There was a new chill in the morning air. Still, Yaric had to blink the sweat from his eyes as he maneuvered around his opponent. She was wielding his preferred weapon, the longsword, while he held a large, round wooden shield strapped to one arm, and a war axe in the other.
Hiawatha had started training him on different weapons once again, with half the time dedicated to facing a longsword, specifically so he could gain experience from the point of view of his future opponents.
He already had some insights this time around. Any time he managed to pause the sword’s movements, particularly when bringing it to a stop with his shield, he could easily strike the sword itself while stepping forward. This tactic frequently created wide openings, openings that he wasn’t sure how to defend against. Perhaps it would be less effective against an opponent who also carried a shield, but that would defeat the point of the exercise. Yaric wouldn’t always be carrying a shield after all.
Yaric blocked a thrust and struck the blade, knocking it far out to the side. He jumped forward just as his opponent backpedaled, managing to bring her sword back in with a hacking swing. This time Yaric ignored the blade and swung his axe at her hands, using the shape of the axe to strike effortlessly behind the guard.
She dropped her hands lower as she swung, rotating her wrists and lifting the blade, causing Yaric’s strike to miss completely as her sword swung across to the other side. The movement of the top formed a circle and came up from below, catching Yaric out of position.
It was easily blocked by his shield, if a little awkwardly, and Yaric pressed his advance. They continued their back and forth until Yaric’s advance pushed her into the way of other students.
“Get back into your area you two!” Hiawatha barked, looking annoyed.
Yaric sheepishly obeyed, moving back into position and getting ready to try again.
He managed to take the initiative almost every time, putting his opponent on the backfoot over and over again, but he still struggled to translate that into a victory. The much shorter reach was difficult to overcome, and unlike the spear, the longsword had more avenues of attack, leaving him vulnerable to counterattack even when he pressed closer.
“This is annoying,” Margeret complained. “I can’t get my blade close to you.”
It wasn’t entirely as one sided as she made out. Over the course of the lesson she had gotten better at shifting the angle of her blade to evade his strike, leaving openings she could exploit.
“I’m in the same place as you. Don’t forget the whole point of this is for me to work out ways to defend against an axe as well. I’m no closer than you are.”
No one had worked out a way to consistently defend against such a strategy by the time the lesson was over.
“Will you be using an axe again next time?” she asked hopefully, though she already knew the likely answer.
“No, short sword.”
With no choice but to put their frustrations aside for the moment, Yaric went to retrieve a longsword for himself. His regular lesson was about to start, and this time he’d be sparring with Sven.
And amazingly, it wasn’t too bad. Sven was still technically superior, particularly in technique, but Yaric was able to hold his own for longer than he was used to. He even managed to pressure Sven multiple times. Of course, he still had a long way to go, only now he could actually see the destination.
The same could be said for their magic lesson. Lloyd had come through with his promise to speak with Emil. It was impossible to tell how Emil felt about the request, as he seemed to be both excited, curious, and frustrated all at once. But Emil did agree to show them a new spell - a more persistent form of the basic fireball spell.
“The spell form is nested just as the final product will be,” Emil was explaining, pointing out the complicated structure of the components. “Structure is just as important as the connections between components, as we must keep the shape consistent. This part is simple as it only creates sulfur, while these three are more complex. Naphtha, dark oil, and pitch,” Emil explained, pointing out each in turn.
“These must be connected in this fashion, so everything mixes smoothly. Surrounding it is a thin shell of pure carbon. This has no real purpose other than to separate the mixture from the flames outside, though it will burn well when it breaks up and oxygen is able to penetrate. The flames on the outside will keep that from happening while in flight. Otherwise, the outer layer of flames fed by the constant bleeding of arcana is the only part that resembles your original spell. Any questions?”
