“Did you really have to say that?” Vincent angrily mumbled as they entered the main street.

“Isn’t it more exciting this way?” She looked exhilarated as she stretched.

“Fine, do whatever you want. Now, that we have a lead, I’ll go ask around about this Melvin and Jicar guy. What are you going to do?”

“There’s not much I can do, I’ll also ask around.”

“Wait, I just remembered something.” Vincent tapped his chin in deep thought and continued, “I remember seeing Blood Silk in their possession. It may not be a bad idea to look into their sales in the black market. They are a rarity after all.”

Aya smiled and patted his cheek, “Good boy. Big Sis is pleased with her junior’s memory.” She then left while giggling, not waiting for his response. He stared at her mesmerizing silhouette as she melded into the crowd, a complicated expression hung on his face.

In a bar a street off the main road, Vincent was calmly drinking. This was the fourth tavern he visited, the first three turned out unsuccessful. He was in a terrible mood, but still maintained his calm, it was part of his training.

Finally, a group of unruly men sauntered into the tavern spouting a mouthful of rubbish.

“Them assholes stole our gig. Now, what are we supposed to do, Huh?” A henchman began to bootlick the leader of the group.

“Those Laughing Ox guys have been acting too overbearing lately. Who do they think they are? Don’t they know there’s a pecking order around here?” Another groupie chimed in following behind the first.

At this time, Vincent’s ears perked up as he listened to the men complain.

“I found them!” He thought to himself.

“So Boss, what should we do now? Our big job just flew out the window.”

“Hmm…” The boss was in the center of the group of men at their table. He remained distant and chose to cross his arms and close his eyes.

“Boss?” They all were waiting for their leader’s decision. Finally, the man spoke up after making them wait so long.

“I’m hungry.”

*GROWWWL~*

“…”

“R-right! Let’s get something to eat first!” A man reacted first and raised his arms like an elementary school kid and yelled, “Owner, your best dishes! I want all of them!”

“Damn, I should’ve thought of that first.” Is what the expressions of the rest of the men were revealing. After their food arrived, the group of unruly fellows seemed to stray off the topic of the Laughing Ox guild, so Vincent went over to them.

“Hello, friends.” He raised his hand and ordered, “Boss, an order of ale for these strong men.”

“Right away!”

“Wow, thanks, Kid.” Henchman #1 gleefully said.

“Not bad, a person with eyes as sharp as yours will make it far,” said Henchman #2. Only the boss didn’t react and sat there, his gaze questioning Vincent’s intentions.

“It’s like this…” Vincent began to explain, “The Laughing Ox guild also messed with my men’s mission. You see, we’re a small mercenary band that just formed not too long ago. It was our first subjugation mission, but halfway through our mission, the Laughing Ox guild interfered with the battle. We suffered major losses and even allowed the targets to escape. We failed our mission.”

“Aye Lad, that is a sad thing indeed.” Henchman #1 was furiously nodding his head in agreement. He too suffered through the indignation of bullying from larger guilds.

“We’ve only just managed to recoup our losses from that day. Now that I hear Laughing Ox is back to using their malicious tactics again; I want them to suffer some losses of their own.” Vincent looked resentful as he spoke, he even managed to convince himself!

Finally, after listening to Vincent’s explanation, the boss spoke up, “If you’re looking for them, don’t look anymore. They left on an escort mission earlier today.”

“An escort mission? Can you expand on the details?” Vincent’s eyes lit up.

“Sure, it’s not like I took the mission, why should I care.” The boss shrugged and continued, “They’re escorting a rich man from the spice lands in the south. He’s on his way to Gawain. As for the finer details, I wasn’t told. If you’re done gathering information, leave; I don’t associate with shady organizations.” The boss’ words seemed to hint at something, but he still maintained a smidgen of tact.

“Thank you,” Vincent revealed an evil grin and placed down a few coins to pay for the drinks and left.

Even though he knew the Laughing Ox guild took on a giant escort mission, he still had to check. He went to their headquarters, which was just an office building in Rohan and asked around.

