The following day, after Ember finished her training session, she headed to the guardhouse. As soon as she entered, she was faced by the two guards she had met during her first visit. Unlike before, she was greeted with professionalism and asked to wait there while they informed the lieutenant of her arrival. It didn't take long and she was soon escorted to his office.

Inside were two guards, one was a female with light brown skin with her hair tightly wrapped in a bun. She was muscular and only a little taller than Ember. Next to her was a taller man with pale golden skin and black hair and eyes. He had a relaxed air about him and his gaze shone with humor.

"Maiden Ember, these are guards, Haley and Ian. You'll be assigned to work with them for the day. I hope a longer shift will be acceptable today."

"Yes, sir," Ember said.

"Good. Make sure to follow their orders." The lieutenant turned to the two guards. "And I expect you both to take good care of Maiden Ember. I don't want Knight Vantosia to regret allowing her to work with us."

"Yes, sir," the guards said in unison.

"Dismissed."

The three of them exited the office and as soon as they were in the hall, the two guards turned to her with excitement on their faces.

"Is it true you can find anything with your map?"

"Not exactly," Ember said, taken a bit off-guard by their enthusiasm. "There are limitations. In order to find people, I have to have their names, no nicknames, and the more exact the better. I can't find people just by how they look."

"Hmm," said Ian. "That's still useful. Does that mean you can't find places just by their description?"

"Correct," Ember said. "I have to already have visited the place for it to appear on my map. It'll be better if I show you." She called up Finder and the floating map unfurled in front of them. "See, this only shows a map of where I've been so far in Hekral." She then pushed the map further out so it showed a larger portion of the area. "I can focus it closer or further away so we can see a wider view or concentrate on the inside."

"That's really useful," Ian said, rubbing his chin. "What about items?"

"I can find them but I have to be very specific." She paused and then decided to demonstrate. "Finder, find copper flats."

The map lit up with hundreds upon hundreds of red dots all over the map. "Now I can put limitations on it to help narrow it down. Finder, find copper flats within a foot of me."

Most of the red dots disappeared. Haley whistled while Ian nodded.

"That definitely will be useful. Can you do that with any item, even magical ones?"

Ember hesitated but nodded. There wasn't any point in hiding it, she just hoped having Knight Vantosia, as her sponsor, would be enough to protect her if people got greedy.

Ian and Haley shared a look. "One second," Ian said before knocking on the lieutenant's door and disappearing inside.

A few minutes later, Ian returned. "Lieutenant wants us to talk with Esmera."

"Figured as much," Haley said.

"What's wrong?" Ember asked, looking between the two.

"What's wrong is you're useful, very useful and we need to make sure that the wrong people don't find that out. Come on."

The guards led Ember outside and soon she was making her way down the streets of Hekral. They moved to the central market where the guards brought her to a small shop. Stepping inside, there was a counter and several chairs but no products. Ember couldn't help wondering what kind of shop they were at.

Haley went to the front counter and rang the bell. A moment later, an elderly woman came out and Ember recognized her right away. It was Matron Cavel who had done the oath between her and Knight Vantosia. Now it made sense why there were no products anywhere. It was here people came to hire Oathkeepers.

"Is Esmera available?" Haley asked.

Matron Cavel looked them over. When her gaze landed on Ember there was no sign of recognition. "She's at the merchant hall but she won't be long."

Haley nodded. "Can you send her to see Lieutenant Jasper? The sooner she can get there, the better."

Matron Cavel nodded. "I'll have her go see him as soon as she returns."

"Thank you, Matron Cavel."

They filed out of the shop. "Now I think it's time we go sightseeing," Ian said. "We'll want to get that map of yours filled out."

"Is there any way to make it less flashy?" Haley asked.

"Not that I know of," Ember said. Now that she thought about it, while she had tried to make Finder invisible, she hadn't tried to change its shape. "But I can give it a try."

"Let's do that, but not out here."

Ian led them back into the shop and they requested a private room. The guard handed a few coins to Matron Cavel and she led them down a hall with several locked doors. At two of the doors, an attendant was waiting outside. Matron Cavel escorted them into the room.

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"Do you need an attendant?"

Ian shook his head. "That's not necessary."

Matron Cavel nodded and left them.

"Is the attendant to serving food and drinks?" Ember asked, curiously.

"They can," Ian said. "But more importantly they are an extra protection to preserve privacy. While the room keeps whatever happens inside private, the attendant makes sure no one runs into each other so that no one even knows a meeting took place here."

"Oh! I see," Ember said. She had to admit she found the whole place interesting. She had used Oathkeepers in the past but she usually had them come to her. She had never been in one of their shops.

"Why don't you go ahead and try to change that map of yours."

Ember nodded and called up Finder. She paused as she looked at it. What would make it less flashy? Well, if it wasn't glowing, and maybe if it was smaller. As she thought about it, the map began to change. The glow vanished and the map grew smaller. Ember found herself surprised and slowly cursed herself for not figuring this out sooner. She wondered if she could push it further. Could she make it look more natural, so it wouldn't be floating? Ember reached out and plucked the map out of the air and had it roll itself into a scroll. She grinned. Now it wouldn't look magical. Instead, it was just a normal scroll.

