"Here you are, Sir. Your sum of three thousand, two hundred and fifty two Lemir has been exchanged. It would seem you were rather fortunate this morning with the rates, the total came to two thousand, seven hundred and sixty six Yan." The woman at the reception desk said warmly, different from the previous night but no less professionally attractive.

She slid an impressively sized and well crafted wooden box over the counter, and I lifted it with a hand, testing the heft. Satisfied, I opened the lid to reveal neatly stacked rows of coins, marked in sections of value and separated by the metals that denoted them. The Yinong Empire had not yet moved to paper currency, but they had at the very least begun to use cheaper metals to substitute their worth in the market.

Though pure gold would, as it was in every nation, no doubt hold the greatest weight here.

Regardless, the coins each bore a hole in the middle, and a couple dozen or so purple ribbons rested in a side compartment to loop them through in counts of what looked could comfortably fit twenty, perhaps thirty each.

"By any chance," I hummed, lifting my gaze from my immediate wealth to rest on the woman's polite visage, "is there an Atlan Bank located within this fair city?"

She straightened immediately. "Of course Sir. If you find the Southern Gate, you'll notice an Atlan Bank located near its entrance. You shan't miss it."

I stepped to the side and strung together a total of five hundred Yan in various denotations. Three hundred I tucked into an interior breast pocket, while I looped the remaining two hundred to my belt. I then snapped the lid shut, and slid the box towards the woman.

"Would you mind terribly having this sent up to my room? There's a man there who will safekeep it." I said, and she nodded primly.

"It would be my pleasure. Are there any other services you may require?" She asked. Though wholly respectful through our conversation, I had noticed a particular sparkle enter her eye and tone at my mention of the Atlan Bank. I could hardly hold blame for her, however. To hold an account with the Bank was a matter of prestige that took more than simple wealth to acquire.

I pondered for a few moments, before patting my two hundred Yan affectionately. "A gambling house. I have a fondness for losing my wealth, you see." I said wryly, and she laughed smoothly as she nodded along.

"Indeed, Sir. There are several of repute within the city, though only two that a gentleman of your standing might feel attraction for." She said, leaning over the counter. I noticed the subtle emphasis she placed on her bosom, and cleared my throat as I leaned in with her.

"The House of the Golden Hoard is known for the fairness of its dealers and the pedigree of its clientele." She whispered, looking up at me through her lashes. Then, her smile grew slightly more sly, her whisper dropping in volume an impressive amount. "However, the Crow's Cohort is known for its… discretion, in many matters."

Ah. The Crow's Cohort it would be, then.

I hooked a finger onto a ten Yan coin, and deftly freed it from its loop before sliding it to her in one smooth motion. She just as smoothly pocketed the coin, her smile never wavering as she returned to her original position behind the desk.

"If you require additional services, good sir, please feel free to ask me by name. I am Heilun." She said, the tone of ever-cordial professionality covering a deeper, more base inflection. I nodded my thanks, ensuring not so much as a twitch escaped my features.

"I shall find you if I need you, madame Heilun." I said, turning on my heel and striding away, my cane tapping on the ground beside me with my gait.

It wasn't until I found myself once more in the chill of winter air, and the comforting embrace of city bustle, that I breathed.

A mere inn receptionist, utilizing a level of subtlety and attraction I would expect from mistresses of the Court! The City of Fortune was a frightening place indeed.

Clicking my tongue and clearing my mind, I took stock of the day. It was nearing late morning, which meant only those derelict of their positions would be in attendance at the gambling houses I had inquired about. While perhaps amusing, associating with such company would not grant me the connections I wished for.

So that left me with several options to spend my time until a more appropriate hour. My attire matched the darker stately colors of the city's residents, and the fur lining my black gloves as well as my collar were quite appropriate for the climate. However, it was much trimmer, matching the Vaznir culture of accentuating their leaner, slenderer frame rather than the layered, loose fitting clothing I had observed thus far in the Empire. There was the possibility I would stand out in a fetching way, but I did require a visit to a reputable tailor. A point of conversation to introduce myself to certain notables, perhaps?

