-Grand Stone Guild-
[One of the largest companies found within the city of Quarry.
Unlike companies like J’alyr ke Ensaru, Grand Stone does not have a specialty.
They do everything from mining, to advanced Aetherologic research.]
For their fifth day in Quarry, Ari and Xeron planned to spend their time interviewing various departments of Yenva’s Grand Stone Guild. They woke early, shortly before the sun would rise on the surface. To no surprise to either of them, neither Yenva or Recen were anywhere to be seen. It had been a couple of days since they saw either of the Muwals, which would be concerning if there wasn’t clear evidence of them coming and going: the pile of trash from several nights’ worth of take-out food growing every day, Yenva switching out which pair of shoes she wore each day, and their personal quarters becoming more chaotic and messy almost constantly.
Ari had felt weird the first time she’d spied on her employer’s personal quarters, but by this point she was getting used to it. She preferred she did it instead of Xeron. She was not fond of the idea of the big brute shuffling through Yenva and Recen’s personal effects, not to mention their intimates. She was always careful to leave things at least close to where she found it. With how disorganized the sisters were at home she wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t notice something being misplaced, or perhaps missing entirely. She would never admit it out loud, but she had been tempted to make a few items ‘disappear.’
Four days of checking their quarters, as well as Yenva’s personal study, and still no dirt on either of them. Figures, Ari thought to herself, I wouldn’t keep or bring anything incriminating home with me, especially with Hunters investigating me, no less staying at my house. She’d finished her morning checks around the time Xeron finished making them some breakfast. A common meal for them, a single egg each - Xeron’s was cooked into a small omelet, she liked hers scrambled - and some bread. They were allowed to help themselves out to whatever Yenva had in the house, but Xeron insisted they don’t get comfortable living beyond what they can normally afford.
Ari understood the concept, but that didn’t stop her from feeling annoyed by it. Here they had access to have an entire day’s worth of food three times every day, and not run out for weeks. It steeled her resolve, she would become a successful enough Hunter to not live in poverty, and bring her family out of their debts.
One step at a time.
After breakfast, they donned their Cloaks, and left for the day.
The walk to the Guild was a short one, and thankfully didn’t require them to take any lifts. Once inside, they went directly to the information desks.
“Ah, you two are the Guildmaster’s guests, yes?” The same young man from their first day in town greeted them. “What can I do for you two today?”
Xeron patted Ari forward, indicating she should be the one to speak. She was becoming more comfortable with it, but it still took her a moment to work past her anxieties to speak. “We need directions to your research departments, as well as all of your shipping warehouses.” They’d agreed to start with these, as they’d probably take the longest, and be the most effective.
“I can do that. Give me one second, I’ll fetch you a couple maps.” The young man stood up and walked deeper into the platform. He appeared a few minutes later with two maps in hand. He placed one on the table and rolled it out, it was a detailed map of the building. “The second floor is where you’ll want to go first, the research department takes up nearly the entire floor.” He pointed to a few rooms near the elevators, “Stop by these rooms first, this is where the department heads’ offices are. They can show you around.” He brought out the second map, which turned out to be a map of Layer Six, with two circles, blue and red. He pointed to the red one first, “This is our dedicated laboratory, if you can’t find what you’re looking for here on the second floor, I’d suggest heading here. This is where the bulk of the research is actually performed, where the offices here are for smaller experiments, and mostly data analysis and report generating.
“Over here,” He continued without even pausing for breath, pointing to the blue circle, “Is our warehouse complex. There’s a handful of facilities here, with a variety of purposes. The big one at the far North of the complex is where we stage for deliveries, so if you’re specifically looking for shipping that would be the place to go.”
“Thank you,” Ari replied, scooping the maps off the table. She was glad for her recent growth spurt. It would have been silly to see the small girl she was before reaching up to reach the top of the table. “That’s very helpful.”
“Glad to be of service,” the young man said, giving a small bow of the head. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to return here, there’s almost always someone willing to help.”
