Wizard Earl

Chapter 108 Suspicious Points

First-class tickets were extremely expensive, almost exclusively affordable to nobles and wealthy merchants. Because they were reserved for these prominent individuals, first-class tickets were essentially registered under real names. However, as the saying goes, rules are meant to be broken. Initially, some illegitimate children and lovers of nobles and wealthy merchants also wanted to enjoy the luxury of cruise ships, but their identities could not be openly displayed to the world. Thus, anonymous first-class tickets came into being.

After more than a century of development, anonymous first-class tickets have become a feature of luxury cruise ships and the first choice for passengers who do not want to reveal their identity. Anonymous first-class tickets enjoy the same treatment as regular first-class tickets, but the price is more than 50% higher.

"Connor...you really are a womanizing bastard, don't worry, no problem!" George couldn't help but laugh and curse when he heard Connor ask for a secret ballot.

"Hehe!" Connor chimed in with a wicked grin. Although George was a bit of a spoiled brat, he was very reliable when it came to his promises. Barring any extreme circumstances, the tickets should be fine.

Having resolved his ticket issue with George, Connor finished his history class at Green University as scheduled and quickly left the school; he still had a detective report to collect that day.

Quietly arriving at a residential building in the North District, and carefully making sure no one was watching him, Connor took out a key, opened a mailbox, took out a document wrapped in brown paper, glanced at it briefly, then locked the mailbox again and turned to leave.

Back in his apartment, Connor carefully read through the detective report about the Ivanka.

This report was compiled by a highly reputable commercial detective he commissioned before going to see George again. To avoid repeating Valverde's mistake, Connor used anonymous letter submission this time and did not meet with the investigator at all.

Connor still had a few questions about Margaret's request for a first-class anonymous ticket on the Ivanka luxury cruise ship, and he hoped to find the answers he sought from this detective's report.

The first point of doubt is: if Margaret wanted to board the Ivanka cruise ship to get the blood urchin, why didn't she sneak on board instead of asking him for a anonymous first-class ticket? Connor believed that with Margaret's intermediate apprentice skills, the Ivanka luxury cruise ship wouldn't be able to stop her from sneaking on board, and wouldn't that have been more discreet?

The second point of contention is why Margaret requested a first-class anonymous ticket instead of a second-class or third-class ticket. It should be noted that first-class anonymous tickets offer the same treatment as regular first-class tickets. Ivanka would have dedicated staff to serve her and would receive a lot of extra attention, with significantly limited freedom of movement.

The third point of contention is that Margaret said she went to the Ivanka to retrieve something, but did she really go to retrieve it, or did she obtain it in some other way?

After carefully reading the investigation report, Connor felt that all three of his questions had been answered by it.

Audrey Winster, the beloved daughter of Duke Winster, will arrive at Port Loen from the imperial capital Bernabéu in two days aboard the Ivanka. The Kaman Empire practices a parliamentary democracy. While the royal family still holds a prestigious position, its power is no longer substantial. National executive power is jointly held by the Upper House and the Lower House, although in recent years, with the rise of the wealthy merchant class, the Lower House's power has increased significantly.

However, judging from the current situation, the upper house, represented by the nobles, still has more say than the lower house, represented by the wealthy merchant class. The Duke of Winster is one of the real bigwigs in the upper house. The current King Guti I of the Kaman Empire always consults the Duke of Winster when making important decisions.

Miss Audrey Winster, who was to arrive from the Empire aboard the Ivanka, was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Winster. She was born when the Duke was forty years old, so she was especially favored by him. It is said that her life was more luxurious than that of some of the royal princesses.

Therefore, with such a distinguished noblewoman on board the Ivanka, Connor had reason to believe that the Imperial Police and Duke Winston's men had made thorough preparations, and that the risk of secretly infiltrating the Ivanka was extremely high!

According to the detective's report, if Miss Audrey hadn't proactively rejected the Seville Shipping Company's proposal to temporarily cancel the anonymous ticketing plan for security reasons, the anonymous ticketing would certainly have been canceled during Miss Audrey's journey on the Ivanka.

Although Miss Audrey was a major target, after much thought, Connor still felt that Margaret wouldn't be foolish enough to provoke her. In Connor's eyes, it was likely true that Margaret wanted the blood urchin, and her target was probably another passenger on the Ivanka, the herbalist Enrique.

If it's Enrique, then everything makes perfect sense. Enrique's main business is buying medicinal herbs from the New World and bringing them back to the Kaman Empire for sale. It's said that he has connections with the East Hoy Company in the New World, so he can always get his hands on very rare medicinal herbs.

It's also understandable that Margaret would have a first-class ticket, since Enrique also held a first-class ticket. First-class ticket holders usually stayed in the best rooms on the Ivanka luxury cruise ship, which would have allowed Margaret better access to Enrique.

As for whether Margaret should go and get it or use some other method, Connor prefers the latter. After all, if she were to get it, then Margaret wouldn't need to go to such lengths to get a first-class ticket to contact Enrique.

Based on the information at hand, Connor felt that his analysis was basically correct. If Margaret's target was indeed Enrique, it would have no impact on Connor. Therefore, Connor thought that he could give the ticket he got from George to Margaret.

The next day, after receiving the ship ticket from George, Connor disguised himself briefly and went straight to Empire Department Store, where he found the Jennifer boutique that Margaret had mentioned.

To Connor's slight embarrassment, this Jennifer's store turned out to be a women's lingerie shop, making him stand out oddly among the crowds...

"Hello, sir, is there anything I can help you with?" Just as Connor was feeling extremely embarrassed under the scrutiny of the other customers in the store, a young woman in her thirties, dressed as the store manager, greeted him.

(End of this chapter)