Yes, it would be so.

So no errant tailor trip quite yet.

There was always the option of visiting the local taverns and bars, but that presented the same issue as the gambling house. There was also visiting the local landmarks, but I wished to save tourism for personal leisure, if possible. So that left…

Trying local flavors?

My stomach rumbled traitorously, forgetting the breakfast it had just subsumed and the fitted vest and coat it was tucked neatly in. But the wafting scents of a late breakfast and early lunch coaxed me irresistibly.

Food it would be, then.

Now filled with new purpose, I joined the morning crowd, my cane tapping rhythmically beside me as I fell into step. While I traveled, I observed the citizens with a more studious eye than I had the night before. I now searched for details, features of what made this culture unique from my own or the dozens of others I had visited.

Physically, the average man and woman here stood taller than other countries I had visited. And, most likely due to the climate, their skin was far fairer, their hair quite lighter. Their features were strong, with larger noses and thicker brows. Males growing facial hair, full and thick, also seemed to be among the norm here. I felt my own smoothly shaven face, angled and sharp, a contrast to the almost rugged handsomeness that seemed abound in this fair city.

I passed by several street vendors, taking the time to observe each one. Red meat and hearty grain bread were common, various light sauces to wake the appetite of their observer. Vegetables were less abundant, though in fairness it was winter.

Children laughed in abundance here, ears and cheeks red from the bite of the cold as they played some sort of team game that involved hunkering a ball close to the body and running it a length down the street. That I had read about, as I recognized the shape of the ball. Kiyan Biya, a fairly violent sport, but the children must have been playing a more moderate version.

I soaked in the city, allowed it to marinate in my mind, my flesh, to the very marrow in my bones. I listened to the language, the syllables very slightly longer and the consonants harsher than my mother tongue. Myself and Obain were passing, but I would need at least another couple of months here to sound truly local.

I eventually stopped at a stall, glancing from the man who owned it to the food he offered.

"Hello there friend! What can I get for you?" He said cheerfully, wrapped in a brown fur cloak, with a three layer shirt underneath it. His skin was fair, and his features handsome. I noticed flecks of dried sauce in his beard, and was immediately at ease.

The man liked his own food, at least.

"I'm admittedly quite new here. What is this called?" I asked, pointing towards one of the items on display. It looked to be some kind of red meat, spiced and slathered in a chilled sauce, and packed neatly into a bun.

His smile widened, as he looked me up and down. "New here? Well, hopefully I have the pleasure of being your first meal of the day." He laughed, and I laughed with him, not having the heart to tell him I'd just eaten at an inn. "Hopefully you're having a good time here so far. You've got taste at the very least! That there's called Kuyak." He gave me a wink. "If I tell you, you might not want to eat it."

I waved a hand. "I have an impeccable constitution. An iron stomach, I have been told." I reassured him, but for the first time I saw his smile falter just the slightest amount, his eyes not comprehending. Ah, perhaps that wasn't said here. "My stomach is strong. I'll eat anything, as long as it carries enough flavor in it."

At that the man laughed, his smile returning in full friendly force. "Well in that case, it's minced sheep heart and tenderloin, stuffed into winter wheat bread." He said, and I nodded.

"How much?"

He clapped his hands together, the sound impressive if for the fact that he was wearing gloves. "Normally it's three Yan. But for you, friend, let's make it two and a half." He said with a wink.

I chuckled, hooking three one Yan pieces off of my belt and passing it to him. He took it and stoked the coals of his stand, warming some of the meat on a slab of iron over the fire.

"You speak very well for not being from here. Have you been studying long?" He asked, and I nodded as he took the meat off of the slab and sliced into a piece of bread.

"A year or so, but I'm still in the midst of my studies." I answered, and his thick eyebrows shot up as he wrapped the bun in paper.

"Only a year?" He questioned, passing it to me, and I took it carefully. I saw the purpose of the paper, as an abundance of sauce began to drip out of the opening in the bread. "Well that is very impressive then. What's your name, friend?"

