Letter [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNhdSAvfBVhcWhjAwUtyFQ9uQnP92Ol6O_-ALE2LeXlxes7nDqBHQAR2f8punUUOMGU0pXcepBnorp6AEXvAxnBqo_4u4G4OHOGIrQWZj1xkoQXQvMnXmQ0FZIJ04KxnCPrWg0GeqxFvBzn-2Zk0GzB=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Dazien watched the entrance to the Crimson Rose, which turned out to be a run-down-looking butcher shop in a back alley near the outer city wall but not at an angle for the entrance to be seen from it. His [Eagle Eye] let the group remain at a distance while he watched for people going in or out, but it was relatively quiet.
After his brief discussion with Arin, his old co-worker from Harry’s Harvest, about potential kidnappings being brought to the area, he had realized they were searching for a pebble on the beach. Mysterious packages and covered cages with creatures inside were just another normal day in the Processing District.
Phoenix’s lead was better than nothing as they sat at the window of a small cafe run by an older cinderen couple on an upper floor a few buildings down. This location let him watch while keeping Phoenix off the public streets though it seemed the hoods were doing their job for the most part of keeping them unseen. It was also likely due to the fact that nobody would suspect the lauded Saint of the Celestial Pantheon to be mixed in with the crowds of the labor working class.
Why would a noble like her even bother to come here when she could simply have a servant go to the markets for her?
Dazien had been here many times before. Not just for the various jobs as a Looter, but sometimes cutting out the middleman saved him a lot of money. Getting flour here, where it was processed, and having Uriel turn it into bread was cheaper than buying a loaf at the bakery.
It had been practically impossible for Uriel to get a higher paying job, even as a Crystal Caster, due to most people taking one look at the Silencer around his neck and assuming he was a convicted criminal. It was only by the good graces of Bellarosa’s proprietor letting him work as a dishwasher and sometimes-chef that Uriel was able to work at all after turning sixteen.
Finding ways to save money where they could had become a necessity, and the processing district had been a great way to do that. Now, however, he was beginning to see threats around every corner and idly wondered if this was what Uriel had felt like when they had first met.
As his thoughts drifted to his partner, so did his attention. Dazien found himself smiling at the sight of Phoenix and Uriel sitting next to each other on the bench across the table from him and Saiya while Rayna sat in a chair opposite the large windowed wall. Seeing his partner so relaxed and happy with anyone else was both a relief and a joy. Uriel being happy made him happy, and he would do whatever he could to keep that smile on his face.
It wasn’t until Uriel frowned that he actually paid attention to what was being said.
“Wait, so you got so upset by what the Night Lurker did to me after I passed out that your earrings just exploded?” Phoenix asked him incredulously.
“They didn’t explode,” Uriel corrected, “They still kind of work. One of them just cracked and the effect seems both weaker and slower to respond now.”
“Don’t all magic items explode when they break, though?” she asked, causing most of them to chuckle at the inaccuracy.
“When you fail during the enchantment process they often can,” Dazien interjected, “And some that are singular pieces with very intricate and powerful enchantments like your sword and my shields had. Many aren’t enchanted in the same way, though, or have enough… oomph to cause an explosion when damaged.
“There are also Crafting Classes that reduce the danger during the crafting process and enchantments that make it safer if it is destroyed, but many will forgo safety enchantments for more power or useful effects.”
He glanced back out the window towards the Crimson Rose again and let out a sigh, “Why don’t we leave this for today and go see if that earring can be repaired instead? I don’t want to waste more of our own time chasing after rumors.”
Dazien almost laughed at the matching frowns the two main sources of chaos in his life gave him as his accident-prone sister objected, “It’s the best lead we have, though, and your parents—”
“Are likely not waiting for me to come rescue them,” he interrupted with a firm tone. He needed to be reasonable about this whole thing and not let his hope get the better of him, “It’s been sixteen years since they went missing from my life. I barely remember what they even look like. A few more days won’t make a difference. The AOA have an entire division dedicated to doing what we’re attempting, and we have more missions of our own to see to.”
He went to run a hand through his hair only to remember it was currently pulled into a messy bun and smoothed his palm over it instead, “I still need to turn in that report and see if Patricia managed to get the new stipulations of what missions we’ll be accepting sorted out. Normally, Paul would be the one doing something like that as our official Mentor, but hopefully, as Ambassador, they’ll accept her request instead.”
“Can’t you just turn down anything outside the wall they offer?” Phoenix asked, “I know that we basically get assigned missions during the blood moon instead of picking from anything available, but I thought we can still decline.”
