The cafe serves a pleura of beverages. The place has been open for quite some time, frequently visited by both locals and tourists. The atmosphere is rather homely for a middle-class cafe located in the inner walls of Lmemore.
There a man sits in silence, sipping his tea with his eyes closed. From the outside, he looks like a regular customer but if you look closely his hand is shaking. Bags under his eyes confirm that he wasn't able to get a lot of sleep.
Oslan has been up all night thinking about how he could pay his rent. He is a teacher at Royal Academy, teaching math in class. However, if they knew what he was doing with his money, all his students would lose faith in his calculation.
He has been going around different gambling dens and losing money. First, it wasn't much, it was just his curiosity. He plays for fun and loses a bit of money. But after some time, he won big and he started to get excited about winning.
Teaching at the academy nets him 15 Stac per month. Well over an average earning of normal people. But the gambling den could double his money in a matter of seconds, so he kept at it.
Without himself realizing he' already ran out of his own money trying to win his money back. His spending spiraled out of control and he couldn't even pay rent for this month. He would have to sleep in a cheap hotel. However, he couldn't bear it. After living like an upper-middle class for some time he couldn't go back to the dust creaking room.
As he taps his feat thinking about his money a figure approaches him. Oslan wasn't sure at first but they were clearly looking in his direction. Two youngsters with blonde hair and a maid with brown hair. There were dresses like any low noble would dress, a cheap suit dress that wasn't made from the finest fiber but it's passable.
They look around and invite themself to the other side of the table. One was a guy with blonde hair while the other was a girl with the same hair color. Oslan had seen this type of person before, a minor noble who hoped to make it big in the capital.
Most of them fail miserably.
"What do you want?"
Osland didn't waste any time.
"Wait, let me guess," Osland said "You want to bribe me right? If that's your goal then get lost."
It is public knowledge that he is a Royal Academy teacher. With a little digging and some connections, one could find his location fairly easily given his habit of visiting this cafe on Thursdays.
"Close, but not quite" The guy speaks up "We are here for information."
"Oh?"
One of his brows perk up in surprise. Oslan adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.
"What kind of information do you want from me?"
"There's a student named Klad that I'm interested him."
"Are you here to scout him?"
Noble houses often hire commoner who graduates from the royal academy into their rank. From what Oslan could tell, the guy likely needed someone capable at a cheap price and there's happened to be a commoner that fit that description.
"Something like that"
"I'm sorry, but Klad has been admitted by royal funds; you'll have to pay a large fee upfront to even have a chance of hiring him. Even then, he may reject you. He is from a special class, after all."
"Special class?" The guy looks intrigued
"Yeah, a class of people hand-selected by the church I don't know the criteria but people that graduate from there all have high positions."
"Um...I need to look more into that" The guy said with an ad smile "But my offer still stands I need information about Klad, like his academic skills or his activity."
"I'm not your...."
"10 Stac a month," The guy said with confidence "I could give you 10 stac a month if you hand me the information about Klad"
"I...I have honor you know?"
Olsen said with a shaky voice.
"How about 12 per month?" The guy said with a smile "You don't have to do anything much, just collect the record of the guy and what he does."
Olen audibly gulped at the money. With this kind of wealth, he could go for another round of gambling. And triple his money back from those gambling dens. Oslan subconsciously changes the way he looks at these minor nobles. It seems like they had some wealth to spare.
"I...." However, he still has pride left, doing this is like betraying his student. His training in the royal castle hasn't gone to waste... However, as he's about the decline the offer the noble spoke up.
"Oslan, I will only give you this deal here," The guy said "You're not unique in your circumstance. I could go to anybody and you wouldn't get a dime."
Oslan looks at the guy and thinks about his statement. He is inclined to believe it since he has witnessed many teachers take bribes. With a little bit of thinking he arrive at a conclusion.
The guy gonna get the information either way might as well earn myself some money
"How do you want the information?"
"At the end of the month come to this cafe with the info and I'll give you 12" The guy's smile widened he then held his hand upward and the maid behind him presented 12 gold coins with the Emperor of Eyre on them.
"To celebrate our partnership, This is this mouth payment," The guy said " Also when I send someone to come and receive the information, if they don't have the keyword Kladdy. Don't give them the info"
"...."
Oslan is dumbfounded by that keyword and also mesmerized by the gold coin on the table.
"Let's go"
The guy pushes himself up followed by the girl next to him. Leaving Oslan sitting alone.
"Wait!" Oslan shouts drawing the attention in the cafe. "Can I know your name?"
"I'm Penu Koshav"