After lunch, Lee seemed to feel considerably better. Noah wasn’t sure if she was just faking it for their sakes or not, but food did generally improve her mood. Moxie – who had foolishly offered to pay for their meal – ended up spending nearly fifty gold on Lee’s endless appetite.

They drew a crowd large enough that Noah wished they’d charged a silver just for the show. If they had, he was pretty sure they’d have made their money back and then some. Once they all finished their food and headed off, it didn’t take long for Lee to pick up on Silvertide’s scent and set off, guiding them toward the old soldier.

“I still have no idea how you can do this,” Noah said as they walked. “Aren’t there so many different scents in Arbitage? How can you track down Silvertide’s so easily, especially when we don’t have anything for reference? If your nose is that strong, aren’t you constantly getting overwhelmed by information or something like that?”

“If I’m not careful, I can be,” Lee said, coming to a stop at a junction in the street and sniffing at the air before turning to the left and continuing on. “But it’s not really that bad once you get used to it. Some scents are stronger than others, and you can filter them out pretty easily once you get used to it.”

“Which scents?” Noah asked.

“Stronger ones.”

Noah’s eye twitched before he realized that Lee didn’t just mean scents that smelled more intense – she meant stronger scents.

“Like from people that are more powerful?”

“Yeah. Higher ranked people have more magic. It’s easier to track, even if they haven’t been using it too much recently. Silvertide is basically a walking stick of magic because of his leg. It’s impossible to miss him.”

“Interesting,” Noah said. “What about Jalen?”

“He smells strong too, but he’s got some way to contain it,” Lee said, pausing for a moment to think. “It’s weird. I know he’s powerful, but his smell is covered by… a blanket, I guess. It’s hard to describe, but he conceals it somehow.”

“Probably something to do with his Rank 6 domain,” Moxie theorized. “When you get that strong, you get really good control over your powers. I’d be surprised if Jalen wasn’t intentionally reining it in so people couldn’t track him down as easily. Lee probably isn’t the only person good at tracking others down.”

Lee came to a stop in front of a small restaurant with an open patio, then pointed at it. “Silvertide is here.”

“Huh. That was closer than I thought,” Noah said. It only took him a moment to follow Lee’s finger over to a table near the edge of the patio, where Silvertide sat drinking from a ceramic cup.

Their arrival hadn’t been unnoticed. The elderly soldier raised the cup in greeting, a wry smile flickering across his lips. He took another sip as they walked up to join him.

“I’d say it’s a coincidence seeing you here, but judging by the way the little one was sniffing the air, something tells me I may have been sought out,” Silvertide said with a chuckle. “Or was it the tea? This restaurant is quite good at it. Never quite figured out what leaves they’re using, and the bastards won’t tell me. I’ve been trying to steal it for years. Give it a shot every time I come to Arbitage, but they always manage to catch me.”

“We’re here for you,” Noah admitted. “It’s about our plant mage problem. I’ve got some more information on him. Is now a good time?”

Silvertide took another sip of his tea, then shrugged. “Tell me, and then I will decide.”

That was enough of an agreement for Noah. He took the wrapped dagger out of his bag and set it on the table before Silvertide, who took yet another sip before finally setting his cup down with a slight frown.

He pulled the wrapping away from the dagger, revealing its black blade. His eyes narrowed faintly as he studied the weapon. Nearly a minute passed in silence. Finally, Silvertide moved – his hand toward the tea pot.

Silvertide poured himself another cup and, ignoring the steam rising up from the scalding liquid, took a sip from the cup without even blinking. He set it back down on the table with a soft click.

“Interesting,” Silvertide said, a sage air surrounding him.

“You know what it is?” Moxie asked, leaning forward. “I’ve been trying to figure it out, but I have no clue where to even start. I’ve never seen it’s like before, but I know it’s got some form of magic in it. There are Runes, but they’re well-hidden and either broken or not normal.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Silvertide gave her a nod. “Yes. There are.”

“So?” Noah asked. “What is it? Is it useful?”

“Oh, I have no idea,” Silvertide said. “Tea just makes me feel very intelligent. I’ve never seen something like this before.”

Noah coughed into his fist, trying to muffle his laugh as Moxie visibly deflated. Lee patted her on the shoulder.

“That said,” Silvertide continued, a wry smile passing over his features before he abandoned it in pursuit of another sip of tea, “this is useful. As you said, Moxie, it has some strange runework on it. How do you know it’s connected to the plant mage?”

“Because I think I know who it is,” Noah said. “The mage’s name is Wizen, and I’ve come into conflict with him before.”

That got Silvertide’s attention – but not enough to completely pull him away from his drink. He took one last sip before pushing the cup to the side and interlacing his fingers on top of the table. “Go on.”