Dazien gave a sigh, “We can, but then it looks bad. It’s a bit of a smear on our party’s reputation to decline something that has been specifically assigned, especially during a blood moon. I’m worried that doing so will either signal to others that we’re not confident in our capabilities or that we’re trying to take advantage of our privilege by only taking missions we prefer, unlike others who don’t have as much political leeway.
“Also, many Adventurers take dangerous missions like the one we just did for the income, and declining might be seen as paying for safety during a blood moon. We don’t want people starting rumors that the Regent and Heir of House Wayland are sitting back nice and safe within the city while others risk their lives fighting monsters.”
“Isn’t that kinda what we’re doing by requesting not to be assigned those missions in the first place?” Rayna asked while leaning back in her chair.
“Yes, but no,” he continued explaining, “If we put on paper that we’re requesting the limitation due to an attempted assassination, that gives us legitimacy in declining. If they tried to give us a mission like that now, they’d be seen as the ones furthering the danger to us rather than us running from it.”
Phoenix scrunched her nose at him and he smiled at the habit as she asked, “Have I mentioned how much I hate weird social politics like this?”
“Multiple times,” he replied with a chuckle, “But that’s what being a noble or any person of prominence entails. Whether you want it or not, you are the politics. Everything we do in public will be analyzed and seen as pushing some agenda, even if it’s just drinking a cup of coffee at a cafe.”
Saiya smiled at that, “I remember reading a news article back in Viimeinen talking about one of the local nobles choosing to drink tea over coffee at a cafe and then speculating over the imminent fall in prices of the coffee beans that Epa Toivo exports. Like choosing tea was signaling some insider knowledge that the latest harvest was worse somehow.”
“So, when are we leaving the tundra again?” Phoenix asked, turning back to look at him with pleading eyes.
Dazien laughed, “A fortnight from now, the blood moon is estimated to come to its end, and we’ll be on a ship headed east,” he replied, then gave a wicked grin as he added, “After the parties, of course.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
As he predicted, both Phoenix and Uriel groaned while Rayna cheered. Saiya chuckled and wrapped her arm in his as she whispered, “You enjoyed that far too much.”
He smiled brightly at her and whispered mentally, “I look forward to enjoying it even more when they realize that this time, there will be dancing involved.”
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Dazien mentally groaned when he saw Ramir Mirimel at the desk for “Mission Delivery,” where he would be returning his latest report. Normally, the runeforged man was stationed at “Mission Receiving” to hand out tasks and verify qualification, but the functionaries would change up who was where from time to time, so it wasn’t that out of the ordinary… just annoying.
“Mister Smithson,” the attendant greeted him when it was finally his turn in the queue.
“That’s Noble Wayland, Mister Mirimel,” he corrected, not feeling up to his usual game of banter when he was already feeling down about the waste of time they had spent in the Processing District earlier.
“Right, my apologies,” Ramir replied and surprised him by giving a slight bow of his head, “Habits are hard to break. Please forgive the slip.”
Dazien was eyeing him suspiciously now. The runeforged had never bothered to treat him with respect before, and he wondered what had suddenly changed. It was odd to see this man actually showing some deference, even if it was a mask.
“It’s forgiven,” he replied slowly, handing over the paperwork he had completed earlier, “This is the report on the Night Lurkers. We managed to find and eliminate four of them before needing to retreat due to interference.”
“Yes, Ambassador Wayland has been on a ramp— I mean, she has made it well known that some Emerald Caster likely interfered to endanger Saint Wayland,” the functionary replied with a sour expression that suddenly made the newfound deference make more sense to him.
Ramir seemed to glance over his report briefly before adding, “I also owe you an additional apology for my earlier dismissal of your concerns regarding those death reports.”
Dazien narrowed his eyes as he prodded, “Because of the habit of not treating me like a noble?”
The Sapphire Caster’s face twisted in disgust before smoothing over again into a more indifferent professionalism as the man bowed his head once more and said contritely, “And for dismissing the concern out of hand. Another person approached with a similar concern and a potential place to investigate further.”
“Really?” he asked in surprise. Perhaps rumors of their investigation had already spread? He was almost certain Arin would let it slip accidentally, which could be either a good or bad thing. Or maybe Camilla had gotten more people involved? He was almost positive that the older woman would have mentioned something about all this to Lord Teras.
“Yes, wait here one moment, please,” Ramir replied, then left to walk over to a back room and disappeared for a few moments before returning with a new sheet of paper for him, “I actually wanted to be the one to give this to you as an added apology for my behavior before.”
Dazien took the proffered paper only to discover it was an official mission assigning King’s Dream to further investigate the specified location that was under suspicion: The Crimson Rose.
He was slightly stunned that it was actually the same place and that they were the ones being given the mission. “The AOA wants us to look into this?”
