I am an Eldritch Entity

When the other party asked for what information he wanted, Eryndor first hesitated before asking something else in return.

"How do you classify the price of information asked?"

The young woman who sat before him raised her eyebrow.

"Oh? A first timer?"

She then explained without any expression on her face.

"Information is categorized by taking an average of parameters.

"How much damage it could do to the Training Camp.

"And how much damage it could do to the black market.

"These two factors determine the maximum cost of the price.

"We don't care if the information is important or not, but how harmful it is to the two entities I mentioned.

"Oh yea, we also don't care about the demand of the information.

"A lot of people want it? Not many people want it? A lot of people know about the information already? Not many people know about it?

"Yea, we don't care."

Just when the young lady stopped, she held up her hand and resumed, as if she forgot to mention this earlier.

"Oh wait, there's one more parameter which affects the price. It's the amount of information needed.

"Its influence on the price isn't as high as the previous two factors though, so no need to worry too much."

As she took a break to gather her breath, Eryndor thought about the implications of this system.

So the Training Camp does indeed have some authority in this black market even if it isn't complete control.

They have enough authority to make a rule like this where the price would depend on the degree of harm it could cause to the Training Camp.

In a way, isn't this looking out for them?

My guess holds even greater credibility when you think of the fact that they don't care about almost any other parameters while deciding the cost of the information.

Could it mean that the Training Camp and black market have higher importance than what is currently known? Or they're weaker than what is known? To the point that the black market would even willingly incur a loss in the information selling business?

But then, why even sell this kind of information?

Wait no, would they really sell information harmful to them?

What if they did indeed sell it but the buyer didn't manage to make it out alive?

Eryndor snapped out of his thoughts as the young lady resumed speaking.

"As I mentioned before, the average of those two— well, three parameters— determines the maximum cost of the information. But that's not all, as you can glean from the word 'maximum'.

"If you want surface level information, you only need to pay twenty percent of the average.

"If you want enough information to get by, you need to pay sixty percent of the maximum cost.

"If you want the complete information, you need to pay the full cost."

After saying that, she pushed forward a document which detailed the prices.

They accepted all the currencies, and even items for a barter trade.

However, for a sake of standardization, they used spirit coins to mark the price.

If items were used, that is, the barter system, which was prevalent here, then the price would be a bit lower than the one shown in spirit coins.

If currencies of the surrounding region were used, which had even lower value than the spirit coins, then the price would be a bit higher than the one shown in spirit coins.

Eryndor browsed through the document, seeing that the lowest cost was as low as forty spirit coins, while the highest ones even went as high as fifty thousand spirit coins.

One must know that Clarence had stayed here for more than two years, and his savings still amounted to less than two thousand spirit coins.

Eryndor closed the document, mentally went through his belongings, and asked the question.

"What all things can I do with a badge of another disciple?"

He then added.

"Without getting caught."

The young lady raised an eyebrow at him, immediately understanding what he meant.

Eryndor got the information shortly after, and it was surprisingly cheap.

So it isn't that harmful to either entity.

He was given the option to get the information sent directly to his badge, or he could read it here.

He chose the first option, but continued reading it there itself.

Since he chose to get the full information, there were even some devious ways to use the badges, but he continued reading and finally got what he was looking for.

Nice, so I can really enter the rooms of these disciples huh. I just need to make sure that no one sees me.

Then I can just dispose of the badge anywhere I want while leaving no traces which point to me.

Apparently this is alright as well since the majority of the badges are disposed of this way.

Eryndor set aside this information regarding the badge and tried his chance at getting any information on the disaster three months later.

He thought for a bit, trying to articulate his intention and hide what he really meant at the same time.

The young lady wasn't impatient. She was experienced, and therefore knew that Eryndor wasn't wasting her time but thinking of another request.

A few moments later, Eryndor asked.

"Um, Can I get information on unusual activities in the campus of Training Camp?"

He then thought about his current wealth, and the fact that he might die if the situation wasn't resolved. He couldn't afford to be stingy.

There was also the fact that the amount of information wasn't a large enough influence on the price.

So he continued.

"And the region around it. Specifically, activities which may evolve into something dangerous if left unattended.

"Well, just give me both. Unusual things and things which could evolve into a dangerous situation if not taken care of."

The young woman seemed to be deep in thought as she considered his request.

It was approximately half an hour later that he got the requested information.

"Thank you."

He thanked the young lady before leaving their shop.

He didn't read it in the shop because if the information happened to contain some explosive news then he might not be able to control his expression.

However, he was still in a hurry, therefore he found a secluded corner before he began reading the information.