A short while later, two young men were walking down the street.

Tepo and Tenro had separated from the crowd. Finally, the former shook his arm and Tenro loosened his grip.

“Why are you dragging me around?”, asked an annoyed Tepo.

Tenro waited until they reached a spot with less people. He looked left and right, before whispering:

“Don’t you think… that death was strange?”

“What?”, questioned Tepo.

“Well. The Purple magician, why would he be killed so suddenly?”

“Who knows? What does it have to do with you?”

“Wha…”, Tenro’s breath almost got stuck in his throat.

“What it got to do with ME?! Don’t you mean with the entire Carrying Winds World?”

Tepo shook his head, incredulous:

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit too much? That Purple Magician was only a six-circled spirant, right?”

“Yes. But he was investigating the ruw! He had discovered something which he shouldn’t have! So they sent an assassin!”

Blinking his eyes, Tepo just remembered the story Tenro had told him earlier.

Could there really be some truth to it? Are the ruw planning something in secret? But even if this is the case, what could we low-leveled warriors do? Although I’d prefer to prevent wide-spread killing, realistically I’m still too weak.

Mulling over it, Tepo spoke carefully:

“Look, Tenro. If this was really a planned assassination, wouldn’t the best course of action be to close your eyes and pretend not to know anything?”

The taler man had a conflicted look on his face.

“But if no one speaks up, what if it’s too late? No. We have to act! At least we have to investigate if something happened to Purple Magician’s team as well!”

Tepo sighed. He was also torn. On one hand the young man was eager to grow stronger and ignore such abstract problems for now. On the other he could never forget his purpose of searching for any signs of ‘outsiders’.

Do I want to get dragged into this mess? What threat could the ruw even pose? From what I’ve seen there aren’t many of them. Even if they can occupy a corner of the Carrying Wind World, it would only be a local power struggle and no threat to humanity as a whole.

Hmm. Maybe I should at least inform myself. See if there is really some substantial evidence to this conspiracy.

But I will still leave tomorrow! The ruw might still take a long time to prepare. If I’m strong enough by then, I can come back and offer some help!

Coming to a decision, Tepo looked at Tenro:

“Ok, listen. I will come with you and form my own opinion on the situation. But I won’t do anything more. I’m only a traveler and will leave tomorrow.”

“I knew I didn’t misjudge you!”, exclaimed Tenro with a bright smile. Tepo didn’t know, but this was the first time someone was willing to listen to Tenro’s wild claims.

The tall man was elated and quickly led the way.

“Come, come. Follow me!”

The two men walked at a brisk pace. Tenro led his new friend through roads and alleys. This part of the city wasn’t in a great condition to begin with, but as they advanced, even Tepo noticed the dirty roads and dilapidated houses.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

In front of some run-down taverns sat drunken commoners, doing their best to escape from reality. The warriors who came to these parts looked vicious and dangerous. The dark streets were only sporadically illuminated and even the surrounding houses appeared dim.

Tepo narrowed his eyes and kept vigilant of his surroundings. He knew that this place was perfects for thieves and other criminals. He was ready to draw his knife at any time while following behind Tenro.

But to the former investigator’s surprise they didn’t meet with any mishap. Soon, Tenro led them into a dimly lit tavern. Tepo wasn’t even able to properly make out its name. ‘Barrel’… something.

Curious eyes mustered the two men for a second until they concentrated on their conversations again. Shady figures sat in dark corners, only parts of their clothes visible.

Tepo was tense. He was unsure why Tenro would bring him to such a run-down place. Surely the city had better restaurants.

But the other man didn’t seem perturbed. It could be seen that he came here often as he approached the barkeeper with high familiarity.

The tall man leaned forward, his elbows on the counter. With one hand in front of his mouth he whispered:

“The cicada worships the moon.”

Luckily Tepo didn’t hear the ridiculous code. He only saw the barkeeper’s reaction, who grunted, took out a key and opened a backdoor for the two younger men.

