Very interested in Anthem Square, Shade walked a full circle around the plaza, observing everything. He even discovered a man running a gambling stall for Rhode cards. The man sat directly on the ground, claiming that if anyone could win three out of five games, they would receive a Rhode card with special rules from him; however, each challenge required a fee of 5 pence.
Quite a few people gathered around to watch them play, and the special card came with a certificate of authenticity, meaning the card itself was genuine.
However, Shade heard from the onlookers that this man had been running his stall here for eight years and had only lost once. No one knew what methods he used to maintain such a winning streak.
The man was certainly cheating, but Shade had no interest in exposing him. After all, most of the people spending 5 pence to play likely knew something was fishy. Whether they simply wanted to enjoy the thrill of gambling with a stranger or truly believed they could win that special card was hard to say.
Shade had not forgotten the purpose of his visit. According to the intelligence provided by Iluna, the middle-aged man wearing a headscarf and selling spices frequently appeared in the southern part of Anthem Square. Regardless of the weather, he always wore rain boots and placed a triangular wooden sign in front of his stall.
These characteristics were distinct enough that Shade spotted him while wandering the plaza.
The man had a pushcart filled with bottles and jars. To his left was a vendor selling herbs claimed to cure any ailment; the vendor wore floor-length robes with strange patterns resembling the style of primitive tribes from the southern forests of Carsonrick, looking very professional. To the right was a general merchant who sold everything, with a pushcart and a waterproof canvas spread on the ground holding various odds and ends.
Because the herbalist to the left was somewhat insulting to one's intelligence, Shade pretended to be interested in the general merchant's wares, standing before the cart to examine the goods. This distance was close enough for the voice in his head to provide an answer
【The man with the headscarf to your left is a Circle caster, Middle Circle. The specific level needs further contact to confirm.】
It seemed the third task Iluna had selected finally had some value.
"Sir, what would you like to buy?"
Shade had stood before the general merchant for too long, so the small merchant, who currently had no other customers, took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
Shade didn't panic and responded naturally
"I have a cat at home, and I want to get some safe little toys for it. As you know, cats love to swallow all sorts of unclean things."
The somewhat scrawny merchant sized Shade up, as if guessing his identity and the thickness of his wallet
"Then why not buy this?"
The merchant picked up a colorful feather.
"This is only 1 shilling."
"Sorry, you don't have anything I'm interested in."
Shade immediately shook his head; he wasn't about to pay that much for a dyed chicken feather.
After a moment's thought, Shade reached out and picked up a deck of Rhode cards.
"I'll buy this. I have a deck of my own, but I want another as a spare."
In truth, after obtaining [Treasured Object], individual cards might be damaged when used as weapons, necessitating frequent replacements.
"These are old cards, I'll charge you 5 pence. Do you need anything else? Oh, since you're a Rhode card player, are you interested in joining some non-public, profit-making private Rhode card gambling games?"
The merchant asked familiarly, his eyes bright and a smile on his face.
"Non-public, profit-making, private"—this was essentially a code for underground illegal casinos, similar to the kind found at the Lucky Southern Cross Club at night. To think a general merchant mingling in the Lower City also had the task of recruiting business for casinos.
"No, no, my wallet doesn't permit me to do that for the time being," Shade said.
The merchant then whispered
"Then would you be interested in trading special Rhode cards?"
"You have those too?" Shade asked in surprise. Depending on the issue quantity and era, Rhode cards with special artwork usually started at 1 pound, while those with special rules cost at least 40 pounds each. The small merchant was likely referring to the former.
"I do, and they are absolutely genuine. General merchants like me usually hoard small, valuable items that are easy to store, waiting for a generous customer to... earn a profit from. Rhode cards are excellent commodities. Some Rhode card enthusiasts visit small merchants in every city they enter to search for these cards, until they've replaced an entire deck with special artwork."
The merchant explained expertly. Shade imagined the sense of questing involved in collecting cards and figured such people must be very wealthy.
"Of course, some high-end shops even sell Rhode cards with special rules, but the prices are likely beyond what ordinary people can accept."
Since the merchant had no other customers, he chatted with Shade for a while longer. Shade took the opportunity to gather information about the square, focusing on the spice-selling Circle caster next to the stall.
The man was currently talking to a customer, unaware that a calculating individual was nearby.
"Oh, right, since you sell general goods, do you also buy them?" Shade asked after a thought.
"Of course, but I only buy things of value," the merchant replied. He then saw Shade hand over the three books he was carrying. The merchant raised an eyebrow, intending to refuse, but Shade winked at him, signaling him to look at the contents.
The general merchant nodded in surprise and carefully flipped open one of the books. His squinting eyes immediately widened.
"This... this is truly good stuff."
Licking his lips, he hurriedly flipped through the other two, a very sincere smile appearing on his face.
"This is really quite nice. These three... how about half a pound?"
