"The duke couldn't do that?"
"I'm too valuable to send out"
John nods, it makes sense. Not every day that you have a 3rd circle mystic under you. Even a knight who trained all their life would be lucky to reach 1st by accident.
"Following the young master could lead me to encounter the guy I was after. While if I'm with the duke he would have me stay in the estate all day."
"Who are you trying to find?"
"I don't know his name but he had his distinct cross scar in the corner of his mouth."
After hearing the description, John thinks that he knows this guy but he isn't sure.
"I will try" John can't be concrete since the guy is hard to catch "Will you follow me?"
"That's more than enough, master"
The maid said with a firmer voice. John also felt that he could trust the maid more than before. A mystic with a defined goal is better than an uncontrol mystic.
Now only thing he needs to do is wait for the incident to blow over.
A few days later, John is walking with the maid, and Thia follows right behind him. They just got past a checking point of the Sun priest and traveled south into Duke Antores' territories.
Lmemore is split into 6 sections, controlled by the six dukes. stemming from old tradition they were called manor lords. Set up to split the power with a king. However, the king still holds the final say.
The 6 dukes control different sections of the city. With Duke Tudor controlling the northeast and Duke Antores controlling the Middle East. And between their territories, they have some hidden checkpoints where they have people stations to monitor the flow of people.
John picks a time when the priest has already given up to cross over to Duke Antores side. Whereas Plutu has significantly less power and the church is not all overbearing.
The main religion of this country is the sun church. That's why every Duke territory has at least one church. What is different is how much the Sun church power is in each duke's territory.
All of the duke is some kind of mystic but not all of them are from the sun church. Duke Antores is an example, he builds his mystic power on sword and honor. So the Sun church has no choice but to back down.
However, with less sun church there's also less divination. The main form of gathering information comes from less divine intervention and more of a detective. Duke antores knows his own territories like the palm of his hand.
But the duke is not omniscient, he couldn't deal with every pesky thief. If they were small enough and didn't cause disturbance, he would generally leave them be. John is visiting such a place.
Pynyn street. Located on the west of Duke Antores' territory. The second street that you would have to pass through to get to Ramos River flows through the center of the city. The Ramos River flows from the north into the east in an almost straight line. making it easy to split the territory.
However, John's destination wasn't there.
He took his time and asked around the place, hoping for some information. With a little asking around he was able to find his target.
On the Pynyn Street market area, there's a butcher shop located right at the corner of the street. Only locals know that this place. Rightfully so because this place didn't have any or any sign at the front. And the whole building isn't advertising anything through the window.
John and his party enter the building. A scent of blood hit their nose. Around them, the shop displayed many slaps of meat on the sheet. Most of them are fresh.
"Couldn't you go a bit lower?"
"Madam I would be selling at a loss."
When entering John could hear two people arguing. One was a middle-aged lady and the other was a well-fed butcher. They both were displeased about the deal they were getting.
"But it's still 4 coins higher than the last time I've come here."
"Madam, I know how you feel but I can't give you that price." The butcher holds firm about his price. "The hunting season for Elkut is over and I brought these in an auction. I guarantee you that you couldn't find a better piece of meat elsewhere with this price."
"Tch" The woman bit her lisp "I'll take 3 pounds of Elkut"
She presents the butcher with 2 stac and 20 coins. The butcher then went into his back shop and brought over a bag of the Elkut meat. The transaction went through the lady didn't seem happy when he left.
"Don't mind her" The butcher said "She's A bit sore after the price increase but there is no place better than mine."
"Nice store you have here"
"Yeah, been open since my father's times, about 25... No this would be 26 years. Serving local restaurants" The butter looks happy to talk about himself. He brought some meat that looked like a deer to the table and began taking off its feathers.
"Are Elkut out?"
"I only have about 2 pounds left. The hunting season just ended and we can't find Elkut in the winter. The restaurant would start switching to another dish in the meantime." With one swift motion, the butcher displays his mastery by cleanly separating the meat part. His fat body doesn't seem to hinder his movement at all.
"Could you sell me 138 ponds of Elkut?"
The butcher stops doing his job and looks up at the customer. three hooded figures that look suspicious want to use his service. Not every day that he gets this job.
"What do you want?"
What John said earlier was a signal. One could hardly make a living selling those meat at a barely profitable price. A second job needs to pay rent and selling fake ID happens to make a lot of money with minimal effort.
"I need three fake IDs"
"Custom or premade?"
"Do have have a catalog?"