Araborne City, a frontier city close to the western borders of the Weaven Region.
While a chaotic city under constant attacks of monster hordes and (S) ranked monster invasions, it was a flourishing hub for both adventurers and blacksmiths.
Its defenses were nothing like what Shye had seen before.
There were magic turrets, tall yet adjustable walls, and the guards garrisoned were all equipped with so strange crossbow that could fire mana missiles at a rapid and consistent rate.
It seed impregnable.
And it was, at least for the past few centuries, it has never suffered defeat under even the most horrifying of monster hordes.
Also, since smithing knowledge and opportunities were plentiful, blacksmiths flocked to the city to not only make a na for themselves but also to further their studies in the art of smithing, even dabbling a little in arcane studies while they were at it.
It turned out to be a good decision, since lots of high-ranking adventurers always flocked to the city, not only due to the nurous Death Zones that provided these adventurers bountiful opportunities but also because most of them were assigned by their guilds to help the guards stop monster invasions.
As a result, Araborne City, the city of smiths and adventurers, flourished into a premier frontier city, possibly among the most important cities in Weaven.
Shye was currently inside the city.
However, he didn’t dare reveal his true face this ti, not wanting to give the dastardly old snake the slightest clue of his whereabouts.
After all, Dweezel had eyes in every city across all regions.
Even Colzen City, a remote city near Valenzia’s southern borders, wasn’t beyond the reach of the bastard’s information network.
It was best for him to hide his identity.
Luckily, he had the system.
It was easy for him to purchase and use a high-ranked illusion spell that could alter his physical features.
On a busy, wide cobblestone street, a middle-aged man with long black hair tied up in a ponytail walked towards the entrance of a tavern.
This man was Shye.
Since he was unfamiliar with the overlords that road the nearby Death Zones, he had to gather information first.
Entering the front door, people looked at him, but their interests were like the passing breeze, only montary.
It was understandable, as Shye’s current appearance was like that of a regular drunkard adventurer.
They quickly assud, based on his appearance, that he was there only to enjoy a drink or two.
Seated in a corner, Shye ordered two al sets and two pints of beer, casually informing the waiter that he needed an informant.
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Naturally, the waiter complied without hesitation after receiving a generous tip of one whole gold coin for such a simple request.
A few monts later, one of the tavern’s veteran informants sat across from him, grabbing the utensils and eating alongside him as though they’d long known each other.
While eating, the informant spoke:
"So, what do you need to know?"
Shye, having started eating first, naturally finished ahead and stated his request to the informant over the al.
"I need information on all the dragons residing across all the four nearby Death Zones." He said, inwardly shocking the veteran informant.
Even among high-ranked adventurers, very few dared target dragons.
This allowed the informant to sowhat deduce that Shye was soone who was hiding his identity.
Naturally, the informant’s tone grew more respectful.
"Dragons…" the man muttered, setting down his utensils and taking a sip of beer, his expression thoughtful.
"Understood, sir. Give an hour to compile the information into a notebook. Let’s et in the back alley then, and you can pay the fee once I’ve delivered what you need."
Shye nodded satisfactorily, pleased at the informant’s professionalism.
Soon after, he left the tavern after receiving so sort of strange token from the informant, roaming the streets of Araborne City to sightsee and pass the ti.
An hour later, he returned to the back alley near the tavern.
Looking around, Shye was rather astonished, as more than twenty informant and client pairs were eting at the alley.
Curiously, so form of dark magic concealed the clients’ appearances and rendered their conversations indecipherable, allowing Shye to hear only strange, unintelligible babbling.
’Hoh, this tavern takes their information business quite seriously…’ he inwardly praised.
He could see nothing else but dark silhouettes around him.
To his surprise, however, he could clearly see the appearance of his informant, allowing him to locate the man rather easily.
After pondering about it for a mont, he could only think of one reason why he could see the man’s appearance.
’Was it this token?’ He thought inwardly, looking at the token in his hands while walking towards the veteran informant.
"Sir, here’s the information you requested. Please double-check if this is satisfactory for you." the middle-aged man said, handing over a small notebook to Shye.
The informant had never once questioned his ability to pay, which left Shye quite satisfied with the middle-aged man.
He fully intended to reward him appropriately for his excellent and professional service.
Written in the notebook were detailed descriptions of twenty dragons, along with the attachnt of a small map marking the exact locations of their lairs.
Such detailed information would save him a lot of ti.
Four young dragons, thirteen adult ones, and three notoriously aggressive yet cunning elder dragons.
It was the perfect dragon roster for him to target in the three months that he had.
Withdrawing three hundred gold coins from the system’s inventory, Shye handed the coin sack to the informant.
"Thanks, this is exactly what I needed," he said, then continued, "Here’s your paynt."
The informant, noticing from the outside that the coin sack was full to the brim, beca quite excited.
From his experience, he estimated there were at least two hundred coins in the sack, all of which he presud to be gold.
After all, information about dragons wouldn’t co cheaply, and considering how straightforward his middle-aged client had been, money didn’t seem to be an issue.
Normally, he would’ve charged around a hundred and thirty gold coins for such information.
A tip of seventy gold coins was not a small amount.
As a result, the veteran informant was already quite pleased with the transaction based on his initial estimation.
To his surprise, when he opened the coin sack, he discovered there were more than just two hundred gold coins inside.
Using his coin-counter device, the total value of Shye’s paynt was displayed: "300."
The informant nearly went wild with joy.
By far, this was the largest tip he had ever received from any of his clients.
A whole one hundred and seventy gold coins as a tip!
Who else but an adamantite-ranked adventurer could casually offer such a large sum?
Thanks to his personal experiences, he had long since learned not to judge a book by its cover, treating every client equally regardless of how poor they looked.
This proved to be a valuable piece of wisdom this ti, as it led him to earn far more than he had expected from a single transaction.
With such a substantial inco, he could ensure that his small family would be able to eat three als a day for the next two years.
Nonetheless, despite his excitent, he forcefully suppressed his emotions and kept his professional front, offering Shye a deep bow of appreciation.
"Thank you for the transaction, Sir. My na is ldie. If you’re satisfied with my services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to directly. Here’s the unique rune combination for my mana communicator. It’s been a pleasure working with you."
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