Chapter 52 - 51: The Witness

Chapter 52: Chapter 51: The Witness

Chapter 51: The Witness

Noah kept walking through the core zone’s streets until the sky darkened.

He wasn’t in a rush to reach the Knowledge Office or other noble offices. He passed several large shops bearing Platinum house crests, some belonging to the Academy or imperial family. The storefronts alone demonstrated the wealth in this area.

He observed the prices, goods, and people’s flow. Some places ignored him, and sellers stayed back. His Lupton badge didn’t shield him from suspicion or contempt, not even from a clerk’s disdain.

Night fell before Noah noticed, and he decided to find a suitable inn.

He walked into the first hotel that looked a little shabby. It wasn’t lavish next to the buildings around it, but it was clean and quiet, and in the entrance a slightly heavy man sat behind a wooden counter, turning the pages of a thick register.

"I’d like a room for the night."

The man raised his head and looked at him quickly, before his eyes settled on the silver crest.

"Five magic crystals."

Noah paused a moment.

"Don’t you take gold?"

The man’s face changed a little, before it turned to full contempt.

"Young man, if you can’t pay, better to leave."

Noah didn’t answer, but a trace of displeasure surged in his chest. Since when had he been treated this way?

Before Noah’s mood could settle, the heavy man closed the register, his look shifting to that of someone throwing out a beggar.

"I don’t want to repeat myself. Don’t block the entrance. Most of the customers don’t like the smell of paupers nearby."

Noah stayed where he was one second, then turned cold and left quietly. For now he hadn’t looked into the core zone enough, and staying silent for the moment would be a good choice.

Before he turned, he caught the badge fixed to the man’s chest.

Platinum.

The Jolnach crest. Very good.

He let out his mana sense without a sign of it on his face.

Low-grade. And barely.

Outside, the street had started to light up with small crystals fixed to the walls. He walked slowly, going back over what he’d seen all day.

The problem wasn’t only that the core zone was expensive. It went further than that.

The independent shops he saw were either directly tied to large bloodlines or backed by mages from the Academy or the Church. Even the hotel where he couldn’t rent a room was run by someone wearing the Jolnach Platinum badge.

He carried a badge from a silver house, hid his true rank, and didn’t want anyone to know what he produced or where his goods came from.

He lifted his eyes toward the long street.

Opening a shop here now would be stupid, especially with the nobles’ galling mindset. He wasn’t even sure he’d hold out without doing something foolish.

The black market.

Ever since the alchemy shop owner at the academy mentioned it, the idea hadn’t left his mind. If he wanted a real disguise technique, materials that didn’t appear in ordinary records, or a sales channel that didn’t ask too many questions, he’d most likely find what he was looking for there.

Noah simply decided to head down to the inner zone.

On his way toward the gate, he passed a less crowded trade lane. The shops here weren’t large, and some were no more than stalls displaying used tools and things not worth a place on the main streets.

He stopped in front of one of them.

Among several brass rings and broken spell-stones, there was a simple white mask.

He picked it up.

"How much?"

The seller raised his eyes.

"One crystal."

Noah looked at the mask from the inside.

No runes.

No magic.

Just solid metal, comfortable on the face, nothing more, nothing less. For a whole crystal.

But he needed something like this now.

He paid the crystal.

Only one left.

He put the mask inside his clothes and went on his way. He didn’t wear it at the gate. Someone entering or leaving the core zone in a full mask wouldn’t get privacy, but the exact opposite kind of attention.

He passed the exit point without anyone stopping him. There was no fee to leave.

Once he’d gotten far enough into the inner zone, he stepped into a side alley, took the Lupton badge from its place and hid it, then put on the mask. It wasn’t a real disguise, but at least now he could move a little more freely.

He went back out to the street.

The difference between the zones was clear: good streets and shops, but less grand buildings and a mixed crowd. He saw traders, mercenaries, and nobles, but few mages.

After several streets, a small gathering in front of an alchemy shop caught his attention, along with the sounds of shouting and breaking.

