The first floor was empty.

Without Ferrous to impede my mission, I was able to get out of the house much faster than I thought I would. I had been mulling over different excuses to use to get around the butler, but in the end, I didn’t have to use any of them.

I didn’t hear the usual deep voices of Dwarf work songs as I walked through the residential area. The Dwarves I’d always seen had been busy working on things, announcing their presence with their jovial songs. I was disappointed, since part of me had hoped to hear more than what I was sure had been my father’s own version of Two Boys Better Be Workin’ and No Sleepin’ ‘til Your Chores Are Done. While my father insisted they were real Dwarf songs, Vin and I had our doubts.

The lack of music could have been due to the scarcity of people. The only people I saw weren’t Dwarves, but different representatives from various other races, though strangely not Elven. The few estates that I’d peeked through the gates of had housed Centaur, Dragonborn, fiery Heliades, and Kitsune. Most of the houses looked like they were empty or that the residents were staying indoors with the grounds locked up tight. The presence of so many fire specialized races was strange, especially since Centaur were in charge of a forest and plains to the north, while the others were primarily further south or west. By the time I’d made my way out of the area, I’d come to the conclusion that this was where the representatives from places that didn’t keep an embassy in the city. Hepool should have had an embassy here, though I had a feeling that it was under the ownership of the Golden Senate. It was something I’d have to try to remember to ask my cousin about the next time I talked to her.

Once I was out of the representatives area, I was able to flag down a goat cart and have them take me to the red district. While I avoided the pleasure playgrounds, I made my way straight to the Casino.

The enormous, three-story, golden building was impossible to miss once we were within a few blocks of it. It wasn’t the largest casino that I’d seen, but it was definitely one of the bigger ones. I had a feeling that was due to the rich ore and gems that were taken out of the mountain under it. The greater the chance for profit, the more resources that the Goblins would invest into an area.

With the fun and games also came violence and desperation. So while it was easy to find a game to enjoy, there were also plenty of corners where the less reputable lurked, willing to take coins to do jobs that most people would find unsettling.

I paid my driver, then walked through the clear glass doors into the sea of noise. What I needed was someone who would point me in the direction of the red district. While most of the countries had given up on trying to abolish most of the activities of red districts, preferring instead to profit off of the tax revenue, the red districts were the areas that specifically operated in the dark corners of the cities where the average citizen wouldn’t see what was going on. While I was confident in being able to find the Naledzar, trying to walk into their front door would quickly turn into a fight for my life. They weren’t somewhere that you could just walk into and start demanding answers.

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I scanned the tables of people playing cards or dice. There were other tables where bets were being taken over challengers in feats of strength. I also saw a large divination circle on the far right wall that was showing races with people seated or standing around it cheering on whoever they had placed bets on.

None of these places were what I was looking for. So I headed for the stairs and went up to the second floor. There were still a few games going on up here, but the largest part of the floor was reserved for dining. I’d hoped that the person I was looking for would be at the long bar that ran almost the full length of the back wall, but I only saw a handful of Dwarves, a golden-shinned Leprechaun, and a green Orc drinking there.

It took me a few moments to locate the brooding Naledzar in the far right corner, almost under the stairs to the third floor. The hairy porcine Ogre that was standing in front of the table wasn’t trying to hide that he was acting as the bodyguard for the rodent-faced, gray-skinned native.

I was under no delusions that either of them would be unarmed, since there wasn’t a formal patdown when you walked into the building. Magic and Elementalists were a thing, so restricting weapons to what could be hidden was mainly for the optical illusion that no one here was armed. The opposite was very true as it wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t enough water Elementalists scattered around to drown the entire place in water within seconds. Given their dual usefulness against property damage and mage control, those were the more cost-effective option for the Goblins to employ. Though I was sure that there were plenty of the other Elementalists and Mages on hand as well.

Since it was unlikely that either of them would try to attack me, I didn’t bother to sneak up on them. Instead, I made a beeline straight for the table, moving just fast enough through the tables that it was clear to everyone on the floor that I had a destination in sight and that I didn’t want to be bothered.

The Ogre moved in between me and my destination. He folded his thick arms in front of his chest and stared me straight in the eye. For most other beings, that might have been intimidating, but Vin was definitely stronger and I’d been stared down by Phlek, the Ogre cook back on the ship I’d grown up on, too many times as he interrogated us after sugar cubes went missing. Usually the culprit was Wizz, our Goblin navigator, who had an insatiable sweet tooth, but ratting on the diminutive man would make me the focus of unending pranks. I could still hear my father yelling after Wizz had thought it was a good idea to hide spiders in Vin’s bedding. It’d taken us weeks to clean them all off of the ship.

I cupped the side of his bare left arm with my right hand. The physical connection was all I needed to pull just a little bit of his strength with my Sineater ability. While weakened, it was simple to guide him to his knees in front of me.

The Ogre’s eyes widened as he tried to struggle against my gentle guidance, but he bent as easily as if his knees were made out of paper. I stepped around him and looked directly into the beady eyes of his employer.

“I believe you’re looking for me.”