The three of them walked down the stairs into the inn which was beginning to get busy. Ilon made one last check for Isoko, but didn’t notice her anywhere. He only noticed Cudlin greeting someone at the front desk and Fessal tending to customers.

They quickly made their way out of the inn and towards the east gate, where Tain’s office was located. Ilon noticed that the amount of guards patrolling had drastically decreased in the couple of days since the incident happened. He felt a bit of anger towards the mayor of Mazual for not taking action and risking the safety of his citizens, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

After speed walking to Tain’s office, they made it there fairly fast, resisting the temptations of breakfast. The three of them entered the building and made their way to the receptionist at the front desk. Ilon was fairly surprised when he saw that there were already a couple of people waiting in a line this early. He really didn’t feel like waiting in a line considering that every second they wasted was a higher potential for failure in tracking Bi’wan.

“Oh, it’s you three.” Luckily a savior approached them just at the right time. A guard with swept back blonde hair and brown eyes, wearing a tired expression approached them from the entrance. “Lysa told me about you guys. What are you here for?”

“We need to talk to Tain right now. We have some important information to give to him.” Ilon said, maintaining his calm.

“Captain Tain? Hey, Mayrl. Is Captain Tain in today?” The guard whose name Ilon had forgotten called out to the receptionist. Ilon had only seen him once when he came to tell Lysa something when she was checking his bags at the gate.

“One second sir.” The receptionist said to the customer at the front of the line. She quickly went and checked some papers before returning. “Good morning, Jeraz. The Captain gave notice yesterday that he would be out for a day or two and to report to the Vice-captain should the need arise.” The receptionist said in a professional manner.

“Got it, thanks. You heard her.” The guard, apparently named Jeraz, turned back and faced them. “So what do you want to do? You can try and schedule a meeting with the Vice-captain with Mayrl over there, or you can tell me whatever it is you need to report and I can go try and meet with him.” Jeraz offered.

“What is Captain Tain going out for during such a tense time?” Quyon asked. It seemed strange to her that the leader of the guards would go out during a time when tragedy could occur at any moment. Maybe he had gotten some information of his own and was acting on it secretly, considering he was restricted by the title of Guard Captain.

“I’m not sure myself. My day off was yesterday, so I didn’t even know he was out either.” Jeraz shrugged.

“Then, we would like to report some information for a case we were hired on as mercenaries for.” Ilon said to Jeraz who gave him a serious look. “Since it’s private and time sensitive, is there anywhere we can go?”

“Yeah, would my office do? It’s always quiet there in the morning.” Jeraz said as he already started to lead the way. Ilon and the others followed him without comment and arrived in a room that was much smaller than Tain’s and with a lot less paperwork. The only noticeable thing he had was a portrait of him with his wife and kids.

“So, what is it that you wanted to report?” Jeraz had some sort of idea about what it would be since Lysa had told him about the three of them and how they had gotten key information in a case, he just didn’t know that they had been hired by the Captain.

“I saw Bi’wan when I went to Bano’s Bathhouse near where the incident happened.” Ilon started explaining to Jeraz about what they had talked about and some of the information he had acquired. The information about Bi’wan wasn’t of the biggest help, but it was the location of where he was and the direction he was going that was the most important.

“I see.” Jeraz said as he got up out of his chair. “I'll report it to the Vice-captain. Although we aren’t supposed to interfere with the investigation, we’ll try to get it done in secret. Thank you for this, I’ll make sure you all get credit when this is all over.” Jeraz said as he quickly left the room.

“Now what?” Maymun asked as she followed Ilon and Quyon out of the office.

“I guess we just keep looking around for any clues or trails.” Ilon said. He didn’t really know what else they could do at this point.

“We should also keep a lookout for Tain. Something about him leaving feels off.” Quyon said while pondering. Maybe it was due to business unrelated to the ongoings, but she had a feeling that something big was going on.

“I agree. He seemed way too nice to be in that position.” Maymun said dismissively, but she had brought up a good point. In a town like Mazual where the conflict between the guards and shamans ran high, there was no way someone without a calculating mind and ruthlessness would be in such a high position.

“It seemed like he genuinely cared for the people though, but that is a good point.” Ilon agreed. The type that’s nice to friends and ruthless to enemies? He wondered.

“Or he’s just a good actor.” Quyon made Ilon speechless with her retort. It was certainly a possibility, but they could only find out with time, if ever.

