„From a clan territory?!? Do you know who has clan territories around here?!? And what are they famous for?!? Who managed to fuck you over like that?”

Foxy didn’t need to use [Acting] to act shocked. Well, probably her Skill was too low to mitigate the shock. Maybe.

At lest she would know, if there was a criminal undercurrent at play or a Hero’s Party in the making. But, no, it transpired, that his friend was a Red Elf. As in a member of the race that hated Humans the most and mostly didn’t degrade themselves to even talk to a Human. At least more than a few sentences before an accident happened.

If he befriended a Red Elf, that raised a few flags. Could he be a Pervert after all, out to build a harem? Foxy started a quick interrogation, but it was cut short by the arrival of the Red in question.

“Foxy Delahay a nevem. Benned kit tisztelhetek, Kishugom? ”

Foxy introduced herself and let the other Elf know, she was a Little Sister. She already established that the Traveller did not speak Elven, and did not know the Elven hand-signs either. Holding her head and hands in a specific pattern, she informed the Red that she was there in an official capacity, and her counterpart should observe caution and discretion.

“The Rabid?” The Red Elf answered, signalling with some gestures that she would obey. Foxy was satisfied that the young Red was already familiar with her and what she represented. Red Elves were notoriously independent, but even they acknowledged the rights of the Bureau and the Office.

The Bureau and the Reds were both working for the Greater Good of all Elvenkind, after all.

As it transpired, the Clan was attacked a wiped out some time earlier. That was concerning, to say the least. No one was stupid enough to attack a Red Clan, and for be able to wipe it out, it needed overwhelming force. And possibly surprise and a healthy dose of luck.

Be as it may, it was Foxy’s duty to investigate everything that could possibly endanger the Domain.

First, she listened to the theory-crafting of the two. It went as was expected from a Traveller, who knew basically nothing of Arkadia (and exactly nothing about the Domain – his Skills proved it, Foxy checked) and a young, inexperienced grunt (she was only Level 5, after all. Foxy checked).

Badly, that is.

They came up with some convoluted conspiracy theory, where some shady Yellow Elf tried to sabotage an alliance between the Reds, Greens and Blues. Just because of… reasons. Foxy had to stifle a laugh. The little bumpkin from the borderlands obviously had no idea, how higher politics in the Domain worked. Open attacks on other Elves – not to speak about a whole Clan! - was unthinkable, if there was disagreement or open sabotage, it was done with political manoeuvring, posturing and trading of favours.

Foxy was only an agent for the Bureau and the Office, but had seen, what the people in power did. Openly attacking others was not how it was done. Contracting outsiders, filth or Grey Elves for doing the dirty work was not unheard of, but exceedingly rare and done only in the most extreme cases. No one would do such a thing to sabotage a little alliance.

It was more probable, that some filth or scorned Grey Elf executed a revenge plan. However, that still left the question open, how they were able to wipe out a Red Clan. The Swift Arrow Clan was small and unassuming, but they still could have fielded a sizeable force. That the attackers were able to surprise the Clan on its own turf, meant that the Clan was… not of the highest quality.

Of course, Foxy haven’t told that to the Red Elf.

She did told her, that she probably could save her little Clan. Having only one clan member wouldn’t make it a larger joke than it already was. But, maybe, with a Clan the owes him a blood debt, Foxy could pawn off the Traveller to her. She wasn’t sure exactly, in what category the Human fell yet, but it was a good idea to have a Red Elf at the ready if the Traveller started to make waves.

Accidents happen all the time, after all.

And then, the Traveller even lent her a helping hand! Giving the Clan a “contract” and binding himself to it as a henchman. Travellers were really stupid! Oh, oh, wait! Those puppy eyes! No, it was not possible, even for a Traveller! Was he in love with Shinead? Just horny? What was he expecting?

Crap. Maybe he is indeed a Pervert, out to build a harem?

Sure, Shinead was quite a beauty (Charisma:16, Foxy checked), but Foxy was sure, if anyone other than another Red Elf made advances, she would kill him. Blood Debt or no. Good.

If he was a Pervert, the situation would resolve itself in short order.

