Seifr walked with his head high and back straight. He had found on previous encounters that the quickest way to draw attention from the City Watch was to walk around like he was trying to avoid notice, and that the easiest way to avoid notice was to walk around like he had nothing to hide. It was actually more conspicuous to attempt to avoid notice in the midst of the crowd, anyway, rather than blending in with the masses.

Seifr noted Shayla's appearance and actions out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that she was fairly similar to Celia in her mannerisms, though she was slightly more reserved. Probably why I'm so comfortable around her. Seifr had not made any friends at the house other than Shayla, though he was friendly to everyone he interacted with. He was still a little wary around strangers.

The pair made their way deeper into the city towards their destination. As they rounded a corner, Seifr spotted several people walking in a group wearing the uniform of the Misty Realm Academy. His heart lurched for a second, and his pulse increased. He maintained his composure through willpower and continued walking normally, fighting his instincts to hunch his shoulders and hide his face.

I have nothing to worry about. They won't recognize me since I've altered my appearance, Seifr encourage himself. After settling himself in with the thieves, Seifr had dyed his hair and given himself a scar on his face by using a dagger and not healing it with Spiritual Energy. Any wounds healed without the use of Spiritual Energy would form permanent scars. Some of the more battle crazy cultivators would deliberately only use Ki to heal otherwise fatal wounds, and they wore their scars as a badge of honor. Seifr thought it was more a badge of honor to the person who struck the blow instead.

Sure enough none of the students even turned their attention in the direction of Seifr, and he let out a small sigh as the duo passed the group. Shayla noticed the sigh, but did not say anything. She knew he was obviously running from some sort of situation, but she had never pried into anything he was not willing to venture on his own. Another reason Seifr had grown to trust Shayla a bit.

I didn't notice Seth with that group. I wonder how he's doing, and I hope he's safe. Seifr had been worried about his friend for some time. The last he had seen of him, Seth had disappeared after being struck unconscious by the villain who murdered Celia.

Seifr and Shayla finally made their way onto the last street to the fence, and they spotted the building in question. It was a short, squat building that was quite small. It appeared somewhat out of place in this neighborhood, but it was well maintained.

The two entered the building and glanced around. Inside there was only the one counter with a person standing behind it, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers on the counter top. There was no merchandise anywhere, and one solitary door behind the man at the counter. It was completely empty.

What.... Seifr was completely confused about the setup, and he hesitated briefly, thinking this might be the wrong place. He gritted his teeth and proceeded towards the counter. As they approached, the other man perked up and smiled at them.

"What can I do for you?" He asked the pair.

Shayla pulled the ring out of her pocket and placed it on the counter. The man's expression lit up when he spied the ring and said, "Ahh, say no more. I'll have this checked out, and I'll be right out." He snatched the ring, and he rushed through the door behind him before Shayla could even open her mouth.

Seifr and Shayla shared a look and chuckled. "I guess we're in the right place after all," Shayla said. Apparently Seifr was not the only one with some misgivings.

The man quickly returned with the ring and a money pouch. He placed both items on the counter and smiled at the pair before saying, "Always nice doing business with you. Come back any time." After that he returned to his absent-minded finger drumming, obviously indicating the interaction was over.

Shayla hesitantly retrieved the items, a look of shock quickly coming over her face as she felt the weight of the money pouch. She and Seifr quickly made their exit and headed back towards the house. Shayla opened the money pouch and peered inside. Seifr continued on his way for a moment before realizing that Shayla had stopped walking. He looked back at her and saw her frozen, staring at the coin purse.

Shayla finally looked up and grinned at Seifr. "Ten platinum coins!" Shayla whispered fiercely. "I would have guessed maybe two or three platinum coins at best. You have to take into account that the fence also has to make a profit, and so we wouldn't get retail value. I would say the retail of that merchandise was six or seven plats."

Seifr's eyebrows attempted to climb to his hairline. Their previous excursions had resulted in profits of silver, and he already thought that was pretty good. Considering the partnership the thieves had with the Head, the thieves kept 60% and the Head took 40%. The Head also usually handled all of the fencing and any misdirection needed to protect the thieves while also providing the hideout, so a 60/40 split was very reasonable to Seifr. Even though they were thieves, they were always honest with their interactions and numbers with the Head and his group of administrators, even Quillin.

Shayla handed Seifr three platinum coins out of the pouch and pocketed three herself. She grinned at him and asked, "What'cha want to do with yours?"

Seifr glanced around and spied a high-end cafe near the fence's building. He nodded his head towards the cafe as he turned towards it and said, "I feel like acting frivolous like a rich kid." He grinned at Shayla as he lead the way towards the cafe. Shayla rolled her eyes, but followed him to his destination.

~

William walked next to his employer with a downcast expression. He had been in an irritable mood for the past couple of days, ever since he had allowed that kid to escape his grasp. If it had not been for that other Spirit Realm cultivator, the young thief would not have had a chance to escape.

