The man hidden in darkness, with his voice altered, asked,
"We welcome you again. What kind of information do you require?"
Yeah, of course you do. Sigh.
I was still confused until last night, but then I decided to claim the next nature force that complements Sixth Sense.
I told the hidden man,
"I want a detailed map of Adele Kingdom."
The man began to relay my request. Then, in silence and without motion, I waited—knowing that even the slightest sound or movement might become a commodity for the Information Guild after 12 hours.
You might think, Wouldn't many royal families find the Information Guild an eyesore?
Well, you see, not every client and not every request is treated the same in the guild's eyes. For example, if I, who am only asking for the second time, were to request information about a royal family, they would decline. So, it depends on who is asking and what they are asking for.
Of course, there are levels—some clients are VIP or VVIP, though they are named differently. For example, the highest level a client can reach is called "Night."
After half an hour, the hidden man received the information. He spoke,
"20 gold coins."
I asked, shocked,
"What!!! 20 gold coins for a map?"
The man replied calmly,
"You asked for a detailed map."
I grimaced but paid nonetheless.
The hidden man passed me the information, and I left. After reaching the inn, I laughed. Well, it's not like I can't feed them fake information too.
I was pretty sure I needed something even more detailed than what they provided, since my clearance was low. The most accurate map probably would have cost platinum coins. But some things fall under national security, after all.
Then I ordered some snacks to be delivered to my room, which arrived after a few minutes. While enjoying them, I started studying the map. It also included a few surrounding areas to better understand the locations.
The map was professionally compiled, with proper scales, symbols, and much more. Since different details couldn't be shown on the same sheet, there were many overlapping maps with strange symbols.
It was becoming a hassle—this was too professional. It was honestly beyond me. Maybe I should go and buy a book on how to make maps, so that I can understand how this one was made.
---
After 2 hours
I was now sitting upside down, wondering where to start. This was really getting out of hand. After thinking for a while, I decided to visit the Information Guild again and also ask for political and military information.
And so, once again, I found myself standing in front of the garment store. I went inside, gave the password, followed the employee, and entered a third room.
Really, I thought I'd get one of the previous rooms I had visited, but it was alright.
Again, a hidden man sat there with his voice altered. He inquired,
"Sir, we welcome you again. How may we be of help to you?"
I answered,
"I want all major political information of Adele Kingdom and its surrounding areas—especially concerning wars."
The man relayed the request and, within a minute, got a reply. He said,
"Sir, it will take one day. Please come back tomorrow. Also, submit 1 platinum coin in advance."
These people really are suckers.
I paid and left.
Then I finally decided—it had been a long time since I last contacted my uncle. So, I returned to the inn and sent a message. Soon I got a reply back:
"How are you, Adrian? I hope you are well. I have been busy selling. I have also sent more money—150 platinum coins, to be exact."
I was shocked. What's up with these rich people?
I replied that I was well and thanked him for the money.
Since I was free, let me explain transportation to you. You might know already, but it's my responsibility to explain.
Transportation is a nature force that transfers you from one point in space to another instantly. Now, many mages can use teleportation across kingdoms, so what about me?
Well, my range is only 4–5 km. If I concentrate and try my best, maybe 20 km after preparing for a full minute—but not more. Well preperation really means just concentrating afterall teleportation is immediate. You might think, Isn't that pitiful? Well, yes, it is.
But I have advantages too. I don't need to prepare beforehand—whereas mages usually need about a minute of preparation. Mages also can't take anyone with them, but I can take one person along.
If a barrier is placed in between, their teleportation would stop, or the location would shift drastically for mages. Mine, however, passes through anything and everything, no matter what.
And the best thing? Mages need mana proportional to the distance. I, on the other hand, use nature mana, which is almost infinite, so I can teleport as many times as I want.
After then, I rested my body—it hadn't been given proper rest in a long while.
---
The Next Day
I ate with the Claw members and then proceeded to the Information Guild. When I returned, I was told to wait for a few minutes. After waiting, I met the same man from yesterday and sat opposite him.
The man said,
"Good to see you, sir. We have compiled the information as accurately as possible. You need to pay 1 more platinum coin."
This time, I grimaced genuinely but paid.
The man handed me the information. As I was about to stand, he added,
"We have promoted you in our rankings. Now you are eligible for more detailed and higher-quality information."
I nodded and left.
So, they promoted me. Obvious, I guess. In fact, it would have been strange if they hadn't. Maybe I had received more detailed information than I originally would have.
But honestly, I was more worried about how I was supposed to process all this. No wonder the academy placed so much emphasis on theory. I had underestimated Adrian too much—this boy was truly something else.
Soon, I reached the inn, went to my room, and started reading.
There were no major attacks, but the army had been deployed to the west. It wasn't stated why—probably above my clearance. The western kingdom, under stress, had also deployed its army.
And then, Adele Kingdom recalled a powerhouse to the capital. Now, that was weird. Moving a powerhouse always triggered counter-movements from others.
In the first place, powerhouses were like chess pieces. There was rarely a direct clash due to the scale, but they were definitely used to deter one another.
Hmm… Adele Kingdom has three powerhouses. Impressive.
Alright, now I had to go to the southern region of Adele Kingdom. There were some tensions there too, due to a marriage dispute, but nothing I should worry about.
So, I decided to move tomorrow and take a detour, entering from the southeast of Adele Kingdom. Since I was currently in the west, the journey would be a little longer, but nothing could be done.
I could go over the forest that acted as a barrier between the southern kingdoms and Adele. Since there was nothing special about this forest, I hoped I wouldn't encounter any problems.
After deciding all that, I called Raven and explained my plan. I asked,
"Do you see any problems?"
He replied,
"No, everything looks good. I need some supplies; I'll buy them today."
I nodded.
---
The Next Day
We left the inn.
We boarded a carriage and soon exited the city.
There, I met Flash, who was waiting with a little blood on his face. Maybe he had hunted for food.
Well, we could clean that during the journey since water in this area was scarce anyway.
We soon started our journey, hoping it would be as uneventful as possible.
During our journey, which was expected to last about half a month, we passed through a huge mountain. When I asked Raven about it, he revealed that this was a tourist site where people came to pray for a stable home.
You see, in this world, many people have to move around constantly—just like I am now—but everyone wishes to settle down and live happily with their family. So, they come here seeking that blessing.
Though I don't really believe in such things, I thought I should at least visit once.
So, we all descended and asked around about what to do. We learned that we needed to visit a place called Rocky Park—though it wasn't really a park—and build a stable structure using five stones.
The challenge was that the rocks found there were so irregular that even balancing three was difficult. The process involved finding five of the most stable stones and stacking them carefully.
We all tried, and no wonder this place was a tourist attraction—it took us two hours just to manage it. People believe in these rituals more when they succeed through their own hard work.
This place combined belief and effort, which was the main reason behind its success.
Afterward, we continued our journey again.