A few men were floating around the billboard, talking in lowered voices as they negotiated with the three standing around the tri-coloured billboard. It seemed to Gaius that the people up here were generally more relaxed with their conversations, which made sense when he thought about it, because there probably weren’t any artefacts eavesdropping on their conversations here.

How these people knew that there were such artefacts buried a small distance under the pavement was another question, though. Or maybe they didn’t feel that pressured to shut up and behave normally, since being able to fly placed one in a…rather exclusive club. Not many people had the leeway to cultivate the way the scions of rich families did, after all. Once the Dynamo made its way into commoner society, these rules would probably change, but before that…

Well, I should enjoy these…’benefits’ before changes happen. Gaius mocked himself as he approached the small group, which automatically opened a space for him. Two of them had drifted apart, almost subconsciously, to allow Gaius in, but the two turned their heads again when they noticed who the newcomer was.

“A small Knight.” One of the men standing before the billboard — an Information Broker — pushed his pince-nez up and studied Gaius closely. “The record for the youngest Knight has been broken, it seems. What’s your name?”

“I’m here to buy information.” Gaius crossed his legs and replied. “Wouldn’t it be a problem if I gave out my name freely?”

“Point.” The man tapped his glasses lightly, a gesture that somehow conveyed an apology to Gaius. The light from the billboard shone on his right hand at that moment, revealing a single complex sigil on it. “What do you want to know?”

“I’m new here.” The boy paused for a moment. “I’m new to the Eastern Territories; I came from the South. I’d like information on the Eastern Territories’ culture, implicit rules, its organisations and its governing structure.”

“The South again?” The man narrowed his eyes slightly. “The previous record holder for the youngest Knight came from there, and now it’s being broken by an even younger boy from the South. Are you guys eating miracle medicines like rice or what?”

“I think it’s natural talent,” Gaius replied, drawing involuntary splutters from the others listening in. One of them even destabilised his own Flight for a moment, and spent a few seconds to regain his original positions.

“Big words,” said the man. He looked around at the others. “But I think you have the right to say that, youngest Knight in history. If you lot aren’t satisfied, you can try having kids and making them Knights by…thirteen?”

Gaius licked his lips and stayed silent.

“You know,” said the old man, “you could earn quite a lot of gold if you revealed your name. The Octantis Book of World Records awards any record-breaker with a great amount of gold and resources, and anyone who’s broken the youngest record for Knights and beyond get even more.”

“As tempting that sounds, the me here isn’t the youngest Knight in all history,” replied Gaius. He was telling the truth. Right now, the man was assuming that he was thirteen — a number he didn’t care to clarify — but he was under disguise now.

“You’re not?” The man’s pince-nez tilted to one side. “There’s someone even younger from the South?”

After staring in disbelief at the young man for a few more moments, he made a weird motion, and the person at his side produced a small notebook and scribbled in it furiously. Gaius didn’t know what exactly was written inside, but it probably had something to do with what the man said earlier.

“About the information I want to buy…” Gaius spoke, after seeing that the two men were busy with writing more and more words.

“Ah, right.” The bespectacled man looked up, an elegant motion that sent his tailcoat fluttering. “Such information is generally obtainable on the ground easily, so it’s not too much. It is part of our easing-in services for immigrants—”

“Easing-in services for immigrants?” Gaius repeated, his eyes blinking rapidly. “There’s such a thing?”

“Naturally,” replied the man. “Mi-Zu is always competing for immigrants with Eo-Seu and Feng-Lang, so we do provide these services if someone of repute approaches Mi-Zu’s consulate. It’s around ten gold.”

Gaius closed his eyes. Take a deep breath and calm down. Orb is a world that’s over a hundred thousand years old; civilisation on Earth has been spinning for around fourteen thousand years. Of course they would have consulates! I’m just an idiot…

“Are you alright?” asked the man.

“Just… a bit awkward,” replied Gaius, who passed ten gold coins over. “If that’s the case, help me compile any and all intelligence with regards to the South, after the Worldshaper sent his troops there.”

“Investigate the Worldshaper?” The man frowned. “We don’t have teams in place of that, which means that you’ll have to pay extra for that service. It’ll be a few thousand gold, at least ten thousand.”

Gaius took out five small gems in response, which glittered like a kaleidoscope under the three coloured lights, and dropped it on the man’s hand. “This is a gem from Heritage. You should know what is that, right?”

“Yes.” The man glanced at the small group that had crowded around him, and upon seeing their confused faces, looked at Gaius. The boy immediately interpreted his gesture as asking for permission to tell the others, which Gaius didn’t have issue with, and nodded.

“This,” said the information broker, “is a gemstone from primordial Orb. The one in myth, where the ancient gods Tiadall and Pabar fought for eons, long before the elemental great gods remodelled Orb to make it a place for us to live in. They are…valuable.”

A hiss escaped from the group listening in. One of the men that had made space for Gaius raised his hand and asked, “How much is one such gem worth?”

“Five hundred gold,” replied the information broker. “But this price has been forced down by an ongoing policy in the Five Lands to continually harvest these gemstones. In the past, it used to be a hundred times that number.”

“Great gods…”

After a round of awestruck murmuring, Gaius nodded at the information broker and said, “I’ll be back tomorrow for the information on the Eastern Territories. Have a good night.”

“You too, Sir Knight.”

Gaius waved his hand and bade farewell to the others, before zipping off into the skyline.