Saul sat on the dusty staircase with his legs spread out to touch the other wall. He let out a slow sigh. There was little to draw his attention in the staircase, most of it just being the same color of metal as far as he could see. Turning his head to the right, he could just make out where the natural light from above was coming in from the ground floor.

“They’re not going to come back this soon.” He had told Xen and Plafluf. “I’m going to do some looking around the area to see if I can find any other traces of them. Not going to be picking fights, I just need to make sure they don’t have a trail of breadcrumbs lying around anywhere.”

“But what if one of them comes back? We should stay in case that happens. Twenty-Two is a serious threat, and I won’t abide her taking you by surprise.” Xen replied.

“Trust me on this one, there was nothing in that place they would need to come back for. You need to go back and get some rest and healing, those bruises are only going to hold you back if we end up getting into a fight with them again.” Saul told him before setting them both off to Plafluf’s house.

Can’t feel bad about lying to them. Well, to Xen at least. I’ve got a feeling in my bones that there’s something much bigger than smuggling going on here. Urchski are usually too busy with petty squabbles to try messing around with old city works. Saul thought to himself. Guess I can sit here for another few minutes. Worst case scenario I’ve got to go home with nothing and try again sometime riskier.

He passed the time with checking his notes. The final page he took still stuck out to him. The ink was something expensive, which had to be imported from the center ring at least. Before he could examine it or its messages further, the familiar sound of the tunnel path opening came from further down. Saul froze in place, the notes still clutched in his hands.

A few seconds later and it started to close again, which he used as a cover for putting away his pages. Unsure of the person downstairs, he took a deep breath and held both his hands up, starting to descend down the stairs.

“Listen... I know you’re in there. I want to make it clear that I’m not coming in there to fight you. Right now I’m alone. Hopefully you recognize my voice and don’t just start swinging the moment I get down there.” He announced as he got down to the hideout.

There was a pack on the desk, letting him know right away that someone was hiding in the room. Steeling his nerves, he stepped past the entryway and started looking around. Right behind him, since he’d entered, was Twenty-Two with her sword already drawn.

Notched and old metal. Don’t need my analyze power to tell me that she’s used that thing many times before. Seems almost as beaten up as its owner. Hopefully she didn’t earn those scratches dealing with merchant guild enforcers, or this is going to be a tough sell. I was hoping it would be man, since he was at least another human.

“Thought it would be you.”

“Speak, human, while you still can.” She spat back at him.

“Fine then, straight to business.” He responded before moving to an opposite wall and leaning against it. “I’m here to ask you a few questions.”

She hesitated for an instant. It was a subtle gesture, with the sword dipping to his chest before being raised again. Having grown up around merchants, Saul was used to having to read the faintest body language. He lowered his hands and stepped back until he was leaning against the wall opposite to her.

“You would be an idiot to come here alone. Tell me where those other two are right now.” She demanded, rooted in her own position.

“Sent them back to a safer location. Right now they don’t even know that I’m here.”

“Have you come to get yourself killed?” She asked, flashing a wicked smirk.

“I’m not looking to be your stress relief, no. Though if I must say, you seem a lot smarter than a savage murderer. My guess is that you’re already aware of the fact that killing a detective of the merchant’s guild would cause you a lot of problems. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a big deal for you, but it would cause a lot of trouble for anyone nearby.”

Her sword finally pointed at the ground. Saul’s posture lighted and he relaxed against the metal behind him. While he waited for her to respond, he glanced around the room. Ultimately his eyes settled on her pack. Spilling out from the top where some of the papers that he had seen them left behind.

“Even if I’m not going to try and murder you, why would I bother to answer any of your questions? I’m pretty sure you’ve made it clear that we’re not on the same side. Worse yet, I could even just lie to you. Don’t expect to be able to tell just because I’m not wearing my mask.”

“You’re correct. I can’t exactly force you to tell the truth or anything, that’s not my ability.” Saul replied with a shrug, wiping the smirk from her face. “The reason I want to ask you questions is because I’m noticing strange things going on. Maybe your group has spotted the same issue, but not everything is normal here in the Megaden. I don’t want to have to get you people killed because something above both our heads comes crashing down on this squabble. For both of our safeties, we’ve got to know what we’re doing. Unlike my Erudine friend, I’m not looking to die just to see my mission through. Understand?”

“What about if we’re still breaking the law? Is this ideal of yours based on the concept that we’re just misunderstood?”

“No... your still a prime suspect in my case. Ideally I would like to take you all back to the center ring for trial and processing. Seeing you six feet under or rotting in the Megaden’s uncivilized zones wouldn’t make me happy in the slightest. Solving this case and bringing the people responsible to justice, without hurting anyone I don’t need to, that’s my mission first and foremost.”

