In the blink of an eye, a day and a half passed.
Night, Leis City.
A Spider Web contact point disguised as a bankrupt shop.
Richard stood before the door and knocked. "Knock, knock, knock."
With a creak, the door opened a crack, and the young clerk he had met last time poked his head out.
Seeing that it was Richard, the other party immediately opened the door wider and let him in.
"Has the person who wanted to meet me arrived?" Richard asked, looking at the young clerk.
The young clerk shut the door first, then turned back and answered respectfully, "My lord, the person meeting with you arrived half an hour ago. He is waiting for you in Waterbird's office."
"All right." Richard nodded and followed the clerk forward, arriving at the room where he had met Waterbird last time.
Pulling aside the cloth curtain, he saw a gaunt old man in the room smiling at him. Sparse gray-white hair clung to the man's scalp like withered grass. He greeted, "Gray Raven, we meet again."
It was indeed Garcia, whom he had met in Saint Louis City.
"A pleasure." Richard nodded in reply.
"I heard that you came to Leis City this time looking for several rare ores. How did it go?" the gaunt old man asked warmly.
"Not bad," Richard replied. "I was lucky. I've already found all the ores I needed—though I spent a little money in the process, it doesn't matter."
"That's good."
"Earlier, Waterbird told me that you had something to discuss with me. What is it?" After exchanging a few simple words, Richard stopped beating around the bush and asked directly.
"Ahem." The gaunt old man, Garcia, cleared his throat. His expression turned serious as he looked over and said, "Gray Raven, actually,