He stared at the parchment in his hand.

"Is this the eh...Bl-Black Jaws guild?"

"It is, who are you?"

"I-I\'m looking for a...Sir Fredrick?"

That had Fredrick turn to face him.

"You haven\'t mentioned who you are"

"Ah! Call me Sebastian. I hail from Quartez"

Fredrick gave him a look of surprise. He had forgotten about the messenger he sent to Quartez.

He folded his arms and took in Sebastian\'s visage.

When Ezra told of Sebastian, Fredrick thought him to be a scholar of sorts, but now…

But then Ezra\'s words came to mind…

"I advise that you don\'t underestimate him"

Ezra had predicted the current situation.

"Actually, I received a letter from a-" Sebastian started to speak.

"Stop-"

"But I-"

"I already know, because I\'m Fredrick"

Sebastian was stunned speechless as Fredrick formed a smile.

"Come. I\'ve been waiting" He said and led him inside.

"Hoo…"

Sebastian was surprised. The interior contrasted the exterior.

His mind went into action.

\'It smells of polished wood, so it\'s either newly built, or recently repaired\'

He surveyed the buildings and the guild members.

From the building\'s quality to the polished armor and salivating aroma, one thing was clear.

\'These guys are rich!\'

Wait…

\'Wasn\'t this a G-rank guild?\' he wondered, for that\'s what he was told.

How come then it looked nothing like the base of a G-rank guild?

Sebastian nodded, there\'s more to things than the eyes can see. He was right to have trusted his instinct.

He was wary when a messenger from Niton came to him with a letter.

Sebastian didn\'t understand. He didn\'t know anyone out of Quartez. Heck, he didn\'t know anything out of his city.

So who would have sent him a letter?

\'It must be for someone else\' he thought, but decided to read it anyway.

Upon reading, he was shocked.

The letter…h(huán)ow should he say it? It almost seemed like the writer knew him, from his hubbies to his aspirations about information.

Sebastian was fearful. How did someone know so much about him? A former friend? No, it couldn\'t be. He hadn\'t told anyone about his aspirations.

So again, how come? Asking the messenger didn\'t help though as he knew nothing about it.

But he told him the little he did…

"They said that if you didn\'t come, they\'ll find you"

Sebastians senses tingled. They knew where he lived. If he ran away, the lives of his family would be in danger! His parents were old, and his younger sister was all they had to take care of them.

It was tough, but he made his decision.

That night, he left with the messenger after bidding farewell to his family.

His things were already packaged because he was about to begin his travels when the letter arrived.

And now he was here.

The slum dwellers and other slaves were in the base they took from Gold Moles and Raven Skull.

Fedrick, Cabrera and Nathan stayed in Firescar\'s former base. Red Hook\'s base was being renovated into a tavern. Green Snake\'s base became a storage unit - as it was too small for anything else - while their former abode catered to guild members.

With Red Hook absorbed into Black Jaws, Kingsmere was left with only three gangs.

The boys - including those of Red Hook - were being taught reading and writing by one of the newly bought slaves.

Before long, Fredrick\'s led Sebastian into a room where Cabrera and Nathan were seated.

"This is Sebastian" he introduced.

"Sebastian, that one\'s Nathan and this one\'s Cabrera"

"Hello" Sebastian said.

"Put your bag at that side and take a seat" Frederick instructed.

Doing that, the four men sat at a round table.

Sebastian spoke first…

"So, I was told to come because you said I was needed. What do you need someone like me for?"

Fredrick removed a parchment from his space ring-

"This"

-and unfolded it on the table.

On it was a plan of some sort.

Sebastian made out the heading.

"In-for-ma-tion a-gen-cy for-ma-tion?"

\'I\'m going to sleep\'

The fatigue built up over the past eight days was still affecting him.

As Ezra walked to his room, he saw a carriage approach with its coach in a hooded cloak.

\'Hmm\'

He used his mana vision on the carriage, only for the coach to instantly look towards his position, so Ezra quickly moved away.

The man stared for a bit before moving on.

Ezra released rasp breaths with his face full of sweat, his heart pounding in trepidation.

\'An Expert? Or a master? No, why is he acting as a coach?\'

Ezra followed with his gaze and feet, ending up at the castle\'s entrance minutes later with the carriage being allowed entrance.