Yaric just stared at the spell form along with his friends. It was orders of magnitude more complex than anything they had learned so far. And this was for a basic upgrade. The incendiary fluid wasn’t even pressurized, it would simply splash out of the broken shell on impact and douse the target in hard to extinguish flames, flames that could be expected to burn for over a minute.
“Let me know when you four are ready to test the spell,” Emil said, breaking Yaric out of his thoughts and making him wonder just how hard it would be given Emil’s smirk.
“We’ll start with smaller pieces,” Lauren suggested. “Then work our way up to combining everything.”
“Yeah. Next year.”
They had the time. All four were projecting small shields whenever they tried, and they only took a couple of seconds to form now. Emil had been forced to admit that they would do much better next year, when different years combined classes. The difference in levels and aptitudes meant that students were taught individually, allowing those who were more advanced to move on to the next spell.
Not that Yaric or the others cared. As soon as they mastered a spell to the point that they could reliably cast it and the gains became incremental, they simply switched focus back to casting during combat and improving things like speed or aim. Even basic casting in class would be improved after a few days of using the spell in their various exercises.
Nothing else saw such gains. Fauna, Flora, and Fiends continued as it always had, though Yaric and the others were now far more aware of just how much they still had to learn. Law classes shifted subtly, with more focus on the responsibilities of unconnected and the authority students would exercise in various situations. Yaric felt it was just a bit too closely related to what had happened to them for it to be coincidence. Only Li Na agreed.
There were no other changes in any other class. Not even with scouting lessons, which had fallen back to more ‘traditional’ classes. Crafting classes progressed normally, as did horse riding.
One change would occur soon, however. Yaric had finally settled on a six-string instrument. He didn’t have any lessons yet as the Academy didn’t provide instruments for student to practice with, but his lessons would start as soon as he bought his own. And his opportunity came much sooner than he’d expected.
Meet at gate an hour after dawn. Skip all classes. Wear travel clothes and bring a staff each. Make sure you have the rod I gave you.
Lloyd.
“This must be about another appeal,” Sven guessed, reading the note of Yaric’s shoulder.
Lauren didn’t seem to have any doubts. “It has been a few weeks already.”
“Couldn’t it be a special lesson?” Yaric asked.
“Why would Lloyd be taking us somewhere for that? The Corporals maybe, but Lloyd doesn’t give lessons.”
“But there’s no appeal attached.”
“Hmmm… maybe he wants to give it to us himself?”
-------- ---------- ------ -------- --------- --------- ---------- -------- --------- -------- ----------
Lloyd arrived just before they did, carrying an appeal in his hand. He was dressed so plainly that Yaric didn’t recognize him until he turned to wait, having arrived just ahead of the others.
“Ah, you’re early. This is for you.” Lloyd held out the appeal which Sven stepped forward to take. The rest crowded around him to read the appeal as well.
“Arson and property damage here in Lekton?” Sven asked, raising an eyebrow.
Li Na’s face hardened.
“Yes. The location of the docks mentioned is not here though, it is much further up north, even further than the estates you visited on your first appeal. The area became popular due to the lack of regulation, so now it has both farmers and businesses alongside brothels and gambling dens.”
“So it’s outside the boundaries of Lekton and outside it’s laws?” Lauren asked.
“Actually, it’s inside Lekton, only it’s so far away and so inconvenient to patrol that it’s easier to just leave it be. Peace and security are in the best interest of the gambling dens, so they do a lot of the law enforcement themselves.”
“Then who would gain from this? And what?”
“A gang,” Li Na stated matter of factly.
“That’s my best guess, yes,” Lloyd agreed. “But that’s your job to find out. Or at least, it’s a secondary job. Don’t forget that your first priority is stopping the attacks. This appeal would be considered closed if you manage that, even if you don’t find out who’s responsible. Not all cases are solvable with what you have, so if the crimes stop the investigation could do the same.”
“This is a long list,” Yaric mused, reading the list of victims. “The attacks are very frequent.”
“What does that tell you?”
