’I must say that it has been a fortuitous day for you.’ Tiselle said as they left Jasar’s shop.

  ’Indeed?’ Pi’ve asked.

  ’I was going to pay you 80 Alons, and even that is a lot. You got 120, for each one. If you do have more, I would like to buy some of you later.’ Tiselle said, and Pi’ve agreed to that.

  ’So, what exactly is the conversion between the common coin and an Alon? What can I buy with say, ten Alons?’ Pi’ve asked.

  ’It does not work quite like that, even though some does exchange common coin to Alons, and the other way around, but there is no fixed rate, as such. But, for ten Alons, you would get a very good alchemical set, or you could buy a nice new staff for it. But, as things gets more expensive, the items also gets exponentially better too. Ten Alons gets you most of the single items you want, but the quality of the items are at best very good. At a hundred Alons, you can get the same items, but now, the quality is one of a kind. Pristine.’ Tiselle said, as they strode across the wizarding square. ’There are things you cannot buy with Alons though, as it is tied with the wizarding society. Houses, as wizards don’t make them. Wagons, horses, most foods. You get it. They are two currencies for two different cultures. You would struggle keeping only one of the currencies on you. At least in a large city as this.’

  He was happy it had worked out, but even so, his mind was not on his ability to make money, but rather the upcoming meeting. Tiselle was attending the meeting today, and it was not long until the meeting was beginning, so they both went to an eatery and had some lunch before they would split up. The Grano was not far away, though it was not within this wizarding square.

  ’So, the only advice I would have for you now, Pi’ve, is to not, under any circumstance, enter the meeting-area. The Grano is not closed for business just because there is a meeting there, but if you go inside, it will be made plain where you are allowed to sit. As a rule, you hear us, you are too close. It’s about honesty and integrity.’ Tiselle said, and she was watching him over her eyebrows. ’Understood?’

  ’I will not enter the room of the meeting.’ Pi’ve said. He meant it too, although after his suspicion about Murgun being true— that of being able to turn invisible— he somehow got the sense that when he was inside, he would do whatever he felt was right. He owed it to Barna to go through with this job all the way.

  Tiselle said goodbye to Pi’ve and rose from their table at the eatery, as she had to go and gather some parchments that she required for the meeting, but Pi’ve kept sitting in his seat, contemplating his plan. He was still unsure how it all would unfold. He had to gather evidence, and that was the crucial part. Merely telling people that Murgun was secretly attending, or listening in on the meeting was not enough.

  He pulled out his , and asked the wizard on the table next to him if he had a match. He did not, but he had magic. An incredibly small beam of light was concentrated on the tobac in his pipe, and soon it began to smoke. Once it lit, Pi’ve thanked the man, and kept thinking.

  The first thought that struck him was a memory of him buying this exact tobac just before entering the hearing just a few days prior. If Tiselle was telling the truth, and he had no reason to doubt her, then 120 Alons was a lot of money. The tobac had cost 50 Alons, and he shuddered just thinking that he had spent… No, Barna had bought it for him. You moron, Pi’ve! Pi’ve clasped his palm to his forehead, and rubbed his temples.

  ’Excuse me. Yea— Is tobac generally expensive, or… I bought this for 50 Alons a few days back, and I just wondered if that’s normal.’ Pi’ve asked the same man he had asked for a light.

  ’Tobac is only grown in the region near the , which is just North and East of . There is not a lot of land dedicated to growing it even there. While the area around is the biggest producer, the leaves from and is the most sought after. 250 grams would probably cost you about 50 Alons for the top of the shelf leaf from .’

  ’Set me on fire…’

  ’You tell’em. It’s no wonder tea is more popular, ay?’

  He felt even worse about Barna. Barna had tried to mentor him, even though he did not have to. He had volunteered to speak for him in the hearing, and given him a job. He also paid for the most expensive tobac money could buy, just because Pi’ve did not have the right currency. Regardless if Barna was rich, it felt like Pi’ve had used him.

  Pi’ve took a deep toke from the pipe, slapped his chins a few times to get ready for the final stretch of the job, and then got up to leave. The wizard beside him looked at him blankly, and then shrugged. He left the eatery and suddenly he felt a strong pounding in his chest.

  There was a lot of wizards out today, but Pi’ve had not been made aware of anything special happening in Vesen City. It could be that most wizards in Vesen City lived near the biggest wizarding square, for easy access. It was a nice day, so most would probably like to refresh their stocks on whatever they needed today.

