The Golden Flagon was eerily empty. A good thing, too, because it let Li pack in all the beastwomen and captive humans into the confines of the inn's first floor. Ven'Thur was rather considerate, piloting his mind-controlled subjects so that they took up the space efficiently. 

The lantern lights were on in the inn, flickering at regular intervals around the walls and making everyone's shadows cast long and narrow across the floor. The innkeeper who doubled as a bartender was still there, eyeing the new crowd of strange people with a raised brow, but overall, he did not seem to be too phased, as if he had expected this. 

"Innkeep, the hell's goin' on?" said Azhar as he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders – a habit of his that he did every time he got healed. He had Meld's badge wrapped in one of his hands, ready to flash it to avoid unnecessary conflicts. "Ain't nobody round' here, and it ain't like we adventurers ever have days off."

The innkeep answered. "The heroes have told me about this case of yours and ordered me to empty the flagon's rooms for tonight. A good thing, too, considering how many are now here." He pushed his spectacles up as he got a better look at the room and its wide breadth of denizens. His eyes showed only mild interest, making it evident that as an innkeep for adventurers, nothing was truly out of the ordinary for him. 

"Ah yes, the honored Meld also wishes me to tell the good Easterner that should you be here before them, to simply wait. She understands that you may have finished this task much sooner than them and does not want you to worry." 

"That so? Guess it means we're ahead of schedule," said Azhar as he took a seat at one of the few empty tables. 

Li sat next to him and wondered. "It means she had a feeling we would get through with this sooner than them."

"Good thing she knows we're better than her and her mutant folk," said Azhar with a shrug. 

"You really don't like these heroes, do you? It's quite refreshing to see, honestly. I'm kind of tired seeing so many people lick these heroes' boots."

"After the demon wars, the heroes took to makin' sure us hinterlanders out west didn't raid or make any noise no more. Beat down our chiefs while we were still reelin' from the demon war, the same war where the capitol didn't lift a finger to help us and told us to be obedient little folk or else. People here know of these mutants as war heroes, but there ain't one man's hero is another man's villain if ya ask me."

"I see." Li put a contemplative finger to his chin. "Doesn't seem like the heroes are too well liked outside the boundaries of this duchy, then. From what I know of them, it seems like they're used like superweapons against other countries like the Republic. Can't imagine that fosters goodwill either."

"Right." Azhar sighed. "But ain't like I can blame these folk either. Demon war did hit em' hard, and heroes did pull em' outta' it, no question bout' that. Hate to admit it, but without that shining bastard of a hero, we'd all be demon food. Makes sense they treat these heroes like gods."

"Considering how the duchess has intertwined the heroes in the religion, it's worship in a very literal sense." Li waved the topic away. "But that's that. What I'm interested about is why Meld would have a contingency in case we finished our raid sooner than them."

Azhar blinked. "Why? Ain't it proper procedure? I know when we adventurers get on multi-party hunts, the party that gets back first waits for the others to be done with their parts."

Li waved his hand down, motioning for Azhar to speak quieter. 

"That's true, but at the same time, look at how these raiding parties were divided up." Li raised a finger. "We all struck at around the same time. The first part consisted of elite members of the knights of Lys. Second was Jeanne, Sylvie, and the two heroes. Then it's us.

From sheer numbers alone, it would feel like we would have the least manpower being a two man party. Yet Meld left a message singled out for us in case we got here early."

"Singled out for you specifically. 'Easterner' and all that," muttered Azhar.

"It's like she expected us to b early. Obviously, she could have had a message tailored to each group, but this still bugs me."

Azhar came to a worried realization. "Figure they know somethin' bout what you really are? What you can really do?" 

"I've always suspected they had an idea of my power. Obviously, I highly doubt they know what I am. From my experiences, when I'm in this human form, nobody, not even the strongest of vampires of spirits, can find out what I am. But they do know that I am a threat, and they tiptoe around me. They accommodate me far more than they should."

"Well, ain't that a good thing?"

"You could say that," said Li. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, his voice rising above a whisper. "It saves me the trouble of having to put them in their place and causing a huge commotion. And here they are."

Azhar gave Li a wondering look for just a second before he nodded in understanding. By now, the bowman understood that Li had supernatural senses and to accept what was said to him. 

In a few minutes, Meld, Thunderstrike, Jeanne, and Sylvie came in through the inn doors. Meld and Sylvie were at the front, discussing things with each other while Thunderstrike and Jeanne trailed behind. 

Thunderstrike was ever as steely as ever, his arms crossed as he hovered forwards with a stone cold expression while Jeanne lightly walked behind him, her hands behind her back in a delicate, feminine gait that belied the full plate armor that shook around her frame. 