“Ummm… the attackers are desperate. Or they’re trying to create a panic or show force.”
“Those are all very different things. Come on, it’s far enough to be worthwhile taking a carriage, we wouldn’t want to waste all day walking.”
Yaric and the others stared as Lloyd started walking out the gate, until he looked back over his shoulder and called out, “What? Didn’t I mention that I would be your chaperone this time? People are getting tired of sending you out to collect a letter only for you to find an ancient evil Arch Mage and start a fight. I’m here to make sure you cause the right kind of trouble.”
“What kind of trouble is that?” Li Na asked.
“The entertaining kind.”
Finding a carriage was surprisingly easy. Yaric had just assumed they would need to be arranged in advance, but there were several places that kept carriages waiting, available to anyone who needed to travel within Lekton.
Yaric had never been inside a carriage before, and neither had Li Na. Lauren's single experience had been when she was very young, and she was just as eager to experience it again.
Only Sven and Lloyd seemed bored, watching the storefronts drift past as the carriage rode smoothly through the streets, almost floating on the leaf springs that made the experience seem like the ultimate in luxury.
Lloyd started asking them questions about their practice, and while he didn’t have too much to add regarding the exercises, he did suggest that they start adjusting one particular part of their spells.
“There’s no need for your hand to be the anchor, not every time anyway. You can form your wind blade in front of your chest, or a fireball hovering over your forehead. It certainly won’t be as easy to aim, but it could catch your opponent by surprise, especially at close range where aiming won’t be as much of an issue.
“Learning to change anchor points, the size of your spell, and the shape are all useful skills. They don’t work unless you can do it on the fly and without slowing down your casting speed, so it isn’t easy to get the skill to a useful level.”
Time seemed to fly while they tried to work out the best ways to adjust the anchor points. There were several ideas, from Lauren wanting to try anchoring a wind blade to her foot, so she could fire the spell off when she kicked, to Li Na wanting to shoot off fireballs from her back, so she could hit anyone sneaking up on her. She frequently mentioned sneaks, snoops and scouts as her intended targets.
Meanwhile, the streets of Lekton fell far behind them, with estate after estate rolling past their windows, each impressive in their own right. These soon faded away into farms, which started as large holdings that shrank the further out they travelled, until every farm was a small holding run by one family. Then, completely out of the blue, a large cluster of buildings appeared, almost entirely centered around a series of docks.
The river here widened significantly, slowing the flow of water and making it easier for boats to pull up. Many pleasure craft were drifting on the gentle currents, guided by crews that catered to their passengers every whim. Forested hills encroached more closely than at any other point so far, giving those on the river a spectacular view outside of the farms that hugged the river.
The view was only marred by the docks and surrounding buildings. Two small warehouses sat right beside the docks, with a dirt road connecting the warehouses to the main road back to Lekton. Flanking the dirt road were a series of taverns and inns, along with two large buildings that had women hovering around outside. One other building, two stories high and built in a square with a large central courtyard, took up an entire quadrant by itself.
“Where do we start?” Sven asked, looking around.
“The warehouses were burnt,” Lauren pointed out.
“Yeah, but it says their walls were just scorched. The fire didn’t take.”
“A boat also got hijacked,” Lauren insisted. “It was crashed into one of the docks.”
“What about here?” Yaric asked, pointing to the largest building right at the entrance.
“That’s the gambling den.”
“I know. It’s also the only place that never seems to be bothered.”
“But they have their own security,” Lauren countered. “It makes sense that no one would attack them.”
Li Na, however, raised her eyebrows. “You think they’re the ones causing trouble? Trying to muscle out the other businesses with their security? Or make the others pay for the security?”
“I just thought we should check it out. Maybe they know something,” Yaric replied. He hadn’t thought of any of those possibilities, he just thought that such a large, easy to attack building being left alone was odd.
“Come on then,” Lloyd said, heading toward the building and making their decision for them. “But you have to do the talking, this is your appeal after all.”
