The open market of Rapforth was sprawled over the city’s forum. It was bisected by a wide road whose sides were lined with vendors of all origins.

  The Main road was obscured by a sea of people swarming the many stands that lined it.

  It was difficult to move anywhere without bumping into someone. While it made it harder to locate a stand selling a map, it seemed it would be rather easy to procure funds.

  While I did not like the idea of stealing, my head was still on a chopping block and so I reasoned it was worth the risk.

  If there was any place one could get away with pickpocketing, it was here. The problem was that most merchants weren’t stupid and so they wouldn’t flaunt their coin purses on their belts unattended.

  However the same could not be said for the many foreign nobles itching to spend more money than they had.

  I put on my hood as I sifted through the crowd on my way to what looked like a jewelry stand.

  The tables were filled with all the luxury crystals and sparkly metals that one would expect from such a shop, but the merchandise that caught my eye was the coin purses which lined the waist of the many gawkers that surrounded the tables.

  After careful deduction, I narrowed the list of potential victims down to two.

  One was a rather large man with not one but two coin purses hooked on his belt. He looked so comically vulnerable to pickpocketing that it almost seemed too good to be true.

  The other candidate was a thin man with long arms and was holding his purse in his hand.

  Both targets seemed to be low level nobility or upper middle class as they lacked any obvious bodyguards.

  The former was the obvious choice, and despite my gut telling me something was off with him, I decided I had a better chance snatching a purse from a belt than a hand.

  The problem with pickpocketing was that I either needed to be subtle enough to avoid detection, or fast enough to evade pursuit.

  I was certain I would not be able to snatch the pouch from the lanky man’s hand without him noticing, and the crowd offered a restricted avenue of retreat.

  With my mind made, I inched myself behind the larger man. Judging by his movements he appeared to be right handed.

  He performed most actions and waved at the merchants with his right hand, and so it stands to reason that he would reach for the coin purse on his right side first.

  Anticipating his nature, I got as close to his left side as I could without arousing suspicion.

  As I prepared to slash the binding that secured his coin purse, I waited for a particularly strong push from the crowd behind us.

  When it arrived, I allowed myself to fall onto the man with the momentum of the crowd.

  With first grade magic, I crafted a blade of wind that would serve to discreetly sever the man’s pouch.

  As I bumped into the man, he didn’t even flinch as I lifted the pouch.

  Before he could notice the absence of weight from his waist, I allowed myself to be absorbed back into the crowd like a wave returning to the ocean.

  With funds acquired, I resumed my search for a stall containing maps. I needed to know the layout of the surrounding land in order to arrange an effective ambush.

  In addition, knowing the location of my target by name would be of little use if I couldn’t navigate there.

  And so I searched until I came upon a promising stall. It was a small stall which reflected the size of its crowd.

  Despite the sea of people, it had few customers. Perhaps it sold nothing flashy or perhaps it was because the maps were dubious at best, but either way the merchant seldom found buyers.

  It was the perfect place. The merchant would likely be willing to part with his goods for lower than market price since his stall wasn’t doing well, and although the many treasure maps were likely forgeries, I only needed a map of my surroundings.

  And so I hailed the man whose eyes quickly lit up with a glimmer. “Welcome young man, I am Castor, the best cartographer in all of the Empire. Excuse my rudeness, but do you happen to have any money?” he asked with a greedy tint in his eye that betrayed his professionalism.

  I flashed my coin purse to the man who’s smile grew wide again.

  “Of course you do, forgive my rudeness. Well little one, can I interest you in a treasure map or maybe a dungeon map? Yes, yes, all adventurers must seek a fortune if they wish to etch their names in the annals of history.” The man eagerly offered.

  “Cut the crap Castor, I’m looking for a map of the Rapforth region, it doesn’t have to be comprehensive, but if it is I’ll make it worth your while.” I snapped at the grifting merchant.

  His smile faded and his confident voice turned into a plea “ok, ok, I’m sure I have a map of this region somewhere around here.” Castor remarked as he rummaged through his boxes, tossing out all sorts of junk in the process.

  “Aha, I knew I had it. Feast your eyes boy. This is an Imperial series 4th edition map of Rapforth. These babies are limited edition, the Empire stopped producing them 10 years ago when they were superseded by the 5th edition. Ever since then they’ve become somewhat of a rare collector’s item easily worth 5 gold to the trained eye.” Castor continued his pitch.

  I can’t believe he’s trying to sell me an outdated map from 10 years ago like it’s some sort of ancient find. Does this guy take me for an idiot?

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Castor, you’re selling me a decade old map with a stain of god only knows what, and several tears in it. The best I can do for you is 3 coppers.” I offered in return. I had no sense of the Empire’s currency value, but even an idiot could tell that the map wasn’t worth 5 gold coins.

  “3 coppers?! I can’t even take a piss for three coppers in Rapforth. It’s worth at least 1 silver, that’s a fifth of what I paid for it.” Castor exclaimed.

  “Fine, name me a decent inn and I'll give you two.” I flashed two silver coins in his face.

  “You drive a hard bargain for a kid, fine” Castor groaned as he snatched the pair of coins and handed me the map.

  “Head down that alley and take the third right, then keep going till you see the ‘Crescent Inn’ on the left hand side. Tell them I sent you, on second thought, don’t tell them that.” He explained.

