Tatatat-!

Hurried footsteps. I turned my head toward the sound and spotted the kid I’d been waiting for entering my field of view.

‘Not exactly the patient type, is he.’

“Hoo, hoo—”

He must have sprinted the whole way—he stood before us, gasping for breath.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

After taking one deep, steadying breath, Jay, the orphan boy, flashed a grin and spoke.

“Sorry—! I’m a little late, aren’t I?”

A chuckle escaped me. What a cheeky kid.

“Well, we never set a specific time, so it’s fine.”

Jay scrunched his nose and shook his head as if it was too much trouble.

“Oh man, more importantly, I should be asking for hazard pay first. A bird suddenly flew into the factory and caused a whole commotion. Wasn’t that contact method a bit too aggressive? I almost got into serious trouble.”

A single bird that Chasey had sent flying.

After wreaking havoc inside, it had made a beeline straight for Jay’s arms—naturally drawing the factory manager’s suspicious glare.

I looked at Chasey.

“… …”

Chasey was tapping away at her Device, pretending not to hear a thing.

It was certainly a convenient ability, but…

Perhaps because she was a self-taught druid who’d never gone through formal training, there was always something slightly off about her methods.

They say all roads lead to Rome, after all.

In any case, I’d successfully gotten Jay out here. Mission accomplished.

“So what’s this big job you mentioned? You said there was something to investigate, right? That’s my specialty, so just leave it to me.”

Jay looked up at me with eager eyes. For a kid informant who’d only ever dealt in pocket change, receiving a personal commission was a first.

Meeting his gaze, I hesitated for a moment.

He clearly showed promise, but could I really trust someone with so little experience?

Hand him too big a task right off the bat, and his enthusiasm might lead to mistakes.

Well, it wasn’t dangerous work, so nothing terrible would happen. Still, I couldn’t just throw large sums at the kid without testing the waters first.

“Before that, let’s start with a trial. This is only our second meeting—what basis do we have to trust each other with a commission? Handle a few small tasks I give you, and then I’ll assign you something proper.”

At my words, his face fell.

“Aw—so I just have to run a few errands? I thought there’d be something amazing only I could do…”

Whoosh-!

“Here—your advance. Don’t lose it.”

Without further comment, I tossed him a pouch I’d prepared in advance.

Jingle-

Jay fumbled to catch the pouch, but the weight in his hands drew an involuntary gasp of admiration.

“Ooh—this changes things entirely. This pouch is pretty heavy, isn’t it? Let me see…”

He peered carefully inside the pouch.

The corners of his mouth crept steadily upward.

“You’re really giving me this much? No take-backs!”

What I’d given him was twenty silver coins.

By most standards, it wasn’t a fortune—but for a kid raised in an orphanage like Jay, it was an astronomical sum he could only dream of.

“Produce satisfactory results, and I’ll pay you more. How about it—feeling a bit more motivated now?”

“Of course! But I’d appreciate it if this isn’t anything dangerous. I don’t think my life is worth only this much.”

Perhaps because he was still a kid, he couldn’t hide his excitement—but behind those bright eyes, his mind seemed to be racing with calculations.

A twenty-silver-coin commission just for the advance…

He was clearly prepared to walk away if the job threatened his safety.

“It’s a bit of a tedious job, but it’s not what you’re imagining. Let me ask you something first—how much do you know about players?”

Jay pondered my question for a moment before answering cautiously.

“Hmm… rich clients? They’re definitely better than champions, at least. Players don’t just go around throwing punches.”

He scowled as if the memory made his skin crawl—apparently, he’d been on the receiving end of champion violence more than once.

Perhaps it was the low barrier to entry. Among champions, there were plenty with absolutely atrocious personalities.

Players, by contrast, were mostly reasonable and composed—understandable, given how difficult it was to earn that qualification.

“Of course, the way they look down on everyone else is a bit unpleasant. But I suppose that much is only natural.”

“Honest, aren’t you.”

I’d been told he couldn’t lie. And he did seem to be speaking with genuine candor.

Enough to make Chasey, who had been quietly listening the entire time, furrow her brow slightly.

Jay’s enthusiasm reignited as he spoke.

“So what I need to do is investigate a player? Background checks are my specialty, but… Players are a bit intimidating.”

“No, what I need is for you to investigate Private battlefields. You know what those are, I assume?”

At my words, Jay flashed a confident smile and waggled his finger.

“My, my—actually, Private battlefields are where informants like me gather the most. The crown jewel of gambling halls: Winner Betting! That’s where player information sells like hotcakes.”

Did he actually know a lot about Private battlefields?

That would make things a bit easier.

He gave a sheepish laugh and scratched his head.

“Hehe—of course, I don’t actually know much about Private battlefields myself. The informants who work there are a pretty tough crowd. Hard to wedge my way in among them.”

Gambling halls were where the most money circulated, making them difficult territory for a kid informant like Jay to access.

Even among informants, everyone had their own turf. A kid like Jay with no clout would be stuck selling odds and ends on the street.

Which also meant I could hire him on the cheap—not a bad deal for me.

“You want me to find out about all the Private battlefields opening this month? Hmm… it’s a bit tedious, but definitely doable. But is that really all?”

Jay tilted his head.

Gathering information on Private battlefields was somewhat tedious but far from difficult.

Not the kind of job that warranted a twenty-silver-coin advance.

He was certain there had to be more to the request—and his instincts were dead on.

