Chapter 13 The First Step in Gathering Intelligence

"Interesting, very interesting."

Lis murmured, finding the young girl named Ya'er rather strange. She clearly had the education of nobility based on her manners, but also gave off a sense of freedom and unrestraint, which was quite contradictory.

Moreover, when he had gently touched the girl's slender hand earlier, despite its well-maintained condition, he distinctly felt the toughness of her palms and the calluses formed from long-term use of weapons, which seemed inconsistent with her noble identity.

Furthermore, the young man who had left with her was none other than Arsen Hade, the youngest son of Duke Hade's family, that Mora had introduced to him. Arsen's cautious gaze and the subtle respectfulness toward the girl reflected Ya'er's extraordinary status.

Shaking his head, Lis decided not to dwell on these thoughts. Who knows? They might seldom meet again!

As for the Golden Shrimp Balls that the girl wanted to eat, well, if fate allows, then so be it!

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"Miss Ya'er, please don't do this next time. I was just going to greet someone, and in the blink of an eye, you were gone,"

Arsen Hade said somewhat helplessly to the girl beside him.

"Oh, I was hungry, and there were so many delicious things, I didn't go anywhere else!"

The young girl named Ya'er waved her hands cheerfully, not minding Arsen's tone of slight annoyance.

"Who was that with you just now?" Arsen asked, adding, "Lis gave me an unusual impression; he does not seem like those nobles keen on networking and indulgence. His unique aura makes him stand out in a crowd."

"He said his name was Lis Kain, apparently a very skilled chef!" Ya'er responded after a moment of thought.

"Lis Kain..." Arsen pondered, then dismissing the latter part of the statement, asked curiously, "The Viscount Kane? The homebound mage?"

"I don't know, but he is a very interesting person! He even said he will make me Golden Shrimp Balls in the future!"

"Shrimp Balls... Is that a dish?" Arsen was somewhat speechless, wondering how these things were connected. If it really is that viscount, although not one of the great nobles, he surely wouldn't be cooking, would he?

Ya'er paid no mind to Arsen's thoughts, humming a tune and tapping along the nighttime streets. Her fiery red dress bounced with each step, reflecting her spirited mood.

Arsen had no choice but to closely follow the young lady's steps. Even though Miss Ya'er's abilities far surpassed his own and she had magic items to disguise her appearance, he would still be accountable if someone carelessly bumped into her.

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Having finally finished giving farewells with his father, Mora had also completed the first dance with a shy noble lady, after which he stepped back, yielding his place and leaving the center of the dance floor.

Mora wore an affable smile on his face as he navigated through the crowd in the banquet hall, apparently looking for something.

"My word, I work so hard up there, and you're just hiding down here eating?"

Mora finally located Lis, who was tucked away in a corner, and from the look of his plate and the remnants of food, it was clear that he had stayed there the whole time.

"It's your birthday party, are you expecting me to go up and say a few words too?"

Lis was focused on devouring the chocolate vanilla ice cream that had just been served. The refreshing chill in the June heat must be due to either ice magic or an Ice Magic Stone—it was indeed lavish, but he liked it.

Mora gestured for a servant to bring him some food and gently sipped the golden champagne, exhaling deeply as he watched the lively scene before him.

"You know that celebrating my birthday is only part of it, the main reason is to provide an opportunity for socializing,"

"Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah...."

Lis simply couldn't be bothered with this guy, certain that if he didn't handle his business, this guy would start worrying about his guild going under.

"You rascal!" Mora punched Lis playfully, not using much strength.

"But it's really rare for you to come this time, it must be your first time attending our family's evening party, right?"

Lis recalled for a moment and indeed it was his first time; aside from the Royal Family's annual soirée which he couldn't escape, he never really attended any other parties, making the other nobles think him quite unsociable.

"Let's not talk about that, where is Bernie? I'm here and that guy isn't?"

"I heard he's caught up in a crucial moment in his research at the Magic Workshop of the school, too busy to leave. But he did send someone to inform me and even brought a gift."

Mora stretched out his hand to show Lis, wearing a ring on his right index finger embedded with a transparent gemstone, emitting a faint magic glow.

"Iron Armor Ring, enchanted with the fixed Three-Ring Iron Armor Technique, can be used three times a day, and the most valuable thing is it can activate automatically when in danger."

"That's thoughtful."

This protective ring was worth several hundred gold coins; Bernie must have gone through quite some effort to send such an expensive gift, knowing his own modest family background.

"And yours?" Mora asked blatantly, reaching out to Lis.

"Your surprise isn't ready yet, but it will definitely satisfy you," Lis spread his hands. He indeed had some ideas he wanted to implement with Mora and Bernie, but they were not yet ripe and would need some more time.

"Alright, I can wait a bit longer." Mora believed that Lis wouldn't just bluff him on this.

"I actually need a favor," Lis spoke to Mora.

"What do you need? New experimental equipment, Magic Ore, or a Magic Rune Scroll?" Mora replied nonchalantly, as Lis had previously asked him to buy such items.

"It's not about buying things; I need you to help me gather some information about Bright City, mainly about various price levels, unusual occurrences, things like that."

Lis considered his words carefully; he knew nothing about the mastermind behind the scenes, only that they planned to assassinate nobles including himself during the Sacrificial Festival in three months. He could only hope to glean some clues from Mora.

"Since when did you start caring about this sort of thing?" Mora looked at Lis with mild surprise.

"I have my uses," Lis didn't want to elaborate to Mora; after all, he couldn't say that he'd foreseen his own assassination in three months – that would be dismissed as nonsense and possibly alert the perpetrators.

Seeing Lis reluctant to elaborate, Mora stopped pressing. After all, helping a brother out wasn't a big deal, especially when it was just a small favor.

"Okay, I'll send you a summary of our guild's weekly intelligence reports, but only those that don't involve our guild's secrets. I'll keep an eye out for other information and will send it to you if anything comes up," Mora agreed.

"Thanks," Lis nodded, considering sending servants or guards to gather information, but that would be too inefficient; it was better to have Mora involved.

The Golden Vine Flower Commerce was a well-known large guild with a department specifically for gathering intelligence. Merchants cared greatly for all sorts of information, as ordinary details could hide great business opportunities and shimmering gold coins.

"Enough about that, look over there, that's the second daughter of Count Siani, a tempting rose. What do you think, interested?"

Mora was back to his old self, acting playfully improper.

Lis sighed, ashamed to associate with such a person.

"Wow, that's huge..."