Unfathomable

"Lord Soros, where are you planning to go?" Bernard stepped forward and asked.

Raymond answered bluntly, "I need to find an inn, have a hearty meal of local specialties, and rest for the night in the best room available. Also, this fellow needs to send a message and have his men gather the ransom."

"If that is all, you can leave the arrangements entirely to me. My name is Aipuke, and I am the leader of a Thieves' Guild in Calimport." The bald, fat man hurriedly seized the opportunity to introduce himself.

Although Calimport had quite a large number of Arcane Magic users, with nearly half of the royal guards being wizards or Sorcerers,

they were all under the control of the authorities and the royal family.

It was quite difficult for underground organizations with criminal characteristics, such as Thieves' Guilds, to recruit a powerful spellcaster.

Generally speaking, only lowly wizards would give up further study and exploration of profound magical knowledge to serve the leaders of Thieves' Guilds.

Aipuke had a wizard under his command capable of casting third-circle Arcane Magic, so he knew very well just how astonishingly powerful high-level spellcasters could be at critical moments.

To say nothing else, Bernard's description of raising over a hundred undead at once was enough to directly alter and overturn the outcome of a Guild War.

Therefore, he wanted to use this opportunity to see whether he could build a closer relationship and find himself a new ally.

"Oh? Is that all right? It won't be too much trouble?"

Raymond deliberately blinked with an innocent, clueless expression.

He was no fool. Naturally, he had seen through the bald fat man's intentions.

But it did not matter.

Raymond had never planned to stay in Calimport for long anyway.

Once he received the ransom, he would head north.

First, he would visit Amn to see whether he could help Bernard resolve the issue of inheriting the merchant association, then go to Candlekeep or Waterdeep to study magic.

"No! Of course not! It is my honor to make the acquaintance of such a powerful spellcaster as yourself. Besides, Captain Bloodhand and I are old friends."

As he spoke, Aipuke turned his gaze toward Harlett, who looked dejected and reeked of sour sweat.

Harlett rolled his eyes irritably. "Don't make it sound so intimate. At most, we have used each other. We are hardly friends."

"That truly breaks my heart."

Aipuke clutched his chest and put on an utterly heartbroken expression.

But soon, he could not help bursting into laughter as he teased, "Still, you really are a sorry sight right now! Hahahaha!"

Faced with the mockery of an old acquaintance, Harlett was so furious that smoke practically rose from his seven orifices. He cursed in rage, "Damn it! Laugh all you want, you bastard! Your time to cry will come.

Just wait and see. I will make a comeback soon enough.

Oh, right. Help me deliver a message.

Tell Eric to bring enough gold coins, along with every book and scroll in my collection, to Calimport to ransom me.

You know how to contact him."

"Don't worry. I'll pass the message along for you, free of charge."

Aipuke agreed without the slightest hesitation.

That alone showed that their relationship was far better than they had just made it appear.

At the very least, the Thieves' Guild leader had no intention of kicking Harlett while he was down, much less capturing him after the ransom was paid and sending him to Amn for the bounty.

After paying the dock officials the port fee, mooring fee, and a small bribe to make them completely ignore the contraband among the cargo, the group finally left the noisy, foul-smelling docks and entrusted the ship to over a dozen Thieves' Guild enforcers.

After passing through several bustling main streets crowded with people, Aipuke soon stopped in front of an inn called the Happy Time Inn.

Through the half-closed door, they could vaguely hear music from within, along with the excited shrieks and cheers of the patrons.

The moment he pushed the door open himself and stepped inside, the previously lively atmosphere abruptly fell silent.

Raymond could even see the woman dancing atop a table in a gauzy veil tense every muscle in her body in an instant, freezing in place and not daring to move.

The patrons who had been excited a second ago also shut their mouths and sat down quietly, as though by mutual agreement.

Because everyone knew that the bald fat man who had entered, along with his Thieves' Guild, were the true rulers of this street, holding everyone's lives and fates in their hands.

Without a doubt!

This was the intimidating effect brought by power.

It was also what the dozen or so Thieves' Guilds of Calimport schemed and slaughtered one another over, no matter the cost.

Aipuke clearly enjoyed this scene immensely. He deliberately slowed his pace, taking a full half minute to reach the owner behind the bar before giving a blunt order. "I will be using the second floor to entertain several important guests. You have three minutes to clear out the entire floor, then have the cooks stop what they are doing and prepare their finest dishes for me."

"U-understood! Please rest assured, I'll arrange it immediately."

The owner, who appeared to be in his fifties, was obviously terrified. He hurried upstairs at a run and unceremoniously drove out all the diners, without even collecting payment for their meals.

At the same time, the male employee responsible for serving dishes slipped into the kitchen and informed the busy cooks that the guild leader's demands were to be met first.

The entire process was filled with an efficiency beyond words.

In just around fifteen minutes, the group was seated around a table by the second-floor window, sampling the inn's signature dishes while watching the bustling street below.

Aipuke even summoned the dancer from downstairs to feed Harlett, who was unable to eat on his own.

During the meal, Bernard, Aipuke, and even the captive Harlett secretly observed Raymond's eating movements, habits, and reactions to dishes made from different flavors and ingredients.

From these details, they wanted to determine where in Faerun this ever-unfathomable "necromancer" came from, whether he had received education in etiquette, and what preferences or weaknesses could be exploited.

But unfortunately, Raymond's performance was nearly flawless.

As for dining etiquette, he had received professional training back on Earth, and the way he used his knife, fork, and spoon was pleasing to the eye.

Throughout the meal, he neither touched the food with his fingers nor allowed any soup to remain at the corners of his mouth.

He also carefully kept the communal utensils entirely separate from his own, eliminating all possible direct contact.

Not only that!

After finishing, he had the server soak the used utensils, bowls, plates, and other tableware in boiling water for disinfection.

His elegant bearing and movements, coupled with hygiene habits that made one's scalp tingle, left even Harlett, who had been born a noble, unable to resist feeling somewhat inferior.

In the pirate captain's eyes, the manners Raymond displayed would not have been the least bit improper even at a royal court banquet.

Beyond that, no matter what flavors or ingredients appeared in the dishes, his expression remained perfectly normal, without the slightest surprise, delight, or similar reaction.

Many dishes that others considered delicious were never touched a second time after he had tasted them, clearly because he found them unpalatable.

Even dishes loaded with expensive spices and seasonings were no exception.

One had to know that in Faerûn, spices were genuine luxuries.

A small pouch of relatively expensive spices could equal the total earnings an ordinary person would make in half a month or even a full month without spending a single coin.

Those who could regularly eat spices absolutely belonged to the nobility or the wealthy class.

Putting all of this together, the three secret observers could basically conclude that Raymond not only came from an exceptionally privileged background,

but also had extraordinarily high standards for food quality, almost to the point of being harsh.

What they did not know was that the dishes Raymond refused to eat tasted bizarre solely because the cooks had thrown in spices at random, making them completely unsuited to the palate of a modern Earthling.