The next morning Kael headed back to the city gates around dawn. For another 10 silver, Kael got information on the towns mercenaries out of the guards. The two most notable groups were the Fusang who always treated the commoners of the city well, and their polar opposite, the Hundun. The Hundun was barely anything more than a large gang and generally just caused chaos in the city.

After speaking with the guards, Kael spent most of the day wandering around the city. Getting an understanding of the layout of the city he specifically paid attention to where people lived versus where they worked. The secondary mission was finding out the safer areas to live and figuring out where the more mild-tempered gangs were.

Eventually, he narrowed down the area he was going to start his money making operation in. It was a somewhat run down area that formed a weird triangular shaped buffer zone between the middle class, lower class, and slum areas of the cities.

Finding a decent inn in the area he then spent two days watching the residents and foot traffic of the area. Seeing that the area was heavily trafficked in the morning, noon, and evening from people going to and coming from work he determined this was the place for him. Watching the thousands of people going past in waves he thought, Should I name this the profit zone or the golden triangle? Such an underdeveloped gold mine.

The following day he wandered through his golden triangle until he found an abandoned three-story building with a large yard. Its borders were between the lower class and slum areas at the edge of his profit zone. Sneaking in to take a look he found it was pretty run down but the building had a solid framework. Nodding to himself, he snuck back out of the property.

Walking through the lower class part of the city he headed over to the Fusang’s mercenary encampment. When he arrived he found a huge building surrounded by a large wall. The encampment took up at least a few acres. Walking up to the gate where 4 guards were stationed he gave them a once over.

The mercs were pretty decently dressed in well maintained uniforms, with chainmail armour and steel breastplates. The guards at the door all had weapons that looked like the bastard child of a scimitar and a polearm. With a 2 foot curved blade and a 3 foot handle, Kael wasn’t sure if they were great swords or strange spears. They looked like they could do some serious chopping though.

Walking up to the guards he waved and greeted them. “Hello there, I was hoping to talk to someone about hiring a long-term retainer of at least the spirit warrior rank, preferably a spirit general. I heard you were a trustworthy group and was wondering who I should talk to about something like that?”

The guards gave the well dressed kid a once-over to be sure he wasn’t playing a prank. Seeing he was dressed in silk and was well mannered the leader of the four decided to get more information.

Taking a step forward he greeted Kael and asked, “We generally don’t work as retainers. What kind of work do you need the person to do and are you sure you can afford it?”

Seeing the guy be respectful, Kael determined the guards did not give him bad information. Looking up to the main guard he said, “I just need a bodyguard who can double as a guardian figure when I go shopping. The work should be easy, it will all be inside the city, and it will last at least three months. I will pay for three months in advance if it makes things easier.”

Hearing Kael’s basic request, the guard decided it was legitimate business. Asking Kael to follow him, he opened the gate and went into the encampment.

Walking behind the mercenary Kael took the time to look around their encampment. Everything looked pretty basic but he was a little surprised at the size of the group. Seeing 6 buildings that appeared to be barracks, he estimated they had at least 300 people in their camp. Behind each of the buildings was a large yard. Three of the yards had 40 to 50 men working out and training against each other.

Looking up ahead in the direction they were walking he could see the huge building that was visible over the walls. To Kael, it looked like a 5 story hybrid of a southern plantation and a pagoda. Instead of being tall and skinny like a normal pagoda would be, it was 500 to 600 feet wide. Each level of the building was separated with pagoda style roofs and had guards walking around the top of them. The overall style gave it a squat look even though it was over 50 feet tall.

Walking up and into the building with the gate guard, they entered into a large great hall. The guard took him over to a smaller side room that had a table and a few chairs. Asking Kael to wait a few minutes the guard left to find someone to do business with him.

After a few minutes of boredom, a well dressed middle aged man entered the room. The man was dressed in a green and brown uniform with a large golden sun on its right breast. Taking a seat across from Kael, the man gave him the same cursory look before starting negotiations.

Probing the child's intentions he asked, “I’m told you are looking for a long-term bodyguard. One who can double as a guardian figure for you in the city?”

Looking the man in the eye, Kael began to spew a web of lies he had thought up earlier. “Yes sir, my family is on a long trade route and will be gone for a while. They left me here to see if I have the families business talent. I am not allowed to look for any assistance outside of hiring a bodyguard. For protection against exploitation, I am allowed to have the guard pretend to be my guardian.”

Sizing the kid up again the man said, “Interesting, so what is your name and what does your family trade in?”

