Chapter 231: Information Organization [Wealth's Ear]

The door to the room of the lady known as "Flower" opened; she was clearly waiting for the next guest to visit her today.

Although it seemed a bit strange, everyone who came here understood that this was merely for show—where are there no women to be found? The true purpose of coming to see this lady "Flower" was, in fact, to trade information.

"May I come in?"

Standing by the door, Jier tapped his fingers against the thick wooden door with its vibrant patterns, making an inquiry to those inside.

The room was simply furnished. To the left of the wooden door upon entering was a display cabinet against the wall, and opposite it was a soft bed that looked messy but actually lacked any suspicious odors. To the right of the wooden door was an exquisite small wine table, where the graceful lady "Flower" was leaning back in a chair, her gaze appraising Jier as he stood at the doorway.

Behind the lady was a luxuriously decorated wine cabinet, on which were placed, from bottom to top, wine in wooden barrels, wine in thick opaque glass jars, and well-crafted high-end spirits.

Small wine cups of three different grades—gold, silver, and copper—were hanging nearby, with multiple cups of each type, appearing to be a set.

"Young man, come in. I just hope you haven't come to see me rashly, hehehe..."

Lady "Flower" chuckled, used the water bottle at her side to pour herself a glass of liquid, and took a small sip.

Jier received permission, then entered the room and closed the wooden door behind him.

Unexpectedly, as he closed the door, this ordinary wooden door, which appeared to have no latch from the inside, clicked shut and locked tightly from the inside the moment it closed.

Since there was no handle or mechanism knob on the inside of the wooden door, how the door opened was likely entirely under the control of the room's owner.

"Interesting..." Jier muttered in a low voice, walked forward to the wine table on the right, and sat directly opposite Lady "Flower."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The lady opposite took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, and then continued to drink the liquid in her glass. But Jier sniffed and discovered that although this lady, who seemed to be a frequent drinker, had set up the room this way, the smell of alcohol in the room was very faint, and the liquid she was currently drinking was merely ordinary water.

"On your person, there is the scent of wheat spirits from the Re-gan Kingdom and the royal-grade wine from the Eastern Highland Hills. You drink well, but the former is the wine you drink, while the latter is the expensive wine that the young girls in our shop boldly order, right?"

"You are correct; you truly understand this." After saying this, Jier felt awkward, not knowing how to continue the conversation. Should he state his purpose directly? Or should he chat with her a while longer about these wines? To let both parties in the conversation understand each other a bit more?

"Uh..." Just as Jier was about to speak, the lady opposite interrupted: "Young man, since you've come to see me, why not state your purpose directly? People are always in a rush when facing me. Did you come boldly because you admire my charm? Or... is there another reason?"

The lady opposite had a smile on her lips as she spoke, but Jier understood that if he had truly said he came looking for a woman and had pounced on her while blinded by lust, he would likely have been thrown out violently, or even made to disappear from the world entirely.

If he were an ordinary person, that is.

Of course, he had come to inquire about information, and presumably, the other men who had come here had the same reason and intention.

"Ahem, since you've asked, I'll be direct. I was introduced by someone; I heard this is a place well-informed about news, and many questions can find answers here," Jier said immediately, spreading his hands.

Seeing that things had correctly gotten on track, Lady "Flower" sat up a little straighter. She put down the glass containing water and asked: "Since you are here to inquire about information, the guest who introduced you should have mentioned that we only accept recommendations from regular customers. If you only heard from someone that such a place exists and came to explore out of curiosity, then we do not welcome such people. You need to understand this."

Jier nodded.

"State the name of the person who introduced you; we need to verify this first. After all, you are a stranger..."

After speaking, Lady "Flower" pressed the wall next to the wine table with her left hand. A small picture frame was pushed in slightly, then a mechanism turned, and the entire frame rotated ninety degrees on its central axis, revealing the space behind it.

Jier had been staring at this change and discovered that behind the frame was a person wearing a mask, who was currently looking at Jier through the holes in the mask. Their eyes met, and the other person suddenly shivered.

Jier raised his eyebrows, but the person under the mask deliberately coughed four times and seemed to pull a mechanism behind the wall.

Lady "Flower," hearing the four coughs, looked quite surprised. She sat up straight again, glanced at Jier, and said: "Please state your introducer; we need to verify it."

Jier reported the name of the Merchant Niusi. In his heart, he pondered that the masked guy behind the wall likely possessed some special ability, as he had judged Jier's strength simply through a brief eye contact.

He did not know how he had been seen through, and he wondered if he could get the answer from the other party—even if he had to spend money, Jier would be willing, as it was not good to have his strength exposed and be seen through right from the start.

"Merchant Niusi, check it. Though I have some impression of this name," Lady "Flower" said to the person sitting in the wall cavity behind the frame. The person quickly wrote something on a piece of paper with a pen, then seemed to roll up the paper and throw it somewhere.

It seemed verification required waiting. Lady "Flower" stood up at this time and pointed to the wines behind her, saying to Jier: "Would you like something to drink? This is a free treat during the transaction, unlike the ones in the outer hall; this is, of course, free of charge."

Jier smiled: "What do you have? Could you introduce them, my lady?"

"There are too many; if I introduced each one, half the night would pass. However, since you just drank the wheat spirits from the south and the wine from the Eastern Highland Hills, why not... have a bit of this?"

Lady "Flower" pulled a bottle with a plain appearance from the wine cabinet; one could not tell what it was from the outside.

"It's produced locally in our Southern Province, from the highest quality wheat seeds from outside Borisfa City, combined with the city's best brewers and a well-run winery. That is why only a limited amount of this wheat wine is produced each year. It has a good name—Generous Wheat."

"Generous Wheat? Does drinking this wine make one generous?" Jier asked with some curiosity.

