By the time he was halfway to the so-called upper district Wolf had made a number of observations. The closer he got to the stone walls the larger the buildings were and the quality of construction seemed to improve. The alleys also seemed somewhat wider.

From time to time Wolf even spotted a well built stone house. He tried, but failed to notice any pattern. The only thing remotely resembling a pattern was that these stone houses appeared periodically with large, equally well built wooden houses nearby.

It took some four hours for Wolf to reach the gate to the stone wall separating the districts. Finding The Singing Thot was simple enough, just like that Glib fellow had said.

This building was one of the well built structures, and it was considerably bigger than most. It could pass for one of the taverns in which the caravan would spend the night when they stopped in towns along the way.

What caught Wolf’s eye the most were a pair of red lanterns that were already lit, despite it being daytime. The lights flanked a wooden sign hanging above the door. If you used a lot of imagination then the sign might just barely pass for what appeared to be a silhouette of an oddly proportioned woman, maybe. The wood was crudely carved as were the cramped letters. Even Wolf could tell that it was the work of an amateur and greatly at odds with decent masonry of the building.

From the building’s dozen or so windows Wolf could hear slapping sounds, giggles, moans and panting of both men and women. He didn’t like the feeling he got from those sounds. Quite a few of them sounded fake and hearing giggles, covering despair made Wolf’s skin crawl.

He wanted to go inside and check out what was going on. However, as soon as he neared the door a pair of bouncers looked at him darkly.

“Piss off! No begging allowed!” one of them shouted, stopping Wolf.

Wolf wanted to say that he was curious and wished to see what the place looked like, but there was no point wasting breath on these two. The pair of tall, burly men seemed that they would rather kill him than listen to what he had to say.

Wolf felt his sword hand itch. He could easily dispatch these fools. But even Wolf was aware that a nine year old brandishing a well made sword and killing two bouncers would cause a scene. Besides, it's not like killing these two would solve any of the world’s problems. This crowd was full of men like them. He would probably have to kill at least half the people living here if he wanted to achieve any effect.

Setting that idea aside for later consideration, Wolf wanted to wait for Glib. But, the bouncer that shouted didn’t seem to like him. He gave chase whenever Wolf approached The Singing Thot. He was acting just like a rabid dog. Finally the thug grabbed a stone and threw it at Wolf. Annoyed, Wolf snatched the stone from midair and sent it whizzing back.

“Aargh! Fucker!” The bouncer shouted after a painful scream. He grabbed his shoulder, but then screamed again. His arm was broken.

Wolf immediately realized that he’d made a mistake in the heat of the moment. He ran away, immediately disappearing into the crowd.

The burly bouncer returned to his post while holding back his tears. He couldn’t let anyone realize his arm was broken, otherwise he would be out of a job in no time.

The man kept muttering his regards to the urchin that threw the stone at him, as well as his entire ancestry. Fortunately for the bouncer, Wolf didn’t hear him, otherwise those curses would've been his ticket for reincarnation.

Since he couldn’t stay near The Singing Thot, Wolf decided to roam around. In the hour he’d spent walking about, two youths tried to mug him. When Wolf entered one of the dark alleys a more serious incident took place. A group of hoodlums jumped at him and tried to kidnap Wolf. The pickpockets ended up with sprained wrists, while the gang of thugs never left the alley.

Wolf knocked them out with Subtle Slumber, then checked that there were no witnesses and slit their throats, sending them on their way to the next life.

As far as Wolf was concerned kidnappers were no different from murderers. In fact they were even worse. If you get killed you reincarnate. If you get kidnapped you probably won’t enjoy whatever happened next.

In both cases you’re separated from your loved ones, but reincarnation lands you in a new loving home, without the memories of the past. While after being kidnapped you probably end up as a slave or something.

Wolf’s idea of death was quite unique. He was probably the only person in the world that honestly believed death to be preferable to being taken somewhere against your will.

Wolf wandered around for a good long while before Glib suddenly appeared before him. The man was in the company of a large, burly man. Looking at him Wolf thought that he was the poster child of the generic criminal type around these parts.

