My name is Ink. I'm a calm person; I don't look for trouble, and if I could, I'd gladly avoid it altogether. I consider myself kind and charitable—an example of that would be yesterday, when I lowered the prices of my maps for the people living on the outskirts.
That alone already makes me one of the most generous people in this place.
Normally, I spend my time walking through the castle's corridors or hanging around the dining hall, trying to find something worth doing or simply entertaining myself.
From time to time, I go outside the castle walls to update my maps so people won't complain that they're unsafe. It's not like that affects my income, but it's a way to pass the time in this hopeless place.
Of course, I don't go alone. Most of the time I'm accompanied by Sevec, one of the "fearsome" gem hunters. He was the one who protected me while I went on my little outings.
Although his name was certainly one of the things I disliked about him at first, I must admit you get used to saying it fairly quickly. And it's worth mentioning that he did his job well-once we ran into a Needle Messenger and survived. That's quite an achievement, in my opinion.
But moving away from Sevec and back to the main point: I work as a cartographer, a profession that is underestimated at first and adored once you realize that knowing where not to go greatly improves your chances of survival.
It could be said that, as a cartographer, I'm one of the wealthiest people in this castle. And to be honest, one of the reasons for my success is that my competitors are… somewhere not documented on my maps.
It should be said that undocumented places are not exactly places you'd want to be in. But apparently, they were in a somewhat… critical situation, mainly because my maps were better, and they decided that the best way to stay in the business was to take the risk and document an area I hadn't mapped.
Personally, I don't blame them for making that decision. I just question whether it was the best option. I mean, there's a reason it isn't documented-if the map you use to survive doesn't show an area, you wouldn't go there.
Returning to the main topic, I was, as usual, in the "palace" dining hall, having my usual breakfast while pondering whether or not I should make another trip outside to update the maps again.
But then something happened that people usually avoid doing: someone thought that arguing with the palace guards was an idea worth trying. It's not like they have an impressive amount of power inside the castle or anything like that.
But apparently, it had been a while since someone challenged any of the guardians and, by extension,Gunlaug -which leads directly to Harus.
Fortunately for the poor idiot arguing with the guards, they were calmed down by Caster, a new member of this big family called *we live in the castle because the outside is scary*.
He's someone new who earned the recognition of several people because of his ability-and, of course, he's one of my clients.
And speaking of clients, the guy the guards were arguing with, and the young lady beside him, didn't look like anyone I remembered selling a map to, which was unacceptable in my opinion.
If I let people walk around without one of my maps, how could they know which places not to enter and which paths to take to shorten the journey?
My conscience-and my wallet-wouldn't allow me to accept something like that, so naturally I approached the table where they were having breakfast to convince them to join the club *"we love Ink's maps"*, or *"wliim"* for short.
— Excuse me, are you two new in the city?
— What do you want? Are you another one of those degenerates?
Okay, the black-haired minion didn't seem to love my presence (nor Caster's, judging by how he looked at him when he left), but I could work with that.
— I'm not part of the palace guards, and to be honest, I wouldn't recommend calling them that. It could start a fight, you know?
— I could beat the crap out of both of them any day. In fact, I once killed a great demon with a single sword strike.
Well, the dwarf was delusional. That's not that rare, but it usually only happens to people from outside the castle-the ones without protection from the horrors roaming the city.
— Easy there. It's not that I doubt your *'destructive capacity'*, but they really aren't the problem. The problem is that by challenging them, you're indirectly challenging the ruler of this castle, and he doesn't accept any kind of challenge.
Do you realize what a good person I am? This guy would be screwed without my help.
— He's capable of killing a great demon with one strike?"
— He killed one of the leviathans with a butcher's knife, so it's more or less the same.
Seeing the surprise on their faces when they heard my statement was quite entertaining. Unfortunately, anyone who hadn't seen Gunlaug in person never truly believed that claim and dismissed it as propaganda-something the dwarf made clear just a few seconds later.
— Are you here to warn us about him?
Good. Finally, the young lady next to the dwarf took the initiative to speak. This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for to turn them into my loyal customers.
— Of course. I couldn't allow two future clients to die out of ignorance about who they shouldn't mess with.
— Clients?
Alright, little one-just a bit more and you'll fall into my incredible cartographic empire. I'll profit from your life, and you won't be able to stop it.
— Of course, my dear companions. You and the young lady beside you could use a bit of help in this place, and coincidentally, I can provide it for a modest price.
The faces of my future clients twisted as they realized the true intention behind my approach. I probably dropped several points in credibility, but they would learn to love me.
—Listen, four-eyes, I don't need anything you can give me, so if you could-
— I sell maps. The only real maps that exist in this place.
My declaration, cutting off the dwarf mid-sentence, may have sounded a bit desperate, but it had the effect I wanted: they noticed my importance.
That, in turn, allowed me to keep talking while they considered whether it was worth listening to me.
— You can surely see how important maps are. You wouldn't want to accidentally run into a Needle Messenger, would you?"
— I already killed a great demon. What's a Needle Messenger compared to that?
The dwarf kept going. Apparently, the outside had affected him more than expected. He probably wouldn't live long. In that case, I should change my approach and focus on the young lady.
— Miss, I'm sure you can see the usefulness of a map, right?
— I can't see it.
— Excuse me?
— I'm blind.
…
*Flap* *flap*
Do you hear that?
That's the sound of my hopes of turning these people into my clients flying out of reach—and with them all that money (soul fragments) drifting away from me.
— Well, it seems neither of you needs any of my services. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll be leaving.
With this waste of time over, I get up from the table, intending to return to my room to re-evaluate my sales methods—though not before noticing some not-at-all-quiet laughter behind me.
Maybe you don't know it yet, dwarf; blind girl, but both of you have dropped several places on my personal list.