by D. S. Craig
We followed the barkeep up the stairs, where we found a single hallway running the building’s length, with only two doors. We passed the first and headed to the second about three-quarters of the way down the hall. Stopping in front of it, the barkeep knocked three times. “Boss, you have some guests! The redhead girl and her cat familiar.”
“Let ’em in,” Dag’s familiar voice called back from the other side of the door. Upon hearing his response, the barkeep winced.
“Not this crap again.” Muttering softly enough that only my cat ears picked up on it, he pushed the door open.
Stepping inside, I was surprised to find that the room was extravagantly furnished. Expensive-looking curtains hung in front of the windows. Sitting in front of the ornately carved desk were two chairs, whose seats were covered in what appeared to be dyed leather. They almost looked like they might be comfortable to sit in. In addition to that, several fancy looking bookshelves, neatly stacked, lined the walls.
All in all, it was ultimately the opposite of Dag’s chaotic and messy looking stall that he ran down in the market. Even his apparel was completely different. Rather than a dirty cloak, Dag wore a clean, black cloak with no hood, his face covered by a black masquerade mask. Under the cloak, his outfit was a simple but elegant tunic and trousers, similar to something a middle-grade merchant might wear.
Lesti eyed him suspiciously. “You know, that accent of yours really doesn’t match your outfit or the decor. Would you mind dropping it?”
“Tch,” Dag clicked his tongue at her. “What do you have to be such a stick-in-the-mud for? I put a lot of work into that accent, I’ll have you know.”
“Boss, I understand using the accent down in the market.” The barkeep stared at Dag with an exasperated expression. “But the girl’s right. It doesn’t make any sense to use it here. Besides, it’s kind of annoying.”
“You too, Gladius?” Dag looked at his subordinate with a disappointed expression. “Fine. I’ll keep your opinion in mind for the future. Now, hurry up and get out of here. If she’s here, then we have important business to discuss.”
“Yes, sir.” Gladius made to head for the door but stopped glancing back over his shoulder. “If he gives you any trouble, just yell, and I’ll come put him in his place.”
Dag watched as he closed the door behind him before turning his attention back to us. “So, what can I help you two with? It must be pretty important if you’re coming to see me this late.”
Lesti walked over and took a seat in one of the comfy-looking chairs. “I need any information you can give me on Baron Arvis of the Gambriel territory.”
Dag narrowed his eyes at her. “Well, that’s not what I expected to hear. What are you doing getting involved in another territory’s business?”
I hopped up on Lesti’s lap. “It involves a friend of ours, and besides, we were requested to help with the matter by a member of the family, so it’s not really interfering.”
“A friend? You must mean the pink-haired girl, then. Rose, was it?”
“That’s right.” Lesti adjusted her posture, sitting up straight. “Still, what gives? You’re awfully loose-lipped tonight. Normally, you would have been milking me for all I was worth.”
Dag grinned mischievously. “That’s all part of the act that I use when I’m out and about. Although, I will say it does bring in a nice bit of coin on the side. But the commander would have my hide if he found out that I tried to get money out of you when I wasn’t undercover.”
I was starting to get a little curious about who this commander figure might be, but Lesti didn’t seem to care. “Well, that’s a big help for me,” she said. “I still think it was worth it, but your information was quite a drain on my expenses. So, are you going to tell me what you know about Arvis or not?”
“First, let’s start with what you know.”
Lesti gave Dag a brief rundown of everything we knew, leaving out the bits about Rose’s abilities. Apparently, she didn’t trust him completely. Dag listened calmly the entire time, although once or twice I noticed his expression shift slightly, perhaps getting some new insights into the situation.
When Lesti was done, he let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair. “Well, it sounds like things are progressing more quickly than I thought. What a pain.”
After a moment of collecting his thoughts, he leaned forward again. “Based on what you’ve told me, you know just about everything about the situation. However, there are two pieces that you’re missing.”
“What would those be?” Lesti asked.
“First, that girl has been in the baron’s custody for years now. Based on reports I’ve received, she’s been there since she was around eight years old.”
“That long?” I felt Lesti tense up underneath me. “What about her family? I’m surprised they haven’t said anything.”
“That’s the second thing. The family supposedly died in a fire years ago. That’s why the baron brought her into his household.” Dag paused for a moment, his expression growing dark, before continuing. “Sadly, the bodies were never found. Burned to ash, they said.”
Lesti rolled her eyes. “There’s no way that’s true. Only a few things in this entire world can burn hot enough to reduce even a person’s bones to ash. I doubt a random commoner family was dealing with something that would cause that.”
“Yeah. It’s pretty obviously a lie, but they managed to come up with a plausible enough excuse. Plus, even when we searched all of the baron’s estates, the family was never found.”
“Couldn’t he have just been holding them somewhere else?” I chimed in with my own theory. “If I were trying to hide them, then I’d keep them someplace that’s seemingly unassociated with me.”
Dag began to rhythmically tap the table with his pointer finger. “Trust me, Lord Gambriel thought of that as well. For a while, he was digging into any hidden estates or connections that the baron might have, but he wasn’t able to turn up anything.”
