I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

Victor kept his sword firmly positioned on the woman’s neck while she remained motionless with eyes wide with surprise and fear.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Victor asked in a firm voice, keeping an eye out for the slightest hint of suspicious movement on the woman’s part.

She swallowed before answering, clearly nervous. "My name is Elena. I’m... I work as an assistant to Councilor Steegar. He sent me to collect some important documents from his office and take them to his chambers."

Victor arched an eyebrow, suspicious. "Important documents? What for?"

Elena hesitated for a moment before continuing. "He said they were for the castle’s administrative affairs. I don’t know any more details, I swear! I just do what he says."

The hunter noticed Elena’s genuine fear, as she tried not to look directly even at the blade in her neck. She looked genuinely frightened and disoriented, as if she had been dragged into a dangerous game without fully understanding the consequences.

"Do you have any idea what Steegar is involved in?" Victor asked, lowering his sword a little to allow her to feel a little more comfortable, but still keeping her under his watch.

Elena shook her head negatively. "I’ve heard rumors, things I don’t fully understand. Yes, they say a lot of things about him, but I’ve never seen anything directly. I don’t ask, I don’t question what he asks of me. I just... I just do my job to keep my family with food on the table."

The tone of desperation in Elena’s voice touched Victor in a way he hadn’t expected. He wasn’t the type to be insensitive to the stories of ordinary people, especially those who were manipulated by figures of power like Steegar.

"I’m not going to hurt you, Elena. I’m not the villain here. You must have heard that a Rank-S hunter was arrested earlier in the dungeon, I’m her father. Steegar plotted against my daughter because she was investigating his actions. I need information about Steegar’s activities, something that can prove his illegal actions." Victor lowered his sword completely.

Elena looked at him with eyes moist with restrained tears, perhaps out of relief.

"I... I think I can try to help." She says, apparently touched by Victor’s words too.

"Please tell me everything you know or have heard about him."

Elena began to speak, relating fragments of conversations she had overheard, strange movements in Steegar’s financial records and suspicious behavior.

Victor listened intently, connecting the dots as she spoke. He realized that, although he didn’t have hard evidence yet, there was valuable information that could be exploited further, such as guards with whom Steegar had more contact, which would be important if he could find the names of these guards in financial documents, because it would mean that money was being embezzled.

In a normal situation, the statements of Steegar’s assistant would be enough to at least open an investigation against him, but Steegar was the one who raised and mentored Duke Olyno and, according to Elena herself, after the death of the former duke Steegar did indeed seem to have become the closest figure to a family that Olyno had. For that reason, just statements without proof wouldn’t be enough. They would need something more.

"This is all very revealing, but it’s still not enough. Don’t you know anything else? Like a place where Olyno can hide his documents besides this table?" With a frown, Victor asked.

"I don’t know... Maybe the Duke’s personal safe, because only the two of them are allowed in there. Ah! But, on second thoughts, I remembered something. Steegar tends to be too careful with his things, but as his assistant, I’m allowed to touch and get close to everything in this office, including the documents on his desk, but there’s one place in this room that even I can’t go near without being lectured."

Elena then pointed to the bookcase on the opposite side of the room, to the right of the door.

"He says that there are important books there and that it doesn’t matter if they’re dusty, he’s the only one who can clean them. I had resigned myself to this, but a few weeks ago I was sweeping that corner of the room while he was in a meeting and when I lifted the carpet, I saw marks on the floor. It looked like something big had been dragged across and scratched the floor."

Victor then approached the bookcase indicated by the assistant.

"Do you think there might be a secret passage?" Victor asked Elena.

"I don’t know. Honestly, I’ve had access to the castle’s floor plans and I’ve never seen anything to indicate one."

"However, this castle used to be an ancient fortress, so it wouldn’t be unusual for there to be one," declared Victor.

Determined to investigate further, Victor began to examine the book shelves. He noticed that some of the books looked dustier than others, indicating that perhaps they were accessed more frequently. One in particular caught his eye: an old, bulky book with a leather cover worn by time and touch. As he picked it up, he noticed that the pages were stained and worn, suggesting that it had been leafed through repeatedly.

Victor carefully flipped through the book, looking for something, but it was a simple book on the economic market.

Elena, also curious, tried to take a book off the shelf while Victor was busy, but felt a little resistance, as if the book was stuck. Determined, she used all her strength and pulled the book out. It was then that instead of the book falling out of place, a click echoed through the room and part of the bookcase moved smoothly to the side, revealing a narrow, dark passage in front of the two individuals.

Victor looked at Elena, and she looked back at him. "Looks like you were right." She said and smiled nervously.

The secret passage was narrow, dark and winding, with a pungent smell.

"You go ahead." Victor pointed with his chin towards the passage.

Elena gave him a frightened look. "But you’re the one with the sword."

"Elena, I liked you and I appreciate your help, but I’m still unable to trust with my eyes closed someone who works directly for my main enemy at the moment. So go ahead, I’ll be right behind, I promise."

Elena was at a loss for words. She looked at the passage, swallowed and started down the narrow, snail-shaped staircase, not knowing where it would lead.

Meanwhile, outside the office, the commotion in the castle was beginning to intensify. Elena’s absence would not go unnoticed for long by Councilor Steegar without a good distraction like a duel in the throne room, so Victor needed to act quickly to ensure that his discoveries were not in vain.