Tanien and I walked along the dirty streets of the Garbage Dump. The smells of anything merging with everything kept assaulting my nose, it was quite the annoyance.

  We stopped by with beggars on the street. People in complete messes shaking their bowls and their hands for a stray penny or a thrown note.

  Tanien turned to me and pumped his brows. “So, why are you helping them?”

  “Huh?”

  “Why are you helping them, sir?”

  I shrugged as my eyes scanned the streets, looking for beggars who might know something. It was annoying that of the few we had talked to, some were actual beggars who knew nothing. They would be living a long life, for sure… not really.

  “You don’t know why you are helping them?” asked Tanien. “I’ll admit they are useful and seem naive, but that could become a problem.”

  “It’s their badges,” I sighed and said. I wasn’t planning to tell Tanien anything, but perhaps it won’t hurt. In fact, my plans would probably be music to his ears if nothing else.

  “Badges, I noticed. It seemed they were from the Empire. Brown knights perhaps back in Crimson? They are an elite group but also have a lot of other members.”

  I nodded with my arms crossed. He had noticed it. Tanien was knowledgeable considering he was a thug from Rascarte and not the Empire. I could recognize their badges at first glance since I had spent months seeing them.

  My eyes slowly narrowed.

  I had also seen that very badge as the last thing before a wooden lid covered my sight almost a year ago.

  “You’re right. They are from the brown knights. So I plan to use them…”

  Everyone from the Brown Knights, especially that bastard who called himself their commander.

  “And then bury them alive.”

  Tanien stopped in his tracks. I took a few steps and turned back too, my eyes meeting his. Tanien suddenly covered his face with his hand and laughed out loud. Loud enough to turn heads our way.

  “Sir. You are the fucking best. I knew from the get-go that you’re crazy. You want to bury them alive so you helped them??”

  I was used and then buried alive too! This was not something crazy at all, I was merely following the wise words written in the Code of Hammurabi, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was justice in its truest, oldest form.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “If you’re interested in that prospect let’s get looking, alright?”

  “At your service.”

  So much for a thug, this guy was driving me mad.

  ***

  The conversations with the beggars went phenomenally.

  “Excuse me, do you know about an information guild that knows everything?”

  “Are ya new here cunt? Give me some cash if you want me to speak, or pints.”

  —Bam Boom! Wham!

  “Excuse me again, do you know?”

  “I don’t! Everyone will claim that they know everything. I don’t know of any such rumor!”

  That was the way we had to phrase the questions. It must be evident how difficult questioning was at all. They had a certain language that was not difficult to communicate in, but a little unpleasant.

  “You should take a left from BRRE into the alley behind their warehouse, you’ll find the place.”

  We had to follow words that had no proof behind them, that was just the situation. After looking around we found a billboard saying ‘Banana Republic Real Estate (All you can capture and act like you own)’

  We headed to the back only to be greeted by a dud. In the name of an information agency what greeted us was a single rat.

  “Hellow, you want knowledge. All my rat friends know everything.”

  Tanien was deeply amused. “A rat!?”

  The rat pulled out a hat.

  We had done that one joke too many times to keep it funny so I slapped Tanien in the back before he could say anything.

  The hatted rat and I met eyes. I took out some money from my pockets and handed it to the rat who swatted my wrist.

  “Not. Give cheese.”

  “Just buy some.”

  “Who would buy anything in a den of thieves, are you fucking stupid?”

  A talking rat wasted its breath on words like these. I spoke the language catered to the people here and asked about the information guild.

  The rat gave me an answer, one that was exactly as I was thinking.

  Tanien slowly woke up and looked at me in the alley, the rat had already gone to a new spot. It never met two customers in the same place.

  “Back to the road?”

  “Mhm. This was a dud too.”

  Tanien and I set off. From beggar to beggar. Some sent us to bad information agencies, some kindly asked for cash which I handed over, and some rudely asked for cash and got beat up. Most of them were duds, but I was slowly learning more about this place.

  The thieves that did know things were from mostly two factions. One belonged to the Beggar Master, someone who had control over beggars in most of the Western countries. The other person was called Scum, simply Scum. He had a broad net over many professions, many cities didn’t allow beggars in, so he targeted even the criminals, despite his broad net, his depth was smaller. People of both these factions pleased me enough to make me pay them.

  These people were both candidates for the next Garbage King.

  “Who did you follow?” I asked Tanien as the two of us made our way to another alley we were planning to check before heading to the meeting place. “It’s obvious you do, even that old wolf-kin must be a part of it.”

  Tanien gave me a resigned sigh and nodded. “Right you are. I follow the Duke of Damning Deals. He’s a businessman foremost and another candidate for the garbage king.”

  Keeping Tanien around showed his business acumen if nothing else.

  We turned the corner. A bunch of people with metal bats and skull masks were standing there in a group. Tanien and I spared them a glance.

  They looked back at us.

  Someone dropped their metal bat.

  Immediately, the two of us turned around and started to run.

  “And who do these guys follow!?” I asked running.

  “Galar the Beast! He runs the Colosseum in the center of the city!!”

  It took a lot of work to outrun them a second time. Thankfully I remembered the bastard who had sent us here.