"I'd rather not stay in the same building as the maidens."

Eva epitomized apathy. "You paid for a bed. What do I care if you use it?"

"Could I apply that rent towards another… never mind, I can tell you're not interested." Hector sighed. "How much for a bed somewhere else?"

"Foreigners all go to the same hostel. A private room is ten silver a week."

Hector had the distinct impression this woman set him up so that he would have to refuse the bed he'd already paid for and buy a room. The manipulation stung a bit. He liked to consider himself good at negotiating. Perhaps that was self-flattery, though. He never negotiated on Earth without first knowing market values.

Looking back on his interaction with Eva thus far, bringing a healthy dose of skepticism based on how she'd played him, Hector could see the tricks she played. First she offered a bed without letting him know his enemies were staying in the same place. Then she offered a price for the spirit pills when he had no other context for their value. He asked for significantly more, of course, but her initial bid was the only reference he had. It was a technique in sales known as anchoring. She probably set the price horrifically low and pretended to put up a fight when he raised it. Money in hand, she then sold him a bed he wouldn't be safe using before upgrading him to a room.

"Do not look so offended. You are a treasure hunter, not an innocent child. Bed or room?"

"Room." He handed over the silver bars.

Eva didn't hide her interest in the contents of the coin purse. "Would you care to purchase any information? I know much happening in Toll Burgh and also throughout Stein."

"I don't have a lot of faith that you're not going to rip me off again."

"I may charge more money than you wish, but I never sell lies. Bad for business."

Hector squinted at her. "Do you have any worthwhile information about the Mother Elixir?"

"I have information," Evan confirmed. "One silver for it."

It felt like death by a thousand cuts, but Hector handed over another coin.

"This is all public knowledge that you can verify yourself. The hunt for the Mother Elixir began because someone convinced the Zing Emperor that purchases of tea in Stein were suspicious. It is true that tea is not commonly consumed by my countrymen. It is also true that no group is monolithic in its tastes. Some people from Stein enjoy tea. Many who come here from Amarat find its consumption an essential daily ritual. Yet the Emperor offered a reward for a recipe, so the hunt is on.

"Something more relevant to the Mother Elixir is that the process was said to be continuous. It ran constantly for centuries, always producing more elixir. Interrupting that process would mean that it could never be resumed. There is every indication that production of the Mother Elixir ceased when the regime changed nine years ago. Given that the children of the royal household, including the crown prince, were all suffocated by their caregivers to grant a peaceful end before the new king took the palace, I do not believe it likely that any great care was taken to preserve the process for their conqueror. The Mother Elixir is no more.

"The Zing Emperor has been fooled, but there are many who benefit from the treasure hunt. They consume cores like savages and King Huron, better known to your countrymen as the Lord Annihilator, does not care so long as his people are unharmed. For two more silver, I will give you information on the other hunters currently in Toll Burgh."

"I think I've parted with enough of my funds already," Hector said.

"You may regret such a miserly impulse."

Hector shrugged. He suspected the dribble of information available for purchase would never end so long as Eva knew he had more to pay. "Where's my room?"

She brought him to the hostel, which was on the second floor of a building on the foothill side of town. It had been constructed into the rock wall, so the interior space was oddly shaped, with bulges and irregular surfaces. There was a large bay area filled with beds, then several private rooms. Eva informed the clerk on duty of his identity and departed. The clerk handed Hector a key to a private room and instructed him to return it to the front desk any time he left the building. Walking out with a key would be reported as theft to the enforcers.

Hector made a mental note to be studious about returning the archaic skeleton key as he entered his room and locked himself inside. There was a single bed in the cramped space and not much else. It was sufficient for Hector's needs. If there weren't enemies staying in the same place he would have been content with a bed in the communal area.

His first priority was restoring his energy reserves, so Hector began to cultivate.

For several days he dedicated himself to the practice, sneaking out of his room only to grab food and do a quick stroll to stretch his legs. He eventually had to take a day off for his own sanity. To fill the free time, Hector paid for entrance into a bath house and emerged truly clean for the first time since his arrival in Stein. He bought new clothes – though he pointedly did not patronize the annoying shopkeeper for pants.

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There weren't many options for entertainment, so Hector contented himself with drinking a few mugs at a beer hall while listening to a harpist perform. He got a lot of walking in as well. Then it was a rich meal of fried pork alongside bread and sauerkraut.