  Pi’ve had received instructions on where he needed to go to get to The Grano, and seeing that there was just an hour until the meeting was to begin, Pi’ve started with locating where the street named was, as Tiselle had told him that he had to follow that street to get to The Grano. Pi’ve had come from the West entering the wizarding square, and would be one of two streets going North. He followed the outer edge of the square, and as he found the sign on the side of one of the buildings, he paused.

  He was not sure if he should stay here in the square and wait for Murgun to go first, if he even would do so, or if he should go to The Grano and wait. If he did that, he would have to hide, hoping that he would see Murgun somewhere, and then proceed accordingly. His heart was pounding. His breaths felt strained. No, he would wait, and then walk over to the meeting as the meeting started, and while he waited, he would look at some new flasks and vials, which incidentally was being sold at a shop just 50 feet away.

  As a way to distract himself from the impending mission he was undertaking, Pi’ve noticed something helpful. After having bought a batch of twenty vials, and some other flask sizes, it was now made clear to Pi’ve how the inventory worked. He had bought in total 35 flasks for 15 Alons. The most he could have in the inventory was 100, it said, meaning that there were 100 item slots. He had 64 items in total, the flasks being over half of that. One item slot seemed to go up to ten items stacking, and then a new slot would be filled if you had more of the item. He had 20 vials, but they were separated into two slots of ten vials each, so in total, across all his items, 18 slots had been used, while he had 64 items in total.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  He still had most of the items from the tutorial, like the armour of the knights, the shields and the swords. The rewards he had used some, like the , but the had yet to be used. He had some money, two vases, three chairs and a large table from his home.

  With some more clarification about the inventory, and having stacked up on some glass flasks, it was time to finally move towards The Grano. Pi’ve felt the pressure of the quest pressing down on him. Up until now, the pressure had slowly rose, but so much had happened that it all just felt like he was roaming around, nothing really making much sense. It had not felt like he was on some secret mission, but now it did.

  He felt reluctance take hold on his being, making it hard to proceed down . What if Murgun was just minutes away behind him, and he saw him going the same way as he… No, Pi’ve thought to himself, if he was to arrive at the meeting place, he would do it long before the meeting, surely, to make sure he did not rouse any suspicion.

  As soon as he entered , the sound of the wizarding square died, and there were no people around to see. He had to follow this road for about ten minutes, until he found a shop called , and then he would have to turn left. He would then be just a few hundred feet away from the pub where the meeting would be held.

  He walked with intention, feeling that if he was sneaking around every corner, anyone who would see him would be suspicious, and then he would be the one made suspicious, and the mission in jeopardy. He had to keep composed. He was not here for Murgun.

  The meeting was to start in five minutes or so when Pi’ve saw the apothecary. He could not help but to sneak from here. In his mind, Murgun could be standing outside the pub with a glass placed to a window listening in. It was not confirmed that he would be inside the meeting, so he had to tread carefully if he was to not be noticed.

  He came to the corner where he had to turn left, and as he peaked around, he saw a large wooden sign nailed to the wall over an ornate door with a window in it. . It was a building different to what he had seen elsewhere in Vesen City, in the sense that it was not connected to any other building. It was placed in the middle of an open space, while the street went around the building. It looked misplaced, but it stood out.

  He was about to turn the corner, when from the alleyway behind the pub, Ask came peering in every direction. He was still carrying that same basket that Murgun had taken something from. Pi’ve cursed under his breath. How would he be able to come close to the pub if Ask was patrolling the outside. Ask looked fidgety. It did not look like he was remotely comfortable standing where he was.

  Pi’ve ran over to the other side of the street, coming a bit closer. Ask was going hither and thither, looking down the streets and alleyways leading to the pub. Pi’ve felt that walking down this street would make him too easy to spot, so he turned and went down the alleyway going behind him, and then took a left going parallel to the street towards the pub. After a couple of corners, Pi’ve peering around and saw Ask standing by the stair by the entrance, and he saw that he could sneak his way to the alley on the back side of the pub. Maybe he could peak inside, to see if there were any possibility that he could see where Murgun was. Pi’ve cursed again. There was no indication that Murgun was actually inside.

  Pi’ve began to think about the possibilities he had, and how he could confirm if Murgun was inside or outside. He had decided that if Murgun was outside, then it would be difficult to prove to others that he was listening in. If he was inside, then somehow, Pi’ve could find him, regardless of how hard it would be, and he could show the wizards in the meeting where he was.