“Jicar and Melvin?” The receptionist pondered. “Those two left on a mission this morning. If the request is urgent, we still have a few men who can take up your request.”

“No, that’s fine.” Vincent shook his head and left.

Something didn’t bode well, Vincent had a nagging feeling that the rich person the Laughing Ox guild was escorting had something to do with the missing farmers. Since it’s so coincidental that the mercenaries stayed in the same inn that the farmers stayed in, even though their guild has their headquarters in Rohan. Usually, there would be housing for such a guild.

Unsure of what to do, Vincent decided to return to the inn from the night before and wait for Aya. It wasn’t long before Aya also returned. Her expression was downtrodden, void of good news. She came over and sat down with a heavy expression on her face.

“No news either?”

“The mercenaries took up a request earlier today. It seems the two people on the list also went along, so I can’t find out much on that lead.”

“What about the blood silk?”

“None.” She shook her head. “That last sale of blood silk in the black market was half a year ago. No one’s ever heard of any new stock in circulation.”

Vincent also felt an enormous pressure descend down onto his shoulders. Who knew such a simple reconnaissance mission would end up into a dead end search of a conspiracy?

“Our only hope is finding out where the farmers disappeared to, but my intuition is telling me that they got involved with the Laughing Ox guild,” Aya muttered worriedly.

“Why do you think so?”

“Laughing Ox is a mercenary guild, but that’s just a front. The core members of the guild used to be infamous bandits a few years ago. This is a little secret that’s not known to the public.”

Vincent abruptly shot up, “Then you don’t suppose…”

Aya nodded her head grimly, “If we can’t find them by tonight, then there’s no more point in looking for them ever again.”

“Damnit!” Vincent pictured the innocent smiles of the children riding on the back of the carts. He rushed out and blew a loud whistle.

“FUEEE~!”

“Kueee~!”

A storm falcon with a wingspan of five meters flew down and perched on his outstretched arm.

“Emet, urgent mission. Look for the farmers from yesterday. Do you understand?” Vincent sternly ordered.

“Kua!” Emet looked like she understood and flew off. Aya also exited the inn and approached him from behind.

“Your bird can understand commands like that?” She asked intrigued by the notion of a bird understanding human speech.

“She’s a special breed,” Vincent replied, his gaze resembled a mother’s gaze as he watched Emet fly off. “I haven’t taught her how to search yet, but I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”

“Let’s hope so.” Aya’s gaze wandered over the back of the man. His broad and lonely back doesn’t seem to match up with the information she had gathered on him. She was left feeling a little complicated and engrossed, her intuition telling her there was more to this man than what is on the surface.

---

“We can’t just wait around.” Vincent reentered the inn and went up to his room and retrieved his gear. When he returned outside, Aya was already kitted out, her lithe body was snugly wrapped in tight leather.

“I’m ready.”

“Good.” Vincent nodded, “Let’s split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”

They quickly split off, Aya walked in one direction and Vincent in the other. They searched high and low for any traces of the farmers and their families. They asked the townsfolks if they remember seeing any farmers entered or left the town since last night, but how could they know? Rohan was a large town, there are dozens of farmers entering and leaving. Finally, late into the evening, Vincent returned to the inn crestfallen. Aya also had no luck and also returned empty-handed.

“Owner, get me a drink,” Vincent said, this would be the first time he would drink while on the mission.

“It looks like our mission ends here,” Aya spoke, giving voice to the thoughts they both shared. She no longer felt motivated to tease Vincent. “Our last task is to inform the Mission Hall, and hopefully, they will intercept the Laughing Ox guild when they arrive in Gawain.”

Vincent was feeling bitter, when the ale arrived, he was just about to take a swig when he heard a familiar noise.

“KUEEE~!”

“Emet!” Vincent jumped up and rushed out, followed by Aya. Outside, the storm falcon was circling overhead inciting Vincent to shout.

“GO!”