I squint at Almecks, suppressing the urge to cough. I need to wrap this up before I choke on the charcoal and metal dust hanging in the air. I can't breathe too deeply in here. Almecks is naturally not especially bothered by it, and merely raises a single eyebrow at me.

"...You doing alright there, boy?" He asks out of, I assume, courtesy.

I try to smile, "I'll manage. Keep going."

Almecks hesitates briefly, but nods in agreement, "I asked her who she was talking to, but she refused to admit she was talking to anyone, saying I was drunk and just imagined it. Might be I did, but I know if nothing else, she was hiding something from me. That much was obvious just looking at her."

I consider his words, "Are you sure there was nobody else in the room?" He was drunk by his own admission, "Maybe they hid or fled?"

He shakes his head, "Impossible. It was just Iffmy and myself in the room."

Hooray for locked room puzzles. From the sounds of it, he only caught her out like this the one time.

I look him in the eye, "Anything else happen since then?"

But that doesn't mean nothing happened since.

He nods, "She's been getting a lot worse, a lot faster. In the past few days, she's taken to vanishing from the house in the middle of the night and wandering into the fields. She does her work like normal in the day, but when she wanders off at night, if anyone tries to take her back home she screams bloody murder and slugs them one. Damn near broke Renth's jaw."

That's worrisome, to say the least, "Why not lock her in her room if it's gotten so bad? What's she doing still out in her condition?"

Almecks clenches his fists, "She continues to work by her own insistence. I don't wish to shut her away like some addled spinster. Iffmy is still completely capable of taking care of herself and will not be in any danger so long as we keep a close eye on her, so as her father I chose to respect her decision for the time being."

I frown. Frankly, I don't understand his reasoning. Someone so obviously confused should not be left to roam freely. It's idiotic and ridiculously irresponsible. Granted, I get the impression he understands that, but his inaction on the matter is cowardly. Maybe it was fine a few weeks ago, but I think that by now she's lost the right to such leniency.

It could be that's why he's accepting help from an outsider.

"So," His eyes focus intensely on me, "Having stuck your nose in our business and heard all this...What do you intend to do about, huh?"

Hearing Almecks out has definitely been informative. But I don't feel like I'm any closer to figuring out what's going on.

Hm. No, I don't suppose that's entirely true. I have some theories as to what could be happening with Iffmy, but I feel like I'm still missing a lot of really important information that would give me a better grasp of the Quest.

Regardless, I'm pretty much at my limit here. I need to get out and get some fresh air before I hack up one of my lungs. It's hard enough concentrating on this puzzle without being starved for air that isn't tainted by poor ventilation. I realise I'm being a little dramatic, but that doesn't mean I have to sit here and suffer if I don't want to.

And obviously...I don't want to.

"I don't really know yet," I inform him, scratching my itchy shoulder bandages, "I'm gonna have to take some time to think on it, 'cept not in here. Feel like I'm breathin' sand in here."

Almecks, looking disappointed, snorts, "And you were so eager to help."

I shrug, then stand up, "Don't be so quick to dismiss me, would you? It's barely been a minute, I got plenty o' smarts but I ain't exactly Archivist material quite yet, yeah?"

Disappointment and distrust don't budge from his expression even an inch, his arms draw up into a folded position as Almecks continues to glare at me in silence, waiting for me to provide some reason for him to trust me.

"I'm gonna head back to The Knight's Solace and think on it a little more. The Gods above know I'm not gonna manage to come up with anything useful sticking around here with you breathing dragonfire down my neck."

He contemplates my words, then nods once, "Fine. I'll come by when I'm finished cleaning up here."

Nodding back, I offer my hand to the old farrier, "See you there."

Almecks takes it, stands up and firmly grasps it, "Here's hoping you figure something out by sundown."

----------------------------------------

Returning, yet again, to the common room of The Knight's Solace, I wave to Jomsy and take a seat at an empty table near the door. I don't particularly feel like discussing things with Jomsy right now, and I would rather go through my findings in solitary silence.

Let's just start from the top, shall we?

Iffmy is a young woman native to Gilmy Village, daughter to Master Farrier Almecks - really just the most senior farrier in the village - and works as a Tender at the horse breeding ranch that forms the basis of this settlement's continued existence. For the past month, she's been acting strangely.

It all started - or people started to take notice - a few days after a farrier named Les..Lester..?

Some guy apprenticed to her father was killed by a horse he was shoeing because the pervert wasn't paying attention or something. According to Almecks, Iffmy said it was because he was leering at her, and she wasn't fond of him in the slightest, finding his lascivious gaze to be offputting.

People think it's something to do with her 'secret' relationship with him, but Almecks disagrees and though he may be mistaken...he's protective of her enough that with the paranoia that parents like him always seem to possess when it comes to potential sons-in-law, he'd have noticed a development like that.

