With limited Soul Kindling between them, there wasn't much reason to explore the middle district other than with the intent of gathering information and evaluating the market. This didn't stop Eliza from dragging off Emilia to peruse various clothing stores, however. As for Linnaeus, he spent a bit of time mapping their immediate surrounding before wandering toward the markets closest to the Central District, home to Briggs Fortress.

While exploring, he only places worth noting, at least in Linnaeus' opinion, were the Monster Association and, to a lesser extent, the Debtor's Guild. He had taken an interest in tamed beasts after discussing them with Yorgen and Cyrus so, with several hours before nightfall, he decided to gather more information about them.

As the name suggested, the Monster Association dealt with the acquisition, exchange, breeding, and distribution of various monsters. So long as you had the funds, it was possible to obtain a variety of different monsters, many of which were useful as either battle companions or mounts. The only real downside was, without a Blessing related to taming, it could take several years to build the requisite rapport to have a monster fight loyally at your side.

This was where the second organization of interest came in, the Debtor's Guild. Here, people that had fallen into debt could be contracted and, so long as you had the funds, they would effectively become your faux-slave.

Despite their apparent status, contracting someone from the Debtor's Guild didn't mean you could treat them however you wanted. The purpose of the Guild was to repay debts, not get their debtees killed, so, unless the debtee had agreed to an unrestricted contract, it was the obligation of the one who had purchased their services to care for them.

Since he was interested in expanding his Party without the threat of being backstabbed, Linnaeus had taken an interest in the Debtor's Guild the moment he heard about it from a stall vendor. He had seen a young woman walking around with two burly individuals, each with collars around their necks so, after purchasing a few skewers for Emilia, Linnaeus followed the vendor's directions to one of the tallest buildings in the entire middle district.

As could be expected, the Debtor's Guild was operated by the Briggs Familia, indicated by a massive emblem depicting a castle wall and a lion's head could be seen. This was important for a number of reasons as, not only did the Brigg's Familia serve as a Guarantor of the facility but, if you violated the terms of your contract, it was the same as offending one of the most powerful factions on the Fifth Floor.

Linnaeus had no intention of making even more enemies but, with a two-week window to earn a position with the Main Expedition, it didn't hurt to take a look. His Party was in desperate need of ranged attackers so, unless he or Emilia wanted to pick up a new specialty, they needed to scout a competent archer or someone with precision magic.

Since forming a secondary Party and establishing a Company was a high hurdle, at least for the time being, supplementing their needs with temporary members was the next best option.

It was with this mentality that Linnaeus first stepped into the Debtor's Guild, a surprisingly orderly place with a prim and lavish interior. There, dozens of uniformed staff were waiting to happily deal with any customers that wandered in, much like an Auction House. The main difference was, rather than be ignored, it took less than thirty seconds for an intelligent-looking woman with sharp eyes and even sharper ears approached him, asking, "Have you come with the intent to purchase or sell?"

When he heard the woman's question, Linnaeus quickly realized why she hadn't ignored him, despite his rather slovenly attire. He imagined it wasn't all that uncommon for people to take the initiative to sell their debt directly to the Guild, likely to escape whoever they had indebted themselves to in the first place...

Without letting the woman's words bother him, Linnaeus stared back at her with a calm expression on his face, plainly stating, "I am interested in acquiring the contract of someone competent with a bow or precision magics. Please, show me what you have available."

Hearing Linnaeus' response, the woman gave an understanding nod, her expression never changing from the professional smile she had been wearing since the beginning. Then, after a courteous bow, she gestured toward the side, stating, "If you'll follow me, I would be happy to facilitate your needs, Young Master."

Linnaeus wasn't fond of the way the woman addressed him but, with a mask of his own, the woman was unable to see through him as they alighted to a private room. There, Linnaeus was invited to sit in a surprisingly comfortable chair while the woman rang a small silver bell that had been sitting on the large wooden table separating them.

In response to the bell, a door at the back of the room quickly opened to reveal two neatly-dressed servants, each wearing fitted dresses with relatively short skirts. From this, Linnaeus assumed that the golden bell, positioned next to its silver counterpart, likely summoned male servants.

Seeing her client remain unfazed even in the face of two beauties, the female Broker couldn't help but squint her eyes slightly as she tried, and failed, to get a read on him. Even when he was offered tea by the bustier of the two women, the young boy just gave a small nod in response, observing the contents of the cup before immediately setting them aside...

Realizing she had yet to learn the boy's name, the female Broker gestured for the servants to stand at the side before saying, "You have impressive bearing for someone so young. Despite being taught never to judge a book by its cover, it would seem I still need a bit of practice. Please, might I ask for your name, Young Master? As for my own, you may refer to me as Rune."

