Dennis just reached the city of Boremar. He drew his breath inside, enjoying the refreshing morning breeze, which smelled of dew. It was a wonderful day, and Parva damn him, but he shall find those criminals!

Several days before today, he managed to force his way right to the Dorf guard chief Chhaup and told him the awful news about the criminals, enemies of Tohcraft and of his own. After listening to him for almost an hour straight, the chief agreed that something had to be done about such horrific inquiries. He immediately gathered up a team to pursue the murderer and her associates, Dennis, of course, being the first person to volunteer. After all, it was his duty to get rid of all, who dared cross the thin line between order and chaos. None shall be denied, the smite of his righteousness.

And so thought his companions, of course. Well, one of them did, anyways. His name was Frederick and he was chief’s personal assistant, sent to him by the Boremar Tohcraft himself! He might not have been too strong, or agile, or smart, but most important of all he was ready to die for the cause of justice! At least, he told Dennis that.

Dennis didn’t mind, however. He was more than glad to have an elf close to the prince’s family and always asked him questions about the family’s personal life. Yes, most of the answers he got were either vague or evasive at best, but it was still fascinating to him to listen to the tails of their lives.

The other two elves, on the other hand, he wasn’t so happy about. But chief Chhaup told him they were most professional he could spare at the time, and so he had to bear with it.

“And why would they go to the capital?” asked Carl. “Doesn’t seem very smart of the ‘most wanted’ criminals to go to the heart of the country”.

Dennis could hear the air quotes, Carl surely did with his hands, but he kept his head clear and straight. He had to be calm and collected, if he ever wanted to become a chief himself. “I don’t know what to tell you, Carl. You know as well as me, that everything those bastards left lead this way and this way only”.

“Speaking of those bastards”, Bill contributed to the conversation, “what level were they again?”

“15 to 18, as the estimates showed us”.

“Yeah… Ellis, do you even know, what that spell back there was?”

Dennis screwed his eyes shut. Calm and collected, he told himself. Calm and collected.

“First of all, it’s...” he started, when he was immediately interrupted.

“It was, what did you call it, Fred? Something winter?”

“Early winter”, said Frederick nasally.

“Yeah, that. That’s a level 30 spell, am I right?” Frederick nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t really go with your 15, 18 estimates”.

“Look!” Dennis snapped for a second and turned around. “You know full well that I am not a professional at this! And what’s the big deal? Level 30 is just a level! Especially, if the guy’s a wizard”.

“Of course, and a sea is just an ocean. We are barely over level 20, ourselves, Ellis...”

“Dennis! My name is Dennis! What’s so hard to remember?”

“Nothing”, said Carl. “It’s just funny to watch you react this way”.

Dennis growled something and then took another deep breath, turning his gaze back to the city. Calm! And collected!

“Anyway”, continued Bill, “the point still stands that the guy will be able to wipe the floor with us, if we get in a fight”.

“Then we shouldn’t fight him then, should we?” Dennis tolerantly asked no one in particular. When everyone failed to answer him in the five seconds he gave them, he continued: “And as the head of this operation!...”

“Hey...” Bill added unheard.

“I command that we must enter the city and look for those criminal scum!” He waved his hand, welcoming his compatriots to follow him and marched onward to the city of Boremar.

When they reached the city after twenty minutes of walking, they have been met by elves, who passed as citizens around here. Vendors, beggars, adventurers, regular folk: all levels of societal hierarchy were present. Dennis didn’t like that. He thought that at least in the capital there wouldn’t be any of those lawless adventuring bunch.

Wishful thinking aside, first, they had a guard post to visit. He, of course, would have headed there immediately, if he knew where to head. Since, it was his first time in the city, he decided to ask the locals, where to find his colleagues.

The young guard breathed in two whole lungs of air, put a smile on his face, and asked the woman passing by with a basket full of apfels in her arms. “Excuse me, dame. Do you know where to...”

While he was talking, she looked him from head to the six of his toes and snorted. “Aha. Keep dreaming, lover boy”. And then she went back on her way to the market.

Dennis was momentarily stunned. Then he managed to squeeze a word out. “What?”

Carl hit him in the ribs with his elbow, knocking the wind out of him. “Hah! She must’ve liked you”.

Dennis held the spot, where Carl hit him. “Excuse me?”

“Sure. Don’t tell me that no other dame did this to you before”. He patted Dennis’s cheek and smiled. “Lover boy”.

The young guard slapped his hand away immediately. “Of course, not!” And then he moved his attention back to the elves around him. “Excuse me...”

“I am happily married!” said the other elf, that thought he was addressing her.

Dennis looked at her with a blank expression. Then he started seeking a male elf to ask for directions. “Herr, could you, please, tell me where we can find the Butovo guard posts?”

