Chapter 31: Complicated

After moving to Val Berry Street, it was slightly farther past Sanborn's fishing tackle store.

Right after Eula left, Nolan tied the scimitar at his waist and went out. Since his hunting bow and arrows were basically scrapped, and he didn't take a commission to clear monsters in the wilderness, he didn't need to bring them for now.

Today, the weather was less than ideal.

Nolan raised his head looking at the sky while walking between the streets and alleys. Hazy, neither clouds nor sun.

To save time Nolan jogged, overtaking a slowly moving carriage loaded with goods, attracting the curious gaze of the hat-wearing driver.

Nolan smiled back politely, then sped up a little.

After about ten-plus minutes, his body had just warmed up when the fishing shop came into view. The white-haired Sanborn was cleaning the storefront with a broom.

He didn't seem to have noticed Nolan arrive.

"Hi, Mr. Sanborn," Nolan called out in a calm tone from behind him.

Hearing the voice, Sanborn turned around with his broom. His eyes brightened as he said, "Oh, you're here, young adventurer from Liyue."

"Yes, I did say yesterday evening I'd accept your commission, heh heh."

Nolan laughed and replied.

"Oh..." Mentioning yesterday's matters made Sanborn sigh again. He leaned the broom against the wall by the door. "Please, come in. I'll explain in detail."

The two entered the counter inside the shop. Sanborn walked inside and told Nolan to wait a moment.

Sanborn took out a stack of paper documents from a drawer under the counter. He opened the silver metal clip and took out the top two pages.

He handed them to Nolan saying, "Take a look first."

Nolan reached out confusedly to accept them, not quite understanding what was going on. He stood and carefully looked over the written words.

Fruit Paste Bait: 30, 50,000 Mora;

Than Brand Basic Fishing Net: 5, 45,000 Mora;

Than Brand Bamboo Fishing Rod: 10 sets, 30,000 Mora;

Besides the above, there were also things like fish baskets, rain hats, raincoats, etc. It was a receipt for 550,000 Mora worth of goods.

There didn't seem to be anything strange about this at a glance.

Nolan looked at the second receipt. The goods were similarly common, but the prices were nearly 20% higher. For example, 30 Fruit Paste Bait went from 50,000 to 60,000 Mora.

The total even increased from 550,000 to 700,000 Mora.

And the two documents show that the date of these two shipments was just under two weeks ago.

The fishing industry in Mondstadt region, especially Mondstadt City, was far from prosperous compared to Liyue and Inazuma, after all, Cider Lake was limited.

So generally speaking, prices of related fishing goods should be relatively stable, and shouldn't rise so much in such a short time.

"Could it be someone profiting from this?" Nolan asked in surprise.

"I think... so." There was some silence in Sanborn's words. Then he moved the rest of the pile of receipts in front of him, pointing to the top one and saying, "This was the original price."

Nolan couldn't help but take a look at what he heard. Similar quantities, similar goods, yet the total expenditure was only around 400,000 Mora.

"Could it be that old friend of Mr. Sanborn's?"

Nolan recalled the one Sanborn sighed about yesterday evening.

As Sanborn put away the bills, he recounted:

"Back then, not long after I retired, my son suggested I open a fishing shop since I had nothing to do. I happily agreed."

"But my son was too busy, so I handled all the preparations myself. I didn't mind, rather I quite enjoyed the feeling of being busy again."

"My good friend Lucas was someone I got to know while looking for suppliers. He is one of the sales managers at Than Fishing Tools Factory. Our friendship was built over more than 10 years."

It was indeed quite a good old friend, after all, they had all known each other for more than a decade. Nolan thought silently in his mind.

"The first time the prices rose, I asked him what was going on. He said the factory's raw materials were robbed by monsters during transportation, so the price increase was temporary due to material shortage."

Sanborn continued to narrate:

"At that time, even though his words were flickering, I didn't care and believed him after all he was my old friend."

"The second time I felt it was odd. There's no way they would get robbed by monsters two times in a row right? With experience shouldn't they know to hire some capable adventurers as guards?

"Suspicious, I went and asked the employees at Than Factory. They said there was no notice of a price increase recently. That's when I knew the issue was with my old friend Lucas."

After listening, Nolan nodded and simply guessed:

"So Mr. Sanborn wants me to find evidence of this Lucas' wrongdoings?"

Sanborn patted his snowy white head and softly said:

"No, of course not. With so many years of friendship, I know Lucas very well. He is definitely not such a despicable man. He must have encountered an insurmountable hurdle in life."

"I don't want to directly interrogate him and make my old friend lose face. Young adventurer, what you need to do is help me investigate what exactly happened to him recently. If possible, please help him. I will give you satisfactory payment."

Nolan was somewhat surprised. He originally thought it was a simple script of finding evidence to catch the culprit, but it seemed rather complicated.

A cool breeze blew in, Nolan's hair tresses on his forehead moved lightly. Since the mood was brought to this point, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

"I see, Mr. Sanborn leave this matter to me. I'll try to investigate clearly for you."

Nolan revealed a smile and patted his chest promising.

"Mn, then I'll have to trouble you. I really don't want anything to happen to Lucas. He lives at 86 Dandelion Street. If you can't find him, try looking at Than Fishing Tools Factory."

Sanborn told him the situation, clearly much more relaxed with the wrinkles between his brows gone.

When he left Sanborn's fishing tackle store, Nolan glanced at the store's clock, 9:15 in the morning.

He didn't directly go to 86 Dandelion Street. After all, Lucas was probably at work right now as a sales manager at Than Fishing Tools Factory.

...Another twenty minutes or so of walking.

The only transportation that could be considered in Mondstadt City was carriages. There were also Wind Gliders, but a pilot license was needed to use them in public areas.

Obtaining a pilot's license was not easy, and generally, only adventurers had a strong need for it.

Nolan felt that he needed to get a pilot's license as soon as possible, or else it would be too troublesome to travel. Although Wind Gliders could only glide, needing to ascend high buildings beforehand,

their usefulness could not be denied.

Having been an adventurer for just a few days, Nolan already felt the pain of being unable to use waypoints.

(End of Chapter)

To be continued...

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