Information Broker

"Ahh… That thing? Heard it was because of some cult."

"A cult?"

"Yeah, cult. Those weird religions ran by some weirdos."

"And where are they?"

"What, you think I'd tell you for free?"

Looks like that's the limit of the entrance fee.

Sebastian sighed.

This place was an information den whose sources, while accurate—were unknown even to big organizations like Blue Rose. Whenever Sebastian encountered a case that he couldn't solve, he would come here.

However, while it was jointly run by the information brokers and the owner of the den, they had separate rights for everything.

The entrance fee Sebastian paid was for the farthest room on the right, he could ask anything he wanted but the information given would be limited. If he asked about the attacks and the regular people gaining powers there, he'd only get a bit more information than Blue Rose can.

However, the door in front of that regular room was different. It was a room that couldn't be reserved and it had its own separate fee—the information broker's desire. It could be anything from a million Aur to the finest jewelry in the kingdom.

Sebastian leaned down and took out a bottle from his shadow.

"Wine from the lost kingdom of Meteo. Aged approximately 400 years."

"..."

The information broker gulped. He had expected Sebastian to ask him about the payment and he was going to ask for a lot of money in exchange. After all, he was slowly going broke from all of the expensive wine and beer he was drinking.

He rarely had customers, after all, his existence was known to only a few among the trade. However, he had confidence that he was the best. Everyone who had heard of him knew that fact as well. That was why he could ask for anything, and unless they didn't want the information anymore, they would comply.

Of course, he couldn't just demand an astronomical price. After all, his customers were still people, they didn't have the ability to get money on par with a kingdom. He planned to ask for around 5 million Aur this time so that it would last him half a year but…

"J-just some aged wine, why would that much be enough—"

Even if he wanted the wine really badly, he couldn't lose sight of his goal. At the very least one, no, just half a million was fine. After all, the wine had probably cost ten million by itself.

"I see. So it isn't enough…"

Sebastian slowly began to sink the wine into his shadow and the information broker panicked. He jumped from his seat.

"W-wait! Dear customer, can you please wait a second?!"

Sebastian began to sink the bottle faster sending the information broker into a frenzy.

"Alright alright! That's enough! Please give it to me!"

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"Tch."

The information broker clicked his tongue and received the bottle from Sebastian with trembling hands. It was as if he was holding the most precious treasure in the world in his hands—a treasure so fragile just the slightest mishap would break it.

After taking a whiff of the wine with a face full of smiles, the information broker made sure to hide the wine safely beside him. Then, he opened one of the drawers beside him and ruffled through the insides for a bit before taking out a leather parchment.

"I got this from some guy who came here a while back. Traded this in along with information, it seemed useful so I didn't throw it out."

The words written on the parchment weren't something the information broker could understand completely so he didn't exactly know what that said.

"I can't exactly read everything on it, but from what I can see, it seems like exactly what you want."

Sebastian took the parchment from his hands and began reading it in earnest. In his time in Blue Rose, he learned many languages, and using his ability, he managed to learn all of them to a fluent level.

However, there was one language that always seemed to evade him.

'The lost language of Tremor…'

It was a civilization in the distant past—beyond that of the annals of history. Other than tales and ruins, there was practically nothing of the civilization left. However, the most elusive of all its mysteries was its language. Though many had tried to decipher it, none could do so.

Even though more than two thousand years have passed since its destruction, those who could read bits and pieces of the language were few.

'Maybe he confused it for Quaelia's letters...'

Sebastian had personally been in one of the ruins and he had perceived it as an ancient ruin of Quaelia's ancestors before. However…

'He's right.'

It was exactly what Sebastian was looking for.

"How were you able to read what's on this?"

"I was taught by someone in the past, though I've mostly forgotten it now. In the end, he never really did teach me beyond a few dozen words. Probably didn't know either."

"I see…"

Sebastian stood up and shook the information broker's hand before leaving.

