They sat in the waiting area as Derrick walked back from the front desk.
"Here are your cards, sir," Derrick said, holding two identification cards.
Vance took them. "Thank you."
"Once I'm done here, I'll track your cards to show you around the city." Derrick said with a smile.
"I look forward to that." Vance smiled back as he turned toward the door.
"Here." He handed the cards to Jennifer, 'If those things can be tracked, I can't have them on me.'
He pulled the door, to see the reddish sky outside.
'Does she have the money, or did we really lose it?' He thought walking down the stairs without asking. He could still feel eyes on him.
The streets were calmer now. Some vendors had already abandoned their stalls.
"Jennifer, you still have the money, right?" He asked quetly while stopping at a stall labeled BLACKSMITH & APPRAISER. Swords and daggers lined the display.
"Yeah" She replied, glancing at a dagger.
"Leave with Skritch and find somewhere to stay." Vance said, noticing the orc watching from a dark alley. "You'll find me at the park."
"Lets go," Jennifer said, walked away with Skritch.
'I should find out how much money Skritch actually has.' Vance turned back to the stall.
"So, are you going to buy something or are you just here to waste time?" The vendor asked. She had sharp cat like ears peeking through lush silver hair and wore a dark shirt with a jean skirt.
"Isn't that a rude way to talk to a costumer," Vance replied.
"If the costumer is using my stall to hide from officers," she said coldly, "then I'm allowed to treat him however I want."
Vance smirked. "Fair enough. But I am still a costumer, at the least pretend to be professional."
She sighed. "Fine. What do you want?"
"I want you to appraise this." He placed the ledger on the counter.
The women picked it up, then glanced at the goblin in the neighboring stall. "Watch my stall."
"Sure," the goblin replied.
"Follow me," She said, stepping out from behind the counter and heading toward the two story stone building behind the stall.
"Which god do you worship?" She asked as they entered the store. Swords, armour, clothes, and scrolls decorated the walls and glass display.
"I don't follow any religion"
She stepped behind the counter and placed the ledger down. "Do you belong to any faction?"
"I have no affiliations."
She pulled a pair of glasses from a drawer. "Then you're just a dead man walking."
"What makes you think that?"
She stared at him. "Are you serious?"
Vance said nothing, returning her gaze with a calm indifference.
"You must've had a shaltered childhood." She put the glasses on. The lanses glowed faintly as she opened the ledger and flipped through it's blank pages.
'Does everyone in this world truly worship something?' Vance thought, remembering his conversation with Skritch.
She removed the glasses and placed the book back on the counter. "it's odd, but nothing special."
'She lying,' his eyes narrowed slightly.
She sighed looking at his gaze.
"The book in bound to you soul," she said. "Even if I wanted to steal it, I can't."
"It acts as a medium for your talent, but you humans call it a gift." She gave it a flick and ledger slide across the counter. "But it comes with a drawback. Because of the high contract limit, You can't learn any skills"
"That'll be three gold coins."
"Isn't that insane price to ask?" Vance asked. 'I'll use her to learn about this world currency'
"Its only that expensive because I know you're about to ask more questions." She smirked.
"Fine," he sighed. "Why is everyone obsessed with worshipping gods?"
"Its not an obsession but a matter of survival." She corrected him.
She raised her hand and curled her pinky finger inward. "First, every race has a stat limit and humans are capped at one hundred."
"Among the intellectual races, humans have the second lowest limit. Goblins are the only race below you." She curled another finger, " second, the only way to remove those limits is through a god. Even if your not devoted, you still need divine backing unless you want to live your life bowing to other races."
She curled another finger. "Third the average adult here has stats around two hundred. Right now you're weaker than most teenagers in this city."
"Which leads to the fourth reason." Her index finger folded, leaving only her thumb. "Outside of neutral cities, the act of not worshipping a god is a criminal act and in most nations atheist are executed on sight."
She smirked. "So from now on, stop telling people you're a faithless lunatic unless you want to get lynched."
'What?' Vance mouth went dry.
"Fifth." Her thumb closed, "unless you come from wealth or powerful. Most people are indoctrinated from birth and baptism is mandatory across the world before the age of ten."
She leaned forward slightly. "So yes, it's rare to see someone without with no religion."
She smiled faintly, "you asked why I thought you'd die."
Her eyes sharpened, "because you walk around screaming money."
Vance glanced down at his torn suit, "I look rich."
"That's adorable," she replied. "You think appearance matters"
She rested her chin on her hand. "Just like you have a gift, some people are blessed with gifts that let them see another person's stats without permission."
"And in neutral cities, the rare target is someone with capped stats, no faction, and an obviously amplified gift." Her smile widened, "that combination usually means one thing. A rich idiot from the upper continents exploring the world for the first time."
Vance's throat dried as he glanced toward the street outside. The officers seemed to crossing the road but their eyes were oddly at the store.
'They aren't after Skritch.' His eyes widened slightly as realisation hit him.
Everything suddenly made sense, Derrick's friendliness, Tooka's kindness, and the identification cards.
The officers were tailing him, none of it had been about the goblin. The card's were tracking devices and the officers were insurance.
'I should leave the city a...'
Before he could finish his thought, she spoke. "Don't even try to leave the city, they'll torture you to get that money"
Her silver eyes locked onto his. "The smartest thing you can do now is call your family."