To be sure, Foxy signalled to Shinead, that she should be cautious around the Human, and Foxy would keep her eyes on them. The Red acknowledged and thanked her. They could have talked in Elvish, but using the gestures was more secure – no Elf in his right mind would teach non-Elves the gestures and the meaning. Not even filth would do such a thing. There were few things more sacred for Elvenkind then the gestures.

Sure, there were individuals, who were suspected to sell the gestures to outsiders. However, those never left the Domain to begin with, or suffered an accident shortly after.

It was all for the Greater Good of all Elvenkind.

Next day they set out for a market place not far away.

At least the Traveller tried to remember the town’s name, or butcher it into a form he could remember. Not that he was successful in his epic endeavour. Finally, Shinead took pity and told him what other Humans called the town. Or maybe she just couldn’t take it anymore. Foxy at least tried very hard not to shout at him after the first few hours.

It was obvious, Prof – Foxy needed to refer to him by his name, not as a Human or a Traveller – expected something else from the town, not just a typical Elven one. If she remembered correctly, Flatsoundingworld-Humans had the idea that Elves lived on trees or inside ones. That was extremely offensive, Elves were the most noble and advanced species on Arkadia, not some savages or monsters! Flatsaoundingworld was strange.

Shinead quickly informed the town guard about their situation, and told him the Human was under their protection – Foxy identified herself as a Little Sister by a few unobtrusive gestures. After informing Prof about the significance of the house’s colours and what to look out for – not that he understood the differences, and blanked out just like when Foxy tried to teach him about the Elven political situation – they made their way to the Red Guest House. Settling into their room and having dinner took only a short time, so they made over to the bathing house. Prof stunk. Shinead was… not clean, and even Foxy had a… certain… fragrance.

Of course, bringing a Human to an Elven bathing house presented some further problems. Humans were extremely shy when it came to being naked, the Travellers even more so. Prof tried to hide his man-parts but still ogled the females in the bath. When he looked at Shinead, he tried to hide his… interest… even more… hard.

Disgusting.

He needed to learn [Etiquette: Elven] and [Culture: Elven]. And some common decency. Looking at others in such a way was offensive, insulting and demeaning – if Foxy and Shinead wouldn’t have warned everybody and apologised, Prof would have been dragged outside for a sanctioned duel already. Or get thrown out of the bathing house, the town or the Domain.

The next morning – Prof was still sleeping – Foxy made it over to the prince’s mansion before doing anything else. She had to check in with the prince, warn him about the investigation and submit a report to her superiors. The prince was quite young for his position, but luckily deferred to Foxy in regards to the Traveller. She had a reputation, after all, he saw no need to cross a veteran agent. He promised Foxy to inform the other inhabitants not to fleece him too much and refrain to kill, main or attack him.

If there were complaints, they should be directed to either Foxy or the prince (who would re-direct them to Foxy). The Human was her responsibility after all.

Her report was exhaustive, every last bit of findings, suspicions and recommendations were included – Foxy had enough experience to make a proper report. That, and getting her [Bureaucracy] Skill to a high enough level was one of the first things they taught her in training. Filling out forms properly and correctly was very important in the Domain. She always wondered, how the Humans could do without having a proper parchment trail for everything. How would they know, if someone was allowed to do this and that without official permits, licences and identification?

The Elves learned the proper way tens of millennia ago, ironically from one of the very first Travellers they made contact with after the United Domain was established. He was some kind of government official back on Flatsoundingworld, and introduced proper bureaucracy to the Elves.

They were so lucky!

Finishing with the prince, Foxy had just enough time to talk to Caoilfhoinn, the keeper of the guest house, before Prof got up and they had to go to the shops. Their first stop was at the money-changer to get him Elven currency – in a border-town it was not truly necessary, most shops would take Bergian money too (with an awful changing rate), but it was part of the investigation and to introduce him to Arkadian customs.

For some reason, he called the Bergian coins gold, silver, copper and not their proper names – if he refused to use Elven money or use their proper names, it meant problems. A lot of Travellers were not willing (or able) to make a difference between currencies and treat them as one universal money. If he played along, a few not so good categories could have been dismissed.

Well, he tried to play along.