Even though the secret path was brightly lit, it still felt a little eerie and sinister to Erwin.

A shop with a secret section like this one had to be an illegitimate business that engaged in shady dealings. Back in Sarus, he had never recruited the services of any unscrupulous businesses like this one, but he had heard of their existence.

The main problem was that the wound on his hand still hadn't completely healed, so he wanted to avoid battle if possible at a time like this, and that was why he had asked Lanyon to come along. However, now that Lanyon had been kept out in the legitimate part of the shop, he would be forced to fight if something were to happen.

Having said that, the fact that Christine was leading him into this area so casually indicated that there most likely wasn't going to be any danger here. After all, there was no reason for her to plot against him.

Christine could tell from Erwin's expression that he was a little concerned, so she explained, "Don't worry, Brother Erwin, I only asked you to come with me because Lanyon is a local, and I was worried that if the people we're dealing with recognize him, then it could cause some unnecessary misunderstandings."

"Who exactly are you going to meet?" Erwin asked with a curious expression. "Why is it that the presence of a local could cause a misunderstanding?"

"Have you heard of the Lodais Organization, Brother Erwin?"

Erwin thought carefully about this for a moment before replying, "I have not."

"The Lodais Organization is a massive underground organization that does business throughout the entire kingdom. Let me put it this way: they have contact points in all of the major cities on this entire continent," Christine said.

"That's quite impressive. What kind of business do they deal in?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"If you can't find something through legitimate means, you can come to them," Christine replied. "As long as it's something they can secure and you can provide the price that they ask for, then they can source it for you."

"I'm sure an organization as huge as this one doesn't only dabble in underground trade, right?" Erwin asked as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"You're a smart man, Brother Erwin," Christine praised with a smile. "Indeed, they take on a lot of assassination jobs as well. There are always some nobles who don't want to do the dirty work themselves, so they pay the Lodais Organization to carry out the hit jobs in their stead."

Erwin thought about this momentarily, then asked, "Then does that mean this organization is connected with the nobility in all of the kingdoms on the continent?"

"You can put it that way," Christine replied with a nod. "However, not all nobles get the opportunity to come into contact with this organization."

"Will they only pick the people who are useful to them?"

"What actually happens is that they will come to find you," Christine said in a hushed voice.

"How does that work?" Erwin asked with an intrigued expression.

"The Lodais Organization will appear when you need it most, and they get you what you want as long as you can offer them the right price," Christine replied. "That is the general gist of what they do and how they operate."

"So at the end of the day, it's still just a money-making organization, isn't it?" Erwin asked in a dismissive manner.

"That's where you're wrong, Brother Erwin. The price that has to be paid for their services doesn't necessarily refer to money," Christine said as she turned to look at Erwin.

"What else could it be referring to?"

"Let me give you a hypothetical example. Sometimes, the mission isn't a simple matter like killing someone. Instead, it could involve stealing intel from high-ranking officials," Christine said. "For more difficult and complex jobs like this, they'll adopt special measures, such as looking for women from washed-up noble families to get the job done for them. After all, most high-ranking officials are quite cautious and alert, and they won't allow unfamiliar faces to enter their circle. Once the job is done, they'll compensate the woman accordingly."

"So you're saying that when they receive jobs that are difficult to complete, they're open to recruiting someone from outside of their organization to do the job for them?" Erwin asked in a surprised manner.

"That's right. As long as they think you'd be fit for the job, they would have no qualms trying to recruit you. Generally speaking, they'll only appear in your time of need to help you with something that only they can help you with, but in exchange, you have to provide them with assistance of equal value," Christine said. "Just like in the aforementioned example, they would appear before the woman from the washed-up noble family right when she needs money the most."

"Wow, that sounds like a very mysterious organization," Erwin couldn't help but exclaim in a quiet voice, following which a question occurred to him. "How did you manage to get into contact with them, Christine?"

"Why are you giving me that look? Do you think I also sold my body in exchange for something from them?" Christine asked as she turned to Erwin with an angry expression.

"No, nothing like that. I was just asking," Erwin replied with a resigned smile.

"Hmph, you definitely thought about that," Christine grumbled with a displeased expression.

"If you tell me, I won't have to think about all these possibilities," Erwin complained. In reality, he knew that Christine definitely hadn't made such a wretched deal with this organization. Otherwise, the employee outside wouldn't have put on such a fawning expression as soon as he saw her.

"I have exchanged something with them before," Christine admitted in a quiet voice as she drew to a halt.

Judging from the tone of her voice, Erwin knew that it would be best not to pry any further. Everyone had their secrets that they didn't want to reveal, and it wasn't his style to be overly invasive with other people's secrets just to satisfy his own curiosity.

"Going back to that hypothetical example of yours, is the organization not worried that the woman they recruited would tell others about their organization? Wouldn't that result in some undesirable consequences?" Erwin suddenly asked as the two of them continued deeper into the secret section of the shop.

"That's where the killers of the Lodais Organization come in. They're not being paid to do nothing, after all."

"I see," Erwin replied with a nod.

After reaching the end of the passageway and rounding a corner, they arrived in front of a stone staircase.

Erwin turned around to look at the structure of the secret passageway, and he realized that several shops had to have been conjoined to facilitate this.

After reaching the top of the staircase, Christine knocked on the wooden door with Erwin behind her.

A short while later, the small window on the wooden door opened up, and a pair of eyes looked out at Erwin's duo for a moment before the window was closed again.

After that, the sound of a deadbolt being pulled back rang out, following which the door was opened.

