Chapter 195: Eyes in the Shadows

The brick wall was cold and damp, and it felt a bit sticky to the touch. Moreover, the slightly gloomy corridor had torches burning steadily on the walls, as if not a breath of wind flowed inside. Under the illumination of that dim yellow light, George even discovered well-growing moss at the bottom of the walls and around the corners. At the same time, the slightly moldy smell also made him frown a little.

The stone-paved floor was covered with a layer of wood shavings and fine sand about one centimeter thick, which seemed to be used for moisture protection. Countless round wooden barrels were placed on the ground, and each barrel was covered with a thin layer of dust.

However, this basement piled with round wooden barrels always revealed a trace of mystery, giving people a feeling of wanting to explore it. A candlestick was placed on a low wooden table against the wall, and the small, wavering flame on the candle was unusually dim, which suited the environment here very well. It looked very coordinated here, but it also made people feel so oppressed that they could hardly breathe.

“Did you get any useful news from that guy?” George was sitting on a round wooden barrel that had just been wiped by a staff member here. As for whether that guy wiped it clean or not was another matter. After all, the other party was not a service industry worker, and since he had the intention, George would naturally relax his standards and accept it.

“I am very sorry, my Lord! The suspect brought back by the crows last night has a very hard mouth, and we still haven’t pried it open.” The gloomy-faced man in front of George answered George’s question with some trepidation.

Ulrich Aine, standing in front of George, was originally a high-level executive of a spy network in the South called “Dark Veil.” Later, this organization seemed to have offended the Church of the Lord of Conspiracy during its operations. That organization, which had been painstakingly managed by several generations and established in many cities, collapsed in less than a month.

The cause was that two pieces of intelligence sold by “Dark Veil” ruined a sacrificial ceremony that the other side had been preparing for nearly a hundred years, and at the same time caused three bishops of the Black Lead Rank of the Church of the Lord of Conspiracy to return to the embrace of their Deity.

In fact, even if you lent “Dark Veil” ten guts, they would not dare to participate in dealing with a giant like the Church of the Lord of Conspiracy! But who knew how, both sides were suddenly blessed by the Goddess of Misfortune, Beshaba.

Originally, it was just the schedule of a smuggling channel and news of a few foreign Golden Fingers. But in the end, it involved such a big commotion. It was like originally just wanting to catch a rainbow trout, but after finally hooking it, discovering that the other party was a great white shark.

Of course, that time, the Tripartite Alliance composed of the Lord of Justice, the God of Protection, and the Real One, along with the deities on the same side like Pelor, Sun God and Heironeous, the Lion of the Brave, could be said to have received the care of the Goddess of Luck, Tymora.

Not only did they destroy the conspiracy that the Church of the Lord of Conspiracy had been preparing for many years in one fell swoop, but more importantly, they captured high-level personnel of the other side one after another during the battle. It could be said to be the greatest victory achieved by the Good Camp in the confrontation against the Evil Camp in ten years.

The relationship between these two camps was like that between the Communist camp and the Capitalist camp; either the East wind prevails over the West wind, or the West wind prevails over the East wind; there was no possibility of reconciliation between the two.

However, one always picks the soft persimmon to pinch, and even the Evil Camp was originally at a disadvantage in the confrontation with the Good Camp. Let alone after suffering such heavy damage this time.

Moreover, this kind of retaliatory action could often only be borne by the Church of the Lord of Conspiracy alone. Allies in the same camp would not participate in it. It could be said that the practice of not getting up early without profit seemed to be a habit of the Evil Camp.

Then “Dark Veil,” this little mouse that couldn’t stand the light of day, became the best target for retaliation for the other side. After all, “Dark Veil” was different from intelligence organizations like the “Harpers” which were originally funded by many churches and mage associations. Its type was a branch within a Thieves’ Guild. And the “Harpers” were more like the CIA, the KGB, or the Mossad and MI6 that George knew before he crossed over, large intelligence networks with deep backgrounds.

If “Dark Veil” had actively participated in it this time and defected immediately afterwards, they might have been incorporated by the “Harpers” as a downstream organization. They could have survived the disaster by relying on the latter’s strength, and could have completely washed themselves white. Of course, the prerequisite for this was that “Dark Veil” had not done too many outrageous things before.

However, “Dark Veil,” which was accidentally involved in the center of the storm, did not have this kind of preparation. Coupled with being a thief organization based on an intelligence network, the combat effectiveness of “Dark Veil” appeared somewhat weak.

Although they struggled desperately relying on the intelligence advantage of their home ground, a large number of backbone members were still cleared out by the other side in a short time. Apart from a small number of the remaining peripheral members being incorporated by the other side, most of them became sacrifices.

The Thieves’ Guild mentioned earlier is often an important component of a city’s dark side, and a large part of the unpopular Rogues are members of it. As the saying goes, where there is light, there is naturally darkness, and this kind of thing is inevitable in many cities.

