In a cozy room with sprawling windows shrouded by velvet green curtains, aged, wooden cupboards housing ornate plates and collectibles, lining the side walls, and an extensive bookcase stacked with books on the back wall, Suran sat tensed upon a satin sheen gold bergère with Natalya slumped in an adjacent chair, his newest acquaintance, Baron Henry Reginald, fidgeted on a matching camel back sofa, and standing to his right, in a black and white maid outfit, was a youthful, black-haired lady adorned with black cat ears.

“Keira, could you please brew us some tea?” Baron Reginald asked, squirming in his chair.

“Yes, Master,” she turned and strode out of the room, her black tail swaying back and forth.

Breaking a nervous smile, the Baron attempted to ease the mood, “Is this your first time seeing a Felidae?”

“…Yes,” Suran assumed he was referring to the cat girl. It was his first time seeing anything like it, and he was quiet enthralled by the twitching of her ears and the swaying of her tail; he had always been a cat person.

“I see. I purchased her a long time ago when our finances were in… better shape." Clearing his throat, Reginald changed subjects, “Anyways, as you can see, that is where I currently stand. Will you help?”

Suran leaned back in his chair, locking his hands together and going into deep thought. Currently, the Baron was undergoing severe financial hardship due to the turmoil in the grain market which constitute most of his income. Without any relief in sight, he had to borrow large sums of money to maintain his estate. Normally he would borrow from a financial institution like a bank, but due to the volatility in the grain market, the demand for investment and loans increased significantly, causing the banks to restrict the number of loans they hand out. As a result, nobles and business that had large amounts of wealth and long-term profitability were favored over low ranking nobles and business that had smaller profit margins. Baron Reginald fell in the latter category, leaving him out of luck in obtaining loans and funding to upkeep his estate.

Without the income to support his estate, Reginald faced financial ruin. Until a company named Namnoc approached him. They offered to loan him the money he needed on the condition that he offer up various parts of his estate as collateral and by accepting an unusually high interest rate. Without any other options, he accepted the deal with the belief that the grain market would rebound.

It did not.

The Baron continued to borrow money, digging himself deeper into debt, struggling to maintain his upkeep. He insisted that he tried to maintain good relations with his lender, Namnoc, but, in the recent weeks, they had been aggressively hounding him to begin paying back the money he owed. Without the funds, the Baron tried his best to appease them by tearing up parts of his holdings, but their demands did not abate.

It was today that things spiraled out of control. The Baron’s daughter, Annabelle, was kidnapped at high noon while transferring carriages on her way to a party. While the Baron had no conclusive evidence, he insisted that Namnoc was behind the kidnappings, potentially seeking to sell off his daughter to recoup some of their funds.

“Would it not be better to get the authorities involved in this?” Suran proposed, leaning forward.

“B-believe me! I Tried!” The Baron exclaimed, “They would not listen to a word I said. It worries me that there is a possibility that Namnoc, or some other party, has the officials under their thumb.”

“Then what about the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Requests made are easy to search. Meaning that if I went there for help, whoever took my poor daughter would know, and I shudder to think at what they might do than.” The Baron took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Keira returned with a white and gold tray with three cups and a coffee pot. She settled it down on the coffee table and poured out the cups for the three gathered.

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“Thank you, Keira,” The Baron remarked, picking up a cup and sipping on it. His hands were visibly shaking as he clasped onto the cup.

Natalya, looking extremely bored, began gulping down the tea while Suran took measured sips.

Suran straightened out, in full negotiation mode, “Let’s say I do accept, what would you be willing to offer.

Hastily, Reginald put down his cup and clasped his hands, “I am willing to offer anything: money, land, supplies, equipment.”

Suran pondered his options. He had no use for payment that he could not use, such as the land and supplies. What he wanted most was a reward that could prove its worth over a long period of time.

“Baron Reginald – “

“ – Please, call me Henry.”

“Then, Henry, I accept on two conditions.”

Henry tensed in his chair, listening intently.

“First, give me a recommendation to the Adventure’s Guild so that I may enter it without any fees or at least a discount.”

“Consider it done.”

“Second, I seek… information.”

“What sort of information?” Henry asked, scrunching up his face. “I have plenty of books and connections that could yield what you want.”

“It is not the type of information that could simply be found in any book; I desire vast amounts of knowledge and wisdom to answer unanswerable questions and aid in my search for that which I seek.” Suran had no direction, no solid aim or goal. He was lost in this world, and what he needed most was direction. Aimlessly wandering and searching may get him nowhere, but with knowledge, he could begin to set parameters, to add focus to his haphazard journey; he could not desire that which he was ignorant of.

“Ahh… the pursuit of wisdom. I’m afraid I don’t have the ability to give you that sort of information, but I could refer you to individuals who might have a better idea then I do, or notify you of places or leads of interest.”

“That would do.”

“Excellent!” Henry gave a sigh of relief, color slightly returning to his pale, anxiety stricken face. “Then, I presume, you will be starting now?”

“Of course,” Suran remarked, rising from his chair. Natalya too left her chair, stretching out all the kinks in her body.

“Please, do not hesitate to tell me if you need anything.”

“What I want to know is, are you sure it was the Namnoc company behind this?”

“It is the only lead I’m afraid. I have no earthly idea who would want to kidnap my sweet Annabelle.”

“I understand. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Again, I can not express my gratitude enough for this,” the Baron took a slight bow towards Suran.

“If I need anything, I will let you know,” Suran said as Keira led him and Natalya out of the room towards the entrance of the house.

Outside on the gated lawn of the Reginald estate near the heart of the city, Suran decided on the best course of action.

“So, Suran,” Natalya broke his train of thought, “What type of reward was that?”

“What do you mean?”

“You asked for practically nothing.”

“That’s not true,” Suran replied with a frown. “It may not have tangible value, but they have intangible value that could far exceed anything he could have given us. I’m sure you saw, he had nothing in his house.” Save for the one room where they were seated in, many of the rooms and corridors of the home were bare of any furnishing; almost everything was cleaned out. “I doubt he had anything of value he could have given us.”

“I guess you’re right,” She shrugged. “Anyways, you got any idea on how to figure this out?”

Suran stroked his chin, “I’m no sleuth, but I’d say I got a hunch.” He began walking off towards the iron gate of the compound.

“Where we going?” Natalya shouted, catching up to him.

Suran cracked a small smile, “Where all great adventures go; the bar.”