As the sun rose on the next day, Oriana rose with it.

  Getting herself ready for the new day didn’t take long, and very quickly, she was down on the ground floor of the Inn for breakfast.

  “Here you go, one bowl of porridge.”

  “Thank you, Robert.”

  It was simple, but it was a good meal to get the day started.

  With that, she said her goodbyes to Robert, telling him she was off to the guild.

  Of course, Robert assumed she meant the Adventures one, but in this case, she had other plans.

  She did keep up her appearance as an Adventurer by heading to their guild a few times a week. She was actually a member of the Adventurers' Guild. She could have just pretended to be a member, show up in the clothes, look at the requests, and it probably would have been enough. But, there was always the chance that someone would look more deeply into her and discover she didn’t actually have a job.

  Plus, there was always the possibility that her connection to the Adventures Guild would pay off in the future.

  For today, however, she was heading to the Merchants guild, all the while wearing the best of her clothes. A tunic with minimal damage, professional trousers, and a few items of jewellery, very much on display to show her wealth.

  But it was a good enough look to make it seem like she belonged in the Merchants Guild, but not enough to have people pay attention to her.

  At the guild, which was located in the upper district of the city, Oriana could see just how clean and opulent it was.

  Granted, many of the houses, if not all in the upper district, were the height of refinement and class, but the Merchants guild was truly something else in terms of size and regalness.

  Still nothing compared to the castle, of course.

  It was a massive circular building, several stories high. Banners showing the Merchants guild symbol of a scale holding coins on one side and a pen on the other adorned the bright purple cloth.

  Why the pen was heavier than the coins, she didn’t know. Probably some silly metaphor or something.

  The walls had not a speck of dirt on them, and the pavement around the building was incredibly clean too. Granted, this wasn’t a testament to labourers keeping it spick and span, but to the sheer amount of magic and magic circles that have gone into the construction of this place.

  The magic used ensures that dirt and grime are repelled from the building and pavement. Which sounds good, but mages at the time didn’t quite realise what that would look like when it came to the pavement.

  To see dirt and rubbish practically bouncing a few inches off the ground, until it eventually reaches the edge of the pavement, is quite a strange spectacle.

  Saying that, everyone who comes here has either gotten used to it or has probably enough self-restraint not to litter in their workplace.

  But, enough of the oddities of this place, to which there are probably a few more. What excited Oriana was all the things she could get up to inside the building.

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  Inside, while it was as clean, or even cleaner than the outside, it was still a mess in its own way.

  It was flooded with people walking about, dashing about, or just standing around having conversations.

  No matter where you looked, someone was in your vision. Whether it was one of the merchants heading to a booth for a transaction, one of the clerks setting up trade agreements, a peacekeeper standing around to ensure nothing funny happened, or a hapless civilian there to buy something from someone, it was just too many people.

  But while many would have claustrophobia in this situation, to Oriana, it just meant she had a multitude of targets to play with.

  “Good Afternoon, my name is Sirius. How may I help you today?”

  “Ah, yes. I am here on behalf of Mr Fabrik’s Clothing. Mr Fabrik wanted to enquire about the shipment of dyes that he requested.”

  “One moment please.”

  Walking around the place, Oriana took her time to get a feel for it all. To find out the goings on that happen here.

  Standing by the booths, she was privy to some of the transactions that occurred.

  “Yes, I have here information that it was waylaid in a village south of here. The coach driver fell ill and is resting and recuperating in the village. We did send another driver once we heard, and he should be arriving today. I believe Mr Fabrik should have his shipment by tomorrow morning.”

  “Great, thank you very much. I shall let him know the news.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  All around, various merchants or citizens came forward to either buy or sell something, and this she could work with.

  Standing nearby, she could see one man holding a letter in his hand. A quick over the shoulder, and Oriana could see that it was a letter from their employer, looking to purchase some produce.

  Apples, to be precise.

  From the rest of the note, it seemed they were going to be used in some sort of party. Probably for apple bobbing or maybe for some party food.

  But, wouldn’t it be much more fun if Peach Fire Fruit were used?

  Peach Fire Fruit is known for its exquisite taste, but also because it has quite an adverse reaction to water once it’s fully grown, and because of that, the selling price, as far as she had heard, isn’t far off from other fruits.

  And so, with a quick flick of the wrist, as the man handed the letter over, the word apple quickly changed to peach fire fruit, shifting the other words around as needed.

  “I see. Yes, it shouldn’t be much trouble to get that set up. Let me just copy the letter and send it through,” said the clerk as he moved it over to some sort of magical stone tablet.

  “Huh”, Oriana thought to herself, “I wonder if the magic copy will show my altered words or the original one.”

  It was going to take a while anyway before anything came from the prank, so she would just have to wait and see what happens.

  Hedging her bets, Oriana headed around the room, listening to other conversations. Whenever someone had a letter or a list of requested items, Oriana changed a few things here and there.

  Most of it was pretty simple, changing colours of cloth or dresses, meats to vegetables, ores to cotton would be a funny one if it goes through.

  None of the changes would put anyone in danger. Even the Peach Fire fruit shouldn’t be too bad either.

  And if anything, the main reason she did this was the hope that the people making the purchase would be back here, furious at the failure of the Merchants Guild.

  And with the letters they provide not matching the copied ones, if that works out, there will be quite a lot of confusion.

  For a few, she also changed the delivery dates, extending them by a couple of extra days, and for others, she changed the location they had to be sent to.

  But while these were silly little pranks, Oriana still needed more. She needed something bigger, and she also needed to use the Merchants Guild for another specific reason.

  Coin.

  Running low as she was, she figured this would be the place to get some.

  But besides that, with such a large guild that was practically working with every other guild, business and organisation out there, it was possible she could gather some information that would be useful for other schemes she hatches in the future.

  First, what she needed to do was find a way inside the Merchants Guild. Find a way into the backrooms, where all manner of transactions were taking place. She could get into a lot of trouble back there.

  Thinking about it, there was only one logical way she could think of to be able to make it inside. Something that the poster on the far wall stating “Now Recruiting” would help make a reality.

  The only question was, who did she need to be to get herself hired to work in the Merchants Guild?