Nobody on the street seemed to care much about the cry for help the dirty man made, or perhaps they didn’t hear it. Either way, once I was out of the alley I left the area promptly, checking over my shoulder a few times and watching the bracings and scaffolding above me for the assassin. The attractant probably wouldn’t have killed me if I was hit with it, but that didn’t mean that a potential assassin wouldn’t have other tools in their arsenal. But this assassin did try to shoot me with it, I thought as I walked, The Rehvites outside the city never tried that. Why?

The only logical conclusion I could come to was that I wasn’t the target of the assassin, the dirty man was. The attractant was a potent weapon, but only against non-mages who wouldn’t be able to keep the swarm suppressed. Anyone who knew who I was would know that, at best, it would only function as a distraction against me. Considering that the assassin fled the scene after shooting instead of following up with a more powerful weapon, every line of inference led to the same result: I was only targeted incidentally. While that raised some questions, it also meant I was probably safe for the time being.

The rain stopped and I found a secluded spot in a different, much cleaner alley where water had collected in a puddle atop some interlocking stones. After a brief test to make sure the repellent was water-soluble, I mixed it into the puddle then used my gambeson to soak up the liquid and wipe it all over my body. I also squeezed out a bit of water into my boots for good measure, just in case, and then set out to find someone dealing in the other kind of repellent again. Regardless of if it leads me to Vaozey, I need to ensure I have some on hand, I thought, I still have no idea exactly what information the Rehvites are obtaining from the ants, or how precise their tracking is.

During my previous attempts to find repellent I hadn’t had much luck at all. Any time I brought the topic up, no matter how discreetly, whoever I was talking to would simply leave. I knew I just didn’t know the right way to ask, but I had no idea what that way was. Koyl wouldn’t have had these issues, I sighed, This is one of those cases where he would have been quite helpful. Since my entry point to the city was in one of the poorer areas and logically should be nearby some kind of distribution hub due to Awveyray’s business, I backtracked until I found the Kettle, then began my search from there once more.

Identifying potential dealers of illicit goods wasn’t hard for me, they all had a certain greasy look to them, but finding one who didn’t spot me coming and move to avoid me was difficult. I ended up having to take my targets by surprise, waiting until they were speaking with another customer then approaching from the back, getting in range before they realized I was there. The first dealer I surprised ran away, but the second and third at least tried to ask me what I wanted before telling me to leave. Maybe it’s the sword, I realized, that dirty man called it a guard sword, and I suppose it does look like the Rehvite weapons a bit. I couldn’t ditch my main weapon though, so I just tried to keep it out of sight by angling my body and the sheath a bit as I approached the fourth dealer in an alley.

“I’m looking for a product,” I said to the dealer, pulling both her and her customer’s attention over to me. The customer flinched and looked like he wanted to run, but the dealer merely scowled. Because of how I had adjusted my sword’s sheath, all she could see was the handle, not enough to make her nervous.

“I’m busy,” she replied. “Ask someone else.” I turned my gaze to the customer, glaring into his eyes, then gestured with my hand that he should leave in the same way I had seen Aavspeyjh direct his servants a few times. The man got the message and dashed out of the alley, dropping a few coins on the ground.

“Now you’re not busy,” I said. “I need a certain product, but mentioning the name of it scares you people off somehow.” I was ready to grab the dealer if she tried to run, but she held her ground. “Insect repellent,” I said.

“You can buy that at a general store,” the dealer snorted. “Why’re you wearin’ your-”

“The kind for ants,” I said, then I moved to block the alley’s closest exit before the dealer could move. She tried to push past me anyway, and I threw her back into her rear. “Do you have it, yes or no?” I asked.

“How the seyt did you get your skin to turn brown you-” she started, reaching for a dagger and glancing at my sword.

“I’m not a guard, I just want repellent,” I interrupted. “You people are all so fucking skittish that I have to resort to this instead of just talking to you normally. Do you have some, and if not, where do I get it?” The dealer looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “I have money,” I added.

“How do I know this isn’t some trick?” she asked.

“There’s no way I can convince you of that, most likely,” I replied. “What would a guard not do?”

“Seytoydh loyalty test,” the dealer muttered, getting to her feet. “You can tell Roytmay if I was gonna sell his stupid ass out I’d do it over him actin’ like this more than any other reason.” What? I wanted to ask, but I kept my confusion contained.