Lauren and Yaric both glared at him, but they still followed after.
Most of the gambling took place in the central courtyard, watched over by security guards who lined the walls. Table after table were filled with tokens, cards, and most commonly, dice. Everywhere they looked there were cups of dice being slammed down, dice clattering across tables, and money exchanging hands. In some games the players used multiple sets of dice, each.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“That table is cheating,” Li Na mumbled. “Those two as well. This whole place is a scam.”
Even Lloyd turned to stare at her. “What?” she shrugged. “I’m good at cheat… cheats, spotting cheats. Those dice are loaded, and those, and the people over there are using cups that don’t hold the dice properly, it probably has a false bottom,” Li Na stated.
No one contradicted or doubted her.
The owner managed the building from the side opposite the entrance, in a large, open office that spanned almost the entire second floor. The door was heavily reinforced, and the assistant outside sat behind a desk fronted by security bars.
“Good morning, please state your business with Mistress Akai.”
“We’re here from Lekton Academy, to investigate the recent vandalism and arson in the area.”
The assistant’s eyes grew wide, but he calmly stood and left through a side door, which clearly gave him private access to the owner’s office.
“How may we be of help?” Mistress Akai asked, raising her eyebrows at the sight of four young students. Lloyd’s presence seemed to mollify her, however.
“Good morning,” Yaric began, trying to be polite. Still, the fact that one of the teenagers answered her question caused Akai to look surprised once again. “We’re just looking for any information you can provide. Your premises seem to have been avoided, so maybe you intercepted an attempt, or maybe you know how to keep these people away?”
“Of course I do,” the elf sneered. “I have over forty security guards in my employ, who would be stupid enough to attack me? I’m retiring in twenty-seven years, there’s nothing on this earth that could attack my business without receiving an overwhelming response. I’m not going to allow my retirement to be threatened.”
“Wouldn’t your business be threatened even if it’s only the other buildings that get attacked?” Yaric asked. “They’re your customers.”
Akai looked frustrated. “It isn’t the best, granted. But that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To put a stop to this?”
“Any idea who might be behind this? Who could gain something from damaging the businesses here?”
“Lots of people are against gambling and brothels. I bet you could find thousands inside the city.”
“But farms are being attacked as well,” Yaric pointed out.
Akai didn’t have any real response to that.
“Are the arsons local?” Li Na suddenly asked. “A gang maybe? They have to come from somewhere.”
“No one has recognized the vandals; all we know is that they are amateurs. As for where they come from, the city makes the most sense. Buildings have been searched before, but no one has ever found any evidence of the tools they use.”
“Amateurs, ma’am?” Yaric asked.
“Their first attacks were against local farmers and the docks themselves. They tried to use axes to chop down buildings and damage equipment. I heard that large chunks of wood were usually chopped away before they could be driven off, but my security informs me that the damage was never serious. It was still only a few beams or planks, and equipment often functioned perfectly even with the damage. That changed when they switched to large hammers.”
“They shattered the wood,” Sven mumbled to himself, realizing where she was going.
“Smart boy.”
Seeing Yaric’s confusion, Sven quickly explained the difference. “With an axe they have to chop wedges out, and it takes time to chop all the way through a thick beam. But a hammer can splinter the wood and make the entire piece useless with a single strike. Something like a wagon can be left intact but useless with just a few blows.”
“Not just wagons,” Akai added. “Barns, tools, even the docks themselves have been targeted. There’s a ban on hammers right now, but these people don’t exactly announce themselves. They’re amateurs, but they’re getting better.”
“Is that why the fires don’t usually spread?” Lauren asked.
Akai just scoffed. “All I know is they have been throwing some oil on the walls of buildings and lighting it. They don’t seem to have any idea how hard it is to get properly treated wood to start burning. Most of those attacks have also been at night, so the fires get spotted very quickly. Things will get worse if they work out how to use fire effectively.”
