Iris had been disturbed when Aaron had called for her to come to the construction site as quickly as possible. He seemed like a normal man so often, that when he casually mentioned he had murdered a mage of all people without any remorse or change in mood, it had really affected her. She had known who he was, but when she dealt with him it was easy to forget. In many ways Aaron was exactly like the people from the red-light district. They were ruthless and merciless when necessary, but kept the peace otherwise. Aaron killing people was old news, but it had still been the first one since she had started working for him.

Back in town she went straight to Mars. Her new status meant she could simply walk into the alchemists guild hall and go up to his office without anyone barring her way. Tex, Mars secretary, looked up when she entered.

"Good day, Miss Baker. What can I do for you?"

"I need to speak to Mars."

"Apologies, but master Ventros is in a meeting with other guild officials. You can leave a message if you like." he lowered his tone. "I can assure you absolute discretion."

Iris hesitated, but she had so much to do, she could not just sit around and wait here all day.

"My contact wants to give Mars a message." Tex seemed not surprised at that and pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and dipped a pen into an inkwell before he looked up expectantly.

"He had an...altercation with a mage earlier today after which he kidnapped the man. Sadly there were people who saw this as it was in public. The mage has been...taken care of. He said he was doing this as part of red-light district business and he wants you to know about this and be prepared of any fallout."

Tex kept writing diligently, although he halted at the words taken care of and public.

"Anything else?"

"Yes, he said that it could be a debt collection that went wrong, as in the mage managed to flee into the wilderness. Apparently wolves got him."Iris said with distaste. "Oh and the mage apparently had a grudge from another life with...him. That is the reason the fight happened in the first place."

"Okay, we will see what the public thinks and prepare, thank you for bringing this to us."

"That is what I am there for." Iris said and then answered any questions Tex had for her for what felt like hours, but it must have been not more than 15 minutes in the end. When she finally emerged from the alchemists guild hall she went straight towards the warehouse she had established for Aaron's things.

She took the next hour to sort through the supplies and pull together a climbing kit. She had never done this before and so she sought help from a former climber who now worked as a porter/bodyguard. You hired him when you wanted something delivered securely and quickly. Aaron's compensation had always been generous and so she did not hesitate to splurge. Besides the man's expertise was valuable to her, who had no idea what you need on a Climb.

In the end it was basic tools, a pan, a hunting knife, a metal cup, a manastone stove and some clothes. Then she added spices, a tent and a sleeping roll to the order. The Porter insisted on some potions and Iris put some more clothes into the order considering how damaged Aaron's clothes had looked last time she had seen him. Last but not least some rations that would keep for a few months. That done, the porter went on his way out of town to deliver the goods to the construction site with her orders to store it safely until Aaron picked it up.

On her next stop she went over to the tailor for the really good outfits and told them to hurry a few up so they would be ready tomorrow.

It was late afternoon when she got a breather and ate a small snack at one of the many roadside stalls. Strangely all she was doing now was logistics, facilitating things. It was very different from the work she had done before, but not so different from organizing caravans to take young girls and protect them until they reached Ambition. She had rarely thought of her vice since she had started working for Aaron. She was making good money now, but of course it could be better. The working hours were much better, that was for sure. She did not need to work through the night and for the first few weeks this had completely destroyed her sleep rhythm. Now she had acclimated to it.

With her roadside snack eaten, she went on to have a look at where exactly Aaron must have lost these strange marbles. She came to the street in question and like Aaron had said this was a rather poor and desolate area. Most of the buildings must belong to the red-light district as it was rather close to it and most buildings were boarded up. Iris guessed this was part of the area that would be torn down and rebuilt as a new wing of the district. Mars Ventros had always had big plans.

Slowly Iris walked through the streets until she spotted signs of a fight. There were scorch marks on the walls and in the dirt, telling a tale of a quick, but definitively magical fight. Iris was by far no expert, so she looked around for anyone who could have seen what happened. Since most of the buildings were abandoned this was harder than she had expected. At this time of day most people ended their shift at work, so there was some traffic, but not much.

