Cal couldn’t find Tavia’s carriage anywhere. In fact, he couldn’t see any carriages at all.
Though the town was larger than Mariner’s Rest, it was nowhere near enough for him to miss the site of carriages parked somewhere. He found it curious, but not enough for him to actually go search for it. Besides, he could just ask Tavia when he found her.
Cal was trying to use his half-created spell to find her. It was his greatest challenge yet since there were so many other guild members that emitted mana residue. It wasn’t nearly as bad as this field where mana-rich water flowed underneath, but it was just enough to heavily mask Tavia’s presence.
He looked around the town center and wondered if he would have to manually search every storefront. He would do it if he needed to.
A large fountain was in the center, with children playing in the water and other mortals relaxing nearby. There was an ample, open space between the fountain and where the storefronts surrounded the area.
Most of the storefronts were restaurants—as expected—but a few odd stores didn’t look like they belonged. The one that attracted his attention carried random items that didn’t seem related to each other. It was like the store owner chose whatever seemed to interest them and decided to sell it in one place.
Cal had never been one for shopping, but in the rare times that he did, he had always seen an entire store dedicated to a specific range of items.
He checked again to see if he could sense Tavia’s trail further. Unfortunately, it was muddled at the same point as the previous times he tried it.
Trying the same thing won’t help. I might as well gather the things I need as I search for her the regular way.
When he entered, he was surprised to see so many customers inside. The store's building was small, to begin with, so it was hard to move around without having to shift his body to avoid bumping into others.
Cal grew even more curious about the store. It didn’t take him long to realize almost everything that was sold was useless to him.
This place wasn’t made with guild members in mind. It focused on mortals, which should have been obvious to him. He had been so accustomed to shopping in Lumina that he had forgotten to consider how mortals far exceed guild members in population.
Cal picked up a map of the Celestial Order’s territory and noticed everything outside the territory was conveniently left blank. Even the ocean bordering Oracle Shores wasn’t mentioned at all.
I might as well buy this. I know little of the southern region of the territory. I’d say the same about—
He frowned when he saw Silverpine on the map. What concerned him wasn’t the town itself but the space around it.
Cal needed to go twenty miles east of Silverpine. However, the town was so close to the border that he doubted he could travel even a mile before going over it.
I can’t ask Tavia to come with me.
It was possible for an Apprentice to cross a border, but that wasn’t the case for anyone with a lower rank. He would need to confirm, but he was reasonably confident he was right.
“Are you a fan of maps?”
Cal glanced to the side, eyeing the person who asked him such an odd question. He was a little surprised to see that it was a girl his age with a tag that said ‘Mel.’
“Maybe,” Cal shook the map in his hand lightly, “I can’t say I’m not disappointed that this is the only map in the store.”
“That's for people like me. If you want to see more maps, I can show them to you!” Mel offered cheerfully.
He took a closer look at her, not visually but with his senses. Mel was a mortal through and through. He was curious why she came up to him out of all the other customers in her shop.
Maybe she’s a fan of maps herself.
“I’m interested,” Cal said as he followed Mel to the counter. He thought there would be a secret room where the special items were hidden, but all Mel did was reach down below the counter and pull out a sizeable unmarked box.
In full view of all the others, Mel started to pull out several folded maps and proudly display them to him. “I have one for open mineral rights, another for available farmland, and this, trade routes that are for sale.”
This must be why Tavia said the guild can't hide any information in the outskirts.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Cal stared at the maps for a few seconds. He was very interested in the one with the trade routes. “You do realize that I’m not a merchant, right?”
“… You’re not?” Mel looked shocked.
He checked his clothes to see if there was anything that suggested he was a merchant, but it was just the regular guild attire. It was nearly impossible that Mel didn’t notice. He pushed it aside.
“I’ll take the map of the trade routes.” Cal reached for the one he chose.
Mel quickly pulled all of the maps toward her as if to protect them. She said, “That will be five gold.”
Cal’s hand froze in the air, halfway to the map. “Repeat that. I must’ve misheard.”
“I want five gold for the map,” Mel pulled the maps closer to her, looking like she was about to put them back in the box.
She’s not a fan of maps. She’s a fan of money.
“You’re pushing your luck here,” Cal warned.
“This is a standard price for maps such as these,” Mel defended herself. “Do you know the amount of work it takes to gather this information?”
He had half expected her to thoroughly fold after his warning. Since she didn’t, he suspected that she had a contact in the guild. He returned to staring at the map. “Did you really think that I was a merchant?”
