47 FOOL’S VENTURE

"I must admit, your hospitality is subpar compared to what I've been told," she said to the wide-eyed elf. "I guess that's fine though; after all, not many live up to their reputation."

She made her voice sound cheery; to appear unbothered; to hide the fact that she wanted to punch Sylphia in the mouth at that moment. However, as satisfying as the act would feel, that would only be in the short term. In the long run she would gain nothing and would be barred from this place, meaning she would have to search for a new broker with likely less repute.

"Now, as I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted," Sage continued just as the elf recovered and restored her stoic expression. She walked to the one-person sofa and invited herself to sit. Since Sylphia so blatantly tried to put her under an illusion, cordiality had sunk to the bare minimum. "I have need of your services. There is something I would like to find."

For an instant, after she sat down, a frown crossed Sylphia's lips; but it was gone in an instant. Quickly, a casual smile fell back upon her lips as she took a long drag from her ivory pipe and exhaled a massive cloud.

"What is it you would like me to find Lady Maverick?" Sylphia said the last part with an edge, hinting that she was not pleased with her conduct.

Sage leaned back for a few seconds, gathering mana and finally casting [Forbidden Zone]. All the while she had kept her eyes on Sylphia, whose expression turned to one of alert as she too tried to gather her mana. Unfortunately, whatever spell she was about to cast faltered and her mana scattered. The magic that was banned in the [Forbidden Zone] was Illusion.

As for the race… Sage chose to exclude elementals. Setting aside the fact that forbidding elves in the Zone would cause harm to Sylphia, which was not her aim; Kaylee would also be affected.

"No need to be on edge," She said when she saw the wary Sylphia sit up from her couch and prepared to jump to her feet. "There is no malice behind my [Forbidden Zone]. I merely wished to create a safe space where unpleasant abilities won't hinder us, for the sake of honesty."

The statement sent Sylphia up in embers. For a moment she looked like she was going to jump up, wrap her hands around Sage's throat and squeeze. In the end she seemed to retract the thought as she leaning back with a forced smile. She channelled her anger into her pipe, taking an exaggerated drag from it and letting out a thick cloud that smelled of jasmine.

"What is it you want me to find?" Sylphia asked casually. Her smile looked more genuine after taking a puff. Perhaps the herbs she was smoking had some stress-relieving quality.

Sage smiled behind her mask and leaned back into the sofa, it was really comfy.

"I would like to enlist your help in tracking down an Elixir of Rejuvenation."

As soon as the words left her mouth she heard a deep intake of breath from the side. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Kaylee, who had been trying to get to the unoccupied sofa, lose her footing. Then, with a beet-red face, the half-elf quickly got up and hurriedly sat on the sofa. Even so, when the embarrassment faded her expression still radiated shock.

Sage removed her eyes from her and returned them to the elf who wore an expression that was just as bewildered.

"This is the first time someone has requested something of this nature from me," Sylphia finally answered after staying silent for a long time. "It is a request I cannot fulfil."

"Why not?" Sage was puzzled. "I am only asking you to find the whereabouts of the Elixir, not to bring it to me. Surely it cannot be that difficult."

"It is not difficult at all," Sylphia replied. "One could even say it's quite easy. The only person capable of brewing the Elixirs is Tavina Ruuh, Grand Magister of the Ethereal Kingdom of Methos. That's one of the two great powers on the continent so her status is such that most rulers do not even qualify to make a request of her. Those who do however must pay an exorbitant fee equivalent to most nations' budgets." The woman scoffed at her before continuing. "Since it's clear where to find Magister Ruuh, you should go to Methos and request the Elixir."

Still leaning back, Sage took a deep unnecessary breath and gazed straight into the elf woman's eyes.

"I can assure you Madam Sylphia," she began. "If I had the coin to make such a request I would not be gracing your lovely establishment right now. What I seek are merely rumours of Elixirs found in the wilderness. It is common knowledge that when the Great Alchemist disappeared he left Elixirs all around Rekke. This type of information is what I seek, though I will not reject information about who the Grand Magister trades with."

