The mercenary guild had its own busy crowd as usual, and the quest board was surrounded by people wrapped in warm clothing. The five counters had short lines, but mercenaries refilled them every few minutes, thus, showed no sign of ending anytime soon. The faint light of the sun that managed to escape the winter clouds glistened the open windows on the left, and the table stationed beneath the sill had many untouched papers. They appeared like posters, but I wasn’t sure because the sturdy stable was a new addition after my first visit.

Garlan peeked around the room for a while until his eyes landed on Cair. She was staring at the question board, and from Garlan’s grin, I affirmed that she had been doing it for a long time now. Multiple dingy footwear dirtied my shoes, and a couple of unsheathed cutlasses and swords clicked against my bracelet as I maneuvered through the crowd instead of pushing everyone out of the way like Garlan. After a while, I walked closely behind him, and a smooth path awaited me the rest of the way.

“Yo, Cair!” he smiled at her, and I heard her grumble as she stared at the portly man.

“You again?!” she rested her palms on his waist as Garlan shook his butt to get rid of the warm-bodied close to us. “What do you need this time, Garlan?!”

“Do you want to earn some shins?” Garlan asked, almost in a whisper, but the surrounding mercenaries heard him, nonetheless. Their ears perked up, but Cair pulled both of us outside the guild almost instantly. I couldn’t help but compare her to a wolf who didn’t want her sheep stolen.

Cair led us to the alley on the right of the mercenary guild, where drunkards usually slept in a stupor. There weren’t any trashcans, but half-eaten fruits, including some peanuts, dry fruits, peaches, were scattered randomly. The rotting stench intensified as we walked deeper, and I saw a dead cat at a cul-de-sac on our right. She glanced at the carcass briefly and adjusted her baggy pants around the waist before feeling for her gipser on her girdle. She held a few shins, but my lady’s pochette held more despite being broke most of the time. Alcohol was the main reason, if you didn’t know already.

Her hands fidgeted as she glanced at the opening of the alley every other second. Her brown hair was trimmed to her scalp, ears decked with shimmering, cheap gemstones that glistened too brightly for the dark alleys.

“Speak,” she said, peeking past me to the entrance. A sigh escaped her lips when she glanced back at Garlan.

“Can we at least get out of this stink?” Garlan asked, pointing at the decomposing body of the animal. “Cat murders aren’t something I wanted to witness at the moment.”

“I’m being chased, Garlan,” she said, looking at the opposite end of the alley now, one that opened into the back entrance of the guild. “Had promised a lad to sleep with him in my drunken torpor for a night, and now that horny bastard is following me to every damn place.”

“You want me to help you?” Garlan asked as he touched the grimy building on the right. It was probably a cloth store or a restaurant, but I hadn’t been keen enough to seep the details of the capital.

“Without money?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m better off talking to a dog.”

“In exchange for helping us out,” he said, rubbing his stubble that never seemed to fade despite his incessant interest in shaving. “Are you still in touch with the troupers?”

“Touch is hardly the word you should be using,” she eyed both of us, “but I can summon them for a few shins as always.”

“Then get them to prepare a pitiful background,” Garlan said, stuffing his one hand in his pocket. “We need to earn the sympathy of a noble girl and get a few thousand shins.”

“That doesn’t work anymore, Garlan,” Cair dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. “You think the thespians don’t know how to attract the masses?”

“It will work,” Garlan said. “Even my bread lad can attest to the fact.”

Cair glanced at me with a frown while I nodded. “It will work, lady–“

“Cair,” she clicked her tongue. “I’m no aristocrat, Rudolf.”

I nodded and slipped away from Garlan as he tried wiping his hand on my tailcoat. The wall was grimy indeed, but this bastard couldn’t be helped anymore. Ciar laughed and patted my shoulder.

“Trusting Garlan is hard, but I’ll put my bet on Rudolf this time,” she slapped my back, and I stumbled to the cul-de-sac, closer to the cat.

“Ah!” she glanced at me contritely. “I probably hit you too hard. That’s another problem of getting used to this fat ass!”

“Are you in?” Garlan ignored her comment and smiled craftily.

“I’m in, but as you know–“

“I cannot pay you,” Garlan placed his grimy hand before her face. “I’m not earning money for myself this time, so you need to concede. But you can accept this quest from the board, and it might also help you raise your rank. If we do earn some profits unlawfully, then thirty goes to you, while Rudolf and I will divide the rest.”

“A quest for stealing?! Will the guild even let you do that?” She slapped Garlan’s thick hand away.

“A quest worth six thousand shins,” my bread lad said, and I had completely disappeared from their sight. I was here to clean up if they failed the mission, but they were seasoned mercenaries for a reason. So, failing was probably more challenging than succeeding for them.

You see, I hardly have any presence, and everything becomes more apparent when I am involved in conversations. That is a survival trait attributed to this commoner body, and I suppose it was useless for me since I wasn’t as weak as this original body was meant to be in this world.

“Sixty hundred shins?!” She stared at him, mouth wide open. “How many?”

“Thirty at the least,” Garlan said, scratching his bushy hair. “We are planning to hold a fair in the Academy. Without the permission of the Mage Congregation.”

“That’s crazy,” she said, but I didn’t miss the smile on her face. Sure, she was Garlan’s comrade.

“You got people in mind? I’m posting the request in both guilds. Menial labor for mercenary guilds and trading contracts for the merchants. They would jump the guns even without an official invite.”

“I have some. What if they ask you for it?” Cair stopped short of leaning against the grimy wall behind her. “Official document, I mean. As much as you’d like to dismiss the echelons of the mercenary guild, the Ulley aren’t dumb to heed to your request without a guaranteer.”

