The bar near Heavens Arena was busy, instead of a close bar Conrad arrived a bar little bit far away from the Heavens Arena, it was called Blue Bar.
Adarte and Anisa were already seated at a table close to the wall, positioned so they could see the entrance without looking obvious.
Adarte leaned back with his arms crossed, while Anisa sat forward, fingers wrapped around her glass.
Both of them noticed Conrad immediately, as he was not trying to hide.
Conrad pulled a chair and sat down without greeting.
His eyes moved briefly around the bar, then settled on Anisa.
She didn't waste time.
"The Heavens Arena management and the City Council finally sent confirmation," she said.
"Time and location. Maxwell Herivo will be present today."
Anisa continued.
"We already knew the neighborhood and the building Balza Street, Strepo Apartment but until now, we weren't sure whether Maxwell actually stayed there or just used it as a decoy."
Adarte listened quietly,
Conrad's posture didn't change, these were all general information.
"Today," Anisa added, "They're confident. They say Maxwell will be there."
Conrad finally spoke.
"Where does that information come from?" he asked.
Before even asking this question to Anisa, he already had some thoughts on this matter.
He wanted to know that if there are underhanded methods that this Maxwell is taking, it is just dumb to believe any information that one is given; it is always safer to assume that the enemy may have given them information.
Or they know that they have information and prepare accordingly.
Anisa blinked, then glanced at Adarte.
She opened her mouth for a little bit to because she did not know what to say and said the first thing that came to her mind.
"I already told you. City Council. Heavens Arena."
Conrad looked at her properly now.
He shook his head slowly.
"That's not an answer," he said.
Anisa frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Conrad leaned slightly forward.
"First of all, we already know one thing for sure: they are not capable of handling the Herivo Mafia themselves. The reasons can be different than just pure power, but we are sure that they do not prefer to do it under the name of their organization or working with the city itself."
Neither Adarte nor Anisa interrupted.
"That means they are lacking something fundamental. If they weren't, this problem wouldn't exist in the first place."
He lifted one finger.
"Money? No. The City Council has funds. The Arena prints money due to all betting and sponsor events."
A second finger.
"Military force? Also no. Armed units, private security, and mercenaries—they could mobilize them if they wanted."
A third finger.
"Manpower? Same story."
He lowered his hand.
"So if they aren't lacking funds, weapons, or people, then what exactly are they missing?"
Anisa hesitated, then answered slowly.
"Intelligence
Conrad nodded once.
"Exactly."
"If intelligence is what they lack, then why are we suddenly supposed to trust the intelligence they're giving us?"
Adarte shifted in his seat.
"They said it was reliable," Anisa replied, but her tone had lost confidence.
Conrad's voice remained even.
"Reliable according to whom?"
He pressed on.
"If this mafia group has been operating long enough to reach this size, they have connections. Possibly moles inside the City Council or Arena management."
Adarte frowned.
"You think they're compromised?"
"I think it would be naïve to assume they aren't," Conrad said.
"Especially after they started suspecting Nen users would be sent against them."
Anisa's grip on her glass tightened.
While Conrad continued.
"If Maxwell and his people believe Nen users are coming, then the smartest move for them isn't to hide."
He paused deliberately.
"It's to bait."
Adarte looked up sharply.
"You're saying this could be an ambush."
"I'm saying it would be the logical response," Conrad replied.
"In the end how hard to bribe a official of city council, a politician or a higher up in the Heavens Arena, it does not need to be too higher up of a person, just at the enough level to know what is happening."
Adarte nodded and commented.
"If someone is looking for easy money, it would be pretty easy to find such a person."
"As long as they have no moral thought on how they gather money for themselves, be it kids' or drug money, it is pretty easy, I say."
"The Herivo family does have money to bribe a person like this."
Conrad nodded. "You are right", he said to Adarte and then leaned back slightly and kept on talking.
"Think about it. If they feed false information through compromised channels time, location, they don't just defend themselves against us. They choose the battlefield."
Anisa swallowed.
"The City Council wouldn't risk "
"They don't need to," Conrad cut in.
"If we die, they lose hired Nen users. If we survive but retreat, they can still claim they 'took action.' Either way, responsibility doesn't fall on them."
Adarte exhaled slowly.
"So what do we do?"
Conrad looked at both of them in turn.
"We don't trust second-hand intelligence," he said.
"We verify it ourselves."
Anisa tilted her head.
"How?"
"Recon, of course, I will the one who will look at the headquarters of theirs and then report back it to you guys." Conrad answered.
Adarte stiffened.
"You're going alone?"
"Yes."
"That's dangerous," Anisa said immediately.
"So is walking blindly into a kill zone," Conrad replied.
"This is calculated risk. I would not risk myself for just money or a mission of some sort, you can count on that."
He continued.
"I won't engage. I won't fight. I'll read the area, just to have some idea what we could be expecting and decide on a plan."
"And if it's a trap that we can not pass through?" Adarte asked.
"Then we walk away, It would be hard chance for a family like Herivo Family have design of nen or strategic mind to create a plan that could danger three nen users that have combat capability"
Anisa stared at him for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly.
"…Alright."
Adarte nodded as well.
"Two hours."
Conrad stood.
"If I don't contact you, assume the situation has changed and leave the bar and regroup in a safe place to plan your future."
Anisa frowned.
"That's reassuring."
Conrad allowed himself a faint smile.
"It's honest."
Without another word, he turned and left the bar.