…

He quickly began decoding the parchment's contents in his office. Ainslie was sitting beside him with her head resting on both arms on top of the desk.

"...Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

Sebastian grimaced. Any regular person would turn their head away or at the very least, look from a little farther after hearing that but Ainslie was unperturbed.

After a few more seconds, Sebastian leaned back on his chair and sighed.

"What do you want?"

"What? I'm not allowed to watch my mentor work?"

"Do we have to go through this exchange each time you want something from me?"

Ainslie shrugged. She showed Sebastian her palm and then pointed at the center.

"Ever since I used my power yesterday, I've felt a strange tingling feeling on my hand."

"A tingling feeling? Like when you use your power?"

"Yes, but there doesn't seem to be any problem with my ability. I've used it several times after that but in the end, the tingling feeling never left or amplified. I asked Wisteria and the others but they didn't know… I would go to a doctor but it'd be faster if Mister were to know."

Sebastian stared at Ainslie's palm for a bit before his eyes traveled from her palm to her forearm, then to her shoulder. He poked Ainslie's palm and then traced his hand towards the path that he saw.

"Ouch…"

"You just need rest. Stop wielding the spear for a few days. And, if possible, don't use your left arm for anything other than what it has to do."

"Ugghh…"

"If you're unsatisfied, then just make sure this never happens again."

With that, Sebastian went back to reading the parchment. But, he only lasted a few seconds before widening his eyes.

"Ainslie, quick hand me a pen and paper from that desk!"

"E-eh? Alright…"

Though bewildered at first, she was used to his sudden changes in mood and quickly complied.

Immediately after receiving the pen and paper, Sebastian began to write the letters of Tremor that he could remember. Then, he took the meaning and found similar words in Quaelia's letters.

After he found ones that had the same meaning, he began writing them on top of each other and laughed aloud.

Ainslie looked at him in disdain. It was as if she was looking at a madman on the streets.

"You get so excited about the strangest things."

"It isn't strange to be excited about something like this, this is the discovery of the century!"

"Ehh…"

As always, she was unimpressed at things that weren't fun.

However, as excited Sebastian was, his work wasn't nearly done. As someone who knew Quaelia's lettering, he had to match each one of them with the document and from there, make his own meaning.

Ignoring Ainslie, Sebastian's hand never stopped gripping the pen. He deciphered some easier ones but some of them were difficult enough that it took him three to four tries, then six to seven tries.

After being unable to decipher one the words even after passing ten tries, he added another character and found the answer.

'If I combine this and that…'

In the end, he only finished after around three hours. Ainslie was watching him work the whole time, but she didn't break his concentration.

She liked how he looked when he was concentrating the most.

Ainslie thought to herself as the smile on her face never disappeared while watching Sebastian.

…

At the same time that he was decoding the letter, a rural village at the border of Alteria was in flames.

"P-please spare my child—!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

A man wearing a white cloak cut the pleading villager with his sword before he could finish speaking. The villager didn't even have time to scream before being cut down.

"Papa!"

There was a little girl with tears streaming down her face that yelled out from a few feet away.

"Run…"

The villager managed to utter with a hoarse voice before coughing up blood. He breathed his last breath without closing his eyes—looking at his daughter.

The little girl was overcome with fear and sadness but managed to turn around and run away. She looked to the side and saw her fellow villagers trying to fight back but it was futile, they got cut down one by one. People she had been with since she was born losing their lives left and right.

She tried to wipe her tears while running and ended up tripping. Looking behind her, she saw the man who killed his father approaching with his sword raised.

"Eek!"

The little girl tried her best to stand up but ended up falling back down. She looked down at her ankle that was in pain and tried to crawl away.

"I'll send you to meet your daddy soon~!"

With that, the man was about to cut down the little girl as well. The little girl closed her eyes in fear but after a few seconds of nothing happening, she opened her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

There, a knight stood and seeing that she couldn't stand, called for another knight and then turned to face the other attackers.

"Clean them all up by tonight, don't let a single one escape!"