Chapter 10
Once they reached the main street, Serge finally spoke.
“I had a hunch that Suzune-sama might know something about Representative Fédor’s whereabouts, so I looked into the jewelry shops she frequents with other party members. One of those workshops turned out to have ties to a human trafficking ring.”
Josée wasn’t surprised. Of course Serge would follow the same lead—it only reinforced how capable he was. As expected of a former soldier. He had the kind of sharp instincts and decisiveness that most noble politicians sorely lacked.
“Most likely, that corpse wasn’t actually Representative Fédor. The traffickers dressed a headless body in his clothes and dumped it in the river. Meanwhile, Fédor himself must’ve gone elsewhere—”
Josée’s heart skipped a beat. That was exactly the conclusion she had reached.
“...So then, Frédéric-sama is still alive...?”
Serge didn’t answer directly.
“There’s conflicting information about his safety in political circles,” he said, choosing his words carefully.
He continued, “But every time we try to track him down, the trail goes cold. Looks like some police officers are on the traffickers’ payroll.”
“So the police are compromised?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, every country has its share of dirty cops. That’s why we can’t count on them—we’ll have to gather evidence ourselves.”
Josée walked in silence, thinking.
“Hmm. Then why not drag the police into this?”
Serge blinked in surprise, but then caught on.
“Ah... right. We’re still under surveillance.”
“Exactly. While we’re still persons of interest, we should infiltrate the trafficking ring. If we dive into the underworld, the cops tailing us will have no choice but to follow. And if something happens to us—if suspects start ending up dead or missing—it’ll blow up into a scandal too big for them to ignore. We’ll force them to get involved.”
It was a dangerous gamble—but also a golden opportunity.
Josée glanced around, confirming the presence of several plainclothes officers watching them.
“Hey, what are you planning? Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Heehee. Oh, Serge, you’re always so overprotective.”
With a playful smile, Josée suddenly wrapped her arm around his. Serge's shoulders tensed.
He walked stiffly beside her—until she leaned in and whispered something that made his face go pale.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“W-Wait! This is way too sudden...!”
“Why not? No time like the present, right?”
“What kind of saying is that?!”
“Tell me where the trafficking ring’s hideout is—the one connected to that stall. We’re storming it!”
“...Are you insane!?”
Their pace quickened. The officers behind them reacted instantly, giving chase.
“Perfect. The chase is on!”
“H-Hey, wait—Josée! You’re too fast!”
The two of them ran as if tied together by fate. Serge gritted his teeth, casting one last glance behind them before resigning himself to the madness.
“Ugh... Guess we’ve got no choice...!”
He picked up speed. The streets erupted into chaos, the commotion spreading like wildfire through the harbor district.
With the sound of shouting behind them and onlookers turning their heads, Serge ran beside Josée, shouting directions as they weaved through a maze of alleys and crates.
“This way!”
They darted toward the harbor, slipping between cargo piles and sprinting through narrow lanes until they reached an old storage shed used by fishermen.
Far behind them, a voice rang out.
“Call for backup! Get reinforcements!”
More officers were on the way.
Gasping for breath, Josée and Serge ducked inside the shed and crouched low behind a stack of fishing nets.
“Hah... All right, backup’s here,” Josée said between breaths, a wicked grin playing on her lips.
“Josée, now that we’re here, what’s the plan?” Serge asked, still catching his breath.
“Huh? We go to the traffickers and say we want to buy someone.”
Serge groaned, exasperated.
“They’re not going to let us in just like that. This isn’t a market stall.”
“Then we break in. I’ve got a gun.”
She said it so casually that Serge could only sigh and scold her like a misbehaving child.
“They’ll have guns too, you know. You could get yourself killed.”
“? Then what *should* we do?”
Serge rubbed his forehead, thinking hard.
“...We’ll have to act our way in.”
“Right.”
“We say we want to buy someone.”
“......”
“But, uh... we left all our valuables at home...”
As Serge looked skyward in dismay, Josée suddenly held up her arm with a mischievous grin.
“Heheh, know what this is?”
A gleaming gold bracelet shimmered on her wrist—the one Lord Mathieu had given her.
Serge blinked, visibly surprised.
“? Why do you have something that expensive?”
“It was a gift. This might be our ticket into the hideout.”
Serge took a deep breath and stood up, resolve settling into his posture.
“Promise me one thing—if we’re attacked, you run. Even if it’s just you.”
“Don’t say things like that! We escape *together*.”
He gave a half-smile and opened the shed’s back door.
“This way.”
And so, under a night sky lit by chaos and flashing police lanterns, Josée and Serge slipped into the shadows, heading straight for the traffickers’ warehouse.