“So then, where do I buy this product, and for how much?” I asked.

“Twenty,” the dealer said, holding out her hand. How nice would it be if she meant ngeyt? I thought, reaching into my wallet. I added coins slowly, reaching twenty ngoywngeyt, then stopped. “That buildin’ down there,” the dealer said, pointing out of the alley to one of the non-commercial work buildings just across the street. “Walk up to the door, knock seven times like this-” the dealer knocked twice quickly, then three times slowly, then two more quickly against the wall with her knuckles, “-then ask for some perfume once they let you in. Got it?”

“And you expect me to just trust you with my money while I do that?” I scoffed.

“Those are the procedures,” the dealer replied with a shrug. “I’ll be over here if you screw it up somehow. Tell Roytmay what I said, by the way, I’m serious. I’m sick and tired of his shit. Every seytoydh week with this guy…” As she trailed off, she turned around and walked away from me, apparently confident that I wouldn’t stop her. I’ll have to take the money back from her later now that I’m running low, I thought, but I guess I can check that building out first.

The building in question looked like it was made of wood, but when I approached I realized that was just some paneling that had been placed along the outside, and the walls were actually stone. I knocked on the door in the two-three-two pattern that the dealer had shown me, which quickly elicited footsteps from inside. A moment later the door opened and a man about my size stood opposite to me across the threshold, wearing a helmet and a sword on his hip not unlike mine, as well as a mark of ire on his face. Though he appeared suspicious of me, he let me inside, closing the door behind me and blocking the exit.

The interior of the building was likely a factory floor of some kind before it had been repurposed. The hardwood planks that made up the floor were stained and scuffed from years of use, and the ceiling above us made no attempts to look aesthetically appealing. Crates were stacked around the room, forming temporary walls that divided the front half from the back half, and a table was set up just ahead of me with a sign on it that read “No price negotiation”. Behind that table was a gaunt-looking woman, who gestured for me to approach.

“What are you here for?” she asked. I could hear people talking in the “room” behind her, but their voices were too muffled and their speech too low to make out clearly.

“Perfume,” I replied. The woman nodded, then turned around, walking to a crate behind her. She pulled out a bottle that was probably originally used for oil, then walked back to the table and passed it to me.

“Two uses, one day each,” she said. “You need more, come back with more money.” Measuring purely by volume, the bottle contained at least ten times as much liquid as one of the repellent vials did, which made her statement shocking.

“This whole thing is just two days’ worth?” I asked. The man blocking the door shifted audibly, and the woman sighed.

“Can you read, sir?” she asked patronizingly, gesturing to the sign. “Don’t do somethin’ you’re gonna regret.” Apparently motivated by her tone of voice, the two people who had been speaking behind the wall of crates walked out to see what was going on.

“Is there some kind of-” the first man, a long-haired and brown-skinned mercenary type began to ask. He didn’t get a full sentence out before his partner, a masked man with leather armor and a bow strapped across his chest, pointed at me.

“That’s him!” the second man exclaimed, and within a second everyone in the room including the woman behind the counter had a weapon in hand. He must be the one who shot at me in the alley, I thought, but who are the rest of these people? As I backed up to make some distance between myself and the others, my left hand instinctively reached down for a throwing knife, and I hissed quietly when I remembered I had none.

The man from the door attacked first, running at me and throwing out a wild diagonal swing with his heavy sword. Since I knew he couldn’t use force magic, I didn’t even bother enhancing my left arm before catching his wrist, stopping his attack dead in place with nothing but muscular strength. I was about to hit him with a lethal blow that would entirely bisect his torso, but then a thought popped into my head, and I pulled my strike a little. Instead of my sword cutting him from his left shoulder to his right hip, I stopped it just short of his heart, then spun him around into a hold by wrenching his right arm.

“Everybody relax,” I commanded, crushing my hostage’s wrist to make him drop his weapon. The position I had him in was awkward and weak, but because my sword was so close to his heart he didn’t dare resist me. “I’m looking for somebody, and I think at least one of you knows where to find her.”

“You realize you’re not getting’ outta here alive, right?” the mercenary from the back room snarled. “Nobody crosses us and lives, period.”

“I think you have the situation quite backwards,” I replied. “The only reason I haven't killed all of you is that I think you have information I want. Now, where is Vaozey?”

“Who?” the masked man asked, but just from his tone I could tell he was feigning ignorance.

