“Hey, young’uns!” The old man called out as they entered the inn. “Cassie, these two the little chicklings I’m talking about. They want to know about the situation in Quies.”

A middle-aged spritely woman popped up, her eyes glittering. “Business, eh?”

“Go lightly on them. They’re staying here for a long time,” the old man replied.

Claud nodded. “Around two seasons or so. This is…probably the best place for us to be. And the food here is excellent.”

“You two have a story, I see.” The woman brushed her crimson hair back, toying with a stray strand as she looked at Claud from head to toe. Directing that same, prying gaze at Lily, she hemmed and hawed a few times, and then folded her arms. “Interesting. And you know about us, apparently.”

“Friends in places,” Lily replied.

It would not do for them to talk about Schwarz to her, or for that matter, to any Profiteer. Neither Claud nor Lily had the intention of letting the others find out that they actually fled to Nihila Sovereignty, and they couldn’t quite discount the possibility of the Profiteers having a way to communicate across the barrier of the Moons. If they found out…

“We’re travelling nobles,” Claud replied. “It’s natural for us to find out many, many things.”

“Nobles?” Cassie’s eyes glittered, and then turned to the old man. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Ah, damn it.” The old man poured out a cup and handed it to her. “I didn’t want you to milk em, is there a problem?”

“With this cup?” She downed it with one gulp, before closing her eyes. “Nope, totally fine. We’re all cool here. Right, do you two want to be Profiteers too? There’s an introduction fee, sure, but since we’re all friends now, I’ll lower it a bit.”

“There’s still a fee?” Claud asked, his eyelid twitching.

“We’re Profiteers, not a charity organisation. But I like the way you think, little noble.” The woman nodded. “Thrifty, always ready to bargain, someone in high places…I’m wondering why your Profiteer friend didn’t bring you in.”

Probably because we kept forgetting about it. Claud, however, didn’t bring up that point and simply shrugged.

“Anyway, what are the benefits of being a Profiteer?” Lily asked. “I know that you people have a huge network and ability to monitor occurrences all over the continent, but in troubled times like this, that ability must have been curtailed, right?”

“You are a person after my own heart,” Cassie murmured. “Yes, you are right. Our ability to operate has been affected. Effectively, us Profiteers have been split into eight groups right now; the divisions created by the great Dark and the Moons have severed distinct territories in Grandis, Nihal and Lacheln.”

“Wait, there’s a war going on in the other areas too?”

“Yes. Nihal and Grandis have been split into three, while Lacheln is bisected into two halves.” Cassie fell silent. “But that’s all I can tell you.”

Lily paused for a moment, and then nodded to herself. “How much would this information cost?”

“Money, if you two aren’t Profiteers. Information will suffice if you two are, however,” said Cassie. “Us Profiteers have many ways of making money. One of them is through selling intelligence; we exchange intelligence with other Profiteers, and then sell them to the people who want it. It’s an easy way of making money…and a reason why so many of us run taverns, inns and bars.”

She turned to the old man and grinned.

“You’re also a Profiteer?” Claud asked, eyeing the old man.

“Moons take me if he were,” Cassie replied. “I’ve been trying to rope him in and everything, but he doesn’t want to pay the introduction fee. We can’t accept people without money; that’s how it is.”

“Why?” Claud asked, curious.

“Why, you ask…well, putting aside the fact that this is a transaction on the informational level, I myself am not too sure. It’s a tradition!” The woman smiled. “Anyway, if you want to ask about old traditions, Crone Pheles is the person to go to. Too bad she’s stuck in the Istrel Sovereignty, though.”

“Oh.” Claud rubbed his nose, more concerned about the fact that she had brought up another Profiteer in the Istrel Sovereignty.

“Something wrong, little chickling? I have all kinds of remedies for headaches; they’re very effective!”

“And expensive,” Claud completed. Ignoring Cassie’s laughter, he said, “What kind of introduction fee are we talking about here?”