Even in the Bolerum Territory, where crime is severely cracked down upon, there is a Thieves’ Guild that does not belong to George’s jurisdiction. Of course, that is part of the intelligence network of His Grace the Duke, and George will not touch it. Moreover, having it restrain the Golden Fingers in the territory also saves George the effort of spending great effort to integrate and support a Thieves’ Guild. The cooperation and interaction between the two were quite good.

Every Thieves’ Guild is unique—they are the product of unique cities, unique times, and unique leaders. Some guilds are powerful organizations, some high-level personnel manipulate it behind the scenes, and others are mainly composed of law-breaking thieves, thugs, and bandits. However, regardless of its type, the majority of members of any Thieves’ Guild are composed of various types of Rogues.

Although the “Timms Thieves’ Guild” is an important part of the intelligence network under the name of His Grace the Duke, it is not a real intelligence-type thief guild, but belongs to the traditional Thieves’ Guild.

This kind of Thieves’ Guild is organized in the same way as a Craftsman or Merchant Guild. Although the behavior of the guild members did not really abide by the law, its internal organizational structure was very familiar to anyone engaged in other ordinary fields. This is the most common type of Thieves’ Guild.

Generally speaking, those traditional Thieves’ Guilds subdivide their members according to specialties such as pickpockets, burglars, robbers, etc., or according to the places they control. In both cases, there will be a leader monitoring each subgroup, that is, the guild leader controls every crime specialty—such as a “Golden Finger Leader,” or a “Block Boss” mastering every neighborhood—commercial street, commoner area.

Powerful traditional Thieves’ Guilds have leaders who control both specialties and neighborhoods. Although the numerous leaders increased the levels of guild control, they also gave the guild a comprehensive bureaucracy. Both forms operated very efficiently in most cases, with leaders regularly exchanging opinions and assembling professional groups to perform special tasks.

The leaders responsible for various specialties and neighborhoods constituted the guild’s ruling committee. Some committees decided all important matters by voting, while other committees just served as an advisory group for a guild leader who covered the sky with one hand.

Usually, information could spread quickly among organizations, but occasionally, due to the factors of numerous classes and subgroups, one part did not know what another part was doing. Because this type of guild made communication between organizations a very serious matter. However, leaders usually solved communication problems very quickly.

Usually, those traditional Thieves’ Guilds might have a main permanent gathering place. For example, a building, a tomb, or other solid and durable structure. The gathering place of the “Timms Thieves’ Guild” in the territory was a two-story small stone building in the commoner area. Judging from the sign at the door, this looked like a warehouse. If George wanted to send someone to contact them, it really wouldn’t take much effort.

This kind of guild building was generally strictly guarded, and thieves kept coming or leaving, such as setting out to perform tasks, coming to report, training, and so on. This kind of building was usually either very hidden or disguised as a commercial firm. In those cities where the law was more casual, the guild leader would have a formal guild building. However, even in those towns where Thieves’ Guilds acted more cautiously, it was usually not difficult for visiting Rogues to make contact with guild representatives.

From this point of view, the intelligence network of the Duchy of Nohan seemed to be in a state of semi-self-financing, not fully funded by the government. As for how effective the deception was, that was unknown! At least in George’s view, it was just about the same as an ordinary Thieves’ Guild. At most, the backer behind it was harder, and ordinary people couldn’t easily bring it down.

Fortunately, those guys also knew when to advance and retreat, and they didn’t create any major cases in the Bolerum Territory. In fact, most guild leaders were very familiar with the city’s law and justice enforcement agencies, and the Bolerum Territory was no exception in this regard.

Of course, there were even cases where they had infiltrated them; they kept the city’s enforcement officers from losing their balance, but allowed them to catch enough third-rate thieves to prevent accidents. However, this situation did not seem to have occurred in the Duchy of Nohan. The lords here still had quite a strong control over their territories.

Most importantly, guild leaders also carefully monitored their targets—nobles and merchants. After all, driving merchants to bankruptcy through ruthless theft and attack would only make the city poor. Not only would that merchant leave, but other merchants would hesitate again and again before starting new businesses. Therefore, guild leaders would let a target slowly recover after doing enough work on him, during which time they would consider robbing new targets.

Of course, in a territory like the Bolerum Territory where the ruler was absolutely dominant. The days of this kind of Thieves’ Guild were definitely tight. Their targets were mostly positioned at the purses of certain upstarts who came here. Things like goods were absolutely not to be touched. But at the same time, the lords would also pay to entrust them with tasks from time to time.

Like this Spring Festival—Green Grass Festival, George paid 100 Gold Coins hoping they would pay attention to some strange faces that appeared recently. To prevent anyone from deliberately making trouble at this important celebration. George certainly wouldn’t tell those guys with no morals the truth! Besides, the ones who would be dismissed by them were basically small fry, which served to reduce some business volume for the professional departments.

