We made our way through the city flanked by another three guards. We made our way through the side pathways and roads at a sprint. I considered having Tenebris and Sanaa fly ahead of us to keep an eye out for anything strange but decided against it. I didn’t want to risk anyone shooting at them. When we reached the house, two more guards were waiting for us. The house was a single story made of stone with a cloth “door” way. We entered and found the place still “together”. There were a handful of rooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a hallway leading to two more rooms. The house looked normal. No furniture scattered about, no signs of a battle. It looked like the owner would be back anytime. “Well, it looks like the person either wasn’t abducted here or that they were caught by surprise,” I spoke while scanning the room.

“Yeah, all the missing people have been taken under similar circumstances. No signs of a battle, no one hearing it happen. Usually, people don’t realize that they are missing until they have been gone for a few days.” The guard captain made his way over to one of the other guards. While they were talking, I turned my attention to my familiars.

“Do either of you smell anything?” I sent the image of a bloodhound sniffing around the room to them. I promptly got a wave of irritation from both of them. I was sure if they could turn their nose up at the comparison they would have."

“We are not dogs,” Sanaa decided to reply to me, which somehow felt more intimidating. I decided to leave the subject alone. “Do you see anything unusual?” This time, neither of them gave me a response. I gave the house a full walk-through, but nothing stuck out. Which told me two things. First, if they took the person from here, they had to use either magic or some kind of drug. There was no fight, so it had to happen quickly and the person didn’t realize what was happening. I made my way over to the guard captain.

“Where did the victim work?” I asked once she finished her current conversation. “He worked at the House of Lyeidamo. He is a courtesan or was. It was one of their workers who noticed something was strange when he didn’t show up for work today.”

“Who notified you? Where can I find this “House of Lyeidamo”?" She raised an eyebrow at me. “You have never been? I would have assumed that you were very familiar with the place. You can find it in the Drakeswall District. It’s a two-story stone building with a wall around it.”

“Uh, why would you assume I have gone there?” I said. “You are joking? You have dumped most of your attribute points in Charisma and you have been throwing money around since you have been here. I assumed you were a traveling bard who lucked across some companion beasts.”

This time, I managed to send a sense of calm through our bond. Neither dragon was happy to be called a beast. Thankfully, they weren’t upset enough to attack the woman. “They don’t like being called ‘Beasts’ or ‘Animals’ or any kind of variation of that word. They are my partners." I was going to correct her assumption about my attributes when I changed my mind. If people assumed my best attribute was Charisma, they wouldn’t be expecting a mage. Hell, if they assumed that the dragons were my weapons, then they wouldn’t be ready for me at all.

“Regardless of the feelings of your ‘partners’, do you see anything strange? I am hoping that you have come across something similar on your journeys?" I shook my head.

“No, based on what I can see, the person is either using magic or some kind of drug or alchemical item. No battle took place here and the person either couldn’t call for help or didn’t. I assume that whatever happened to him either happened so fast that he couldn’t do anything or so slowly he didn’t know something was happening.”

Meron nodded as I spoke. Once I finished, she gestured to one of the guards. The guard that ran over was a short and stout man with a battle axe on his back. At first, I thought that man was a stereotypical dwarf. He had a dark brown beard braided into a single long braid. It took me a second to notice that his skin was a dark grey color, like stone. “Birama canvas the area. I want to know if anyone heard or smelled anything strange. Prioritize any reports of magic being cast. Get someone together and check with either the Master Alchemist or one of his apprentices. If possible, bring them here. If not, ask them for a report on a drug that would be odorless, colorless, and would either work fast or go unnoticed in its effects. We don’t have any reports of a body being dragged from here, so my guess is it doesn’t kill the person.”

“Aye, captain.” The man offered an over-the-heart salute before sprinting in the direction of the second wall. I looked down at Meron and nodded. I hadn’t considered the last part, but now that it was said, it was obvious. “Are there any sewers? Or um, under the ground areas? Chances are, if they got the person out of the house, that would be the ideal way to sneak them out.”

“We do have that place, but accessing it is tricky. Depending on which area of the city you are underneath, it is either owned by the Lord of the City, The Trade Union, or one of the merchant families. We need to get permission to travel through it.”

“Can you show me where I can enter? I assume if I get caught going inside you all won’t help me?” Meron’s blank stare told me all I needed to know. “Alright, I am going to check in with this ‘House of Lyeidamo’ Does it matter where I go first?"

