Chapter Twenty-Three

It was four days of dedicated sleuthing, of lurking in alleyways in the darkest parts of the city, in the mud and murk and stench and depths of night. Four days of investigation, when Jay finally found the clue he was searching for. He had been discretely poking around the storage buildings for two nights in a row on a hunch, and it seemed as though it might finally pay off. The warehouse buildings were enormous monstrosities, with boxes typically piled to the ceilings and stacked with little organization, creating labyrinthine interiors. In Jay’s mind, this was a perfect setup to hide away misconduct from prying eyes.

On this particularly wet and dreary night, he had been lurking at just the right time and place around the docks, when a commotion within a local merchant’s warehouse, quickly quelled and mostly unnoticed in the downpour, caught his attention. Sounds of screaming, and crying, carried by the storm wind, suddenly cut off and followed by swearing. Quickly investigating, Jay stumbled upon the unconscious form of a woman in rags being dragged back into a warehouse.

Jay moved quickly, catching the door before it fully closed and slipped inside. Crouched low, dagger drawn, he skulked along a row of crates following the constant flow of swears. It wasn’t long before he came to a well-hidden alcove tucked behind a section of stacked merchandise. A roughhewn path led down into a short, winding tunnel which in turn spat Jay out into another cavernous area, terribly lit only by the occasional candle or rare torch. A few men patrolled back and forth, occasionally poking and prodding one of the people in the many cages spread throughout the area.

Jay slunk to the side, sticking to the flickering shadows and pools of darkness between sources of shallow light. Much like his departed feline family, he padded along silently, squeezing between rows of cages or other miscellaneous objects. A pang of loneliness hit him just as he finished stalking up to the first of what was to be at least six of his slayings this night. He distinctly missed the giant fur balls.

He shoved the sudden and unwanted emotion away as his dagger slipped silently from its sheathe at his back, before finding itself immediately buried within the neck of his first victim, mouth covered as light left his eyes and was slowly lowered to the rocky floor. Five more men remained, and the scene was repeated in a near identical fashion four times.

Arteries and windpipe cleanly severed, mouth covered, slowly lowered to the floor.

Death, silence, floor.

Death, silence, floor.

Death, silence, floor.

It was the silence that ultimately gave Jay away as he stalked the last remaining member of this band of merry men. He was hunched over a table, writing and reading parchment by candlelight, and the distinct lack of shuffling shoes, groaning, mumbles, or sobs of merchandise finally pulled him from his work to find himself alone in the dark. It was something Jay had seen before, the flash of panic and fear of the unknown that crossed his prey’s features upon the realization that he was being hunted. It sent tendrils of pleasure curling throughout his gut, tickling up his torso and down his arms and legs as the first shot of adrenaline hit his system.

“Jerry! Vasti! George! Where you boys at?”

The call was met by silence and the realization that he was not truly alone settled on him like a thick, smothering blanket.

“Come out, you spineless gutter whore! I know you’re here!”

His yells were met with mocking laughter that echoed sinisterly around the cavern.

“What do you mean come out? I’ve been right behind you this entire time.”

The man spun around, slashing with his sword at where he believed he had heard the voice, only to hit nothing but air. It was the last mistake the man made as Jay stepped from the shadows he been facing just a moment ago, and slammed his dagger through the side of his prey’s neck.

The final slaver fell, a bubbling gurgle the solitary sounds in the cave as he attempted to breathe, to inhale and exhale only to choke on liquid life, coughing and hacking as lack of oxygen met a rapid, unstoppable bleed out. Jay wiped the blood from his blade on the pants of the convulsing man before stowing it, promptly rummaging through his victim’s pockets as the final twitches of life fled the now cooling corpse. Jay’s impassive, almost bored, visage would have unnerved hardened soldiers, let alone the already frightened and cowering slaves watching on from their confines.

Finishing his investigation, Jay pulled the man’s purse along with a master key from the body and stood, stretching slightly and popping his back with a couple quick rotations.

“Alright then,” he started in a casual tone that carried to everyone within the cavern. “Hi there, my name is Jay, I’m a B rank adventurer who was assigned by the guild to investigate the people trafficking. Please be patient, I’ll have you all free in a moment and we’ll head, as a group,” he emphasized, “to the guild hall, once I’ve retrieved all the relevant information for the branch head.”

The various people had yet to even be freed, but just the promise of salvation had many crying and laughing in relief. Jay set about releasing the first of them, then delegated one of the hardier looking men from that group to release the rest while he perused the documents set on a nearby table. It didn’t take long to release the remaining victims, nor to find the goldmine of evidence he had been looking for.

Tirious Bendleweiss was masquerading as a merchant of foreign imports using the alias Terry Weiss, although it appears he was failing to mention many of his other exports, all through his ship, Priestess’ Glory, which was currently moored in the middle of the harbor. Jay bundled all of the papers, some of which may have been useless, but he planned to leave it to the pencil pushers back at the hall to parse that out. Gathering everything up, he once more caught the attention of the crowd of now restless people.

“Alright everyone, we’ll be heading to the guild hall now, please stay together. The guild will be taking the lead on ensuring you’re returned to your homes and families, and perhaps more immediately, providing you all with a decent meal and a place to rest. Please follow me!”

Putting words to action, Jay began making his way back up the winding stone corridor. The poor, huddled masses trudged quietly behind him, the scrape of shoes and bare feet, hushed sobs of relief, and whispers of strength the only noises to be had. Reaching the tunnel entrance, Jay signaled for a stop and silence, which rapidly spread to the back of the group. His caution was unwarranted however, as he quickly checked the warehouse for enemies only to find none.

The trip back to the guild hall was wholly and thankfully uneventful, though keeping all of the paper and parchment dry was proving more and more difficult the longer they were out in the elements. As such, with a quick hustle, the group nearly stormed through the doors of the hall, the vast majority a sad sight to witness. The group quickly brought the entirety of the hall to silence, and then just as quickly to action, as adventurers and clerks alike swept the people up to dry, feed, and clothe the entirety of the group.

Jay simply stepped through the crowd without a word, most of the eyes within the building following him as he made his way up the stairs to the hall master’s office. Without knocking, Jay strolled into the room followed by Denos, simply dumped the slightly damp contents of his arms onto the sofa, and turned to address Benos as the door clicked closed. Benos was naturally balls deep inside Dimi who was bent over his desk, and despite acknowledging the gravity of the situation, made no move to remove himself from her depths, nor did she move to cover her ample assets on display. Jay ignored all of it, plowing forward. He had to move on the Priestess’ Glory as quickly as possible, or he would miss his opportunity to remove the root of the entirety of the trafficking operation.

“Tirious Bendleweiss has been going by the alias of Terry Weiss, a foreign import merchant and owner of Priestess’ Glory. It’s currently moored in the harbor. I’ll be back when I have retrieved his head, tell Katie for me.” And with that, Jay swept out of the room. Benos nodded towards Denos who implicitly understood his twin’s intentions. A backup force would be quickly assembled to follow as reinforcements.