“Huh?” asked the expensively dressed vendor. “No, no, I am bu...”

“Where is Butovo guard post?!” Dennis raised his voice.

“Oh!” said the vendor. “Follow the edge of the city right there. You won’t miss it”.

Dennis looked in the direction the elf pointed and… well, he wasn’t happy, one could tell that for sure. “Ehhh… Perhaps, you’ve made a mis…” he said and turned to talk to the vendor, but the elf was long gone. “All right… Fine! Herrs,” he addressed his companions, “let’s go and find our associates’ post!” And then he headed off in the indicated direction.

Even by looking in the same direction as Butovo, he could tell: the two districts were drastically different. First, there were so few people walking around, that if the two crowds decided to fight one another, no one would bet on the Butovo’s crowd victory. Second, the road stones managed to be dirtier than the ones they’ve been standing on, despite the thousand feet difference. Or, perhaps, it was because of that difference, that no shitstain or rotten apfel was left on the ground below.

But Dennis told himself: he must not complain. The fighter for justice never complain, as they should! Besides, the criminals complain all the time, and that was why they were criminals, and Dennis must not fall to their level. Scums of Moria, even below the monsters they occasionally fought. Their only pursuit was money and survival. Truly, disgusting creatures undeserving of the Gods’ generosity.

The streets, surprisingly, only got dirtier as they went deeper and deeper into Butovo. It was, as if the local residents didn’t care about stepping outside and seeing what was happening with their district. Dennis wanted to spit at the disgusting sight and even breathed in to do so, only to start coughing violently. The stench of rotten fruits and fish was too strong for anyone to endure, especially, when the one enduring it decided to get in as much of the rancid air in his lungs. But he stood strong. Nevermind, the teary eyes, of course.

And they finally had reached their destination. The guard post building by itself wasn’t very distinct from the other ones around, but the golden libra sign just was too bright not to notice straight away. Dennis put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He wanted to draw in another big breath, to calm his nerves, but thought better of it. The young elf took a couple of steps forward and knocked on the door. Which slowly creaked, showing the insides of the empty guard post.

“Doesn’t look, like anybody’s home”, said Carl, looking over Dennis’s shoulder.

“Let’s go”, said Bill, picking up after Carl’s sentence. “Might as well, just stay at an inn”.

When the two guards started turning around to leave, another elf, in full-plate heavy armour coming down the stairs, carrying full hands of paper stacks. The elf’s nose, Dennis noted, was recently broken.

“Excuse me, herr!”

“Huh?” the elf looked in their direction. “Who are you?”

Dennis puffed out his chest and straightened his back as much as he could, saluted and said in authoritative voice with the collective groan of the two guards behind him: “We are official guard and escort of the Dorf town! We are pursuing dangerous criminals that by our estimate must have got into this town in the previous two to three days, herr!”

The elf in front looked around, presumably for an authority figure higher than himself, and when he failed to find one in the empty room he stood, he put the papers on the closest table. He sighed. “Look, I don’t know, what you’re talking about. But we do need some hands”. He took one of the papers and looked at it then put it back, shaking his head. “Look, if I were you, I’d wait for the captain. He’ll have something for you to do”.

“Great! And when should the captain arrive?”

The full armoured elf rolled his eyes to the ceiling in thought. Or so Dennis thought. “Oi! Uncle?!”

“What?!” a distant gruff voice from upstairs called back.

“Are you and Anfur finished? There are some...” He looked at Dennis and his companions and then back up. “...Dorf guards asking to see him”.

A couple seconds of silence later, they could hear scraping from the chairs. Some time later, a door opened and closed quickly after, one set of feet going down the stairs. A middle-aged elf, hair of whom was beginning to fall out, but not quite yet at the point of bald spots, came to see them. “Yes?”

Dennis saluted and repeated the same phrase he told the young elf before, word for word, as if he learned it by heart. Which he did.

The two elven guards looked at one another puzzled and then moved their gazes back to the quartet. “Yes, sure… But what is it you actually want, exactly?”

“We wish to help you catch them and bring to justice, herr!”

“Speak for yourself”, murmured Carl. Dennis pretended he didn’t hear that.

“Yeah… All right then”. The captain looked at the stack of papers lying on the table. “I guess, you could help put up these wanted posters”.

“We’ll do our best!” Dennis saluted and took two steps towards, when he suddenly stopped. His face was still showing a cheerful, ready to jump in action smile, but it was dead frozen. He took two more steps and snapped one of the posters and looked at it. During this his expression slowly turned into a disgusted one. The others were somewhat confused, but they had an idea in their minds.

Dennis growled to his own surprise. “That’s her” he said to himself. Then he snapped his head to the captain and said: “When do we start?”