Shade maintained his illusion and tried to follow them up the stairs, but as he passed the entrance to the passageway, he discovered that a simple warning ritual had been set up there:
"Oh? They actually managed to hire a Ring Arcanist to help set up a ritual here?"
However, that warning ritual was far too simple to have any effect on Shade, who was skilled in illusions.
Passing through the dark, narrow staircase, he arrived at the concealed Fourth Floor. This place was even more remarkable: it was a large flat-like room. Its lavish decoration and furnishings were even better than those downstairs, making Shade suspect that this was where the high-end brothel entertained important guests.
The moment Director Anlos appeared, a voice came from the southeast corner of the room:
"Anlos, you're too slow. Do you know how much it costs to rent this place?"
It was a man's voice, and he was speaking Kartherian.
Director Anlos pressed down his hat and led his subordinates over:
"You need to be patient too, Hikali Schnorr. If people discover that the two of us are meeting like this, how much trouble do you think it will cause?"
In the southeast corner of the room, the floor rose into a platform with two steps. A square table and stools had been placed atop it. Through the single-pane window in one wall, they could look down from the Fourth Floor at the rain-veiled Mikella Blast Furnace City. Judging by the silhouette of the nearby Glass Blast Furnace, Shade could even determine this place's exact location within the city.
The tall, thin man speaking with Director Anlos was someone Shade had never seen before. He had thick stubble, which appeared to be deliberately maintained. The unfamiliar tall, thin man should have been the