The next day, Reginald slowly woke to find Rari and Amora staring politely down at him from their bed. Kalin and Lucas had already left the room. Rari put a finger up to her lips and pointed towards Zoe, snoring on the ground. Reginald nodded, stretched, and then slowly left the room to change. Downstairs the party all gravitated together again for breakfast.
Despite all the strange looks and whispers around them in the bar, Reginald found himself thinking things weren't too bad as long as he wasn't dealing with it alone.
Partway through breakfast, Hugolina and Bradford walked in. As soon as they saw the group, and Amora waving happily at them, they made their way over.
"Good morning," Rari said, "Would you care to join us for a drink?"
Hugolina opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted as Berton gave her a hearty pat on the back.
"We'll get something to drink," Berton said.
"Berton-" Hugolina started.
"You need a drink, Hugo," Berton said, pulling another chair over to the table. "We can talk over drinks."
Hugolina sighed and smiled, her front teeth still looking pearly white. "Alright," she said, "I suppose I oughta take you up on that drink Mrs. Rari."
"My pleasure," Rari said.
When the waiter returned, Berton took a sip of his drink before his glass even touched the table.
"Well," Hugolina said, setting her own glass on the table, "How was Y'alls day yesterday? Any trouble?"
Amora sat up, ears proudly aloft, and said, "We did so much. We did a performance in a bar. Then we talked to a dick that wouldn't say anything until Lucas talked to him. After that, we walked around a bit and found a really nice farmer guy who pointed us towards this man named Geoffrey." Her ears slowly dipped back down, and she added, "We haven't gotten to talk to him yet."
When Amora said, "Geoffrey." Berton's eyes unfocused–suddenly lost in thought. He frowned.
"Well, it seems like you've been busy," Hugolina said, "You're lookin' at Geoffrey to see if he's someone involved in the drug business?"
"Well, you see," Lucas said, "We have, for the most part, confirmed that Geoffrey is not the type to deal in drugs as a provider." Berton nodded his head. "However, as he was hanging around several of the transaction sites and not a contact of the dealer themselves, he is our primary suspect."
"Well," Hugolina said, sipping her drink thoughtfully, "Can't say I'd suspect Geoffrey for much. Never really got a read on that guy, though."
"Which is saying something," Berton said gruffly, "We've run into that man on quite a few occasions. I'd like to think we're good at reading people."
"Not our specialty though," Hugolina said, messing some with Bertron's hair.
Bertron batted away her hand. "Hugo," he said, "I think now should be a good time to break the news."
News? Reginald looked towards Hugolina, clasping his hands together in apprehension.
Hugolina nodded and sat up. "Hate to ruin your breakfast," she said, "But y'all should see, or hear really, about what the body looked like. Ain't normal."
Mr. Wharton's body? Reginald's eyes grew wide.
"And," Berton added, "An effort had been made to make it look normal."
"Rari, you know doctoring stuff, right?" Hugolina said.
Rari nodded. She straightened up in her chair, her tail unfurling from the table leg to sit still on the ground.
YOU ARE READING
Cultural Differences OR I just want my merchant's license.
FantasiReginald wandered his way into a quiet town, where nothing really happens. He came there because it was the closest place to his home town with a merchant's guild--the closest place he could get a merchant's license from. Unfortunately, things do no...