“Yes,” the runeforged replied firmly, “It’s within the city and has a time limit of two days before an additional mission will be made should you return empty-handed. I believe the higher-ups wanted to kick the hornet’s nest, so to speak, by sending in such a prominent party that’s protected by the gods.”
Dazien looked over the mission statement again, but everything about it seemed legitimate, even the signature for the Assistant Director of Investigations was there, but he had never seen it before to compare or know for sure. Forging an official mission like this was practically unheard of, though, so despite his misgivings and poor history with the man in front of him, he had no reason to decline.
“Very well then,” he finally answered, “We’ll poke around and let the AOA know what we’ve uncovered in two day’s time.”
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Camilla Saren knew something was wrong as soon as she got home from her visit to the temple of the Undertaker with the little information she had been given. High Priestess Esilin Deveen had agreed to meet with her personally, which she had suspected was due to her distant relation to Paul and Phoenix, though she hadn’t quite put together why yet since her new cousin wasn’t the Saint of that particular god.
The information the priestess had let slip with her questions had clued Camilla into the ulterior reasoning but she didn’t have time to dig into that puzzle yet. Instead, she was trying to piece together the reports she had been able to get from the woman after hours of awkwardly trading questions and answers. She hated that part the most.
She had confirmed the death of Dazien’s mother, Lora Smithson, along with some of the other people, but none of the pairs together. This meant his father was still missing. That was an oddity in itself, but the causes of death were the most concerning. In a majority of the cases, including Lora’s, they had died from exsanguination.
While that could be for a variety of reasons, the one that concerned her the most was vampires. The counterargument to that, however, was the unlikelihood that a nest of vampires, or even just a single one, could hide in the city for so long without anyone taking notice.
All of that wasn’t what let Camilla know something was wrong now, however. No, what was wrong was the envelope lying on the entryway floor that had been slipped under the door.
Nobody wrote her letters.
If the Order of Magic wanted something from her, they sent a messenger or one of the little magical construct birds they had started using now that they could work consistently in the area with the raised magic levels.
She cautiously nudged the envelope with her foot, but nothing happened. She walked past it, and still nothing happened. She bent down and carefully lifted it up with just a thumb and finger while holding it as far away from her as possible, but still, nothing happened.
Then she opened it, still held away from her, as the plain wax seal broke and she read the note inside.
Your Adventurers are the price for your curiosity.
Stay away and stay silent, or you’re next.
Not even Teras can protect you.
Then she yelped in surprise as the note burst into flames and quickly became unreadable ash. Camilla didn’t waste any more time as she ran to the building of the newest person she had thought might become a friend and not just family. Not bothering to explain herself to anyone, she sprinted down the streets or hallways of the Wayland Estate, where she was supposed to meet King’s Dream later. Then slammed open the door to the room the party should have been in.
“They know you’re coming!” she shouted before registering the designated room was empty and her cousins nowhere to be found. She immediately noticed the odd pattern laid out on the map and shuddered. She hated that part of the city. Always noisy and crowded with people and creatures.
Her gaze roamed the room and at the traces of aural signatures that floated around it. Her enchanted spectacles had been specifically designed to help focus the traces and filter out the older ones that her perception ability could often overwhelm her with. The tangle of noise and colors made her head spin.
Camilla easily found the shimmering silver thread she recognized as belonging to Phoenix. She also saw her other cousin’s golden thread that was often entwined with a dark red one, along with the blue and amber threads that belonged to the odd voxens. She immediately followed the trail, intent on warning her potential friend of the trap.
However, she was soon halted at the front door by another Sapphire Caster. She couldn’t just barge past like she had when coming into the building. Camilla gave a huff of annoyance at the inconvenience but realized from the brilliant blue thread trailing behind the woman that it was yet another cousin of hers, though she had rarely spoken to this one.
The researcher noticed Padma’s smile in her periphery as the runeforged woman kindly asked, “Do you need some help, cousin?”
The soft tone of voice helped her relax slightly. It reminded her of Paul, and she tried to explain, even without the proper preparation, “Y-yes. I need to, um, warn them.”
“Warn who?”
“Um, King’s Dream,” she answered as succinctly as possible. People didn’t normally like if she rambled on too much, “They’re, uh, in t-trouble. I’m going to t-track them.”
The runeforged shifted in surprise, “Uriel’s in trouble?”
She found it odd that the woman seemed more concerned about the possible-demon than their cousins but nodded in confirmation anyway.
Her entire body tensed when Padma took her hand and said, “Well, let’s go find them then. I can help you out if there’s trouble. I am an Adventurer, after all.”
Camilla didn’t reply immediately, promptly extricating her hand instead. At the frown she managed to notice she added, “O-okay. This way,” and was glad to see the smile return, avoiding the potential punishment.