Rob rubbed his chin in thought, “Before I answer that, I'd like to know what you're doing in this city. Gnomes have a certain reputation about them, you know...”
“Ah, that. I can assure you, I'm not one of the exiles. I may not be particularly well-liked back home, but I still have ties to gnome society. I'm... an emissary of sorts” Ernie explained.
Rob leaned forward greedily “Does that mean you have access to gnomic goods at large?”
“No, of course not. Do you think we would allow a bunch of barbarians access to our best goods?... No offense, of course. I only have available to what I make myself. I'm merely capable of getting in touch with my fellow gnomes should something important come up. I was sent to this city when we invited a particularly talented individual back to our world, and now I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future.”
Clarity began to tune them out as they began discussing the finer details of their deal. Instead, she began to observing the tables around her, some with obviously rich, mercantile individuals seated around them, others with shady, hunched figures one would associate with the underworld, and a few tables with a mix of both.
She was intrigued to discover that her mana perception slipped right through the mana barriers set up between the tables, allowing her to look in on the other discussions going on around her. Unfortunately, she didn't know lip-reading, and the translation earring she was currently wearing apparently had no effect on sounds that didn't reach the device itself, as she had no clue what any of them were saying.
A sudden shouting match from her side distracted her from trying to eavesdrop on the other tables.
“That's absurd! I may not know much about business, but Bert only took 10% of the profits!”
“10%? Hah! I guarantee you that if that slimeball was only taking 10%, he was scamming you somewhere else!” Rob slammed the table with his palms. “Uhh... no offense” he looked sheepishly at his slime guard, before diving back into his argument with the gnome.
Several hours of shouting, signing of various papers, and a handshake later, Rob and Ernie were apparently new best friends. Or, at least, proper business partners.
With the deal complete, the gnome picked up his share of the papers and left. Darkness had already fallen over the city, so Clarity escorted Rob back to his motel.
“Looks like we have a change of plans. Originally I was going to have you escort me back to Springtown, but now I need to stay here and go through Ernie's stock, try to incorporate Bert's old businesses into my own, and procure some more materials that Ernie is running low on. Here” Rob pulled out a gold coin from his pocket and passed it to Clarity “this is for a job well down. You've earned it, truly, thank you for pulling my ass out of the fire back there, and for helping with my sales.”
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“Of course. Are you sure you don't need a guard anymore? This city doesn't seem very safe” Clarity wondered.
“Don't worry, Eden City isn't so bad as long as you know where not to go. Bert's locked up, and Ernie is on my side now. Plus, I can't exactly afford to pay for a guard indefinitely while I'm here. Although... if you're interested doubling as a mascot, I could afford it” he winked.
Clarity grimaced “Eh... I'll pass” 'Three days of performing magical party tricks was enough for me.'
Rob nodded knowingly “Yeah, I figured as much. Most adventurers get bored with the mundanity of city life. Oh, and if you're heading back to Springtown, could you let the guild know the contract is complete?”
“Sure” Clarity agreed, pulling the small marble, that Rob had given her to act as a barrier pass before they entered, out of her arm to return it.
“Oh, I can get more of those easily enough” Rob refused “You'll need that one to hand over to the guards when you leave. Otherwise they'll try to make a fuss about unlawful entry and try to get you to pay an extra fee.”
Clarity raised an eyebrow “What's stopping me from avoiding the guards and keeping the stone, then?”
“Well... not much” Rob shrugged “but they do keep track of who enters and exits, even if they seem disorganized from the outside. So if you enter again later, and they have no record of you ever leaving, they'll charge you extra to 'fix' the issue.”
After a bit of contemplation, Clarity asked “Will the guards let me pass at this time of night?” 'I'll have to get into the center of Eden if I want to have a chance of finding out what happened to me and the rest of my group, but for that I'll either need to break in or get invited somehow. I wouldn't even know where to start looking if I broke in, so for now I'll focus on becoming stronger and possibly gain a bit of fame to score an invite.'
“Sure they will. If you were trying to come inside they'd charge you extra for the hassle, but since you're leaving they aren't going to give you much trouble” he chuckled.
With that settled, Clarity decided to set out right away and bid goodbye to Rob. He promised to seek her out if any exciting job offers came up, before retiring to his room.
On her way out of the gate, the guards lazily accepted her city pass marble and waved her out of the gate after marking her name down in a small booklet. One guard kindly called out to her as she left “Be careful out there, monsters like to hunt during the night!” only to follow it up a few beats later with “for you, we'll only charge three bronze to get back in!” to the amusement of his fellow guards.
Clarity welcomed the thought of free mana, as any creature foolish enough to attack her during the night would be unlikely to escape her wide field of mana perception. Sadly, nothing interrupted her trip back to the forest. Instead she settled with absorbing what small amounts of mana she could get in her surroundings. 'It's practically a desert of mana out here.'
The few other travelers she passed on her way back towards the forest avoided her like the plague, scurrying off the road and hiding behind abandoned cars or buildings to try and evade her sight. She could only sigh helplessly as they huddled away in fear from her gaze, whispering prayers and pleading forgiveness for their sins.
Unbeknownst to her, rumors soon began to swirl within Eden City of a mysterious ghost with glowing blue eyes and a ragged cape who haunted the roads leading to the city. Most laughed the rumors off as nonsense, though a few individuals who had interacted with Clarity before realized who they were talking about and were quick to change the subject whenever “The Ghost of Eden City” came up. The guards, for their part, gleefully encouraged the rumors, raising their nightly entrance “tax” in proportion to the fear it caused.