“You say that he wasn’t able to find anything, but does that mean you have?” Lesti jumped in and asked the question just a moment before me. Dag’s tone implied that he knew something.
“That’s right. Recently, we were able to find a few especially fancy estates here in the city that belonged to merchants who shouldn’t be able to afford them. When we looked into the ledgers, we found that the numbers didn’t add up. So, we started looking into where the extra money came from, and low and behold—it all traced right back to some minor noble in the baron’s region.”
“Not to the baron himself?” I asked.
“We have yet to find any direct link between the baron and the noble besides the obvious, but that’s in part because our investigation was put on hold, due to a more pressing matter.”
“I’m honestly surprised that you looked into the situation at all.” Lesti locked her gaze onto Dag, staring daggers at him. “There’s nothing in it for you that I can see, especially since you’re just giving us this information for free.”
Dag smiled wryly at her. “Let’s just say that the baron’s coup doesn’t align with my organization’s interests, and leave it at that. Besides, I’m not giving you this information for free. I’m using you as an informant.”
“An informant?” Lesti asked.
“That’s right. As I said before, we have more pressing matters to attend to now, so I really couldn’t spare anyone to send word to the Gambriel family. However, if you and the Elliot boy are involved, then that changes things. Do me a favor and pass on what I’ve told you to him.”
“That’s fine with me.” Lesti stood up, holding me in her arms. “But I can’t guarantee that he’ll trust the information.”
Dag leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment, as if considering something, before opening them once more. “If he gives you any trouble, just tell him the information comes from the Shadow Dragon Brigade. That should take care of any objections he has.”
“Alright, I’
ll take care of it.” Lesti turned on her heel and started out of the room, pausing as she reached for the door. “One last thing. If I find out that any of the information you gave me here today is bad or that you used me for some ill purpose, I’ll have Astria beat the crap out of you and take back all of the money I paid you before.”
Without waiting for his response, she opened the door and stepped into the hall. I hopped out of her arms and walked alongside her as we made our way back to the first floor. “Are you sure threatening him was a good idea?”
“I’m not too worried about it.” Lesti grimaced slightly, “I doubt he gave us bad information, but I didn’t like him using us for his own benefit like that. If you show somebody like that an ounce of weakness, they’ll take advantage of you every chance they get.”
I couldn’t say that I disagreed with her logic, but I was concerned about making an enemy out of Dag. Before, he had just been some creep who sold information down in the market. Sure, he had been suspiciously well informed, but he didn’t seem to hold any power that I could tell. That was all completely out the window now.
As we exited the kitchen and entered the bar area, I was surprised to find it empty except for Gladius. We hadn’t been upstairs all that long, so it shouldn’t have been late enough for the place to be closing down. More likely, the men that we had seen were all part of Dag’s brigade and had left on assignments while we were talking.
Gladius gave us a brief nod as his only acknowledgment before we walked wordlessly out into lantern-lit streets of the red light district. As we made our way back toward the academy, I took one last glance behind me, burning the image of the place into my memory. There was a good chance I’d need to come back here again someday, much as I loathed the idea.
Secret Summons
The next morning, I found myself sitting in the same tree that I had used to hide from Fang the day I met Rose. After yesterday’s events, Lesti asked me to keep an eye out and make sure no suspicious characters were hanging around. I highly doubted it would be an issue while she was on campus, but it was better safe than sorry.
So, I lazily napped in the tree, using my magic sense to keep an eye out for anyone approaching the little garden as Rose toiled away. It looks like this morning is going to be pretty uneventful. Classes should be starting soon. I let out a content purr, thinking I would be released from my watch duty after a few more minutes. However, as if the world were trying to spite me, I noticed someone approaching Rose just as she started to put away her tools.
Opening my eyes, I could see it was a younger male student, black hair pulled back into a long ponytail. It was a style popular among the noble boys. That, combined with the way he carried himself, pretty much confirmed his status in society. Although, looking closely, he seemed quite nervous for someone just out for a stroll.
As he approached Rose, he stuck a hand into his pocket and glanced around, making sure no one was watching. I felt the muscles in my body tense up, and I made my way to the ground, stalking after the boy just in case. Rose didn’t seem to notice his approach as she lined up her hoe with the other tools along the dormitory’s back wall.
The boy slowly pulled something out of his pocket, carefully hiding it in his palm in such a way that no one was likely to see it. Even with my keen feline vision, I couldn’t make out what it was. Assuming the worst, I increased my pace, closing the gap between us. Just as the boy got close to Rose, I came up behind him and transformed.
Then he called out, “Is your name Rose?”
Turning around to face the boy, Rose froze with a look of pure terror on her face. Her eyes were wide, and her face went pale. For a moment, it seemed like she might have even forgotten to breathe. The boy held out his hand, but to my relief, it wasn’t a weapon, but rather a small, rolled-up piece of parchment that he held. Feeling a sense of relief, I released my tiger transformation, which also seemed to cause Rose to start breathing again as well. Apparently, I had been the one who had scared her, and not the boy.