“Are there any other businesses that have been left alone like yours?” Yaric asked.
“Businesses? No. Only my community has been untouched, for obvious reasons,” Akai replied, fingering a pendant on her wrist. It was a large wine barrel surrounded by grapes.
“I’m sorry, but what community is that?”
“Elves. The retired community. I admit I haven’t joined them yet, but it won’t be long before I get to enjoy my life as well. My century of labor is almost over. Most of the estates around here are owned by elves who’ve already begun their earned lives, and no one would dare to attack them. Their security would be even better than mine. They would probably be able to spare some help if you were to ask, it’s in their best interests after all.”
“We’ll keep that in mind, thank you,” Sven replied, seeing that no one else had any more questions. “And thank you for your help.”
“Just see to it that these attacks stop. I don’t want my future threatened, or the futures of my people.”
Lloyd waved silently when they left to go and have a look at the docks, having had no part in the questions.
“Look how one side of the table is better polished than the other,” Li Na remarked, pointing at one of the tables with a card game. “He will deal from the deck in the middle, face down, like he’s supposed to. But he will be able to see a faint reflection of every card he deals, while the people on the other side won’t see a thing. This whole place is full of cheats.”
“So the woman we just spoke to is corrupt?” Lauren asked.
“No,” Lloyd interjected, answering for Li Na. “This isn’t a casino. Those tables are hired out to independent gamblers, professionals who often travel from place to place. Each of them will run their own table and pay her a fee or a cut of their take. Look there on the wall.”
A large notice was posted, one of many that ringed the courtyard.
*Cheating will not be tolerated. Customers will forfeit all earnings and be removed. Operators will forfeit all earnings and answer to the House.
*All bets and paid for services must be honored. Operators are backed by the house, for your protection.
*Security staff are to be obeyed at all times.
The list contained several lines, but customers, operators, and the house were differentiated multiple times throughout. If anything, the operators were under stricter rules than the customers. Akai didn’t tolerate anything that could harm her business, though her security could clearly do with better training.
None of the other businesses had much to say. One of the brothels had been a victim of an arson attack, but the late-night fire had occurred during a rather busy time for their business, and it was quickly extinguished.
Out of all prior targets, the docks had suffered the worst attacks, yet they had been the least affected. It had been chopped several times, shattered, set on fire, and even rammed by a stolen boat. But there were four docks, and even when down to two they still managed to function without too much difficulty.
Leaving the small cluster of business, Yaric soon found out who the true victims had been. Almost every farmer had been attacked. Tools and equipment were the most common targets, but more than one farmer had discovered that water had been poured into their small granaries, and some had had their barns targeted. Lauren was talking with one of the farmers when they noticed a thin column of grey smoke in the distance.
“That’s not a good sign,” the farmer observed, but Yaric and the others were already running, augmenting themselves as much as they could and practically flying down the road. By this point their biggest difficulty was seeing far enough ahead to keep track of where they would place their feet next. Farms flew by.
Burning debris was piled against the side of a barn, its flames climbing high up the walls. Grey smoke already drifted out from where bales of hay were stored inside, but the farmer was desperately using his pitchfork to try and pull the burning kindling away from his barn.
The intense heat made it difficult to approach closely, but he braved the fire again and again, while his wife stood back with a blanket and frantically beat the flames whenever he managed to pull something away from the barn. The ominous buildup of smoke inside was a clear indication that their efforts would be in vain.
Lauren immediately blasted the pile of debris from the side, using nothing but nitrogen to push the burning pieces of wood and cloth away from the wall. The flames went out, but the heat remained, ensuring that everything reignited the moment it came back into contact with oxygen.
Sven used his staff to start levering the burning pieces away from the barn. Yaric and Li Na made straight for the well, where they filled every nearby bucket and started towards the interior, aiming to put out the fire inside.
