A Flower Merchant (1)

A common thief sat in the corner of a local tavern somewhere in the Southern Peninsula.

He calls himself Kou.

Although the thief was often seen with a grin on his face, he seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today. He leaned against the wall with a wine bottle in his hand, listening to the conversation at the next table, where a group of merchants was seated. On his table, there were three more identical bottles, all of which were empty.

Assuming that he was too drunk to understand the significance of the conversation, the merchants carried on without a care.

One of the merchants said, "Clan Head Shin Minji of the Western Valleys is rumored to come to the Peninsula in three days."

Shin Minji was a famous mage across the five lands. She was the young mistress in the legend, the one who killed the sea witch.

She was also known as the Midnight Mage.

The title was earned on her own as a magic user, outside of her achievements during the witch hunt. 'Midnight' suited her as she was calm and mysterious, a genius mastermind, and stern but maintained harmony within her clan.

The thief grinned at the mention of her name.

Another merchant spoke, "She must be coming to trade the everlasting flowers. Maybe she will form an alliance with Clan Head Chen Rongguang to sail to Jiwana Isle."

Jiwana Isle.

An island that can't be found on any map.

And can't be found by any compass.

The island is said to always move along the waves, following an unpredictable path.

The dirt on that island is the only soil across the five lands where the everlasting flowers can bloom every 100 years. The ground blessed by the gods.

Yet another merchant joined, "Why would she form an alliance with Chen Rongguang? I thought she would work together with Evander Everhart."

Evander Everhart was another prominent figure in the mage world. He led the large-scale attack against the sea witch.

"That is impossible! They might have formed an alliance during the witch hunt, but both clan leaders are definitely striving to become the new deity. From now on, they are rivals."

"Who do you think will emerge as the new deity?"

"Shin Minji, no doubt, is the most powerful mage of our time. She dealt the final blow that caused the sea witch to cease to exist."

One of the merchants scoffed at the statement.

"Most powerful mage? She only managed to kill the witch because she had an advantage."

In the corner, the thief nimbly tapped on the last bottle of wine he had just emptied. He was intrigued by the flow of the conversation. Anyone of the mage world would be interested in hearing theories about how the witch hunt was succeeded. He, himself, dabbled a little in the practice of drawing power from spirits.

However, It wasn't the theories that interested him this time. It was more on the subject of Shin Minji herself.

Much like a drunkard who perks up his ears at the mention of a stunningly attractive noble woman. The lowest of scums.

A merchant chimed in, "What advantage?"

"Heh, did you forget? That witch was once just a servant! In fact, she was Shin Minji's personal attendant! Of course, the tricks and techniques of magic were taught by the ways of the Shin Clan. Shin Minji only succeeded in overpowering the witch because of her familiarity with the witch's movements and weaknesses!"

"That doesn't make the task easier! The sea witch was a prodigy, possibly with far more potential than the powerful mages of our time combined. I heard that within just a year of her rule over the seas, she sank over thousands… No… Tens of thousands of ships."

"That's why over five thousand mages joined the hunt. I should remind you that this army of mages was led by the clan leader of the East, Clan Head Evander Everhart of the Dragon Plains. While Shin Minji may have slain the sea witch, it was under his command! If anything, Evander Everhart is the most powerful mage currently. He shall become the new deity of our world!"

At this time, a loud uncontrollable laughter rang out from the corner where the thief sat.

"That bastard? Hahahahaha!"

He bent down to hold his stomach, laughing wildly as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing ever.

The merchants eyed him warily and were starting to get annoyed. They stayed silent because they knew about him. No merchant had never heard of this man.

The Lone Pirate. He was harmless and a complete idiot. 

However, his title was earned by raiding multiple ships, regardless of whether there were any mages on board. He looted the contents of a ship, leaving it wiped clean. The people on board were left unharmed, and the pirate was never seen with any crew. The raids were carried out single-handedly. Hence, the Lone Pirate.

He was also known as a con man, one that could strip you of all your worldly possessions, one that could isolate you from anyone's trust and leave you with debt. Truly a nightmare for merchants.

After his laughter died off, the thief stood up from his chair, placing another empty wine bottle on the table. 

The thief's height was shorter than the average man. He had a smaller build that accentuated his youth. His fingers were small and delicate, lightly tapping on the bottle. He also had a higher-pitched voice than most men. If no one knew anything about him, they might have guessed that he was just a boy.

He started to talk, his voice cocky and his tone mocking.

"You really think Evander is the most powerful mage? And to say so when you were on the subject of Minji-ya? What a joke! He might be powerful, but you can't possibly compare him to… Hey! Why are you all looking at me like that? Relax, I'm not going to do anything."

