Chapter 44: Theo

The moment Jack left the inn, his expression changed. He was given such a valuable task this early and he couldn’t just fail it.

The Gem of Solaris was safely hidden inside his clothes as he moved across the rooftops surrounding the street. It was quicker than walking on the ground.

His Lord had given him a simple task. Sell the gem.

But he knew that something this valuable couldn’t simply be brought into the nearest jewelry store.

A Gem of Solaris was rare enough that only wealthy merchants, nobles, collectors, or large jewelry shop could afford to purchase one. Bringing it to the wrong person could also spread information that someone possessed such valuable items.

He needed one thing for this. A buyer with enough money that was willing to offer the highest price. Fortunately, finding people was exactly what the Night was good at.

Jack reached one of the First Branch’s safe houses several minutes later.

From the outside, the building looked like an ordinary storage house squeezed between several businesses. When Jack entered, two members immediately greeted him.

"Sir."

"I need information." Jack immediately told that made the two get down to business.

"Find every merchant, jeweler, and collector within the capital capable of purchasing a Gem of Solaris."

"A Gem of Solaris?" Both men paused when they heard that. The two looked at each other, their eyes widening for a moment.

"Yes." Jack’s expression remained serious. "And this request came directly from the Lord."

"We’ll begin immediately." The two immediately nodded at that.

One of them disappeared deeper into the building while the other approached a desk filled with records. This was where the First Branch became useful.

They have records of every noble families, businesses, and contacts throughout the capital. And not only that. They also have their own network with the second branch. They immediately send a letter to a hawk.

Within the night, everyone in the organization moved. They simply gathered what they could and passed it through the Night’s usual channels. Piece by piece, the information slowly reached the First Branch.

In just 3 days, Jack had his answer already. They were able to cut down all the list to 5 establishments. But Jack wasn’t going to simply choose one based on the information they gathered.

His Lord had specifically asked him to sell the Gem of Solaris for as much as possible. So he decided to visit all five.

- - -

Meanwhile, Caelan had absolutely no idea what Jack was doing. He spent the next few days peacefully. Caelan was so used to something happening every few days that having nothing to worry about actually felt strange.

"Maybe this is finally the peaceful second life I asked for." He smiled widely.

However, of course, they still had something they needed to take care of. It was their business with Alden.

Even though they had already moved to the capital, their agreement with him didn’t end. Before leaving, the three of them discussed how to continue everything despite the distance.

The biggest problem was transportation.

Before, they could easily meet Alden and provide him with the crops. But now that Caelan and Eveline were miles away, sending carriages take too much time.

So they changed their arrangement. Instead of sending crops several times, Alden would arrange a carriage to travel to the capital once every week. Because of that, they also had to make each batch much larger than before.

"How much are we making this time?" Caelan asked.

"A lot." Eveline was sitting across from him with a small piece of paper in her hand.

"The carriage is supposed to arrive in two day so we need enough to make the trip worth it."

"I see."

Since Eveline’s ability could restore and multiply crops, producing a larger batch wasn’t exactly the difficult part. The problem was finding somewhere to actually do it.

They obviously couldn’t fill their inn rooms with vegetables and fruits since it was a nice inn. And so they looked for a small warehouse that they could store everything.

Fortunately, finding one wasn’t difficult. Or more specifically, it wasn’t difficult because Caelan now had the Night.

When Caelan mentioned that he needed somewhere private to store a large amount of goods, the First Branch immediately handled it for him. By the next day, they had already found several warehouses around the capital that fit what he needed.

Caelan didn’t even have to search for them himself.

In the end, they chose a small warehouse near the edge of the capital. It wasn’t anything impressive, but it was large enough to store everything they needed. It was also located close enough to the main road for a carriage to easily reach it.

"This is actually pretty convenient." Caelan stood in the middle of the empty warehouse while looking around.

There were already several wooden crates placed inside.

"Your organization found this place?" Eveline looked around before turning toward him. She was surprised by how quickly things were unfolding right before her eyes.

"Yeah."

"That quickly?"

Caelan nodded proudly even though he didn’t actually do anything. He had to admit, being the leader of a secret organization wasn’t that bad at all.

"My Lord."

"Hm?"

Caelan turned when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

He turned around and saw a young man standing several steps away. He looked to be somewhere in his early twenties, dressed in simple clothes that made him look like an ordinary person.

"Who are you?" Caelan questioned as he stared at him.

"M-My apologies!" The young man immediately straightened up before bowing his head.

"My name is Theo, my Lord. I’m a member of the Night."

"Oh." Caelan looked at him curiously, the corner of his lips twitching a little. Theo seemed nervous. He was still bowing his head, his eyes refusing to look directly at Caelan.

"So, Theo?" He couldn’t understand his reaction because he didn’t look scary.

"Why are you here?" Caelan scratched the side of his head. He didn’t recall asking for someone to help them.

Theo nervously swallowed before answering.

"Sir Jack assigned me to remain close to you while he handles the task you gave him."