Bharkas was composed of a unique structure made of wood. Mostly a dark oak but some where orange and yellow. Another thing was each house had some engraving or decoration in them.

  At least that's what Edric observed walking down town. With a hood over his head and contacts making his eyes a shade of blue. Provided by his red headed companion Kael, who is leading towards the west side of town.

  Apparently there's a bazaar with a good number of business establishments. Jewelers, weapon smith and food center.

  Back at the inn Kael selected a few items that they could sell. Anything that is either rare or involved a family crest was eliminated, after all they can't leave any unwanted trace. All that was left was daggers, jewels and pendants. Kael held on to two pendants, a gem stone and a white bladed dagger. A dagger enchanted with lightning affinity.

  “So do we just waltz in?” Edric asked Kael.

  Kael continued to maneuver the streets with a moderate pace. “ Pretty much, this guys will buy anything if it's good. But it won't be too easy. They're picking about quality. Fortunately we have the highest breed.”

  Edric nodded, but he wondered how the hell he knew so much. His only five year older than him. “ How the hell do you know so much? Like is there some university I don't know about”.

  They take a left turn around two buildings as a shortcut. “ Hah, you get used to traveling as much as I did. Trust me , there's always a common pattern . ”

  “ And I take it you were born with charisma”

  “ Hey, what can I say? Some things are just talent” Kael paused awkwardly mid sentence before speaking further. “ Some I got thanks to my dad.”

  His dad, I guess in the capital.

  “ My dad was respected but I wasn't exactly the most noble type. So he taught me how to blend in with the crowd. And pranking some noble stobs also helps.”

  Hearing him open up about his past was a first for Ed. But he didn't judge, in fact he felt relaxed. A friend in this world always helps. For a moment he debated whether to tell him about the reincarnation or the Isekai part. Then he noticed something…

  There's a notice board attached to the side of the pathway, interrogated to take a peek of the flyers. Some were related to work recruitment . Others were news pamphlets and at the bottom wanted posters…

  Edric begins scanning from left to right. The first bunch were either prisoners or bounty hunters. Then a familiar figure , drawn in black ink was a man with a staff unnamed but from the facial features- black hair, outfit and the engraved staff it was obvious it was Keal. Edric took a glare at Kael, who seemed impressed with the drawing.

  Then the next poster was a drawing of Aeris and nicknamed the silver flame. And then it was …. An awful caricature of him. Or at least that's what he thought. The outfit was the same as the one he wore but his build is way bigger than his and the face looked like an ogre. That brought a small chuckle, looks like he was safe. He looked around for Xantha but there was no poster left.

  “ Why the hell do you get the shit posture while I get the most accurate one?”

  “ Perhaps I'm just better at infiltration.” Edric let out a slight smirk, oozing out confidence with his chin up. Then he got a theory that might be true. “What if the governor doesnt want it to be public? Even you poster wasnt too accurate and you know atleasto one person knows you face.”

  Kael scratched his head. “He could have ordered some assassin’s or “ he turns towards Edric, in a very deep voice meant to scare. “We might be surrounded right now.”

  Edric twitched, chills ran down his spine, he turned left and right. Suspicious of everyone he observes carefully before— Kael pats his back, lays his hand over his shoulder.

  “Relax, I dont since anyone suspicious. Besides I dhoubht the guy who runs this place would allow that.”

  “You said that before but why? Does the mayor or whoverever incharge hates him.”

  They take another final turn towards the street. In the left and right various business lined up. Kael eyes a jewerlry store, indicated by a jewel symbol as well the pendants on display .

  “The mayor as a grudge with the guy. The presence of Magnus drives the traffic to his city down. Heard rumors about him being buillied by the Magnus mayor and general social heracrhy.”

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  “Hmm, this seems to be a good place.”

  With a swift motion, Kaels creaks open the door. Entering the jewel store Edric observed– workers in suits showing the various designs to customers, displays and displays of items and perhaps around five other people in the shop. At the cashier a man in his 40s who gave out a vibe of a collector. Kael walked with confidence towards the man.

  *Thud*

  Kael places a small gemstone on the cashier’s desk, he turned the stone at angle to cause the purple stone to shine brightly.

  “How much is it?”

  The cashier initially clicked his tongue in annoyance. But the shimmer and the rare precise cut of gems peeked his interest. With a slow precise motion he lift the stone towards his eye, he picks up a magnifying glass to observer more intently.

  “Where did you get this? Do you know how rare this stone is?”

  “What’s the price?”

  “Hmph, for a stone of this quality I would say 250 gold. Some might buy or 300 gold.” He pauses for a moment, debating something internally. “ if you would like to sell, I wouldbt mind buying it for 200gold. Trust me there isn’t anyone with more moeny to offer around these parts.”

  That’s it, the stone sold for 400 at the auction. This guys scamming us.

  Kael without a hint of hesitation. “270 gold”

  “220”

  “245”

  “Deal,” the cashier with a strong grin, shoke hands with Kael. “Please wait here for a moment sir, i will bring you the money shortly.”

  What the frick just happened?

  The cashier went to the backroom— a minute later he brings the bag with 245 gold precisely. Without a moment to waste Kael and Edric exited the establishment. Edric still felt scammed questioned Kael’s negotiation skills.

