stiff muscles.
Camila had changed into a form-fitting, all-black outfit and was carrying a large bag.
“So, did you get it?”
“Right here.”
Camila dropped the bag on the floor with a thud.
“That’s several years’ worth, but the lists seem a bit light.”
The bag, while large, looked too small to hold records spanning years.
“The lists are divided in two,” Camila explained.
“Those who sail regularly and those who don’t.
This is the ‘don’t’ side.”
“…And what if the people I’m looking for are on the other list?”
“Then I’d have no choice but to go back and get them,” Camila said with a casual shrug.
“But the information you’re looking for is on this side, isn’t it?”
Her breezy attitude made it obvious.
‘She did it on purpose.’
Camila was testing her, trying to glean information about her quarry.
Elena couldn’t fathom why Camila was so interested in her.
“So, how much is the fee?”
Camila paused.
“Three gold.”
“That’s cheaper than I expected.”
“It’s my first official request here.
Call it a discount.”
A discount was a good thing.
Elena had brought as much cash and valuables as she could, but she needed to be frugal, not knowing how long her search would take.
She paid the fee immediately.
“Is it alright if I check it here?”
“Be my guest.”
With Camila’s permission, Elena opened the bag and began her search.
The lists were surprisingly detailed, noting names, ages, physical characteristics, and even guarantors.
‘Rustle, rustle.’
The sound of turning paper was the only noise in the room.
For nearly two hours, Elena pored over the documents, her focus absolute.
When she finally closed the last folder, she squeezed her eyes shut.
“Nothing?” Camila, who had watched her in silence the entire time, finally spoke.
Elena had been aware of her scrutiny, and though it bothered her, finding her parents was more important.
“Nothing,” she confirmed.
“You know you can’t trust everything on that list, right?”
“Of course.”
Elena had already considered that.
Names could be fake, hair color could be dyed.
She had focused on eye color—something that couldn’t yet be changed.
Her mother had blue eyes, her father, gold.
Her father’s golden eyes were exceptionally rare in this world.
As if to prove it, over the past four years, only five passengers—men and women combined—were listed as having golden eyes.
She checked if anyone with blue eyes had been on the same ships.
By some strange coincidence, their sailings had never overlapped.
She checked ships departing on the same days at different times.
Still nothing.
‘They wouldn’t have taken ships days apart.’ They weren’t the type to leave one another behind, especially not while on the run.
The trail was cold again.
‘Could it be that they never took a ship at all?’ This could be another dead end, left intentionally.
Where could she even begin to look now?
Just as Elena’s thoughts began to spiral, Camila spoke again.
“You know.”
“Yes?”
“There are ways to get on a ship without being on the list, right?”
Camila’s words stopped her cold.
She had overlooked the obvious.
“Stowing away?”
At Elena’s murmur, a slow grin spread across Camila’s face.
A hollow laugh escaped Elena’s lips.
She had been so focused on disguises and fake identities that the simplest, most desperate option hadn’t even occurred to her.
“So they have stowaways here, too.”
“It’s a place where people live,” Camila said with a shrug, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“How would one go about it?”
Crossing a border was never supposed to be easy.
The fact that several years of private travel records filled only three ledgers was telling.
Very few people had secured passage illegally, which meant finding a broker was the fastest way to get information.
“Ah, is there a separate fee for this information as well?” Elena asked.
“Well, I can give you that much for free,” Camila replied, tapping the ledgers with her index finger.
“You’re going to return these, aren’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“If you planned on keeping them, you wouldn’t have bothered reading them here.”
Just as Camila surmised, Elena had intended to return the ledgers.
Though she had paid for them and could have taken them without issue, she preferred to be discreet.
“I figured you wouldn’t want a commotion,” Elena explained.
By morning, the immigration office would realize the ledgers were missing.
Had she more time, she could have made copies to conceal the theft, but she was on a tight schedule.
“They won’t know I’m the one who took them, but that manager is a petty bastard,” Camila said with a grimace.
“He’ll turn the city upside down looking for them.” She muttered to herself, “And that would be a pain.”
It seemed he was even worse than Elena had anticipated.
Then again, a man who would make such a demand of a woman he had just met was hardly a paragon of virtue.
“I’ve checked everything, so you can put them back,” Elena said.
“Are you sure?” Camila asked, though she already knew the answer.
‘Why ask again when you’ve already figured it out?’
“There’s no need to cause unnecessary trouble,” Elena said, packing the ledgers into her rucksack and handing it to Camila.
“Just take them back and tell me about the broker who arranges illegal passage.”
Camila’s gaze fell to the bag, her expression turning gentle yet unsettlingly intense.
‘What is it now?
What’s with that cloying look?’
“You’re very considerate,” Camila purred.
The comment unsettled Elena.
Her actions were born of pragmatism, not consideration.
She had already met the immigration manager and expressed her desire to see the lists.
If they vanished now, who would be the prime suspect?
Elena, of course.
They might not know her name, but a wanted notice bearing her description would be issued immediately.
Since she could not leave the city just yet, avoiding trouble was her top priority.
‘Besides, they’re useless to me now.’ Having confirmed they held no useful information, the ledgers were just dead weight.
Just as she was about to voice this, Camila spoke.
“The immigration office manager.”
The comment hung in the air.
“What about him?” Elena asked.
“He’s the broker for illegal passage.”
A man in such an important position, already taking all sorts of bribes, was involved in this, too?
Or perhaps it was precisely because he was taking bribes that he felt no hesitation in committing other illegal acts.
“Would he have a list of the illegal passengers?”
“Considering his personality, he probably does,” Camila confirmed.
“The problem is, I don’t know where he keeps it.”
“You don’t know?” Elena was surprised.
She had assumed Camila would know, given that she had provided the initial hint.
“I never thought I’d need it,” Camila admitted with a shrug.
“What if I hired you to get it for me?”
“It’ll take some time, since I’ll have to search his house, but I can get it for you,” Camila offered, her tone once again strangely cooperative.
‘Come to think of it, I still need to find out what this woman wants from me…’
“So, are you making the request?” Camila pressed.
At her question, Elena checked the time.
A good while had passed while she was examining the ledgers; it was nearly eleven o’clock.
Fortunately, she was not too late.
“No,” she decided.
“I’ll meet him myself.”
“Yourself?”
“I think it will be faster.”
“Shouldn’t you be more careful?
I could meet him for you,” Camila offered.
It might have passed for a gesture of goodwill, but Elena could sense the desperation beneath it.
Camila was dying to know what she was investigating.
Deciding to deal with the manager first before having a serious talk with Camila, Elena shook her head.
“I’ll do it.”
“Then I’ll show you to his house.”
“I know where it is,” Elena replied dismissively.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
Preoccupied with getting there on time, she failed to notice Camila’s gaze growing even more speculative.