Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 194 194 - Building tensions

I finish up my tea together with Brygida. The young witch bravely drinks ever last drop of her much too sweet brew as well. I hope she isn't just doing it because of me. Judging by the way she drinks she is quickly getting used to it though. I'm mostly doing this to buy myself some more time to think. Not that it actually helps. I simply can't come up with a likely culprit. Only afterwards do I take my leave with a polite bow.

"Thank you for your time and the tea. Maybe we'll find time to practice some more spell circles together sometime soon."

Rysia nods in agreement from behind the counter.

"Please do drop by again. We would appreciate it if we could get in some more practice."

With one last smile and wave I'm off. I'm still lost in thought as I step outside. I'll have to gather some more information and although I'm a little worried that the guild may be involved, Jerzy and the other senior members appear to be my best bet in that regard. Well, they are the option most easily available to me anyway. I'm almost certain that Lady Izolda would have an idea as well. Sadly I can't just walk up to the keep to ask her without a quest as an excuse. That's rather troublesome.

On the other hand can I even be certain that she is not involved in some way? She is from the Dawn Empire, isn't she? Would she try to get her hands on the wyvern ahead of the lady who won the bid with the adventurers' guild for placing a quest to capture it? Well, I can't exactly rule it out. Somehow I doubt that Riverrun getting its metaphorical hands on such an asset would remain a secret for long. Where would you even hide a wyvern around here? No, that doesn't sound likely.

At the tavern by the downstream riverfront I find Jerzy sitting in the usual spot, as I enter. He too takes note of me, as does the serving girl which he quickly waves over. By the time I sit down across from the senior guild member I have a mug of beer waiting for me. It's the usual, thus my surprise as I take my first sip is all the greater. I pull a grimace as the bitter taste hits me.

"What the quack!"

Both the serving girl and Jerzy shoot me questioning looks only the latter speaks up though.

"Something wrong?"

I take another sip. It's still bitter, but not as bad as the first time around. I sip some more and my taste buds get used to it again. A shake of the head puts Jerzy's worries to rest, but I elaborate anyway.

"Just got to taste test an entirely too sweet concoction before getting here. Seems it had a lingering effect after all. Made the first sip of beer taste crazy bitter. Not fun. Do not recommend."

Now the serving girl relaxes too, while Jerzy laughs out loud. Actually loud enough to draw some glances from other patrons for once. He sips some of his own mug, once he has calmed back down.

"You always get into some kind of adventure, don't you? Doesn't matter if it's big or small, but there never is a boring day with you?"

I shake my hand in a so so gesture but take my time answering as I sip some more beer to normalize my sense of taste some more.

"I do try for a stupidly boring day every once in a while. It just doesn't work out nearly as often as I might hope it would. Like, you know, I might go out to gather some mushrooms. It's just some shrooms. In the woods not too far from here. What's the worst that could happen? Well? Bam! Some demented Lich gets ideas about boiling my flesh off my bones, which is not my idea of a relaxed day."

I pause to take another sip. My throat needs some whetting after all.

"Neither is it my idea of a good first date or even just a decent pick up line. Thanks, but no thanks. And well, would you believe it? My trip was far from over at that point, but Beldragor already shared those news, didn't he?"

Jerzy chuckles some more, something that might just be genuine amusement showing on his face, at least at first. He quickly sobers up as I mention our mutual dragon acquaintance. He nods.

"Yes, yes he did. Still its crazy to think that someone in our line of business can get in so much trouble in such short a span of time."

Now it's my turn to snort in amusement.

"Well, in my defense. I wasn't out there on guild business, but rather guild business."

I casually play with my adventurers' guild tag.

"And I still was sneaky enough to life and tell the tale. It was a bit closer then I'm comfortable with though."

I pause to hold my hands about a pace apart to demonstrate how close it was.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Jerzy seems confused by the gesture. Maybe because usually one wouldn't hold their hands this far apart? Yes, that might just be it. Usually a much smaller distance would be indicated using thumb and index finger. Seems I have to explain the joke. Damn it all. Seems I just can't catch a break. I let out a sigh and elaborate.

"That's how close one of those strangers got when they passed me by. The one with mixed elf and orc ancestry. Noticed him and his gnome companion just barely in time too. So that is just about how close I came to being fed to a certain scaly menace. Probably."

I empty my mug, fish a penny out of my purse and hand it to the serving girl together with said empty mug to get a refill.

"So, I take it, those weren't friends of yours? Got an idea on whose payroll they might have been then? Because I can't come up with anything good and not for a lack of trying either."

The senior guild member waits for a moment, until I have a refilled mug in hand. Only then does he pick up the conversation again. This time in a slightly quieter tone though, of course without actually whispering as that would just draw more attention. He just speaks quiet and slow enough so the din of the other conversations going on will make it hard to overhear him from further away.

"It's all quite mysterious. But I must admit, I do have a suspicion. We were planning to make the wyvern problem disappear after all, which is not a project we would tackle with out own assets. Certainly not locally, probably not in concert with the guilds from the other cities either. We decided to investigate regarding the availability of some of the more prominent mercenary outfits that might be able to tackle the job."

