After a bit more conversation, Alric went off to watch for would-be recruiters from Last of the Strong. It was an important task, but it didn’t feel like a plan that would work. He’d already tried following their recruiters. It led him to Alric, sure, and Juri as well. But that was it. Otherwise it would just be more of the same.

At least he’d be without the adventurer for a little while. With his new gear, Alric would be able to take care of himself if anything happened, and Hirrus would get a bit of a break from his incessant chatter.

In the meantime, he had an untapped resource to fill his own time.

Dahlia had been born and raised in Inoha. Born to nobility at that. He’d known that when she moved to Yenon with her husband, years before his death. But she didn’t talk about it. Ever. Hirrus decided he wouldn’t push her to contact the family that had thrown her aside when she’d married for love rather than status, but she still had knowledge of her own that he could benefit from.

Her decision tree didn’t seem inclined to stop her from helping, either.

Dahlia told him about a man named Barin Fleming. He was a merchant, but like the shop of curiosities where Alric was found, Barin’s shop didn’t exist to sell items of any sort. Instead, Barin was a rumormonger. His actual trade was in information.

According to Dahlia, if Barin couldn’t give him another lead to track down Last of the Strong, then there was no one in town who could.

That was enough for Hirrus. He set off to Barin’s shop with a handful of vague directions from Dahlia.

The Temple Village was just to the south of their location. Barin’s shop was on the southern edge of that district. It was starting to grow late, and so Hirrus picked up the pace to catch the man before he headed home for the night. He sought out the markers from Dahlia’s directions with a practical eye, not stopping to gaze in wonder at the buildings around him.

From Dahlia’s description, it was hard to miss Barin locking up his shop.

The information business was treating the man very well. His fancy brocade vest looked more expensive than Hirrus' entire wardrobe. Barin’s features were dark - dark hair, dark eyes, and a dark and short-trimmed beard - but obviously well-kept to a degree that spoke of meticulous cultivation rather than a natural look.

Hirrus approached the man with purpose.

“Barin. We have business.”

The rumormonger turned with a dazzling smile, though it didn’t mask the confusion in his eyes. He didn’t recognize Hirrus, but even while locking his shop doors, he was a businessman.

“I’m afraid you’re too late for today,” Barin said, “though I’m sure we could speak about your needs and budget tomorrow.” It was a rehearsed speech, no doubt fed to him by his own decision tree a thousand times before.

Even as he was speaking his confusion spread from his eyes across his face.

No doubt as he started to realize that Hirrus was a guard from another town.

Hirrus didn’t slow his approach. “My needs are simple enough to understand. I need to find Last of the Strong.”

The rumormonger’s eyes widened ever so slightly before he turned away. “Right. Well, I’m sorry, I don’t believe I can help you. Good day, sir.” Before Hirrus could say another word, the man walked away as fast as his legs could carry him, but not quite at a run yet.

Hirrus followed. He had to practically jog to keep up, but he wasn’t allowing Barin to lose him.

“My budget is simple enough to understand as well. I do believe you’ll want to hear me out.”

Barin glanced over his shoulder, his face full of contemptuous disregard. “I’m not interested in-”

Hirrus interrupted the man by drawing his axe.

He expected the rumormonger to freeze as confusion gave way to terror. To stammer or shriek.

But Barin (or his decision tree) was made of sterner stuff than that.

He bolted like a startled rabbit.

Hirrus broke into a run as well, matching the man’s pace. It wasn’t difficult, but Barin made him work for it. Hirrus was in better physical shape than any merchant, but fear was giving Barin unexpectedly effective motivation to push himself to his limits.

But that was alright. Hirrus didn’t need to catch up to the rumormonger quickly.

He only needed to catch him eventually.

Letting him tire himself out was actually in Hirrus’ best interest. It would show Barin that he couldn’t run from him. When he caught up, the man would be more inclined to answer his questions if escape seemed legitimately impossible rather than something he was narrowly denied.

“Come back here,” Hirrus bellowed after the man as he bolted down the street. He knew it wouldn’t stop him, but his goal right now was intimidation. And years on the guard had taught Hirrus how to raise his voice in an intimidating way.

Barin ducked into an alley. Hirrus followed. And then immediately almost tripped over him. Barin had paused, gasping for breath as he rounded the corner. The well-dressed man shrieked and started to run again immediately, but the sight of him thinking it was safe to stop after only breaking line of sight for a second made Hirrus let out a bark of laughter.

Then again, he remembered in all his time as a guard, his decision tree often made him stop chasing someone once they were out of a given range. Maybe Barin’s decision tree was being informed by some connection they shared as what Alric had called “NPCs” - whatever that meant.

Regardless, Hirrus wasn’t bound by those limitations anymore.

And now Barin knew that.

“Run,” Hirrus bellowed, his voice reverberating around the alley. He wondered what people inside those buildings thought was happening. No one seemed interested to investigate. Perhaps Inoha was just used to this type of clatter. “Run, coward! The conversation to follow will be much easier for me if you’re too tired to try and hide behind flowery words!”

Barin did what any fugitive fleeing from the guard would do.

He ran.

Hirrus figured that his decision tree wouldn’t let him do anything else until Hirrus took some action to disrupt it, but for now, the fear filling the man’s veins with adrenaline was serving its purpose. The rumormonger reached the end of the alley and barreled out into the street beyond. Hirrus was shortly behind him.