"Hahaha, you joke. How could it have such a magical effect? It's not some rare magical Magic Potion. It's because to brew such good wheat wine, one needs the generosity of the Sky God and the Earth Mother. Without their generosity, it is difficult to have the excellent raw materials to brew this wine. Would you like some?"

After speaking, without waiting for Jier to refuse, she took it out, got a gold wine cup for Jier, unscrewed the cap, and poured him a small glass.

"Aren't you drinking? I see you've been drinking only water," Jier asked as he took the cup.

Lady "Flower" felt a bit awkward. She hadn't expected that while she had guessed what Jier had been drinking, Jier had also guessed that she had been drinking plain water all along, rather than actual wine. Even though she would deliberately spill some wine on her clothes every little while.

"My job requires me to stay focused, especially when talking to every guest with different goals and needs. I must accurately understand the complex needs of every guest. You might not know, guest, that many people are often in a hurry to inquire about information, but because they are excited or nervous, they cannot correctly state their true needs. My job is to understand what the guests truly need during the conversation."

Jier held the cup under his nose and sniffed carefully. This famous local wheat wine had no strange smell, or rather, it was just the smell of a proper, decent wheat wine.

He took a small sip, and the taste in his mouth was also very normal, or rather, properly special—neither unique nor strange.

Then he drank the so-called "Generous Wheat" in the gold cup in one gulp. Only after drinking it in a large gulp did he discover the wonder of this wine.

It was hard to describe. Because of the sensitivity of his tongue, he could perceive even more of the flavors from the wine's raw materials. It was as if he could feel how each grain of wheat, as a raw material, had absorbed nutrients from the earth and rain from the sky, been harvested by diligent farmers, handed over to the best master brewers, and crafted in a winery with some history.

Perhaps Jier's realization also had a lot to do with what Lady "Flower" had just said.

At this moment, the masked person in the wall seemed to have received the document passed back from the side, took a look, and handed it to Lady "Flower."

"This guest? Please come back to your senses. The verification is confirmed; Merchant Niusi is indeed a guest who has been here before. It is no problem that he introduced you."

Jier was awakened by the lady's words. He came back to his senses and discovered that he had actually been distracted after drinking a sip of wine, which really surprised him. He checked his body and found nothing wrong.

"Okay, do I need to introduce myself?"

"No need." Lady "Flower" glanced at the paper document in her hand and said to Jier with a smile: "Welcome, Knight Jier of Kendall in the Northwest Province, to our little place for information trading."

After speaking, ignoring Jier's surprise, Lady "Flower" took a small metal badge out of a tiny Leather Bag on her person, placed it on the table, and pushed it over: "This is the token of our organization, which we call 'Wealth's Ear.' You can find our Jiedian in many places in the Southern Province and conduct information trading, as long as you know the locations of those Jiedian. You, guest, can sell information to us or spend money to buy information from us. But the former requires time for verification, and there is a time lag in payment. The latter does not, but we need to state this beforehand."

The other party paused here: "For the various information that guests purchase from us with money, we will try our best to ensure the authenticity of the information, but we are not responsible for the truth of every piece of information. This point needs to be understood and accepted by the guest. If you feel it is inappropriate, you can collect information yourself or inquire elsewhere. And although we possess a certain information network locally and know many timely, reliable, and important pieces of news, this does not mean we know everything."

Jier nodded perfunctorily, just like how in his previous life, before playing an online game, he would scroll through the game company's disclaimer, notices, and service terms from top to bottom in a rush.

Everyone who came here for information trading presumably knew these rules.

And considering the power of this organization that provided information, those who were dissatisfied with this probably wouldn't really do anything. Protecting consumer rights and such were all just jokes.

Jier picked up the small badge on the table and took a look, discovering that the metal of this small badge did not seem to be a common metal; it seemed to be a Magic Material metal!

Ho, they really had deep pockets!

"Then, the 'rules' have been stated. Can I officially begin the transaction?" Jier put away the small badge, without examining the details of the badge, and asked.

"Of course you can, what does Knight Jier need to know?" Lady Flower relaxed her posture again, seemingly entering a state she was familiar with, and her whole person became at ease.

It seemed this lady was quite confident in the organizational skills and capabilities of her organization.

Jier immediately braced his hands on the wine table and said, "Since you know I come from Kendall County in the Northwest Province, then I will be direct: I need to know the real-time location of the Kendall Army. Where they are, and how I can get there—for this, I may need a detailed map or a detailed set of route directions."

Lady Flower smiled slightly, picked up her wine glass again, and took a small sip, as if what was inside were wine instead of clear water.

"The question is clear and straightforward; I haven't seen a guest like you in a while. If only everyone stated their needs as simply and directly as this. Jackrabbit, record the guest's needs and send them down."

Following Lady Flower's order, the masked person in the wall behind the picture frame nodded, just finishing what they were writing. They rolled up the written paper and seemed to pass it out through some means.

"Wait a moment, the answers to the questions you need will be delivered one by one very soon; this is not a very troublesome request. After all, when we knew you were Knight Jier, the intelligence information related to you was naturally prepared."

Jier nodded in satisfaction; that his most troublesome problem could be solved so quickly and easily made him very satisfied.

"However, solving a guest's problem requires corresponding feedback. After all, we are not some great noble who gives out kindness; this is a transaction. We provide the guest with the answers to their questions, and the guest provides us with a certain amount of money."

"Ahem, may I ask, how do you charge for this?"

Jier had a bad premonition and hurriedly unbuckled his two money bags, placing them on the table and shaking them.

Lady Flower smiled: "Please don't be so nervous; the fee will not be very expensive, usually it is not very expensive. We charge based on the difficulty of the question, the timeliness of the intelligence, and its authenticity and reliability."

Jier breathed a sigh of relief.