After Darat had given me the directions I needed, I headed straight for the carpenters guild.

What business did I have there, you ask?

Well due to the recent unease caused by my matches, I elected to find a solution to bring things back to normal. So I thought up an idea wherein I would create an insurance company and fire-fighting service. I was there to find someone who could create a building wherein I could begin the operations.

I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place, since I didn’t see any obvious signs that it was a carpenters guild so I tried asking someone nearby whether this was where I was supposed to be.

I asked a nearby woman, “Am I in the carpenters guild?”

“What?” she said, with a confused expression.

In order to make sure I was understood, I simplified my question.

“Where carpenters?”

She seemed to have understood my question because she pointed to an adjacent building close to where I was standing. I thanked her and began walking in the direction of a somewhat large two-story building that had words unknown to me posted in front.

“Oh, those words must mean carpenters guild.” I thought.

As I was walking toward the structure, a question began to form in my mind.

Why didn’t she understand me the first time?

I was very sure that if I said that to Darat or Qaton, they would understand me perfectly. So I didn’t know why she would have a hard time understanding me. I pondered this mystery for a few seconds until a realization hit me like a truck.

I’ve been too used to speaking with people I already know.

Ever since I arrived from this world, I only had conversations with people that I already knew or had Qaton translate for me. This probably meant that they were used to how I spoke, and could understand me more easily. However this could not be said for other people, who would have a hard time comprehending my words due to my foreign accent.

In the future I would have to make sure that I spoke as clearly as I could, and try to speak with people other than the ones that I frequently talked with. In addition, getting rid of that cursed accent would be vitally important.

With that concern dealt with, I was finally ready to enter the carpenter’s guild.

I arrived in a room bustling with men hard at work, making all sorts of furniture, tools and various additions to a house like stairs, flooring and other fixtures. When I arrived through the front door, I felt some brief stares going in my direction.

I feared that they might have recognized me from my brief exposure during my entrance in this world. However I put that fear to rest when I realized that I was just being a bit paranoid and they probably were just taking a glance in my direction. Most of the attention that I got when I appeared in this world was due to my then strange attire but now that I wore normal clothing, the only thing that might be different would be my facial features.

Sure enough, the attention subsided as they went back to their duties. It seemed like I wasn’t special enough to cause any alarm, so I calmed down and walked towards the nearest worker that seemed free.

“Who can I talk to for business?” I said, as clearly as I could.

He replied with a patronizing smile, “Are *** **** you ***** lost?”

It was probably due to his somewhat lower class way of speaking, but he was really difficult to understand. Qaton, Darat and everyone else I met had talked one way but this man spoke in another way. Though I still could understand a bit of what he was talking about, it wasn’t exactly flattering.

My accent probably made him think I was some sort of naive adolescent who had wandered away from their foreign merchant parents based on my strange diction and looks. In fact it was probably strange that I wasn’t talked down to by the people I’ve met based on my looks, but they probably knew that I wasn’t as clueless as I seemed.

“No I am not.” I confirmed.

“Alright… well if you want to ***** with our ****** Az, he’s *** ******** *** in the corner.”

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“Thank you.” I replied.

As I walked towards the corner he described, my eyes bounced from person to person until I eventually found who he was referring to. He was a somewhat elderly man whose hair was beginning to whiten, but in stark contrast had the build of someone thirty years his junior. He gave off a rough kind of vibe not unlike Darat, but he seemed less intense in his old age.

He seemed to be having a somewhat light conversation with his fellow carpenters, for he was laughing about something when I approached him. I tried to get his attention, but he ignored me to instead continue talking with the other men. With no other choice, I got in front of him and made sure that I was heard.

“Good afternoon, Az. I have something that I need to discuss with you, privately.”

“Get lost kid, **** you see **** *** in the middle of something.” he complained.

He clearly didn’t want to be bothered, but I thought I knew something that would sway him.

I got close to his ear and whispered, “I need your help with something the Zi tasked me with.”

This confused him but he seemed otherwise dubious of my claim, so I then proceeded to privately show him the gold coins that I had in my possession to show that I was serious. His expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to a concerned look.

He told his companions that he had to take care of something, then proceeded to take me aside to a separate room where it was just us two.

I started by saying, “So, I need a certain house rebuilt. How much would it cost?” as clearly as I could.

“Where is the property that you’re talking *****?” he asked.