“Somebody?” Barin yelped, his words breathless and strangled. “Guards? Adventurers? Anyone?”

This street had a handful of people present, going about their business. Two porters were loading a cart with goods. They didn’t even look up at Barin’s call for help. A nearby guard started towards him, but as soon as Hirrus came into sight, the armored man shrugged and returned to his patrol.

There were no adventurers in sight. And it was unlikely any of them would have stopped to help the rumormonger anyway.

Hirrus put on a burst of speed, activating Split Second to cover the remaining distance to Barin’s side. He grabbed the fleeing man by the shoulder with his free hand and shoved him towards a nearby wall.

The unexpected change in momentum didn’t send the man crashing into the wall, but instead to the street in a tumble.

“What’s happening?” Barin wheezed, scrambling to get back to his feet. “Why won’t anyone help me?”

Hirrus stomped his boot down on one of Barin’s shoulder blades, forcing the man face-first back to the ground. He held him there for a moment, standing over him with his axe in hand.

Letting him squirm.

“What are you?” Barin managed in between gasps for breath. “What do you want?”

When he stepped off the man’s shoulder blade to keel down next to him, Barin started to scramble, trying to escape again. Hirrus sighed and grabbed him by the back of the neck. Firmly held him down.

The rumormonger didn’t have the strength or leverage to fight back and so laid still at last.

“Last of the Strong,” Hirrus said, his voice rough from the light jog. “Where are they? Where can I find them and their leaders?”

“I-I can’t tell you.”

Hirrus didn’t try to banter. Instead, he touched his axe’s edge to the back of the downed man’s neck. “A shame, that.”

“W-wait! I can’t tell you right now,” Barin said quickly, going stiff as a board at the weapon’s touch. “I do not have the information. But! But I can! And definitely will tell you as soon as I have it.”

Hirrus smiled, a vicious thing the man couldn’t see. “Thank you,” he said in a mirthless tone. “Was that so hard?”

With a snarl, Hirrus released Barin. Letting go of the man caused him to scramble and roll away, but once he got to a seated position against the nearest building, he didn’t run.

Instead, he stared at Hirrus with mingled terror and confusion.

He made no move to continue the conversation.

Hirrus rested his axe across his shoulder and moved to loom over the cowering rumormonger. “Right then. When should I find you? You can name a time. I don’t need to know the place.” He smiled, and he knew it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “I’ll find you.”

Barin visibly swallowed and his eyes flicked between Hirrus and his axe. “M-morning. Late morning. I’ll have time to get something together by then.” He paused, his hands fidgeting with the edge of his fancy vest. “At worst, I’ll have a more accurate timeframe.”

“Excellent,” Hirrus said. He reached forward and patted Barin on the shoulder. The man flinched under his touch. “Thank you. I will see you then.”

“W-wait. What are you?” Barin repeated. “I-I must know. Tell me, and I’ll consider it adequate payment.”

Hirrus turned his axe over in his hands before snapping it forward. He held the flat of the weapon up against the side of Barin’s face. The man mewed. “My payment is your life. Unless you’re declining that.”

He looked at the weapon, so close to his throat, and his face hardened. “You can’t kill me. Not if you want your precious information.”

Hirrus raised an eyebrow in amusement. The rumormonger’s voice had taken on a threatening tone that was at odds with the situation. Perhaps Hirrus had triggered some component of his decision tree. He was a customer now, not an attacker.

Perhaps he could trust that external control to keep the man as good as his word.

“You’re wrong. I can absolutely kill you and still get the information elsewhere.”

It was a bluff. Dahlia didn’t have any further leads for him but Barin. The rumormonger didn’t know that, though.

“It doesn’t matter. I can’t tell you anything until you tell me something in exchange. That’s how this business works. I can’t- I can’t deviate from that.”

With a grimace, Hirrus recognized what was happening. He was acting outside his own decision tree, but he was also acting far outside the expectations of the decision trees of those around him.

Hirrus had to arrest Dahlia to get her to follow him out of the Yenon ruins, even if staying would have killed her.

But there was no easy answer here. Barin was going to be a harder challenge. He had to be out and about to actually do what Hirrus needed, and arresting him to get him loose of his decision tree was going to get in the way of that.

“Fine. You want to know what I am?” He leaned forward, looming over Barin. “I am justice.” He snarled the words. “I don’t know how or why, but I am here to force others to repay their debt of blood.” He tapped the flat of his axe against Barin’s cheek. “And if you don’t want to pay in their stead, you’re going to help me find them.”

Hirrus stood up and took a step backwards. Barin watched, eyes wide, as Hirrus returned his axe to his hip.

As soon as his axe was no longer in hand, Barin scrambled to his feet and ran for it. The run was a bit more halfhearted now, with one hand held to his side.

An instinct in Hirrus wanted him to give chase again, but he forced it down.

He’d gotten what he wanted. At least, so far.

All he had to do now was use what Dahlia had told him about the man’s daily routine. The one his decision tree bound him to. Hirrus would be able to find him in the morning.

With a satisfied smile, Hirrus returned to the inn.

Hirrus felt good about this. Alric’s plan had seemed shaky at best, so having another trail to follow - one that went right to his goal - was very satisfying.

It was as it should be.

Alric was an adventurer working with other adventurers. They could - and would - do whatever they wanted. There were no guarantees there. Barin, however, was bound by his decision tree. And now his decision tree would force him to help Hirrus.

He was confident that, come morning, he’d be taking the final steps towards his revenge.