“Medicine?” Wyn repeated. “All he stole was medicine?”
Kei nodded. “It seems that way. Some rare drugs are the only thing that are missing from the inventory.”
“What about before? Was he stealing medicine in the past?”
“Well, it was among the things he stole, but it was alongside gold, gems, spices… I thought it was collateral.”
Wyn cursed under his breath. “We have all the evidence right?”
Kei nodded.
“Great, I’m going back to the inn.” He walked out the door. He could hear Kei stumbling to catch up behind him.
“Wait, Wyn! What are you doing?”
“I need to think.”
“About what? I get it, you’re shaken up about this. But that doesn’t change what we have to do.”
Wyn stopped. “Doesn’t it? What, do you want me to go after somebody trying to help sick people?”
“You have no idea if that’s what’s going on!” Kei snapped, grabbing his shoulder. “If it were that simple, why was he stealing the rest of the valuables? And even if he wasn’t, do you know how many people he’s left with debilitating injuries? Sure he hasn’t killed any, but he’s not above harming them! You want to be a spirit knight right? If so, you won’t be able to turn away from your duty just because you find it distasteful!”
Wyn twitched, then he slowly turned to meet her eyes. They stayed locked on his own, until eventually he looked away first. He sighed. “All right, fine, fine. You’re right. We’ll look into it more. But even if I might have to do something I don’t like in the future, that doesn’t mean I’m in a hurry to get there. We’ll look into it and go from there.”
Kei took her hand off his shoulder, nodding slightly. “That’s fine by me. Let’s think things through and plan for tomorrow.”
“Can we do it back at the inn? I’m getting sick of this scenery.”
“I’m amenable to that,” Kei smiled. “I suppose it’s been a few hours since we ate as well. Should we go somewhere?”
“After last time? Corrin will be upset if he misses out again.”
“He’s flying right now, what is there to feel bad about? If he wanted it he should’ve helped.”
“Look I don’t disagree, but I also don’t want to see him pout. He’s really annoying when he gets all grouchy.”
Kei’s eyes sparkled in the dim moonlight. “Does he really pout?”
“Like a little kid, and he whines like one too.”
“I kind of want to see that…”
Wyn shook his head. “Trust me you don’t.”
She laughed quietly and they headed for the inn. It was interesting; being out at night in the city. It wasn’t exactly that it was altogether louder–summer nights in Straetum grew quite loud between the crickets and light spirits–but the sounds were different than in the country. Light spirits were far less common in Precipice, and their gentle humming could hardly be heard over the sounds of mumbled voices, footsteps, and carts rolling down the stone roads. The sounds of the city were uneven, and not at all uniform, but he didn’t entirely dislike it either. They both felt alive in their own unique ways.
Still, Wyn had a hard time appreciating the sounds of the city.
You want to be a spirit knight right? If so, you won’t be able to turn away from your duty just because you find it distasteful!
It was a disturbing possibility he didn't want to consider. In some way, he knew it, but having only reclaimed his dream so recently, he'd been able to thinking about it until now. Even as powerful as the knight in the forest had been, he answered to Iillia, and if he was a professor at the academy, then it was likely he answered to them too–at least in some way. If he received an order that he didn’t like, what would he do? What would Wyn do?
Let's say the thief is trying to cure his sick son, how am I going to act?
He didn’t know.
The thoughts bothered him all the way back to the inn, which wasn’t a good sign. If he couldn’t even handle something like this, how would he handle it when the stakes were higher? Bad orders were one thing, he could ignore them and be satisfied, but not every conflict was so cut and dry. Wyn glanced over at Kei, the product of a war that had been going on since before he was born. Could he have killed Nladian soldiers knowing they were just trying to do what they thought was right, no different from him?
Even as his mind stalled though, his feet kept moving, and long before arriving at an answer, they arrived at the inn. Corrin was sitting on the bed in a meditative position–channeling no doubt– and as the door closed behind them, his eyes opened and he smiled. “Oh hey you guys are back! Did you get him?”
Wyn looked away, a bit embarrassed.
“Damn, that sucks. So he didn’t attack then?”
“Well, he attacked.” Wyn said. “But he and his bird got away.”
“His what?” Corrin’s eyes went wide and he demanded the details of the story. Thankfully, the familiar interaction helped Wyn relax, and he was able to put his apprehension aside for the time being. Corrin seemed to have a way of doing that, and Wyn always felt more relaxed around him.
About halfway through Wyn’s retelling, Corrin got up and started cooking, roasting some cured meat he’d bought earlier over the fireplace along with some local vegetables. After plating it up he waited for Wyn and Kei to take a bite.
