Being an Information Broker Isn't Easy

Evening fell, and dusk hung heavy.

Goa Kingdom, Border Town, Pleasure Street.

Young women dressed in all manner of outfits, exposing their snow-white shoulders and long legs, standing prettily at shopfronts and bar entrances as they pulled out all the stops to lure in every man passing by.

No matter how the situation surrounding the king of Goa Kingdom changed, their work was never affected. The lower classes came to relieve their stress, the middle classes spent fortunes getting drunk, and the upper classes came seeking pleasure. Wherever there were men, they had business... This was Pleasure Street, a place that never changed.

A sailor-uniformed girl standing outside Enchanting Night Bar watched the activity around her, searching for new prey. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She hurried toward a hooded youth of seventeen or eighteen, affectionately hooked an arm around his shoulder, and seduced him in a voice sweet enough to melt his bones. "Big brother, come have some fun inside. There are lots of fun things here~"

Duen looked up at the bar's sign. "I'm not here to have fun."

The sailor-uniformed girl slid her right hand over Duen's chest and led him toward the bar, speaking in a coquettish tone. "How could you not be? Didn't you come here to toy with my heart?"

Duen grabbed the sailor-uniformed girl's wrist and stared at her from the corner of his eye. "Enchanting Night Bar. Jordan. I'm looking for him."

"Lord Jordan..." The sailor-uniformed girl froze slightly. "What do you want with him?"

"Can you lead the way?"

Duen pulled out a stack of Beli and stuffed it into the sailor-uniformed girl's ample cleavage. She looked down at the amount, and her face immediately lit up with delight. "I'll take you there right away."

Quite springy.

After only glancing down once, Duen shifted his gaze away and followed the girl into Enchanting Night Bar, which was filled with noisy, chaotic sounds.

Duen did not linger. After several twists and turns, he followed the sailor-uniformed girl to a quiet room, beside which stood a burly man in a black suit.

"Lord Jordan works in here. Whatever you need, please speak to him yourself."

After saying that, the girl stepped back and left.

Duen stood where he was for a moment. Only when the burly man extended a hand in invitation did he slowly push open the door and enter.

The room was very dim. Only an oil lamp on the desk illuminated an area of roughly one meter around it. A surprisingly young-looking man wearing sunglasses sat upright, examining the documents on the desk. Hearing the door open, he slowly raised his head.

Duen walked over and asked calmly, "I heard you can buy any intelligence on Goa Kingdom here?"

"Of course." Jordan raised a finger and pushed up his sunglasses.

"What color are the king's underwear today?"

"White."

"What about the princess's?"

"Gray."

"Very good." Duen nodded. "What about mine?"

Negative Emotion Points from Jordan +111...

Jordan's lips twitched slightly. He raised his eyes, which had been fixed on Duen's lower body. "There's no need for me to know something like that..."

Duen took out a stack of one hundred thousand Beli and pushed it across the desk toward Jordan. "I want the locations of every noble residence in High Town."

"Please wait a moment."

Jordan did not immediately put the Beli away. Instead, he stood and pulled a document from a nearby filing cabinet. Then he returned with his head lowered and placed it on the desk. "The layout of High Town and information on all the nobles are in here."

Duen picked up the document and quickly flipped through it page by page. Then he closed it and held it in his hand, turning to leave. "If there's a problem with this document, I'll come back."

"Be my guest." Jordan calmly sat back down in his chair.

"I have a few more questions." Duen suddenly thought of something and turned back, taking out ten thousand Beli and placing it on the desk. "How do you obtain this intelligence?"

"Business." Jordan propped his chin on both hands and answered with only two simple words.

"Why do you wear sunglasses? Are you blind?"

"So I won't clearly see the faces of you intelligence buyers. Information transactions must remain absolutely confidential."

"Do you sit here all day?"

"No. I'm not some bat accustomed to darkness. I go out and exercise."

"What about meals?"

"Someone brings them."

"What about taking a dump?"

Negative Emotion Points from Jordan +156...

Jordan's face darkened. "Enough. If you keep asking, it'll cost extra."

Duen pulled out another stack of Beli. "That's fine."

Negative Emotion Points from Jordan +199...

Jordan desperately wanted to take off his sunglasses and get a good look at this guy's face. What kind of person was bored enough to ask about such things?!

Who asked questions like that? Did having money make him so great?!

"I go out to take a dump."

Out of professional instinct, Jordan still answered seriously.

Duen had already turned away. He waved dismissively. "Who wants to hear about that?"

Negative Emotion Points from Jordan +88...

Jordan's forehead bulged with veins. He had never seen such an excessive client. Was this how someone toyed with people?! If not for professional ethics, he would have gone over and beaten this guy senseless!

The night was black as ink, and the cold moon hung like a hook.

Duen walked along the deserted Central Street. The heavy, conspicuous broadsword behind him had been left at Simon's home. Having prepared in advance, he had switched to a short, nimble dagger hidden at his waist. Draped in a black cloak, he blended perfectly into the night.

Compared with Border Town, Central Street had far more patrolling military police and much more frequent patrols, but it was still not enough to call the defenses tight.

Following the direction of the royal castle high above, Duen passed through Central Street and arrived beneath a high wall.

Goa Kingdom had two high walls: the outer wall separating Gray Terminal from Border Town, and the inner wall separating the commoner class from the noble class.

This inner wall surrounding High Town stood more than twenty meters tall. The gates, which closed punctually at night, kept all petty wrongdoers with ill intent outside. Goa Kingdom's nobles could live inside in peace, and this high wall served no small purpose.

Duen put the red nose from his chest onto his face, pulled white gloves onto both hands, and covered the lower half of his face with a mask. Seeing no one around, he looked up at the high wall, stepped onto Geppo, and rapidly leaped through the air.

In less than a minute, he reached the top of the wall.

Probably because Geppo's level or proficiency was insufficient, climbing up like this had cost Duen quite a bit of strength. After all, this inner wall was as high as a seven- or eight-story building. Stepping on intangible air was not so easy.

Duen crouched down and took in the entirety of High Town. Residences of varying heights stood packed closely together, while squads of patrolling military police crossed paths at street corners.

"The layout of High Town basically matches the intelligence Jordan gave me. Then... Bernal Joshua's residence should be to the southwest."

Duen glanced to the side, his figure flashed forward, and he quickly vanished into the night.

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