She glared at him as she spoke, but he could tell there was more consideration than malice behind it. “Fine then, I’ll answer your questions. Don’t expect me to go spilling important secrets though.”

“I’ll try to avoid touchy, personal subjects then.” Saul asked before he pulled out his notes and writing stick. “Normally I’d ask you for your name but Xen already explained that to me. Can you tell me what you and your group are doing in the Megaden?”

“You’ll be disappointed to know I’m not entirely sure. All I know is probably what you’ve already figured out from our meetings. We’ve been poking around the old ruins in the Megaden for a couple of days now.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Researching old ruins without a college warrant or permission from the owner is illegal in of itself.” Saul replied before pausing his writing. “Wait a moment, why would you even want to research something like these old ruins? I would have thought the information in them would be outdated at this point.”

“Who knows? I’m not the one doing the research anyway. Whatever my employer wants with this place, he wants to keep it above my pay grade as well.”

“Yeah... I was going to ask that next actually. Who is the person that you’re working for? If he only told you an alias that’s fine, you don’t have to name names.”

“Good, because I don’t think he even has one. We call him the Underking, though he does have a couple of other names from what I can tell. The Lord Below, Kinsaki in the old tongue of my people. Basically any name you can think of for the creepy shadow you tell children will eat them if they do bad, he’s probably been called that at one point or another.”

“Does he live up to the titles?”

Twenty-Two hesitated, though Saul couldn’t tell if it was fear or serious thought that flashed over her scarred face. “Some of them, definitely. Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as terrifying as him. Not to me, obviously, but to others. He has a way of just instantly affecting the people that meet him. You’d know him if you saw him, is what I’m trying to say, and you’d never forget him either.”

Intense charisma, enough even to affect this woman? Maybe she’s weaker willed than I thought. Then again, can’t dismiss the possibility of him having a mind-altering ability. Those are normally illegal, and the Buloi aren’t likely to let anyone unregulated go building their own enhancing chamber. Saul thought to himself, making sure to write down everything in his notes.

“Well I won’t pry too much about that, wouldn’t want to steer this interview to the gutter. Instead, would you mind telling me anything you do know about these buildings? In particular that one with the pool in it.”

“Were you not listening? I already told you that I don’t know anything.” She answered before tilting her head to the side. “Though... I guess it’s worth mentioning this. Olivia says the room is damaged in some way. There’s a noise that fills the room, and if you’re not making enough noise to mask it, it starts to affect your head. Makes you paranoid, that sort of thing.”

“Huh... I think we had a similar experience when we first found it ourselves.” Saul nodded. “So these tunnels... was that what you used for the smuggling of stolen goods?”

“What?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. “Oh, right, the smugglers. I have no idea how they’re connected to this stuff, we just followed one of them on their routes in. Was fairly easy to pay off the little Urchins to keep their mouths shut about it. Come to think of it, I think the stuff they were carrying at the time was spears.”

“Can’t say what you’re describing puts you in the clear...” Saul said with some thought before he closed his notes and put them back into his pocket. “But I’m guessing you don’t care if you’re a criminal in my book. Still, off the record, I’ve got a final question I want to ask you.”

“Oh? This should be interesting.”

“Xen never told me about why he was hunting you in the first place. He’s especially got a vendetta against you now, but I’m curious; What is it that you did to get the maskless on your back?”

Twenty-Two’s eyes locked onto the floor. Her hands caressed over her forearms, thumbs tracing idly over old scars that ran the length of every limb. Eventually she stared back up at him confidently.

“You want the truth? It’s because I failed in my duties. I got captured, didn’t get to kill my target, and then fled without finishing my mission. That’s what got me branded as a traitor to the Maskless. There’s no chance for parole, nor mercy, all there is left for me is a death sentence.”

Saul couldn’t reply. Erudine law was very different to the kind that he enforced. A part of him wanted to help her out, even though it wasn’t his place. Death sentences were a sore subject to humanity after so many deaths were carried out on their nobility just a few decades ago.

Before he could offer condolences or condemnation, the sound of soft footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Saul thought quickly, pointing to one of the bunks nearby while he moved towards her pack on the desk. Twenty-Two understood, and crawled into her own bunk, covering herself in the bedding to make it look like it had been crumpled up.

Saul drew his sword and pointed it at the stairs, steeling himself for another act. To his surprise, rather than Xen or Plafluf, it was Edyta. She wasn’t wearing as fancy an outfit as before. Her gear was more like an elaborate guard uniform now, with a signature crest of an Urchski curling around the moon on her right breast.