Meld was the first to notice Li. She broke off from talking with Sylvie with a polite nod before waving her hand in a greeting. 

"Excellent work, you two. Truly, I knew I could place my trust within your capabilities." Meld looked around the room, and Li could not tell whether she could see through her blindfold or whether she did this to make it seem like she was physically looking. "Hm, but I see you have also run into a matter of where to put these victims."

As the door closed behind them, Thunderstrike hovered in front of Li, looking down at his seated form with a scarred leer. "Odd. We found that foul black magics had taken ahold of the victims, making moving them difficult. Yet you have managed to seemingly command these monsters and knaves, bringing them here as if you had mastery over the very dark arts that compel them."

"Yeah, I might know one or two things above elementary magic," said Li. "What about it?" 

"Dabbling in the dark arts is a criminal offense of the highest caliber," said Thunderstrike.

"And one that does not apply here," chimed in Meld. "He is a foreigner, and what he has learned in his land cannot be judged under the laws of this land. Show some understanding, Thunderstrike."

Thunderstrike changed the direction of his leer to Meld. "Perhaps your time mingling in the north has made you soft."

"And your time fighting in it has made you hard headed." Meld held up an authoratitative hand. "Regardless, I am the one with the authority over this case. You would not want me to report that you were being difficult, would you? Your recent spate of failures will not mix well with that."

"Hmph. Do as you wish. I for one will not sully myself working with foul magic." Thunderstrike promptly floated away, retreating to the corner of the inn, pushing away several beastwomen roughly as he made his way there. 

"My apologies for my fellow hero," said Meld. 

"Working with difficult stupidity isn't new to me," said Li. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to drop me from this case?"

Meld shook her head. "No, rather, it will be quite fortunate to have someone that knows how these mind-altering curses work. Not even Jeanne, an accomplished priest, could cleanse them, indicating they hail from an evil far greater than we once thought. I will have to update the threat level of this case by several levels."

Li had communicated with Ven'thur telepathically on the way here, and he knew from the lich that all three of his phylacteries were still intact and still where they were – hidden quite well in both locations that Meld and the knights of Lys raided. Which meant that they had not found the phylacteries, explaining why they could not dispel the mind control by breaking the cores. 

"So what are you planning on asking me?" said Li, not beating around the bush.

"It would greatly aid this investigation were you to use your knowledge to move the victims like you have here," said Meld. "Elsewise we will have to manually move all the victims. That alone is not the most pressing issue. It is that without dispelling the curse, there is no way to question these victims."

"There is also the issue of housing them," cut in Sylvie as she drew nearer to the table. She looked to Meld and then to Li and Azhar. "I was discussing this with you. If you have the power to empty the Golden Flagon like this, then all the beastwomen can be housed here for a day or two or however long it will take for Li to cure them. The adventurers can weather the inconvenience, especially if the duchess compensates them for staying at other inns. No adventurer will turn their back on gold."

"You certainly have valid points, but the concerns to security are far too much." Meld shook her head. "They must be held at the dungeons. They will not be treated like prisoners, I assure you, and I do not mean to condemn them behind bars. But behind bars is the safest place there is in this whole city. If there are those that wished to close their mouths by killing them, then what more secure place would there be than the dungeons?"

"No," said Azhar defiantly. "You ain't lockin' em' up. Human witnesses ain't locked up, why should they be? They've suffered enough."

Li understood why Sylvie had looked to him and Azhar. She had wanted Azhar to bring this point up, knowing that the hinterlander had a soft spot for the beastwomen. Then she wanted Li to oppose Meld, and as he thought about it, he did have valid reasons to.

"He's right," said Li. "They aren't prisoners. They're victims, just like you said. If you want me to help, then you're going to guarantee that they're going to stay where we-," Li motioned to Azhar, Sylvie, and Jeanne. "Want them to stay."

"And safety is of no concern," said Sylvie. "Adventurers will still come here for meetings and to see the signboard for quests that the guild misses out on. I daresay that the Flagon will be better guarded than the dungeons with how many of us there are."

Thunderstrike began to hover forwards again, but Meld held up her hand, standing him down. "That is reasonable. Then, will you excuse us? I must head the efforts to bring the victims here. Certainly, though, you are free to join us if you wish. Especially you, Easterner. It will be useful to have your ability to mend the curse to have them follow us."

"Go on ahead," said Li. "I need to get a few things ready first."

"Very well." Meld bowed her head. "I must say it is an absolute pleasure to have worked with all of you."