A castle city on a huge hilltop, spreading towards the plains and overlooking a mighty defensive structure, a marvel of Elisysons engineering, stood before them with a population of 70,000 people. As their caravan entered through the outer walls, one villager guided Balendon with essentials. The first step was to create an identity card. Since he lost his at the ship, recreating one was tough. Southern authorities did not have blood records for northerners, so he had to fill out the form from scratch. This helped Balendon with a clean slate after his murder of two guardsmen back at Galenar.
Authorities asked Balendon his name, age, and lineage along with what happened to him. Balendon explained what happened with the expedition he was supposed to come with, and when he told them he did not know his lineage, they asked which landlord registered him to the orphanage. Luie V from the great Bernett family. The last step for registration was kneeling in front of the statue of King Rondar VII, and he did so. Finally, he was an official citizen of the Western Empire again.
Remembering Luie added another task to his list. Since all the soft-hearted southern landlords appointed to the north had difficulties adapting, they would return south after their two years of service. Balendon thought that if he could find Luie, he might be able to trace back to his family. But his next step was to buy some clothing and sell his sword, as the disgust he felt from the life essence had become unbearable.
To buy clothing, he redeemed the bounties of the poor bandits, which totaled 70 silver, and reported their last known location to the patrols. Now he was looking like a civilized person instead of a savage with missing limb coverage in his torn clothing. Later, he went to the local auction hall to list his sword for the upcoming auction in a week.
Later in the day, he met up with the farmers who were ready to set off to the village and bid them farewell. The daily cost of living was 5 silver at a good inn, so he paid 35 silver upfront and inquired about the ways of the south during his weekly stay. From what he learned, Rondar VII was on his deathbed, awaiting his end due to old age, like his predecessors. Gossip about the Countess of Bernett having an affair with Crown Prince Rondar VIII and many more seemingly unnecessary pieces of information circulated.
Intel on the south was more like gossip compared to the north, where it included technological discoveries and the whereabouts of innovations. Luie V Bernett apparently retired and left his spot to his granddaughter Marie Bernett, declaring her Countess since his son died at the First Battle of Tarala. There have been rumors of cults appearing, originating from newly found dungeons in Deadlands, spreading their corruption and influence over other regions in the west. Life in the south was not as simple as it seemed; they had their challenges too.
Balendon always thought the Empire focused its efforts on expanding to the north, but hearing these rumors now, he realized that they were all alone to flourish in the north. He did not intend to meddle with such petty strife. During his stay, he could not help preventing himself from helping with chores for the local populace and started building a reputation. Sometimes he earned a few silvers daily for his work; other times, he received a big fish he helped catch with fishermen or vegetables after helping on farms outside the walls. He would give food to the innkeeper for a feast in the evening, which helped him greatly in both getting acquainted with locals and gathering information.
After a week of 'vacation,' it was auction day. A few hours of the auction passed, ultimately boring with trivial items. Despite the poor contents of the auction, there were many well-dressed people inside and elegant carriages outside. Balendon got curious if they came for his sword or something extraordinary else. It was both.
The first main item was his sword. Rich people began bidding tens of gold coins immediately upon seeing it, practically drooling with excitement. As the price exceeded nine hundred, the hall got quieter since more powerful people with calm postures started bidding. It conveyed both an air of competition and courtesy. They would often talk to each other, saying stuff like, "Oh my dear lord, but my nephew needs this sword to achieve a successful military start," and bidding an extra hundred.
The whole hall started either leaving or listening to their noble bickering with a 'poor bastard excitement.' Finally, the sword sold for 1,890 gold to some rich guy who apparently owns "half of Azure Beach," a touristic neutral place for both dukedom and empire. His name was Leopold. Balendon somehow thought he should keep his name in mind as the guy had a really heavy "rich guy aura" around him. The hostility and envy towards him by the other rich people could clearly be felt throughout the hall as he said, "This will look nice on my collection wall." Balendon smiled as others frowned, and the two briefly caught each other's eyes.
The next item was "a knowledge shard of unknown origin." As the announcer announced, "We could not activate it and might have scratched it trying to figure it out, but worry not! This knowledge shard is active and, in fact, it is suspected to be at least a millennia old!" It was not a great way to vouch for an item, yet it struck the right audience. This time, a bunch of nerdy guys started spewing their saliva, more violently than nobles, and the price shot up to 1,500 real quick.
