Chương 22: Case Closed

Captain Hughston was in his office. He listened intently to the report by Private Bradley about the events of last night. How they had followed the bandits from the sewer exit to their hideout in the woods, and the battle that followed between Havlo and the demon mage. Having worked alongside platinum-ranked adventurers in the past, everything sounded within the realm of possibility for a third-circle mage. Particularly as a full third-circle fell into the lower crystal range.

"How are you feeling, private?" he asked Bradley.

"Sir?"

"You've had a hell of an experience, not one many officers see in their first year. Do you have someone to talk to?"

"I'm all right, sir," Bradley replied.

"Take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow too. Make an appointment with the chaplain, and come see me at the start of your next shift back. I want to see how you're doing."

"Thank you, sir." Once Bradley left, Hughston started removing the markers on his map, the ones he'd been using to track the missing persons. At least his most pressing problem was solved. Though it had left behind some lingering questions. He was concerned that this bandit group seemed to have such a powerful demon working for them. He didn't expect they would get any useful answers out of the prisoners. He would have to send a message to the watch captain in Ardark with the new intel he'd gained.

They were surely aware of the problem over there but must have been affected by the same manpower shortage as he was. He didn't harbor much hope of getting any of the missing persons back, but it was all he could do. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door. It was Havlo.

"The man of the hour," he greeted the mage with a grin.

"You'll be able to spare a patrol for the Restwood now, won't you?" Straight to business. But he understood that the mage's help had come with a specific goal.

"Now that the streets of Lorelark are safe, we can cut back on our nightly patrols and spare a squad in that direction," he agreed. Then he added, "But one patrol over such a large area, creatures can still slip through. And if another rock troll shows up, they won't be able to stop it. It will be evacuation orders only." He paused to make sure the mage understood what he was saying before continuing, "At the moment our best forces are stationed on the road to Ardark.

We can do even better for Restford once that road is cleared of bandits. If that's something you can help—""I don't have the time," Havlo cut in.

"Maybe I'll take a look once I've handled business over at Ygg Latten Bay." Of course. All the bigshots were heading over to the bay.

"In that case, please stop by next time you're passing through. You've done us an incredible service, and we always show our gratitude. I'll be making my report to the city council shortly. They'll certainly authorize a suitable reward for you. And I can also testify on your behalf to the guild, help you get a promotion. A man like you shouldn't be made to wear a bronze badge."

"None of that will be necessary Just make sure the people of Restford are safe."

"Of course, of course," he said quickly.

"But these rewards will be in addition—""I don't need the money or the badge. And I'd rather you keep my involvement in this out of your report and also not involve the guild."

"The reward will be at least ten gold—""Put that money toward Restford," Havlo said. Once the mage had left, Hughston began drafting his presentation to the city council. The council consisted of Lorelark's most influential nobles, and it controlled the city's purse strings. Their approval was required for any new public spending. He sat there for a long while trying to think of how to impress upon them the importance of protecting Restford. The mage had given up ten gold without a second thought.

That's how much this sleepy little village meant to him. He was still trying to think of an idea when another visitor appeared in his office. It was Guildmaster Gil. Gil slipped into the visitor's chair without waiting for an invitation.

"Hughston, we've got to do something to secure Restford." He grinned at his friend.

"The mage got to you too?" Gil momentarily looked surprised before regaining his composure.

"My source has impressed upon me their desire to remain anonymous." It took a second for the gears in Hughston's head to click into place and he nodded slowly.

"Of course. I was careless. I too have been in contact with an individual who wishes to remain anonymous. They—" He was careful to avoid giving anything away, not even their gender.

"—actually told me not to get the guild involved. So I'm rather surprised that they sent you here."

"Now that you mention it, they didn't," Gil said fretfully.

"Maybe I was meant to take the matter directly to the city council." Hughston shook his head. Those crystal-rankers were always thinking two steps ahead. It was such an obvious solution now that it was right in front of him. How do you impress upon a bunch of nobles about the importance of an insignificant village? If only one public official brought the matter forward, it might sway them or it might not. But if two were to come forth independently...

