Chương 87: Trap

"Is that even really necessary?" Vito asked.

"Zephyr's actions benefited us all."

"Grave?" The Mayor asked.

"She's too close to Prachar headquarters; she's a threat." A gruff voice responded. Vito snorted.

"Oh come on, you've got too much to gain for you not to say that."

"Are you saying I'm biased?" Corienne snorted, "What, your little peanut can't connect any dots?" Grave shook his head dismissively and faced the Mayor.

"Baseless accusations. My point remains unchanged." The mayor tapped his seat. Vito and Corinne turned to look at him.

"I agree with Grave. Any objections?"

"No," Vito quickly replied.

"None at all."

"In sixteen days, then." The Mayor began.

"Before then, I want each of you to come to my house at a separate time. Other than you three, not a soul is to know."

"Understood." The three replied in unison.

"Every four days from now, you, you then you," The Mayor responded.

"That will be all. I'd like to enjoy the remaining performances."

"Of course." The three replied in unison, then the room returned to silence. Evel switched to a different room. The information would sell for a lot to Prachar, but he had to be smart about doing it. This wasn't information easily acquired. At the very least, he needed to wait until the first person made their visit. At least then, an onlooker could be blamed, or Prachar could have reasonably figured it out themselves. The other VIP rooms remained much the same.

Moe was loving every second of the performances; other merchants talked mostly of their businesses, and the families continued complaining about one thing after another. The Jade family, in particular, were blabbermouths, already revealing a few family secrets he had no business knowing. Their competition would surely love such specific information on their expansion plans, but more importantly, some details on their core abilities.

If he waited, then he could probably piece the full abilities together and sell that information as a whole. He just needed to ensure they stayed. Making a quick judgment, he exited the room and caught the attention of one of the part-time security workers of the circus.

"Tell Mateo to visit the Jade family in room two. Tell him to keep the visit as brief as possible." After the command, he retreated back into his office, then, after locking the door, back into the secret room. There was still more information he could get. Much more. A group of twenty people stood around the stage long after the performance had ended, sharing proud looks. Many were temporarily workers, but what they had achieved today was far more than they ever imagined they ever could.

They were a part of one of the most successful entertainment events in Upper-Ichoris, coming from the slums, at that! Evel looked down on his group of workers and gave a satisfied nod. He called them all for this meeting to discuss a few changes moving forward.

"I'll keep this brief." Evel began, "You all have done wonderfully today, and you deserve to be awarded. First, let's celebrate two people in particular. Yuna, who has kept everything running, and Mateo, whose performance blew away the crowd today." Yuna smiled and stepped back as the crowd cheered for the two of them. Mateo got hoisted up, causing his face to burn red. He tried to wriggle himself out, but the workers wouldn't let him escape. He really did deserve it.

While he didn't get to see the performance himself, the praise from the VIP rooms was quite high, and he even managed to get friendly with the Jade family. A true talent.

"Before the rewards, I have a quick request. Our competitors are about scheming and plotting for our downfall after our recent success. Please keep an open ear and report anything that could even possibly be relevant to Yuna. An ocean is formed from droplets, and each small piece of information you can provide could help us continue to thrive." A wave of murmurs travelled through the crowd.

"As for the good news…" Evel took a good look at each of the temporary workers.

"Tomorrow, I will buy the debt of the remaining temporary workers and offer you a full-time position. You're welcome to continue working at the mines as you wish, but you'll no longer be doing it out of obligation. Half the group went wide-eyed. A few among them were quivering.

"Additionally, every person here will get a 200 Riak bonus, as well as a weekly pay boost depending on your seniority." Silence. The workers looked at each other, unsure if the words they'd heard were real. Evel gave a curt nod, confirming they weren't dreaming. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Whoo!" Toan broke through the silence with a cheer. Then, the entire crowd followed. 200 Riak in one go was no small amount, and to many it was a quantity large enough to be able to take the risk they'd been putting off and leave the mines for good. What was a flimsy 10 Riak a day? The already heightened mood transformed into a euphoria. Evel took a step back, letting them enjoy the moment and signalled for Yuna to come over. She wore a wide smile on her face, her body practically shaking.

"Th-thank you!" Evel nodded, and led her just outside to the empty hall.

"Keep an eye on them, especially those who decide to give us information. We may have bad actors hiding amongst us." Her smile faded, "Are Prachar already after us?" As their main competitors, who owned the majority of the entertainment in the city, it was a reasonable assumption.

"No, not yet. Just keep an eye out." Booming laughter broke through the room they'd just left.

"Okay… Umm, Eth?"

"Yes?"

"I'm thinking we should treat them to a little party after this great success. It wouldn't cost much, and we could even go right now." Evel hummed.

"Great idea, this should help strengthen the cooperation. I trust you to handle everything. You can take them all later after they're done with their celebrations here."

"Perfect! I already even have a place in mind that I scouted out." Yuna beamed.

"I'll count on you, then," Evel lightly patted her shoulder.

"Tell me all about it Tuesday."

"Oh," she paused.