Understanding dawns upon me as he takes a quick break to whet his own lips. I can already see where this is going, but I don't interrupt the man out of principle. I'm here to hear his conclusions and his story after all, which I can do best if I don't influence his tale with my opinions. Instead I sip some more of my own beer to bridge the silence until he continues.

"One of the outfits we made inquiries about, using other potential job offers as a cover, the Mist Stalkers, a group specialized in covert operations, was surprisingly enough unavailable even for very lucrative contracts that might make them drop other, lesser obligations otherwise. Meaning the front we used offered a contract that could easily have covered for any contract penalties that most basic jobs come with should a mercenary abandon their post. Meaning, they were already hired for some rather involved high paying sort of work where their employer would not take kindly to them high tailing it."

I run a finger along the edge of my mug, as I can feel my [Gather Information] skill improve a little. Beyond that I'm already thinking about what the man just shared with me. Gathering Information is only half the rent after all. We, or I, still have to draw the right conclusions.

"Would they have seven or more competent spellcasters on payroll? The kind that can set up a spellcircle based teleportation trap? And if it's them, you wouldn't happen to know who hired them? That's the really important question after all. And what's up with other mercenary outfits or adventuring groups? Those Mist Stalkers can't be the only ones, right?"

He flashes me a beaming smile over the edge of his mug.

"Right! Straight to the point! Well, the Mist Stalkers would have been the ones best suited to this particular task. Turns out that there currently is a bit of a shortage regarding hired swords in general though. The same is true for adventurers, although some of that can be explained with quite a few of the locals being currently, sort of on vacation with Sezemat's caravan in town."

Again I remain silent and wait for him to continue. I have already done enough prodding after all. I want to hear where he takes this on his own.

"Well, turns out, for many of the less exclusive or secretive mercenaries companies it's much easier to find out who hired them. Turns out, they are all over the place. Just about every lord of any note here on the frontier has hired some. The same is true for the border regions of the neighboring realms. Turns out the local lords there are not very comfortable with a military buildup in this still largely unclaimed territory."

Now that really piques my curiosity. I set my mug down and straighten up a little. I resist the urge to lean in towards Jerzy though.

"Just about every lord of any note? What about Riverrun? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any unfamiliar …"

This time around it's Jerzy's turn to remain silent, as I my eyes widen and I come to my conclusions.

"... gods and goddesses. Play me for a fool, will you? All the new faces among the guard? Is the captain getting ambitious again? Or is it a direct reaction to the setbacks he and his associates suffered in the recent past?"

My [Gather Information] skill improves another bit and I quickly take another sip from my mug to cover my little outburst.

Jerzy in the meantime takes over and speaks up calmly. He seems pleased with the conclusions at which I arrived.

"Ser Joel is ambitious. Always has been. That's nothing new. That he is willing to spend a considerable amount of the money he squirreled away from all his illicit dealings, that's a notable change. And he isn't someone prone to wastefulness or idle spending. For him this is an investment and he must be expecting a return on it. What we don't know is what prompted this change."

It's at this point that an unpleasant tickling sensation runs down my back. The tell tale sign for me that my [Danger Sense] just got triggered. That's not all though. One of my other new skills gets triggered as well, earning me a surprise notification.

[*Ding!* Your skill Monarch's Domain has leveled up to level 3!]

Thanks to this skill I'm aware of Jurand, Jerzy's brother, before he even gets close enough to pull up a chair to join us at the table. Even without turning I can tell, that his hand is resting on the hilt of his short sword, as usual for the man. The skill makes me aware of every slight shift in Jerzy's posture as his brother sits with us as well. It's not just that either, there is a subtle flicker in the man's expression as well, something I might have missed otherwise. That my [Perception] skill improves a little is only a small consolation. Right now what I really take pride in is my [Bluff] skill improving a little, as I manage not to let my discomfort due to this changed perception show.

I don't know what exactly is up, but I'm pretty sure that this is what treachery feels like. What kind of treachery though? Directed at whom? I'm pretty sure that the two are up to something though. Something they are not willing to share with me. Something that most likely will affect me though.

Then the moment that feels impossibly long for me passes and Jerzy speaks up just as his brother drops on the chair next to me.

"There you are! I really need a break. I might have had one too many mug today. Too much going on. Too much information that needs to be passed along. I'll leave the rest to you. Viviona, we'll get in touch if or rather when we can get to the bottom of this."

At this point Jurnd takes over as he shifts to the place Jerzy vacates as he gets up to leave.

"Keep your head low for the time being. Whatever is going on, it'll probably be for the best if no one knows that we know. Most importantly, stay out of trouble with the guard. Right now would be a bad time to burn any assets."

I finish my beer and nod. The suggestion is reasonable enough after all.

"I'll take care. Might look into getting another odd job or two out of town, from the adventurers' guild."

With those words I get up. One last exchange of casual nods later I'm off. Leaving the tavern behind. Something is up and I'm almost certain that these two know exactly what. I'd even be willing to bet good coin on it. Jerzy was right about one thing for sure though. Whatever is going on, it'll probably be for the best if neither he nor his brother knows that I know. Whatever I do, I'll have to play clueless best I can. My [Bluff] skill improving another little bit at least suggests that that's working so far.