Kenji's POV:
"So, why are we in disguise again? Can't we just go take her with us by force?" I asked as I felt this whole thing was unnecessary now that my senior and the boss were here.
"Because, my silly meathead, tis not our way to rain down violence upon the innocents!" My master, who I still kind of suspect is a man, said.
"Isn't that what you always do though?"
Just as I asked that, he or she, pulled out the pain stick, but before she could swing it down, my great senior disciple came to my rescue as he held his arm out to stop him or her.
"Why do you always jump to the pain stick every time you can't be bothered to explain something properly?"
"Because, they should already have figured this stuff out by now! Meaning, a few knocks to the head will do him some good!"
"Well, if he screams from the pain, he might blow our cover, so just let me do the explanations!"
*Sigh*
"Hey, Kenji, was it? These things can sometimes be very complicated! Forcing our way won't always lead to the best results, so it's best to try and get a solid grasp of the situation before making a move!" My great and wise senior explained.
"Senior! Would you please accept me as your disciple?" Shinji asked, earning a swift bonk to the head from the boss.
"AAAAAAHHH!"
"Didn't I just say not to do that!?"
"Oh, relax! I made sure to place some sound isolation enchantments down while you weren't looking!"
What is happening is that me, Shinji, and my senior disciple Alex, have infiltrated the south-eastern country of Nishi, looking for Aiko.
Apparently, Aiko had been kidnapped while I was in the middle of my advancement, and after about a day of learning tracking skills and information gathering methods from our senior as we watched him deduce where Aiko had gone. Of course, the boss being the boss, had figured out the answer ahead of us somehow and started giving out hints while taunting us for being too slow. Before we knew it, we were in the outer section of the royal palace, because at some point after getting taken away, Aiko had somehow ended up inside the court of the nearest emperor, who apparently answers to my senior's boss, the dark lord. That's why I had foolishly thought we could have just forced our way in and taken her back by force, but my senior's words have enlightened me.
"Hey! Why is the Crybaby getting all the looks of admiration? He just stated the obvious!" The boss said in a grumpy tone.
We were currently in one of our rendezvous points to exchange information between ourselves, while the boss just popped in from wherever she has been while we all work our butts off as servants.
"Still! Aside from maybe senior, I don't think they know any of our faces! So, why do we have to wear these itchy masks?" Shinji asked as he started itching the fake skin on his face.
The boss had, for some reason, given us new identities all together when we entered here and made us all wear these itchy and super realistic masks that even imitate our facial expressions well.
"Because, Slowpoke, there are plenty of crafty S.O.B's in these kinds of places!"
"Translation. Even if they don't recognize you, if Aiko, who does, were to show any reaction to suggest as much, some observant individuals might pick up on that, which could be very bad depending on who finds out or how they interpret our connection! There is a very real possibility we all get executed just for blinking in the wrong direction, so even if you do meet her, don't go up to her before we have figured out what's what yet! Got it?" The wise senior explained in a detailed and easier to understand, way.
"Oh! Okay! So, how long does this usually take? Cause I haven't heard a thing other than that Aiko's somewhere over in the inner palace!"
This fancy palace was separated into two main areas, the inner palace where only high official, concubines, the royal family and their personal servants and guards are allowed to be, and the outer palace, where we are right now which is the place where those who don't fit those conditions end up. I am a newly hired guard, Shinji is a slave doing manual labore and menial tasks, and so was senior Alex, until he managed to somehow claw his way into the position of a cook, and a damn good one at that.
I was a bit skeptical at first after remembering that time at Walpurgisnacht, but as it turns out, our senior isn't only smart, he is a great cook as well. Every dish he made tasted like I had died and gone to heaven, though, I for some reason get this strange feeling of something watching me every time I take a bite. Though, I'm probably just getting paranoid from all the stress of trying not to mess up.
Anyways, the boss isn't taking part in this rescue mission. According to the senior's translation, he or she is using this as some sort of test of our abilities, which means she won't lift another finger going forwards unless we are about to die.
"So, I think I have something actually, though, I'm not sure how true it is!" Shinji said.
"Okay, then let's hear it!" My senior said.
"I overheard some guards talking about some princess returning to the palace! They described her as being small with a lot of purple hair! Sound familiar?"
"You don't think it's Aiko, do you? But why is she a princess?" I asked.
"It's not her!" Our great senior interrupted.
"Huh?"
"I heard the same rumor! They are talking about the favored princess of the current emperor, 3rd princess Nishida Kiko! A while back, we found out that the emperor here was extremely protective of his 1st wife's children, so my boss, the dark lord, personally went and kidnapped one of them to use as a hostage we could use to force an alliance, and later turn them into a vassal state."
"That sounds kind of evil!" I said, imagining the scene of some seedy looking guy taking a small girl hostage.
"That's just how it goes sometimes! There is always a darker side to everything, whether its people or countries! Heck! I'd be willing to bet this place has plenty of terrible secrets stashed away somewhere that could give you nightmares! Anyways, after the Dark Empire stabilized enough, it was decided that we would return the princess, since it's become clear that none of the remaining empires on the continent can overtake us, even if they all banded together. Unfortunately, it took longer to get rid of her than it took to kidnap her."
"Huh?"
"Don't ask! Just know if you happen to run into her, keep a low profile, do not make eye contact, and whatever you do, do not mention anything about our master or my boss, okay! Let sleeping lions lay as they say!"
"Hm? Oh! So, this is where cannibal girl lived! Man, I was way off!" I heard the boss mutter.
"Okay, so what about you then senior? You got something new?"
"No! Not really! Though, I might get promoted to the inner palace soon as a cook, judging by how many officials and high-ranking guards have been showing up around the kitchen lately! Either that, or someone might be on to me!"
"So, are we just going to assume it's as senior first suspected! That Aiko was taken in as a concubine based off some superstition about her hair color!"
According to senior, the Nishi Empire has some superstition about purple haired individuals being a sign of royalty or noble blood or something like that. So, senior speculated that she might have been sold to the inner palace as a concubine to either the reigning emperor, or the crown prince.
"For now, yes! But don't go jumping into things just yet! We still haven't even gotten into the inner palace yet, so, there is still a good chance I'm wrong!"
"Okay, so is that all for tonight's meeting?" Shinji asked as he looked around the room to check if anyone had anything more to say before we called it a night.
"Ugh! Yeah, I have a question I want to ask senior!" I said, raising my hand.
"Hm? Okay! What is it?!"
"You've done this before, right? So, how long does these types of investigations last normally?"
"It varies! This type of work can take anywhere between a couple of weeks to a couple of decades, even for fully trained professionals due to the amount of groundwork needed! Information gathering, navigating factions, scouting out locations, moving through the ranks, building trust, all that stuff takes a lot of time, and although it might not seem that important at times, they often become crucial to your success and your survival later down the line! That said, if I can get into the inner court safely, I'm pretty confident we'll be out of here in a month tops!"
"Wow! Really! You're amazing!"
"Hehe!"
"What's so great about that? I'd only need a single afternoon!" the boss grumbled.