“Y-yes, that’s me. Can I help you with something?”
“I was asked to deliver this note to you.” He glanced around nervously, still not noticing me crouched down in his shadow. “It’s apparently top-secret, so make sure you don’t share it with anyone.”
He quickly shoved the note into Rose’s hand, not waiting for her to respond. Then he hastily walked off and headed for the main building without ever looking back.
As soon as he rounded the corner, I looked up at Rose. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought he might have had a weapon.”
“It’s fine,” She paused and took a deep breath, some of the color finally returning to her face. “I was just startled, is all.”
I felt bad, but there were more important things to worry about. “So, what’s in the note? Based on the way he was acting, I can’t imagine it’s anything good.”
Rose’s expression grew troubled as she undid the wax seal on the note, unfurling it. Upon reading it, the color slowly drained from her face once again, and her hands started to shake. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
Rose turned and started to hurry off, but I darted into her path and stopped her. Something was clearly wrong, and I needed to find out what. “Sorry, but I can’t let you go wandering off by yourself after what happened yesterday. I’m coming with you.”
“Astria, please. I know you’re just looking out for me, but you can’t come with me. I need to be alone. Otherwise, who knows what they’ll do…” Rose’s voice trailed off, and she clutched the paper tightly to her chest.
It was a risky move, but I decided to try and use the information we had gotten from Dag the night before. “What they’ll do to who? Your family?”
Rose’s body went rigid, and she stared at me, frozen like a statue until a whisper finally escaped her lips. “How do you know about that?”
“Lesti and I did a little digging last night. I still don’t know the details, but they’re alive right?”
“I-I can’t. If they find out that you know—” Rose stammered as she struggled to find a response. The fear and uncertainty she was feeling was something I had never had to deal with, coming from a mostly peaceful world. The closest experience I had was our fight with Thel’al, but that would have to do.
“Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen to them.” I rubbed against Rose’s leg, then looked up at her, mustering as much confidence as I could. “We’ll rescue them and put an end to Baron Arvis’s plans, no matter what. So, will you let us help you?”
She stood there for a long moment staring at the note in her hands, clutching it tightly. This was one of those moments where I wished that Lesti was around. She was a lot better at handling situations like this than I was. Seeing her hesitation, I started to think of some way to give her one more push.
Before I could, she finally responded, “Okay. I’ll trust you. Please help me save my family.”
Her voice was unsteady, and her hands shook, but the look in her eyes was resolute. Seeing her courage, I felt a gentle thrumming rise up in my chest. “Yeah. Leave it to us. Now, let’s get moving, you can fill me in on the way, and I’ll stay out of sight so that they think you’re alone.”
With that, I darted off and headed toward the front gate of the school via a separate route from Rose’s. Getting there first, I waited for her to get into the street before following cautiously behind her. Along the way, she filled me in on the state of her family. It matched up with the information we had gotten from Dag. Unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed to see them and didn’t know where they were being held.
She also filled me in on how the baron was planning to use her ability. It seemed that he wanted Rose to make artifacts he could use to overpower Lord Gambriel and his forces. However, Rose didn’t understand how her ability worked and wasn’t capable of creating artifacts. So, he had sent her to the academy, hoping that she could find something there to break through her limitations. That play hadn’t managed to
pay off, though, as Rose still hadn’t made any progress toward his goal.
As I mulled over these revelations, we made our way through the merchant district, heading to where I had previously followed Aurelia. However, before we could get to the area with the large manors owned by lesser nobles, we turned down a side street. The buildings here were still rather grand, but couldn’t quite be called mansions. Even so, they were larger than anything an ordinary merchant could afford.
After walking down this street for a while, Rose checked her surroundings and knocked on one home’s door. A moment later, a maid answered and showed her in, quickly closing the door behind her. Well, this is going to be a problem. How am I going to get in there?
I looked around for some other way to get into the estate, but all of the windows were shut tight. I quickly circled around back; the door there was locked as well, and the windows were still sealed. Just as I was about to give up and pry one of the windows open with brute force, I heard someone fiddling with the back door. A maid carrying a basket of clothes quickly stepped out and made to close the door behind her. However, she lost the grip on her basket and paused to prevent herself from dropping it.
During that brief moment where she was distracted, I boosted my speed to the max with magic and darted inside. A moment later, the door closed, and I heard the scraping of the key as she locked it from the outside. That’s rather paranoid. They must not want anyone to get in here.
Looking around, I found myself alone in the hallway, though I was able to hear some muffled noise coming from the floor above me. I started slinking my way along the halls of the manor, looking for a way up to the second floor. Unlike the noble mansion I had snuck into, this place was fairly average on the inside. It lacked the glamorous decorations, relying instead on size to convey the wealth of the owner.
My search eventually led me to the front door, where I found a large parlor with a single staircase leading to the second floor. I could hear the voices above a little more clearly. I crawled up the stairs, keeping my body as low as I could. Upon reaching the top, I saw a door about halfway down the hall that was barely cracked open.
