Rothester

Chapter 27: Investigation

In the dead of night, a lone figure wearing worn, torn, dirty, and baggy clothes walks through the empty slums of Egwater. A light mist reduces visibility as the figure disappears with every turn around a corner. Only the dim moonlight provides any light for anyone traveling anywhere.

After endlessly walking in random directions, seemingly lost and confused, the figure enters a narrow alleyway. He's repeatedly mumbling and rambling to himself, seemingly crazy in the eyes of a spectator.

The figure reaches the end of the alley, still walking with haste. As he exits, he suddenly bumps into another person who walked out right in front of him. The two people stumble after running into each other, and one of them growls in frustration.

"Watch it, pal!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry."

The rambling figure continues to mumble apologies and walks off without making eye contact. The man he bumped into just angrily stares as he watches the drifter disappear into the mist that covers the city.

"Bloody drug addicts," the man audibly complains before he continues on his way.

The man casually walks along the sidewalk, still visually bothered about his encounter with the stranger. Upon reaching the front door of a particular building along the street, he calmly enters and shuts the door behind him.

"Solomon, you're back. How was the walk?"

"About as great as it can get in this city. Ran into some bum on the way back."

Solomon, one of the three Raven agents in Efielge, usually strolls around the neighborhood during the nights every once in a while. Occasionally, he'll come across some shady individual with whom he'll briefly cross paths. It's their way of passing along relevant information from one spy to another.

"A bum? Anything else?"

"Yeah, he dropped this." Solomon takes out a small pouch he took from the rambling man he bumped into and throws it at Caleb, his fellow agent.

Caleb catches the pouch and immediately opens it to retrieve a small scrunched-up piece of paper.

"Where's Ross? Sleeping?" Solomon asks.

"No. She's awake. Mind getting her?"

Solomon exits the living room and climbs up the stairs, leaving Caleb to read the note by himself. A moment later, Solomon returns with Eleanor following behind.

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, this." Caleb holds up the piece of paper for Eleanor to see. "It's from one of the Ravens in Scorrest. They intercepted a message circulating within the STC."

"What's the message?"

"The Tabellarri has been dispatched to help the STC with their 'economic rivalry'."

"So it's about Ross' boyfriend then?" Solomon comments.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's our ally," Eleanor counters.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Quiet, you two. It says that a few days after the message was intercepted, a suspected Tabellarri agent contacted a local bandit group to ambush a nearby convoy returning from the Heimfara Mountains."

"That's gotta be him," Solomon says before turning to Eleanor. "You said his business trip took him to the Heimfara Mountains, right?"

"Yes. He was supposed to supervise the delivery of mining equipment to the SouthHeim Mining Company."