“No, it’s your call though I would recommend you keep an eye on the time when you visit the House.” I raised an eyebrow in silent question. Instead of answering, she offered an awkward cough and shook her head. “If you find some evidence, bring it to me in my office. Ask any guard for help and they will bring you to me. If you can save any of the people, I hope you do it. To enter the subterranean parts of the city, you will need to head to one of the bathhouses. There will be an access hatch. There are a few other places, but I don’t have a map for all of them. As far as I know, there are none close to here.”

I nodded. “Alright, thank you and hopefully we can solve this quickly.” I made my way out of the house and back down the street. I didn’t relax until I had gotten back to the main road. “Do you trust her?” Sanaa’s telepathic voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “I think so. She was pretty straightforward about not helping us if anything happened. I think we should wait for Zakia. The four of us should be able to handle most threats in the city. As long as we don’t have to fight an entire group of guards. I wish I could have scanned their levels.”

“We can eat them?” Tenebris’ question made me stop. It wasn’t just the words, but the eagerness behind them. It sent a chill down my spine. “If they attack us, you can attack them too. Let’s avoid eating corpses, though.” The surrealness of thinking that whole sentence was shocking. “Don’t sound so happy about the idea.”

Tenebris and Sanaa let out a low, growling sound. Something that prompted everyone around us to take several steps away. I flashed them a smile before scurrying down the road. After asking around for directions, the journey to the House of Lyeidamo was much shorter than I expected. It was pretty close to the lodge. Just as Meron said, the building was two stories with a tall wall surrounding it. The wall wasn’t as thick as the one protecting the city, which made me think it was for privacy and not defense. The house did have two guards standing out front. They wore mismatched armor and carried curved, long swords on their hips.

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“Halt, halt entry to the House of Lyeidamo is five gold pieces.” The first man spoke up. He was skinny and a bit lanky. He had short twists in his hair, with a scar going across his right cheek. He stopped approaching when he saw the two dragons on my shoulder. I summoned my gold pouch, pulled out five gold coins, and tossed them to him. “Five gold. Is there anything else?” I didn’t stop walking and was at the door before the man answered.

“Uh n-no?”

It was like I went into a whole new world. It was like I had entered a palace. A large candelabra floated in the air while fine rugs made out of the pelts of creatures I had never seen before decorated the ground. There was a haze in the air that made it hard to see clearly. People were moving throughout the room. Some were topless, some were completely naked, and others were almost see-through clothes. Nearly all of them wore jewelry over the various parts of their body. Before I could do anything, three people appeared from nowhere. One of them was a busy dark skinned woman with thick curly hair. She was wearing golden robes that left little to the imagination. She grabbed hold of my right arm. A man who looked like a literal dark-skinned Adonis grabbed hold of my left. He smelled like citrus and blew a cloud of smoke into my face that made my whole body heat up. The third person had someone manage to get both Tenebris and Sanaa purring. Before I had a chance to process what was happening. We had been pulled over to a sofa and someone had started kissing my neck.

“Let him up, dears.” A mature voice called out from somewhere and suddenly the hands were gone. I wasn’t sure if I was happy with the voice or angry. I looked up and caught my eyes with the newcomer. She wasn’t as tall as me, but she was pretty close. She wore a dark blue gown that would have been appropriate for a ball or gala. “Hello, I suppose I have you to thank for that?”

The woman smiled and offered her hand to me. For some reason, I took her hand and kissed the back of it. I couldn’t explain why or how I knew that was what I was supposed to do, but I did. “Oh? Aren’t you the gentle lord? I heard about the little lordling who entered the city with dragons and gold. I am pleased to see that the stories of your appearance weren’t overblown.”

At that, I sat up straight. A red notification blinked on the right side of my vision. I was pretty sure it was going to tell me I was under the effect of whatever drug was in the air or that the man had blown at me. I took stock of my current situation and found both Tenebris and Sanaa were fine but pacified. It was a bit like they were high and just out of it. “Might I know who has taken such an interest in me? I hadn’t realized I had drawn your eye.”

She smiled and then took a seat next to me. “You can be Zahera. I am the current owner of the House. It is my duty to know about new adventurers and merchants who enter the city. How else can I get my hands on the wealthy?” She laughed and crossed her legs. I couldn’t help but follow them with eyes. “I believe that you have come here for more important things than carnal pleasure, though?”