As she weaved through the sparse crowd, asking people about what happened here, Iris spotted a group of kids loitering around a corner to the next street. She walked over to them and the boys looked at her wearily. They were a mixed group from 8 or 9 up to 15 if her guess was correct. The smaller kids were more suspicious than the older ones, who were distracted by her cleavage.

"Hi~" she said in a drawn out way, then she leaned forward and brought her eyes on their level and "accidentally" pushed her ample cleavage forward.

"Can any of you guys help me?" she asked with a smile.

While the older kids ogled her, one of the younger kids frowned at her.

"What do you want?" he snarled.

Iris turned to the boy and gave him a broad smile.

"Well, you see I lost a brooch yesterday while coming through here." she said with a pout.

"You wouldn't have seen that, would you?"

"No…" the kid started, when one of the older kids interrupted him.

"That is our turf, you don't know jack, Kris." the boy, around 14 or 15 turned to her and puffed out his chest.

"We take care of this road, so we can help you look for the brooch, Miss."

"Oh that is too kind. I would love that." she said with a wide smile. The boy blushed and stepped forward, while the younger kid grumbled in the background.

"Are you taking care of this road alone, or?" Iris asked, while the boy strutted away from the group and towards the road with Iris on his heels.

"Me and my friends." he said proudly. "We are going to join the district as soon as we are old enough!"

"Oh~ That is nice. I work for the district as well." she said with a small smile and when the boy glanced at her from the corner of his eyes she puffed her chest out a bit while walking, making the boy's eyes go wide.

"W-what do you do for them?" he asked when the silence between them stretched.

"What do you think, darling?" she said gently. "In a few years you can come visit me and I'll gladly take care of you." she said and gently tussled his hair. A gesture that made the boy even more flustered. But he found his courage and straightened.

"In a few years? I am almost ready to be tested to become a Vessel!" the boy protested.

"Well then you are almost a man." she said and went closer to him, invading his personal space and whispered.

"Now as a man, tell me, have you picked up some manastones laying on the road yesterday that don't belong to you?"

The boy flinched and looked around. His reddened face now paling a bit as he stepped back from her.

"Don't worry, I don't care about the manastones. But there were two marbles among the manastones, intricately carved marbles. My client wants them back."

"I...I don't know what you are talking about." the boy said evasively.

"Really? You think lying to someone from the red-light district is a good idea when you want to join us?"

The boy froze, hesitated and then looked up at her, as if he was gauging what he could get out of this.

"What is so special about the marbles?"

"They are not special at all. Its who they belonged to that should worry you. Because if I don't get them back to him, he will come himself and he won't ask questions as nicely as I have."

"So they are valuable?" the boy asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Only to my client. For everyone else they are merely curiosities. Now listen here….what was your name?"

"Jos."

"Jos. We can do this the easy way. You can give me the marbles and I will put a good word in for you with the district. A word that will ensure you get to join the district no matter if you have talent as a Vessel or not. Or you can lie, cheat and try to brush me off. Which means we have to to this the hard way. Then you won't get into the district, no matter if you are a vessel or even a mage. And if you continue to bother us, you will just disappear. Its your choice which way you want to go. You can choose pain….or pleasure~" she added at the end and the boy was looking at her, clearly thinking more about pleasure than the pain.

There was hesitation there, as the boy tried to gauge his chances. He did not feel physically threatened, Iris was just a woman after all, although he would be surprised if he tried anything. Iris had learned fairly early on to defend herself if necessary. There had always been clients that were less than agreeable or who would try and flaunt the house rules in any of the district's establishments. There had always been guards, but being able to fend someone off for a while was something any girl learned in her old profession.

"How do I know you can deliver? How do I know you are really from the district?" Jos eventually asked.

"We can go to any establishment run by the district if you want to, but then I don't think you can leave just like that. So the choice is yours. But it should be an easy one. Either you take a chance on me and that I am telling the truth or you get a few manastones for selling a useless trinket. I know what I would do." she said with a small smirk.

The boy hesitated a bit more, looked back to the group of kids that were a good distance away, but they could still see them. Then he made a decision and his shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Fine, but I get to keep the manastones!" he declared.

"I will even pay you extra if you really have the marbles I am looking for." Iris said with a slightly predatory smile.

"Lets go then."