Noah hadn’t meant to stop.

But he heard a number.

"A hundred and fifty crystals."

He slowed his steps.

In front of the shop stood a young noble in his early twenties, two low-grade mages and several knights behind him. The young man wasn’t hiding his aura, and it sat steady at low-grade. Across from him stood an older man in an alchemist’s clothes. His aura was also at low-grade, but heavier and steadier than the young man’s.

The alchemist said, trying to keep his voice calm:

"I told you I’m not refusing to pay. I have fifty now. Give me some time to sell the stock and I’ll send the remaining hundred myself."

The young man answered:

"The tax deadline is up. Don’t waste this lord’s time."

"The stock is right in front of you. You can value it yourself. It’s worth more than the amount."

"I don’t collect taxes in herbs and bottles. Either you pay, or I seize the compensation myself."

The alchemist clenched his jaw.

"I’m only asking for a delay... I’ve sold under the Jolnach cloak for a few years. I beg the young lord to make an exception."

Some of the passersby had already stopped, but everyone kept their distance.

Noah watched without comment.

The young man looked around. He saw the crowd. Then he saw his guards. Anger showed on his face.

He came up to the alchemist and grabbed him by the robe, then dragged him a step to the side of the door.

"Looks like you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to."

The alchemist tried to push his hand away.

"I didn’t say..."

"Three hundred crystals."

A short silence fell.

The alchemist stared at him.

"What?"

"Either you pay now, or the whole shop is seized and you go to prison. The tax is three hundred now."

The young man smiled.

Watching the scene, thoughts started turning in Noah’s mind.

Now he understood the other side of that arrangement. The protector who gives you the right to stand inside the market can also decide one day that everything you stand on has become his.

He wiped Jolnach off his options.

The alchemist’s calm disappeared.

"Three hundred?!"

His voice rose, and people at the end of the street turned.

"I built this shop with my own hands! I paid the taxes every year! I’ve been from a silver house under Jolnach since I was born! I won’t accept injustice like this, even if you’re from the main house."

The young man laughed.

"As a noble, you’ve overlooked the most important point. The most important thing to a noble is his pride."

The alchemist’s face shook with despair.

"I’ll go to the disciplinary hall. I’ll file a formal complaint."

"Do it."

The young man said it simply.

Then he added:

"Don’t forget the witnesses, either."

He turned toward the street.

A moment ago there had been dozens of people watching.

They started to move off.

One stepped into a nearby shop.

Another turned the opposite way.

And within a few seconds everyone was busy with something else.

Noah sighed inside the mask. Pathetic.

He turned to go on his way.

"Sir!"

The alchemist’s voice came behind him.

Noah kept walking.

"Sir, you with the mask!"

He stopped this time and looked back half a turn.

The alchemist was staring at him like he was the last thing left in front of him.

"If you testify to what you saw in the disciplinary hall, I’ll pay you fifty magic crystals."

Fifty.

An hour ago Noah couldn’t pay for a room.

Now a man was offering him fifty crystals for a few words.

He thought about it a moment.

Then he turned and went on his way.

Fifty crystals weren’t worth putting his name up against Jolnach. And he didn’t even know this man.

He walked a few steps.

"Stop."

This time the voice wasn’t the alchemist’s.

Noah turned.

The young noble was looking at him coldly. Then he gestured at his face.

"Take off the mask."

Noah didn’t move.

The young man said:

"I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to hear stupid stories about this street tomorrow. Show your face and register your name, then you can go."

Noah looked at the two mages behind him. Then at the knights.

"Not interested."

The smile left the young man’s face.

"What did you say?"

"Are you having trouble hearing?"

"I said no."

One of the mages stepped forward, a fiery aura starting to show around him.

Noah stayed where he was and looked coldly at the noble.

He hadn’t come here looking for trouble. He’d turned down the alchemist’s offer quietly. He’d been about to leave.

Still, however much you avoid trouble, sometimes it comes looking for you.

The young man raised his hand a little.

"Seize him."

The first mage moved toward Noah.