I shifted my weight onto my cane, smelling the food while it steamed in the cold air. The spice in it stung my nostrils and wet my mouth, and I looked back at the man to see him smiling at me, a hint of pride in his expression. "Inan." I said, and he nodded.

"Inan. Inan. Well, nice to meet you Inan. I'm Yuong." He said, extending a hand, though rather than the handshake I was used to, his fist was closed save for the pointer finger and thumb. I looked at it for a few moments, before I recalled what the standard greeting here was.

I extended my own index finger, and wrapped it around his before meeting his thumb with mine.

I said my farewells as he handed me my change, small copper sticks that measured out into the smaller denotion of Kun, and strode to a step I could see where no one sat. I studied the food in my hands, before shrugging and taking a bite.

As my teeth sank into it, the herbal spice it was steeped in layered itself over my tongue, perfectly balanced by the light starch of the bread.

As I ate, I continued to observe the citizens here.

Indeed, though rustic in places and almost boorish in others, this city…

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Was happy.

People greeted each other in the street with a smile. Any accidental shoulder bumps were quickly met with slight bows of apology. The people were imposingly built, but among their own they sported naught but virtue and honesty.

It was different from what I had been taught. The Warrior-Kings that had carved and slaughtered their kingdom away from its neighbors, taking it piece by piece with steel and ice until it had grown to its imposing size. Brutal barbarians who would crush the skulls of their fellows after the slightest provocation.

However, there was one thing that caused a disconnect with what I was witnessing, to what I had learned.

Princess Rasa. Alone in the world of her carriage, looking forlornly out of her window. Princess Rasa, a flower that had been plucked away from its garden. Princess Rasa, an art piece that had been bought and paid for with the lifeblood of her country. Princess Rasa, who had seemed so…

Resigned.

I would need to conduct a more thorough investigation. Not just with the residents of the city, but the refugees as well.

I wiped away the sauce from my lips, and brushed the crumbs off of my gloves as I stood from the steps with a grunt, leaning heavily on my cane.

I was immediately assailed by vertigo, stumbling to the side as a vision flashed through my mind. The setting sun offering its last vestiges of warmth through the cracks of an alleyway. A bump to my waist. A boy looking up at me defiantly.

I shook my head as the vision subsided, using the nip of cold air being pulled into my lungs to bring myself back to the present. A few passerbys looked at me with concern, one approaching with an outstretched hand.

I waved them away with a smile and stood straighter, exhaling deeply. Fog curled into the air from my breath, fading away as I refocused on the sound of the city.

Well, it would seem my plans required adjustment. The Crow's Cohort would have to wait until later tonight.

I leisurely strode down the street, the sun beginning to dip into its arc of evening light. The sky was clear now, but I was assured by several residents that it would snow once again later tonight.

Upon my arm was a bag filled with various bobbles of intrigue. With ample time to spend, I had taken the hours to shop. My generous loop of two hundred Yan had shrunk to one hundred and fourty, but I must admit I was quite pleased with the manner they had been spent.

Additionally, it would seem that the city lived up to its name. It wasn't as though I had been purposely attempting to whittle down my available fortune, but the amount of items I had purchased and yet still had the sum I possessed spoke well of the city's economy.

I had asked several of the residents here where I might find the gambling houses suggested to me, and was now within a short walking distance from the Crow's Cohort. But first, there was a matter that required attention.

Glancing up at the sky, its hue was beginning to near the color I had seen in my vision. Whistling a slight tune, I casually glanced down one of the several side streets that branched from the city's third main thoroughfare, before altering my course to turn into one at random.

Almost immediately the noise of the city quieted, the clipping of horse hooves and the chatter of friendly conversation settling into a distant buzz as the narrowed paths seemed to swallow it.

It was like a maze, the light here far less visible and overshadowed by the buildings looming on each side. I could see a few other people walking with the same leisure I was, and they nodded to me as I passed.