Ari gave him a smile before walking off, leading the way towards the elevators. Slowly but surely, she was getting accustomed to being the one leading discussions and movements. Xeron projected she should be able to get her Black Cloak within the few months at their current pace. They were steadily checking more and more off the training checklist. Her brother insisted she would be able to get it right now if they didn’t have to worry about all the arbitrary requirements Danfis insists are important. She doubted it, she felt like she didn’t quite have the confidence to take on a job like this one on her own yet.
Once on the second floor, they only really needed to go down the hall a short way to get to their target offices. Ari knocked on the closest one, and a feminine voice called out “Just a minute!” Out of curiosity, Ari put her ear to the door, and heard nothing but the frantic shuffling of papers. When she heard footsteps approaching the door, she reset her position, standing straight with her hands clasped at her waist in front of her, a notebook in hand.
A woman, probably close to Xeron in age, with deep blue hair and stunning green eyes opened the door. She was dressed in a blue suit coat, a few shades lighter than her hair, over a frilly white blouse and black pencil skirt. She had glasses, and they were crooked. Looking closer at her outfit there were various other signs that suggested she wasn’t as well put together as she might seem at first.
She looked at Xeron first, then after a moment looked down at Ari. She had a look that seemed equal parts confused and relieved. “Oh, I thought you were Recen, or one of her lackeys coming to get my report,” She said. After an awkward moment, she stepped to the side and spoke again, “Please, come in. What can I help you two with?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Ari observed the office. Much like the person using it, it seemed very clean, orderly, and organized at first glance. Looking closer, however, revealed many details that suggested otherwise. Stacks of paper on the desk that weren’t neatly aligned, filing cabinets with drawers that weren’t fully closed, stains on the wood and chairs, likely from spilled drinks. There was a trash can under the table filled with disposable cups. One had missed and was on the floor. In addition to that, there were scraps left over from various meals.
That combined with the tired appearance of the denizen of the office, suggested she had been working here extensively, likely for several days without going home.
“Please, have a seat,” she said after a moment of Ari and Xeron looking around.
“Thank you,” Ari said, sitting down, and motioning for Xeron to follow. He did not. He opted to stand behind Ari and fold his arms to look imposing. After the woman sat down, Ari began their conversation in earnest. “We are Hunters with the Tsumi Clan. We have been tasked by the Guardians to investigate the various companies and organizations here in Quarry. The Grand Stone Guild being the large and influential group that it is, we’ve come here first. To be more specific, we are searching for leads and information about the terrorist group that destroyed the bridge near Fyrun, and rerouted deliveries of repair materials.”
“Well in that case, you’d probably want to speak with our shipping and handling departments, no?” The woman asked, leaning back in her seat, seeming more confused by the moment.
“We will be speaking with them as well, though I believe they’ve already been investigated.” Ari explained, “Our focus has shifted to trying to find people who are working with them still. We’d like to pinpoint their identities if possible, but at this point we’ll take any lead we can get our hands on. We’re also trying to figure out what they’re planning next, so any leads on that front are greatly appreciated.”
The woman nodded, and agreed to help in whatever way she could.
“Great, thank you. For starters, I’d like to ask what you and your company have been researching recently? Especially anything that seems like strange requests, and who they would have come from.”
She took a moment to think before speaking. “Nothing particularly out of the ordinary. I do know the primary lab recently received a shipment of interesting crystals, but I won’t know anything about their actual research until the initial results come to my desk. Aside from that, we are always researching new innovations to produce high quality stone and to reduce costs, and we’ve been delving more into Aeth’mobile and other relevant technology. Guildmaster Muwal has given us a mission to create new tools for mining and transporting goods using the technology. That’s what I personally have been working on over the last few weeks, drafting designs and coming up with efficiency and cost figures. The GM has some very strict requirements set for these devices. I think the only thing strange about them is we’re tailoring them for use outside of Quarry, but there have been rumors for years about us relocating out of the city. Especially lately, since we’ve been struggling to get approval for the Layer Seven dig.