“What I’m about to say is the real task. I need you to look into factions for me. Specifically, I want to know if there are any small factions where I could join while concealing my identity—or any that could be taken over without leaving a trail.”

At my words, Jay fell silent, mulling over the request, then opened his mouth carefully.

“So when you say small factions, you don’t mean brand-new ones—you mean factions large enough to participate in Private battlefields, right?”

“Correct.”

When I’d looked into factions after the Private battlefield situation, I’d learned that a faction’s ranking was determined by Faction Points.

These points accumulated gradually through strong performances in arenas, the Colosseum, Private battlefields, and other tournaments, or by paying above a certain threshold in taxes through economic activity.

Even at this very moment, factions with various purposes were likely being established across Trivik—but the cutoff for Private battlefield participation was a Faction Ranking within the top 999.

In short, I needed to find a faction ranked within the top 999 where I could operate without revealing my identity.

This would require considerable legwork, but having Jay—whom I could hire far more cheaply than other informants—made it feasible.

‘Consider it an investment.’

The money I spent on Jay would be recouped after running a few Private battlefields anyway.

Besides, the reward from selling the assassin deck information gave me some financial breathing room for the time being.

“So—can you do it?”

Having grasped the full scope of the request, Jay shook his head with a troubled expression.

“That’s… way too difficult. Can I really pull that off?”

A look of uncertainty crossed his face. Jay spoke hesitantly.

“Would it be all right if I hired a few other kids to help?”

Investigating every faction was beyond Jay’s individual capacity.

But I answered firmly.

“No. If you can’t do it alone, then abandon the task.”

This was a plan that required hiding my identity—the more people who knew, the more dangerous it became.

Entrusting even Jay with this commission carried significant risk.

Jay was unusual in that he had some professional ethics. Most street informants would happily sell out their client’s information for a few coins and a smile.

Jay spoke in an uncertain voice.

“Then I’ll make gathering information on Private battlefields my top priority. I might not be able to get anything on the factions. But I’ll try my best.”

Jay had offered a reasonable compromise, but the second task seemed like it would be difficult to pull off.

“Hmm…”

I considered why. The scope of information he needed to gather was simply too broad.

Grasping the full picture of every faction ranked within the top 999 was nearly impossible. I needed to narrow the scope of investigation.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Let me think of an approach.

Simply targeting all factions within the top 999 was far too wide a net.

Just as a Hardcore Assassin deck targets Assassins and a druid deck targets Druids…

To get reliable results, I needed to aggressively narrow the field down to a handful of candidates.

In that case…

“Archers.”

“What? Archers?”

At the abrupt shift, Jay tilted his head in confusion.

“Look into Archer factions ranked between 970th and 999th. That much should be manageable, right?”

The sudden change in requirements left Jay momentarily bewildered, but with the scope of investigation reduced to a fraction of what it had been, his expression couldn’t help but brighten.

“From 970th to 999th? There can’t be more than one or two Archer factions in that range. That’s totally doable.”

“Good. Once you’ve gathered enough information, come back here. I’ll pay you the balance then.”

“Yes, sir! I’ll give it my all!”

He gave a playful salute and trotted off with light steps.

Once he disappeared from view, Chasey—who had been quietly observing the entire conversation—finally spoke.

“…Can you really trust him?”

Chasey didn’t seem particularly impressed with Jay.

Well, there were aspects she probably couldn’t understand.

Like what I saw in a kid like him to justify investing my money.

“I’m not sure about trust, but he seems like a wise kid.”

“Is that so.”

Since arriving in this world, I’d met quite a few people, but none approached a transaction quite like Jay did.

Taking only a reasonable profit that matched his station, while actively negotiating terms—it showed the makings of a merchant.

If only he hadn’t been an orphan, that is.

But then again, the very fact that he was an orphan was precisely why I found him interesting.

What I needed most right now was someone I could trust.

Chasey’s father, Federer Einthoven, commanded people’s respect despite being only Silver Tier because he had built that kind of foundation.

The kind of foundation I wouldn’t be able to match even if I reached Silver Tier myself.

To obtain the kind of “power” I was aiming for, a Player’s tier alone wouldn’t be enough.

Only by wielding influence proportionate to one’s tier could one truly be said to possess power.

During my days as a champion, I’d concerned myself solely with my own survival. Now, it was time to start building a foundation as a player.

Money and Item combination formulas—those I could handle through Private battlefields and the knowledge in my head.

But finding talented people when I had nothing to my name meant I had to start from the very bottom.

“That’s quite a high assessment. He seems like an ordinary informant to me. If you look around, you’d find plenty of informants with better qualifications.”

Chasey didn’t seem to rate Jay particularly highly, but her words sent me into deep thought.

It was true that compared to other informants, Jay didn’t have any particular advantages to speak of.

“…Becoming ordinary is actually quite difficult.”

For an orphan like Jay to be called “ordinary” by Chasey meant he had considerable potential.

Even I, who knew the battlefield better than anyone, had to endure dozens of deaths before escaping the label of Blank and becoming an ordinary 1-Cost Shieldbearer.

Nod.

Chasey nodded, though her expression didn’t quite convey genuine empathy.

Well, they’d grown up in completely different environments, so a gap in perspective was natural. They weren’t close enough to meddle in each other’s affairs, and Chasey let it slide.

“So—what’s the reason for targeting Archer factions?”