[648] The Way They Live (1)
Shirone and Rian left the city of Creas, tied their horses along the mountain road, and ate a late lunch.
"This is good."
Unlike Amy's carefully made rice balls, Tess's lunchbox felt more like a field ration, but both of them were satisfied.
"By the way, where are we heading now?"
A late question, but Rian was willing to follow Shirone anywhere, so the destination didn't matter much to him.
The advantage over serving as a squire was that Shirone actually used his head, and true to form he spoke up easily.
"To be honest, finding Ra on our own seems impossible."
Shirone spread the world map they'd taken from the Ozent family.
There were already seventy places labeled nations, and if you counted tribal lands and other races' territories, it would take a lifetime to travel the whole world.
"Is she of royal blood? They said that woman is part of the royal family, right? Searching should be easier for her than for us."
"Yeah. But it's not like we have nowhere to turn."
Shirone's contacts, built between the academy and Heaven, were considerable even if they didn't match royal resources.
"For starters, there's Miro. Or maybe Miro has already met Ra."
"But the point is we don't even know where Miro is, right? How about Teraze? At least if we go there we could meet someone."
If it was Kashan, its intelligence network wouldn't fall short of Jincheon's.
"Yeah. Depending on the situation we might have to ask for help. But it's too far to do anything about right now."
Rian studied the map.
The world could be divided into four great regions: the Arctic with the Ivory Tower, the continent where kingdoms cluster, the East across the Atlantic, and the Southern Lands straddling the equator below the East.
The continent was the largest, shaped like a sigma ∑, embracing the Atlantic and the South Pacific.
It split into the Northern Continent, Central Continent, Southern Continent, and Middle East. Shirone's homeland, Tormia, was one of the Central Continent's 21 kingdoms, positioned toward the South Pacific.
"Kashan's on the Northern Continent, so..."
The Northern Continent belonged solely to the Empire; Kashan and Gustaf shared a border.
"Even if we headed north from Vashka, we'd still have to pass Yakma, Kazra, Peris, Baiden, and the Zaive Kingdom. That's a long way."
Just thinking about it made them dizzy.
There was no time limit to the test, but judging by their rivals' skills, they'd probably need to find Ra within a year to have a chance.
Shirone said, "Trying to find Ra outright is too vague. My plan is to first visit the magic school Ra graduated from."
"Ah."
At a school they could at least check basic records.
"But we don't even know which school Ra graduated from."
"That's why we're heading to the capital. There's someone who knows for sure."
"Who?"
"Scout Baikal."
Shirone stood, thinking he could ask Plu for help.
"Let's go. Sleep one night in Kentra; we should reach the capital by tomorrow."
After four hours in the saddle they reached Kentra, left their horses at the stable, and entered the town.
A livestock town through and through, cowboys were everywhere. Unlike Creas, which had many proper young ladies, this place buzzed with rowdy, mischievous women.
'Shiina said she met Kuan here.'
Recalling Heaven like a faint dream, they went looking for the mage guild.
"The Silvering Guild."
Shirone read the sign and explained to Rian. "I've got an unlicensed mage certificate now, so I can use the guild."
"But do you think we'll find information about Ra here?"
It seemed unlikely a provincial guild would know something the Ivory Tower couldn't.
"It'll probably be tough. But no harm in trying. They do lodging, so let's stay here tonight."
It was winter, the sun had already set, and it was cold, so Rian followed Shirone without complaint.
They stepped into a cozy hall lit by torches. Mages read at tables or played chess; some were already drunk and sleeping face-down.
A stairway led to a second floor, and a counter ran along the way.
"Welcome. The Silvering Guild—mages' refuge."
The woman at the counter rose, giving a businesslike greeting.
"Oh?"
When two younger-than-expected people appeared, she watched them with interest.
"You two—are you mages?"
"No. I'm the only mage. This is my friend."
Rian added, "I'm a swordsman."
Noticing the greatsword strapped to his back, she nodded. "Right. I'm Estera, manager of the Silvering Guild. How can I help?"
"We wanted lodging."
"Huh? Is this your first time at a guild?"
Shirone nodded honestly. "Yes, it is."
"I thought so. Lodging is free for guild members, so outsiders can't use it. Why not join the Silvering Guild now? Being a mage brings a lot of conveniences."
Even with only an unlicensed certificate, a mage could earn a living and gather information, so joining a guild was practically essential.
"Hmm."
As tales from the Parrot Mercenary Corps showed, the more the Magic Association dominated a kingdom, the fewer famous independent guilds existed. Still, Shirone's research had shown Silvering to be one of Tormia's three nationwide guilds alongside War Chariot and Bloodrose.