The merchants were on guard and kept their mouths shut. It was enough that he made them double check their belongings, but it was even more appalling that he addressed a powerful mage so affectionately.

"What do you know, you pirate! G-get out of here!"

"Thief," he corrected. "Not a pirate."

The thief approached their table. Before they could comprehend anything, his arms were grabbing the shoulders of the two closest merchants.

In a low voice, the thief spoke.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. Minji-ya would've been able to kill the witch even without the help of any mage. Only she could do so, and no one else."

Either his grin or his words had made the merchants shiver in fear.

"Anyway, don't kick me out so soon! I wanted to trade information. All of you are traveling merchants, yes? Specifically…"

He went around the table, stood behind another merchant and patted his shoulders. 

"You must be from the Northern Islands."

The other merchants felt their breaths stifled. The one with his shoulders entrapped by the thief had his eyes widened in shock.

"H-how did you know?"

He was wearing a regular merchant robe, one that was commonly found in the Southern Peninsula. Not even the other merchants could tell that he wasn't a local.

The thief happily answered him. One of his fingers tapped on the merchant's shoulder, counting all of his reasonings.

"Your accent is very subtle, but the polite tone with a lighter inflection at the end of every sentence is distinct from the northern dialect. When you eat, your hand is placed closer to the middle of the chopsticks, probably because you are used to smaller ones like what they have in the north. Earlier, you tried to trade trinkets and amulets; many of them had the Islander's styled patterns. Oh, and…"

He had noticed all those details even after drinking four bottles of wine and sitting in the dark corner.

The merchant sank defeatedly in his seat.

"What information do you want to trade?" he asked.

"It's nothing too hard. Not even top secret, classified, or confidential information. Here is the equivalent information I'm trading you with."

The thief had let go of his shoulders and walked around the table.

He cleared his throat, "Shin Minji coming to the Peninsula isn't a rumor. And it is not in three days. In fact, she's coming here today!"

The merchants were dumbfounded.

That information is useless! It was just gossip. What merchant would place value into this information?

So, it begs the question: what information of equal value did the thief need?

"A flower merchant."

"..."

"I just need to know if you come across a traveling flower merchant that recently just arrived from the Northern Islands."

Some of the merchants laughed.

"What traveling flower merchant? Why would a flower merchant need to travel? Hahahaha!"

It was reasonable to laugh because traveling flower merchants were unheard of. One can find any flower on any plains. Unless a merchant wanted to sell rare flowers that can only be found in the central plains, no merchant would travel just to sell flowers. 

"Perhaps you're looking for a traveling merchant of everlasting flowers? Dream on, thief!"

Without changing his smiling expression, the thief was insistent about the information he wanted.

"No, just a regular flower merchant. I told you the information is equal to the one I traded with. I just wanted to know if you know any traveling flower merchants from the north."

"Never seen one!"

The merchant from the Northern Islands shook his head. "I didn't encounter any flower merchants on my journey until I reached the Peninsula."

"No? …Tch."

The thief tugged on his hat and walked towards the counter.

"Then I'm leaving. Master, here's payment for the wine."

He fished out a money pouch and paid accordingly. As the merchants still laughed at him, he left the tavern.

One of the merchants eyed him as he walked out. His eyes still stared even after the doors were closed. Something was off.

The merchant thought that the money pouch the thief pulled out was suspiciously familiar. When he realized this, his laughter died down.

He aggressively patted his own body, his belt, his robes, and stuck his hands into his sleeves. He couldn't find what he was looking for.

"Stop laughing! Search your pockets!" he urged his friends.

Noticing his panic, the other merchants followed, searching their own robes and pockets only to find nothing in it.

"T-that bastard!"

"He took my pouch!"

"Why did you even let him near our table?!"

"You idiot! You let him touch you!"

Fortunately, the thief did not steal any trinkets he found useless. There was hope for the merchants to sell what was left and use it to pay the tavern master.

Even if the merchants were to go out and chase the thief, he would have been long gone.

On the streets of the Southern Peninsula, filled with merchants, traders, mages, and locals roaming around, the thief walked leisurely. he hummed, tossing the money pouch in his hands.

"A trade is a trade. Since you can't pay me with information, you have to pay with something else for the information I offered."

Amused, the thief grinned. He did gain information.

The traveling merchant from the Islands had just arrived in the Peninsula recently, but he didn't meet any flower merchants on his way.

Which means the flower merchant that the thief was looking for hasn't arrived yet.