"It's a good thing you came anyway," he said.

"I've been having a hard time figuring out how to make my report without giving any details away about our... hero."

"Isn't it enough just to say it's an anonymous crystal-ranker?" Gil asked.

"There's three problems with that," he explained.

"First, they technically aren't a crystal, are they? They're a bronze."

"Silver now."

"You guys really are stingy about those promotions, aren't you?" Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"I offered more. They didn't want to take it," Gil said crankily.

"Let's stop talking about this. I've already said more than I should." He nodded.

"The second problem is that the nobles on the council are a nosy bunch. They'll pry. Considering how manipulative these nobles are, and that we've already let slip a few details to each other despite our best efforts, we're going to end up betraying the identity of our hero without meaning to."

"Then we'll just refuse to answer any questions," Gil said flatly.

"And that leads into the third problem. We're going there to secure funding for Restford. What are the chances we're going to get that when we tell the council that it's to appease an anonymous crystal-ranker whose name we refuse to divulge and who we refuse to answer any questions about?" Gil scratched his head.

"You didn't tell me when I took this job that I have to deal so much with nobles."

"I'm sorry, old friend." They both sat there despondently. They both knew the importance of Restford even if they didn't understand the reasons. But how were they meant to get that message across to the city council? An idea occurred to him.

"What if we twist the truth a little?"

"You mean lie?"

"We don't have to lie," he said.

"But there aren't that many crystal-rankers around, right? So we just have to picture one of them in our mind when answering questions in the vaguest possible way."

"It can't be someone active or it might get back to them," Gil pointed out.

"Or worse, we pick the right person by mistake, and our anonymous hero really is them."

"Right, right," Hughston agreed.

"So we have to pick someone it definitely won't be, and who it will never get back to." Gil raised an eyebrow.

"How is that even possible?"

"There's one crystal-rank mage who hasn't been seen in two hundred years." Gil let out a slow breath.

"The Amber Mage."

"The Amber Mage," he said with a grin.

Havlo made his way quickly to the city dungeons where the bandits had been taken, and this time hopefully that was where they would stay. As the guards prepared to move the prisoners' belongings into storage, he pointed at the gittar.

"Can I borrow that for a second?" They handed it to him without question. He brought the gittar with him into the cells. The wolfkin bard was being housed with the other male bandits while the female mage was in a separate cell just as before.

"How much for your instrument?" he asked the bard, showing him the gittar. The bard looked confused.

"You're actually asking to buy it?"

"It's yours, isn't it?"

"I guess I just expected you would take it, if it caught your fancy."

"You may be a criminal, but this is your possession. If one day you earn your freedom, you would be entitled to get it back. Therefore to just take it would be theft." The bard continued to look at him strangely.

"Is this the sensibilities of an elf? Do you know where you are? This is a human city."

"Whatever land I'm in, I have to follow my own conscience," he replied.

"What good does your conscience do me? Any money you offer to pay will go with the rest of my belongings, where it will be picked through and stolen by the guards. I will get none of it back if I ever see the light of day again."

"The city watch here are good people."" Most of them are good people," the bard said.

"But all it takes is one thief, or one good person to fall behind on his boots payments and convince himself that unsanctioned theft is justifiable against someone who's locked up."

"The choice is up to you."

"Why do you want my gittar anyway? It's a cheap knock-off I bought for ninety silver from a lying peddler when I was too young to know any better."

"It clearly plays well enough," Havlo said.

"It took me years to learn the idiosyncracies of that instrument. Whoever you're giving it to is going to have a hard time."

"Yet you've cared for it all these years." The bard took a moment to think.

"I'll sell it to you on one condition. Don't hand the money over to the watch. Instead deliver it to my daughter."

"Where is your daughter?"

"She lives in Wuuf Woofba. Her name is Lepidora Luminora. Get the money into her hands and no one else's." Havlo regarded the bard with suspicion.