“Then, let’s start with the market district so we can grab some snacks to tide us over until lunch.” Ilon said with a slight smile. If they didn’t find anything, then it was likely to be a very boring day, but sometimes boring wasn’t too bad.

“Oh! Good idea.” Maymun said as she swung her arm over Ilon’s shoulder. She gave him a big grin before wrapping her other arm over Quyon’s shoulder. “How did that saying go? Two is company and three is a party? I guess we’re a party now!”

Quyon let out a back bending laugh as Ilon looked uncomfortably at the two of them.

“Huh, what?” Maymun asked, confused. “What? What are you laughing at? Did I get it wrong?” She anxiously looked back and forth between the laughing Quyon and the uncomfortable Ilon.

“No, no. Whew.” Quyon took a deep breath to calm herself, only barely able to contain herself from breaking out again. She wrapped her arm around Maymun’s waist in a half-hug. “You’re right. We’re a party now.”

“Ilon do you get it? You don't, right? Right?” Maymun said, still hung up over what was wrong with what she had said.

“Ahaha.” Ilon gave an awkward chuckle before giving Maymun a smile.

“You do? Gaah, tell me.” She demanded, squeezing the duos’ shoulders a bit tighter.

“All right, all right. Just let go. Ow, Maymun, we’ll tell!” Ilon said as Maymun started squeezing tighter and tighter, stopping when they relented. After explaining to her what she got wrong about the quote, she chuckled and apologized to Ilon.

They searched around, stopping every once in a while for Quyon to use her enhanced hearing to try and get any clues. Hours passed and they went for lunch before trying once again, searching all over the town, even visiting the headquarters of the Shamans. Yet not once did they hear any mention of Bi’wan, Tain, or violet eyes. Eventually the hours went into early morning and there was no sign of any of the information they were looking for.

“Should we go back to the inn?” Maymun asked, bored beyond belief. The tracking mainly relied on Quyon, so she and Ilon were sidelined unless there was a fight.

“A bed sounds good right about now.” Ilon said. While the first couple of hours were enjoyable walking around and checking out the town, the excitement had worn off quickly and left a dull drained feeling after getting nothing to show.

“I’m alright for it. They could be moving even later, but that’s when it will get the most dangerous. I want us in the best condition when we check it out.” Quyon agreed. The depths of night was by far the most dangerous because it was the easiest time for amateurs like them to get caught. In the day there were thousands of people in their ebb and flow, but at night the streets were empty. The Shamans would surely have people patrolling about, using their totems, talismans, and formations to search for anyone suspicious.

“We’ll check it out tomorrow night. Let’s go get some rest.” Quyon said as they headed back to the inn.

The streets had thinned out greatly, only a couple of drunkards stumbing to return home and people looking for easy targets remained. It took them another couple of minutes to reach the inn and Ilon noticed that there wasn’t anyone else on the street, giving it a serene feeling. The contrast between now and the chaos a couple of days ago gave him an eerie feeling from the duality.

They quickly entered the inn and noticed that it was just as dead as the outside. He would have thought there would have been a couple of people still around, but there was only Cudlin who had his back turned to them talking to a customer. Ilon couldn’t really see who it was, nor did he want to bother them, so he just continued with Maymun and Quyon until he reached his room.

“Goodnight.” Ilon said and got two back. He entered his room and closed the door behind him.

Downstairs, the customer who had been occupying Cudlin had finished talking to him and walked to the entrance of the inn. He stood there for a moment, seemingly enjoying the fresh air of the night sky, before giving a nod to no one in particular. He turned away from the entrance and said his goodnights to Cudlin before returning to his room, his mission accomplished.

Ilon woke up, blinking several times to refocus his eyes. The sun was already out and the town was bustling with energy. He had a mental debate with himself about whether he should be responsible and get out of bed or enjoy the comfort for just a little bit longer, maybe just a couple of minutes. By the time the debate had a clear result, it had already been a couple of minutes, and he decided he would lay there for a couple more.

Twenty minutes later Ilon woke up, blinking again. This time he used his excellent willpower to get himself out of bed. He changed into more suitable clothes and made his way down to get some breakfast. Once he got to the restaurant portion of the inn, he gave it a look over and didn’t see Quyon or Maymun anywhere, so he grabbed a table for four figuring they would come down later.

“Did you hear about the Guard Captain?” As Ilon settled down he overheard a conversation going on at a nearby table that peaked his interest.

“No, what happened?” Ilon’s back was facing away from them, so he didn’t see the people talking, but the first voice was husky and older while the second voice was female and clear as a bell.

