{-Llewel-}

It was surprising, actually—how they were able to maintain a casual conversation, without hinting towards any of their other feelings. It was just something to pass the time, but something that all of them were interested in just the same; he missed something like that, honestly.

He almost didn’t acknowledge that they’d already reached the shop until they were walking into it. The little bell above them rang and, from his spot behind the counter, Selanar greeted, “Welcome to the Anseshara City Shop! We’ve got everything researchers and adventurers might need while they’re wandering around these parts.”

Once they’d somewhat separated—following their tradition of checking what they might need to buy while they were here—Selanar continued with something more specific. “Ah, it seems like you’ve got something for me! Would you mind letting me see it?”

Zetai walked up to hand him the item. “There’s another part to this, right? Vamir mentioned possibly having to bring something back to him.”

Selanar nodded. “Of course! Quests from places this far into Masylm often need to take a little bit more effort. Not a lot, though. Usually people have to deal with those street thugs somewhere, but they’ve all got some bugs and had to be fixed, so they’re not here right now.”

“What kind of bugs?” Casrane’s question could almost be considered casual—but a certain cautiousness in her tone suggested more than just curiosity.

“I don’t remember, exactly. A lot of rumors going around, you know? But it sounded like they started targeting players who weren’t involved with the quest.”

Llewel grimaced at just the thought. “Yeah, that’s an issue…”

Zetai shrugged. “But they can’t really be too surprised, right? That’s just what would happen when you all can make your own decisions. Some of you are just going to decide to be jerks.”

“And you try saying that to a group of teens who think they’re entitled to whatever they want,” Tinath remarked. “Especially when some of them are practically the only reason people are still buying the game. That’s an issue.”

“I think calling it just an issue might be a little bit of an understatement…” Casrane shook her head. “Selanar, has anyone from Nankohm come by lately? I don’t have to tell you why I’m asking…”

“Please say no,” Myr mumbled. “I’d really rather not spend the rest of the day at the inn…”

Selanar thought about it, then shook his head—which clearly brought her some relief. “From what I heard, none of the big names came, at least. It was probably one of those new guys. That’s all it takes to keep that gang in one place, at least, for someone else to deal with them. No need for the higher ones to come and deal with it, you know?”

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Casrane let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “Well, we’ll keep an eye out, just in case.” She glanced at the others. “Have you figured out what we need from here?”

Reynneak stepped up to the counter. “Yeah. It’s only going to take a couple of minutes, and then we’ll be ready to deliver that item back to Vamir.”

…

They completed the quest, then went on to ask Vamir about any others he might know of in the area. Turns out there were a lot of smaller quests—odd jobs and fetch quests, really—around the city. Since Tinath announced she had something to do that would mean she had to leave a little earlier, Zetai decided they’d just do those for the day. They’d head back out tomorrow to see what else could be done outside of the city without running into any issues.

Llewel didn’t have a problem with all of that, in the beginning. But sometime during one of their quests, he couldn’t help but feel… strange. Not necessarily like he didn’t feel well, or that he was anticipating something bad. It just wasn’t normal, whatever it was. Myr had to have felt it, too; she was more nervous, like she was afraid to say anything.

He didn’t mention it until they’d gone back to the inn, though, and the players all left for the day. The twins occupied a table near the back while Casrane, presumably, talked to Vamir to get them all something to eat.

“Are you feeling alright?” he prompted. Myr shrunk when he asked it, so he decided to continue with, “I’m just trying to figure something out. I… kind of feel something, too.”

“Wait, you do?” That didn’t seem to make her feel any better; though at least it meant she was more confused than anything now.

He nodded. “How long have you felt it?”

“I don’t know, maybe for the past hour or two..? I tried not to think about it…”

In a stroke of perfect timing, Casrane walked back to the table with a couple of plates of food. “Llewel, do I want to know what that look is for..?”

“There’s something that I think you can help provide an answer for,” he said casually. “We’re… both feeling something. I don’t think it’s really something I can put into words, but I’m willing to hazard the guess that you already know what I’m talking about. Don’t you?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, but it’s nothing that you have to worry about for now.”

“This kind of seems like something we should be at least slightly worried about…” Myr mumbled.

“I know what you’re feeling—I’m feeling it, too. But I want to give it a little bit more time before we start panicking over it or anything—a little bit more time before we tell the players. Alright?”

“And why is that going to be a good idea?” Llewel prompted.

Casrane considered it for a moment, then answered, “I’ve already contacted someone who knows what to do if this gets any worse. Just making sure it doesn’t get to that point is the only thing we need to be concerned over, alright? I’ll let you know if that changes, I promise.”

“You know why it’s happening too, right? I’m guessing you’re not going to tell us?”

“I’ll tell you if I need to, but there’s a chance this whole thing will blow over on its own. Let’s just see what happens and go from there.”