Iffmy is by his account, a terrible liar, and I'm somewhat inclined to believe him on that part, at the very least.

Either way, Lester is dead, but her behaviour doesn't match up with my experiences of those in a deep depression or mourning. In the day, she goes about her business as usual, with enough competence and presence of mind that for whatever reason, her overprotective father has elected to allow her to continue doing so.

She may be a little on the dazed side, such that she bumped into me on the way out of The Knight's Solace, but let's just give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she wasn't expecting me to come out so quickly and the accident which followed was more my fault than hers. I will admit that I was acting hastily in order to get the favour to Jomsy over with as soon as possible, under the assumption that speedy completion of the Quest he gave me would be better.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

That and I just wanted to get back to resting my sore feet.

The bottom line for this point is that whatever is affecting Iffmy isn't affecting her judgment all that heavily, nor her ability to work as normal. Or, it wasn't initially and has recently been becoming steadily more apparent.

The fact remains, however, that she still doesn't pay all that much attention to her surroundings. Even if I surprised her, a normal person would have had a couple of seconds available for which to react to my presence and dodge back. I assume, maybe I'm wrong and this whole line of thinking is pointless?

But I'm getting sidetracked.

Iffmy has taken to talking to herself, a fact she's trying to hide from her father for some reason, though some of the townsfolk have noticed her doing so under her breath.

And to top it all off, in the past few days, she's been running away from home into the fields at night, attacking anyone who tries to bring her back into the village. Although Almecks didn't explicitly say, I think it's more that she's struggling against people trying to drag her back home against her will as opposed to just random acts of violence against anyone who provokes her by trying to get her back.

Having learned all this, I can safely say that what I've discovered is almost entirely useless in pinpointing who could be responsible for Iffmy's bizarre behaviour. What I can say with certainty, is that whatever is going on is almost certainly magical in nature. Who, how, and to what end, I haven't the damnedest idea.

But Eden is a place where magic exists all around us, and where people who can tap into this eldritch energy exist. If the answer to a riddle can't be solved with conventional reason, the answer is probably magic. Magick with a 'k'. That of course, still leaves the big question: Who's the dickhead spell caster that's decided to mess with this random country girl's head?

And, surely, anyone with that kind of power would find something better to do than spend a month fucking with a literal nobody for shits and giggles, right?

Who?

Why?

Who?

Why?

"Tula grant me strength..." I exhale, frustrated as my mind turns in ever tighter circles, no closer to figuring out what the hell I'm supposed to do. I'm not a Spellchanter, nor a Scriptist or Magus. Certainly not a Faithcaller, though Nealan does pay his respects to Tula and her brother from time to time, following his parents' examples.

I have absolutely zero magical knowledge or experience that doesn't come out of Bardic tales of adventure and sorcery.

Men with the power to stitch wounds and heal scars. Women with enough magical oomph to crush whole armies thousands strong with a shower of molten rock.

I know of these. Nealan adored those stories as a child, they shaped his desire to become an Adventurer.

Mind magic? Or whatever the fuck this is?

Nope. Not even a little bit, except to recognise that such a thing might be possible from the machinations of long-dead villains with grand designs for the world, immortalised in the legends told from mother to daughter, Bard to rapt audience.

I close my eyes and scratch the back of my head vigorously. I want to yell my lungs out at how frustrating this is.

"Greetings, stranger! Are you...what was it she said..? Nee-something...Ne-ul...Nealum?"

Blinking, I turn to see a smiling young man, maybe a little younger than me - scratch that, older than me, almost forgot - standing at the opposite end of my table with an easy smile on his face and short black hair, wearing a dirty linen shirt and even dirtier pants.

Annoyed by his intrusion I correct him curtly, "Nealan. Can I help you with something? I'm kind of extremely fuckin' busy."

The man's grin widens, and he snaps his fingers, "That was it! Yeah. Oh, uhm...I'm uhh, Renth. Maybell said you were interested in Iffmy?"

I squint at him, brow furrowed, "So you're this Renth guy I keep hearing about."

"In the flesh, and fresh from the stable. So, uh, sorry if I smell," He laughs, "I wanted to see the nosy traveler my fiance told me 'bout for myself, is all."

Without asking if it's ok to join me, he pulls out a chair and seats himself with his arms folded on the table, leaning forward, "So, what's your story, huh? Taken a liking to my old friend, the flower of Gilmy Village?"

I roll my eyes at his rude insinuation, "Barking up the wrong tree, you are. Saw someone in need and decided to help them out on a whim. No greater scheme on my part."

Renth smiles again, a fraction...I don't know, softer? More genuine?