They had branches across the region and handled many tasks, so the offer wasn't bad—though Shirone planned to leave Tormia, so joining had little advantage.
"I'm not ready to join a guild yet."
"Hoho, hesitant, are you? Don't worry. Silvering lets people join and leave freely."
The guild's goal was expansion, and free membership was a strategy to gather personnel fast.
'Free membership, huh.'
Free lodging sounded tempting, but Shirone stayed cautious. "I'll think about it a bit more."
The moment he said that, Rian's expression hardened. They could feel fierce hostility from the mages in the hall.
They were likely all Silvering members, and seeing a new graduate dismiss their guild would not sit well.
Estera felt the same inside, but as a practiced manager she showed no change. "Fine. Do as you like. The Silvering Guild's doors are always open."
They ended up lodging elsewhere, but since they were already there Shirone asked, "I heard the guild can get all sorts of information."
Estera's entrepreneur's eyes lit up. "Of course. It costs, though. What are you looking for?"
Shirone glanced at Rian. "Do you have any information on someone named Ra Enemi?"
There wasn't much else to ask.
"Ra Enemi?"
Estera tilted her head, then smiled as if she'd thought of something and raised a finger. "One gold."
"What?"
Shirone blinked, stunned. "You just asked if there's information on Ra Enemi. To hear whether we have anything, you pay one gold."
"Pay money just to know whether information exists?"
Absurd, but that was guild economics. "Everything passing through the guild is money. We might tell members for free, but nothing's free for outsiders."
Laughter rose around the hall. "Callow kids. Go ask your mother if you want free things."
Rian just crossed his arms and narrowed one eye.
'What do you want to do, Shirone?'
His black, nonjudgmental philosophy applied here too. 'Right now we've got 300 gold.'
On paper it was a lot, but considering the journey ahead it wasn't huge. Besides, was the one-gold fee standard—or a sly punishment from Estera for hesitating?
"One gold. I'll pay."
Shirone handed over the coin. If he didn't clear things up when the chance came, he might make mistakes later.
Estera seemed surprised someone would pay so readily, but she took the clinking coin without hesitation. "Now tell me. Do we have information on Ra Enemi?"
She snapped the coin and answered briefly. "Yes."
"Really?"
Shirone's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
"You know what happens to people who cheat around here, right? Wait at the table. I'll sort it out."
As Estera went into the records room, Shirone looked around the hall.
Unlike Association types, these were rough-looking mages watching them: one with an eyepatch, one missing a right arm, another's face scarred—just their appearances hinted at hard lives.
A guild worker brought them tea when they sat down. Shirone sipped, still puzzled: how could a provincial guild have information on Ra Enemi?
"Hey, kid."
The one-eyed mage called. "You're a Magic Academy graduate, right?"
"Yes. But—"
"Heh. I could tell. It's written on your face. What do you expect to get from a pathetic guild like this? But listen: this place isn't as easy as you think. If you act entitled because you graduated, you'll get nowhere."
Shirone listened without replying. If Silvering did have information on Ra Enemi, he might have to overhaul his plan.
After an hour of being sneered at, Estera called them back to the counter. "Did you find anything?"
She produced twenty-seven cards, the Silvering mark printed on the back. "These are information cards. Most guilds trade information like this, even if their marks differ."
Once information is confirmed it loses value, so they needed a special medium for monetary trade.
"All of these cards are about Ra Enemi?"
There were more than Shirone expected.
"Yes. Anything with the keyword Ra Enemi. Accuracy: 100%."
"How much?"
Without hesitation, Estera smiled. "Two gold each."
Buying all twenty-seven would cost fifty-four gold.
"That's expensive."
"No—you're lucky. All twenty-seven are in a 'pure' state."
Estera explained, "These pieces of information were bought from sources. If you give a keyword, we sell everything that contains it."
This system let intangible information be traded like shop goods.
"Think of the one gold you paid as a keyword fee. 'Pure' means no one's viewed it yet."
Using view count as a metric made sense because people assign different value to the same information.
"But how can we trust that?"
"There's no proof, of course. So price differences aren't huge. Unviewed info is two gold. Viewed once is one gold fifty silver. Overviewed to the point it has no security value sells for one gold."
Shirone thought a moment, then put down two gold. "I'll buy just one for now."
"All right. Which one?"
"The very last one."
Whoever transcribed a stack often put the most important detail at the end, so that seemed the best bet.
"Good choice. Be careful no one sees it."
Shirone snatched the card, checked the front, and couldn't look away.
'So this is how the world works...'
Under the information provider's name, a single line was written.
- Ra Enemi is presumed to be male.