  “That was easy money.” Kael chuckled.

  “Not to burst your bubble but weren’t we just scammed. It go for 400 atleast.”

  “I know that, but tough luck finding anyone buying that much here. Unless you want to sell to nobles. I mean you know how much trouble that is. So unless someone is truly rich, we better of selling at a 50% discount.”

  “Make sense, but is it enough for us.”

  “More than enough, it could last for months.” Kael eyes the next establishment, across the street was a blacksmith. The sound of metal hitting metal became louder as they reached the door. They entered immediately greeted by the scent of sweat and hot metal coming from the backdoor.

  Arrays of weapons , armor and shields were lined up neatly in racks. To the far corner was the shop keeper, behind him the backdoor. From the gap between the curtains, Edric saw several burly men and furnaces.

  Just like the jeweler, Kael walked towards the counter and plopped the white dagger on the desk. Places the dagger neatly at the center and demanded the price.

  The shop owner, stared at the dagger in disinterest and back at Kael. “We don’t buy stuff from outsiders.”

  Kael in a tone loud enough to hear through the curtains, “You sure, a rare one of kind prectine dagger. Crafted from rare earth metal, fueled with mana stone and enchanted with electric magic. A dagger that is meant for a knight, a soldier , a fighter-”

  “Drop the flowerly language.” a deep growled voice echoed from the curtains. Than the source of the voice came out, a large man wearing an apron holding a hammer on his left hand entered. Without saying a word he came closer, took the dagger with his hand. He graced the blade gently, his eyes darted each and every corner of the blade.

  “This things legit Bob. can be worth it for a good price but we don’t have that kind a money”

  “How much do you have?”

  “150 gold maybe a little less.”

  “Than how about this, we sell it at 150 Plus free stuff for grabs.”

  Just like that another deal has been closed. Edric and Kael took their time getting a few armor pieces for all four of them. Some abdominal padding, knee guards, a crossbow and a set of arrows.

  They walked clinging to their pouch, the sounds of gold coins felt refreshing to the ear. Although Edric was a bit too scared of thieves to focus, he reassured himself on Kael's strength.

  “Where next, we got plenty of money and armor?”

  Kael stopped on his tracks, scanned the surroundings for anything useful. He then pointed his fingers in a direction, Edric looked forward to see a big tarp covering the top and inside a bazaar of small markets.

  “We might get some useful intel there,” Kael out the pouch in his coat , adjusted his hood and walked in keeping his head down low.

  The inside was more chaotic than Edric imagined– the small street was filled to the brim with people. Some mercenaries, others were guards and merchants, as well as a fair share of citizens. Edric's focus was all in tailing Kael, getting lost in this crowd wouldn't be much of a problem.

  Kael narrowly dodged the bustling crowd, shifting his weight he maneuvered through the crowd. He entered a tent , inside it was revealed to be a food court. With multiple tables to stand and rows of food options to choose from . The aroma of greasy food, steamed shell fish and many more hit Edric like a truck. Kael started surveying the surroundings and it looked almost as if he was checking out the menu. But Edric knew that wasn't it, they were here for information. It was obvious the congested room was filled with people from various trades– merchants, guards, lower nobles, workers and mercenaries. The close proximity makes eves dropping so much simpler.

  Edric looked around and then found a nice spot. The table was located near a group of guards, merchants and a fairly rich mercenary. He tapped Kael's shoulder , pointed at the table. Kael nodded went to grab some food after all you can't do nothing, Edric occupies the table in smooth pace. He gently rests his on hand on the creaky wodden table.

  Trying not to be obvious he leans ever so slightly towards the guards. They were a contrasting pair — one was built like a hippopotamus, his height was massive and his belly bluged through his armor sit. Meanwhile his buddy next to him was dapper to say the least. His looks were good, wide shoulder, V shaped body and lean muscle.

  Atleast we won't be chased by the big guy.

  The hippopotamus like gaurd spoke with a thick accent. “ Jerald is the reward true? You know about the crooks who caused the big boom at magnus”.

  Jerald hits the big guys belly, his first almost made a sink hole in his belly. “ Quite down, it's a secret you big ape. As for the reward I guess it's true. The wanted given to the guards were better but I don't know why but it feels like they held back information.”

  Kael had arrived at the table with a bowl of barbecued meat. He and Kael ate slowly as they continued to hear the conversation. The general gist of the situation is that the guards have been given a set of drawings and a reward for the criminals. It's supposedly better than the public one but it seems the guards are quite disinterested, more of the lack of trust from Magnus.

  To the side the merchants had their usual talk of business. The gates for Magnus have been opened, letting the trade go back to normal. Whether that was good news or bad news was up to debate. They finished their bowl in half an hour, then they slowly walked across the bazaar. Marinating in the influx of information, fortunately it seems the governor managed to crack down any unwanted rumors.

  Completing there task at hand, they head down to a alleyway through the tent. The main goal now is to get some items like potions, rations and medicines. Unfortainly it didn’t seem like it would go smoothly as the both of them had the feeling.

  Ever sense they exited the tarp… someones been following them.