Balendon, on the other hand, froze in shock. He could feel faint world force within the knowledge shard. His blood started boiling, and he also started spewing his saliva. 1,600! 1,700! 1,710! 1,800! The maximum price he could go was 1,890, yet he was determined to get this item even if it meant stealing it or selling a kidney for it. He could regenerate the kidney anyway. From the back seats, he got outbid by the same annoying voice: 1,891!
The number was ironic since it was Leopold, as if he understood who the owner of the sword was and Balendon's financial limit. In fact, Balendon did not know that everyone was actually eyeing him since he was the guy out of place. Perfecting his body through recreation helped this also since he looked perfect without scars and distinct muscular features. Leopold, on the other hand, had been inspecting him since he arrived at Aelin's Grace. He had long had the curious eye to discover the peculiar.
Balendon understood the challenge. He could not challenge this guy without the 'fortune' he had lost on the expedition ship. With a desperate attempt, he bid 1900. He was under pressure. It was something he had never experienced, as it wasn't like combat pressure.
"Is this how people fight without swords?" he thought.
Leopold was enjoying this. It could be read from his big grin as he bid 1901 gold. At this point, everyone who hadn't already left the hall felt pity for Balendon.
"1910!" Bid Balendon.
Leopold, with a mocking tone, said, "Will you be able to pay for it?"
Balendon smiled under stress. "I have to since I bid it, right?"
It was a week of a deadline to pay for the debt of an item bought at the auction hall. Balendon created thousands of scenarios in his head of how to complete the gold payment, yet he realized it was all in vain when he heard Leopold bidding 1911.
The whole stress left his body with a big laugh after this. This item was sold to Leopold as well.
Later that day, the two met at the cashier of the hall after the transactions, which had been kept secret. One was there to pay, and one to get paid. Leopold kept the victor's posture as Balendon found it funny. It was a new type of humiliation he felt. There were no verbal abuses, no physical abuses...
It wasn't like his past, where people showed hostility towards him. No, this was more like "know your place" or "do not bite what you cannot chew." He experienced a civilized fight and utterly lost.
After he got his gold and Leopold his items, Leopold turned to him. He looked happy in a way similar to Balendon, yet he was showing it openly instead of Balendon. He was arrogant and had a right to be arrogant.
He tossed the knowledge shard towards him. For a split second, everyone in the room, including Balendon, got scared since something that valuable was mid-air and in danger of crashing.
Balendon caught the knowledge shard.
While looking at it, Leopold passed by him, saying, "Today was fun, I have seen things I have never seen before. Keep it as my thanks, it is my gift to you."
Balendon replied with a happy "thank you," yet he felt like he was still being tested. Maybe he was getting domesticated. Test or not, he thought of repaying him and left the hall.
It was already dark, and most of the nobles had left the city already. Leopold, on the other hand, was going to stay in an inn for the night.
Balendon snuck up on his carriage at night and put the gold sack of 1890 gold inside the carriage along with a note saying, "I know it's not as valuable as your gift since you outbid it, but let the sword be my gift too."
He still felt indebted for another 110 gold, which could be paid later on since he had only 80 silver in his pockets again. Looked like he was going to stay in this city longer than he anticipated.
He rushed back to his room to tinker with the knowledge shard. This was the first time he had held one. He did not know what to do. After jumping and moving around it like a monkey discovering fire, he finally thought of pouring world force into it.
The shard started glowing at first, then diminished and crumbled into dust. The dust turned into world force and entered his body, then integrated with the world force within him.
Balendon started seeing memories of maps, family names, hidden treasure locations, or rich family structures built for several purposes-from retreating to hide, to resting places, to summer resorts. Balendon processed thousands of articles of information as if he had been there and lived through, seen those locations, and gone inside them like the person who recorded them did.
This was an archive on nobles to track their wealth for taxing purposes. It was dated in the year 4680. He had no idea how many years ago that was, but the locations were mainly on the western and eastern continents.
It had a highly strange texture; even the plants, scenery, or animals were completely different. This information might or might not be worth 2000 gold, but answering that question was not his current plan.