After wandering aimlessly for a time, I was confronted with the realization of just how large the birth was between each thoroughfare. Condensed into the areas between them were buildings of much smaller size, homes that were tightly joined together with a pattern I couldn't comprehend quite yet.

It was almost as though there were an entirely different city secluded within these smaller areas.

"Lost, friend?" A voice called from somewhere above me, and I glanced upwards to see a larger man sitting on a small balcony, smoking a pipe. I smiled and shook my head.

"Not lost, only wandering." I called back, and he laughed heartily.

"New here then. Well, best of luck to you. Make sure you're back to your inn by nightfall, it's going to be a cold night tonight."

I continued onward, before a vague familiarity began to envelope me. I was close, now.

I adjusted the loop of coin on my belt subtly, exposing it ever so slightly and leaving it to dangle tantalizingly. I began to whistle a small tune, leaning more into my limp. But I made sure to comb the street with my gaze, looking for any hint of something more.

It came as I noticed the barest crack of a face peeking at me from around a corner, before it ducked behind it. Immediately afterwards I heard a bark, and then what sounded like claws scrabbling against the stone of the street.

A dog came barreling around the corner, paws scampering for purchase before it fully made the turn, and it zoomed towards me. Not even a moment later a young boy dressed in tattered furs rounded the same corner, slamming into the wall before righting himself and also running towards me.

"Catch that dog please!" He shouted.

I barely had a moment to think before the dog was beginning to run past me. I snatched a hand out, but the furball nimbly shied away from it and continued its mad dash down the street.

The boy ran past me as well, leaping over a set of stairs. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT MISTER, I'LL CATCH HIM! THANKS ANYWAYS!" He shouted behind him, and I watched the two figures continue on in confusion.

What was that? That did not at all match with what I had-

I felt a small bump against my side. So slight that had I not just been anticipating it, I would never have noticed.

Out of reflex my hand flashed to my side, curling around a small arm, and I wrenched it towards me. I looked down and… felt the strangest sensation of my eyes almost refusing to register what I knew was there. I could feel a person in my grip, and I could see that there was someone there, but for the life of me I could not focus on them.

Interesting. The boy was Marked.

"Let go of me!" They shouted, and finally they snapped into place. It was a young boy, no older than eight and wearing similarly tattered clothing not dissimilar to the one who had been chasing his errant dog. He had dirt smudged upon his features, and from the grease in his fairer brown hair I could infer he did not bathe regularly. The cold did favors towards his smell, as it did not rankle, but it wasn't entirely pleasant either.

He looked up at me with steely gray eyes, his jaw clenched in defiance but his brows betraying his fear.

And his surprise.

He clawed at my coat like a caught wild dog, attempting to pry himself free of my grip, and I raised his hand upwards. Clenched tight in his fist was the loop of my exposed Yan, and he winced in pain as I tightened my grip around his wrist.

"It would appear I've caught myself a thief." I mused, leaning on my cane. "So little thief boy, fancied me an easy mark did you?"

"I'm not a thief!" He snarled, gnashing his teeth at me. I raised a brow at that.

"No?" I asked, glancing pointedly at my wealth in his clutches. "Then perhaps a guard could describe to me what it was that you were doing. I believe the price for stealing anything larger than a hundred Yan is a hand, in this country.."

At this his face paled, and he went limp in my grasp.

"A hundred… hundred Yan?" He breathed. It would seem he hadn't known the sum of what he'd attempted to take from me. I took the moment of his surprise to inspect him over, and caught a glimpse of his Mark past his shirt. It was just under his clavicle, and took the form of a small mouse. The lines were blurred and somewhat indistinct, but still clear enough that I could tell immediately what it was.

I felt a small chill run through my body. The Mark of the Rogue.

Careful not to let it show on my face, I instead smiled.

"Indeed. You would have had quite the fortunate day, if I hadn't caught you." I replied, hooking my finger into my loop and taking it from his now limp grasp. "Now thief boy, I'm going to let you go. However, if you stay and answer my questions, not only shall I not report your crime, I will even reward you with twenty Yan. Is that agreeable?"