“When I was traveling in Dawnforge with Moxie and Lee, we ended up stumbling into a criminal underground by accident,” Noah said. “Some idiots came after us and we traced them back to their base.”

“And you met Wizen there?” Silvertide asked, tilting his head to the side.

“No. We met someone else – his name was Gentil. Real shitstain of a human. He pretended to be benevolent, but he was a psychopath. He wanted to capture Moxie for some reason, and he had Alexandra around as one of his soldiers. Wizen used some form of Mind Rune to force Alexandra to do what Gentil wanted.”

Silvertide’s lips pressed thin and his eyes narrowed. “Mind magic. Despicable, wretched magic. What happened to Gentil? Can we question him?”

“Only if you can contact the afterlife,” Noah said. “He’s dead. I sent him to kingdom come. There might be a few scraps of his flesh scattered around the remains of his base, but I doubt it. We took that dagger from him, though – and Gentil revealed that Wizen wanted Moxie. We never found out why.”

“I see,” Silvertide said. He drummed his fingers on the table, his displeasure evident. “Wizen has both powerful Plant Runes and Mind Runes, then. And, considering the way he was using the former, he’s focusing on magic that lets him control things from afar, without getting his own hands dirty. Do you know anything else?”

“Not much,” Noah admitted. “Most of our information came from what we heard from Gentil as well as a talk I had with Father. The only thing I know about his motivation is that he’s after the Torrins for some reason. They must have something he wants, but I don’t know why he’d want Moxie in particular. It’s not like she’s in good standing with the rest of the family.”

“Curious,” Silvertide said. He was silent for several seconds. Then he seemed to remember that he had perfectly good tea in front of him that might risk going from scalding hot to just merely warm if he didn’t drink it, so he rectified the problem. “And Moxie, you can’t think of anything that may have drawn his attention?”

“Nothing,” Moxie said. “I have no idea what the Torrins would have that he’d want so badly, and even if I did, I don’t see how he’d accomplish anything by attacking Arbitage. Why wouldn’t he go for Blancwood?”

“My thoughts as well. The Torrins don’t have a strong presence in Arbitage, so it doesn’t make much sense if it was his end goal.” Silvertide picked up his pot, going to pour more tea, only to find that it was empty. His nose scrunched in disappointment.

“Is there anyone you know that could help with the dagger? Maybe some of the other Enforcers?” Noah asked.

“Yes. Neir may very well be of use here. He’s always enjoyed studying old Runes,” Silvertide said. “I didn’t realize your group was so wrapped up with this problem, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You seem to have a talent for it.”

“Thanks,” Noah said.

“That was not a compliment,” Silvertide replied. He reached into his pocket in search of something, then paused. A grimace passed over his features for a second, then faded away. He brought his hands back to rest on top of the table and let out a sigh. “If you’d be willing, I’d like you to accompany me to a meeting in three days’ time. You know enough about this that I believe the other Enforcers would benefit from speaking to you all.”

Noah shrugged. “I think I’d be fine with that, especially if it keeps Wizen out of our hair. As much as I want him dead, I’ve also got a class to teach and a life to live. I don’t care to spend it with my skin crawling because Wizen could be lurking in the shadows.”

“Oh, trust me. I know what you mean,” Silvertide said darkly. He pulled the top of the tea pot off and peered into it, reaching in and pulling out a small pinch of leaves to rub between his fingers in thought. “This will be helpful. We haven’t had any good leads before, but the dagger changes things. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Do you mind if I hold onto it for a short while?”

Noah glanced to Moxie, who shrugged.

“Sure. I don’t want the stupid thing. Just let me know if you figure anything out.”

“I will. Say, have you ever eaten at this restaurant before?” Silvertide asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Why?” Noah asked.

“You really should. Their tea is fantastic. It can be a little expensive, though,” Silvertide said. He brought the pinch of leaves toward his pocket, still nodding.

The door to the restaurant flew open and an elderly woman skidded out, thrusting an accusatory finger toward Silvertide. “No! Hands off the leaves, thief!”

“I’ll see you in a few days!” Silvertide flew from his chair, vaulting over the patio’s railing and sprinting off, his cane clutched at his side. The old woman didn’t even flinch. She sprinted after Silvertide, hurling curses as she gained on him. The two of them turned a corner down the street, then vanished – though the old woman’s voice marked their position as they faded into the distance.

A polite cough caught Noah’s attention as he turned, still baffled, to find a neatly dressed waiter standing at their table.

“The tab for today’s meal still hasn’t been covered,” he said. “Silvertide said he knew you, and I’m afraid I need someone to pay for the meal.”

Noah’s eye twitched.