The farmer staggered back to his wife, where they both collapsed on the ground, watching in despair as flames started licking the large doorway from inside.
Lloyd snapped his fingers, and the flames fled.
Every fire went out all at once, though smoke continued to billow out from the barn. The odd pieces of wood and cloth were also cool to the touch, allowing Sven to simply toss pieces away with his hands. Lauren abandoned her spell and ran over to the farmers.
Both were in their mid-fifties, covered in sweat and carrying dark grey bags under their eyes. Lauren helped them to stand.
“This is your appeal, so I’ll leave you four to it,” Lloyd said, not wanting to stand silently off to one side when a couple had just come so close to losing a large part of their farm.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” the farmer gasped, still out of breath.
Yaric and Li Na joined Lauren and helped her to get the couple back to their house, while Sven quickly started checking the farm itself, looking for any arsonist who may have stayed to watch.
It didn’t take the farmers long to collect themselves, even after their recent experience.
“My name is Corey, and this is my wife Lucy,” he said, introducing himself and his wife while shaking everyone’s hand. “Thank you again.”
Lucy quickly excused herself, but Corey had everyone take a seat at a large table.
“These attacks have been trouble for some time, but this is the first where we had help.”
Corey looked exhausted, but Yaric felt like there was something more. He looked almost hopeless.
They were still discussing what had happened when Lucy bustled back into the room, carrying large plates of sandwiches for everyone. Tall glasses of milk soon followed.
Sven soon popped his head in cautiously, only to have Cory beckon him in.
“There was no sign of anyone,” he mumbled, taking a seat.
“We’re hoping to stop these attacks as soon as possible,” Lauren reassured Cory, but Cory leaned back and stared with empty looking eyes.
“Stop the attacks? With all due respect miss, we’re kind’ve hoping you will catch the ones responsible.”
“That’s obviously the best case scenario, but stopping the damage they’re doing is our first priority.”
Cory glanced sideways at his wife before looking back at Lauren, then dropped his eyes to the table before he continued to speak.
“It’s only, we need them to be caught, so we can get reparations. See, our plow and wagon got broken up not two weeks ago. Then our granary got split, and my sickles and some other tools were smashed. As it is now, I can’t farm. We can maybe sell our oxen to get new plows, but then how would we pull it. Depending on how much feed there’s left in the barn, we might have to do that anyway.
“We have nowhere to store our grain, no way to prepare our field, no way to sow our crop, and no way to harvest it after. None of our animals can be cared for either. If we can’t get those responsible to replace what they damaged, well…” Cory and Lucy reached their hands across the table at the same time, holding each other firmly. “The truth is, we don’t have any other plan. Without our farm, we can’t earn an income.”
Yaric looked down at his plate and felt sick. They were busy feeding him and his friends while contemplating losing everything, and the way things stood, that looked like a real possibility. Li Na was glancing uncomfortably at the sandwiches as well.
“We’ll do everything we can to find out who is doing this,” Lauren promised, though she knew that even if they discovered who was responsible, it wouldn’t do any good for these farmers unless they could also get proof. And that was the least likely scenario of all.
Yaric made an effort to eat everything he had been given, despite how uncomfortable it made him. He wasn’t prepared to waste something after what he had just heard. Thanking the farmers, everyone left to continue their interviews, each of them hoping they would come across someone who had a name.
Lloyd was waiting outside on the road, but he wasn’t alone.
“I think these fine young men were waiting for you,” he casually mentioned, just as one of them broke into a run, sprinting away from the farm. He promptly fell flat on his face, and the second he finished sliding he found both his ankles raised into the air, dragging him face down back to where he had started. Lloyd didn’t spare him a second glance.
“They were running around up there,” Lloyd said, pointing carelessly over his shoulder. “Carrying bottles of oil and lighting fluid, along with axes and a large hammer. Odd assortment. I mentioned that you four might like to talk to them, and they must have agreed, because they quietly followed me back here, where we’ve been waiting ever since.”
