{-Myr-}
The quest menu popped up a second later.
[Quest: Public Paranoia
Gouzla has long been the target of threats and blame, but until now he was certain nothing would come of it. He needs your help in trying to figure out if his fears are well-placed and, if they are, eradicate the threat.
Rewards: 200 EXP, 500 coins.]
“We’ll help you out, just because we’ve got some free time,” Zetai decided. “Where’s the first place you think we should head to?”
He shook his head. “If you want to help, then we should go somewhere quieter. I have an office in that grand building over there, it should be a good place to talk.”
Glancing in the direction that he pointed, Myr couldn’t help but think it looked far too extravagant to be considered a place where no one would bother them. It must’ve been something unique to Kehnore City, given how much it stood out.
Still, they all began to follow him there. When he opened the door and led them through the building, he said, “As you likely already know by now, Kehnore is a rather… hostile place. We’ve been able to limit how obvious it is, thankfully, but there’s some things we still haven’t been able to stamp out. They aren’t quite as quiet as they might appear… and they have extreme ways of dealing with whatever stands in their way.”
He walked a little more before saying anything else.
“This is my office,” he announced when they reached a specific door. He looked between the four of them and let out a bit of nervous laughter. “I don’t mean to be a bad host, but I only have two chairs. Usually I ask the leader to come in since the room’s not very big either, but you’re a smaller party than most others I come across.”
“We’re not staying long,” Zetai pointed out, “just until you tell us where you want us to go and send us on our way.”
“Well, it seems you have a plan, so I won’t keep you.” He still gestured for them all to enter the office and he sat down at the desk. “I have been a target of these unpleasant individuals for quite a while now—that much is no new news to me. What is a bit concerning is that they appear to be getting much more vocal about it. I’m afraid, if they’re left to their own devices, they’ll be able to carry through with an assassination or some other such deed.”
“How much have you investigated it on your own?” Llewel asked.
“I haven’t been able to do much, since they’re able to recognize all those who work under me. That’s why you’ll be the best option—you’re simply adventurers, or at least you look like you are. The extent of what my people were able to find was that there was, at least, something planned. They determined that the group in question stayed at the inn for a time, so it’s possible you may be able to find some clues there.” Gouzla paused. “Before you go, just as a mutual understanding, do stay safe. It won’t look very good on me if travelers I was supposed to be welcoming got hurt due to my request. I already have one group hunting after me, I’d rather not have the wrath of the average townsfolk as well…”
Zetai mumbled something and started back towards the door. “Let’s see if Kelfin has seen anything. He’ll probably let us rummage through some rooms if we tell him what’s going on.”
…
While Zetai, Reynneak, and Llewel explained the situation to Kelfin, another conversation kept Myr by the door.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Wait, really? You’re not kidding?”
“You’re the one that must be joking that you haven’t seen it! Everyone’s talking about it. Apparently they have a bunch of popular guys coming in for it.”
“I thought she said she wasn’t going to get involved in this game. Distinguishing herself from her mother or something?”
“She must’ve changed her mind. Do you think this means she’s going to do more stuff here?”
“I don’t care what she does here, do you think this means she’s finally going to post regular content again? She has art and stuff for those games her friends are working on, but she hasn’t done anything else in so long.”
“No one said anything about her specifically, aside from the usual stuff we all know. She must not have told them anything.” She playfully whacked her companion. “But it sounded like they’ll all be hanging around for a while. Maybe you can ask her yourself.”
Myr glanced at the others. They were still talking to Kelfin—it looked like they’d been interrupted by someone else. Unable to muster the same kind of confidence she could talking to players in Nafrius, she walked up to the two players. “What are you talking about..?”
“You don’t know either? Seriously, Controller Corner alone has probably posted three different articles about this…” The player shook her head. “Nankohm announced they’re going to be holding an event to introduce the new camera feature. Not only is there gonna be a super cool contest, but they’re also going to invite a bunch of popular streamers.”
The other nodded excitedly. “And apparently one of them is going to be Erin! She hasn’t done this kind of stuff in years, especially not here. I can’t wait to actually see her!”
Any other questions Myr may have dared to ask were promptly interrupted.
Llewel walked up next to her and said, “Kelfin’s letting us look around some of the rooms. Zetai and Reynneak are going to search one and we’ll search the other.”
She nodded, mumbled “thanks” to the players, then followed her brother to the room.
The only thing that separated it from the rooms they would stay in was that this one was still a mess. How anyone thought to leave it like this was beyond her—Llewel grumbled something about it, too.
“Kelfin didn’t say much about the previous tenants or what they did,” he said as he flipped through some stray pieces of paper. “It didn’t sound like he knew anything about where they might hide something. Just keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious, assuming there’s anything here at all.”
She went to the other side of the room, sorting through the things in the dresser. Honestly she didn’t so much as expect to find something as a part of her just wanted to help Kelfin when he needed to clean it out later.
After a moment of silence, Llewel asked, “What were you talking to those players about?”
“They were talking about an event that’s coming up soon. Apparently popular people are going to show up? The one they were talking about the most… they called her ‘Erin.’”
“Casrane mentioned someone with that name when she was talking to Rachel. I’m… pretty sure she told me, too, in Kyirius—after what happened with the ghoul.”
“Some of the things they mentioned… do you think it’s—“
“Let’s just hope it isn’t. It’s probably still a week or two away, I’m sure we’ll know for sure then and have something figured out.”
“I guess there’s… not really a point in bringing it up all the time, huh..?” Myr sighed and went on to look around the bed.
He quietly worked for a little while. “You didn’t mention anything about yourself to the players, right?”
It was a question he used to ask a lot in Nafrius; he didn’t trust any of them back then. The difference was that, before, it was a combination of Duuzlo’s suggestion and Llewel’s own skepticism; now they had a reason not to interact with them.
“I could only ask what they were talking about. The other girl she was talking to didn’t know either, so I don’t think either of them recognized that I wasn’t a player.”
“Try to keep it that way. It probably doesn’t mean a lot since Nankohm and the Rune Reactivation Project can already recognize us, but at least I can pretend…” He stopped shuffling papers a moment later. “I think this might be what we’re looking for, but it’s not all of it.”
“We can check with Zetai and Reynneak and see if they’ve found something else,” she offered. “I haven’t come across anything over here, at least…”