"Well, that was quick," Haley said. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"I haven't, though I should've done it sooner."

"Now, that's resolved, it's time for the tour!" Ian said with a clap of his hands.

Ian went to the door and knocked and a moment later the door was opened and they were guided out. After that, Ember found herself rushing over Hekral as the guards tried to help her fill her map. They didn't stop for long at any place, trying to cover as much ground as possible but as they moved Ian and Haley would fill her in with tidbits about the locations and the people that lived in them.

"The area we're in right now is the Mercantile District. It houses all the shops as well as the merchant guild. It's also where most of the gentry live," Ian explained. "Hekral is made up of four districts - the Temple District, the Noble District, the Mercantile District, and the Commoner District."

"Also known as the slums," Haley said.

Ian winced but nodded in agreement. "Yes, if you hear people talking about the slums, they're usually referring to the Commoner District."

"Does that mean commoners can only live in the slums?" Ember asked.

"No," Ian said. "They can live in all the districts besides the Noble District since you have to be a noble to live there."

"Though most people who can afford to live outside the Commoner District go and register as gentry," Haley explained. "There's a lot of places around here that won't sell or rent a house to you if you're not a gentry. The temple district is better about it but it still happens there in the more ritzy places."

"Oh," Ember said. She hadn't realized that. It was something she would have to notify her mother about. It would be better for them to stick to renting in the temple district until they left for the capital.

"I think a break is in order and I have just the place in mind," Ian said and began leading them away from the central market and closer to the outskirts of the Mercantile District.

Ember noticed a decrease in the quality of the buildings. Eventually, they stopped at a rowdy pub and Ember couldn't help thinking it was a strange place for them to stop for their break. This was confirmed when she noticed several people giving them strange looks and even avoiding them though no one said anything to them.

The trio sat down and Ian ordered food and an ale while Haley ordered just food for her and Ember. Ember was a little surprised to see Ian drinking on the job but she didn't want to say anything. For all she knew that was how things worked in these parts.

"So how do you like Hekral so far?" Ian asked as he chugged down half of his drink as soon as the waiter set it down in front of him.

Ember looked at the mug before looking back at Ian. "It's been interesting, to say the least."

"I bet since you were involved in the kidnapping," Ian said, his voice growing a bit loud as he finished off his ale and signaled for another.

Ember noticed that some of the people at the table next to them leaned in closer. Ember wasn't sure what was going on and Ian's sudden carelessness. She looked at Haley but she didn't seem bothered and instead focused on her food.

"Yeah, getting involved in that was a bit unexpected," Ember said. "I was actually wondering if there had been any news about the kidnapping."

"None at all," Ian said. "But we have you now, so I think that'll change." Ian abruptly slapped his hand on the table. "I think luck is smiling down on us. Look at this."

Ian fished a copper bril from his pocket. He held it out showing that the words luck had been carved on one side of it. "I found this the same day the kidnapped girl was rescued and since then luck has been raining down on me. I'm not a superstitious man but I'm starting to think it was no coincidence."

From there Ian began to loudly talk about all the luck he had from finding a silver coin to kissing the woman he had a crush on. More and more people gathered closer and soon a crowd had gathered around them. Then Ian cheerfully ordered a round of drinks for his listeners. He was in the midst of a tale when Haley stood up.

"Enough of that. We should head back. We kept the new recruit out long enough."

"But I'm in the middle of my story. It's rude to leave now," Ian whined.

Haley rolled her eyes. "You can come with or you can explain to the captain why you ran off during your shift."

"Fine, fine." Ian climbed to his feet, wobbling as he did. He started to walk away and then stopped. "Wait!" He then looked at the crowd, pointing his finger over it until it stopped at a thin man with a bald head and cold eyes. "You. I think you could use a bit of luck."

Ian climbed through the crowd until he reached the man and held out the copper bril with luck carved into it. "Here. Wait! You have to promise to take care of it." Ian said, face flush with drink. "I can't just give this to anyone."

The man chuckled and held out his hand. "Promise."

Ian slapped the bril into his hand. "You heard him everyone. He promised."

This caused a round of laughter before Haley grabbed Ian's arm and began dragging him out of the pub. Ember looked back at the bald man to see him examine the coin before shoving it into his pocket.

Then they were outside the pub and making their way back to the guardhouse. Ember followed behind with a frown on her face. The whole thing had felt off. They went from showing her around town to fill up her map to getting drunk in a pub.

Haley guided them inside the guardhouse and to a private room in the back. As soon as they stepped into the room, Ian straightened up and strode to the table that sat in the center of the room. His drunken stride was gone and he had a smirk on his lips.

Haley shook her head. "Don't you think you overdid it?"

"They bought it, didn't they?"

Ember looked between the two and everything came together. "It was an act?"

Ian grinned. "We've been trying to hunt down the base for a human trafficking ring. The man I gave the coin to is someone we suspect to be involved. Do you think that coin is specific enough?"

Ember called up her map. "Finder, find a copper bril with the word luck carved on it within Hekral."

A single dot appeared on her map.

Haley threw her fist up in excitement. "Time for a raid!"