  I did as instructed and soon the inn came into sight. A crescent moon shaped sign swung lightly outside the door as one of two ropes meant to hang it was missing.

  “It’s not the prettiest hotel I’ve seen, but hey, don’t judge a book by its cover.” I muttered to myself.

  As I finished my thought the remaining rope holding the crescent sign up snapped and the sign fell to the cobblestone road with a thud.

  With a sigh, I picked it up and entered the inn. The lobby was narrow and filled with naught but a reception desk.

  Behind the counter stood a young woman who appeared to be no older than 20. She stared at me with caution and suspicion in her eyes for a second.

  Perhaps it was my hood, but before I could figure it out, a smile formed and her face softened up to welcome me as if she had never glared.

  “Welcome to the Crescent Inn, my name is Aurelia, how can I help you today young man?” She politely asked.

  “Well for starters your sign almost killed me, and a room would be nice if you’d please.” I placed the sign on the desk in front of her.

  “Goodness, I apologize. The rabble around these parts are always messing with it.” She explained as she retrieved the sign from the counter and stashed it behind the desk.

  “Sorry about that, are you perhaps staying alone?” She followed up.

  “Yes, can I get a single for two nights please.” I replied.

  “Of course, that will be two silver please.” She extended her hand.

  I placed the coins in her hand and she failed to contain a slight expression of shock.

  “Very well then, room B2 on the second floor. Laundry is self service in the courtyard out back.” She handed me the key to my room.

  The room was by no means fancy, but it seemed like a good price and I wasn’t about to go shake down Castor for my money back, so I settled in before taking the map and missive out from my cloak.

  I unrolled both scrolls out on the bed and began deciphering the missive. The encryption itself was a rather simple caesar cipher, but it was written within a special font the Mist Clan had developed.

  It was a simple but effective addition to the original cipher that made the code hard to crack. Of course the code was still susceptible to frequency analysis, but the more complex the code became, the harder it would be for the intended recipient to decode as well.

  When I had finished reading the missive, the details became clear.

  The target was Alexios Amata, a quite wealthy merchant known in Rapforth for his political outspokenness and large campaign contributions.

  Despite his many acquaintances in the city of Rapforth, his known residence was quite some distance east of the city in a small village known as Alurium which I had no trouble locating on my map.

  He was known to frequent the city to attend banquets and fundraisers as he was an important backer of many individuals in Rapforth.

  Almost as if by intention, the commute between the city and his home was obstructed by a forest that was rather unavoidable.

  Perhaps it was the reason this mission was deemed fit for a trainee or perhaps it was by pure luck that the man favored privacy.

  Either way, he was known to employ a small band of mercenaries to escort him and guard his estate.

  The most difficult part of the assignment looked like it was going to be the cleanup.

  The client wanted all traces erased. Rather than stage a raid by bandits or animals, they wanted it to look as if the merchant had up and left town without a word.

  It was a rather unreasonable request by my standards, but they say the customer is always right and I liked my head where it was.

  Having gathered everything useful from the missive. I pulled some darkness from my shadow to dissolve the missive. There was no fire present to manipulate and 1st grade magic could not conjure what wasn’t there.

  There was still some light outside and I wanted to see if I could scout some places for gathering information tomorrow.

  My stomach agreed and I gathered my belongings and headed out in hopes of finding a decent restaurant.

  The streets glistened in the twilight as the sun slowly abandoned the horizon. There were several taverns and pubs in Rapforth and any of them would do. The food couldn’t be any worse than what they served back at the academy.

  A dull meal with no consideration except for nutrition was not a high bar to clear.

  I found a small tavern that was not too crowded and soon found a meal in front of me.

  I got a few looks from other tables when I removed my hood, but everyone seemed to lose interest.

  The steak I had ordered was delicious, but it could never top any from my memory back on earth.

  Each bite was less delicious than the last and by the time I was half way through, I was back to brainstorming.

  The question of my next move lingered in front of me. I needed to locate Amata before I left the city.

  Without proper information, I could be camping in the forest for weeks with no guarantee of ever seeing the target.

  With my mind set on locating the merchant first, I had one question remaining: Was it easier to prove that he was in the city or that he was not.

  Given his high profile reputation, how long would I have to search to reasonably conclude that he was not in Rapforth.

  It was a question not easily answered. No answer would be definitive and so I had to determine the opportunity cost at stake.

  After playing with the numbers, I estimated that any search longer than a week would likely begin to provide too little actionable intel to make it worth the trouble.

  And so by my own metrics, I had a week to find any trace of Amata in Rapforth before following his trail.

  If he was in the city and planned to leave, I only needed to depart several hours ahead of him.

  If he wasn’t in the city, I would have to follow any leads I could gather or search his residence.

  The whole mission was turning out to be a bigger pain than I had foresaw.

  Too many ifs and maybes clouded my judgement leaving me with a feeling of uncertainty.

  The waitress snapped me back to reality as I realized my plate was empty.

  “Excuse me, can I get anything else for you sir?” she repeated.

  “No, that will be all, thanks.” I shook my head, flipped her a few coins, and took my leave.

  My thoughts were still clouded with doubt, but there was no point losing sleep over it.

  My search would begin tomorrow and I needed to be well rested for my search to be effective.

  There was only one natural place to search for a merchant. If a fisherman must go to sea to find fish, then I must go to the markets to find a merchant.