Jos lead Iris down the street towards one of the barricaded houses. He pried one of the boards aside and went behind the fence of the property. Iris hesitated only a moment, putting one hand on the handle of her small dagger at her hip, before she followed the boy. Now out of sight the boy looked at her and then looked at the ground.

"You better wait here for a moment."

"Don't make me wait too long." Iris said with a smile that did not reach her eyes. Her hand was resting on the hilt of her dagger.

The boy nodded and then vanished into the building by climbing in through a window. It took only two or three minutes until he emerged. But during that time Iris was weary of an ambush. Sometimes kids his age did not really think of the consequences of their actions and she had been flirtatious... But luckily nothing happened and when Jos came back out of the building he had his fist clenched around something. He hesitated and then opened his palm, showing Iris one of the marbles.

"This it?" he asked and Iris nodded after she took a closer look. It was an exact replica of the marble that Aaron had showed her this morning.

"I will pay you 2 manastones for it as… a reward for finding it."

"Three."

"Deal." Iris said and fished three manastones out of her purse and put them on her open palm. The boy stepped forward and Iris closed her hand.

"The marble first."

With a grunt Jos gave her the marble and Iris exchanged the manastones for it. She quickly pocketed the marble and then turned to the boy.

"So where is the second one?"

The boy looked to the side and then he shrugged.

"Don't have it. Mik took it as part of his share."

"Hmmm and where can I find this Mik?"

"I can bring you to him, if you pay me." the boy said confidently.

Iris smirked and nodded. "Sure, but be aware that impressing me is your ticket into the district. So don't try to play me. I don't mind you profiting, but I do mind if you are wasting my time."

"I swear, after we took what was on the floor we split it up. Mik wanted to sell his to a pawnshop, but I thought that was stupid. Too hot to sell right away."

"A Pawn shop? Really? Which one?"

"Don't know. Ask Mik."

Iris sighed.

"And where is this Mik?"

"I know where he is usually, but I don't actually know." Jos said slightly embarrassed.

"Fine, bring me there, but you only get paid if you manage to find him today." Jos perked up at that and nodded. He lead her back out of the backyard they had been standing in and went on their way through the streets. Iris noted that they were traveling towards the edge of the city and she caught a whiff of the stinking moat in the distance. Making her wrinkle her nose as she followed the boy.

One marble was a good haul already, she considered. It would show Aaron that she could handle herself. If she got two today, she was sure Aaron would be impressed. It took them only around ten minutes until they reached another group of kids hanging around a water fountain. Jos visibly relaxed when he saw the group and he turned to Iris and pointed one of the boys out in the group.

"That is Mik."

"Good, now introduce us. Please?" Jos blushed slightly at her pleading and he cleared his throat before he walked up to the group.

"Hey Jos, who is the hot babe?" one of the older guys shouted and the whole group whistled and jeered.

"None of your business!" Jos shot back, earning him another round of laughter and snide comments. Jos kept going until he reached one of the boys. Mik looked from Jos to Iris and back, before he narrowed his eyes.

"Hey Jos… What have you done?" he asked slowly.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I told you someone would come for those marbles." Jos said quietly. Mik cursed and grabbed Jos, dragging him away a few steps while he whispered.

"You bring her to me?! Are you out of your mind?"

"She is from the district. You want me to lie to them?" Mik turned and stole a glance at Iris who stood waiting with a smile on her lips.

"You utter moron, they would have never found us if you...uargh…."Mik groaned in disgust. Then kicked Jos in the shin, but Jos evaded the kick and for a few moment they were wrestling and cursing at each other quietly.

"I told you it was a bad idea."

"Fucking idiot, we would have gotten away with it!"

Iris cleared her throat and stepped next to the two boys.

"Sorry boys, but could you do that later? I have some questions for you, Mik."

The group of kids were all watching and listening intently. Iris appearance alone was enough to get them interested, but with Mik and Jos being obviously conflicted about the situation, it made it irresistible. Mik freed himself from Jos and stared at Iris with disdain.

"I have nothing to say to you, bitch."

"Are you sure, Mik? If I leave here without answers, the next time I come back here, I won't be alone and I won't take no for an answer."

Mik squared his shoulders and spat. "Fuck you, bitch."