Considering how much that hag charged she was probably the richest person in the entire world. It would take decades to amass the kind of wealth needed to purchases a single Elixir, and that was if Sage used her usual methods. In that time she would be able to ascend to Ultra Order dozens of times over. So no. The reason she came to a broker was to find an alternative path. Even if it was a rumour that was probably untrue, as long as it was related to the Elixir of Rejuvenation she was willing to hear it.

Sylphia pulled on her pipe once more before exhaling, this time releasing a sigh in the process. "First off I think I should tell you clearly that this is a fool's errand. Nothing will come of it. But if that's what you really want than who am I to refuse? Of course, before I begin collecting news and rumours I want us to sign a contract first so that no one doubts the terms of our agreement. When all the information I gather proves useless I do not want blame cast at my feet. I have no desire to see my reputation fall."

"Very well," Sage replied, standing up. "Then we can discuss the particulars of the agreement, including the fee, at another time."

"Oh! You're leaving already?"

Although Sylphia's face looked half shocked, half lamenting, something in her voice told Sage the elf happy to be rid of her. She even offered to call Talia to escort them out.

"No need to trouble yourself," Sage responded before casting [Dimension Door]. "This is much faster."

Then she stepped through with Kaylee trailing her. It was only after the portal closed that she exhaled in relief.

Dealing such people is a hassle, she thought to herself.

In her previous life she had dealt with a few information brokers and she could say with certainty she hated them. Their kind were like parasites, latching onto the smallest bit of news and selling it to the highest bidder. When you meet a broker you have to guard your expressions lest you give away information that could be detrimental to yourself. Sage was certain the disguise had already betrayed the reason she was looking for the Elixir of Rejuvenation. She was doubly sure that information would fall on someone else's lap in the next few days.

Hopefully she had not given much away; though she did not have much hope considering she met the woman together with Kaylee. Half-elves were quite rare, even rarer than elves. From the time since Sage came from down the Highlands Kaylee was the only one she had seen so far. With how she was dressed it was obvious Kaylee was a mercenary, meaning it would not be difficult to find out who she was by making a few enquiries.

"You are looking for an Elixir?" said person spoke up for the first time in a long time. She did not look like she had fully recovered from the shock of learning the reason she needed an information broker.

"Yeah," she admitted, pulling down her mask for a while.

Dusk had long fallen and the street that the portal dumped them in was basically empty. There was no one close enough to see her exposed face except for Kaylee.

"These scars catch more attention than I'd prefer to have," she said earnestly. "That's why I want to get rid of them."

"Oh," Kaylee responded, enlightened. A second later her expression darkened as she spoke. "I'd suggest you give up. It's been centuries since anyone found an Elixir in some ruin lying around. You would have better luck trying to find a drop of blood in the ocean.

"The whore mistress was right. Only a fool would expect something to come out of it."

"Thank you very much for those words of encouragement?" Sage replied sarcastically, covering herself up again. "I'll make sure to remember them when I begin my search. For now though, there is somewhere I need to be so excuse me."

For the second time she opened a [Dimension Door] and was about to walk through when Kaylee grabbed her arm.

"You want to leave me here without any money?" she demanded.

"You don't have money?" Sage asked, confused. "Then why give up your pay a while back?"

"To follow you obviously," Kaylee huffed in an almost self-righteous manner. "To make sure you pay back the money you stole."

Hearing this again, Sage sighed. The half-elf was starting to sound like a broken record. It was unfortunate she did not have time to argue with her. [Dimension Door] could not be open for longer than a minute and she did not want to cast the spell twice.

"Here," she said, putting two gold and five silvers in Kaylee's hand. "That's all I have for now."

For a second Kaylee looked happy to see the money, but her expression quickly returned to an angry one.

"You bitch!" she spat. "Didn't you say earlier you don't have money?"

"I didn't say that," Sage denied, pulling out of Kaylee's grasp. "My words were I haven't a copper on me."

Kaylee looked like she was going to retaliate with something, but in the end the only thing she ended up saying was, "Yooouuuu!"

By then Sage had already jumped through the portal, which shortly collapsed afterwards.

She had appeared in an empty alley of what looked like the Green District. The moment she appeared she felt eyes upon her, coming from the far side outside the alley. They belonged to her Familiar, who currently dwelt in the shadow of a mercenary dressed like a ninja.

Seeing him, a twisted smile wormed its way to her lips.