There were eight of them on the floor, seven humans and one elf. All of them were teenagers.
Li Na smirked. “We haven’t had interrogation lessons yet, but I can improvise.”
“My uncle will have your head!” the elf blurted.
“He’ll have the head of a High Wizard?” Lloyd asked, feigning shock.
“Maybe he’d like the head of my mace?” Li Na asked innocently.
Sven stepped forward grimly. “Why did you try to burn down that farm?” he asked, bringing the conversation back on topic.
“Fuck off, you have no authority here. If you think I’m going to answer question because you tell me to, you can go screw yourself,” he added, giving Sven the finger.
“What’s that?” Yaric asked, pointing to the bracelet hanging from the elf’s wrist.
“None of your business asshole.”
“Maybe not, but I know whose business it is. Lloyd, could you help us escort them back to the docks?”
“Certainly.”
Yaric, Lauren, Li Na and Sven walked back along the road, followed closely by Lloyd. Trailing them were eight teenagers, their feet a meter off the floor. The elf spewed vitriol and threats the entire way.
Some farmers noticed the procession and stared as they went by, but the real crowds formed when they arrived at their destination, the gambling den.
Guards moved forward hesitantly when they saw the kids being levitated by Lloyd, but none were brave enough to take action against obvious arcanists. A display of magic would make almost anyone back down. Everyone finally relaxed when they made their way toward the owner’s office, though many of the gamblers took longer to get back to their games.
“What is this,” Akai asked the moment she saw the prisoners. “I know that boy, he’s Sankar, Leandro Iwamoto’s nephew. Don’t tell me he’s involved in this; his uncle would flay him alive.”
“Who is Leandro Iwamoto?” Yaric asked, drawing a scorching look from his nephew.
“He’s one of the local elves currently in his earned life. Leandro owns a large estate near the foothills.”
“And he has a problem with the local farmers and businesses?”
“Not that I know of,” Akai replied, frowning in concern.
“While the pleasant young man was caught setting fire to a barn,” Li Na explained. She didn’t get the chance to go any further.
“Those farmers didn’t buy their land from us! They’re illegal squatters!”
“Very pleasant young man,” Li Na added brightly.
Yaric glanced between her and Sankar. Sankar was only three of four years younger than her, and he was already as many feet taller.
“The farmers are hard working people who purchased their land legally, you should appreciate that more than anyone,” Akai admonished.
“They’re in the way,” Sankar retorted, though he refused to elaborate. All further questions were met with a stony glare or another insult. Ten minutes of questioning got them nowhere, even with Akai helping.
Lauren’s eyes suddenly grew wide. “Do you understand exactly what charges you will be facing?” she asked Sankar loudly.
“Like I care.”
“You’ll be tried for arson and vandalism. Of a farm. A place of production. Aren’t you a neighbor?” Lauren asked leadingly.
Everyone was confused for several seconds, trying to follow Lauren’s train of thought, but it was Akai who worked it out first.
“You idiot! You intentionally damaged the property of a neighbor, one classified as a producer!” Akai looked thoroughly alarmed.
“So?”
“You can be barred from owning land!”
Sankar looked both angry and scared. “What?! There’s no such thing!”
“Yes, there is. People who attack their neighbors aren’t allowed to have neighbors,” she replied condescendingly, getting her point across with a somewhat inaccurate explanation.
“But what about after I finish my century? What would I do then?”
“Stay in an inn. Or rent.”
Now it was Sankar’s turn to look alarmed. “My uncle won’t allow it, it will never happen! It can’t be legal! You can’t discriminate…”
Akai grabbed Sankar’s shoulders and forced him to look at her. “Listen to me, and listen carefully. This is serious. Unless you tell these people who is behind this and why, you will lose the right to own land. It is going to be one of you. Will it be the people who set you up, or will it be you?”