"Mik, come on, they will kill you." Jos said with wide eyes and grabbed Mik's shoulder, but Mik shrugged him off.

"Okay, boy." Iris said condescending. "Its your choice." she said and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Jos called out and Iris paused.

"Come on Mik, she just wants to know where you sold the marble. She pays well. Lets get along, alright?"

"Fuck. You. Never seen any marble." Mik said doubling down on the lie as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, his face a mask of little contained fury and disdain. Iris shook her head and walked away. She heard Jos and Mik argue behind her.

"Come on Mik, don't be an idiot. She is from the district.

"That whore? Yeah, right."

"Maybe she is a whore, do you know who employs all of the whores in Town? Yeah, the district. So come on stop being an idiot. This shit could get us both killed!"

"If she was from the district she would know where the marble is." Mik said with disgust, but the rest of the argument was lost as Iris walked around the next corner. She did not get far before someone ran after her. She turned her head and Jos stopped in front of her, panting.

"Sorry about Mik, he is a moron. He does not think sometimes. I am sure he sold the marble to one of the pawnshops in the district. But that's all I could get out of him."

"That is not much." she said frostily. She did not like getting cursed at, especially not by boys like Mik.

"Right, I get that. But you know...I brought you to him. I held up my end of the bargain." Jos said and looked at her slightly embarrassed.

"Look, Jos. You are a smart kid. I don't pay you to get cussed at by your friend. But I will still put in a good word for you. That's it."

"Okay… Thanks." Jos said looking to the ground. Iris was about to walk away, when he cleared his throat and asked.

"So...er...where do you work? I...erm would like to visit you sometimes."

"I am not a prostitute anymore, Jos. But its sweet of you to ask. Now I work for Mars himself. So you know my word is good." she smiled at him.

"Besides, I don't think you could afford me." she added with a wink and walked away, feeling Jos eyes on her as she left the outskirts of the Town.

All in all she had another lead for the second marble, even though Mik had been less than cooperative. It was early evening when she got to the district and walked the familiar streets. Even though it had only been weeks that she had not worked here anymore the district had changed. It was always in flux. New attractions were built. New shows put on. And people were flocking to the district already. She passed the night market and went past most of the alchemist shops before she turned into the pawn shop alley. She hoped she did not have to visit all of them. Because that would be incredibly tedious. But she would, it did not cost her anything to ask.

She entered the first store and walked up to the counter.

"What can I do for you, hon?" an older man with a light mustache asked as he leaned on the counter.

"I am looking for a trinket, a marble."

"Well then you have come to the right place, we have all kinds of the most exclusive and beautiful ornaments…" the man started his sales pitch, but Iris held up her hand.

"Save me the tourist talk. Someone sold something he should not have and I need to find it." The man studied her for a long moment before he clicked his tongue.

"Should have known. What you looking for?"

Iris pulled out the marble Jos had sold her and showed it to the man. "This marble has a twin. Both were stolen of course, but not from someone the thieves should have stolen from. Kids." she said as explanation and the man winced.

"They in trouble?"

"If I don't get it back in time, probably yeah. You ever seen this before?"

"Nope. Wasn't sold to me. But a kid you say?"

"Yeah, little shit, this high, brown hair, scowl on the face, foul mouth and dumb like a ton of bricks. Goes by the name of Mik."

"Hmm, I don't deal with kids usually, check out Merson, he gives them decent prices."

"Alright, thanks."

Iris had to go through two more pawn shops until finally one of the proprietors recognized the marble in question.

"Oh yeah, I just sold one like this." the man said.

"Really? You sold it already?"

"Yeah, I had it still on the counter when a mage type came in and saw it."

"You sold it without appraising it?" Iris asked slightly incredulous.

"Give me a break, I am far down the alley. I don't get that much foot traffic. The man was quite taken with the marble and I managed to get a real good price from him."

"How much?"

"Twenty manastones. Bought it from that kid for shards." the man snickered.

"Okay, so who is this man, you sure he is a mage?"

"Don't know him, first time I saw him in here."

"How did he look? What did he wear?"

The man looked uncomfortable, before he shrugged.

"Man was tall, middle aged. Wore a white suit with black, expensive shoes. He had a red handkerchief in his breast pocket."