"Okay, yeah sure." Without waiting for any more interruptions, Evel left the building, the sounds of celebration fading away behind him. In the next few days, two of the temporary employees quit, given the new security of their bonuses and debt paid off. They both thanked and apologized profusely, but Evel didn't hold them back. It was unfortunate, but hardly a roadblock. He simply conducted another round of interviews and secured even more workers from the mines.

He also finally pushed off all the busy work to Yuna and gave her a big pay bump with all the new responsibilities she was taking in. With this, a lot of his time had returned to him for more training. A few days after that, he sold the Mayor's information to Prachar. He decided to hold off on selling the Jade family information for now. With another windfall in credits, he decided to buy a few long-lasting potions.

Since he was unlikely to get into a battle anytime soon, he bought potions a full year before expiry, with weak effects. That way, they remained affordable yet useful for a long time. Since it was one of Avid's first pieces of advice to him, it felt appropriate. When his next performance in the slums arrived, the audience had exploded in size once again. The traffic came from two sources. The first, and much bigger source, was the mass influx of new faces from nearby cities.

Zephyr's recent newspaper had the exact effect it intended, and swarms of workers enthusiastically flooded the mines. They were given a job, a relatively stable place to live, food, and even good entertainment with the introduction of the circus. The other source of new faces was those that came from Upper Ichoris specifically for the show. They looked out of place, shifting uncomfortably each time the crowd broke out into extreme cheers, and looking disdainfully at nearby squabbles and fights.

It was a palace of chaos, but one they'd get used to eventually. Especially since it only cost them two Riak to get in.

"Amazing! Amazing!" The merchant, Moe, apparently didn't mind the rowdiness at all. Evel saw him jumping around, arms hugged around Clara's father, as they shared laughs. When the crowd cheered and chanted, he was right with them, enjoying the show perhaps more than anyone else. According to Yuna, he approached her after the show and offered to work for free as a comedian, and showed off some of his jokes. She turned him away, telling him that they no longer needed to hire any other workers.

The next day, Evel conducted another round of interviews and hired a fresh wave of people. They were necessary to manage all the new incoming traffic, and it would just make their lives easier. Yuna had also gotten extremely busy, so she got an assistant to help with small things here and there. Evel's own responsibilities now boiled down to interviews and the actual performance.

He did need to do a lot of training for the new staff, but the senior members of the circus, particularly Mateo and Clara, were getting better and better at teaching the newcomers. Still, the whole circus was lacking a lot of efficiency you'd hope a large group to have. Things progressed, the workers improved, and Evel kept training as hard as he could. Still without signs of Dissent, he relied on inner-city politics for his credits, which could only take him so far.

At the very least, even with all the new hires, they still earned far more than they paid, so the Riak income was solid. The next performance at Upper-Ichoris quickly arrived, and with it a new chance at credits. Redigo's heads didn't show up this time around, but a lot of mid and low-level workers from Redigo were amongst the crowd. Thankfully, at least the Mayor decided to show up again. Even if it was complete silence from his room, his attendance marked the possibility of others'.

As for the major families, all the previously attending showed up, as well as some new faces. At least on that front, he was making progress. The performance began the same as usual. Evel quickly checked up on his staff in the change rooms, then went to his office for 'meditation'. He ensured nobody was listening and the doors were properly secured before entering the secret room with the lone wooden chair. As usual, he sat down and flicked through the rooms.

Moe was loving it, Shui somehow had another affair with a different mistress, the Jade family was complaining, and the other merchants and newer families discussed a plethora of random topics. The most interesting of which involved another small spike in the price of steatite. And of course, as usual, the Mayor's room was completely silent. Just as Evel was about to switch to a different room, the silence broke.

"15 minutes…" There was no mistaking it; the voice belonged to the Mayor himself, deep and confident. Evel halted all plans to listen to any other room and remained fixed on this one. Three minutes later, he spoke again.

"12 minutes…" Then again, five minutes later.

"7 minutes…" Between each interval, all he was left with was the sound of the clock ticking, a muffled sound of the performance through the Mayor's room, and his own thoughts. What was the Mayor counting down to?

"4 minutes…" He leaned in. He quickly did a round of the other VIP rooms, but wasn't really that interested compared to whatever he could learn from the Mayor. It was far too strange!

"1 minute…" Evel calmed the bouncing of his legs.

"30 seconds…" Evel quickly glanced at the clock as he counted down the seconds in his mind. 10 seconds… Two, one… He held his breath. Zero. The Mayor's voice returned, but its tone was nothing like when he spoke to other Banners. Instead, it was filled with the passion he displayed whenever he was preaching to the crowds of Ichoris.

"You need to stab your left eye." Evel tilted his head as a strange sensation took over his body. His left eye? Why would he stab himself there? It did feel a little itchy, now that he thought more about it. Maybe a small stab wouldn't hurt. Apparently, people missing a sense strengthened their other senses, so his right eye could even get stronger. Stronger? He wanted his senses to get stronger! Yes, he needed to gouge out his left eye! The Mayor's voice returned — the passion transformed into a cold annoyance.

"Tch. So it really was this place."