“Vaozey Svaaloweyl,” I replied. “The one who killed that prostitute in the alley last night. I was about to get the information from someone earlier today, but you killed him.”

“Told you Lahjh was a seytoydh zehdhngayjh,” the masked man hissed to his partner. The word he used roughly translated to “songbird”, but in this context, it obviously meant he suspected the dirty man of being a traitor.

“I am losing my patience,” I stated. “I know you know where she is, so tell me, and you might live.” I heard footsteps descending what sounded like a set of stairs behind the crates at the rear of the room and grimaced, readying myself to spring into action.

“Please,” my hostage gurgled.

“What are you idiots doin’ down here?” an angry voice yelled from behind the crates, then a moment later a new man walked out into view. I could tell immediately he was half Gwahloab, because I stood nearly two and a half heads taller than him and his facial features resembled mine. Unlike the other Gwahloab I had met though, the man I was now looking at had blonde hair, fair skin, and red eyes. “And you wonder why I test you so often,” the man sighed, rubbing his brow.

“Are you Roytmay?” I asked.

“Are you Yuwniht?” he asked back, briefly stunning me with surprise.

“Yes,” I replied after a moment, causing Roytmay to sigh and rub his brow again.

“Stand down, everyone,” he muttered, gesturing for the others in the room to lower their weapons. They all looked unsure, but as he repeated the gesture, they did as he asked. “Yuwniht, if you wouldn’t mind takin’ your sword out of my man there, I would appreciate it.”

“Vaozey, where is she?” I demanded. “Answers first, then I’ll consider it.”

“Yuwniht, I’m askin’ you nicely now, please let him go,” Roytmay requested, looking me in the eyes. “I’m the man you were supposed to be meetin’ here after you got off your caravan, I’ve got no reasons to cause you any trouble. I’ve had people out lookin’ for you for days now, and apparently they’re all too seytoydh stupid to realize you got a haircut!” Roytmay’s voice turned into an alarmingly loud shout that echoed off the stone walls, popping my ears and making the others wince.

“You’ll understand if I don’t believe that outright,” I said.

“Vaozey will be back here soon,” Roytmay said. “You’re welcome to wait upstairs with me if you want. How’d you even get in here anyway? I know Vaozey bumped into Awveyray but-”

“I also used Awveyray’s help,” I interrupted, loosening my grip on my hostage but not letting him go completely.

“I’ll be havin’ a chat with him next time I see him then,” Roytmay muttered. “Look, what can I do to make you at least take the sword out of Aadvao? He’s lookin’ pretty pale.”

“Have your guards leave the building,” I said. “Once they’re out, I’ll let this one go, and we can wait down here for Vaozey.” Roytmay narrowed his eyes, then inhaled deeply and gestured acquiescence.

“Okay,” he agreed. “Everyone get out.”

As soon as Roytmay’s guards left, I rearranged the crates on the floor to block anyone that might have been hiding upstairs from coming down easily, then demanded that Roytmay stay as far away from the exit door as possible. The man complied, looking more amused than upset, only informing me that I’d have to move everything back once we were done. For half an hour, in relative silence, Roytmay and I stood alone in the bottom floor of the building. The strange minty smell of the repellent threatened to give me another headache, but just as I felt the nerved behind my eyes tightening the door flew open from outside, and a familiar face walked in.

“I knew you weren’t enough of a niyzao to get eaten by ants,” Vaozey grunted, halfway between amusement and irritation. “Nice hair, by the way.” I had no idea how to respond since I was still shocked that Roytmay wasn't lying. Vaozey didn’t seem to notice though, because she turned to Roytmay without missing a beat and began lecturing him. “You’re telling me your men couldn’t seytoydh find him because he shaved his head? Really?”

“My apologies,” Roytmay smiled, dipping his head in a short bow. “Now, if you could kindly ask your friend to move those crates back and allow my employees back inside, I would appreciate it.”

“Ask him yourself,” Vaozey snorted back before turning to me. “Actually, if you could move those-” She gestured to the crates near the stairs, “-we can go up to the roof and I’ll fill you in on what’s going on here.”

“Fine,” I replied. “Let’s go.”

The building was five stories high, one of the tallest in the area, and the wind on the roof was pleasantly cool. The fresh air did wonders for my head, and there were even some chairs strewn about for sitting in. Vaozey picked one, and I picked another, then I waited for her to speak.

“Ants…” she sighed, opening the conversation.