“But I’m not even doing anything wrong!” he protested. “Uncle Iwamoto just wants to build a resort for those who choose to live an earned life, that’s all. Those other people are in the way, and they shouldn’t be here anyway.”
“Then why are you attacking the warehouses,” Sven asked.
“He needs the docks. We need the whole area. Don’t you see?” Sankar asked, turning back to Akai and raising his bracelet to her eye level and swinging his pendant, “he’s going to create a sanctuary here for all of us. You as well.”
“Who else is involved?”
“Just Uncle Iwamoto and Nils Seki. They’re going to create the whole thing together.”
“Against the tenets,” Akai spat. “They’ve already started their earned lives.”
Sankar looked down, but he still continued to complain. “I can’t lose my chance to retire for that? It’s for the good of everyone, and it’s not even my idea!”
“You got lucky with the annoying child, but his word isn’t going to be much proof. You’ll need stronger evidence, or he will be the only one convicted,” Lloyd observed.
Lauren had been looking proud up until then, having pushed the boy to confess, but her face fell when Lloyd pointed out how a young teen’s confession wouldn’t count for much. Yaric suspected that his attitude and personality would actually lower the value of his confession, not that it mattered.
“We already have the evidence we need,” Yaric explained with a grin. “Half of it, anyway. We didn’t really need the boy’s confession, just the name of his family.”
“What evidence?” Lauren asked. She was starting to look hopeful once again, and Yaric knew that the fate of the farmers they had helped was weighing heavily on her.
“Yeah, we haven’t collected anything yet.”
“We’ve collected these,” Yaric replied, holding up the containers of oil and lighting fluid. “I recognize these two, we’ve just been learning a spell that uses the same chemical, naphtha. Rather expensive, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sven agreed.
“And not many uses, either. Besides trying to get fires going, and even then, you’d only likely use it if you’ve been facing difficulties in getting said fires going. Sounds like the same problems the local arsonist have been experiencing. But they did get some fires going before they were put out by locals.”
“Well, it’s used to make varnish, and sometimes it’s mixed with paint,” Sven observed.
“Anything like that around here?”
“No,” Sven acknowledged, smiling as well now.
“So I would assume that there would be very few people who’ve bought any, or have any naphtha on their properties. My guess is that there is only one household, maybe two.”
“It doesn’t tie them to any of the other arson attacks though,” Sven pointed out.
“Not unless naphtha was used in those attacks as well. If only there was a High Wizard who might know a spell that could detect the use of chemicals in a fire.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes. “I’m supposed to be escorting you four, not capturing suspects or running tests.”
“And we’re supposed to use all resources at our disposal,” Li Na countered.
“Fine,” Lloyd said, shaking his head with a smile. “I probably won’t be able to escort you four again in the future though. This is already far too much interference.”
“Oh noooo…”
“I’ll be right back.”
Lloyd left quickly to confirm the use of naphtha in the arson attacks around the docks.
“But what is the other half of the evidence you need?” Akai asked, evidently confused.
Sankar glared at her. “Traitor,” he mumbled to himself, despite how much effort she had just put into helping him.
“Naphtha,” Lauren explained. “We’ve found Naphtha on the arsonists, and Lloyd is going to confirm it was used in the previous attacks. Now we just need to get the other half of the evidence, more naphtha. We need to find out who has the chemical in their possession.”
“By the way,” Sven asked, turning back to Akai. “How many retired elves would be living on the two properties Sankar mentioned?”
“I don’t know. We don’t retire to live in seclusion, so at least four or five. But it won’t be too many, otherwise you can’t combine individual pieces of land into one estate. Why?”
“Oh, just wondering how easy it might be to get someone to explain the plan,” he replied, glancing at Sankar.
Li Na waltzed up to the teenager and leaned her head back to look him in the eye.
“Come on little man, let’s take you to see your uncle. It’s time we discuss your very bad behavior!”