Underneath the stall Veronica found three corruption potions. Riley discovered a large box of tins filled with mindbenders, probably at least ten thousand pills. It was a bit discomforting to think something so dangerous was out in the open. They checked around the stall, but they failed to come up with any more leads. They messaged Jack who said he would inform Maetrin that they had found the Corruption potion sellers also operating in Keston.

Strangely despite the fairly large commotion, they caused no guards to come to check on what was going on. Telvin suggested they leave the area just in case the guards were also corrupted like the ones in Taras. After leaving the stall they went on to explore the Mage district looking for an apothecary.

Eventually, they stumbled onto one that had a sign with a hand holding a flower and beneath it said 'Superb Herbs: Come inside we dispense Sage advice!' Veronica opened the door and the others followed her inside. The whole shop had that fresh picked herbs smell that Veronica liked. There were several rows of shelves with jars on them. Along the back wall was a counter behind which was a smiling old woman.

Telvin started to look around the shelves while Riley and Veronica went up to the old woman. She greeted them and said "Hello, I'm Janet, the owner of Super Herbs. How may we assist you today?"

"I'm looking for freshly picked Nightplum bulbs. Would you happen to have any in stock?" Riley asked.

Janet frowned and shook her head, "I'm afraid that my garden was robbed this morning. All my Nightplum plants were picked. It's going to be several days before I am able to regrow my stock to what it was. I do have dried Nightplum available if you are interested."

"Much obliged, but I prefer fresh." Riley said.

"If you are looking for a laxative, I can make several suggestions of other suitable herbs like Nightplum."

"Er, that won't be necessary. Would it be possible to tell me if you happened to sell any NightPlum yesterday or the day before?"

Janet thought for a moment and said "I believe I did, let me take a look." She pulled a hefty thick book from underneath the counter and opened it. She ran her finger down the page and said "The day before I sold four bulbs to Jake down the road, and yesterday a interesting man came in and purchased thirty bulbs."

Veronica asked, "Why was he an interesting man?"

"He made himself out to be a servant of some noble, but he forgot to clean up his hair. No master would tolerate his servant possessing such atrocious hair. It was sticking out all over the place. Then there were his boots."

"His boots?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, they were of high quality leather, though they were quite scuffed up. It unexpectedly had a unique maker's mark on them. It was a bunny in the middle of his sole."

"How could you examine the bottom of his foot?" Veronica asked.

"When he was leaving, he tripped. I caught a glance of it because it was a red bunny on a black sole." Janet said.

Veronica frowned and said "Do you always talk about your customers?"

"Well they didn't pay for the private consultation fee." Janet pointed to a sign that was nearly hidden by a plant that said 'one small silver for private consultation'. "Besides, Nightplum is just a laxative. Not many people give a shit about people learning they have problems shitting."

"I see." Riley said. "Do you happen to know where this man was staying or how I could get in contact with him?"

"Astonishingly I do. When he tripped, he dropped a card that slid under one of my shelves. I discovered it when I was cleaning up for the night." Janet said and pulled out the card and handed it to Veronica.

"It's for the Lord Reata. I believe that the man is staying on his property. Or was at one point." Janet said.

"Much appreciated. Here is your consultation fee to keep this between us." Riley passed over a silver coin.

Janet accepted the coin and said "come back anytime."

Riley turned to go, and Veronica said "Can you hang out with Telvin for a bit, I need to get something real quick."

Riley nodded and walked over to check on what Telvin was looking at. Veronica turned to Janet and said "My Birth control is wearing off, and I need to purchase some more. Would you happen to have any in stock?"

Janet nodded and said "I do have several. What were you taking beforehand?"

"I've used some general anti-pregnancy potions and some Barrenweed."

"Barrenweed is way too tough on a woman's body. I don't recommend you take it at all. Have you tried Estury leaves?"

"No. I haven't heard of them before. How are they?"

"Quite simple really, You make a tea with them once a week, and on the day's you have sex and you will be protected. What's even better about the leaves, should you decide that you want to get pregnant, all you need to do is take the tea and add a bit of the man's sperm to it. When you do so it will change to a fertility drink that will enhance your fertility for three days."

