He then gave Little Ai some money (thanks again to the generous Meddy), and instructed her to sneak back to Patuo City as quickly as possible to find a secluded place to recuperate and wait for the news.
After Little Ai stated her intention to go to Forrest Tavern, the man hastily left.
"So, you've been secretly living in the city and haven't left the Forrest Tavern ever since?" Cole asked softly, "You were scared, weren't you..."
Little Ai nodded firmly, then shook her head and stammered, "Before I left there, I took some time to bury Lada, the teachings say... only with burial can the dead rest well…"
"Really?" Cole sighed, then shook his head, "Not really. Even if we did that, Lada wouldn't be at peace. I knew his bad temper too well, so we have got to…"
He cast a glance at Little Ai, who was still trembling, tilted his head to the side, and didn't continue.
"Revenge..." Little Ai interjected, staring at Cole's profile, and said in her voice hoarse from crying, "We must take revenge for them, right?"
After saying that, the girl slowly collapsed. If it wasn't for Cole's quick reflexes in catching her, she would have fallen to the floor.
"Eat something and then rest." Cole put the weakened Little Ai on the bed, brought a plate full of snacks in front of her and said softly, "We will take revenge, definitely! That gentleman... He will help us..."
"Really?" Little Ai, pale-faced, didn't look at the food on the plate. She just smiled with gratitude, "If that's true, I swear by the name of the Sacred Union, I'd be willing to pay any price to follow that man ..."
"Little Ai?!" Cole widened his eyes.
"After all, I have nothing to lose. My parents, who raised me, are both dead." Ai Vanja, who had just lost her loved ones half a year ago, picked up a snack and said softly with her gaze downcast," The life which is the only thing I have left and a few of you companions, were saved by that 'gentleman' you mentioned. If he could help us take our revenge ... "
"No need to say more. I understand now. Get some rest."
"Hmm..."
...
Meanwhile,
In Patuo City, at the 'Copper' general store
"What will you buy?" The bald dwarf who was picking his nose in front of the shelves greeted his first customer of the day with not much enthusiasm.
Motan looked around casually and replied, "A lamp."
"What kind of lamp?" The dwarf raised an eyebrow: "Wall-mounted? Portable? Or something to express love to a little girl?"
Motan shrugged at him, "The kind that can't be seen."
The dwarf got up reluctantly, walked to the counter that was about as tall as him, turned his head and asked, "Who are you?"
"Dark under the lamp." Motan smiled.
"Come in." The other party gestured, slightly moved aside.
Revealing a well-hidden passage.
Motan exaggeratedly bowed, then followed the passage leading underground. The bald dwarf shopkeeper looked left and right at the entrance, closed the door, then turned back and went underground.
This is a small outpost of the Patuo City Thieves Guild, used only by internal personnel to exchange information; the general storekeeper is the person in charge here.
At the end of the hallway is a large space, surrounded by tall wooden shelves, neatly filled with a lot of scrolls, crystal records, letters, and some iron boxes that seem highly confidential.
"What do you have? What do you want?" The dwarf arrived and directly got down to business.
"Priest Meddy from the former Sacred Union. Information on Leven," Motan also didn't waste any words, turning around and said, "By the way, he became a necromancer seven years ago."
The dwarf didn't show any unusual expression, just nodded, "I think there will indeed be some people interested in this."
If the information is true, at least some related parties of the Sacred Union or many other necromancers would be interested.
"I share your sentiment." Motan echoed, then turned serious. "I need detailed information about a man named Dave Sagel, who's in his second year at Pudding Knight Academy. I also need some basic thief gear, along with a handbook on practical shadow techniques, the kind they have at Pudding Academy. I know you have it here."
The other party immediately shook his head vigorously. "Impossible, that's too unfair. Not many people are interested in a priest who disappeared seven years ago, even if he was researching forbidden knowledge."
"Oh really?" Motan smirked: "Then there is nothing to discuss. Goodbye."
As he spoke, he made to leave.
"Wait!" As expected, the other party called him to stop after a brief silence. "You can't take the information with you, and I don't have a training handbook from Pudding Academy."
Motan sneered, "I don't need to take the information with me and the manual doesn't matter. Just write down all the skills an apprentice-level thief should know and give me a high-quality set of poison."
This was the intelligence officer of the Patuo City Thieves Guild, a high-level thief named Bào dé. Upon hearing this, he was immediately flustered. "What kind of ridiculous demand is that?"
"As far as I know, Mr. Leven has made some initial progress in his research on undead magic during these seven years." Motan replied calmly, "And he has made considerable achievements in the field of soul studies, focusing on the knowledge of resurrecting the dead."
Bào dé shivered, his eyes wide as he asked, "Did he succeed?"
"No, he failed, and he might not succeed even if he tried for another ten years." Motan chuckled maliciously, "After all, he's just a useless old man."
Bào dé was almost out of breath, gritting his teeth: "Then why are you babbling all these useless points! The information you're offering has no value!"
"Oh, how can you say that~" Motan whistled: "Do you sure you want me to add my final remark? Has the intelligence of the Thieves Guild become as simple as this....uh...I'm sorry, is it as stupid as this?"
Bào dé stopped responding. He had initially thought that this seemingly (and factually) frail young man had accidentally learned some information and wanted to sell it for a good price. But he hadn't expected this guy to have such a big appetite. After haggling a bit with him, it turned out...
...he was way more than just a lion opening its mouth wide, it's a goddamn kraken!
[Should I try to scare him?]
Just as Bào dé was thinking of this, he noticed that the young man's expression had suddenly become playful.
"Sir," Motan extended his right hand towards Bào dé, speaking softly, "We both know that as someone so 'new' here I must have asked other people for directions. There's at least one person, if not more, who knows that I am here. So there's no point in uttering those usual threats we all know are nonsense, right?"
Truly, had Bào dé been two or three decades younger, he might still have failed to deal with this kid...
So he extended his hand and shook hands with Motan reluctantly, grimacing as he said, "Deal."
He then turned and started rummaging through the shelves.
Damn it, why are these shelves so high.....
...
Two hours later
Motan sat next to a low table in the secret room of the sundries shop (a space reserved when the building was constructed). Looking at a stack of thin documents, a dark bag filled with potion bottles, and a few handwritten pages, he was very pleased.
Truthfully, if Bào dé ever had a chance to meet the vendors in the market near Motan's home, he would find that they had quite a lot in common.
For instance -
'I met a greedy man today!'
'Heh, just get used to it. There's a big spender here who often makes extravagant deals. If he takes something at cost, consider yourself blessed.'
'Cost?! Did you see the dumb fatty next door? He got tongue-tied and gave away two pounds of premium pork...'
"@#￥%*&..."
Chapter 23: The End