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「Here you go, Ms. Melyn. The ninth volume of "A Butler's Creed". My daughter tells me it's hands down the best of the series. Sir Hoose is on a roll with these publications.」

Back to the present, Potternuggets lent the girl a leather-bound book and smiled.

Not even a second in and she was already happily flipping through the pages. The thief girl was now a hopeless fan when it came to this series.

I signaled the merchant over and began quietly talking to him about the situation in Yarzon.

In addition to teaching me the ins and outs of business in Velatya, he also served as an informant on all matters relating to the city.

As a prominent figure, he had access to some information even Nago couldn't get.

I lowered my voice and kept an eye on Melyn. If she caught wind of our conversation, she'd undoubtedly tattle to the Ashen Thief, effectively killing my golden chance to save our district.

「Any notable movements from within the city?」

「Getting right to it eh? I like your spirit, Lorenzo!」

「Sshhh! Keep it on the down-low remember?」

「Oh... apologies. We don't talk like this often.」

He swiftly sat beside me and leaned in. Though he was just shy of his forties, his childlike dynamism had not faded.

I had revealed my stance on the Church to him about a year ago. It was a risky move but one that ultimately paid off.

He was luckily understanding to the Lakua District's blight and proposed to help out... for a cut in my salary.

A small price to pay for assistance against the enemy.

「Nago apprised me of the Church's plan to name Yarzon a holy city... Any unusual activities lately that may coincide with this..? Signs of a nefarious plan underway? Perchance the soldiers have been acting strangely?」

I continued with our surreptitious exchange.

「Hmm... none that I'm aware of... The Church has been amicable towards the merchants of Yarzon. A lot of us see their arrival as beneficial to the economy you know?」

「Crap... so no dice huh..?」

It was back to the drawing board.

If Rysef could hide information about the Church from the Lakua District, then the Church could have just as easily hidden their schemes from all of Jazga.

With no solid evidence of wrongdoing, I had no basis for my appeal.

The Hlanu and Maon District would hop aboard the bandwagon, sure, but I still needed sympathy from the Kayn and Zandra District.

Otherwise, we'd get nowhere.

Knock, knock, knock!

Potternuggets and I turned to the door. In came Nago, right on cue.

「Hey Mr. Potternuggets, sir, your daughter said—」

「Nago! Help us out! Lorenzo needs information relating to the Church!」

It was like getting shot in the final hours of hunting season.

The merchant couldn't have screamed that any louder. His voice must've reached the streets outside.

We collectively shifted our gazes to the thief girl. Had we been busted..?

Flick! Flick!

I let out the air in my lungs and sagged in my seat. Melyn was thankfully glued to her book. Sir Hoose's writing abilities had saved us.

If idiocy was a malady, then everyone in this damned city was infected.

I nearly slammed Potternuggets against the table for his lack of prudence but forbore doing so out of care for my job.

Money excused stupidity; it was a universal constant.

「Nago get your butt over here, and don't yell like Mr. Potternuggets just did.」

「H-huh... noted...」

The exhibitionist tiptoed around Melyn and joined us at the other side of the table. No matter how much time passed, he still somewhat gave the girl a wide berth.

She had truly left a bad impression on him that day two years ago.

「Mr. Potternuggets, sir... and Lorenzo. You said something about the Church?」

「Indeed Nago. My assistant is in need of some information relating to them. Heard of anything in the past few days?」

「Hmm... now that you mention it, there has been an absence of Church rumors recently...」

As Potternuggets stroked his magnificent goatee, I subconsciously followed suit. It was a behavior I'd picked up during the course of my apprenticeship.

I'm becoming more and more like this enthusiastic con artist. God help me...

「Alright Nago, what about rumors in general? What's the latest hearsay going around? Seemingly unrelated occurrences may have a link to the Church... is what I'm thinking.」

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The information broker paused at my request before stretching out his open palm.

「In that case I have what you're looking for. One gold coin please.」

「You really don't cut back on the prices... Fine. Mr. Potternuggets, could you provide the money? Just take it out of my next paycheck.」

He sighed and reached his pocket. Naturally, the successful merchant carried around a great deal of wealth—his pouch was filled to brim with gold coins.

Nago was pleased with this payment and proceeded to tell me all that he knew.

「 Three major stories are going around right now. One comes from the military, another comes from the capital, and the last story comes from the Scholar's Guild. Which one shall I start with, Lorenzo?」

We'd given up on whispering altogether. Melyn was too busy to care about our exchange.

「The story from the military... obviously. Those knights accompanying the Archbishop don't look like the local soldiery....」

「Uh... you mean the Velzyn Knights? I suppose they do classify as a military order. They serve as the Church's blade and only answer to the Archbishops and the Pope himself—you rarely see them in Jazga, let alone Yarzon. They're apparently more common in Merulea, where their headquarters are based.」

「Explains why I'm only now hearing about them. Any tales of them striking down heretics or razing the homes of non-believers?」

The information broker stared at me, slightly puzzled.

「Um not really... they're quite amicable from what I've heard. Their sole enemies are the savage beasts and monsters plaguing the main roads. The Church may be corrupt, but I doubt the seeds of evil extend to the monastic orders...」

An unforeseen answer.

Perhaps the association I made with the Templar Knights was farfetched to begin with. But, if these Velzyn guys weren't the ones responsible for defeating Lakua... who was?

「That aside, the story from the military revolves around a missing armaments shipment. Yarzon's severely underdefended, and this constitutes a major blow to their military strength. There's a narrative floating around that some Yarzonian nobles are involved, but I couldn't tell you whose hands it fell into.」

「Missing weapons eh?」

Wouldn't make much sense for the Church to steal weapons. Those Velzyn Knights outside were armed to the teeth and had a reputation for being so.

