Chapter 135 | After Rebirth, I Became the Dungeon's Hidden Boss

Celine led Moon as she followed.

Walking along the street just now, she had already witnessed how adept the local vendors were at finding opportunities to pry open the coin pouches of outsiders.

Trading a simple lunch for a few pieces of information known only to locals was not a bad deal.

Besides, she needed to figure out what kind of inspections were conducted upon entering the city.

Celine didn't act too eager. Behaving like a regular adventurer visiting Red Kite for the first time, she asked casually:

“Since this is my first time in Red Kite, which city gate is the easiest to go through?”

Nolani paused in her tracks and glanced back at her.

“You've asked the right person.”

She was clearly very familiar with the area. Instead of leading Celine down the crowded main road, she turned into a couple of narrow alleys stacked with crates.

When they reached the end of the alley, Nolani raised her hand and pointed ahead.

“See that city gate right in the middle?”

Celine looked in the direction she pointed. At the end of the main road stood a towering city gate, with numerous caravans converging toward it.

Pack beasts, wagons, and people of various races were squeezed together, forming several long lines in front of the gate.

“I see it.”

“Whatever you do, don't follow them.”

“Why?”

“That's the Cargo Gate.”

Nolani lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially.

“If you ride in on a horse through there, the guards will assume you're carrying goods and demand to see your trade license.”

Nolani raised her hand, counting off on her fingers:

“Mount inspection fee, cargo registration fee, temporary merchant deposit, plus a road maintenance fee that outsiders most easily overlook—it will cost at least this much.”

Seeing the five fingers Nolani held up, Celine instinctively asked:

“Five silver coins?”

“Wrong. Five gold coins.”

Celine looked back at the city gate.

She could afford five gold coins, but she didn't have a trade license, and she needed more information.

“What about regular travelers?”

“Take the Feather Gate on the west side.” Nolani pointed toward the other side of the city wall. “The entry fee is one silver coin, and a mount costs an extra two copper coins. It doesn't matter if you don't have an official identity profile in Red Kite. You just need to register your name, profession, and origin, then collect a temporary pass valid for seven days.”

She glanced at Celine.

“With so many people entering and leaving Red Kite every day, the guards have no interest in digging up who your grandfather was. As long as you don't cause trouble and aren't in a hurry to register a business, they won't even bother to remember your face.”

Celine felt slightly relieved. This set of rules wasn't hard to understand.

It was just like checking into a hotel or entering a strictly managed office building in her past.

You register a temporary identity first to prove they can find you if something goes wrong during those few days. As for where you lived before or what you did, as long as you didn't trigger an extra investigation, no one wanted to waste time digging deeper.

A trading city-state needed a massive influx of outsiders; they couldn't possibly investigate eighteen generations of every traveler's ancestry.

The real threshold would likely be after entering the city.

If one wanted to sign large-value contracts, lease warehouses long-term, or become an official merchant, they would have to complete their identity profile and find a local, a family, or a merchant guild to act as a guarantor.

This way, they wouldn't lock foreign guests out of the city, yet they could still keep the truly important business under their control.

It was very much in line with Red Kite's style.

After analyzing this, Celine casually asked, “Have the rules for regular travelers always been like this?”

“Pretty much. They haven't charged extra money,” Nolani said, looking around before lowering her voice slightly. “It's just that inspections have been much stricter lately than before.”

“Some time ago, the Holy White City issued a joint investigation notice to the surrounding city-states. Word is that someone of unknown origin is traveling around with an important item belonging to the Holy Court.”

Celine's expression remained entirely unchanged. She simply kept walking while leading Moon and asked, “Does Red Kite even fall under the jurisdiction of the Holy White City?”

“Of course not,” Nolani scoffed. “The Red Kite Lord and the Golden Scale Merchant Guild absolutely detest others reaching into their coin pouches.”

“But since the Holy Court lost an important item and sent the notice to Red Kite, they still have to show some superficial cooperation.”

“So that's why there are more knights at the city gates lately?” Celine's tone sounded more like she found it troublesome. “I'm just going in to stay for a few days. Surely they won't search me from head to toe, right?”

“Not to that extent,” Nolani said, stepping aside to avoid a dwarf. “Regular travelers are only checked for temporary registration and carry-on luggage. Solo adventurers, Descenders, and anyone with a suspicious identity might be questioned a bit more.”

“Only those with truly terrible luck will run into the clergymen sent by the Holy White City.”

She gestured in the air with her hand.

“The inspection tools they brought are quite sensitive to holiness. Though they can't see exactly what you're carrying, they usually just sweep it over you. If there's no reaction, they let you through. If it lights up, they keep you for further questioning.”

