The Miser

Ezra, Frederick and James were in a moving carriage going towards the part of the city where the miser was said to be staying.

*Click*

A door was unlocked as they left the carriage and entered a wooden building.

It was a restaurant on the outer ring. An establishment not too shabby but nothing special either.

They took a seat and ordered a plate, camly observing the situation as Ezra waited for the hidden gem to show himself.

A tall but lanky boy with brown hair came out the backdoor with wooden plates in his hands as he went to deliver it.

Ezra signaled Frederick to do as they had planned.

The boy in question was about to serve the plates when Fredrick came near him and whispered in his ear, before moving out with Ezra and James in tow.

The boy stood still for a few minutes as he hesitated, not knowing what it was that they wanted from him.

The man, Fredrick, only whispered into his ear "We would like to talk to you outside" before leaving.

He thought about anything bad he had done for someone to come looking for him, but nothing came to mind.

Then he wondered if it was a matter of years ago, but still nothing, because as far as he remembered, he was working in this restaurant for almost four years now.

So why did someone suddenly pop up and look for him?

Did they mistake him for someone else? Or someone incriminated him in something he knew nothing of?

Yet…there was no one to give him answers, and…

'If I don't go, I'll never know and it might make things worse…sigh…why is my life this way?' he thought as he left the plates on a table and went after those guys.

*Click*

He opened the door, only to come face to face with the same big old man who whispered in his ears.

His head churned with all the bad things that could happen as he gulped, but contrary to his expectations, the man simply turned around and said…

"Follow me" and walked on without even glancing back once.

I quickly followed after him because I knew he could have taken me by force and I wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it.

The man led me to a nearby tavern, before going to a table as a brown haired boy beckoned me from the moment I entered.

The big man sat along with one other boy whose clothes seemed far more decent than what I wore.

I looked at both boys, burning their faces in my mind as I tried to think where I may have met them before…but nothing came to mind.

I was rather inconspicuous as the tavern had enough people to make the place rowdy but not stuffy.

"Sit" the brown haired boy said and I did.

"H-Hello" I was stuttering because of the oppressive atmosphere, when the brown haired flashed a smile before saying…

"You don't have to be afraid, you haven't done anything wrong"

My heart calmed down a little as I asked the question bogging me…

"Then why am I here?"

"Because I heard about you and wish to give you an opportunity, and no, it's not something illegal"

"O-okay" I said before asking…

"Hmm, what do I call you?"

"Ah, sorry about that. I'm Kevin, the big man's John and the other boy is James. Alright we told you our names, what's yours?"

"It's Williams, Williams Hull, Sir Kevin" I said as he nodded before speaking…

"So Williams, let's just say I came to give you an offer to work for me, with sufficient pay of course"

"Hmm, what kind of work?" Williams asked, without stuttering this time.

"It's simple actually. I give you an assignment to carry out and you do so. Assignments like finding out how much mijnip bread is being sold in this city and what's the average price"

"That's it?" Williams asked bewildered, that wasn't too hard, especially for someone like him.

"It's far more than that, but you'll have to start from there first. You'll be given one silver once you're done"

At the mention of one silver coin, William's head abruptly jerked up as he asked…

"What if I already know the answer? I worked in that restaurant for years now, so it's fairly easy to find when I checked"

Kevin/Ezra's mouth revealed a grin before he answered the question.

"Naturally, you'll get the money. So tell me, what's the answer?"

"Only twenty-two bakeries make mijnip bread due to its cheap nature and easy processing. A few others substituted it with kavicot bread, which Is also cheap in nature but the processing is more stressful than mijnip. The five best restaurants in the outer ring also stopped selling it after Istrucan bread came into the market two years ago, which then allowed other cheap restaurants to start making mijnip bread, which increased the production and availability but reduced the market price by a substantial amount. It costs an average of twenty-two to twenty-five copper depending on the season and the yearly yield" Williams answered in one breath.

James and Fredrick only looked towards Williams with weird gazes, before turning even weirder gazes towards Ezra, who sighed in relief.

Truthfully, he was afraid that even if he found the young 'Miser', he wouldn't have developed an interest in money at this point in time, but…

'It's beyond my expectations'

That was the truth.

Ezra expected at most for the young 'Miser' to be someone who just loved money, as Ezra planned to groom him into something better than the 'Miser' of the future.