Though he would have to sign his name on a contract if he wanted to obtain a debtee, Linnaeus had misgivings about arbitrarily giving his name to random people. Thus, without necessarily lying, he gave a curt nod before answering, "Hearing someone call me Young Master is unpleasant. You may refer to me as Finn, Ms. Rune."

Hearing Linnaeus' response, Rune answered with a curt nod of her own before saying, "I hope we are able to enjoy a lasting partnership, Mr. Finn. As this seems to be your first time visiting the Debtor's Guild, there are a few matters of varying importance to discuss. First of all, I am obligated to inform you that, should you choose to move forward with the acquisition of a contract, I will become your permanant Broker. Secondly, before I can show you any of the contracts we have available, there is a 100 Soul Kindling consultation fee that must be paid in advance..."

As information was never free, Linnaeus' wasn't too surprised by Rune's words. What he did question was whether or not the fee was actually 100 Soul Kindling but, knowing he would lose all leverage by footing around the issue, he opted to simply pay it. If he couldn't even fork over 100 Soul Kindling, it was unlikely Rune, or any Broker for that matter, would treat him as a serious customer.

Seeing Linnaeus unhesitantly pay the consultation fee, Rune's evaluation of the poorly-dressed youth went up by a few points. He was difficult to read but, based on his words and behavior, she got the impression he specifically dressed as such to lower the guard of others. This wasn't all that uncommon amongst affluent people who liked to see how people treated them based solely on appearance so, rather than offend a potentially powerful individual, Rune decided to play it safe by bowing politely as she accepted Linnaeus' payment.

Linnaeus could feel a change in the way Rune and the two servant women looked at him but, with the same neutral expression as always, he sat quietly as the former listed off various contracts. Most of them had exorbitant prices, ranging between 3,500-5,000 Soul Kindling per month but, every now and then, a relatively cheap contract, around 800-1,500, would come up. Linnaeus felt Rune was just throwing these in to gauge his reaction but, without revealing his actual thoughts on the matter, he had her run through a list of thirty-seven individuals without pause.

What was worth noting was that the fact that the listed rate was just to obtain the contract of the person. From there, epending on the terms agreed upon, the contract could easily exceed several tens-of-thousands of Soul Kindling per month as a liability clause. Most of these clauses determined the treatment of the debtee and, if you wanted to have them risk their lives, there was even a clause that required you to continue paying off their debt, even if they died...

Most debtees didn't include the option to risk their lives but, in exchange, they would have to agree to various other 'services', some of which were arguably worse than death. Though this all depended on how much the person buying them was willing to pay, it was something to consider if he wanted to acquire someone's contract.

What bothered Linnaeus was the fact that, due to his status as a 'Potentiate', meaning he could still climb the Crucible of Souls, he needed to pay upwards of 30% of the person's total debt upfront as a precaution against people amassing debtees to farm Soul Kindling and then simply departing the Floor.

Worse still was the fact that, if he left the Floor with an active contract, it would still be in effect if he ended up failing his trial. As a result, he would be shackled with a massive debt if he was sent back to the Fifth Floor, essentially becoming a debtee himself for several decades.

This seemed to be a surprisingly common outcome as, among the thirty-seven contract detailed by Rune, twenty-nine belonged to people who had failed their trials. In a way, this system was a trap to ensure they always had a stable supply of debtees as, due to time constraints, Potentiates would be desperate to acquire Soul Kindling by any means necessary. As a result, they would readily violate the clause as, if they ended up leaving the Crucible behind, their debt within didn't matter at all...

As someone in the same boat as these individuals, Linnaeus wasn't deterred by the overbearing clause as, if he failed to return to the Tower, his life would have lost all meaning. If he had to spend a few decades as someone's servant, that was merely penance for his failure.

Fortunately, even if he did fail, Linnaeus had the distinct impression that Eliza would fail alongside him. He could easily imagine her purchasing his contract and, though this would make things a little awkward between them, it wasn't the absolute worst outcome.

With this in mind, Linnaeus ended up paying a holding fee on a Level 31 Dáilin male with the [Child of Wind] Blessing. He didn't want the stigma of purchasing a female's contract as, with Eliza and Emilia opting to share a room with him, it would put him in a difficult position. Males were also a lot cheaper, on average, so it was also the most economical choice given his current financial status...

Since it wasn't uncommon for people to place holding fees, as purchasing a contract outright was only something a wastrel would do, Rune's evaluation of Linnaeus didn't drop all that much. Rather, after learning he was a Potentiate, she became even more eager to complete a transaction with him as it guaranteed a higher commission. She would also be the one to obtain his contract if he failed his future trials so, with very little to lose, Rune happily carried out her duties as Linnaeus' Broker.

(A/N: I am very sick right now. I wasn't going to write a chapter today but, as it felt awkward to post a notice after failing to publish one yesterday, I opted to write a chapter to let everyone know what is going on.)