"Okay...so how do you know he was a mage?"

"He wore his grimmoire on his hip like a dagger. Pretentious and did not fit with the suit at all. But you know, mages."

"Got it and you don't know who he is?"

"Nope."

"Alright thanks." Iris said with a broad smile and left the pawn shop. She sighed when she stood in the street. Damn but that was bad luck. This mission just had become much more difficult. Getting anything from a mage would be horrible. Besides she did not even have a name. Slowly she walked out of the alley onto the main street of the district. She was thinking about what she had learned about the man. He wore flashy clothes, but was middle aged and a mage that was proud of his abilities. He also must be rich if he could burn 20 manastones on a random trinket with no discernible value. Unless of course the mage had seen something was special about the marble besides its beautiful craftsmanship. That would be a problem.

But one thing at a time. She had to find out who the man was first. There were a few ways to do that. The district employed information brokers and the like, but they would be hideously expensive for her without specifics. The other way was to just ask around if someone had seen him or knew him. Iris looked at the surrounding shops and businesses. There was a brothel right across from them she knew and that was slowly picking up business as the evening grew later.

So she started the slow tedious and embarrassing work of asking everyone about that mage. If they had seen him, if they knew him. Most people were not really interested in talking to her or said they did not know anything about that. The few that said they might know something did not know a name and only were able to give her a rough timeline of the man walking around in the district earlier that day.

She was just talking to one of the guards of the brothel, when a bright voice asked her from behind:

"Iris! Is that you?`"

She turned around to find herself face to face with an old friend. Annabelle wore her work attire and smiled brightly when she saw Iris. They knew each other from working in the same brothel early on in their careers. Annabelle hugged her and smiled.

"I heard you left the business. I was worried for a bit, considering all that debt you had."

"I managed to get a deal with the district. I am working directly for Mars now." she explained.

Annabelle's eyes widened and she looked her over.

"Well congratulations, looks like that new job suits you. You are looking good! "

"Thanks Annabelle."

"So what are you doing here?" Annabelle asked curiously.

"Long story short, I am looking for a mage that bought something in one of the pawn shops he should not have been able to. So I am looking for him now to retrieve the item."

"Uhf. That sounds tough. Who are you looking for?"

"Don't know his name. Its a mage, middle aged, white suit, red handkerchief in his breast pocket. Wears his grimoire openly."

"Hmm, don't know him. But I can ask around if you want me to?"

"That would be awesome, Annabelle." Iris said with a smile.

Annabelle ran off to ask some people she knew while Iris focused on people on the street in question. After the brothel itself she focused on the shops nearby, with little to no success. Some people remembered the mage, but none of them knew his name. Iris was about to call it a day, when Annabelle came back with a small man in tow.

"Iris, I think I found your mystery mage. Come on Lask, tell her."

"You remember your promise okay?" the small man said with a long look towards Annabelle who rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I will gnaw on your bone. You will love it, I promise, come on, tell her."

"Fine, So yeah...I saw the man you are looking for earlier. Its guild elder Nimeg from the adventurers guild. Man loves his white suits."

"And you are sure this Nimeg is the man we are talking about?"

"I don't 'know', I just saw him walk out of pawnshop alley when I was taking a break. I was up on the third floor, so I am not certain it was him. But Nimeg is the only one I know that fits the description."

"He always wears the same thing?"

"Obviously not, but more often than not."

"Hmm, alright. I will look into the man. Thanks Annabelle, I owe you one." Iris said with a look, trying to convey that she did not have to go this far for her, but the woman waved her concerns away.

"Its nothing, hope I could help!"

"You did, if you ever need anything, just say it."

"Aww, you are a sweetheart Iris. Come on Lask, time for your reward." The man clicked his tongue at the way she talked to him like a dog, but he did follow her without saying anything. Iris shook her head and chuckled to herself. The district was a magnet for people like them. She was suddenly sure that Annabelle would have given the "reward" to the man either way. Lucky guy.

