A few days back at Calder’s side, the western approach had no cairns.

Instead, there was a single carved mark on a boulder; it was an Elven character that Calder couldn’t recognize.

But he was damn sure that it was a territorial marker from his border territorial work.

"T-That bastard, damn it. A snakekin meeting an Elf? I’m done for! Man, I just wanna go and fu–"

The words died in his throat as he heard a pair of footsteps following the path. A beautiful elf emerged. Looking around, she went directly for the mark and stood beside it.

"Should I reveal myself? Yes...it would be way worse if she detected my Verth and directly attacked me."

He watched her for ten minutes from the treeline before approaching. Composing himself, he slowly stepped forward.

Sera’s eyes moved onto him in an instant, her instincts kicked in as she raised her hands. Immense Verth began gathering in her palms.

Seeing this, Calder stopped at a comfortable distance. Raising his hands in surrender.

"Who are you and what are you doing in Lady Dresh’s territory?"

"Please calm your emotions, lady. My name is Calder. I’m merely an information broker, looking for some pennies." Calder spoke with a strained smile, which was far more ugly.

Sera raised her brows when she heard that, "What type of information?"

"Border territory network, fresh news on beast migration, and one piece of ’important’ movement in the eastern border region. I’m sure your leader definitely wants to know."

Sera looked at him for a second longer, assessing him, her ears short and pointy, angled forward slightly.

"Wait for a second," she said, diffusing her Verth. Calder nodded in relief and did as he was told.

She disappeared into her camp and returned exactly ten minutes later.

Looking at his face, she spoke. "Follow me."

Calder inwardly smiled when he saw this. "Aren’t I a genius? That bastard could only hope to catch up to my skills."

"By the way, miss, are you single by any chance—"

Sera’s eyes narrowed, and Calder immediately backed away.

"I was joking," Calder spoke hurriedly, waving his hand. "Damn, Elves are hard to crack. But, I’m at least better than that ’single’ boss of mine."

...

Dresh was nothing as he had expected. He had already formed a mental image of her from the scout’s intelligence.

Dresh, the Elven leader with wind affinity, had left Aelvorn voluntarily. His experience with Elves was limited to some occasional border skirmishes and the occasional Aelvorn-trained cultivators passing through his information network.

Dresh was sitting on a simple crate, eating something with her hands, reading a hand-drawn map. She had silver-green hair that hung down loosely. Her eyes shifted to him, assessing him, then shifted to Sera.

"He says he is a broker," Sera said.

"I can see that from his face."

"Huh!!? What does she mean by that? Am I that handsome now?"

Clearing his throat, Calder bowed, "I’m Calder."

"What’s the piece of information from Gorven’s side?"

She asked directly, and Calder adjusted his approach almost immediately. The instinct of an information broker!

"Lady Dresh, Group A’s leader, was seen in contact with a Dragon council member affiliate operating in the outer settlements. It was not his own clan, but an independent faction. I don’t know the exact numbers. But, I’m sure it wouldn’t be more."

Dresh set down her food, and her eyes swept over him. Her expression didn’t change as she heard those potentially harmful words.

"And your source?" she asked.

"Three independent channels," Calder replied, barely suppressing his smile. "Border traders, a courier who didn’t know what he was carrying and a perimeter guard from...another group."

Dresh’s eyes widened slightly when she heard that, but then she shook her head.

"There’s no way that man wouldn’t notice such blatant infiltration." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She denied it almost immediately. Hearing this, even Calder was stunned for a moment.

"Did that bastard really act so well? Guess, I underestimated him!"

He quickly recovered in half a second!

"Lady Dresh, with respect. I didn’t say he ’noticed’. I only said, contact happened, and whether Gorven is aware his movements are being observed is a separate question from whether they occurred."

His words flowed smoothly, and for a moment, even doubt clouded the two women’s minds.

He held the gaze without flinching, but inwardly, sweat was dripping down his ass crack. He was scared, really scared.

And besides, the words from his mouth weren’t entirely wrong, because Emperal had indeed infiltrated, and he had seen the info. Which meant the information was technically accurate even if the source was not what he was implying.

After a long silence, Dresh finally spoke.

"What’s your rate?"

"I could be bought for really cheap—Ouch!"

Before he could complete his words, Sera kicked him from behind and glared.

"Ha..ha, I was just joking, Miss Sera."

After that, Calder named it. And Dresh paid without hesitation or negotiation. He took the crystals with a smile on his face and nodded in satisfaction.

"The migration patterns...you mentioned those as well." Dresh’s eyes glinted when she spoke those words.

And Calder sold her those, too; she absorbed the information efficiently and filtered it out simultaneously.

There were no notes, no questions. There was a certain calmness to her mind, one that organized and operated at an entirely different level.

In his entire life, he had encountered minds like this in maybe three people, and all three were dangerous. He filed those observations in his notes.

"I need the updates at least once every two days. As long as you have some worthy information. You have access to this camp."

"Understood, and thank you."

"And." Dresh’s eyes changed; her forest green eyes slowly turned intense. "If I discover you have sold the same intelligence or any other information to Gorven’s group. I will personally ensure you’ll be wishing for death more than life."

She spoke, her voice heavy as the surrounding Verth began to move, slowly suffocating Calder.

"Lady Dresh, you must be jesting, even for an information broker; such a thing is foolish to commit. Please do not worry."

Calder hurriedly spoke, or else this woman would’ve at least injured him.

Dresh nodded lightly and dismissed him. He hurriedly left the camp and walked until he reached the treeline.

"Fuck! That was wayyy too scary!!"