Chapter 334

“This is a custom computer designed specifically to access the Thieves Guild’s internet. There is also a custom phone, but I don’t own one,” Rosa said as she brought Alice to her bedroom and pointed at one of the two computers on her desk. “The Thieves Guild will often change the location of its headquarters, so thieves looking to use the Thieves Guild’s services will normally do so through the guild’s internet. Only important discussions and transactions will be held at the Thieves Guild’s headquarters.”

Alice nodded in understanding. At the same time, hearing that the Thieves Guild would frequently change its offline address reminded Alice of the websites-that-should-not-be-described she had seen back on Earth.

However, comparing the Thieves Guild to adult websites would probably offend Rosa, so Alice tacitly chose to keep this thought to herself.

“The Thieves Guild’s internet can only be accessed using these custom computers and phones. Other devices won’t work,” Rosa explained while turning on her computer. Then, under Alice’s gaze, she quickly connected to a network called “Network A” and opened a software called “Guild Function Integration.” Evidently, this was the software developed by the Thieves Guild specifically to access its private internet.

The essence of this otherworld’s internet was a mana wavelength of a specific frequency. In theory, so long as one could get a device to emit a mana wavelength with the correct frequency, the device could connect to any internet in the world. However, the owners of an internet naturally wouldn’t want just anyone connecting to their internet. So, every internet in this world would come equipped with a special mana lock.

Hence, it was pointless to only have an internet’s mana frequency. Without the authentication of the mana lock, it would still be impossible to connect to the Thieves Guild’s internet. In other words, it was necessary to have the Thieves Guild’s custom devices to connect to the guild’s internet.

This was also why the human and demon realms’ internet could not be connected to each other. Whenever the human realm’s internet detects mana originating from the demon realm, it would automatically cut off the connection. This was also true for the demon realm’s internet and why people in the human realm could not access the demon realm’s internet.

Of course, these hindrances were not a problem for Alice. The “Mana Network” skill she acquired from wielding a mobile phone with her right hand could ignore mana locks and allow her to access any internet in the world.

In the past, Alice did not know about the existence of the Thieves Guild’s internet. However, now that she knew about it, she could access it from any phone as long as she was willing to.

“The Thieves Guild’s software has a face recognition function that houses information on most thieves. However, since the control hub for the guild’s internet no longer exists, nobody can access the internet’s database.”

After saying so, Rosa uploaded one of the photos of the gyaru thief Alice had sent to her. In no time at all, a form popped up on the screen. “Okay, it seems this girl has registered herself with the Thieves Guild’s internet. The guild’s software has already found her contact information for us.”

“Oh? How convenient.”

Alice leaned forward and looked at the form displayed on the screen curiously. They were essentially being asked to make an appointment with the gyaru thief, the form requiring them to fill in the details of the commission, the meeting time, and the approximate remuneration.

It was obvious that, even though the Thieves Guild’s software had already found the gyaru thief’s contact information, it had no intentions of sharing this information with them directly. After all, the creators of the Thieves Guild’s internet knew thieves were reluctant to expose their identities. Hence, the software was designed to search for the user’s desired thief’s contact information and, at most, help the user make an appointment with their desired thief.

“This is as far as I can help you. If a thief refuses to reveal their identity, the Thieves Guild’s internet will not share their information. It is only a platform that can help you establish contact with thieves,” Rosa said, shrugging. “So, what is your plan? Do you want to contact her? So long as you fill this form, the thief in question will get back to you within 24 hours and inform you whether she accepts your commission.”

“Contact her for me, then. I can’t think of any better way to contact her for the time being,” Alice said, nodding her head and giving her consent after giving the matter some thought.

Seeing this, Rosa placed her hands on the keyboard and asked:

“What should I write in the commission details? Don’t ask for something ridiculous such as help with slaying a dragon. No thief will accept such a job… It’s best if you come up with a simple commission if you want to ensure she accepts.”

“That’s true, but a commission that’s overly simplistic will also make the other party grow suspicious. If that happened, she might refuse the job out of prudence,” Alice said with a frown.

Seeing as the gyaru was registered with the Thieves Guild, it meant that she was indeed a thief. However, it was highly probable that she was also working exclusively for Lilith, so such a person wouldn’t necessarily accept a commission from a stranger.

So, what kind of commission could ensure that the gyaru thief took the bait?

Alice quickly came up with an idea. Since the gyaru thief was most likely a thief working exclusively for Lilith, there was one kind of commission that would definitely grab the gyaru thief’s attention:

“Rosa, write “Investigate the Rhine Kingdom’s Princess Lilith Doyle” for the commission.”

Rosa’s hands shuddered when she heard Alice’s words. Alice had never told her before that she was investigating the Rhine Kingdom’s princess. However, after hearing about who Alice was trying to investigate, Rosa could more or less guess why Alice was looking for this gyaru thief.

Unfortunately, turning down a request from the Hero wasn’t an option for Rosa. So, despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to fill in Alice’s commission and pray that the gyaru thief couldn’t track this commission back to her. After all, she highly doubted she could bear the retaliation of a princess.

“Write ‘Negotiable’ for compensation,” Alice continued. If the average thief saw ‘Negotiable’ in the compensation section, they would most likely turn down the job offer to avoid wasting their time. However, Alice was confident that the gyaru thief wouldn’t turn down the commission. “Set the meeting venue at Icarus City’s Rosemary Bar and meeting time at 10:00 am the day after tomorrow.”

The Rosemary Bar was an establishment Alice had randomly come across while walking on the streets of Icarus City. She had never visited the bar, so there was no way for the gyaru thief to find out who she was by investigating this establishment.

“What about visual indicators?” Rosa asked after obediently typing in Alice’s requirements. “To prevent disclosure of identity, the client will usually set a visual indicator to identify themselves. For example, you can say that you will be wearing a specific attire or holding a Nakabia Poems. This will make it easier for the thief to identify you. You can also ask the same of the thief.”

“Have her attend the meeting wearing twintails, then,” Alice said. She already knew what the gyaru thief looked like, so visual indicators were unimportant for her. “Say that the client will also be wearing twintails.”

Lilith usually tied her hair into twintails. So, if the commission’s client were to bring up twintails, the gyaru thief would be even more prone to accept the commission. At the very least, she would definitely try to find out who was trying to investigate Lilith.

“Alright…done. The other party should reply to you by tomorrow.”

Rosa sighed in relief once she completed the form and submitted it. With this, she was finally done with Alice’s request.

However, when Rosa recalled her past encounters with Alice, her body suddenly tensed up. If she were to go by her experience of dealing with Alice, once Alice was done with her official business, next up would be…

“Mhm, mhm. Good job, Rosa.” Alice nodded in satisfaction. Then, she patted Rosa’s shoulder and continued, “Then, I’ll need you to do me a small favor next.”

…

TL Notes:

Porn is illegal in China, so it is necessary for porn sites to change their server locations every now and then.