Now Iris had another lead, but it was getting late. She would have to buy the address of the guild elder from the Information brokers and by then it would be too late to show up there and do anything. Besides she did not even know if she could, or even should do anything. There was a chance that her search ended there, if the mage did not want to sell her the trinket back. She doubted she could do anything else but ask for it, she had no other skills to use. She was not a thief… Well she did have another skill to use. But that depended very much on the man and if he was...open to her advances.

With a new goal in mind she straightened and made her way towards one of the Casinos. The bright magical lights and the noise of a crowd welcomed her. It was a rather tame night as it was in the middle of the week and so the crowd was only bustling. A young man in uniform bowed to her.

"Welcome to the Deluxe, ma'am, may I guide you to one of our many games?"

"No thank you, I know the way." she said and walked past the man, who bowed and waited for the next customer. Iris passed tables with card games, dice games and other more obscure games of chance. The first floor was communal, served drinks and acted more like a common room for people to find players for any of their games. The district only took a small percentage of the bets, but that was more than enough to make it profitable. But Iris ignored the games and walked down a marble staircase into the bowels of the Deluxe. She passed the roulette and black jack floor, or Earth floor, after the planet those games had come from and entered the bottom floor of the Casino.

What welcomed her was a small lounge with a bar where people waited on dark upholstery. Adjacent to the lounge was a long drawn out corridor with many black enchanted doors. This was in many ways the heart of the district. Here information was traded and bought. Many people who knew something that might be worth anything went here to sell their knowledge and then spend it in the casino above. It was a very, very good business model, Iris thought to herself. She had been here plenty of times to buy information about caravans, their protection, the reputation of people in said caravans and about people in Ambition. She knew she could not be certain what she had done for her sister and others had worked as well as she had hoped. But from what her sister had written her she had done a fairly thorough job. Most of that was based on information she had bought here. Not a small amount of her previous debt had gone here.

She went to the bar and waited until the bartender finished serving one of the customers a drink and walked up to her.

"What can I get you?" the tall man said in a deep, but emotionless voice.

"I'm here to buy. Is Leo in today?"

The barman shook his head, while his hands started to mix a drink.

"Leo is not in today… But Cancer is free." he said and Iris grimaced.

"Not Cancer please."

The man nodded and poured some Ice into the shaker.

"Pisces should be free in a few minutes."

Iris hesitated and then nodded. "Pisces is fine."

The barman nodded again as if he had expected that and poured the contents of the shaker through a fine mesh strainer into a glass and placed it in front of Iris.

"Your usual, on the house." he said and Iris smiled at him.

"Thanks."

A man at the other end of the bar clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.

"Who is she to get better service than me?"

The barman looked at the man and then he said coldly.

"A regular...Sir. If you spend as much time here as she does, I would serve you on the house as well."

The man looked embarrassed and excused himself from the bar to flee towards one of the couches scattered around tastefully. Iris chuckled to herself while she took a long sip from the excellent cocktail she had come to love. The barman had no name, or at least he never told it to her or anyone else she knew. His broad shoulders and chiseled physique made it clear the man was very much a vessel and because of the slightly graying hair at his temples Iris suspected he was far more special than most people thought. Old Vessels were rare, especially those with pure combat skills. The barman made all of his cocktails without skills, but they were still absolutely delicious.

Iris had spent way too much time down here, drinking herself through the bar while waiting for information she could not really afford, but bought anyway. Everyone had a vice and this one was hers. Not the cocktails, but information. One of the most valuable things to have and in the district's case almost 100% accurate. How they got most of their information was a mystery to Iris. But it was a fact that down here on the bottom floor of the Deluxe you could buy information about people anywhere in the lower floor. Ambition, Climber's rest. Places so far up and so difficult to reach for normal people and yet the most detailed information could be bought here in minutes. Of course this included almost everything that was happening on the first floor as well.

After she had barely gone through half of the cocktail the barman nodded at her and she drank the rest of it in one big gulp. The perfectly balanced mixture was sweet and tangy, refreshing and Iris barely felt the alcohol in it while she stood up.

"Door 3." the man said and Iris nodded before she walked to the left corridor and went into the room with the big letter 3 on it.

Behind the door was a comfortable seat in front of a table. On the other side of the table was a shutter that barely allowed light from the other side to come through. There was magical light on the walls and even though the place was almost claustrophobic it did not feel small.

