“That was certainly faster than I expected,” Alvis mused, “but it will help if you have an idea of what you are looking for. Has Alois ever told you his family name?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I replied.

“Interesting,”

“We looked into the heads of the merchant association here,” Keane explained, “Everything is under the control of the Cano family.”

“So Alois is Alois Cano?” Rena asked.

“Since he was disinherited, he lost his last name,” I pointed out, “but I think that is the family he mentioned. He did say that they are the heads of the merchant association.”

“They work fast too,” Alvis continued, “We have already received an invitation to meet the head of the family.”

“We?” I questioned.

Alvis handed over the invitation. “It is addressed to the current headmaster and tenth princess.”

I took a look at the invitation. “This works out well for us. We needed to investigate them anyway.”

“Am I accompanying you?” Storm asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “You are my bodyguard. It wouldn’t make sense for leave you behind to visit a merchant association. If it was somewhere like the castle that might be different.”

“Isn’t the castle one of the most dangerous places?” Storm questioned, “Or is it different here?”

“I don’t know about it being the most dangerous, but it certainly isn’t safe.”

“Is there anywhere that is truly safe?” Alvis pointed out with a wry smile, “More importantly, what is the plan? Are you going to enlist them to help you with the search or will you simply accept the invitation politely?”

“That depends on their attitude but I contacted Silas first so I want to work with him, if possible. I might buy something from them if there is anything that catches my eye.”

“But you don’t want to support traitors financially?” Alvis asked, his smile turning devious, “Well, possible traitors.”

I checked to see if there was a time on the invitation and saw that they had invited us to a brunch. It was in two hours.

“On second thought I probably won’t buy anything. We are supposedly honored guests but this lack of notice is… Should we refuse and visit them later to show that their power play didn’t work, or show up and let them underestimate us?”

“Both options sound interesting to me, but it will be easier to get information if they underestimate us,” Alvis suggested.

I nodded and turned to Storm. “In that case I want you to look like you think I am an idiot.”

“I am not very good at acting but I will try,” Storm agreed. His expression was mostly cold to begin with so it probably wouldn’t matter that much.

We spent the next hour discussing how the rest of the team would be investigating, possible traps, and how to establish an information network to track the disease. After that Alvis and I quickly got ready and headed over to the headquarters of the Lion Seaport Merchant Association.

A butler was waiting outside once we arrived. “Master Cano is waiting inside,” he announced. His attitude was slightly mocking. As expected, we were being looked down on for actually attending such an impromptu meeting.

Alvis looked as if he was holding himself back from correcting the butler’s etiquette, but the butler was surprisingly sharp, and his attitude changed completely when greeting Alvis.

“It is an honor to be visited by one of the Great Founders,” he said with a bow, “I will lead you inside.”

We were led inside a large overdone banquet hall. The table was long, and the legs were delicately carved. The tablecloth was red silk edged with lace, and the feast atop the table was all in golden and jeweled tableware. Even the eighteen chairs looked as if they cost a fortune. However, the only person waiting for us was the head of the family, Master Cano, and he had only invited two guests. I found myself missing the private dining room that Silas had arranged.

“Please sit,” Mr. Cano invited, watching as Storm calmly took his place behind my chair. He watched Storm for a moment longer before smiling. “I apologize for calling you here on such short notice. You must have wanted to rest after such a long trip, but I was eager to meet you.”

“It was no problem,” I lied, “I was just getting bored anyway. Actually, I had intended to visit you about the reason I came to Lion Seaport in the first place.”

“Ah, so you came here to shop after all,” he said with an even broader smile, “As you can see, I have access to all kinds of luxury.”

“Very impressive,” I complimented, staring at the bowl in front of me. The soup inside it looked heavier than the metal bowl it was resting in. Most people viewed brunch as a light meal.

“How about you, Great Founder? Is there anything you are particularly interested in?” Mr. Cano probed.

“Actually, I was thinking of buying a sword for my apprentice, but the smiths in the capital were all so busy.”

“Custom made, then? Can you tell me what sort of build he has? His personality? Fighting style?”

“Rather than a weapon that is made to his form, he would prefer something powerful and flashy. An enchanted sword would be best,” Alvis replied.

“Enchanted? There are a few, but enchanted swords are so hard to come by.”

“Really? I met Silas Toll at the inn we were staying at, and he could immediately show me several of any type enchantment I asked about.”

Mr. Cano lost his composure immediately. “That nasty little rat,” he growled, “He has been holding back on me again. I have already taxed seventy percent of his wares since he won’t obey the rules but this time he has gone too far. If he doesn’t join the Merchant Association and give us First Rights to any merchandise he sells here, he will be banned from business in Lion Seaport!”

I froze in shock. Was it okay to be so open about something like that? I would have to double check, but I was certain that was illegal. This meant they really did have the lords of Lion Seaport in their pocket.

“My apologies,” Alvis appeased, “I had no idea it was such a touchy subject.”

The rest of the brunch was filled with shallow small talk then Mr. Cano asked us to leave so he could take care of some things. I was glad to be out of there, but it seemed strange that he would give up on the instant business deal just because he was annoyed with Silas Toll.

“Something is wrong,” Storm told me once we entered the carriage, “He was subtle about it, but the butler handed Cano a message before he suddenly finished the brunch.”

“A message?” I asked. I thought I would have noticed something like that, but the butler had been close to Mr. Cano the entire time. “Do you have any idea what it said?”

“Unfortunately not,” Storm told me, “but it was definitely not good news.”

I frowned but nodded. We returned to the inn, and before dinner Lion Seaport was full of rumors of the lord’s teenage son suddenly falling ill after eating magic eel, a delicacy only the filthy rich could enjoy. The symptoms included sudden insanity and an even more surprising phobia of all peppers. After that, the son collapsed and had not woken since.

Could this be the disease we were seeking? Wasn’t this just a little too convenient?