“Well, what do you think?” He sounded a bit nervous, which Wyn thought was hilarious. Before he could even pretend it was bad though, Kei spoke up.
“It’s great! Maybe a little too much salt though?” She glanced at Wyn.
He sighed. “Yeah just a bit. It’s pretty good though I’ll admit.”
Corrin took a bite and chewed for a moment before nodding. “Yeah that’s too much all right. I do that all the time.”
They ate, making idle chatter and exchanging a few more stories. Corrin told them about his visit to the adventurers guild and what he’d learned there. Mages, mana, looms, lenses, there was a lot to take in, but Wyn knew what it amounted to was mostly a whole lot of nothing–at least as far as their own power was concerned. Without a way to get their hands on a lens, they wouldn’t be able to cast, and it seemed Corrin would be heading down the channeling route anyways.
There was one part that didn’t escape Wyn’s attention though: powerful people were gathering in The Grass Sea. Now that was an opportunity. The question was, where exactly? And perhaps more importantly, why?
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
Wyn clicked his tongue. Whatever it was, they’d be weeks behind, so it was unlikely they’d be able to participate in whatever it was. Still, he’d have to ask Udyr before he left. If the man’s information was half as good as Wyn thought it was, he’d know the answer.
Eventually, Kei steered the conversation back to the thief. “So Corrin, are you going to join us? I think we might have him the day after tomorrow. We could use your help.”
Wyn raised an eyebrow.
Corrin tapped his fingers on the table. “Maybe, but I won’t be able to tomorrow. I want to glide a bit more first, and I want to ask Finn why he didn’t show up tonight. It’s a bit weird. I thought he’d be there with or without me. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried, but I am a little bit. I hope he’s not sick, he was going to take me on a fissure run.”
Wyn wanted to ask about that, but it could wait. Instead, he turned to Kei, “The day after tomorrow? Do you have a plan you’d like to share with us?”
She smiled. “I might be thinking of something.”
***
The herbalist–a younger man with a soft voice–handed Wyn back the pouch filled with the sleeping mush. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I just don’t recognize this species, and I’ve never heard of the sleeping effect you described.”
“That’s all right.” Wyn said, keeping the disappointment from his tone. This was the fifth herbalist he’d visited since waking up, and none of them had been able to identify the odd mashed up plant used to put the whole warehouse to sleep. Sure, there were far more shops in the city he had left to check, but it was disheartening.
He and Kei had split up, him to speak with herbalists to try and identify the substance used to put people to sleep, and her to find the blacksmith who had forged the knife. He’d assumed that his job would be done quickly, and then he would join up with her and help in the search.
So suffice it to say, four hours later and on herbalist number twenty-four, Wyn was a little annoyed. He opened the door to yet another shop, just as messy as the others, and with the same earthy scent of dried herbs. Though he had to admit, there was a hint of something else mixed in that made it smell distinctly better than the rest, even those in the nicer parts of town he’d been to. As soon as he saw it was empty, save for the old man behind the counter, he started talking. “Excuse me, would you mind helping me identify a plant?”
Whoops, I forgot the honorific.
Though Wyn was mentally face-palming, the man behind the counter didn’t seem to mind, standing up straighter and gesturing for Wyn to place it down in front of him. He dropped the pouch on the counter, half-open so the man could see inside.
The elder herbalist scratched his chin for a few moments before speaking. “Ah grassward huh? What kind of weird bust is this?”
Wyn grabbed the pouch and started leaving. “Well thanks anyways, I’m sorry to have–” he paused. “Wait, you recognize it?”
The man leaned closed one eye, looking at Wyn oddly out of the one that was open. He didn’t say anything.
Wyn placed two copper marks on the counter.
“That I do!” He snatched the marks and dropped them into his pocket. “It’s an epiphyte that grows out in The Grass Sea. Releases the spores as a defense mechanism, or for reproduction. Nasty stuff, good strider captains steer clear of any patches of it..”
Wyn thought for a moment. After so many failed attempts, he’d honestly forgotten his follow-up questions.
“What are you looking at me like that for? You want to find a distributor? You’ll have to go somewhere else. I don’t grow it and I’m not interested.” The man shooed him away.
“Huh?” Wyn blinked. “Wait, is this some kind of illegal drug?”
The old man drew his face closer, giving Wyn a good look at his wrinkled skin as he peered into Wyn’s eyes, squinting. Then he pulled away and grabbed a clay jar off a shelf and unstopped the lid. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply from its contents before his eyes popped back open. “Ah! That’s much better!”
“Um, elder?”