Garlan stayed silent, and his gaze searched me for answers.

“Lady Beth will handle it,” I said, noticing his apparent mistrust in the girls. “Yura is the Academ, after all.”

“That settles everything,” Garlan patted his chest. “You gather your troupers and look for a girl with violet hair close to the arena. There’s only one in the entire capital, so finding her shouldn’t be a problem. Let the troupers handle the rest. I’ve seen them with their ploys before, so they might earn more than three thousand shins from the girl. Which is just enough to handle the upfront payment of the guild. Fifty percent of the quest fee, which should amount to two thousand shins.”

“Three thousand shins, Garlan,” I sighed, and he waved his hand.

“What about the difference?” she asked, rewrapping her scarf around her neck.

“The quest acceptance fee will earn us a few hundred shins. Since we cannot exceed fifty shins, we’ll stop at forty.”

“Thirty-nine, Garlan,” I said with a smile. “Though, one shin, the difference is very stark because it plays with the minds. Like how eight shins for a loaf of bread sounds much better the ten shins.”

Garlan nodded. “That’s some good business antics, bread lad. The rest of the difference,” he cast [Splash] on his dingy palms, “can be met by collecting nine percent of the profit of the merchants. Since it’s on short notice, we cannot ask for more, and we are already stretching their limits. We have to do everything in utmost secrecy, so all the dealings will go under the tables. I got connections in both guilds, so that shouldn’t be a problem. A-rank mercenary is not for naught. So, even you shouldn’t have much trouble.”

“You want to erect a fair overnight?” Cair stared at us in bewilderment.

“We don’t have a choice,” I shrugged. “That’s why we need money-loving aides from your side. Ones who wouldn’t stab you in the back when paid enough.”

“Consider it done,” Cair grinned. “I will post the request and pay the advance payment to the guild once we get enough money. Getting thirty money grubbers is hardly an issue. You can handle the merchants.”

“Then I’ll leave the holy maiden to you,” he patted her shoulder. “And I’ll help you out with the guy after the mission. Let’s–“

“No sex,” she flatly denied him. “But I wouldn’t mind visiting your place.”

“That will lead to sex, anyway,” Garlan laughed. “Meet us at the booth at sunset. We’ll introduce you to our clients.”

“All right,” she slapped Garlan’s back and parted ways with us.

“That went smooth, Garlan,” I said, watching Ciar’s disappearing back.

“I know how to win a woman’s heart, my bread lad,” he patted my shoulder with pity. “Sadly, you won’t get to enjoy the joy of waking up beside a woman every morning.”

“I meant the mission, but sure, suit yourself,” I rolled my eyes and ambled out of the stinky alley. Garlan stayed behind and cast [Slop] over the tiles to bury the cat’s decaying carcass.

The merchant guild was just a short walk southeastward from the mercenary guild, but we had to cross a few noble residences on our way. The sturdy guards at the gates watched us vigilantly as we ambled aimlessly until we found the right street that led us to the central plaza. The commuters were scarce since the night activities had died down and the taverns had stopped selling alcohol in the early morning. The clouds of the winter had veiled the scorching ball of rock, so the mana lamps still illuminated a few dark alleys of the plaza. They didn’t help much either way because the sun was still intense, even behind the dark clouds of gossamer winter.

The merchant guild was closer to the southern gates and in the western region, in proximity to the arena, but still a few miles of walk from the huge edifice. Thankfully, the palace was located in the elevated eastern portion of the capital, so we didn’t have to face the royal guards even on our tour of the entire city. The Academy was closer to the merchant guild, but commoner residences lined the streets that spanned everywhere on the way to the Academy.

We stopped by a two-floored building that gave off more smoke through the chimney than the surrounding smaller buildings in the vicinity. Wooden support stretched the walls of the window of the upper floor, and a door on the side, instead of the front, beckoned us inside. The frontal portion had a porch extending beyond the walls, but surprisingly no ingress. There was a mana lamp glowering beside the entrance on the grey walls, but it flickered off when I entered the buildings. I didn’t steal the mana.

The inside wasn’t any different from the mercenary guild, except that there were fewer people and more empty round tables before the single reception counter that had stairs flanking both sides. No quest board was a noticeable difference, but I dismissed the thought as my eyes fell on the pamphlets on the support extending from the counter. I couldn’t see a fireplace anywhere, so I assumed the upper floor must resemble a great room, if not a guild.

Only one table was occupied by an old man who was counting his stack of money cautiously. His grey hair quite resembled my own, but the sagging cheeks and wrinkled face differed from mine by a large margin. He glanced at Garlan and clicked his tongue in aggravation, but my bread lad didn’t notice him. He was busy staring at the lady behind the reception.

“We need to look for an old man, bread lad,” he started searching the store until his gaze fell on the same man. Or the only man. “There he is. The shittiest merchant in the whole of the capital. I have sent him to prison multiple times, so expect to earn some hatred. No hard feeling, though. It was a task from the guild.”

“It seems like he holds disturbing grudges, Garlan,” I said, noticing his glare that was directed at me too. “Are you sure we are talking about the same person?”

“That man,” he blatantly pointed at the old man, “smells money better than me. For a good amount of shins, he will dance naked on the streets, let alone betray a few loyal friends. That’s what makes him ideal for the task. Nevertheless, he is the most respected merchant of the locality, and he deals with anything that fetches him money. Including trafficking.”

“Could you be any louder, Garlan?” the old man spoke up, his raspy voice attracting my bread lad’s laughter. “I am sure the Escavs would be here anytime soon.”

“Long time, Maluich!” Garlan grinned as he pulled me along to the old man. “Heard someone else put you in prison this time.”