To his surprise, he saw the cloaked coach approach Bolton - who sat in front of the palace - and hand him a letter while removing his hood.

Thankfully, Ezra had concealed his presence with slow breathing, mana sealing, and soft movements, after his encounter with the coach.

Both men coversed, but Ezra was unable to make out their words. And reading their lips from such a distance wasn\'t something he could do.

Bolton snapped his fingers lightly to have guards off-load the carriage.

Then he saw the merchandise, children.

\'Slaves?\' he wondered, but shook his head. Why would Bolton personally attend to that? There was something else going on.

\'1,2,3,4,5\' he counted. Five children in dirtied clothes with their hands tied and their eyes covered.

They seemed normal at first, but looking deeper into it, he spotted multiple incongruities.

At times like these, he was glad he had an affinity for Darkness, else he wouldn\'t be able to see so clearly in the night.

\'Their clothes are noble wear\'

They probably came from a noble lineage. It had to be one of adequate power since they were brought here, to the royal district.

Then…

\'Why aren\'t they moving?\'

The normal reaction would be them screaming and crying, but these children made not a sound, neither did they struggle.

Gazing deeper, Ezra inferred their gender…

\'1, 2, 3 boys and 2 girls\'

He also approximated their ages…

\'With that height and body frame, they aren\'t older than eleven\'

Bolton spoke and the guards took the children away.

Ezra wondered whether to follow or to keep spying on the Master.

But before he could decide-

"Ezra, come over here"

-his skin tingled and his hair rose.

\'Damn\' he had been caught.

Then again, an Intermediate hiding from a Master was far-fetched.

Experience and knowledge couldn\'t bridge such gaps.

His brain went into action as he pounced to his feet.

"S-sir! I\'m coming"

With that, he descended in a hurry and arrived in front of Bolton and the cloaked man.

"Ezra, what were you doing?"

Others had to be respectful, but not the royal advisor.

"I-I saw this scary man in his cloak so I followed him" he said, pointing to the cloaked man.

Bolton smiled. Even if a genius, a kid is a kid.

The cloaked man huffed.

"Huh? Me, scary?"

Ezra noded heavily.

"Your body is very big"

"But your cloak looks nice" he added with a smile.

"Oh…Is that so?" he gave a wide smile while touching his cloak.

He had low brown hair, thick eyebrows, a short brown beard, and teeth that had turned brown as well.

He was 5\'7 and was wearing armless black clothings and large trousers with gray boots, all while holsting a short but wide Saber at his side.

The man burst into laughter.

"Good one. It\'s Ringard, Ringard Diple"

"It\'s a pleasure"

The man nodded and Ezra succeeded in making a good first impression.

With quick calculations, he decided to test the waters.

He pointed in the direction the children were taken.

"Sir Bolton, what about those children?"

Bolton was unsurprised.

"They\'re going to be groomed into castle servants"

Ezra\'s eyes sparkled as he grabbed Bolton\'s hand.

"I want them. Can I have them?!"

\'What now?\' Bolton raised a brow.

"Ezra, what do you want with them?"

"Huhhh? Sir Bolton, I want them as my personal servants!"

"No. It\'s not-"

Bolton was about to reject when Ezra delivered a fatal blow.

"But I don\'t have any friends!"

Bolton\'s words got stuck and his mind went to work.

As a genius, the Empresses relegated Ezra to isolation by having him train with Fredrick instead of the normal training grounds, so he had no peers to talk to.

While the Emperor saw nothing wrong with it, Bolton did.

Besides, was there anything wrong with assigning servants to a prince?

Well, there was the issue of age, but since Ezra was younger, they\'d all grow together, and their loyalty would be firmer.

Such thinking gave Bolton the answer Ezra was looking for.

"Alright. You can have them, but wait till morning"

Ezra bowed as his gaze changed.

"Thank you Sir"

He then looked at both men.

"Then it\'s time I bid you goodnight" he said, turned around, and left.

His work here was done, and also, he was really tired.

If the children turned out to be special? Then he\'d groom them until they were useful. If they weren\'t? He\'d just return them.

Why think so much over little things?

Like so, Ezra slept with an expectant smile on his face.