"The Ghost Empire..."
The Hanged Man, Alger, shook his head thoughtfully.
"There have always been plenty of rumors about various treasures at sea, but most of them come from pirates' and sailors' imaginations. They don't even qualify as hearsay."
"Perhaps an occasional rumor turns out to be true, but it's bound to be buried among the many false ones, and no one can tell which is which."
Cyril said thoughtfully:
"All you need to do is pay attention to whatever seems valuable to you. Whether it's useful or not doesn't matter; it still counts as part of the deal."
"No problem." Alger nodded slightly.
After a brief pause, he turned to look at Magician Fors.
"I've obtained the Deep Sea Spearfish blood. It costs 400 pounds."
Fors nodded, pained. "No problem. We can trade after the gathering."
That's 50 pounds more than I expected. My writing fees are already running low, and I still need the Spirit Eater's Stomach. Am I going to have to take out a bank loan?
No, the banks in Backlund wouldn't lend me that much. They have a credit assessment for everyone, and my report clearly wouldn't qualify me for such a large loan—unless someone guaranteed it.
As she pondered, she heard the Sun, Derrick, speak.
"Mr. Fate, Miss Magician, I can go hunt a Spirit Eater tomorrow and complete our agreed-upon trade."
Cyril smiled and nodded. "All right."
After Magician Fors nodded in reply, she couldn't help but groan inwardly.
...Sigh. The things you worry about really do have a way of happening. The two Beyonder materials I need have both come up at once. Now I really have to consider getting a loan.
*The bank is out of the question, but I could ask Viscount Glaint and Miss Audrey. They'd probably be willing