My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World
Chapter 107: Baiting Criminals

Chapter 107: Baiting Criminals

After spending one night in the border city of Vivint, we asked a group of men who were about to leave the city to give us directions to go to the capital.

The trip was supposed to be a one-week travel via carriage, offering to take us for a fee. However, all we needed were directions since we would be flying there.

Once we had walked outside the gates for a while, we checked our surroundings to make sure that nobody was watching us and took flight toward the capital.

It took us two days to reach the city, which was much better when compared to the one week we would have had to endure walking.

Before going through the gates, we descended somewhere far off, not to attract any attention, and showed our credentials at the entrance.

The Droman capital was much larger than the city of Vivint, but it kept the same facade of white marble buildings while the empress’ palace was visible in the distance, towering above the entire city.

The first thing we did was go to an inn and get a room. This time, we actually managed to get two rooms, one for me and my companions and the other for Gina.

In our chambers, I told them that we needed to look for information about the Crimson Scorpions, so it would be better to split up while I urged them to be careful who they talked to.

It was only me and Yoru, who was hiding inside my shadow, walking through the bustling streets until we reached what seemed to be the poor part of the city.

It was noticeable since the buildings looked older and in terrible condition. The people sat beside their homes, wearing dirty rags and extending their hands as if asking for help.

Next to a dried-up well, I spotted a kid sitting down, posing his head on his knees with apprehension.

I could tell that the child was hungry, but I felt like everyone’s eyes were on me. I mean, I didn’t look like I belonged there since I was wearing my cool poncho.

’If I feed this kid, I’ll have to feed the entire district...’ I thought.

Nonetheless, my conscience wouldn’t let me just leave, so I opened my void pocket, which I noticed surprised some of the residents who were staring at me, and I pulled out a couple of fruit bowls and stew.

Giving one to the kid, he began stuffing his face while thanking me with tears in his eyes. Simultaneously, the people around us started approaching me slowly with a hint of fear.

However, when I extended my hand with a hot bowl of food to one of them, the others felt more confident and got closer to me to get their share.

I didn’t really mind feeding them since no one was being rude or weird. People were hungry, they asked for food, so I gave them the food. It was that simple.

’I have hundreds of these bowls, so it’s not like I’m going to run out by feeding a few people here...’ I thought as I watched the people happily eat their meals.

While the poor residents stuffed themselves, I used my "search" spell to check the area around me. The spell worked better to look for non-human things, but it didn’t mean that I couldn’t sense them.

Confirming that there was nobody suspicious around me, I approached one of the older men from the bunch who was eating and inquired if he knew anything about the Crimson Scorpions.

As soon as I asked him, the man stopped eating and widened his eyes with fear, frantically looking to the sides as if he were searching for someone.

I consoled the man by telling him that nobody was listening to us, making the man clench his teeth with apprehension as he got closer to whisper something.

After the war with Kalusia started, the capital was short on soldiers and guards to maintain the peace.

That lack of security allowed the criminal organization to take control of different districts of the city, asking the residents for money in exchange for protection.

"Protection from what?" I asked, realizing that it was a stupid question.

The Crimson Scorpions weren’t protecting anyone. They just threatened poor citizens by asking them to give them money so they wouldn’t get killed.

Since most of the guards and soldiers that were left in the capital were taking care of the nobles’ districts, the poorer parts of the cities were suffering greatly because of the criminals.

Sobbing, the man then told me that the gang had taken his son after he failed to pay the amount they asked for, to which other people around confirmed, saying they had gone through the same.

After leaving a few more supplies for the citizens and telling them to hide them, I returned to the inn to meet up with Gina and Vespera and exchange our findings.

Gina had seen the nobles’ district, explaining that it looked clean and safe as every corner had a pair of soldiers standing guard.

Vespera found another district that had been taken over by the gang, and her description of the area was pretty much the same as the district that I visited.

"I understand when people want to rob from nobles. You know? They usually have a motivation like envy or jealousy. But to steal from commoners who already have nothing... That’s just weird." I said to my group.

It’s not like I believed that stealing was good, but if people had a reason for it, then my outlook would be different.

If a kid was dying of hunger and stole a piece of bread to eat, could I really blame them? No, I wouldn’t, simply because I believe that people should do anything they need to survive.

However, stealing for fun and from people who were already struggling was unacceptable, so now I was feeling motivated to take down the Crimson Scorpions.

"Let’s bait one of them out and interrogate them..." I said to my group, elaborating on my plan to capture one of the criminals.

We told Gina to change into a simpler outfit to look like one of the poor commoners. However, Vespera made sure to add a protection enchantment to the simple beige dress, just in case something went wrong.

Giving her a sack filled with gold, I told Gina that all she needed to do was walk along the poor street and act as if she was in a hurry to get home.

I had found an abandoned house in the poor district, and while it was wholly destroyed on the inside, it was secluded enough for us to conduct an interrogation without many witnesses around.

As Gina walked along the road, I could see her acting as if she was panicking, even dropping a few gold coins on the ground to make it more obvious.

’Wow, she is good...’ I thought, believing that her acting would convince a criminal without a doubt.

When Gina finally made it to the abandoned home, she hastily went inside when suddenly, two figures stood outside her door wearing hoods to conceal their identities.

As one of them approached the door and raised its arm to knock on it, Vespera and I came down from the roof and intercepted them.

I placed my mithril dagger against one of the hooded figures’ necks while Vespera pulled out one of her spider legs and held the other’s.

"Don’t say a word, or you die," I muttered, silently making both individuals tense their bodies.

I wasn’t actually going to kill anyone, but criminals like these wouldn’t get phased by any other type of threat.

Taking the pair inside the abandoned house, Vespera used her weaving skills to tie them back to back in two chairs, then removed their hoods to see their identities.

It was a man and a woman who looked to be in their twenties, both dark-haired and with a few scars showing on their faces, prompting me to use my "Inspect" spell to check their information.

<Name: Tony

Age: 22

Skills: Sword Fighting

MP: 7,000

Titles: Saber Master. >

<Name: Nisa

Age: 18

Skills: Lockpicking, Sleight of Hand.

MP: 5,000

Titles: Master Thief. >

Seeing their titles and skills made me realize that the pair was quite talented, with the guy being a saber master and the woman a master in thievery.

Their MP amount wasn’t bad either, making me believe they could cast a few magic spells. However, considering the level of magic that I had seen other people have in this world, it didn’t worry me too much.

"Alright then, let’s just get straight to the point..." I said, walking around the tied-up bandits.

"I told you this was bait, Tony..." the girl said, but she received no response from her partner.

They both glared at me with disdain as if I was about to torture the life out of them. Even though I wasn’t planning any of that, it was better for me if they believed it.