The price was reasonable; after all, the quality of these three illustrated volumes was high, and even with money, they weren't easy to acquire. Shade knew that a general merchant who recruited for casinos would certainly sell this kind of illicit publication, so he nodded.
"That works, but you can't charge me for that deck of Rhode cards then."
Shade wasn't selling these magazines to make a profit, but to create an excuse to chat here for a while. Just as he expected, once the transaction was settled, the general merchant's attitude toward him improved noticeably.
Through this, Shade learned that the spice merchant next to the general merchant had only started selling here half a month ago. Furthermore, the man definitely didn't come on Sundays; on ordinary days, he appeared promptly at nine in the morning and left at five in the afternoon, making him lazier than most businessmen in Anthem Square.
Having obtained the basic situation, Shade intended to formally contact the spice merchant to confirm exactly what he was doing. Since the man was certainly a human and not a relic, Shade didn't plan on a deep investigation; he simply didn't want to delay Iluna's mission.
However, just as Shade approached the spice merchant, a familiar figure appeared in the square.
Dr. Bill Schneider walked through the crowd carrying a briefcase. He paused to let a stray dog chasing a large white goose run past. The blue-eyed doctor waved and greeted the headscarf-wearing spice merchant.
"Good afternoon, Madison."
"Good afternoon, Schneider."
The two shook hands, and only then did the doctor notice Shade standing nearby. Shade's attire for today's outing was different from usual, so the doctor hadn't recognized him at first glance.
"Oh, Shade, what are you doing here?" the doctor asked with a smile, warmly beckoning Shade over. He then spoke to Mr. Madison, who was selling spices
"This is the newcomer I mentioned last time, Hamilton. Shade, this is Mr. Alan Madison, a student of the Sussex Higher Academy of Medicine."
The Sussex Higher Academy of Medicine was a mystical academy on par with St. Byron's and Zalas, specializing in alchemy and potions.
Mr. Madison, with the headscarf, looked at Shade in surprise and whispered to the doctor in disbelief
"Schneider, are you telling me that this person—who is obsessed with Rhode card gambling and selling erotic magazines here—is the newcomer in your group? I noticed him just now."
It seemed he had indeed noticed the commotion on Shade's end.
"Hmm?"
The doctor looked at Shade in surprise. Out of trust in Shade's character, he explained for him
"He's probably on some commission; he's a detective. Let's talk somewhere else; it's not safe here."
Shade felt somewhat embarrassed, yet immensely relieved that the doctor did not dwell on the topic.
Next to Anthem Square was an inn called the "Three Cats Inn," with three crouching cats vividly carved into its wooden sign. The inn had four floors and covered a large area. The first and second floors were an open-plan restaurant and tavern; however, the center of the second floor had no flooring but was instead an atrium, which made the view from the first floor more open while reducing the usable area of the second.
The third and fourth floors consisted of partitioned guest rooms. This was considered one of the better inns in the Lower City of Tobesk.
Dr. Schneider, Mr. Madison, and Shade found a seat in a corner on the second floor of the inn.
None of them mentioned Shade's earlier activities again, and through the conversation, Shade learned that the headscarf-wearing Mr. Madison was a Sixth Circle caster and the group leader for the correspondence students, as well as a long-time friend of the doctor.
Mr. Alan Madison lived nearby and was very familiar with the area. When a maid with an open top button and a very low collar approached, Mr. Madison was able to call her by name and greet her.
"Do you know? In the evening, uh, probably after seven, some lovely girls sit in the corners here. If you have money, you can—"
Shade and Dr. Schneider looked at him in surprise simultaneously.
"Don't look at me like that! I only heard it from others; I am a man of virtue," Mr. Madison defended himself with a wave of his hand, after which the three turned to business.
The doctor had come to see Mr. Madison because the latter had used Dr. Schneider's connections to order a batch of sensitive metal powders from the local black market, from which Dr. Schneider would receive a commission.
When the topic turned to why Shade was here, Shade mentioned the Church
"The Church of the True God has noticed the special spices you're selling here. Because it hasn't attracted significant attention yet, they've only assigned the task to a subordinate Circle caster squad. I have a friend in the Church, and he asked me to come check out the situation."
"Actually, I wanted to ask just now, Madison, are you so short on money that you need to run a stall outside?" Dr. Schneider asked curiously.
Mr. Madison shook his head helplessly.
"Of course it's not for money. How much do you think this kind of work earns? A while ago, I obtained a special piece of mysticism. The requirement for learning it is a ritual, and selling spices in Anthem Square is part of that ritual."
"There's such a strange learning requirement?" Shade asked curiously.
The doctor nodded.
"The requirements for mysticism that only Middle or High Circle casters can use are naturally complex. For example, the 'Maze Lock' used by that Thirteenth Circle God-Caller a while ago—the learning conditions for that piece of mysticism are enough to be written into a book. But for mysticism usable by the Middle Circle, Madison's is indeed overly complicated. Are you sure you haven't been scammed?"
(End of Chapter)