Chapter 85: The Information Broker
Finding Kael wasn't about tracking footprints or asking questions in seedy taverns. It was about thinking like him. Evander had given him until nightfall to leave the city. A man like Kael wouldn't flee in a panic; he would tie up loose ends and extract any last bit of value. He wouldn't be at the main gates. He'd be somewhere with a clear view of them, watching.
I found him in a small, quiet teahouse perched on a hill overlooking Silveridge's northern gate. It was the kind of place nobles went for a discreet affair or merchants for a quiet negotiation away from the bustle. He was sitting at a corner table by a window, a delicate porcelain cup in his hand, watching the traffic below as if it were a mildly interesting play. He didn't look surprised to see me.
"Kaizen," he said, without turning from the window. "I had a bet with myself whether you'd come. I gave it sixty-forty odds in my favor. Please, have a seat. The jasmine here is surprisingly passable."
I slid into the chair opposite him, my senses on high alert. The teahouse was nearly empty. "You don't seem to be in a hurry to leave."
"Evander's bluster is predictable," Kael replied, taking a slow sip. "He needs to feel in control. Chasing me out of town achieves that. It doesn't mean I have to run. It just means I need to be more… selective about my clientele for a few days." His pale blue eyes finally slid from the window to me. "Which brings us to you. You chased off your patron to come find the man he just declared persona non grata. That's either remarkably brave or profoundly stupid. I'm still deciding."
"I need information," I said, cutting through the pleasantries. "You seem to be the one who has it."
"Everyone needs information," Kael said, a faint, cynical smile touching his lips. "It's my most popular commodity. But it's not free. Evander paid for my initial consultation with his threat. What are you offering?"
"I'm offering you the chance to not have wasted your time," I countered. "You sought me out for a reason. You saw something you thought you could use. So use it. Give me a reason to trust you."
"Trust is an expensive and fragile currency," he mused, setting his cup down. "I deal in facts. So, let's start with a free one, to establish my bona fides. The men who attacked you? They were Silas Vane's. Not his usual pit-fighters. These were his enforcers. Cleaner. More professional."
I kept my face neutral. "I'd figured that much. He all but admitted it when he showed up."
"Ah, but did you figure out why?" Kael leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping. "Silas isn't just a crime lord with ambition. He's a man with backers. Powerful backers from the capital who find a stable, prosperous Silveridge… inconvenient. They fund his operations, and in return, he keeps the region simmering, a constant drain on the Crown's resources. He's a weapon, aimed at this entire province."
I let out a short, derisive laugh. "Right. And I suppose Evander is a secret prince in disguise? You expect me to believe that a fight over my… picture books… is part of some grand royal conspiracy?"
Kael's smile didn't waver. "I expect you to think. Why would a man like Evander, with his wealth and connections, risk his reputation on a merchant with funny ears and a nobody adventurer with a strange new art form? Do you truly think it's for the aesthetic beauty of your 'monkey-boy'?"
He had me there. I'd always known Evander's interest was more than artistic, but the scale Kael was suggesting was ludicrous.
"Evander is a high-ranking member of a society called the Aetherium," Kael continued, his voice barely a whisper now. "They are collectors, yes. But they don't collect tapestries and singing stones. They collect influence. They believe that culture is the ultimate weapon, that the stories a people tell themselves dictate their loyalties, their fears, their very will. Your 'Dragon Ball' isn't a children's story to them. It's a seed. A conceptual weapon. They want to control the soil it's planted in."
The words hung in the air between us, heavy and insane. A conceptual weapon. It sounded like the paranoid ramblings of a scholar who'd read too many books. And yet… it fit Evander's cold calculation perfectly. It explained his immediate, intense focus. He didn't see Goku; he saw a tool for mass manipulation.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, my skepticism warring with a growing, cold dread.
"Because you are an variable in an equation I am trying to solve," Kael said simply. "And because Silas Vane's backers see you the same way. They don't want Evander to have a new weapon. They will try again. And next time, it won't be four men in an alley. It will be something you can't punch. A fire in your printer's shop. A poisoned well at your inn. Or they'll simply stop targeting you and start targeting everyone around you. Laron will have a tragic accident. The innkeeper who housed you will be found floating in the river. They will make your continued presence here a death sentence for anyone you interact with."
The casual brutality of it was chilling. It was a level of warfare I hadn't considered.
"And Silas revealing himself?" I pressed, trying to find a hole in his story. "That was stupid. If he's this connected pawn, why show his hand so early?"
Kael chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "It wasn't stupid. It was a message. He wasn't there to negotiate. He was there to look you in the eye and let you know who owns this city. He was measuring you. And he was telling Evander, and by extension the Aetherium, that he knows, and he isn't afraid. It's all a game, Kaizen. A game of symbols and threats played on a board made of human lives. You just happen to be a very interesting new piece that both sides want to control."
He leaned back, his performance over. "That's the landscape. You're standing in the middle of a shadow war between a cultural cabal and a politically-motivated crime syndicate, both using Silveridge as their battleground. So, I'll ask again. What are you offering for my continued services? Because going it alone against that…" he gestured vaguely towards the window, encompassing the entire, scheming city, "…is a one-way trip to a shallow grave."
I stared at him, my mind reeling. It was too much. It was insane. And yet, every piece fit together with a terrifying, logical precision. Evander's ambition, Silas's brazenness, the professional thugs… it all pointed to a conflict far larger than I had imagined.
I had come for information on a local crime lord. I had been given a conspiracy that threatened to swallow the kingdom.
Kael watched me process it all, his expression one of detached amusement. He had just laid out a nightmare scenario, and he was waiting to see if I had the coin, or the nerve, to buy my way through it. The question was, what price was he really asking?
[A/N: Can't wait to see what happens next? Get exclusive early access and read 30 chapters ahead on patreon.com/saiyanprincenovels. If you enjoyed this chapter and want to see more, don't forget to drop a power stone! Your support helps this story reach more readers!]