Chapter 316: More Problems
Daniel and Serys fell silent and exchanged glances.
The old man sighed when he saw the look in their eyes and stopped grumbling. He got up, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it. After finishing, he seemed calmer and looked back at the two of them.
"Those guys who were helping me were members of the Golden Tooth Bandits. Killing them might bring you trouble."
"Those guys? No problem. We were gonna run into conflict with them eventually," Daniel replied with a grin, clearly not caring much.
He had completely turned those men who were beating up the old man into ashes. How would anyone even find out they were dead? And even if they did, so what?
He was planning to clash with the bandits anyway, so a couple more reasons didn’t matter.
"I see..." the old man muttered to himself. He clearly hadn’t expected these two to be willing to go up against those crazy bandits—especially ones hiding their identities and clearly not wanting to reveal themselves.
Still, he didn’t care too much. After all, he was just an information dealer, and the rest didn’t matter to him.
"What do you want?"
"We need information on the Golden Tooth Bandits and the auction they’re planning. Is there an unknown item they plan to put up? How many powerful people are coming from their side to guard the auction?" Serys asked.
The old man didn’t answer immediately. He took a moment to think over their questions and his answer.
"The info you’re asking for will cost 500 gold coins."
Daniel and Serys exchanged looks again and sighed. Daniel almost wanted to complain about the price and ask for a discount, but on second thought, he didn’t have the patience for that.
He pulled out 500 gold coins from his inventory and tossed them in front of the beggar. Seeing the coins, the old man practically started drooling.
"Heh... I’m not totally sure about the unknown item, but there is one thing that’s not on the official auction list. It looks like they’re planning to use it as a surprise item. But they’ve already spread rumors about it beforehand to attract more people."
"They’ve spread rumors? Then why haven’t we heard anything?" Serys frowned, feeling something was off.
"That’s because the rumor only circulated among a very exclusive circle of the ultra-wealthy. It’s no surprise you didn’t hear it. What did you think? Why do you think the person whose identity you stole was planning to come here?" the old man said with a smirk, which darkened the faces of both Daniel and Serys.
It wasn’t surprising that the beggar had so easily figured out that Serys’s current appearance was fake and altered.
Still, if such rumors were really spreading, it could be a huge headache for them and would make reclaiming that weapon even more difficult.
"You’re after that weapon, huh? If you ask me, just give up. The wealthier someone is, the more detailed and accurate the rumor they heard. The people showing up for this auction aren’t the kind you want to mess with. If you’ve got the money, just try to buy it," the old man said with a shrug.
Even though the two young people in front of him were strong, they were probably only mid A-rank at best. They couldn’t even handle an S-rank, let alone people stronger than that.
"Answer the second question," Daniel said, ignoring the old man’s warning.
"As for your second question—there’ll be eleven mid-level Grand Climbers and two peak-level ones. There’s also a chance that one Half-Step Divine Climber might be among them," the old man replied.
Hearing that, the two of them frowned again. It was more than they had expected, though that wasn’t what worried them.
Eleven mid-level Grand Climbers meant mid A-rank opponents—they could handle those easily.
The real problem was the possible Half-Step Divine Climber. That kind of person was essentially a Half-Step S-rank. They weren’t someone Daniel or Serys could deal with.
"Are you sure about the last one?" Serys asked.
"No. That’s why I said it’s only a possibility. There are rumors about someone like that, but nothing confirmed," the beggar answered.
"If there’s nothing else, it’s time for you to leave. I want to rest."
Daniel and Serys looked at him but didn’t say anything. They had asked what they wanted—and even got more information than expected.
They turned and left after a quick goodbye, returning to the palace without saying a single word to each other on the way back.
Each of them was caught up in their own concerns. After arriving, they went straight to the garden and sat in the luxurious gazebo.
They also ordered the head butler to bring them two cups of tea, and then sat across from each other with deep frowns.
"What should we do? Do we need to change our plans?" Daniel broke the silence.
"Is there anything we can do? The best plan is to avoid direct conflict. Even if it comes to a fight, we need to act as a team and avoid fighting all of them at once. We should really stay away from that kind of situation," Serys sighed.
"I agree... but what if they do put the weapon up for auction? What then? I doubt our combined funds can compete with the richest people on the continent. And if one of them gets the weapon, it’ll be even harder for us to take it. We’ll have to fight not just the auction guards but also their personal guards."
"In that case, all we can do is observe the situation and be patient. I honestly doubt there’s anything else we can do."
Daniel went quiet. In truth, he had an idea to avoid excessive fighting. It was a simple one
Running away... He still had one Escape Talisman. He could use it, and once they got far enough away, they could change their identities again and safely return to the Central Plains.
"What do you think about escaping?" he asked.
Though... there was one problem.
He only had one talisman.
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