Baron Reginald, who was devoid of any energy earlier, was whirling around the house like a madman. From furiously writing messages and sending them out to pacing through each and every room for seemingly no reason, the house was thrown into disorder and the Baron was at the center of it. Everyone else also joined in; Keira was running in and out of the home with letters, Fletch was patrolling the house alongside Reginald, and even Natalya started cooking and preparing sandwiches – no one even asked for them. As for Suran, he sat in a corner. All he wanted was peace and quiet, but that was clearly not happening.

Natalya strolled up with a large silver plate stocked with sandwiches. “Want one?” She asked, setting the plate down one a table.

He shook his head, “No.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged and scarfed down a sandwich. “So what'chu doin' over here?”

“Nothing.”

She furrowed her brow. “Didn't we figure out where the girl was? Shouldn't we be going out right now to get her or something?”

“Well, that was what the Baron was wanting, to go out there right now.”

“Then what's going on right now?”

“I convinced the Baron it would be better to go at a later time after investigating the area, which I was about to go and do.” He stood up from his chair. Suran was waiting for the day to progress and the streets to fill up so that he could explore the harbor without catching any attention.

“Then what's the Reginald doing?” Natalya asked as the Baron fly in and out the room after snatching a few sandwiches.

“Apparently he has some connections that can help out since he dropped the idea of rescuing her now. So while he is doing that, I'm going to go out and check out the docks. The latest it seems like he will wait is tomorrow, so I want to see how everything is.”

“Oooh, you're going out?!” Natalya's eyes lit up. “Can I come with?”

Suran frowned, “It would be better if you stayed here. Who knows what danger is out in the city, especially when the destination is enemy territory.”

“What do you mean the city is dangerous?!” She put her hand on her hips and scowled at him, “Whenever I've been walking around, it's been a great time!”

“You went out?” Suran asked surprised.

“Of course! While you ditched me and ran around, I hit the town and had fun because there was no way I was going to sit around and do nothing.”

Suran was mildly displeased. Natalya had a right to do what she wanted, but he felt a small amount of responsibility for her well being. She put her trust in him and traveled with him, and he did not prevent her from following him. If something happened, he could not but feel he would hold some of the blame. “So what did you do?” He asked after a moment.

“Walked around the entire city, checked out all the foods in the markets, chased by thieves, hit the restaurants –

“Wait, you were chased by thieves?” Suran's heart jumped.

“Oh yeah, wasn't a big deal. They chased me around for a bit trying to get some money and this really big guy, forgot his name, comes along and smashes them. We talked a bit, cooked him something quick as thanks, then I went back to walking around and shopping for ingredients.”

As he feared, she got in trouble.“Why would people want to rob you? Do you even have money?” Thankfully, she was saved this time, but Suran wondered how this situation even came to be.

“Hmmmmmm, I guess? I just got a couple of gold coins.”

“Oh, that's it?” Suran dismissed it, then it hit him, “Wait, a few gold coins?!” One gold coin was worth 100 silver coins and one silver is worth 100 copper. A few gold coins was could be considered a small fortune! “Where did you get that kind of money?!”

“Oh, didn't I tell you? Kind of sold my house awhile ago.”

“W-why would you do that?”

“I'd rather die then go back and live in that hellhole. Plus, I got to sell it for a great price since like a third of the town burned down!”

“And you have no problems with selling your home and leaving just like that?”

“I mean, sure! Why not? Poor sap needed a home, so I dumped the deed off on him and left with you without a second thought!”

“What about everything in your house? Just left it there?”

“Pft, of course! That guy and his family can take care of all the crap I don't way.”

“Even your the corpse of your mother?”

Her eyes grew wide, “Oh... I knew I was forgetting something...”

No words came out of Suran's mouth; he had nothing to say. If this girl before him was out in the world alone, he was not sure how should would survive, but he felt that somehow she just would. “I'm leaving.” He was done with the conversation and made no move to bring her along. As he left the house, he wondered would he still have accepted this request if he had known about the money?

It was a gloomy day out on the streets of Valcadia. A cool breeze was blowing from the Northwest and the sky was blanketed in gray clouds. It was quiet on the city roads; there was a low hum of activity, but few people were out today. He made his way through the city South towards the docks.

At the docks, it was only in the covered light of day that he grasped the size of the harbor. As far as he could see to either side were piers and docks and ships and warehouses and stores and homes. A sign by the jutting pier had the number '6' written on it. His destination was 21, so he began to make his way down the winding sea road.

