Dusk Street is not considered an upscale commercial district in Marinburg. On the contrary, it's a place frequented by many mercenaries and merchants. Here, three copper coins will get you the cheapest barley beer, and many workers enjoy stopping here for a drink before heading home after work.
As the night deepened, the once dense crowd thinned out a bit, and while the street still had many people, it was no longer crowded.
Laine walked forward step by step in the street. He could feel many people whispering about his neat and decent appearance. The street was very dimly lit, with only faint candlelight and magic lamp light, and many special professionals hiding in the dark. Seeing Laine appear, quite a few people started to move.
The first to approach was an old man, who trembled as he came near and extended his hand toward Laine: "Sir, please help me, I haven't eaten for three days!"
"How many days you haven't eaten has nothing to do with me, get lost, or don't blame me for being ruthless." Laine said, squinting his eyes.
"Please don't do this, please don't bully an old man, sir... oh, my legs and feet aren't very convenient..." The old man kept leaning toward Laine, then pretended to lose his balance due to his frailty and lunged toward Laine.
At the street corner, two young, robust fellows were already prepared.
If the old man bumped into Laine and Laine reached out to help, they would pose as Good Samaritans, rush up collectively, and seize the chance to help the old man steal items from Laine.
If Laine blocked or dodged, the two fellows would use it as a reason to pull and stop Laine from "bullying the old man," then seize the opportunity to pickpocket.
If Laine dared to act, even better, they would immediately call in patrol guards and act as "witnesses" to accuse Laine of bullying the elderly, and then negotiate a private settlement to extort him.
However, what happened next was beyond these two's expectations. Between them, Laine snickered, reached out, snatched the wig off the old man's head, and tossed him away with a flick. The old man disappeared into the black night sky before the two's gaping eyes and was nowhere to be found.
"Ahhhhh!" Only a scream was left in the air.
"Hahahaha!" The street was filled with laughter from various professionals. Clearly, this young man was not easy to mess with, as he seemed adept with the dark alleys and tricks around here. Thus, the thieves quickly shifted their focus away from him to consider their next target.
A passerby on the street was stopped by Laine: "Mr. Fake? What brings you here?"
"Ah! My goodness, it's you!" Fake, holding a big plate of roasted bread and meat, was so startled that he almost dropped everything: "What wind has brought you to such a place?"
"What are you doing?" Seeing no one was paying attention here, Laine grinned and patted Fake on the shoulder.
"The boss is drinking at the bar up ahead, he asked me to buy some supper." Fake quickly explained.
"Interesting~ Lead the way, I want to check out the bar!" Thinking it was perfect, Laine indicated for Fake to lead the way.
"Of... course!" Without a word, the guard immediately opened the door of a tavern for Laine.
This tavern was named Snail Tavern. Its black, decayed wooden sign had been cleaned thoroughly, depicting a large snail logo and small lettering indicating this was a pub.
The tavern was dimly lit, with just a few simple candles and the murmur of quiet conversations. There weren't many people inside, with most patrons casually chatting with the burly bartender, sharing life's frustrations.
Under Fake's guidance, Laine found Oliver drinking alone in the corner: "Mr. Oliver?"
In the corner of the bar, the Imperial Merchant was sitting alone in a small booth. A large candle lamp illuminated the Imperial Merchant's round, plump face, and two cups of apple cider and pear wine were placed on the sturdy wooden table.
"Mr. Oliver? We meet again!" Laine appeared in front of the Imperial Merchant, then gestured for the startled Imperial Merchant to be quiet: "Keep it low-key, keep it low-key."
"La... Mr. Laine?" Oliver was surprised why Laine appeared here, but quickly realized Laine didn't want to reveal his identity, so he decided not to think too much: "Would you like a drink? My treat."
"Alright then, I'll have a cup of apple cider!" Laine told the waiter, then took out a silver coin. The waiter took the silver coin and walked away, soon bringing three cups of apple cider back without giving change.
"Pfft, is that how it works?" Laine stared at the three cups of apple cider confused for a moment, while Oliver laughed heartily: "Forgot to tell you, Mr. Laine, in a place , unless you specify in detail, the waiter won't give you change. The amount of money you take out represents how much you purchase; these greedy shop owners won't return even a single coin from what falls into their pockets."
"Alright then." Laine raised his glass: "To our health!"
"To our wallets!" Oliver lifted his large wooden mug.
After a few drinks, paired with freshly baked bread and roast meat, the two men quickly fell into conversation.
Unlike the previous pride in the City Hall, Oliver now looked dejected, with a very poor mood. Only after talking did Laine learn that Oliver had just left a banquet. The family members of his guards had blocked the Imperial Merchant at the City Hall entrance, demanding large sums of compensation. Marinburg merchants value reputation, so Oliver had no choice but to concede. This substantial compensation nearly emptied every gold coin from Oliver's pockets.