Of course, this time was also the happiest time for those Rogues. The crowd in the carnival was the least vigilant, and many times their money bags fell off, and they couldn’t be sure if it was stolen or if they dropped it themselves. Acting at this time point, the possibility of being investigated was much smaller. No lawsuit if no one reports it; this was a universal rule at any time. Overall, although bumps were unavoidable, they could still get along.

However, the Thieves’ Guild that specialized in selling intelligence was quite different. They usually organized their internal structure according to information sources. For example: one part of the guild might focus on infiltrating the royal family, while another part paid attention to the Merchant Guild. Each part would have a leader, and these leaders formed a committee, either serving a guild leader who controlled the overall situation or operating guild affairs as a group.

Ulrich Aine was the leader responsible for Merchant Guild news in the original “Dark Veil.” Later, he also relied on the advantage in this area to change his identity and mix into a Caravan heading north to escape the disaster.

However, high-level members of the spy network rarely did intelligence collection work; they would compare and analyze the intelligence collected by low-level members, and then sell the results to the group most likely to benefit from it.

Let’s give an example! One organization wanted to uncover the truth about a specific Merchant Guild gambling heavily recently, while another force wanted to investigate the reason for a series of very vague taxes recorded in the same Merchant Guild’s shipping documents. The analyst who understood both parts of the situation ran to the competitor of the Merchant Guild and sold the intelligence. But the shocking truth was: a bad gambler had to smuggle to pay off his debts.

Usually, in many people’s eyes, intelligence was of course the biggest asset owned by the guild. Of course, as an organization, it could also benefit from other branch members. Many members were initially Rogues, and later advanced to become competent ace spies. Mages and Sorcerers could also find stable jobs here, and occasionally smooth-talking Bards could also have a place.

In addition, a typical spy network had beggars, merchants, Priests, and even Nobles, because most members did not fit the traditional characteristics of the average Rogue, so they were not easily suspected when trouble arose. Ulrich Aine’s original public identity was an important manager in a Merchant Guild.

However, for Ulrich Aine, who fled alone to the Bolerum Territory, his original intelligence had either long expired or was useless after leaving the original region.

But George valued his organizational experience in leading intelligence networks and his intelligence analysis ability even more. At the very least, George was quite satisfied with his performance in business over the past few years. As for political intelligence, due to innate reasons, George could not really fuss about it.

Any member who wanted to become an analyst had to first spend a lot of time training in this field. If they could also control the organizational structure and daily operation of an intelligence organization. Such talent was definitely worth spending a high price to win over. Just like the sentence George heard most often before crossing over—what is most important in the 21st century? Of course, it’s talent!

Moreover, it was only after taking him under his command that George discovered how full of holes the Bolerum Territory’s original intelligence organization was. Relying on the half-truth and half-false knowledge George knew before, and the result of hybridizing with this orthodox traditional Thieves’ Guild. Although it couldn’t be said to be a complete failure, in the eyes of professionals, this was indeed a child’s game.

Among them, in addition to the gap in intelligence collection, the most important thing was the security of intelligence transmission. Because if the intelligence did not reach the correct ears, it was useless.

For this reason, after Ulrich Aine took over the territory’s intelligence organization, he carefully established a network of meeting places and drop boxes to ensure that all intelligence could be conveyed to the leadership. Every member knew a large number of secret villas, password-protected rooms in Taverns, and midnight meeting points, and knew when each could be used. The guild buildings themselves were usually in secret places—underground or disguised.

For example, the “Foam and Sausage” Tavern was included as a lower-level contact at this time. On the tenth day of every month, it was an important place for intelligence exchange and summary in the commoner area.

However, unlike ordinary intelligence networks, they also served as an administrative enforcement agency for the regime. So George put a lot of effort into the personnel strength training. In addition to the elites trained from orphans selected from childhood and brainwashed for loyalty. The peripheral members also received a certain degree of training in martial arts.

As for the training content! In addition to House Bolerum’s previous collection, parts were also traded from various Knights and their Retainers. Even the “Timms Thieves’ Guild” was a channel for acquisition. Fortunately, the value of this kind of low-end knowledge was not high, and judging from the results of the confrontation between the two sides this time, it was really quite good.

Being able to achieve such results in just a few years. In addition to teaching in accordance with their aptitude, the most important thing was that the peripheral members gave up comprehensive development and conducted specialized training. For example, Anason, in addition to memory and alertness, focused on training his combat ability. After all, for his own role, there was no necessity for infiltration or assassination. Equipped with his already flexible and powerful arms, he really achieved defeating a stronger opponent last night.

Thinking of Ulrich Aine’s diligent work over the past few years, George did not give him a cold look. He just said lightly: “Use the Enchantment Scroll! Time waits for no one now. Even if it costs a little, there is no way around it.”

“Yes, my Lord! But what if he really doesn’t know anything?” Ulrich Aine asked expressionlessly.

George thought for a moment and gave the answer: “Then keep him locked up! Wait until the right time, and send him to the Quarry with my consent. How dare he play murder games in our Bolerum Territory!”