Hence, this story was definitely a dead end.

「And the capital? What's going on there?」

「An unsurprising bit of news, but King Baranth has renewed a defense pact with Merulea. Proponents of the pact believe that Merulea is a valuable ally during these trying times, while criticizers see this as a dependency on a greater power. The move has sparked the creation of several ultranationalist groups within the northeastern region. I'm even told a rebellion could take place soon...」

「Merulea? The Church is based there right?」

I felt Potternuggets' hand on my back as the suspicions filled me once more.

「Mr. Potternuggets..?」

「My protégé, I understand the harm the Church might've brought upon the slum dwellers, but I sincerely believe our alliance with Merulea isn't connected to the rise of crime here.」

「What makes you so sure..?」

As I spouted my inquiry, the merchant got up and looked out the window behind us.

His silhouette against the late morning sky upended his usually boisterous image into a somber portrait tinted a bitter gray.

「Jazga was a different place seven years ago, before the defense pact with Merulea... There was no telling when the neighboring nation of Ingvard would invade us. I even considered selling the business to afford to migrate to Beafroux, for the sake of my daughter. I was willing to throw away my pride and reputation as a Jazgan merchant to escape from this doomed nation.」

He dryly chuckled and turned to me.

His eyes were reminiscent of the Ashen Thief's. Eyes that had witnessed an age steeped in uncertainty.

The stability and peace I currently experienced were only obtained through tribulations I could only imagine.

「Then, something miraculous happened. Merulea generously offered to form a defense pact with us. Sure, perhaps they merely saw us as an additional palisade between them and the formidable state of Ingvard. But with their protection came a long-awaited period of prosperity for us Jazgans. Because of this alliance, forged in the crucible of a cold war, I confidently purchased a building here and made a name for myself. And the rest is history!」

He opened his arms as his cape dramatically rippled in the wind. Everything he did was a spectacle, and I was all for it.

After his monologue, Potternuggets sat back down beside me and cleared his throat.

「Well, that's just my two cents. Bias is simply grime that muddies the waters. You don't have to take my word for it.」

Or so he said.

But his breathtaking delivery was enough to give the lie to my suspicions. I was convinced Merulea was not a concern... at least for now.

「Then that just leaves the story from the Scholar's Guilds. Lay it on me, Nago.」

Potternuggets and I fixed our gazes on the information broker. This was my last shot in gathering incriminating evidence against the Church.

If anyone was kept abreast of the goings-on in Yarzon, it would be the underwear-flashing fool in our midst.

To Nago though, this pressure was suffocating, and he immediately gave us a disclaimer to dispel any expectations we possessed.

「This last story is significantly less interesting than the first two. The only reason I consider it a major rumor is because it's made waves in the academic community.」

「Just spill it Nago... if it's a bust, it's a bust.」

I was eager to hasten the progress of things. Melyn and I had to be out of there by eleven o'clock.

The information broker pulled up his short shorts and brought out a piece of paper. On it, was a pencil drawing of a strange flower, the likes of which I'd never seen before.

Its petals were alien and its stem was warped—otherworldly was an understatement. I didn't even register it as a plant at first.

「According to the scholar I spoke to, this is what it looks like. Imagine it a pale green color in real life. Its official name is the Jazyalis, or the "Stardust Bloom".」

「Jazyalis?」

I slid the picture over to Potternuggets. He gasped, also mesmerized by its appearance.

「It harbors a unique trait where if you break a part of it off, the entire main body points towards the severed piece. First of its kind.」

「Huh... I suppose that's mildly interesting...」

「And get this, it glows the farther away it is from the severed organ—」

「Let's not continue this subject... I'm not remotely interested in botany...」

Zero connection with the Church. I really dropped the ball in expecting pertinent answers here. It was a foregone conclusion, but even so, I was desperate.

And that desperation cost me valuable hours...

「This rumor does sound like something Seyna would dig, though.」

「That's why I told you about its mundane nature beforehand...」

「Speaking of Seyna, has the Hlanu District contacted you recently?」

「I last spoke to them long before I met you. Haven't reached out to me since.」

Trivia about the Jazyalis or whatever would certainly earn me brownie points with Seyna. But that wasn't the issue at hand.

「Well then... that's that. Thanks anyway, Nago...」

To spur all of the District Master into action, I needed something. A single tale that highlighted how allowing the Church to sully the rights to our turf would lead to ruin.

If the drug cartel had everyone on guard, then one infraction could tip the scales in my favor.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Church has been covering its tracks lately...

As the failure became apparent, a separate chill ran down my spine.

「By the way, do any of you feel a nip in the air?」

「You feel it too my protégé? I thought I was coming down with a fever...」

My Hu breathing technique was enough to pinpoint the culprit. A pair of eyes had been staring at us from a gap in the door.

More accurately, two pairs of eyes.

「CRAP! It slipped my mind! Your daughter wants to pop into the shops and needed some spending cash!」

Nago jumped from his seat upon noticing the set of bespectacled peepers glaring at us.

I wanted no part of it.

「Alright. Thanks for today you two, I'll be going now. Mel! It's almost eleven, let's wrap things up!」

「Eeeh..? It was just getting good...」

「You'll have plenty of time to finish it next time we visit. Come on.」

The thief girl put down her book and groaned as she stood up.

I bid farewell to my mentor and the flustered exhibitionist and embarked on the short trip back home with Melyn in tow.

Little did I know, I would meet them again under vastly different circumstances.

I've wasted these few precious hours with nothing to gain... Less than 24 hours remain before my persuasion scheme, and I'm still empty-handed...

I had no choice but to spend every last waking moment of today composing the perfect speech.

One that would move the hearts of these titans.

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