He looked at me in surprise, and then fell into silent deliberation. To entice him further, I jingled the coins in the air. Finally, he gave me a slow nod.

I released him, and he immediately retreated a couple of paces, nursing his sore wrist. I saw greed war with caution on his expression. He studied me for a measure of time, and then spoke.

"What is it that you want answers to?" He asked hesitantly.

Greed had won.

Smiling slightly, I tapped the butt of my cane on the ground. "That won't do. I am clearly a man of position and means, which begets manners. You will address me as Sir, if you wish to be paid. Am I clear?"

His brows furrowed, but he nodded.

"What do you want, sir?" He asked again, the word a curse to him with all of the diplomacy he said it with.

"Very good. Here." I tossed him a five Yan piece, and he snatched it out of the air. He quickly stowed it away in a pocket, but the fact that I would honor my deal seemed to have put him at ease.

I looked down the alley where his friend had disappeared to, before turning back to him. "That's a very neat little scheme you two have concocted. Whose idea was it?" I asked, and noted the way his chin raised ever so slightly in pride.

"Mine, sir." He said, and I chuckled. Such a strange thing to find accomplishment in, but it was very clever for his age.

"What is your name, thief boy?" I asked.

"Bulan." His answer came immediately, practiced and measured.

Hmm… he was a good liar, at least.

"Well, Bulan, your assessment of me was correct in some ways. I am new to this city, and unfamiliar with its darker facets. Are you currently employed by any unsavories?" I asked, and this time he hesitated for a few moments.

"I… sometimes do work for a man, yes." He said, and I nodded, tossing him another five Yan.

"It would seem whoever you work for has recognized your talents. Do you have any family?" I asked, and his lips pursed. But my coin had bought some honesty from him, it would seem, as he nodded.

"A younger brother." He said quietly.

"Any others?"

He shook his head slowly. Bitterly.

"Not anymore."

That was very slightly disappointing. I would have liked to have done this properly, to ask his parents where they came from. I hummed, and tossed him another coin. He no longer stashed it as quickly, and I could tell I had now sparked his curiosity. Cleverness was in his eyes as he looked at me.

"Where are you from, sir?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"Far from here. Now, two more questions and I will allow you to be on your way." I studied him, and thought back to the way my conscious had failed to perceive him at first. There was only one thing that had such supernatural capabilities. "I saw the birthmark on your chest. Has anyone else seen it?"

The Marks were rare. Few outside of the aristocratic families they came from knew of their existence, and his was quite the jealously guarded one. The fact that I had run into him could only be attributed to my own Mark pointing me in his direction. If this boy and his Mark were discovered, his family would hunt him like a dog.

I had been wondering why I would receive a vision about this boy, but it was now clear. He would be of great aid to me, if I could secure his safety.

Surprise took his features, and he stood a bit more to the side, clearly trying to hide his chest from me. "No. My… my mom told me never to show it to anyone." His eyes narrowed the slightest amount. "Why do you ask?"

I nodded, rubbing my thumb along the hilt of my cane. "Consider it personal curiosity. Now, last question. I may need the services of the man who you said employed you. Is there a way I can get into contact with him?"

He frowned heavily, but didn't seem to be too secretive of the subject. "His name is Maodon. Ask anyone in the Eastern ward about him, and they'll point you to where he works." He said, and I tossed him the remainder of the money I had promised. Bulin looked at the money for a few moments, and then at me.

"What's your name, sir?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"Inan. And it's my real one." I answered, looking at him pointedly, and he cleared his throat.

"My name's Huanen." He said, and I nodded, tapping my cane on the ground and shooing him with a hand.

"I would say well met, Huanen, but that would be a lie. Now off with you."

The boy immediately scampered away, and I let out a breath. I would need to have Obain join me when I visited this Maodon, and inform him of my intention to take this boy under my wing.

But that could wait until tomorrow. Now it was time to make friends by losing my money.

Whistling another tune, I set off to find the Crow's Cohort.