Gcien was sleeping inside the wagon, but her ears picked the approach of that cloaked person. Still, she didn’t wake up or do anything else. It looked like she assumed that the cloaked person wasn’t dangerous, or perhaps they weren’t coming with evil intentions.

  “Hello, friend. I heard that you want to obtain some information. How much are you willing to pay for it?”

  “That will depend. I will ask the questions and you will give me the price for the answers. I will judge after that if it is worth the hassle.”

  It was the voice of a guy, and he sounded weirdly friendly and calm. I couldn’t see the expression on his face that well thanks to the darkness of the night and his hood, but I could see traces of beastkin characteristics on him.

  “My prices are a bit odd, you see. I am not interested in money, per se. I want information for information.”

  That was a bit tricky since I didn’t know if I should share much of what I know about the things that I know. If they were things reted to events and pces I had been, perhaps it would be fine, but I wasn’t certain of it.

  “I guess that is fine… I assume that you want to hear my question first and then ask a question of simir weight afterwards.”

  “You catch on quick.”

  “I want to know why this nd is at war with the harpies. Years ago, they only attacked the empire without using any clear tactics or strategy, but they are being very methodical here.”

  “I see… Here is my question then: what you did after leaving home? Just telling me the pces that you have been to would be enough.”

  I considered lying on the spot without hesitation, but then I realized that someone like this guy probably would have a skill to detect lies or half truths. It was the only way for him to feel like trading information would actually be valuable.

  At the same time, this made me wary… with this kind of information, people would be able to learn my patterns and then predict my next steps. Perhaps this exchange wasn’t really a good idea.

  “I visited towns called Pir, Kiana, Ramnes in this order and then the cities of Ironcliff, Frostkeep and Grenezi.”

  “Oh? I see…”

  I could see the smile spreading across his face, a look of satisfaction that made it clear. He could genuinely tell when I was lying, and there was no use pretending otherwise. His confidence in that ability was visible, and for a moment, I considered my options carefully.

  In the end, I chose to tell the truth. Part of it was to confirm my suspicion, to test the limits of his skill. But more importantly, I realized that operating under fear wouldn’t work for me. Given the current situation, letting him think he had the upper hand wasn’t a path I was willing to take.

  If there was one thing I wanted to make clear, not just to him, but to anyone who thought they could manipute me, it was that I didn’t care for their games. Fear and intimidation had no power over me, and I’d rather confront the truth head-on than let it be used as a weapon against me. I had to set that now, not just for him, but for everyone who wanted to deal with. It was my way of showing that I wasn’t pying their game; I was pying mine.

  “The current war started six months ago. As you have said, the harpies have been quite methodical with their attacks, but we don’t know yet. We suspect that they want some prisoners since their king is old. You know how their society works?”

  “No.”

  “Harpies rarely y eggs that become male harpies. So their male popution is really low. Thanks to their king, they are able to increase the number of harpies with strong blood, but the male harpies usually create weaker soldiers. They are fine using prisoners of other species since they know that their stronger blood will prevail… unless the offspring ends up being a male. When that happens, they become servants of the queens of the Aesira Empire instead of warriors.”

  It was quite the messy situation that I didn’t expect to hear. Hopefully, they didn’t kill their prisoners, but that didn’t make things right for them… even if they did that to avoid the extinction of their people.

  Regardless, six months ago… that should be around the time Alissandra was born. Was that a coincidence? I don’t think that anything that happens around me is a coincidence.

  “... I want to know things I should be mindful of while I am here.”

  “I see. In that case… I want to know where you went after visiting those pces.”

  I gred at this guy… he was truly trying to understand how I operated. I wondered if he knew someone powerful in the area that wanted that kind of information about me. Still, this worked for me. As long as I gave the answers that he wanted, he would give the ones that I wanted.

  In the end, I told him what happened afterward until I reached the Aquarian’s prison. I could tell that he was getting more curious and confused. I didn’t know if he had heard about it, but he could tell that a prison for prisoners of war shouldn’t be something that should be easily able to escape.

  “Well, let’s see… We are at war, so we aren’t that welcoming of others. We usually don’t make a fuss when people come here to live here, even when they come in rge groups. However, you are a special case. You could have suffered some prejudice for being half-blood as well, but people still think that you would act like a real vampire. Also, you did well in avoiding those guys. If you have to fight them, do it somewhere where no one else can see the fight. Otherwise, people might offer their support to those morons.”

  “Who are they?”

  “A mercenary group that was formed a few years ago, they are waiting for the war to get harder in order to offer their services at a higher value. The harpies are very insistent, after all. We have been avoiding serious damage, but this battle is sting for far too long. Aside from that, you only need to know about the organizations here. There is the free cities coalition. They are a trade-based alliance of independent city-states, each poputed by different groups working by mutual protection and economic cooperation. They promote trade, commerce, and peaceful diplomacy among various groups. There is also the twilight brotherhood. Its shadowy faction is dedicated to espionage, subterfuge, and assassination. They wanted revenge for being looked down on for being mixed races.”

  Ah, I recalled them… I had forgotten that I had dealt with some of them in that byrinth when I was working with Louise. Since I had stopped hiding, something in me had changed. The constant paranoia had disappeared, and with it, my concern for the groups that were supposed to be hunting me. Their threats now seemed distant and almost irrelevant.

  I didn’t know if this change was a show of bravery or simply imprudence. Had I grown confident enough to believe I could handle whatever came my way, or had I foolishly convinced myself that ignoring them would make them disappear? Either way, I found myself unable to worry about such groups any longer.

  Maybe it was the freedom of not having to look over my shoulder at every turn, or maybe it was a sense of defiance that had taken root. Whatever it was, I decided to focus on what was in front of me and let the rest fall where it may. If they came for me, I would deal with it then. If not, that was fine as well.

  “... I want a detailed map of the area, and I want to know the pces that I should avoid, just in case.”

  “A Map, huh? I can find one, but this will cost a lot.”

  “What is your price?”

  My tone changed, and he was able to tell that I was starting to get a bit annoyed. Maybe he could tell that I wasn’t pnning to let him rip me off with his nonsense. Still, he stayed silent for a while instead of answering immediately.

  “You are traveling around to get stronger, right? This can help the both of us. There is a byrinth in the area that is about to break and we are too busy dealing with the harpies.”

  “Why don’t you ask those morons to help?”

  “They want a lot of money to do that… if you do that, your image will improve a lot here.”

  I wanted to improve my image here, to make a pce where I could operate without constant suspicion or hostility. But I also knew better than to let others dictate my path. Allowing anyone to decide where I should go or what I should do was a line I knew that shouldn’t cross.

  The presence of those guys only added another yer of trouble. Their interference would be annoying enough in ordinary circumstances, but if a dungeon break were to happen, dealing with them would be even more troublesome. Dungeon breaks were chaotic at the best of times, and the st thing I needed was an unnecessary distraction or meddling.

  Improving my standing was important, but it couldn’t come at the cost of my autonomy or my ability to handle the challenges ahead. I’d find a way to manage both on my terms.

  “You are not going to do the whole job alone, of course. It would be too reckless to ask that to someone who is also looking after a baby. I will also help you.”

  “That only makes my desire to accept the job weaken even further.”

  “Ouch, that hurts, friend. I am not good at fighting, but I can at least make sure that no one will approach you while you are working. Keep the byrinth in check for a week and then our agreement is done.”

  “... All right then.”

  WritingMachineGun