“I did. It didn’t make much sense to me why a guild member would be looking at maps otherwise.”
Cal hummed and thought as he considered the price of the map. There was no question about whether it was going to be bought. However, five gold was too much even for him.
Just because he had several guildmarks in his possession didn’t mean he was willing to throw half a guildmark away on a map.
“You must have been hanging onto these for a while. I’ll give you one gold.”
Mel looked personally offended by the offer. “For your information, the oldest of the maps are only two weeks old. The one for the trade routes is less than a week old. One gold is impossible.”
Cal hid his surprise at the claimed newness. “So is five gold. Give me the real price, or I’ll have to walk.”
He felt an odd pressure when Mel took her time to answer. For some reason, it was just as tense to him as the aftermath of the incident in Lumina.
“Three gold and fifty silver,” Mel finally said with a stern expression.
Cal still wasn’t that happy with the price, but he could see that Mel was near her bottom line. He tapped his fingers on the counter before pulling out three gold. He placed the coins on the counter and said, “If you agree to this much, then we have a deal.”
Mel didn’t look nearly as greedy at the sight of the coins as he hoped. He was ready to pay the extra silver when she finally nodded reluctantly.
“Fine. Three gold it is,” Mel took the coins and pushed the map towards him.
Cal carefully put the map in his inner pocket, excited that he would finally know more about the surrounding lands outside the territory. He didn’t intend to use the map to reserve trade routes, as was its purpose, but it detailed important trading towns and cities outside the guild.
He wanted this information since he returned to his younger body.
Your skill [Master Negotiator] has increased by 1 level.
Your skill [Master Negotiator] has upgraded to the next rank.
[Master Negotiator: Initiate 9]—>[Master Negotiator: Apprentice 1]
[Master Negotiator: Apprentice 1] - You have become a more experienced trader and negotiator. Your interface can now show you a discount a merchant will accept. At your current skill level, the interface will provide a number that is 0%-100% of a possible discount at random. You may use this 3 ability times per day.
He quickly scanned the new description of the skill before smiling. [Master Negotiator]’s description was purposefully vague when it was in the Initiate rank. Now, it was the opposite for trading. Negotiating still had no explanation, which was understandable since only words were exchanged, not goods.
Cal was most curious about the interface specifying a possible discount. He wanted to test that immediately but knew it would be better to wait until he found the other things he needed to purchase.
“Do you know where potions are sold in town? And if you could point me to a blacksmith, I would be even more thankful.”
“If you head south of the town center, you’ll find the largest solar potions and Silverpine. As for blacksmiths, there are none. They are brought into the town if you want to buy anything they make. Plenty of shops sell tools and weapons on the west side.” Mel was accommodating, possibly due to the sale she just made.
Cal thanked her before leaving. He headed south, leaving the town center. His original plan of trying to find Tavia wasn’t a priority since she couldn’t follow him. Of course, he was still planning to try searching for her since he did want to ask about Oleg.
He took the map out of his pocket and examined it closely. The area he would be entering tonight was labeled ‘Eldergreen Covenant.’
It was a massive territory that completely took over the eastern side of the Celestial Order’s territory. It extended well past the eastern border, covering a significant portion of the Northern Waste’s border. The map only detailed part of the Eldergreen Covenant, so the true size couldn’t be seen.
Plenty of trade routes were noted on the map, leading to towns dotted in the Eldergreen Covenant, but they all went in a different direction than where he was meant to go tonight.
He looked around to ensure no eyes were on him before quickly storing the map in his storage pouch.
Cal leisurely walked down the well-traveled street before seeing the shop Mel mentioned. The name was courageous.
There was nothing around it since it was at a spot where the street split into two. It was right in the center of the two streets, commanding the tension of any who came near it.
It was a large, two-story building with foot traffic that rivaled some shops in the Great Market in Lumina. That was something significant because potions were not cheap. It didn’t matter if it was for mortals or for guild members. They were all equally expensive since they generally had similar effects on everyone.
Cal needed a few types of potions. He needed some to stave off bleeding and for mana recovery, but those were not his focus. Those types of potions came with side effects, and serious ones at that. But they were useful in any situation where injury was possible.
He needed something more basic. A calming portion. One of the first potions a [Alchemist] would create.
Cal hadn’t forgotten the state he had fallen into when he dealt with Tarn. That couldn’t be allowed here. If he got rid of everyone at this meeting, that could be detrimental to finding out what happened to Oleg.
He entered the Potion Emporium.