A light spring rain had curtailed some of my outdoor activities for the day. Certainly, I could have mitigated it to continue, but I was feeling morose. I suspected that without the distraction afforded me by having my pupils present to tutor, I was left more time for self-examination. I also suspected that my tea was losing potency without a constant mana infusion. It was still being prepared properly, so I was able to rule that suspicion out. Instead, today I confined myself to the study in order to do some record-keeping. Without a record of my research, I have a propensity to conduct experiments on subjects already being experimented upon. While that may sometimes give way to some interesting results, more often it results in two failures. As I was recording, I noticed Mena patiently waiting for me to finish writing before bringing something to my attention.

“Boss, there’s a merchant at the gate. Want me to run him off?” She asked with a mean smile.

“No, this may be one I requested. I hope to have a merchant regularly visit so that I need not travel for food or sundries.” I answered, waving her away.

I met him outside the wall to my tower, his wagon being too wide to turn about on the bridge. The raindrops not seeming to bother him in the slightest. The wagon was large, larger even than the wagons that delivered my furniture. It stood almost two and a half times my height, with great spoked wheels and bright yellow paint. The merchant, a mischievous-looking man of small stature with bowl-cut black hair, brown eyes, and a clean-shaven face, was propping open windows to display goods as I approached. The windows were simple squares cut into the side of the wagon, but covered with a wooden board hinged to the top.

Beside him stood an armored guard, a large woman with a sharp gaze and a contained scowl. The bit of a pot-belly and scarred face did nothing to help the impression that she would eagerly bash heads with the club at her waist.

“Oh, hello there! I’m Honest Brom, and I decided to stop by here after I heard about you all from the fine folks in Woodhoot,” the man bloomed with an obviously fake smile when he saw me. “I was just on my way through there headed towards Eiston by way of Lark when ole Miles mentioned you. I thought I’d stop by and provide a friendly face.”

I like to believe that I had a vast wealth of experience dealing with merchants, and a couple of good strategies that worked very well with merchants who weren’t used to trading with powerful people.

“I will be more than happy to look at your goods, but only if we can reach an agreement first.”

He snorted, “Sure, and what agreement would that be?”

“Well, you would agree to only offer me a fair price for your goods, and I agree not to turn you, your guard, and your wagon to ashes,” I answered him with my own obviously fake smile.

His guard reached for the club at her side, but only laid a hand on it. She may have also attempted to stare me to death. The merchant immediately retorted, “I will have you know they call me Honest Brom for a reason! I swear that—”

I cut off his speech by flinging a lightning bolt into a nearby tree. It happened to burst and catch fire quite spectacularly, in my opinion.

The man gulped, “I see. Well, yes, I could trade. I think a fair price could be reached.”

I nodded, “Good, let’s see what you have.”

The trading afterward took place rather quickly. I let Mena take charge of the conversation, which worked almost opposite of the normal way. She would suggest a price that was more than fair, and he bargained her down. In the end, Mena carried back two boxes of spices and herbs. I claimed a handful of uncut gemstones, mostly topaz.

It turned out that Honest Brom wasn’t in any way related to the Broms of Woodhoot. Rather, it was a quite common name throughout the entire hinterlands. It also turned out that Honest Brom didn’t trade in just petty goods either. His real trading stock was in rumors. Which, was likely the true reason he decided to visit. It began with a seemingly innocent comment.

“I heard say Baron Llal has a hidden dungeon. As a wizard, you should know a good bit about dungeons.”

“A fair amount, why do you ask?”

“Well, I know a fellow who would pay good money for something magical that could locate dungeons.” He said it offhandedly, but the glance he gave afterward was anything but.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I had no intention of working on anything like that. That’s when I noticed the man wasn’t packing up his goods, but rather moving them about needlessly. As if he were waiting.

“There’s more?” I asked. I should return to my record-keeping, but it lacked the feeling of inspiration and excitement I felt when experimenting. Or teaching. Or enchanting. Or… it was very, very mundane, and bored me to tears. So, even if I had a low desire to interact with the merchant, I had an even lower desire to return to the task at hand.

The merchant turned to face me so quickly that he must have been waiting for me to inquire.

“Oh, ah yes. I’ve heard that Baron Froom is very active in his lands. He reported a village. A wood elf village.” He glanced at my ears as if to make a point.

I waved it away. My father left so long ago I couldn’t even recall anything about him. I was not going to go search for him. I waved dismissively, “What else?”

“His tower has a great jewel at the top that gathers the power of the sun. He used it to destroy an army of goblins this winter,” He said excitedly.

I just nodded my head and waved him to continue. I planned to do something similar with my moonstone, so it wasn’t a surprise. I imagined my former assistant’s methods were more brutish.

“They say he is researching a new way to access the elemental planes,” Honest Brom continued.

That piqued my curiosity. If he was opening a gate, the kingdom was doomed. I would need to prepare countermeasures. Something in my expression must have given away a sign of my interest, as the man continued, “He also sponsors scouts to explore the western mountains, hoping to find what’s on the other side. He believes that something there is causing the beast tides.”

People have been trying to do that for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t anything new. Maybe this time, someone will actually return. The rumors went on like that for a while. Baron Llal, who owns territory to the west, was unmarried. He claimed his strength stat was too high to safely hold a baby. That he’s inflicted with night terrors. Baroness Lark apparently has two bastard-born children, a son and a daughter with Songmaster Tek. Baron Aide, whose lands lay to the north of Lark, was a merchant family who purchased their lands. They chafe under the ridicule of other nobility. Baron Bushwah, whose lands lay to the southeast, is a turncoat from the country of Furing. There were rumors he was a spy still working for Furing. Rumors that he’s looking to marry his oldest daughter and her husband might be set to inherit his lands, though she is not pleasant on the eye.

Eventually, I waved him off. The conversation was taxing to begin with, and I was beginning to have suspicions that he would seek information from me in return. It was his final comment that sealed my decision.

“Truthfully, my mistress, Baroness Lady Nix, asked that I make my goods and services available to you. I am part of a group of traders serving her that specialize in obtaining specialty goods and information. Should you have anything specific that you wish for.”

He seemed extremely pleased with himself when he informed me of this. It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. Baroness Nix, from what I gathered, was formerly a [Rogue]-class adventurer. She likely doesn’t support theft or banditry in her lands, but information trading would be a way for her to make use of her class skills. A newly elevated noble would want to secure her lands and title. I would imagine the man I’m speaking with is a fence for a thieves’ guild or some such nonsense.

I didn’t think that the Baroness or her little spy ring would be any threat to me. They seemed to want to include me in their web, for whatever reason. What did surprise me was how quickly I was contacted regarding such. I haven’t been in my tower long, and already she is reaching out. Secrets and stolen goods weren’t the types of things that interested me. Unless they were powerful magical artifacts of a bygone era. While I doubted this trader, or even Baroness Nix, possessed any such items, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched for an adventurer to stumble across something and sell it thinking it worthless.

“Honest Brom,” I began, adopting a more serious demeanor, “I have no immediate requirements, but I would trust that you would come to me first with any ancient magical artifacts. I suspect that my expertise in the matter is second to none.”

He bobbed his head up and down like a chicken, “Yes, yes! Of course. You will be the first to know.”

I gave him a smile and returned to my tower. Mena had long since carried the items purchased inside. After I stepped inside, I closed the wall behind me and looked up at the cloudy sky. Record-keeping awaited me, who could blame me for walking just a little slower than normal?