The warrior looked sideways at Tenro’s face as they entered a shadowy staircase. He sighed faintly. Excitement and apprehension were obvious on the man’s face. His obsession with this conspiracy might not be too healthy.

Loud noises reached Tepo after the first few steps. People were shouting and singing. Music was playing. Rough voices seemed to argue. A stuffy smell of sweat, food, and alcohol reached Tepo’s nose.

The young man frowned. He regretted following Tenro. Why didn’t he curb his own curiosity?

A bad feeling in his stomach Tepo arrived at the bottom of the stairs together with Tenro. Space opened up before them. It was a kind of underground tavern.

The two men were hit by a lively atmosphere. A few tables were taken by rough looking men and women playing dice. Towards the back of this room made out of cheap stone bricks was a three-man band playing uplifting music.

They were next to a counter, with a bartender making sure that not a single glass in the room would stay empty.

Tepo’s eyes roamed the room. For a moment his body stocked. Towards his left he spotted a few moody figures. From their clothes they belonged to the Blue Ocean Merchant Alliance.

Taking a deep breath, Tepo reminded himself to behave naturally. The gangsters didn’t recognize him in the arena, so they won’t be able to recognize him now!

Tenro didn’t notice his new friend’s nervousness. The man quickly grabbed an empty table towards the side, beckoning Tepo towards him.

Watching the taller man’s fascinated eyes, Tepo felt odd. Why did they remind him of a child listening to fairytales? As if everything around them was magical?

Not able to shake off this weird feeling, Tepo set down opposite Tenro. Finally, they had a moment to talk.

“So, Tenro. Can you explain now why exactly you brought us here?”, asked Tepo in annoyance.

“Two reasons. First, Purple Magician’s team comes here every other day. If they are alright, we should meet them here. And second, this is the best place to listen to some rumors. Just try it.”, whispered Tenro with sparkling eyes.

Tepo more and more felt like he made a bad decision today. But now he didn’t want to blatantly hurt Tenro’s feelings, so he complied.

Concentrating on the voices in the room, Tepo was quickly distracted. He could only focus on the Blue Ocean Merchants.

“F*ck. Boss beat Garno black and blue today.”

“Yeah. He’s in a bad mood. Apparently, someone messed with their team today.”

“Yeah, they even killed two guys and got away with it. Boss is seething.”

“This f*cking rat. Why not just be captured obediently. Now we have to search the city the entire night.”

“Shh. Guys, shut up! I made sure Bel has our back, but if we get caught drinking, boss will kill us!”

Immediately the gangsters lowered their voices. Tepo couldn’t understand their words anymore and focused back on Tenro. The man was slightly leaning off his chair, eagerly listening to gossip.

Tepo coughed lightly to get his opposite’s attention.

“Hey, Tenro. Do you know about someone named Bel?”

“Ahh?”

Tepo smiled wryly as he repeated his question.

“Oh, sorry. I’m not sure if it’s the guy you’re talking about but not far from here is a place named Bel’s. It’s just an old man renting out a few beds.”

“Thanks.”

Tepo nodded, keeping this information in his mind.

This might be a good place to spend the night…

Suddenly Tenro drew a sharp breath, his head turning back to Tepo.

“Did you hear that?!”

“What?”, asked Tepo.

“Those warriors over there were talking about a dungeon which was activated today. Within the first two hours twenty percent of warriors were seriously injured or died.

Now guess, who activated the dungeon?!”

“I don’t know, some lucky traveler?”

“Noo. It was the ruw obviously!

You probably haven’t heard about it, but this happened multiple times before! The ruw activate difficult dungeons, invite humans to help them, and in the end they send one of their own strong warriors to save the day!

Believe me, they have been planning for a long time!”

Tepo furrowed his brows. He thought back to the dungeon he saw today.

How many dungeons can they activate in a day? Tenro is certainly talking about the one I passed today. When I think about the warrior signaling me to leave…