“Curious, I did not think you would be alone here. My reports indicated that you were with two more people.” She said, glancing around the room. “Tell me, you know that coming into these ruins without probable cause is illegal? I’d like to know what you think you’re doing in here.”

“Funny, I was going to ask the same thing.” Saul said, lowering his sword and grabbing the pack on the desk. “To answer your question, I came back here to look over the material in their hideout. We got lucky and tracked them back to this place with the help of nearby nobles.”

“Westerners? I would hope you’d be careful not to interact too much with our politics, human. Things are very dangerous these days, and it’s not the place of the merchants’ guild to interfere.”

“All I’m looking for is information related to the smuggling ring. I’ll be happy to pass along any information you ask of me that I came across while in the Western territory, but I’m not looking to join a side in any conflict. Preferably, we would stay out of each other’s hair.”

“Yes, and yet you keep managing to poke around in bothersome places. Please do keep in mind that your own position of regard is not shared by everyone in this region. Surely you have met with one or two people here, perhaps had a pleasant time together. You would be wise to make sure that they stay safe from the effects of your investigation, detective.”

Saul narrowed his eyes. The veil on her threats was thinner than he’d expected them to be. Countering her, he loosened his posture and leaned against the desk.

“Phrases like that are unbecoming of a lady in high society. Now I’m not exactly one to judge, but you should rest assured that I’m used to dealing with risks when investigating something.” Saul said before pulling one of the papers from Twenty-Two’s bag and inspecting it. “Funny thing is though, people often underestimate the capabilities of the merchants’ guild. Usually they’re under the assumption that if they keep pulling back and trying to hide everything, they just end up rounding themselves into a corner. It’s almost like they don’t realize the much safer alternative, one which plays into their strengths.”

Edyta stared daggers at Saul. “Are you suggesting criminals have an alternative to hiding?”

“Sacrifice the pawns. Get away with a fine, maybe a slap on the wrist for public relations, and get away with it. Makes me sick that something like that can happen, but it’s so reliable I’m surprised it isn’t used more often.”

The Urchski weren’t difficult to read emotionally, as Saul knew. Though their faces were stiffer than a human’s, they were exceptionally vocal in their body language. Even someone as prim and practiced as Edyta made it clear she was agitated by his suggestion. Her tail curled up off the ground slightly before dropping back down again, and he held back a sigh of relief.

“Fine then. If you must know, we have also been keeping tabs on this group. We have located where they are currently hiding, just north of here. The guards are currently preparing to raid the place, as a matter of fact. Perhaps it would be of aid to your investigation to be there when they’re captured? I must warn you though, they may fight back. In the end they might all get killed.”

“I’m sure Xen will be pleased with that option. Will cause trouble with my plans, but honestly, I'll have to take your assistance into consideration when I head back home.”

“Well then, shall we go?” She offered, gesturing up the stairs.

“Er, sorry, I still need to check through a few things here. I’ll be sure to head back to my partners in a little while, log down my information in a report, and then head straight over. Wouldn’t want any more delays than necessary, right?”

“Hmm, quite.” Edyta said dismissively before heading up the stairs by herself. “Be sure not to dally though. I may be leaving now, but rest assured that we have eyes everywhere on the surface, detective.”

Her soft footsteps trailed away as she left the room. Twenty-Two moved out of the bunk before Saul turned back. Both of them stared at each other, but the news they’d received clouded the air. She stood up and walked towards him confidently, taking the bag off of the desk and brushing past him.

She started towards the stairs as well, carrying the blanket she had hidden under at the same time. Only once she was at the point of the exit did Saul rush towards her. He drew her attention for a second while she pulled out the note on how to open the tunnel.

“Listen, I...” He hesitated, not sure what to say. “I don’t think you’re a good person, but I don’t think you’re a monster either. Should it come down to my choice, I wouldn’t want you being killed. Maybe my opinion doesn’t mean much to you, but I had to get it off of my chest.”

“Yes, I had gathered that from the way that you spoke. Some people are like that, even some among the maskless. I am sure you would rather the truth be brought forward, and that punishment should be a means to rehabilitation. Once, I thought the same way for most of my targets.”

“So... you agree with me? Then we should work together on this, if we approach from both ends, the head of the ring will get—"

“You misunderstand me, human.” Twenty-Two said, putting in the sequence and opening the tunnel as he spoke. “That was the way I once was. Right now, this has become a fight for survival. My group will do what it must to make it out of here alive. I will do what I need to in order to make that happen.”

“Then you’ll be fighting a war on two fronts. Is that what you want?”

She stepped through the tunnel door. As it closed behind her, Saul rose along the steps, only managing to catch a sliver of her back as the panel slid back into place. Her head turned for one moment before it closed completely.

“That is the way it always has been.”