"What's this really about?"

"Will you do it?"

"Is she a criminal like you?"

"Completely clean."

"On the condition that she's an honorable person and that it may be a year or more before I happen to be in that area," Havlo said.

"It isn't like I'll be getting out anytime soon," the bard said.

"But you will get it to her within two years?"

"I can do that."

"Then you can have it for what I paid for it." He gave this some thought. Having looked at some shops previously, this was a fair price. He wanted to get Lady Amberlin an instrument without making her suspicious about his wealth. With this arrangement, he could claim that he got it for cheap, and she need not ever know the true cost.

"That is acceptable," he said.

"Now, is there a message you want me to pass along with the money?"

Havlo hurried back to the Wicked Heart Inn. He'd hoped to catch Lady Amberlin before she left to conduct her business for the day, but it was already midmorning. He wanted to give her the good news about Restford so that they could begin to make their preparations to depart for Ygg Latten Bay, where he could check up on the second keystone. Luckily it seemed that she was still in her room, as when he knocked, he heard some noises from within. The door opened, and he was surprised to find Evelyn beside her.

The substitute guild receptionist gave him a warm smile and turned back to Lady Amberlin.

"It's about time I left anyway. I don't want to get between you and your apprentice." When Evelyn slipped past, he noticed that while she was exhausted, she was no longer upset about her friend, as she had been on the way back from the bandit cave. In fact she looked positively joyful. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Come in, Havlo!" Lady Amberlin chirped.

"This is good timing. I wanted to talk to you about our future travel plans."

"I'd like us to go to Ygg Latten Bay next," he said immediately. She nodded.

"I've heard it's a nice place. And it sounds like there's something interesting happening over there at the moment." He paused.

"Really?" After seeing Evelyn in here, he'd been expecting—"But we're going to Ardark first. I want to put a stop to the kidnapping ring and save all the victims that I can."

"Can't we do it in the other order?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"There'll be time for fun after we save some lives," she said firmly. Then she added more gently, "Of course I'm not forcing you to come with me. It's a scary and dangerous job. You can go to Ygg Latten Bay without me, and I can meet you there once I'm done." Splitting up was out of the question. His sworn duty was to serve the Second Apostle. He had to go where she went and assist her where he could. He wished he could tell her about the keystone, but that would violate the orders of the First Apostle.

"Of course I'm going with you," he said. Her smile warmed his heart. She was such a kind and compassionate soul. Her only reason for going to Ardark was to help people. It was what the Apostle was meant to do. He also didn't blame Evelyn for doing what she did. She was only trying to save her friend, and when he turned down her request to travel to Ardark to find Amy, it was only natural that she would think to approach his master. The problem was himself. He had doubts over whether this was the right path.

But wasn't the path chosen by the Second Apostle destined to be the right path? This was a question he would have to ask the Saint. While he was very talented at magic, matters of philosophy and faith always gave him a headache. In the past it had been so easy, since all he had to do was obey the Apostle's instructions. No, that wasn't true. He'd had many arguments with the First Apostle and the Amber Saint. He'd always been headstrong and stubborn.

Those character flaws went hand-in-hand with the sort of personality that drove him to excel at magic.

"The only problem is that I don't want to leave Restford vulnerable to monsters," she said.

"I hope Lorelark will do something about it soon."

"I've heard that the city council will be making a decision on that today," he said.

"We should find out by this evening."

"Then we should make ready to leave tomorrow morning. Which doesn't give me much time to finish all the errands I've got to run today." She gave him a quick look-over.

"It looks like you're going to need the day to recover from that party you went to last night. Don't worry, you can leave all the preparations to me. We want you well-rested when we hit the road." He couldn't really object because he was actually pretty tired. She helped him to his room. It was only after she'd run off that he remembered the gittar. It was still sitting in his inventory. He'd just have to give it to her at dinner.

He used his inventory to switch out into his nightgown and plopped into bed, where he immediately fell asleep.