In many ways, Upper Elysium was incredibly similar to Seireiden. The silence that was a characteristic of Mi-Zu and Seireiden was even more pronounced here, with people conversing only in whispers. Like Seireiden, this place was dotted with mansions, and it was evident at first glance that the property prices here were sky-high. Gaius could still recall the pain in his chest whenever he remembered paying around seventy-five thousand gold — the approximate price of a high-quality Engine — for a place on Sterne Street.

Incidentally, the Kusanagis had settled with an even bigger mansion at Ader Street. Kenouji had tried to tell Gaius how much it cost, but the boy was wise enough to blot out his words. But the security here was worth it, at least. Knights — individuals who could lord over small towns in the South — served as what looked like guard captains in the Northern Capital.

But at any rate, Upper Elysium had lots in common with Seireiden…and had even more differences. For one, the former was largely a residential and leisure area. Other than some places open to entertain the countless bigshots that resided in this area, there was no other form of employment here. In fact, the Information Brokers were in Lower Elysium — a fact that Kenouji only found out after walking around for half a day.

The trio exhaled out loud after entering Lower Elysium. The silence was stifling, to say the least, but once they stepped through the gates, the din hit them like a tide.

“It’s crowded!” Nakama exclaimed. “And that’s the Ferris wheel we saw yesterday! Can we sit on it?”

“Maybe later,” said Gaius. When they had followed Kenouji into Upper Elysium, Gaius had seen what looked like a theme park. Upon further enquiry, Gaius learnt that this theme park was the brainchild of the current Pinnacle, who had wanted more entertainment in the stifling capital city. Of course, the fact that the current Pinnacle had plagiarised the concepts behind each attraction wasn’t lost on him, but in the Pinnacle’s defence, Gaius too didn’t know who was the inventor of each attraction either.

Isabelle and Nakama continued to disturb him as they walked towards a shophouse. A board emblazoned on it proudly proclaimed itself as a branch of the Information Brokers. The Information Brokers in Seireiden had limited its clientele by having their services high up in the sky, but it would seem that Elysium was less elitist than their Eastern counterpart.

“Stop poking me, the two of you.” Gaius dodged a finger from Nakama, and then deflected one from Isabelle. Before he could move again, however, Nakama had grabbed his arm. Gaius didn’t dare to move, and after a few minutes of unrestrained pokes and prods, he was forced to compromise.

The boy glared at the Ferris wheel, the source of all his problems, and then stalked into the Information Brokers’ shop.

“Welcome, valued customers!” A man, standing at the entrance, bowed as the three entered the premises. It was relatively crowded, with people sitting around and talking to each other over drinks. Evidently, this place also doubled as a dining place of sorts, reminding Gaius of the Information Brokers in the South.

The walls were mostly drab and boring to look at, but there was this list of sorts that was hanging near the entrance. At a closer glance, it was clearly something like a Display artefact, but the thing that had attracted the boy’s attention was the first entry on the list, which read “Lost Star: 7833 searches”.

“What’s that?” Gaius asked.

“That?” The man at the entrance looked up at the artefact. “This list displays the top ten most popular topics or subjects of investigation. The higher up they are, the more expensive they get. For instance, the first topic on this list, the Lost Star, would cost ten times as much as a usual investigation. The second topic, the Pinnacle’s expectations of a future wife, would cost nine times, and so on.”

For a moment, Gaius thought he’d heard something odd, but the second entry on the list reassured the boy that he wasn’t hearing things. That said, for so many people to be curious about the Pinnacle’s love life…

“I see,” said Gaius. “Thank you!”

Isabelle and Nakama nodded, the latter eliciting a sweet from the man guarding the entrance. Nakama tossed it into her mouth immediately, and then thanked the man with some stilted words. Without much preamble, the three queued up behind a bunch of classy-looking women, waiting for their turn in silence.

One of them, dressed in a fur coat, said, “Did you hear? The Pinnacle’s holding a ball two days later!”

“The whole of Upper Elysium is welcome too!” said another. “Competition is going to be tough. Who are you going to watch out for?”

“I don’t have that much gold, so I’ll just get information on the entire Wagner family,” said the woman with a fur-coat. “You?”

“Oh, the Stein family’s probably who I’m looking at,” said her friend. “Haah. There’s so many prestigious families we need to look out for, but no one has that much gold.”

Gaius nodded to himself. As it turned out, the Information Brokers were called upon to deliver information about families in the North…for reasons like this. He licked his lips. Such a function was definitely going to be a hotbed for information and socialising. It was something that suited him perfectly.

And as he turned to look at Isabelle and Nakama, he became incredibly aware that these two girls had also overheard these ladies’ words. An image floated into Gaius’ head — he could see himself joining this ball, with Nakama at his left, Isabelle at his right, and a whole lot of curious guests staring at him. Some daring young men might try to chat up the beautiful Isabelle, and when the inevitable refusal came, these men and their families would get angry at Gaius and company…

He was beginning to feel the beginnings of misfortune and conflict. Grimacing inwardly, Gaius cast out his thoughts frantically, trying to think up of ways to prevent such a scenario from happening. The two girls were already whispering — perhaps it was a discussion about what they wanted to wear or something — but in the end, the boy really couldn’t come up with a way to skip this social function.

“Hi,” said a woman at the counter. “How can I help?”

Gaius left his reverie, and like an automation, began to request for information surrounding the God of Water’s passing, as well as the basics of Northern society.