Raymond stared at him with an expressionless face.
"Save me from keeping my clothes clean?" he asked while looking at the abandoned rooftop. "Just hand me the book, and I'll give you the coin."
"You might want to make it two," Aiden said with a grin. "I have information that will save your life."
"I doubt anything you know would save my life," Raymond said with a frown. His soft and elegant features were beginning to show signs of frustration. "Hand me the book."
Aiden had the heart to give him the book and avoid getting involved, but he remembered the wish that Raymond made. If he couldn't help him fulfill it, then he would be terminated.
"Someone has betrayed you," Aiden said as he took out the book from his bag and weighed it. "This is the Veinblade Art: Crimson Lotus Strike."
"Veinblade?" Raymond muttered as his outstretched hand flinched, and he retracted it. "How did you learn that name?"
"That's unimportant," Aiden answered. "This technique is powerful, but it draws from the vitality of the user and creates a psychological dependency to force the user into overexerting themselves."
"I see that you don't know who the Veinblade Family is," Raymond said with a frown. "It's a family from the Midworld specialized in blood arts. Anyone who steals their techniques would be marked for assassination."
"That's called the Bloodmark Curse," Aiden confirmed as he remembered the report. "And it's marked as an intermediate skill book, but this is an advanced technique."
"If your words are true, then you are truly saving my life," Raymond admitted as he stared at the ground. "How did you uncover this secret?"
"I have my ways and secrets that I don't like to share," Aiden said as he turned toward the docks and offered the binoculars. "You can take a look yourself."
Raymond took a look at the docks.
"There is nothing unusual."
"And that's what worries me," Aiden said. "I spread a rumor about a possible smuggling of a rare skill book—something that matches what we are doing here."
"You did what?" Raymond questioned with a glare. "How could you be so reckless?"
"Your rivals should have jumped on the opportunity to stop you, but they did not," Aiden continued. Raymond calmed down. "Since nothing unusual is happening, then we can know for sure—someone wants you to have that book, and it's not an ally."
Raymond stared at Aiden with widened eyes, and then looked at the docks again. No matter how much he tried to find something unusual, he failed. In the end, he handed the binoculars back.
"I hate to say this, but you are probably right," Raymond said with gritted teeth. "The search yesterday was thorough, but it wasn't enough to find truly hidden items. I didn't question it until now."
"You should also begin to question who you can trust," Aiden said as he offered the book. "We don't want our Rising Star to fall."
"At this rate, I doubt I would be ready," Raymond said with a sigh. "I owe you my life, Andie."
"Your life and one silver coin."
"Two, in fact," Raymond said as he reached into thin air and pulled two silver coins out of thin air. "This is less than I owe, but I will remember this debt."
"Did you just pull coins out of thin air?" Aiden asked with a frown. "You have a dimensional storage space too? Why didn't you just place the book there?"
"Storage items are easily detected at checkpoints," Raymond said with confusion. "And even more, they cannot hold magical items unless they are two grades higher."
"Oh," Aiden realized that others might be using items to keep their belongings, unlike his inventory. "Well, thanks."
The two of them made the exchange, and Aiden turned to leave. However, before he climbed the emergency stairs on the side of the building, Raymond called for him.
"How can I find you?" he asked.
"And why would you?" Aiden asked back.
"You just saved my life and smuggled something without being seen, and even played the noble families of Argan for a fool. I think I would benefit from knowing you."
"Don't worry," Aiden said with a grin. "I will be the one seeking you."
[---]
After completing the mission, Aiden was rich overnight. A single silver coin was a hundred bronze coins, and a single bronze coin was a hundred copper coins.
At the moment, his net worth became twenty thousand copper coins—just enough to buy a small house in the city of Argan. However, Aiden could not spend his entire savings on a house, no matter how impractical it was to live at an inn.
First, he needed weapons that could save him in the wilderness.
Second, he needed knowledge about how to grow stronger in this world.
Third, he didn't want to buy a house in a city that's about to be attacked by a silver skeleton dragon. Therefore, he decided to spend his money on a proper weapon that could save him outside the city, and the knowledge that would make him grow stronger.
Aiden tried to see the Seekers Market, but was told that he would need to be a seeker first—something that came with an exam and a lot of preparations.
He was forced to visit the Argan Market, an accessible district filled with stores offering any kind of merchandise a person could think of.
Aiden browsed through the stores and found himself inside one filled with swords. As he was looking at a giant sword that was twice his size, a person came and stood beside him.
"You wouldn't be able to carry that," the voice said, and Aiden recognized it with a sigh.
Aiden turned around, and the scent of lilies struck him. He found a woman wearing simple attire with long black hair and blue eyes. She smiled at him, and her beauty almost blinded him.
"What are you doing here, G—"
The Guild Master placed a finger on his lips, shushing him and looking around. After making sure that no one heard him, she let go.
"I can't have people know that," she said with a smile.
"I doubt anyone can ignore someone as beautiful as you are," Aiden said with a deadpan expression. "Your mere existence is a magnet to unwanted attention."