Celine quickly grasped the concept; this was essentially like airport security.

The guards wouldn't unpack everyone's luggage; they would just run a general check first. As long as the alarm didn't go off, you could pass normally.

But once an anomaly occurred, even if the item carried wasn't illegal, you would inevitably be taken aside for closer inspection.

The problem was that she was currently wearing the Holy Radiance Ring on her hand, and the Corona Band was hidden in her sleeve.

Normal guards might not notice them, but the inspection tools specifically brought by the Holy White City could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Once the light shone, the power to explain would no longer be entirely in her hands.

Celine subtly adjusted her gloves.

“With so many outsiders coming to Red Kite lately, can they really check everyone?”

“Of course not,” Nolani laughed. “That's why the truly wealthy and powerful don't queue up with regular travelers at all.”

“Caravans with long-term credentials from the Golden Scale Merchant Guild take the freight channels. Guests guaranteed by the Four Great Families have their own dedicated entrance. As for the rest who have no background but don't want to queue...”

She deliberately dragged out her voice. Celine glanced at her and finished, “...they pay people like you to guide them?”

“Smart,” Nolani said, snapping her fingers. “But what I offer is guidance, not sneaky, underhanded methods.”

“At least, not most of the time.”

Celine didn't press further; she had already gathered enough information.

Red Kite was indeed tightening its inspections lately. The regular entrances might detect holiness, whereas caravans and guests guaranteed by the Four Great Families had relatively lenient channels.

As for other methods, the more urgently she asked, the easier it would be for Nolani to realize she was hiding something.

Right now, she only needed to keep this information in mind and judge its veracity later.

“Is this information worth a meal?” Nolani asked.

“Barely.”

“Then we'd better get it into our stomachs as quickly as possible before you regret it.”

With practiced ease, she led Celine through two more alleys and stopped in front of a modest food stall.

The stall owner was a broad-shouldered, middle-aged woman.

The moment she saw Nolani, she slammed down the wooden ladle she had just picked up.

“You still dare to show your face here?”

The smile on Nolani's face didn't waver in the slightest as she sat right down on a stool.

“Why wouldn't I dare to come?”

“You still haven't paid for your last meal!”

“Well, aren't I here with the meal money now?”

She turned around and formally introduced Celine to the stall owner with both hands.

“This is a friend I just met.”

Celine fell silent. So, she was the "meal money."

The middle-aged woman's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, finally resting on Celine as she held out her hand.

“Pay first.”

“She's very cautious,” Nolani whispered, leaning close to Celine. “In Red Kite, that is a commendable virtue.”

Celine shot her a speechless sidelong glance, then took out a few copper coins.

“Just two portions of stew, vegetable soup, and wheat bread.”

Nolani was just about to open her mouth when Celine immediately cut her off: “No alcohol, no dessert, and absolutely no roasted leg of lamb that you were just staring at.”

“I hadn't even said anything yet.”

“Your eyes already betrayed you.”

Nolani sighed with regret and settled onto the bench.

“Fate can be stingy on occasion.”

Once seated, she began to talk incessantly.

She babbled about which gate in Red Kite had the fewest people, which inns specifically ripped off outsiders, what color of awnings to avoid when exchanging currency, and how one should steer clear of anyone claiming they could quickly procure guild credentials.

At least three out of every ten sentences were nonsense, but there was still plenty of genuinely useful information.

Celine listened while sifting the truth from the lies.

“Do you guide outsiders often?”

“Occasionally.”

“How do you charge?”

“Depends on the person.”

Nolani answered very candidly.

“The poor get it for free, ordinary people treat me to a meal, and the wealthy are charged according to the thickness of their coin pouches.”

“And if you misjudge them?”

“Then I just get to know another creditor.”

Judging by how practiced she was, this had clearly happened more than a few times.

The food was soon served.

One moment Nolani was lamenting the dignity of poets, and the next, she tore off a large piece of bread, dipped it in the stew, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Celine watched her for a moment, recalling the scene of her generously tossing gold coins to the children, and asked, “You can give away gold coins, yet you can't even afford a single meal yourself?”

Nolani swallowed her food and looked at her. “If money stays with me, it only turns into new lyre strings, pretty clothes, and casino chips.”

“In the hands of those children, at least it has a chance to become food and medicine.”

She was still smiling as she spoke, but her tone was a bit more serious than before. It only lasted for a fleeting second, however, before she quickly added:

“Of course, new lyre strings and pretty clothes are also very important. Without the pleasant sound of a lyre and an aesthetically pleasing poet, how terribly boring this world would be.”