“My name is Kaeldread; My family primarily trades in pills but my passion is for food. They are giving me a chance to show if I can make enough profit. However, my starting capital is pretty low. It's enough to buy protection but then I will have to get creative.”

“Well Kaeldread, it looks like we can work with you. A forewarning though, none of our troop will commit any crimes, so you best stick to the honest route. Our rates are 5 silver per rank per day for spirit warriors and 50 silver per rank for generals.”

“I would prefer a spirit general, but the man or woman I want to hire must be honest and mild-mannered. They need to pretend to be my guardian in public, but in private remember they are my guard, not my boss.”

“Ok, well I have two available rank 8 spirit warriors and 1 available rank 2 spirit general that meets those requirements.”

Reaching into his robe Kael took out 9 gold. Placing it on the table and sliding it over to the mercenary, Kael said, “I will take the spirit general.”

With a smile, the man took the gold and said, “One moment and I will return with your guard.”

A short time later the man returned to the room. Following him was a tall, robust, and plain looking woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. Tell me her name is Brienne was Kael’s first thought upon seeing her.

Standing up, Kael greeted the newcomer who would be with him for a long time. The man introduced her as Kael bowed to her. “Kaeldread, this is Jessica. She is a dedicated cultivator, mature, and good at taking orders. I hope you do not plan to travel as she has never left a city in her life.”

Looking over at the woman Kael said, “Good to meet you, Jessica. Your duties will be to follow me around town pretending to by my aunt. The rest of the time you will just be hanging around doing nothing. I’m glad you like cultivating, you will most likely have plenty of time to do so.”

When Kael was done speaking the woman cupped her hands and gave him a slight bow. Looking at the quiet woman Kael hoped all would go well. Looking back over to the man Kael asked, “Before we leave, I hope you could point me in the right direction to buy land. The place I have my eye on is currently abandoned.”

“No problem,” the man said, “You can go to the mayor's office, one of the men there can assist you. If no one owns it you can purchase it directly from them. A word of advice, a gold or two tip will help you speed up the process.”

Thanking the man Kael left with Jessica in tow. Exiting the mercenary compound, Kael had Jessica lead him to the Mayor's office. In route, he handed her 30 gold and explained the building he wanted and its location.

He also told her for every bit she could haggle from the initial price, he would give her half of the difference. At first, she still had a lacklustre look in her eye. That is until Kael told her that her half, of course, should be used on cultivation materials. With a new spark of life in her eye, she grabbed Kael’s hand and almost dragged him to the mayor’s office.

Arriving at the mayor’s office, Jessica did not pause at the door. Blowing right past the guards and into the building. She marched up to a little counter in the corner where the employee was dozing off. Rapping her knuckles on the counter to get the workers attention she said, “We are here to buy a property or to find out who owns it.”

The man behind the counter looked over at the burly woman. A little surprised by her brusque manner of speaking he stuttered out, “Uhm, sure, I can help you with that. Would you like to take me to the location?”

Jessica replied with a simple, “Good” before turning around and starting to leave. Sighing, Kael looked at the guy and said, “Sorry man, my aunty is like that. Just follow me.” Waving for the guy to follow him Kael started walking after Jessica.

10 Minutes later they arrived at the building. The first thing that came out of Jessica’s mouth was, “what a shit hole.” Blushing a little bit, Kael motioned for the guy to let them in.

Wandering through the building Jessica followed the man as he blabbered about random things, trying to make the damaged building sound like a mansion. After a few minutes, Jessica looked over at Kael and asked him if he was sure. Getting a nod from Kael, she interrupted the man.

“How much for it and does the price come with a free cleaning crew?”

Startled again, the man stammered out that it would be 35 gold. After a long and tortuous negotiation that consisted of a set of sharp “No’s” and a few threats, Kael got the place for 23 gold. Jessica paid the man and told him to return tomorrow morning with the deed.

After the man ran off, Jessica looked over at Kael with a grin. Taking his pouch out, she took 1 gold from it. Putting the pouch in her pocket she handed him the gold coin. Sighing, Kael knew he screwed himself. Who knew the woman could be so terrifying when it came to something to help her cultivate.

Now that he had spent 38 of his 55 gold, he had to get things together for as cheap as possible. Out of his 17 gold he set aside 5 for later emergencies. 10 of the remaining gold would go into investing in the building and to make money. Giving the final 2 gold to Jessica, he explicitly told her to purchase at least 2 sets of silk clothing and to meet him here tomorrow morning. She ended up arguing with him about leaving him alone and how it would be a breach of their contract. In the end, she followed him back to his inn. After confirming the room he was in she left to buy clothing.