“Which reminds me, I do know GM Muwal and her assistant signed off on an investigation into the Guardians’ reasons for not wanting us to go too deep, though I have no idea how that has been proceeding. That’s an entirely different thing, not really related to the Guild specifically.” She finally finished, or at least took a breather after rambling. Ari was surprised such a timid woman could speak so quickly. She continued before Ari could get a word in, “I’m sorry I don’t know more specific details. I really have been absorbed in my project for the last few weeks, I haven’t spoken to anyone not working on it in a while.”
“That’s quite alright,” Ari assured her with a soft smile, “Do you have any suggestions for where we might go and who we might talk to next?”
“There’s the analyst department down the hall, though you probably won't get much from them - they just process the raw data from experiments, and make graphs. I did that job for years, so I know firsthand how out of the loop they are about what’s actually going on. I would probably recommend the head scientist at the Primary Lab, his name is Jiol. Normally he can be hard to get a hold of, but with your credentials he should come without much complaint.”
Ari leaned back in her seat, rubbing her chin with her thumb as she processed the information received so far. She didn’t feel like she had any reason to doubt this woman. The investigation on the Guardians sparked her interest, but it was clear she wouldn’t get any more information here. “Xeron, do you have any questions you want to ask?” She asked.
“I do not,” He said, “I don’t think we’ll get any solid leads here.”
“I agree.” Ari made eye contact with the woman sitting across from her, who looked like she wanted to look away. “Thank you for your help, and willingness to cooperate. Best of luck with your projects.” Ari stood up and began walking to the door before she could respond.
After the door clicked shut behind her, she thought she heard a sigh, probably of relief, followed by definitely hearing a thump. She thought about checking on the exhausted girl, but decided against it. They didn’t have all day to spend on questioning a single person, no less worrying about their health.
“Let’s go check out the analysis department, I doubt we’re going to find anything there, but it’s probably worth checking while we’re still here.” She said, already walking down the hall. She knew she didn’t need to say it, Xeron was probably thinking the same thing. Still, it felt good to take command so firmly.
Several hours later, and multiple labs and research departments visited, Ari and Xeron were no closer to the answers they were searching for. Ari flopped on her bed, groaning in frustration. “This investigation is going nowhere. I’m not convinced anyone in this city is dealing with these mystery Demon Lords.” She complained.
“I’m with you there.” Xeron agreed, taking a seat at the desk in the room. A few silent minutes later, he spoke again, “We know they supposedly have Human counterparts acting in this Realm, right? What if the reason we haven’t been able to find any leads is because we’re asking the wrong questions?”
Ari sat up slowly, holding herself up with her arms. “We still don’t know anything about their identity, which is part of why we’re here, isn’t it?”
Xeron rubbed his chin, thinking. He sighed after a while. “You’re right. Come on, let’s make our report to HQ.” He pulled his pendant out and made the call.
A moment later, a voice came through. Not Venn’s, however. Instead, Danfis himself spoke. “Xeron, Ari, good evening. How is your investigation going?”
“Not terribly well, sir,” Xeron answered. Ari felt a small tinge of annoyance. She’d been the one to make the reports every night until now, and she was enjoying being in the position. She shook her head, trying to clear the feelings. She had, after all, been on point all day, which was a first. “We investigated Grand Stone and its research and shipping departments today, and got nothing. The only thing of interest seems unrelated, but there were multiple confirmations that Yenva Muwal has hired some private investigators looking into the Guardians, more specifically the reason they don’t want them digging too deep.”
“That is interesting, but I think you’re right, it’s likely unrelated.” Danfis replied.
“I’m wondering if perhaps we are asking the wrong questions. Do we have any updates from other investigations? Has anyone found any information about the human counterparts to these Demon Lords?”
“Actually, yes. I was going to tell you after your report. I’d like both of you to return to Tsumi’din tomorrow morning to receive a full brief on our new information. Could you be here by midday?”
“Definitely. Thank you, Danfis.”
“Anything else to report?”
“Nothing tonight,” Xeron said, a relieved expression on his face. “We’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Excellent. See you both tomorrow. Good work, get some rest.” Danfis said before cutting off communication.