Unexpectedly, the burly man’s eyes were kind of dull and the bloody air about him was quite weak. He either wasn’t a hardened killer, or at least hadn’t killed anyone recently. For some reason the burly man was carrying a half-full sack big enough to fit a grown man.

“Hey kid! Got the money? If you do, we can get you into the upper district as soon as it’s dark,” Glib said so fast Wolf took a moment to understand the words. The man sounded like an artifact made for talking.

Wolf nodded hesitantly. He knew that this man was ripping him off, but he wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, regardless of how much it cost. He had no idea what would happen to him if he fell asleep here. Alarm spell was absolutely useless. He couldn’t even set it up from all the people aimlessly wandering about.

“Then let us see the coins, if you please.” Greed and hope burned in the unkempt man's eyes.

Wolf already saw this coming and prepared beforehand. He fished out the three coins from his pocket and showed them to Glib. A moment later his tiny fist closed around the gold hiding it from Glib’s view.

Wolf could see the look of longing more appropriate for a hungry dog than a man, but then Glib smiled widely. The ugly smile threatened to split the man's head in two.

“Derrick here has a cousin in the city guards,” Glib explained. “Coincidentally Derrick’s cousin is on gate duty after sunset. So we can smuggle you without a hitch then. We just have to take one of those shiny coins to give to Derrick’s cousin and the city guards on duty. You’re a smart boy. You should already know how these things work.”

Wolf sighed. He should’ve seen this coming. He took one of the three coins he’d prepared and tossed it to Glib. The man caught it with surprising dexterity. Apparently he wasn’t all talk and actually had some ability.

Considering where he lived, it was unlikely that he could survive on his tongue alone. Glib bit the coin with enthusiasm and put it in a money bag, which then disappeared into an inner pocket of his dirty coat.

“All right. Now you just have to get into this sack of potatoes,” he said after wrapping up the ceremony of securing his possessions.

Derrick placed the sack on the ground and opened it so that Wolf could get inside. Wolf looked at the filthy sack and the surprisingly decent potatoes inside it, before looking at the two men. He had a weird expression on his face that said Are you kidding me?

“Well, come on. Get in,” Glib urged Wolf to hurry while wildly flailing his arms. “The two of us will pose as servants that went out on an errand to buy potatoes. The guards might want to check the sack, so that’s why there are potatoes inside.”

“Aren’t we paying them off?” Wolf looked at the sack suspiciously.

But no matter how he looked at it this was just a common sack with five to ten kilos of regular old potatoes.

“The sack with potatoes is there in case of contingency,” Glib explained. “They can’t just let anyone slip by. What if an officer shows up? Then Derrick’s cousin can just say he was letting in a pair of servants on an official errand. As for you, you’re just a sack of potatoes. Even if the officer checks, Derrick’s cousin can pull out a potato or two and show them to him. That should be enough for an officer to ignore two servants carrying a dirty old sack.”

What the hell is this convoluted plan? Can’t we just slip through a crack in the wall or sewers or something? That's what heroes in books did. Wolf couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He should have been able to come up with a better plan back when he was three years old. And were they planning to try to pass him off as a really big potato?

“Look kid, trust me, I'm a professional,” Glib assured in a tone that would leave everyone filled with doubt. “I already told you that I’m running a business like this, and I know what I’m doing. Derrick and I, we’ve done this at least a hundred times already. Right Derrick?”

Derrick seemed deep in thought, contemplating the question, but Glib didn’t wait for his answer. “We know what we are doing. We know how not to get caught. So get in the sack and just enjoy the ride. Soon you’ll be in the upper district.”

Wolf looked at the man holding the sack. He was a typical muscle-brain and still seemed to be counting how many times this scam had worked before. His dimwittedness was kind of reassuring.

I can’t believe I’m doing this! Wolf clenched his teeth and climbed into the sack. Derrick tied up the sack while Wolf angrily muttered inside. “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Ever! It’s even dumber than agreeing to that procedure…”

Derrick swung the bag onto his shoulder. Both him and Wolf grunted at this gentle maneuver. “Boss, this kid weighs a ton,” the man said with a slow voice, but apparently he could deal with more than sixty kilos he now carried on his back.

