211 Odd Jobs

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Kazuya and the old man went their separate ways after a long discussion. He escorted the children back to their homes in the slums and told them that they could accept candy from people, but they had to show it to him first before they consume it.

"Eh why!?" the children were surprised by his sudden warning.

"Because recently, there were bandits that decided to take revenge on the caravans that carried ingredients. They put some poison on the unsuspecting carriages so some of the ingredients were poisoned. I need to make sure that the ones you eat are not contaminated so that everyone doesn't get sick again." He explained.

"Is that the reason why a lot of people in the slums have been sick?" one of the children asked with concern.

"I did a little investigating and that is what I heard." He felt a little guilty about lying to them. Kazuya had little options hence unless he wanted them to choose between trusting him and the old man whose been in the city for a long time.

"But what about after you leave the city?" the little girl asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, I will not be leaving the capital anytime soon. I'll also make sure to bring everyone treats that are safe so please tell the other children so that they will not get sick due to poisoning in the meantime."

"""Okay!!""" the children agreed.

"There is also a job I want you kids to do for me. I don't think it would disturb your daily lives and I think it would help you, children, as well."

"What is it, onii-san?" the girl who was the eldest of the group stepped forward and asked.

"I'd like you to pay attention to any information about the nobles and spread a certain rumor around. There might be some that will investigate the rumor so I hope that the ones who know that it was me who asked you kids to do so will be those of you who can keep secrets." Kazuya smiled.

Most of these children were born and raised in the slums. In Kazuya's previous life, he spent a lot of time helping these children because of his previous circumstances. This resulted in them helping him a lot of times when he was troubled and needed information when it was about the people at the capital.

They were very clever despite their young ages. They were capable of blending in because of their ages and did odd jobs that many people wouldn't take. Because of this, some of them were connected to various people who worked in noble houses.

"Really? You'll pay us just for doing that?" It was relatively simple for them to achieve this so they were surprised to know that they were going to get paid for doing such easy work.

"Yup. As long as you kids keep it a secret and not do it for someone else. I will not lie to you and tell you that if people find you doing these things, there might be trouble." He warned them of the risks that this involved.

From his previous life, it was the kids who offered him the information he needed. Because of the fact that he helped them out a lot, they wanted to do what they could to help the hero. In this life, however, he was nothing more than a traveler who happened to pass by the capital. There was no saying that they would trust him after meeting for a few days.

"How much are you going to pay us?" the children were eager to hear about how much Kazuya was going to pay them. With their income, they were barely able to buy anything for themselves as their parents would take their earnings because they knew how much their children made.

"It would depend on the work. For example, if I ask you to spread around a rumor, I would give you children a silver coin to split amongst yourselves. If I hear the rumor from someone else, that would mean that the rumor has circulated enough to the point that even the place I am staying at is talking about it. I will give you additional silver coins depending on your performance." He explained.

The kids were ecstatic to hear about making a silver coin for such an easy task. It would usually take them a few weeks of work to save up a silver coin. Not only would they be able to have money to spend for themselves, but they could also even help out their families with this additional income.

"As for the information you would provide, it depends on what type of information and how important it is. We can talk about it once you have gathered the information and the same rule will apply. I will pay you for the information and after I confirm whether it's true or not, I will give you kids a bonus."

The children were all smiles and listened intently to his instructions. They thought that Kazuya was doing this to bring mischief towards the arrogant nobles. Many of the names that they heard from him were those nobles who would have people pay them less so they were a little excited about getting back at those people who would look down on them.

He gave them a lecture about what kinds of information they needed to pay attention to. These children were used to hearing all kinds of things from the people that consider them invisible so they had Kazuya evaluate the information that they already overheard.

Kazuya, who had suggested this information network was shocked by just how much these children overheard. He couldn't help but curse the adults of the capital for letting these young children hear topics about scandals, fetishes, and the like.

"Just remember, this deal of ours revolves around trust. I will trust you children to help me with things like this and help you out if ever you need it but, I want you to know that once that trust is broken, I will most likely never help you with anything again. This is an opportunity that may turn into something bigger between us someday so I hope you children won't take things for granted." He carefully reminded them.

"You can count on us!" declared their nominal leader.

"Good, now, here is a coin for each of you for the information you shared and as commemoration for our cooperation." Kazuya presented them with a silver coin each and told them about the rumor he wanted to spread around before sending them on their way.

"(That should put a lid on one of the problems that popped up today…)" Kazuya sighed as he headed towards his next destination. He had already spent the time that was intended towards the library so he headed for the capital's western church.

What met him was the face of the cleric who was sweeping in front of the church as usual. Jorelle ran up to him like he was surprised to see Kazuya's arrival.

"This is quite unusual indeed. I thought you wouldn't come by today." Kazuya was a little surprised by this cleric's attention to detail.

Clocks in Edea were usually a luxury to normal people since instead of batteries, they would be equipped with small mana stones that needed the user to be recharged by the those who could imbue mana into the small stones without breaking them. This was the reason why there weren't many options to accurately tell the time.

"I guess you weren't lying when you said that you could tell." Kazuya laughed. He didn't think much about it since he had already set-up his own devices to be able to tell the time. "I was with the children and lost track of time so I apologize for making you wait." Kazuya was more comfortable around this cleric now.

After meeting with the necromancer from earlier and finding out that he was somehow connected to this cleric, Kazuya had been more or less convinced of what might have happened in the span of time that he hadn't arrived in his previous time in Edea.

There had been reasons why people were accepting of the church of light's deception towards dark magic being aligned towards evil. Not mentioning the negative views on necromancers having the ability to control those who had been once alive, many of the uncovered research of such dark magic practitioners once created a stir in Edea.

As controllers of the undead, there had been many necromancers who sought to be like their controlled creatures and pass through the barrier of life and death safely with their minds intact. These kinds of research led to the creation of beings such as liches to come into the world.

Whether on Earth or in Edea, people have strived to gain eternal life. Science, Magic, or any other form of means, mortals would always seek to pursue extending their lives rather than accepting the inevitable. A rare few would even cross the line that people would consider sane in order for them to be able to attain what was known as 'immortality'.

This was not limited to dark magic practitioners. Even other magicians or even normal people also sought to seek this path. The only reason why these taboos were only branded towards people like necromancers was because it was easier to pin the blame on them because of their abilities to control the dead and the known existences such as liches who did exist in Edea.

"There weren't many people that came today so even if you arrived on time, there wasn't much to learn from. Rather, would you like to discuss things with me over tea?" Jorelle offered.

Not knowing what Kazuya's opinion of him was, Jorelle found this young traveler very easy to get along with. He also liked hearing about the various places this young man had already visited and wondered if he would one day be able to visit such amazing or faraway locations.

"Sure, I don't mind. I have a few questions about the spells I've learned these past few days anyway." Kazuya readily agreed as the two of them stepped inside the church.

An old man walked out of a dark corner a distance away from the church. He was stealthily following Kazuya from a distance as the boy's senses were sharp enough to give him a bit of trouble.

"(So… he really does know my son…)" he crossed his arms in thought as he stared at the building they disappeared into.

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