Arriving back at the hostel, he almost ran directly into one of the spear maidens. The Asian woman froze in shock for a moment before scowling in his direction. She issued some harsh curse in her own language and squeezed past him on her way out of the building. Hector retrieved his key from the desk and locked himself in his room to cultivate some more.

Over the coming weeks Hector encountered each of the spear maidens. He even learned their names from talking to the bored clerk. Their only level six member was Yan. Her sisters constantly sent her about on chores, so Hector ran into her most frequently – she had been the first one he met. Another was Isabel, whose features were Mediterranean rather than Asian. She did a lot of the translation for her sisters, speaking fluent Zing, Stein, Amaratti, and Helvetian, the desk clerk claimed.

Another of the maidens was named Jia and she was best known for her cold nature. She didn't speak with anyone but her own sisters and didn't seem particularly fond of even them. The clerk certainly had a low impression of her. But it was the final sister, Mei, that drew the most attention. Mei was both their leader and their most powerful member. Her body enhancement was at the peak of seven, which likely indicated she would advance as soon as her time in Stein ended. The only reason to remain at her current level was because any hunters at level eight were slaughtered by the Lord Annihilator.

As Hector learned details of the women from the clerk, he knew they in turn would hear of anything the clerk learned of him. And, of course, Eva would sell a report of everything known about the foreigners to the burgermeister. It was like living a realistic spy story. No gadgets, no fights, no romance, just people semi-openly fishing for information and writing boring reports.

Hector managed to reach a quarter of his soul capacity in four weeks. He was severely hampered in his restoration by his soul pulling from his reserves to saturate. More than that, his aura and domain apertures appeared to be growing stronger even though he wasn't working them out. All he could surmise was that the fact that they lagged so far behind the rest of his soul meant they could passively improve to some extent.

Progress on his apertures would normally be great. In this case, he didn't welcome it. Hector wanted full energy reserves so that he could get back to work. He needed to meet up with Darius and search for the Mother Elixir. His funds were slowly being drained by his time in Toll Burgh. When Hector inquired of the clerk if anyone in the city was likely to employ him, the man indicated that such a thing would be illegal since he was a foreigner. Hunters were expected to put money and resources into the economy, not take it out.

Yet the next day he found himself summoned to meet with Eva at one of her many businesses. This one was a pottery factory that solely employed women and children. Eva watched over them like a proud mother hen while Hector awaited her attention.

"You're looking for work?"

"I was, but I hear that's illegal."

Eva's broad face grew even more emotionless somehow. "I am always willing to buy more spirit pills if you manage to get some."

"I hope you're not encouraging me to steal."

"Not inside the city limits." And now Eva did smile. "Felix will not care what you do elsewhere. I have customers who very much appreciate those pills."

Hector hesitated. "I don't kill other humans unless they force me to."

Eva studied him as if searching for signs of dishonesty. "Hunt deer, then. I'll buy the cores."

"What about the meat?"

"Leave it. Something in the woods will get a free meal."

"That seems awful wasteful."

"Your morality is awful prickly for a hunter," Eva noted.

"Maybe. It wasn't my idea to search for treasure. I'm forced to be here."

"Which lord is doing the forcing?"

Hector smiled. "How much are you paying for that information?"

"Nothing if I can help it!" Eva cackled before growing serious. "What are you willing to do?"

The intersection between the group of actions with monetary value, the group of actions without moral issues, and the group of actions allowed to foreigners by the burgermeister didn't seem to have anything in it. Though the laws of Stein were a bit more lax than those of Amarat. Perhaps he had something to offer after all.

"I can form a transit sphere," he announced. Eva's lack of a reaction suggested she didn't see the value proposition. Perhaps he could be more direct. "I can act as a porter for you."

"You are certainly an unusual hunter, Hector."

He decided to push a little. "Is there anything you have trouble getting?"

"A great many things. I'm doubtful you have the connections to get me what I want most at prices I can afford. Can you provide me with high grade Amaratti silver elixirs? I'm looking for level eight or above."

Hector shook his head. Should he risk openly bringing up off world products? "What about gold? Or food products?"

"Law prohibits commoners from handling any gold outside of officially minted currency. And your food would need to be cheaper than what I can get otherwise."

"I can get you food for very good prices. It would be deficient in cosmic energy."

Eva turned away from him and pretended to study the work a preteen boy was doing to glaze a pot prior to its turn in the furnace. She praised him and patted him on the head before turning her attention to Hector once more. "Don't tell me more details than you already have. We can start with flour. I know a place inside the city that the suppression field of the burgermeister doesn't reach. You can travel from there."

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