"That a fact, eh?" He relaxes, shoulders slackening, leaning back into his chair, "Was worried I might have to punch you when I heard about you."

Renth chuckles, "You seem alright though."

Reaching out across the table, he offers a handshake. Looking quizzically at it, then back to him, I sigh in resignation and take it, shaking firmly.

"...Nice to meet you, I guess."

"Likewise! So, what brings you into Gilmy, huh?" Renth looks me up and down, assessing my worth, "Probably not looking to buy one of our horses with clothes cheap as the ones on my back. We don't have any mules neither, sold them all three winters ago."

Renth seems like the highly talkative, overly friendly sort. I admit, his sociability is a little infectious, "I'm from Klennock Village, just passing through on my way to Mhin."

He blinks, "Ahh. A seeker of fortune then?"

I nod, "After a fashion. Looking to get into the Adventurer life with the Adventure Company."

Renth whistles low, "Aiming high, to boot? I can respect that. From what I hear it isn't really all that cheap to even get them to talk to you let alone joining on."

Deciding better than to admit how much Nonne I'm in possession of, I nod briefly, "It isn't."

Grinning, Renth wiggles his eyebrows at me, "Well, when you strike it rich off a bandit king's treasure, make sure you come back here and buy one of our best. Guarantee they won't steer you wrong!"

I wince, his enthusiasm caused him to start yelling at me near the end there, "...Sure. Actually, can I ask you if you've noticed anything strange about Iffmy's behaviour? And I don't just mean staring off into nothing, I already went and talked to Almecks about all that."

Joy drains out of Renth's posture, turning markedly more serious, "Probably nothing you ain't heard already, then, I guess. I'm sort of uh, looking out for her when we're working with the horses, just so's we don't have a repeat of Lester's accident. Every so often I'll find her just standing around outside one of the stables, but that's about it."

My response is cut short by an unpleasant, all-too-familiar smell that cuts through the smell of swear and horse sticking to Renth.

Maybell enters the room and yanks Renth out of his seat into a big hug, damn near lifting him off the ground entirely, "Renthie!"

"...Put your poor fiance down before you break him, Maybell," follows the exasperated sigh of Almecks, who is also apparently here now. I realise he probably didn't have much left to do to clean the forges, but I still expected him to take a little longer.

Maybell ignores his words of caution and plants a firm kiss on Renth's lips, who for his part, doesn't seem too bothered by this turn of events, no doubt entirely used to his lover's antics. I'd pity him, but he made the decision to marry her, so he'll just have to live with it. Really not my business, hope you make the most of it before she snaps you in half.

Sighing, Almecks nods to me, and I nod back, bemused.

"Wasn't expecting you to be here so soon, if I'm honest," I tell him.

Almecks takes a seat to the right of me, "There's not much time left until sundown, and I have to go make sure Iffmy stays home when that happens, so I deemed it prudent to take care of this sooner rather than later."

I murmur agreement, "Fair."

"So," he stares at me expectantly, "What have you come up with?"

Deep breath in, "I hate to jump to conclusions...but my best guess is that some asshole has taken it upon themselves to mess with your daughter using some kind of magic."

"I don't think so. None of the villagers have any magic to speak of..." Maybell chimes in, surprising me. She's let her fiance down and is currently resting her head atop his with her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"None of the villagers would ever mean Iffmy harm either. She's well-loved around here by everyone," Renth follows up, stroking Maybell's arm. Get a room, damn it.

I roll my eyes, "What about-"

"I'm well-acquainted with the merchants and noble servants that are here. The only suspicious outsider is you," Almecks cuts me off, staring at me ever more intensely.

Put so bluntly, it's hard to find fault in his claim. But then, anyone undertaking this...whatever it is...without being discovered all this time wouldn't be incapable of deceiving him, I don't think.

But what else is there?

Obviously, it's not me to blame for this mess. By all accounts, nobody is acting suspiciously in the village, save for Iffmy herself. Talking to the villagers, and thinking as hard as I can about it isn't going to make the identity of the villainous twat responsible any clearer in the time I have.

I need answers I don't have - answers which I can't reasonably acquire before the Quest resolves itself as a failure.

Again, I feel an urge to scream in despairing frustration, my blood boils; begging me to smash this table into the wall just to take the edge off my stress. Thinking about it isn't cutting it, I need to do something. To hit the smug piece of shit that's got my mind in a tizzy.

Then, of course, at the height of my anger, it hits me.

I'm overthinking this.

Why should I bother solving a half-finished riddle when I can just let it resolve itself?

My scrunched up face returns to normal, and a playful grin spreads across my face, revealing teeth. I look at Almecks, whose paranoia has turned to confusion, then to the two lovebirds:

"I have an idea...and I seriously don't think you're going to like it very much at all..."