Yet, he had his mind blown knowing that even the young 'Miser' had a penchant for money and the market.

'It makes my job a whole lot easier' this is the first reason why he was happy.

The second was…

'If I get Sebastian at my side, the information that guy finds will allow this guy to shine like no other'

As Ezra thought of this, he was subconsciously rubbing his hands together in expectation. Because if he was right…

'The two might bring about something unique that didn't exist in my past life' Ezra thought, with his grin becoming ever wider.

A minute passed before Ezra pulled himself together and calmed his excited heart down.

The two might work well together, but there was more work needed to be done before such a thing could come into fruition.

Concluding his thoughts, he changed his thoughtful expression, as the first thing he saw was the weird gazes Frederick and James were giving him.

He was momentarily puzzled but quickly shook it off, before talking to Williams.

"Williams, do you know how to read and write?"

"Hmm, I know how to read a little but I can't right, because I can't see too well, my vision is sort of blurry"

Ezra facepalmed himself as he remembered…

'The miser used to wear a pair of glasses back then. I thought it was just typical fashion for him' he thought before saying…

"John, give him one silver"

To which John/Frederick flipped a silver coin into William's hand.

Walliams hastily caught it while James let out a small laugh, remembering himself just days ago.

"So what will it be, Williams? I have to tell you that you'll be taken somewhere else where you'll be given adequate resources to carry out your assignments".

Ezra said before pausing, allowing William's mind to reel in the meaning of those words.

"Where do you live?" Ezra asked.

"I live in a cottage with seven others"

"Is there anyone you want to bring along or say goodbye to?"

"Hmm, well, I'll have to say goodbye to the old chaps who allowed me to work in their restaurant and I'll pack some things from where I live"

"Hmm, okay. James, follow him and bring him back to the base once he's done" Ezra said, before getting to leave with Frederick in tow.

—-------------

Ezra and Fredrick arrived at the bar two hour later as they found that the repairs were almost done.

They went in and found the place stuffed.

It seemed Cabrera had returned, because the gang members were back, while the kids were also there after finishing their assignment.

Then you had the eighteen slaves Ezra had brought earlier today.

Ezra hastily went to meet Cabrera while Frederick waited outside.

*Click*

"Ah, you're here" Cabrera said.

"How did you know I was the one?" Ezra asked.

"I doubt there's any other kid that'll barge in without knocking" Cabrera said, giving Ezra 'the eye'.

Ezra only nodded at the accurate deduction and sat down, before going into business.

"Well…how was it?"

"Well, I have both good news and bad news"

"Bad new first"

"The gangs and guilds are starting to move"

"So soon?" Ezra found it suspicious, although he had expected it, this was definitely too soon!

'They couldn't have known about me beforehand, then…!' Ezra suddenly came to a realization as his eyes widened.

"So, that means we have rats in here" Ezra said as Cabrera nodded, before taking over.

"Exactly, I suspect we have a rat in the gang, maybe even multiple" Cabrera said as he had already come to the same conclusion.

"And the worst part is that they were spies from years ago, because we haven't really taken any new members in a long time" Cabrera said.

"Hmm, maybe this might actually be a good thing" Ezra said as plans were drafted in his mind.

"Ehh?" Cabrera couldn't understand his point.

"Listen carefully, the rats are their sources of information, so what happens when the rats have wrong information?" Ezra said as Cabrera nodded for him to continue.

"What I'm saying is, we just do things on a bigger scale. Which means that you'll have to give fragmented pieces of misleading information"

Cabrera: (☉｡☉)!

Cabrera's mouth formed a big 'O' at this moment.

"So you're saying…since we don't know who the rat is…we'll deceive everyone?"

"Exactly" Ezra answered.

"Hmm, I see" Cabrera said as they concluded that subject.

"Well, what's the good news?"

"Black Jaws has been registered as a G-rank guild"

"Hmm, that is good news. What about the new base? Have you found a suitable one?" Ezra asked.

"Yes…but they're all too expensive, we don't have such money" Cabrera answered.

"How much is the cheapest one?" Ezra asked.

"Eighty gold" Cabrera answered.

"How much remains on hand?" Ezra asked.

"Forty gold" Cabrera answered.

"Then it's time for you to visit the missionary"