Those who knew the Marquis Armin’s daughter unanimously agreed that her smile radiated from an exceptionally warm and kind nature.

The shop manager concurred with this sentiment.

It seemed strange that such a Daphne would come to buy a robe. Her determined stride resembled that of a soldier marching to battle.

‘What am I thinking?’

The manager cut off her unnecessary concern and closed the back door.

Daphne passed through the main street and ventured deep into a narrow alley. There stood a shabby pawnshop without even a sign.

Its exterior was so nondescript that an ordinary passerby might not even notice a shop existed there.

Daphne pushed open the ancient door that looked ready to crumble and stepped inside.

Behind the counter sat an elderly man covered in wrinkles. He didn’t even look up when a customer entered.

Someone visiting for the first time might wonder if the extremely old man had died sitting there.

But Daphne approached him without any concern.

Though his hair, eyebrows, and beard were all white as if dusted with flour, the forearm slightly visible beyond his sleeve told a different story. Taut muscles bulged with prominent veins.

The continent’s largest information guild had no formal name. People simply called it “the Place.”

This was “the Place’s” headquarters, and they wouldn’t station just anyone at what was essentially the front door.

There were two ways to enter:

To buy or sell information, one must pay one copper coin issued by the previous Emperor; to request a job, two coins.

Those who didn’t know this protocol and asked the old man, “Excuse me, is this the Place?” would soon find themselves fearing for their lives.

Daphne, who had frequented this place like her own home in her past life, tossed two coins with a completely natural motion.

The old man, previously motionless as stone, swiftly caught the coins flying in different directions. He then pointed to the door behind him.

Beyond the door stretched a long corridor. Daphne walked along it and stopped in front of the rightmost door at the end, among the rows of doors lining both sides.

This door opened only once every fortnight, at this exact hour. Very few people knew who was inside.

For Daphne, who had worked with him in her previous life, these were all too familiar details.

When Daphne opened the door and entered, the man sitting across the table looked at her with interest.

He was tall with a somewhat lean build, his silver-gray hair combed back without a single strand out of place. His cold blue eyes, like a lake on an overcast day, matched his hair color perfectly.

His features were so striking that they seemed disadvantageous for an informant who should avoid drawing attention.

Recalling how he used to complain about being too handsome in her previous life, Daphne almost snickered involuntarily.

Detecting something like recognition in her gaze, the man tilted his head and said:

“I wouldn’t think this is a place for Lady Daphne Armin to visit.”

“What matters isn’t who has come, but what they’ve come to request, isn’t it?”

The man smiled slightly and pulled out a chair for her.

“Please, sit.”

Then, with impeccable grace, he lightly took her fingertips and pretended to bring them close to his lips while apologizing:

“Please forgive my rudeness in trying to screen my clients.”

Gabriel looked up at Daphne with twinkling, curious eyes. He exuded the confidence of someone who knew exactly how effective his appearance was.

“My name is Gabriel Mayer. I see I can’t surprise you by pretending to know who you are. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Only the Gael royal family has rose-gold hair. And I’m the only noble in the Empire with it. It would be troubling if someone who takes cases at the guild lacked such basic observation skills.”

Hearing this, Gabriel carefully tucked a strand of hair that had escaped from her robe. Yet Daphne remained completely unfazed.

She appeared as casual as if being attended by a maid.

Gabriel grew increasingly excited by his mounting curiosity. It felt like a small bird had flown into his monotonous daily life.

“So, what business would you like to entrust to me?”

Daphne handed him documents she had taken from her father’s secret safe.

“This is a list of nobles participating in the mine jointly excavated by the Kingdom of Gael and the Empire, along with the extraction volumes.”

Gabriel quickly scanned the documents and immediately understood the significance of the numbers.

“The reported amounts to the state and the actual extraction volumes differ slightly. Evidence of tax evasion?”

Daphne nodded. Then she recited what sounded like a serious matter as casually as placing an order at a familiar restaurant.

“Leak this to the Emperor. The amounts aren’t large, but tax evasion is a serious crime, so things will get noisy for a while.”

Gabriel silently observed Daphne for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating how to make this naive young lady understand.

“I’ve received your request. However, the person managing this mine is Marquis Werner. If we leak this to the Emperor now, your father will have to turn his ship around immediately.”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“You want your father’s lifelong aspiration to come to nothing?”

Instead of answering, Daphne leaned back against the chair, resting her arms on the armrests. She overlapped her fingertips to form a pyramid shape.

Seeing this, Gabriel’s eyebrow raised slightly. Not just anyone could lead an information organization. Being able to read someone’s inner thoughts with just a glance was the most basic skill.

Her relaxed posture leaning back and her downward gaze, along with the hand pyramid, symbolized confidence.

‘Perhaps she has a definite card that can take control in this situation…’

Few people could maintain such a posture in a place like this. Most would be anxious and tense. Though her request seemed absurd, it was certainly worth hearing more.

Daphne, waiting for him to finish his assessment, murmured softly:

“Several people on this list purchased maritime accident insurance last year.”

“That’s fundamental for anyone involved in maritime trade…”

“Last year’s insurance policy categorized compensation amounts according to accident types.”

Hearing this, Gabriel’s eyes took on a different light. Daphne nodded and continued:

“The special clause they all took out wasn’t for accidents due to bad weather, but for robbery and injury. Every single one of them! And that insurance quietly disappeared.”

It was clearly a large-scale insurance fraud scheme in the making.

“I’ve noticed unusual movements from the Kingdom of Gael’s pirates lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arms dealers have been visiting more frequently.”

Daphne’s face hardened at his words.

‘They’ve been preparing thoroughly.’

She ground her teeth as she thought about the nobles on the list. It was their turn to suffer this time.

Meanwhile, Gabriel couldn’t hide his intrigued expression as he stared at her intently.

“There’s an unwritten rule not to ask how you know such information, but… I fear I won’t sleep all night if I don’t ask, my lady.”

“You look healthy enough to go without sleep for several days without trouble, so that’s fortunate.”

Gabriel laughed out loud at her retort.

“Verifying your information won’t take long. It will reach the Emperor before sunset tomorrow. Then the Marquis should be safely recalled.”

“Good.”

“May I offer one piece of advice?”

When Gabriel asked, Daphne nodded.

“If the Emperor learns that the Marquis himself prepared these documents, Her Majesty will be very pleased.”

“But wouldn’t that raise suspicions about why he sailed despite knowing?”

“Having puzzle pieces doesn’t mean one can complete the puzzle.”

Gabriel pointed to himself as he said this.

The insurance products sold secretly to select few, evidence of tax evasion, Marquis Armin’s departure, and pirates—it would be difficult to piece together the full story from these overflowing bits of information.

Unless one had already experienced it.

Daphne looked at Gabriel for a moment before nodding.

“I’ll do that.”

“I’ll also send word to the Kingdom of Gael to crack down on pirates. Of course, neither country will ever know where the information came from, so rest assured.”

“I have one more request.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Investigate Grand Duke Kartun for me. I’m particularly curious about his reasons for coming to the capital.”

She thought she knew him well, but his actions differed from the past, which worried her.

However, Gabriel made a troubled face.

“We’ve received countless requests about him…”

He shrugged as if to suggest they had discovered almost nothing.

‘Well, even in my past life, Kartun was exceptionally thorough.’

Daphne sighed softly.

“If you learn anything, would you come to me first? I can exchange not money, but information more valuable than that.”

Daphne rose from her seat.

Gabriel stood up quickly, pulled out her chair, and once again took her fingertips.

“Forgive my boldness, but if I succeed in this mission, might I see the Sunshine Smile?”

“Just this once?”