"How much for the leaves?"

"It comes in six month packets. For a packet it will cost three large silver coins."

Veronica reached into her inventory and withdrew the coins and handed them to Janet and said "I'll take them."

"Thank you for your business." Janet said and went to the back wall and pulled down a box and opened it. Taking out a large packet of leaves she brought them to the counter and wrote down the instructions of use and handed them to Veronica. Taking them Veronica put them into her bag.

When Veronica was about to leave, Janet said "Since you are looking for that man, I was hoping you could help me out. In return I would be willing to give you a magical device that I have no use for."

"What help do you need?" Veronica asked curiously.

"See I went out this morning and found several of my herbs have been stolen. Why the nerve of some people. This will set me back days in revenue. But the thief was careless, and I happened to find a clear imprint of his shoe in the dirt. Guess what was on the imprint."

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"A rabbit?" Veronica guessed.

"Yes. That asshole came back and stole several of my precious herbs. Now I would go and turn him in to the guards, but it's not a good idea to get too involved with nobles especially nowadays. I suspect you have some 'business' with this man. When you find him, I want you to light his place on fire, in return you get the device."

Veronica thought for a moment and said "I can do that. But I want the device upfront."

Janet looked Veronica over and nodded and said "Alright. I will give it to you. But if you fail to live up to your end, just know that whoever crosses me gets burned."

The old women went to the back and came back carrying a large box. Setting it down on the counter Janet said "I got this from a vendor. I've never used it, and it's been gathering dust in the back. You seem the adventurous sort, so I think you will get more use out of it."

"What is it?"

"A Clyster machine. It cleans out your ass, usually it's meant for severe constipation. However, it also can help clean out for anal sex. Of course you shouldn't use it more then once a month."

Veronica was interested in it. The thought of Jack taking her in that place was very exciting to think about, and she said "How does it work?"

"It takes a liquid, you can use water, but Saline solutions are best and pumps your rectum full of the liquid. I have included a Jug of sealed saline." Janet opened the box and showed Veronica a variety of tubes and vessels. "It runs completely on magic energy in the atmosphere. The instructions of use are included as well."

"Alright Janet I will light this man's house on fire. What if he doesn't have a home, though?"

"Then light him on fire." Janet said.

Veronica put away the box and said "Thank you."

Stepping away she went over to Riley who was talking with Telvin and said "We are good to go."

Exiting the apothecary, Veronica asked "Do you want to check out where this Lord Reata is living?"

Riley shook her head "We need more information about this noble first. Plus we should check out this rabbit maker's mark. We might be able to get more information from that as well."

As they were speaking Veronica happened to notice that Carol was walking down the street towards them. She waved as she saw them and started to walk faster. As Carol approached Veronica was startled when a little girl climbed out of the street and pointed down the street.

"What the?" Veronica was startled as she realized the girl was a spirit and looked down the street and saw one of those yellow carriages coming down the street. A bad feeling started to flow through her and just as Carol got close, Veronica yelled "Look out." At the same instant she cast the shield around them. Unfortunately, Carol was too far away to get covered from the shield.

The carriage door was thrown open and two men wearing completely black clothes and had a weird oily look on them pulled out two staffs and began to pelt them with magical bolts of mana. The shield managed to withstand the assault as the carriage rolled by them. Carol had to dodge and roll out of the way of the bolts, but most of them seemed to be focused on Telvin.

Carol stood and reached out with her hand and yanked one of the men out the open door, and he crashed down onto the ground and rolled. Before he could get up his partner shot a dart into the man's back. The assassin on the ground began to let out a horrific wail and the carriage slammed it's door closed and began to take off.

Telvin withdrew his bow and managed to shoot off three arrows at the carriage. The first two bounced off harmlessly on the Carriage but the third arrow flashed and when it struck the carriage a large ice crystal began to form around the carriage. The Yellow carriage took a hard left and went onto one of its wheels before going around a corner and disappearing from view.