“Listen boy, I don’t want to be involved alright? There’s only two types of people who want to know about grassward, captains and criminals. You don’t strike me as a strider captain, no offense!”
“Well I’m certainly not a criminal,” Wyn said.
“Ah then you must be the third type!”
“I thought there were only two?”
“No, I said three.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And that third type is somebody looking for a criminal! Still, go away, I’m not a rat!” The older man cackled for a few seconds before he stopped as if slapped and stared back at Wyn. “Unless you’re a doctor. Has someone finally listened to me? How many letters have I sent to the surgeons saying grassward should be used as a better anesthetic? Oh no no it’s too dangerous to harvest, oh no we can’t use striders for that...”
Wyn rubbed his face. “I’m not a doctor, I’m just trying to find somebody who uses it.”
“Ah! The second type!” The man pointed his finger towards the sky.
“You mean the third? Someone looking for a criminal.”
He shook his head. “No no that was the second like I said. Now shoo, go talk to the others about it.”
“Elder please, you’re the only one who’s recognized it,” Wyn pleaded.
The old man laughed like Wyn had just said something funny. “The others don’t know about grassward huh? I’ll bet.”
“I won’t ask about anybody in particular, but why do captains and criminals know about it? Well, I guess criminals can use it to rob places, but why captains?”
“Rob places? They can’t breathe it! How would that work?” The man stroked his chin. “But no they smoke it obviously! Little bit of spore, grind up some cinder root, mix with some ginger and saffosil, add lavender for flavor and then activate it with a drop of drought, fantastic stuff! From what I hear at least.”
Wyn powered through. “And captains?”
“Well they gotta avoid the stuff. Can’t have your strider fallin’ asleep on you. They also like to smoke it too but that’s besides the point.”
The bell to the shop rang and someone walked in, a woman perhaps in her thirties.
“Ah hello Faera!” The old man said. “I can talk later boy, I’ve got to help Faera here, she’s a real customer. The usual I presume?”
The woman smiled. “Thank you elder, my stomach has been acting up again lately.”
“And who cooked last night?”
The woman coughed.
“I told you!” The older man rummaged through some jars.
Wyn took the opportunity though, he knew what he needed to know. “Thank you for your wisdom, elder. You’ve been very helpful.” He grabbed the pouch again and turned to leave.
The old man coughed once.
Wyn tossed one more copper mark onto the counter.
“It was a pleasure!” The herbalist chuckled.
Wyn closed the door and walked out into the streets, letting out a sigh of relief.
Finally, that’s over. Captains and criminals huh? Hopefully Kei had more luck than me.
His search to find a good herbalist had taken so long that he had no idea where Kei would be in her own route. So instead of trying to track her down in the huge city, he just returned to the inn to wait for her. A whole day walking around the city had done wonders for his navigational skills, and he made it back pretty quick. When he opened the door though, she was already sitting inside, sewing a small tear in one of her dresses.
She looked up. “Hey, finally! Didn’t you have the easy job?”
Wyn closed the door. Then, he slammed his forehead against it.
***
“Huh, that’s good to know.” Kei said after Wyn finished explaining what he’d learned. “We’ll see if there’s any captains that live in the area. Udyr should be able to help us with that. The docks are controlled by the merchant guild so they should have the information. ‘Criminals’ will be harder to find, and we already knew we were looking for one.”
It made sense, but Wyn was still surprised to hear that the guild controlled such a major part of the city’s infrastructure. From the tale of Corrin’s visit to the adventurers guild, it seemed like the disparity was quite large.
“Who’s in charge of Precipice?” Wyn asked absentmindedly.
“What?” Kei raised an eyebrow. “I think they have a council that makes most of the decisions. Though in practice the merchant guild probably has the most power. Where’d that come from?”
“Just an idle thought. You mentioned an area and you’re back early. I assume you found the blacksmith?”
Kei nodded. “That I did. I got lucky to be fair though, it only took me fifteen tries. Considering there’s over fifty, that’s pretty damn good. And now, we’ve got a search area. It’s by the fifth fissure. So the opposite side of the city from the last warehouse. I’m almost positive that our thief is there.”
“What makes you say that?” Wyn asked. She sounded confident that they were on the right track.
Kei looked away. “Well, while I was there, I noticed there were a lot of sick people, so I asked about it. It seems there’s some sort of malady springing up in the area.” She glanced back up to see his reaction, letting the words hang in the air. A sickness going around, stolen medicine, and a knife that lead right to it all.
How am I going to act?
Wyn took a deep breath, steadying himself. He looked up to see the sun getting low in the sky. There were a few hours of daylight left. “All right. Take me there.”