"Stop sulking, already. I told you it's fine. We got a note saying the goods have been recovered," Marvin said. Marvin was the gem dealer who had hired William. He was a fair boss and usually showed proper respect for a true cultivator, but he had been trying to get William to snap out of his funk.

William actually respected Marvin as a person, and that was saying something considering he usually only had eyes for other cultivators. Marvin was a shrewd businessman and had all the right connections. He was also not arrogant like some of his other colleagues in the industry with ties to the nobility.

William sighed as he responded, "I know. That doesn't make me feel better, though. I'm not upset at you losing the gems; I'm upset at me losing the boy."

Marvin glanced over at William and replied, "That makes me feel so much better about employing you as security." William quickly looked at Marvin, but relaxed when he saw the grin on the other man's face.

William chuckled and said, "You know what I mean. And granted that brat did have some real skill in trouncing Hamon with the sword and his speed relative to his cultivation. I still have my pride as a cultivator."

Marvin patted William on the shoulder as they continued on their way in a conciliatory fashion. Marvin knew that William was actually an outstanding investment, and not just because he was top-class security. What most of his colleagues thought as the most important thing for business, ties to the nobility, was actually only one face of it. Marvin used his relationship with William to establish ties to so-called Loose Cultivators, the true cultivators who had no affiliation with a sect or other influence.

There were two sides to every coin, and most people thought the faces of the cultivator realm were the nobility and the sects. Marvin knew the truth of the matter, though, and that was that one side of the coin had both the nobility and sects, and the other side had the Loose Cultivators. There were far, far more Loose Cultivators than members of sects or the nobility, but they were disorganized and unaffiliated with anyone, including each other, but there was wealth to be made from such a large market. William was considered fairly respectable in the Spirit Realm in Vinson. It was very unlikely that Marvin could make any notable ties to higher realms at his current stage of influence.

"There's our destination," Marvin exclaimed as he pointed to a low, squat building on the outskirts of the governmental district in the center of the city. William noted the building, and out of habit scanned the areas around the location. He spotted a bustling cafe across the street and some buildings down from the small building. He did a fast double-take after glancing through the clientele and focused his attention on two teenagers sitting and laughing on the balcony.

"Son of a... There's the little bastard right there!" William shouted and took a step towards the cafe.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Marvin quickly shouted to restrain William. William looked back at him in confusion. "Don't you know the rules?! Any other place acquiring our merchandise back, and they would be fair game. But this isn't just any place. There are rules involved. If it's here, once they've made the transaction, they're free to go. We can't retaliate for past grievances, only new ones," Marvin quietly explained.

"What? What are you talking about?" William was still confused.

"Just trust me on this, and I'll explain later. In private. But don't go over there, and don't cause a scene," Marvin pleaded as he grasped William's sleeve and towed him into the building.

William was seething as they entered the building, and he noticed that it was very out of the ordinary, but he paid it no attention as he wanted to rush across the street and pummel that little brat. Marvin noted his companion's attitude, but knew he could trust him to restrain himself.

Marvin walked up to the counter and placed the script he had received notifying him of his merchandise being acquired on the counter. The man behind the counter, who had been drumming his fingers, smiled when he saw the script and said, "Ahh, welcome to the Lost and Found! I believe I have your things right here. One moment."

The man quickly dashed into the room behind him before Marvin could even utter a sound, and was quickly back with a sack that he placed on the counter. Marvin opened the sack and quickly noted his merchandise which had been previously stolen, and he beamed with joy as he thanked the young man behind the counter.

"Try not to misplace your stuff, again. Though you're always welcome here if you do," the young man winked at him as he continued his finger drumming.

William sputtered as he and Marvin turned to leave, "Lost and Found? Misplaced?"

Marvin gave him a look to tell him not to say anything else, and William closed his mouth and shook his head as they exited the weird building.

~

Seifr and Shayla had been having a good time on the balcony for several hours when he finally spotted a pair of men enter the low, squat building. Shayla noticed them, too.

"Was that...?" Shayla started.

"Yep," Seifr acknowledged.

"So this whole time, you were actually scouting the place?" Shayla asked.

"Yep," Seifr nodded.

Seifr had had a suspicion of the entire setup, and he had decided to wait and see if anything unusual would happen. He did not recognize both of the men, but he did recognize the man who had tried to kill him several times as he chased him through the city after they had broken into the jewelry shop. He assumed the other man was the owner of the shop.

Shortly after the two men had entered the building, they quickly came back out, but this time the other man was carrying a sack. The cultivator turned his head directly towards the cafe and met Seifr's eyes. Seifr gave a sharp intake of breath and his eyes went wide.

"Crap! He knew we were here," Seifr exclaimed as he prepared to make his escape, but the cultivator just narrowed his eyes and stared at him as he turned to leave. Seifr sat there in confusion for a moment, and then he looked over to see Shayla in the same pose.

"Well then... I guess that settles that," Shayla said as she shook herself. She turned back to Seifr and said, "I don't get it. Did we just sell his stuff back to him? What kind of a fence is that?"

Seifr paused for a moment before responding, "A government one."