Veronica dropped the shield and said "Is everyone okay?"

Carol said "That was close. What was that about?"

"Someones apparently trying to assassinate me." Telvin said and walked over the man on the road who had stopped wailing.

Following him, Veronica frowned as she realized that the man was literally turning into liquid as she watched. Riley said "Careful don't touch the body. It looks like that dart used Abyssal venom. If you get that on you, it will start to dissolve your flesh."

They heard some people running down the road, and Veronica looked up and saw a bunch of guards coming towards them. The Lead one said "Halt."

Seeing no way, they could escape Veronica simply held up her hands with the others as the guards came and said "We received reports of hostile magic being cast in this area." The Guard looked over at the liquefying body and said "You four will need to come down to the Guard post."

They were 'escorted' to the guard station with shackles placed around them. They were separated, and Veronica was placed into a small room with one table and two chairs. They at least removed the shackles when they left. Sitting in one of the chairs, she realized that one of the walls had a large mirror on it.

Eventually the door opened and a tall woman walked in. She had a rough air about her, and she took a seat across from Veronica. "Your name is Veronica?" the woman asked.

"Yes." Veronica said. The woman nodded and recorded something down on a pad.

"My name is Natasha Scarlet. I am one of the lead investigators of the Capital. I want you to explain what happened."

Veronica explained what happened in detail and Natasha would interrupt her in the middle of a sentence and ask questions. "I see." Natasha said after Veronica had finished. "So you are saying that you did not attack first."

"That is right."

"Yet witnesses say that you had produced a shield before they had even begun to fire."

"I have an ability that can warn me of incoming danger."

Natasha said "I see." and made another note on that pad. "You do know that the use of Abyssal Venom is banned by all kingdoms?"

"I did not know. I've never seen Abyssal Venom before, I only knew because Riley pointed it out."

"What is your relationship to Riley?"

"A companion, a friend. I've only really known her for about a week and a half."

"What about Telvin?"

"Telvin is dating Riley."

Natasha eye twitched when she said that. "Let's move on. There was a body of a young woman that was found nearby. Did you have anything to do with that?"

"No. This city seems quite dangerous. Who knows what happened to her." Veronica said.

"She looked as though she was torn apart from the inside. If you have any information and you're not sharing it with me, that could be seen as obstruction of justice."

"If I had any I would tell you." Veronica shrugged innocently.

"We found the carriage abandoned a block away. The evidence appears to line up with your story. If I find you lied, I will bring you in and throw you into the pit myself." Natasha stood and went to the door and said "You are free to leave."

Veronica exited the room and went to the lobby of the Guardstation. In that location she met Carol and Telvin who had apparently finished before her. It was ten minutes later Riley appeared with Natasha. Natasha glared at them and said "Stay out of trouble. You especially 'sister'." Natasha glared at Riley and turned around and walked away.

"Sister?" Veronica looked at Riley.

"I was raised by her mother, who worked for the Scarlet mercenaries. Natasha hated the mercenaries lifestyle and left us when she was of age. I did not expect to find her working here of all places."

"Why?" Telvin said.

"Because when I knew her, she was a lot more wild. She was more likely to end up behind bars then to be putting people behind bars." Riley said.

They exited the Guardhouse and Veronica said "Sorry Carol."

"It's alright. Though I need to be getting back to the Evercral Manner. I was only out to get some things for Mianda."

"Sure. Before you go, do you know Lord Reata?"

Carol frowned and said "I do. He lives in the mansion next to the Evercral Manner in the city. I loathe him, the way he looks at Mianda I don't like. He hasn't done anything, if he did Adam would kill him."

Telvin nodded and said "It's becoming clearer. Much obliged for your information Carol. Be careful on your way back."

Carol nodded and hailed a yellow carriage down and left them standing on the side of the street.

Veronica looked at the sky and saw that it was late afternoon. "We should go to the local Mission guild."

"Why?" Riley asked.

"Because we should take a few missions while we are in the city. It will act as a cover for us while we are searching for these assassins."