I was positively surprised that he began talking in a way that I could understand better, maybe he switched how he talked when he was with potential clients. Nevertheless, I was grateful for his effort.

I described the location and how it used to look, before it burned down.

“Ah, that old house. If I recall, it was the first to be burned by those foreigners ****** they went and *********** arson throughout the ***** town.”

“Yes, that's right. It was.”

“We got many requests like that after the fires,” he said, wistfully.

However in a sudden change, his expression morphed from into one of a suspicious wariness as he tried to figure out why I was unfamiliar to him.

“Where’d you even come from anyway? I haven’t seen you around town before.”

“I’m a distant relative of the previous owner, and I need to restore it so I can do something the Yad asked.”

“You don’t look like you’re from around these parts, or Spania at all.”

“I’m a very, very distant relative.” I said, evasively.

“Right... and what task did the Yad assign you?”

With no excuse coming to mind, I said “It’s a secret.”

I could tell by his wrinkled brow and narrowed eyes that he wasn't particularly thrilled by this response, but seemed to have given up on trying to get information out of me at least.

The carpenter sighed heavily, “Alright, I won’t pry.”

“So do you want it to be another residential house like before?” he asked.

“Not really, I need something a bit more… unconventional.” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I need a sort of open floor plan that can have ten people within it, with maybe a separate office for administrative tasks. In addition I’d also like somewhere where I can place miscellaneous equipment that I might need for something separate.”

I saw a shifty look in his eyes, like he was wondering whether to try to take advantage of some youth that seemed to be way in over his head.

“This is all so that I can achieve the task given to me by the Yad. So if it were to fail for one reason or another, I don’t think he would be pleased.” I said, with a fake smile.

My reminder of the Yad's involvement thankfully knocked any unproductive thoughts out of his mind and he finally began taking me seriously. After a moment of thought, he gave his estimation of what the build would cost.

“I get it, I get it. It will cost around three golds and will take four months.”

“You sure it can’t be any faster?” I asked.

“We still are busy working on the other ********* that were burned in the fire. So, we can’t put too many resources ******* your property just yet.” he admitted.

I couldn’t wait four months, by that time the townspeople would probably do something to stop my matchmaking business. So I needed to make sure that it was done as soon as possible in order to start the fire-fighter service quickly.

I placed six gold on the table instead of the three he mentioned and said, “The Yad will be pleased when I accomplish my task. When that happens, I think I’ll be mentioning how you and your guild helped.”

When I said that and showed him the extra cash I was willing to contribute, his demeanor changed and he seemed more willing to comply with my somewhat difficult demands.

“Now that I think about it, I think it can be done in maybe two months if we give it extra attention. We wouldn’t want to keep the Yad waiting after all.”

So he took out his hand and finally said, “Thank you for your business.”

I shook his hand in turn and placed the six gold coins while doing so.

After we said our goodbyes, I left to go back towards the compound. I had some residual fears that they might not commit to their agreement after all, but I trusted them to stick to their word.

The next day…

The next morning I was alerted to the fact that Shur apparently wanted to meet with me. I sat him down in the same spot and asked him for an update.

“You found someone already? That was fast.” I thought out loud.

“Well I didn’t have much going on yesterday, so I was able to concentrate solely on finding someone suitable for the business.” Shur admitted.

“Well did you?” I asked.

“I think he’ll be a perfect fit for the role.” he said, confident of his choice.

“Describe him for me, or is it a she?”

“It’s a he…. obviously, and his name is Hasbel. He’s the fifth son of the local merchant family but being the youngest of the children, he wasn’t going to inherit the family business. He’s helped me for some errands for some time now, and I thought that he would be the perfect person to manage the insurance company.”

Aside from showing the fact that he was a bit sexist, his description also made me feel like he had a personal connection to this Hasbel. Based on what I knew of Shur so far, it seemed like I could trust this man by proxy. Although Shur did have a habit for risky behavior, it didn’t seem to bite him in the ass yet.

But there was still something I needed to ask about his contact.

“Do you think he can keep a secret?”

“He’s worked with me on some of my ventures on and off for around five years now. You can trust him.”

Well I didn’t have much choice, but I took his word for Hasbel’s character… for now.

“Alright… where do I meet him?” I asked.

“Follow me.” while gesturing for me to leave with him.

I hoped that by the end of this outing, I could find someone I could trust.

However, whether that would come to pass still remained to be seen.