"Please take a seat, Iris. Long time no see."

Iris sat down, ignoring the soft luxurious feeling of the upholstery they used for these one man couches.

"Pisces." she said simply. "I have come to buy information."

"About guild elder Nimeg, yes. I will have the dossier here in a few minutes."

Iris eyes widened and she was surprised, making the man beyond the shutter chuckle.

"What? You didn't think asking around for someone in public would be reported to us? If you wanted to be discreet you should have been discreet." Pisces said with some good tempered snark.

"Well, I guess you are right. That makes things easier."

"So, while we wait, lets talk. How have you been Iris? How does being a liaison for the Cultivator treat you?"

Iris tried her best not to be intimidated by the man's knowledge, but that was what these people did here. Gather information and the arrogant ones like Pisces never ceased to be annoying about it.

"I am doing fine, thank you. Mars pays quite a bit better than the brothel ever did."

"I would hope so. So how is our favorite mass murderer? Is Aaron doing alright?"

"Yes, he is preparing to climb again, solo this time. But you should know that already. You are keeping an eye on that warehouse I rented out, don't you?"

Pisces chuckled.

"You can't fault us for being thorough. So why do you want to know about guild elder Nimeg all of a sudden?"

"I am not ready to sell you that information, Pisces."

"Oh, come now. You could give us a hint. We will find out sooner or later."

"I would prefer later."

"Fair enough. But just so you know. I have here the new information package Leo put together for you. All about three upcoming caravans, as well as some new businesses in Ambition. She finished it just last week." Iris saw Pisces gloved hand put a thick folder on the table on the other side of the shutter.

"Not what I am here for today."

"Ah, but you will be back. You will find another young girl that struggles and you will once more do far more than anyone else would for her, far more than even the girl in question realizes."

"Well, if you know me that well, you also know that I am not going to buy that information package right now. Lets get to the guild elder, please, Pisces."

There was a moment of silence and the thick folder vanished again, only to be replaced by another folder, a lot thinner.

"Very well. But I have to warn you, the elder pays for protection, like most of the high ranking mages. So theft and even scams are not allowed."

"I have no intention to scam him and I am not a thief." Iris said and held out her hand."

"Don't you want to know how much it costs?"

"No, I will buy it either way and you know that."

Pisces chuckled again and pushed the folder underneath the shutters to Iris side.

Iris slowly read through the file and was disappointed. She learned almost nothing useful about the man. He was married, had a daughter and was a fairly accomplished fire mage. His ambitions as a mage had never gone past the Town of Beginnings, where him and his family were happy to be part of the upper crust of society. His father had been a mage and Nimeg had become a guild elder by working hard for more than 10 years for the Adventurers guild. Mostly in logistics or monetary services. There was nothing special about the man, even his tastes when he visited the brothels were common and usual. But that bit of information showed that he might not have as happy a marriage as it seemed. Iris took mental note of the address and the stage of protection afforded to the man by the district.

It was a fairly open secret that people were not robbed or scammed by anyone if they bought the Insurance from the district. In the end it was basically protection money, but a lot of the richer and more affluent people paid happily to keep their valuables safe. Making the correct calculation that they could loose a lot sometimes or little all the time by paying insurance. This was a problem though for Iris.

The pawn shop proprietors would report what she had been looking for soon and then it would be known she was looking for a marble of unknown origin for some reason. The information brokers would put to and two together and realize this must be something she was doing for Aaron. Which meant there was a time limit on this whole affair, before the district would get properly involved.

Disappointed she closed the dossier and put it back on the table.

"Thanks. How much was it?"

"I will put it on your tab." Pisces said confidently.

"Now, can I help you with anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"In that case I wish you a good night, Iris."

Iris nodded and left the room, leaving the file behind. None of the documents ever left one of these magically protected rooms that were sealed airtight. No sound would escape these rooms and it felt like emerging from under water when she left the room and the noise from the casino washed over her again. Iris just had one chance now to get the second marble. Tomorrow she would have to visit this Nimeg and then make him an offer to buy the marble, if he still had it. Because she guessed if she waited much longer than that the district would get involved and things might get...complicated. So she had a few hours to come up with a good plan and execute it tomorrow.

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