Shrugging off his hand, I finally face him. “Why are they so convinced you stole from them?”

Charlotte answers. “That’s because we did.”

I freeze, turning to look at the retreating group. Did I just beat up the wrong set of people? Noticing my expression, Trevor reassures me. “Relax. You were right, we are not the type to steal. Normally. But a couple of months ago they stole an artifact from us and sold it. The day before yesterday, we found out that one of them bought a new artifact, so we decided to relieve him of it to make things even between us.”

I shake my head, then throw the matter out of my mind. “So why did you call me? You said there was something important?”

They begin walking and I follow them. “It’s nothing much,” Charlotte says. “We just need the deterrence Laen usually produces.”

I stop, forcing them to do likewise. “So you called all the way here, just to exploit the fact that I am Laen?”

“No,” she disagrees, “we called you here because we’re friends and we need your help.”

“So you use all your friends like this?”

“Of course,” Trevor says, “there’s nothing stronger than a friendship cemented by benefits.”

“Those are the weakest types of friendship.”

“Look,” Charlotte interrupts. “We just really need your help here. After this, we won’t disturb you for a while. It's just that, we got a job but we have reason to believe the one who hired us wants to default on our payment, and we really need the money. So, please help us. Pretty please.”

I let out a small sigh. “Fine. What do you need the money for anyway?”

“To buy some Arcane Projectors.”

That sounded like an artifact. “What’s that?”

Trevor says, “You know, it's times like this when I really grasp the difference between us and you Laen. Don’t worry about it, we’ll show it to you when we get it. Just know that it's useless to Laen so don’t get all excited.” They lead me to a mostly empty bar and begin moving toward a room at the back. Before we can enter the room, however, we are stopped by a burly-looking man.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“What are you kids looking for here?”

“We want to enter the Hido,” Charlotte answers.

The man looks a bit confused.“The what?”

Instead of replying, Charlotte raises a hand. “Bril lux.” A small glowing orb appears above her hand. The man doesn’t even bat an eye as he sees this, choosing instead to scan the bar and make sure no one else notices the magical light. After, he moves away, allowing us to enter the room.

Behind the door is what seems like an entirely new building. If not for the fact that I have seen far stranger things the sight would have surprised me. There are few people walking within the new building, and a quick scan with second sight confirms them all to be Erhaz. Most of them seem surprised to see kids here, but in the end, they choose to ignore us.

“So, the Hido, is that like you guy's version of the Metorium?” I ask.

“No,” Trevor shakes his head. “The Metorium is a Laen school, but Hidos are trading centers for everyone, but since you guys have the Metorium it’s mostly Erhaz that use them.”

I disagree with his opinion of the Metorium, it is far more than just a Laen School, still, I don’t harp on it. “So have you ever seen a Laen trade here?”

“Once,” he replies.

“Twice,” Charlotte corrects. “Don’t forget that arrogant bastard.”

“Oh yeah.”

I look around the place, “So what is traded here? Spellbooks? Or artifacts?”

Charlotte gives me a strange look. “Yes, we trade artifacts here, but spellbooks? Nope. They’re far too expensive to be sold in a place like this. You can buy sigils though.”

“Sigils?” I haven’t heard of those before.

“You know, those markings that can be used to cast spells if you charge them with Uua? Are you sure you’re Laen? You guys are supposed to be experts on things like this.”

Using my Uua, I trace a noer in the air. “Do you mean something like this?” She nods. “They’re called noers, not sigils.”

Both of them freeze as they share a look, forcing me to come to a stop. Trevor curses, a regretful expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“A few weeks ago, we wanted to trade with someone and they offered to pay with noers. We refused. How the hell could we be so stupid? We should have at least asked for what noers were first.” I watch them lament, not quite sure what to think of the sight. Thankfully, they recover quickly and keep on moving.

“Hey, can we buy a few noers from you?” Charlotte asks as a sweet smile appears on her face.

I eye her suspiciously. “I’ll think about it.”

Eventually, we get to our destination. A slightly large room containing more people than we had seen on our way here. The room is filled with tables and chairs scattered randomly about, most of them currently occupied by haggling adults. A few glance at us as we enter, but most of them ignore us. As I follow the duo, I look around the room and spot a large board in one corner with numerous small notes pinned to it. I can’t quite make out what is written on the notes, but more than a few people are gathered around it.

We stop at a table currently occupied by a man. I distrust him almost as soon as I set eyes on him. He is so thin he is nearly comparable to a broomstick, with small shifty eyes and hair slicked smoothly backward. His dressing is immaculate, which stands out in a place like this where almost everyone is dressed casually. Without saying a word to him, Trevor brings out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to him. He collects it, the rings on his fingers glinting as he does so, and unfolds it, proceeding to read what is written on it. He smiles, then turns to look back at Trevor.

“To be honest, I am a bit surprised you were able to accomplish this. You’re far more competent than some of the so-called ‘professionals’ I’ve met before and yet you are far younger than them. You undoubtedly have a bright ahead of you, however-”

“Ian!” a loud voice pierces through the hum of conversation, plunging the room into silence as almost everyone turns to look at the cause. It is Tahku.