There was a very short elderly man standing behind the door, and he invited Erwin and Christine into the room with a warm smile. His attire was very intricate and refined, and Erwin was rather curious about where the clothes had been tailored. As aforementioned, the elderly man wasn't very tall. In fact, his height was comparable to that of someone suffering from dwarfism. Furthermore, he wasn't particularly thin, either. There was clearly a lot of excess flesh around his stomach and his waist, and as a result, the buttons on his dress shirt were placed under a copious amount of strain.

Erwin took a glance at the redwood stool beside the door, and he realized that the elderly man had only been able to see out the small window on the door by standing on the stool

Erwin then inspected his surroundings to find three display shelves that were packed full of books with sheepskin covers. Near the back of the room was a large and spacious desk, and above the desk was a pair of small windows, but the night sky wasn't visible through those windows, so this room clearly wasn't situated on the top floor.

"Come and take a seat, Christine. I see that you've brought a guest with you this time as well," the elderly man said with a smile as he took a glance at Erwin. "I presume you have some business to discuss with me today, is that right?"

He invited Erwin and Christine to take a seat on the sofa at the center of the room in a warm display of hospitality, then picked up a shiny silver teapot from the tea table before pouring cups of black tea for both Erwin and Christine.

Erwin wasn't in the hurry to sample the tea. Instead, he lowered his head to take a glance at the sheep wool rug beneath the sofa. It was clear from the material and coloring of the rug that this was no ordinary product. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that this rug would be up to standard even in the royal palace.

It seemed that this mysterious Lodais Organization truly was extremely wealthy.

"This is Erwin, Elder Lewen," Christine introduced with a smile.

"Erwin?" The elderly man turned to Erwin before inspecting him with a close gaze, following which an enlightened look soon appeared on his face. "Could it be that you're Erwin Friar?"

"How do you know about me?" Erwin asked with a surprised expression. He certainly didn't think that he would be a renowned figure in the city of Tewadedan.

"There's no need to be alarmed, Erwin. Our Lodais Organization keeps records of all of the bright young talents of the kingdoms on the continent. A short while ago, I just so happened to be reading through our records on you, which is why your name remained fresh in my memory," Elder Lewen explained with a smile.

"I'm supposed to be a bright young talent?" Erwin was quite amused to hear this.

"It seems that you possess talent and modesty in equal measure. We keep records of all of the contestants who display outstanding performances during the Pillow Sword Tournament. You managed to finish in the top four of the tournament, so the records we have on you are extra detailed."

"I was only lucky," Erwin said with a modest smile, but internally, he was wondering why the Lodais Organization was going around collecting information on all of the bright young talents on the continent. Furthermore, they clearly had extremely close ties with the nobility and wealthy merchants of all of the kingdoms. With that in mind, their reach and influence were truly astounding.

Meanwhile, Christine was very amazed to hear this. Only now did she learn that Erwin was someone who had made it into the top four of the Pillow Sword Tournament. She was naturally also aware of this triennial tournament that was held in the Effer Kingdom.

"What kind of business would you like to discuss with me today?" Elder Lewen cut straight to the chase as soon as he sat down. Due to his seated posture, his stomach bulged even further, and the buttons on his dress shirt were only just barely holding on for dear life. With his short stature, he had to sit bolt upright because if he were to lean back at all, it would look as if he were lying down, and that would be far too rude to his guests.

"We want to purchase a batch of your finest ore to be sold in the north," Christine said, wasting no time with small talk.

"What kind of grade are you looking for? And how much do you want?" Having already dealt with Christine on several past occasions, Lewen knew that she meant serious business, so he had to confirm the quantity in order to make sure that he had enough stock.

"I want stock of the same grade as gold jade ore or higher, and I'm looking for at least 1,000 ounces," Christine said, then cast an inquisitive glance toward Erwin.

Erwin gave her an encouraging nod in response, indicating for her to negotiate the deal as she saw fit. After all, he was completely out of his depth here.

Elder Lewen didn't seem to be particularly excited to hear this, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "At the moment, gold jade ore is going for roughly 80 Loonies per ounce. If I recall correctly, we should have enough stock on hand to satisfy an order of 1,000 ounces."

Christine wasn't in a hurry to barter with him. Instead, she asked, "Is gold jade ore all you have at the moment? Do you have any new and interesting stock?"

"It looks like you've heard some things," Elder Lewen said as a faint smile appeared on his face.

However, Christine was rather perplexed to hear this, and she shook her head with a puzzled expression, waiting for him to continue.

"Then it looks like I was mistaken," Lewen said. "Our organization's sources have brought back urgent news from the Marrod Plain, informing us that the king of the Effer Kingdom has already met his demise, as has Governor Jenkins. From now on, Prince Lazaar will be the one ruling over the kingdom."

Elder Lewen took a glance at Erwin as he spoke, only to find that Erwin's expression displayed no change upon hearing this news, so it was clear that the two of them were already aware of this information. At the same time, he couldn't help but be impressed by Erwin's composure. After all, he had learned from the report that Count Friar had also perished during the battle.

"What are you trying to say, Elder Lewen?" Christine asked in a perplexed voice. "As I'm sure you're already aware, I don't know much about the power struggles taking place in these southern kingdoms."

"Allow me to explain," Lewen said before taking a sip of tea, then continued, "In the past, King Cameron has always prohibited the mining of Fall Crystals in the Terarody Mountain Ranges. However, the same doesn't apply to Prince Lazaar. In fact, he has always been in approval of the True Light Church's operations in mining Fall Crystals from those mountain ranges."

"Fall Crystals? What's that?" Christine asked in a curious voice.

"Fall Crystals are far more valuable than gold jade ore. It's no exaggeration to say that a single ounce of Fall Crystals is equivalent in value to a city," Lewen said with a serious expression.