  An idea popped up in Pi’ve’s head. He could just ask Ask. Pi’ve stepped out of the alleyway, and took on his most confident stride— false confidence, if able to make you act, is as potent as real confidence, his father had told him— and came out it the open. There was no way for Pi’ve to have any sort of control while Ask was there, so he had to take him out of the equation.

  ’There you are.’ Pi’ve said, as confidently as he could. Ask started, turning towards Pi’ve. Ask’s mouth opened and closed a couple times before managing to answer.

  ’What are you doing here? What do you want?’ Ask said.

  ’Well, I have been looking for Murgun, but seeing that he is impossible to locate, I decided to look for you instead. Well, actually I abandoned that too after a while. I am here to eat.’ Pi’ve said. Ask was squinting, and now he was moving away from the stair. ’Are you a guard for the establishment, or—’

  ’Why are you looking for Murgun?’ Ask said.

  ’I just want a word with him, seeing that you were sent to, I don’t know, threaten me or whatever you did yesterday, I want to tell him myself that there is no bad blood, and that I have nothing—’

  ’I didn’t threaten you yesterday. I asked you if you had any intentions of retaliation, and I believed you when you said that you didn’t. I passed on the message, and he believed you too.’ Ask said. Pi’ve let out the smallest chuckle.

  ’Alright. Why are you standing here then?’ Pi’ve said. ’Is Murgun inside?’

  ’There is a meeting inside. I— was asked to guard the entrance.’ Ask said. There was a slight hesitation in his voice. He had not been asked to guard the entrance. Tiselle had said that the pub was still open, even if the meeting was taking place there.

  ’I believe that.’ Pi’ve said. He was in fact standing outside the entrance. ’Well, I have met you now, and if you say that you have passed my message to Murgun, then I guess I will just go in and have something to eat.’ Pi’ve said, and started moving towards the door.

  Ask promptly jumped in front of Pi’ve, making it impossible for him to enter. There was something infuriating about Ask, and had Pi’ve had some kind of magic to remove him, he would have done so.

  Pi’ve stepped left, and Ask copied him. He then stepped right, and once again, Ask did the same. The remaining vigour in Ask’s face fell, as he noticed that his charade was not enough to keep Pi’ve at bay.

  ’What are you doing, Ask.’ Pi’ve said. ’I am going inside. It’s soup today.’ Pointing to the small, foldable sign with chalk stating the courses of the week.

  ’N-no, you are not.’ Ask said. There was nothing threatening about Ask, now that he had him in front of him. He had been quite intimidating the previous day, but right now, he looked like he had bitten over more than he could chew.

  ’I am not going to listen in on the meeting, if that is what you think. The pub is big, surely there are places for me to sit otherwise.’

  ’I must advise you to turn around and go. I advice you— I… warn you… now.’ Ask said, and he could not keep eye contact. He was a simple wind mage, and he was probably not that strong. The reputation of Pi’ve had travelled far. Pi’ve had gone to the islands furthest away from mainland and rescued a forgotten king and brought him back to Thergiam. He had defied the rules of the wizarding society, and come victorious from the hearing, with Barna on his side. He had also seen him enter the home of Tiselle, which sat inside this very meeting.

  ’Move. Aside. Ask. I will not tell you again.’ Pi’ve said, his false confidence turning into real confidence. He had no skills or magic to make Ask do what he wanted, but he determinedly persuaded Ask to reluctantly let him pass.

  Ask stepped aside, his eyes avoiding Pi’ve’s as he walked up the stairs. He opened the door as the bell over the door rang, and he entered. There was a small antechamber before the room opened up, and inside, there was a long bar with stools going along. Inside, he could see that it was mostly empty, with just a few wizards sitting to the left side of the bar smoking their pipes and drinking tea. On the right side, there was a rope stretching from the bar over to the wall opposite, indicating that entry was prohibited.

  Pi’ve heard from around the wall, that some people were talking, and he confirmed that it was the right people when he heard Tiselle’s voice.

  ’— as long as it is not confirmed, I strongly advice against that…’ she said, and Pi’ve found a table close to the entrance. He could see the area where the meeting was held, but the wizard in the meeting was sitting behind the corner, so he could not see them. He was also seated far enough away so that he heard nothing of what they said.

  Pi’ve wondered where Murgun sat. Then the doorbell rang.