{-Llewel-}
“Welcome to the Ilataesi City Shop. Is there something I can do for you?” Kulric didn’t smile, but rather watched them enter with something close to caution. It couldn’t have been about there being more players here than he could keep track of; the five of them were the only ones inside.
“We’re here to buy some sweets!” Myr declared excitedly, only after a moment adding in a slightly-embarrassed way, “For Dahasci. He wanted some of them and he said we could get some too, for helping him.”
Kulric just raised a brow.
“We needed to know something but Dahasci said he wouldn’t tell us unless we did this,” Llewel explained. He sat the coins on the counter. I’m assuming you know what the ‘good chocolates’ are to him?”
Just then, Kulric lost the previously cold look to let out a hearty laugh.
“He’s just making us do his errands for him, isn’t he,” Zetai guessed as more of a statement than a question.
“Dahasci? That guy knows anything that’s actually going to help you? Oh, that’s one of the most ridiculous things someone’s ever told me… and it doesn’t get less amusing every time.” Kulric took the coins and walked over to a different shelf, where the other food items were. “You’re right—you’ve joined the couple dozen either dumb or empathetic enough to help fuel Dahasci’s sweets addiction.”
Tinath shrugged. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. Even if he doesn’t have anything to tell us, what about you?”
“Hannah did mention we could see if you knew anything,” Reynneak recalled.
Kulric nodded as he came back with a handful of chocolates; all one item, which he sat on the counter after mumbling about wrapping. First he confidently declared, “If you want to know anything happening in and out Ilataesi, I’m your guy, definitely not Dahasci. I’ve got the friends and the hobbies that keep me well aware of whenever something happens.” Then quietly, as he passed Myr, showed her a few of the coins and said, “This is what’s left after Dahasci’s. Something catching your eye?” She pointed to one of the selections, which Llewel realized after a glance that she intended to share.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you the kinds of things we’re hoping to know,” Llewel remarked. “Just tell us whatever you think is going to actually be helpful.” A pause. “And maybe a little bit more than that. Just because it doesn’t seem to matter now doesn’t mean it won’t later…”
“Trust me, I’m completely aware of why it’s important that you know. This is something that affects all of us on one of the largest scales any of us can imagine. I’m not about to take that kind of thing lightly like Dahasci.” Kulric pulled Myr’s selection from the shelf, then went back to the counter. He wrapped them both in some paper, handing Myr’s to her and giving Llewel the one for Dahasci. “I’d ask if there was anything specific you wanted to hear about but, really, there’s only one piece of news. Now how serious you want to make it is all up to you, since I really can’t say anything about who it really was…”
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He glanced up at the door. After mumbling something, he walked over to the door, presumably locked it, and pulled up a sign that must’ve stated that the shop was closed for a little while. “That way we won’t get interrupted,” he muttered as he wandered back to his counter. “So, I started to hear this a while ago—I don’t go over to those areas myself, but I assume it’s got to have some kind of merit about it, if it’s still circling around after this much time.”
He shrugged, like he still wasn’t sure if he’d really believe it himself. “They say there’s something happening up in the mountains. What they’re actually doing varies on who’s telling it, but what’s stayed consistent is that a lot of people—more than just a bunch of lost players—are lurking around there. They’ve stayed pretty well hidden so no one’s been able to confirm anyone specific. All I know is that it definitely isn't normal maintenance or something else related to a new event or quest chain. I thought that at first, but I haven’t heard anything official from the developers yet and, if that’s what it was, I would’ve. I don’t really know what else they could be doing there, though. There’s always a chance it’s the Rune Reactivation Project—a lot of runes up there in the mountains, you know—but they’ve never been active in Ilataesi… at least not on the kind of scale that those people are presumably in the mountains.”
“We’ll check it out while we’re there,” Zetai decided. “Wouldn’t hurt to try to figure out exactly what was going on.”
“Unless someone ends up getting too close and draws more attention to us than what we can handle,” Tinath pointed out.
Zetai’s answer was short and simple, “I’m not the one with giant bird wings.”
“Well, no matter what you decide to do with it, that’s all I know,” Kulric said. “It’s pretty likely that there’s a chance there’s more going on than what I know. There’s also a chance it’s not as big of a deal, or there’s nothing at all. If you’ve made it this far, I assume you know by now what the smarter things to do are. Do them—you’re not the only ones who are going to feel the consequences of this.” Then he waved them goodbye as if he’d only given them a brief farewell.
It didn’t take long after they left and started walking back to the inn that Myr first took Dahasci’s sweets from Llewel, handed them to Reynneak, and began carefully unwrapping her own.
“You’re lucky,” she remarked in an only half-joking way. “Even though there’s things you’re not going to tell me, I’m still being nice and sharing. Secrets or no secrets, you’re still my favorite brother.” She carefully split it into two and handed a half to him.
“Well, at least you’re not planning on eating this all on your own,” he mumbled. “You’re hard enough to keep track of when you don’t have a sugar rush.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she declared with a playful defiance.
Then soon enough they were back in the inn—only slightly less busy than it had been before—and Reynneak was giving Dahasci his sweets.
Zetai didn’t wait for whatever he was going to say to point out, “You never had anything to tell us.”
“I told you I might not,” he replied honestly. “Really, I’m not the best person, but I’ll keep an ear out for anything specific. You did this little thing for me and, whether you expected something else from it or not, I’m thankful for that.” He said it all with a smile that, although she undoubtedly had much more to say, it was gone with a sigh.
She looked at the twins and muttered, “Well, it looks like they’re happy, so I guess I should thank you for buying something for them. And maybe I’ll forgive you for making us do all that.”