“You’re drunk Derrick, just shut up and carry him,” Glib cursed and waved the muscle to follow him.

“Yes Boss.” Derrick shut up and walked behind Glib towards the gate.

Glib dusted his clothes with his hands without producing any visible result, but he felt cleaner, which was all that mattered. Important thing to note was that even though these two went towards the gate they didn’t dare make a single step onto the main road. After getting as close as he could to the gate without standing on the road, Glib came to a halt and waved.

“My lord. We were shopping for potatoes for Lord Malcolm. I believe that you have already been notified about that and that you are expecting us.” Glib shouted at the guards from some ten meters away.

The guards on the commoner gate exchanged glances and one of them sighed loudly. “Come over here! You are allowed to step onto the road when running an errand for a noble.”

Wolf thought that the guard was very thoughtful. He spoke louder than necessary, as if shouting. Obviously he was making sure everyone could hear him so as not to cause trouble for Glib and his little cousin. “Let me check what’s in that sack.”

Derrick lowered the sack with a thud, almost causing Wolf to grunt from the shock. The guard untied the sack and slowly opened it, making sure nobody else could see its contents. Just as he had expected, a young child was inside the bag.

This time it was a pretty faced boy. Suddenly the guard’s eyes widened. The boy was wide awake, and he wasn't even bound, yet the child wasn’t screaming. In fact for some reason he took a potato and raised it a bit in his hand, as if he was offering it to the guard.

Why isn’t this kid screaming and trying to run away? No, wait why is he awake and why does he have that awkward expression. Did they pick up a dull child with a pretty face this time? There was a tinge of pity in the guard’s eyes, but it disappeared in the next moment.

He had a family to feed and a job to do. He couldn’t poke his nose into a Baron’s business, even if he was widely known as a sadistic pedophile. The Duke was supposed to handle things like that, not gate guards.

Wolf on the other hand saw that the man had been silent and frowning for a couple of moments now.

“Take the potato, is your boss asking for potatoes?” Wolf whispered, and the guard choked on saliva when hearing those words. The stunned man started violently coughing.

He cleared his throat, then tied up the sack and left the mentally ill child to play with his potatoes. Once the guard was done tying up the sack he spoke in the same overly loud manner while still coughing.

“Ahem! Indeed there are only potatoes in this sack. You may pass, but head straight wherever you’re supposed to go. If you stop anywhere on the street before reaching your destination the guards have the right to throw you out of the city despite the fact that you serve a noble Lord.”

“Thank you for your advice lord.” Glib bowed, kissing ass all the while. “We will make sure to heed your words and go straight to the mansion.”

The guard rolled his eyes and opened the gate. “Oh just get going already.”

The man hated this part of his duty. But such was the world they lived in, and there was nothing he could do about it except to try and forget the faces of those unfortunate boys and girls as quickly as possible.

Glib and his muscle smoothly entered what the folks from the slums called the upper district. Glib tried and failed to hide his self satisfied smile. But, why wouldn't he smile? He had found a pretty young boy he could cash in for decent money. He managed to talk him into being kidnapped on his own volition and the kid was rich to boot!

The only thing left to do now was to figure out how to take the money from the kid without damaging him too much. Bruised children sold cheaper, even though that pervert probably did much worse things than bruising them.

Man, I can’t believe how gullible this kid is. He even paid us to kidnap him! He even entered the sack on his own. How dumb do you have to be? Lord Malcom was sure to pay them at least fifty silver coins for this boy. That was half a gold coin! Plus there were at least three gold coins from the idiot himself. And the boy had to have more than three on him! Glib couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good.

All they had to do now was find a quiet alley where they could strip the boy and tie him up. Then the boy’s belongings, including those nice, shiny gold coins would all end up in Glib’s pocket. Glib grinned and licked his lips greedily.

He was certain his life was about to get a turn for the better.