“Apparently he hired some mercenaries to kill the family of the Vice-head of Shamans in order to bait him out.” The man said with a voice which leaked excitement over the drama. Ilon’s eyes almost bulged out of his sockets once he heard this.

“What? Isn’t he supposed to be someone really kind? Did they succeed?” The second voice asked.

“It seems so. I’m not sure if the bait part worked but the Head of Shamans has called for the Captain to give himself up by noon or he’s going to kill his family in revenge. Apparently he’s also calling for the heads of the three mercenaries as well.” The man said.

I doubt Tain would do something that foolish. He must have been framed. Ilon thought with a belly full of anger. He had hired them to get information on Bi’wan out of his own pocket, so why would he hire others to kill his family instead of something like capturing them? Wait, what if he didn’t and we’re being framed as the mercenary killers he hired.

That would be troublesome. If that was the case then there would be no way to prove that he didn’t hire them exactly for that purpose. There was no contract between them as it was a beneath the books deal, which wasn’t a good look for Tain in the first place. He was digging his nose into a place that he had been told by his superiors not to.

“Do you think he’ll show up?” The girl with the clear voice asked.

“Who knows? But we better keep a look out for the mercenaries, any information offered that leads to the capture of them has a reward of 1 gold. Keep a lookout for a trio of youngins, one male with long black hair, two females, one with silver hair and another with brown.” The man confirmed his worst suspicions.

Ilon hastily got out of his seat and made his way back to his room while looking as naturally as possible. He checked and made sure there was no one in the hallway before knocking on Maymun and Quyon’s room.

“Ilon? We were just coming down.” Quyon said as she opened the door.

“We have to talk.” Ilon said, his serious tone causing Quyon’s eyes to sharpen. He quickly entered and closed the door behind him.

“What’s wrong?” Maymun asked, slightly annoyed. She was in the middle of getting her hair brushed by Quyon, what could be more important than that?

“The Head Shaman is calling for Tain’s arrest for the murder of Bi’wan’s family, through the use of mercenaries. We’re apparently those mercenaries.” Ilon briefly explained what he had heard from eavesdropping.

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Maymun shouted. It didn’t make sense, how did the Head Shaman know that Tain had hired mercenaries? “Ah. That bastard Jeraz! He must have told everyone!”

“Shh! Maymun calm down.” Ilon tried to get Maymun to stop shouting, but she completely ignored him.

“May.” Quyon said calmly, her face a stone cold mask. Maymun stopped shouting in an instant and promptly apologized seeing the look on her face. It wasn’t often that she saw Quyon angry, but when she did it simultaneously struck fear into her heart and gave her stomach butterflies.

“It might not have been Jeraz.” Quyon continued on. “He also reported the situation to the Vice-head. The one thing that is clear is that we can’t trust the guards at the current moment. Another thing that I noticed is that we have no witnesses who can vouch for us. We were out late last night and no one saw when we returned.”

“This has gotten troublesome, huh?” Ilon sighed. He remembered the empty streets late at night which added to the level of suspicion on them for returning that late in the first place. “What should we do? Leave or try to interfere?”

“Of course we’re interfering. How can we let them get away with this?” Maymun asked, almost snarling.

“We should see how it plays out at the very least. We don’t know how strong this Head is, but it’s likely he’s in the manifestation tier. If it’s something that we can’t handle then we should leave the town as soon as possible.” Quyon replied. Even though she was angry, she knew that she couldn’t let those emotions overtake her and make rash decisions because of them.

“And if Tain doesn’t show up? Will you let his family be killed?” Ilon asked. He knew of course, there was no way she would allow that to happen.

“Of course not. If it comes down to that, Maymun and I will distract him while you try and find an opportunity to get Tain’s family out of there.” Quyon said in line with his thoughts.

“Alright.” Ilon gave her a nod.

“We don’t know when he’ll show up so we should go there now.” Maymun said, fire in her veins.

“Hold up. Did you forget we’re wanted right now? We’ll leave at different times and reconvene in the alleyway near there.” Quyon chastised Maymun for getting swept up by her emotions.

“Then, I’ll leave first. See you both there.” Ilon said as he poked his head out of their room, checking for any stragglers in the hallway. Seeing that there were none he made his way to his room and got changed into his gear meant for combat.

As he was walking out of the inn as naturally as he could, he saw that Isoko was standing near the front desk. Once she saw him, she turned towards him, giving him a wink as he left the inn.

Although he was curious about who she was, he was now even more curious about the situation he was getting himself into.