“You didn’t know about them either?” I asked.

“I would have seytoydh told you if I did,” she replied, looking back at me. “There aren’t many insects in Owsahlk, so I guess they’re having a tough time bringing them down there or something. I don’t’ know…” Vaozey trailed off, facing into the wind and closing her eyes for a moment. “Roytmay has a caravan that’s going to Muhryehv, but as expected of scum like him he ‘needs’ a job done before he’ll get us into it.”

“This relates to the prostitute you killed?” I asked. Vaozey scowled, then rubbed her eyes.

“He wants one of those Rehvite identifier medallion things,” Vaozey explained. “The papers to go with it, too. Got a whole plan and everything on how to get it, and we’re the idiots he’s roping into acting it out.”

“Isn’t it useless to him?” I asked. “I spent quite a bit of time trying to translate those documents, but I didn’t make any progress. Whatever language they’re in, I don’t think it’s Uwrish, and the script isn’t anything I’ve seen before.” If only I hadn’t lost mine in Kahvahrniydah, I sighed.

“I tried to tell him it wouldn’t be worth anything to him,” Vaozey shrugged. “Ngaazmayjh still wants it, figured he’s got someone under his thumb who can use it for him, to swing various trade deals and political issues around his way. Who am I to tell him no?”

“And this relates to the killing… how?” I asked.

“That yoyzshaan teyyjheyynzmay, excuse my language, was the preferred ‘mistress’ of a well-known Rehvite from the northwest,” Vaozey snarled. “He’s going to be real torn up that he actually has to spend a night or two with his wife now, but he’ll still be at his favorite shehp’s funeral tomorrow because he's a gentleman.”

“So we use that opportunity to kill him?” I asked.

“I didn’t ask yet,” Vaozey admitted. “If I had to hazard a guess, yeah, we’re supposed to kill the npoyt tomorrow at some point.” Again, Vaozey faced the wind, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.

“And you trust this Roytmay to hold up his end of the bargain?” I asked.

“Absolutely seytoydh not,” Vaozey laughed. “I’ll admit I might have been a bit wrong about the Zae’ey’yaob kid’s father, but Roytmay is exactly the kind of disgusting filth that I would dispose of under different circumstances.”

“So then why are you following his plan?” I asked.

“Do you have a better option?” Vaozey asked back.

“Considering that the anti-detested policies in this city are much lighter than Owsahlk, there may be mercenary companies willing to take us,” I suggested.

“Milder?” Vaozey seethed. “In Owsahlk there were no illusions about what they thought of us: We were less than them, a pest, and they wanted us dead. Here, they hold out one hand and act as though we might be human, but demand we never breed with the other. Ask yourself what happens if a ‘detested’ ends up pregnant in this city. No, it’s worse here, definitely. It would at least be dignified if they treated us as the enemies we are, but they’ve robbed us of that too.” I could hear Vaozey’s left gauntlet clattering as her muscles shook with rage.

“None of that affects either of us, or the viability of using more trustworthy means to leave,” I replied, trying to use a calming tone.

“And what if I say I want to follow Roytmay’s plan anyway because it kills Rehvites?” Vaozey demanded. “If I say we should try it his way first, and we can just kill him if he betrays us? Will you refuse to help?” Roytmay’s way could save us a lot of time, I considered, It’s worth the risk under certain conditions, I suppose, but certain things need to be resolved first.

“I need an answer to what I asked you after the incident with the magic booster,” I replied. “Are you planning to follow along with me, or not?” Vaozey’s expression turned from angry to stern, and she frowned. The wind blew past us, and she was silent for a moment.

“I’ll go with you,” she finally answered, relaxing her shoulders and exhaling.

“Then you’ll have to follow my orders, if and when I give them,” I reminded her.

“Yes,” Vaozey murmured.

“In that case, we’ll try it Roytmay’s way,” I decided. “However, if I don’t like the plan, if I don’t see a good opportunity, if the risk is too high, or if the situation deteriorates, we will walk away. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Vaozey repeated quietly.

“That means you may need to let this Rehvite go if we don’t have an opportunity to kill him,” I said. “I shouldn’t need to tell you what will happen if you disobey.”

“I get it,” Vaozey sighed. “I don’t like it, but I’m not a child, I can control myself.”

“So long as we understand each other,” I said, standing up from my chair. “To me, the mission takes priority. If you are with me, it becomes your priority as well.”