'How did you know that he was a fake?' Nero asked, still trying to grasp what had just happened.
'After our meeting, the governor would have dealt with the bandits first, and, finding them to be not involved, he would have then dealt with the person responsible for the entire operation.'
'That person was clearly on very good terms with him because he did give him the command of the entire operation and expected his share to be delivered in all honesty.'
'So, after dealing with him and finding nothing, he would have hidden someplace secure, hoping that giving the asked bribe would be enough to save his life or at least give him an easy death,' Draven answered, as he navigated his way to the outer area of the city.
'But what gave it away was how he carried himself, and I knew just from his walk that he was an impersonator,' Draven added, making Nero think back to see if he noticed anything different.
'A million gold coins, these nobles sure are rich, as that much money could feed a village of a hundred for decades,' Nero said, feeling giddy inside at the wealth they had scored.
'Don't get attached to money, it is just a means to an end,' Draven said, knowing that with his future plan, money was going to come and go, and he couldn't have Nero affected by it.
Nero shrugged his shoulders, being on the same page as Draven on the subject of money, because he also believed that it was better to spend money to enjoy the comfort of life rather than hoarding it more than was needed for the future.
Draven, happy with the money he got, made his way to the outer area of the city, navigating through the narrow alleys to the slum area where the poorest of citizens lived, and barely anyone by choice wished to enter this place.
The streets were merely uneven mud roads, houses were small makeshift huts of wood and mud, and many could be seen sleeping on the roadsides, showing the cruel reality of what happened to those who failed to make a proper living in the city.
Nero silently wondered what they were doing in the slums, as Draven looked around, slowly moving from one area to another, finally stopping before a house that had a decayed wooden board hanging at the entrance.
"Housemaids for Hire."
Draven knocked on the door twice before entering the house, scanning the floor before walking to the end of the small room.
He lowered to one knee before removing a piece of the floor wood, revealing nothing but the solid ground beneath, but, undeterred, he removed three more boards, leaving a two-by-two-foot patch of bare earth exposed.
He took out his rune pen and began to write, and seeing it, Nero could not help but become eager as everything screamed that they were at some special hidden place.
'Old, Rab—... Old Rabbit,' Nero murmured as he pieced together the words written on the floor inside a single circle.
He watched as the inscription flared to life before quickly fading away. A split second later, the ground began to twist and shift, softening like a pool of sand, until it gave way to reveal a staircase of solid steps leading down into the depths.
Draven stepped forward and began to descend the stairs, reaching an iron gate blocking his path after ten steps, tapping on it with a closed fist, not bothering to check if the door was unlocked.
"BANG." "BANG." "BANG."
The hard metal rang out loud, and for the next few seconds, there was no response before finally, with a slow, deliberate creak, the door began to open. Draven stepped back, his hand on the handle as he pushed it fully, revealing the room beyond.
What greeted him was a sight that defied all sense of logic, as the chamber was impossibly vast, seemingly breaking the concept of space itself, stretching in all directions for hundreds of meters, which should not be possible as the chamber was located mere meters beneath the ground.
Nero felt bewildered as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He even considered the chamber to be a work of illusion since he was not familiar with the work of space expansion or pocket spaces.
The chamber was well-illuminated with soft light. Walls were lined with wooden shelves that reached to the ceiling, neatly stacked with thousands of books.
There were multiple tables, each one nearly ten meters in length, placed on both sides, some filled with glass equipment ranging from small vials to large tubes and cylinders filled with colorful liquids, to others having crystals, books, and one of them even having a giant wolf-like creature lying on it.
The thing that freaked out Nero the most was how something was happening on each table; vials were mixing fluids, crystals were spinning mid-air, and the spookiest was the shining white blades moving on their own to slice the creature open.
'What is this place?' Nero said, shaken by what he saw, but before he could receive a response, a calm and soothing voice sounded in his mind, cutting through his chain of thoughts.
"Who sent you to my humble abode, little one?" A voice, as calm as it was serene, sounded in his mind, making Nero want to see who was behind that lovely voice.
Draven turned his head toward the source, staring at the female that stood two hands taller than him, dead in her deep violet eyes.
The voice felt melodious to his ears as it washed over his mind, like a soothing lullaby woven with the intent to unravel his thoughts. The subtle pull on his consciousness was both inviting and invasive like a warm hand gently tugging him into compliance.
It tried to make his mind drift into an unfocused state and answer the asked question unconsciously, but Draven resisted, brute forcing his way through the mental illusion.
"Interesting, very interesting," She said, a hint of surprise in her eyes before a small smile stretched across her beautiful face.
Nero felt his non-existent heart skip a beat, seeing her beauty, a female unlike any he had seen in his life. She stood a bit over two meters tall, her beauty hard to put into words, as her skin was smooth and radiant, her features flawless, with high cheekbones, a thin nose, and full, perfectly shaped lips.
She had eyes that shifted between shades of deep violet, which held an uncanny allure and wisdom, her face framed by her slightly curly hair that matched the color of her eyes.
She wore a loose-fitted violet gown that ended just near her ankles, doing well to hide her body, but it did nothing to stop Nero from running his imagination wild.
"I guess you are not going to tell me who told you how to enter this place," she said, her tone light and friendly as she added, "but then again, it does not matter because since you can resist my words, you have earned the right to be here."
"My name is Elincia Glynsatra, and I am a humble researcher in the field of cure and diseases," Lady Elincia said, her tone staying the same, but the invisible presence was gone.
'She is an elf. A real elf. No wonder she is so beautiful,' Nero said, unable to control his thoughts as he saw her remove her hood and reveal her pointed ear.
'Will you shut up,' Draven's annoyed voice was quick to cut through Nero's rambling. 'This feeling of weakness is truly suffocating,'
"Lady Elincia, I need a body-cleansing potion. A gradeless potion of epic quality should suffice my needs," Draven said after taking a moment to get comfortable with the nausea he felt from defending against the mental attack from Lady Elincia.
"I also want healing potions, Mind's Edge Elixir, Mana Vessel potion, and tonic of Perfect Invisibility. All three of them should be gradeless and of rare quality, and I want ten of each potion."
"I would also appreciate it if you could sell me a space ring with nearly a hundred square meters of storage space," Draven said, listing all the things he needed to complete the hunt.
"I could sell everything you need, but tell me, little fellow, are you familiar with the rules of my shop?" Lady Elincia asked, and Draven nodded as he answered, "Only half the payment could be paid in money; the rest needs to be in materials of value."
"But, I also know that for the first time, I could pay completely in gold coins," Draven said, and the lady couldn't help but appear disappointed since she was looking forward to what the mysterious kid had to offer.
"Your total would be seven hundred and sixty thousand gold coins, and next time you come, bring me something good," Lady Elincia said, the friendly smile returning to her face before she pinched her fingers, and a dark ring appeared out of thin air.
She handed him the ring, and at the same, Draven gave her his own space ring to collect her payment since, with his current strength, he would take too much time to transfer the precise amount of coins.
Draven checked the contents of the ring before receiving his other space ring, and after a small bow to her, he walked to the door and exited the shop.