I had to fight to pull my gaze away from her body. I couldn’t tell if she was using magic on me or if she was just that good-looking. “I am here to, uh, investigate a missing person.” I searched my thoughts but couldn’t recall ever being told the victim’s name.

“Yes, young Teran. I will let you know now that I am unable to reveal who has come to see him. It wouldn’t do for me to reveal the private information of our patrons.”

“This is a bit more serious than privacy. I imagine you want to find him as well?” I couldn’t tell what was going through her mind. She seemed like she didn’t care one way or the other, but there was something about it that made me want to keep asking questions.

“Of course, I want to help him. He was and is a dear friend. It is a shame the Adventurer’s Guild is no longer taking the quest. I am sure you can understand why I would be hesitant to speak about it though. I can’t put any of my other workers in harm’s way.”

I nodded and took a look around. The three people from earlier were gone, as well as everyone else. Which meant either she wasn’t worried about me attacking her or she was more worried about someone here overhearing her. I filed that piece of information away. “Why did you call me a ‘lordling’?”

She smiled at that and I figured out the game she was playing at. She wasn’t going to tell me anything, but if I figured it out on my own, then that couldn’t be blamed on her. “Well, you are wealthy with exotic pets.” If the low hiss of displeasure from both of them made her uncomfortable, she didn’t show it. “You are new to the city, yet you aren’t afraid of showing off your wealth. There aren’t too many willing to do that.”

I nodded and replayed every crime drama I had ever seen. What question should I be asking? Based on the information, the person who went after Teran had to come here at least once. Or was watching this place? “Have you come across anything out of the usual recently?”

“Oh dear, plenty of unusual things occur all the time. My clientele are fans of the odd. If you could be a bit more specific?” I was about to continue down that line of questioning when it hit me. “Have any of your drugs gone missing recently? or been harder to get your hands on?”

She ran her nails over the fabric of the chair as she pretended to think about the question. “Now that you ask, there has been one. We call it “Siren’s call.” it’s a potion that induces a hypnotic effect in those who consume it. I am told the effect can make it hard to focus on anything but the target of your desire. It can be very interesting for certain activities."

I nodded and did my best to not think about what those activities could be. “Why haven’t you been able to make the potion?”

“Well, all the shipments of it have been turned away. I have been unable to get to the bottom of why that is.”

“Is there anything else the ingredients can be used to make? Can you give me a list of the ingredients?” She smiled, reached into her robes, and removed a small piece of paper. She folded it and then handed it to me. “This should have everything you need. Now unfortunately I have to go.” She paused and looked me up and down as if appraising me. “If you are looking for work. You are more than welcome to come back and speak to me. I can think of a few people here who would enjoy your services. Assuming you knew what you were doing.” She then stood up and walked away.

I watched her until she disappeared down a hallway. “I had better get out of here.” I stood up and half-jogged to the exit, not wanting to get caught up in anyone else. It wasn’t until I reached the main road that my mind had cleared up. “I can’t tell if she was manipulating me or coming on to me. Though I imagine that’s the whole point of a brothel.” I turned and decided to get back to the lodge. I wasn’t in the mood to go running through the sewers and I wanted to have a bit of backup. The last thing I needed was to get arrested or eaten by a sewer monster. I pulled up my notifications while I walked. There wasn’t much to review. The drug they used was called “Succubi’s Passion” and it just lowered my inhibitions by 15% percent. Which wasn’t that bad.

By the time I made it back to the lodge, both Sanaa and Tenebris were feeling like themselves again. When I tried to pull up their status screens, I couldn’t see their current or previous conditions. Either way, I wasn’t sure why the drug didn’t affect them in the same way it did me. I filed that away just in case it turned out to be useful. I left a message with the front desk attendant to let Zakia know to meet me here tomorrow if she came by today. With everything else taken care of, I removed another case of the meatball food from earlier. I reached in and grabbed one, only instead of eating it, I waited for the prompt to appear.

You have found: Sosaki Balls(1x) Details: Provides no additional benefits when eaten.

Dish Quality: High

Dish Rarity: Common

Main Ingredient: Sosaki Octopus

I popped one into my mouth and left the rest for my familiars to eat. I was tired and needed a bath.