“Oh, you’re interested. Nice. One thousand five hundred gold,” Cassie replied. “And that’s the discounted price already.”

Claud shifted his eyes to the old man, who nodded subtly back, but that motion hadn’t gone unnoticed by the Profiteer, who slapped her thigh.

“Yes, yes. You will make a perfect Profiteer, you money-grabbing little noble. Such a habit is good, good. To double-check, to be sure, to be cautious and paranoid…yes, yes. This is fine.” She produced a small metal plate and showed it to them. “Now, to pre-empt your question…this is an exclusive tool of the Profiteers, the Trading Board. It’s a communication tool that we exclusively use to exchange information and other commodities at cheaper prices.”

Claud, who was about to ask Cassie how she could induct them into the Profiteers, clamped his mouth shut.

“I know your reactions very well,” she replied, before turning her eyes to Lily, who looked as stifled as Claud felt inside. “Anyway, this is the key item for Profiteers. With it, you can transact information and arrange trades for unique, specific resources in other regions for similarly rare resources in yours.”

She paused. “However, providing information…you must be absolutely sincere in your knowledge. This artefact can read your heart. Any attempts to exploit this system by providing inaccurate information will be dealt with. Don’t worry. There’s a credibility system assigned for information like this.”

“Can read my heart?” Lily tilted her head.

“Or so I’m told.” The Profiteer grinned. “So? How about it?”

“We’re interested, but can we pay with lifestones?” Claud replied. “They’re more convenient to carry around than coins and notes.”

“Six of them for the two of you,” Cassie replied.

He took out six low-ranked lifestones and handed it over to Cassie. Most of Claud’s own stash was low and mid-ranked lifestones, since he could get Crown to filter out the impurities. Unfortunately, Lily’s little silver orb had no such function, so he had given her all the high and pure-ranked ones.

“Ooh. They’re in really high demand now, especially with the impending war. I’ll take it. And since you two are one of us now, I’ll throw in some free service.” She took out three metal plates and handed one each to Claud and Lily. Launching into a quick explanation of the Trading Board, she demonstrated the various functions and helped them bind their identity to those artefacts. Apparently, there was this account function, which apparently served as their identity in this network of Trading Boards.

“And that’s it. Any questions?”

Claud nodded. “Is there any way to make contact with Trading Boards in the areas blocked off by the barriers?”

“…No. Unfortunately. Right now, our news is coming from the battlegrounds in the three regions, areas like this,” she replied. “Are you worried about friends and family?”

Claud and Lily nodded.

“There’s no two ways about it, but from what we can tell so far, neither the great Dark nor the Moons have done anything like indiscriminate slaughter,” Carrie replied.

“The sacrifice to summon Moon Emissaries…”

“Sacrifice?” Carrie echoed.

Lily nodded. “But there’s a price involved, right? Can you tell us about something?”

“Ah, we’re now getting down to business.” She looked at Lily and Claud. “I think I chose you two well. Alright, let’s use the Trading Boards instead. Might as well walk you through the function. While it isn’t anything particularly impressive, you must remember that your information has to be accurate, or else your credibility will drop. Every successful trade would increase your credibility too, so I suppose I’m going to raise you two up a bit.”

After a simple demonstration how to initiate an exchange, Claud found himself wondering something. For some reason, the Trading Board looked a bit familiar to his Status, especially when it notified him of something like extra lifespan, dead Bearers of Destiny and new skills. He didn’t know why he thought that way, since one was metal and the other was…whatever intangible blue rectangles were made from, but the more he used it, the stronger that odd connection.

He glanced at Lily, whose brows were also furrowed up, but after a while, he decided not to say anything.

There would be time to ask things, especially in a more…anonymous fashion. Right now, they had to be careful with their identity. A single lapse, and the others might find out after six months that the two of them had arrived at Nihila.

He didn’t want to face such an awkward situation.

Turning his attention back to Cassie’s little lecture, Claud pricked his ears and paid full attention to the practical demonstration that was ongoing.