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On the way, he made note of the layout of the harbor. Between each of the elongated piers were shorter docks with multitude of ships moored on the sides. Every moment ships were coming and going, unloading goods and people. From there, some wares were carted off into the city and others were sent to rows of warehouses that lined the piers. Neatly arranged in columns of two, huge storehouses were fitted onto the long piers. Slowly, he went from pier 6 to 7 to 8 and so on until he made his way all the way down to pier 21.

The designated pier was crafted in the same fashion as every other pier, not one structural aspect standing out. However, there was noticeably less traffic compared to the other piers; Even though few ships were still entering the docks and unloading their goods, it felt quiet with less people and ships overall.

While hiding in the crowd, he tried to find a way into the pier. Posted at the entrance were several guards. Compared to the thugs Suran has been dealing with, these individuals were well dressed, like an actual guard. No one would think twice because it did not seem unusual for goods to guarded. For tome time he scouted the perimeter, but he found no way at the time to get in. With guards at the front, he would have to sneak in or find an alternate way through the water. Seeing the activity on the docks and the height of the ground from sea level for the pier, Suran determined it unreasonable to get in.

But it was not a problem; the layout for each piers was nearly identical so he could get a good feel just from exploring the others. He trekked down to the next pier and took a look around. The warehouses went five deep and two wide for a total of ten. Each warehouse was numbered in white, and the first one on the right was one and behind it was two. The numbering went like that and snaked back around such that six was adjacent to one. And that was it. There was nothing else he felt he could gleam, so instead of wasting time trying to find something that isn't there, he left the harbor back towards Reginald's home.

Unlike the gloomy streets, the estate of the good Baron was like a festival; when Suran came back around to the home, there was unexpected developments. When he entered the home, he was greeted not by Keira or Fletch or even Reginald, but a room full of armed men he had never seen before. They were all chatting, munching on food, and sipping drinks, but the moment Suran stepped into the house, all movement ceased and every single head turned to see him.

“Who is this guy?” A random voice called out from the crowd of dozen or so men.

Reginald came fluttering in, “Worry not, this is the man who discovered the whereabouts of my daughter. A collection of 'Oh's and 'Ah's came out, and everyone returned to their conversations. Reginald came strolling up to Suran, “Come with me, there is much to talk about before tomorrow.” With a nod of his head in agreement, Suran followed.

The two settled into the living room they have often sit in. There was an air of nervousness about Reginald that wasn't present before.

“Did you find anything?” Reginald shakily asked.

“There was no significant deviation from their location to other piers I saw. Guards were present at the entrance, but who knows what the situation will look like at night.”

“Are there any objections to going in tomorrow night?”

“None.”

“Then it is settled. With the men I have gathered, go in and do anything It requires to rescue her. Meanwhile, Keira and I will secure an escape.”

“Very well, but I want to know how to arranged the help of so many people.” Suran curiously asked.

Reginald grew slightly defensive, “Though I am under hard times. I am still a Baron, so do not underestimate the connections and resources I can use.”

“Fair enough.” Suran responded satisfied. Still, it was a concern to him that a dozen or so men were called on. Would they really need that many people to break through the docks? Hopefully it would never come to that, he thought.

For the rest of the day, Suran resigned himself to a bedroom. The last few days had been non stop action, and he needed to recharge mentally and physically. He did not emerge from that room for the rest of the day.

There was an odd silence in the house the next morning. When Suran vacated the room rested, a solemn atmosphere took hold on the house. All the idle chatter and leisure from yesterday was lost; all the men Reginald had called upon sat at the ready, going over their equipment in total silence.

Upon his arrival, a quick meeting was called to discuss the finer details of the plan. Night was the time they would all go out. Fletch and Suran would lead the two groups and each go down one side of the pier and converge on the warehouse. From there, they will break in at two different points, clear out the warehouse, and extract her via carriage which Keira will set up.

The discussion was quick and every returned to their individual preparations. Suran stepped outside. It was hard to tell what time of day it was, the sun was masked by a veil of clouds thicker and darker then yesterday. With a hard gust of wind, Suran could taste a distinct freshness in the air. The weather elevated his mood; he was enjoying every moment of this dreary conditions. And so he passed the time, soaking in the weather, ready for the night.