Glenn reached the town square with Jahid over his shoulder and Sarah walking at his side. He expected to find Leo sitting as he’d been earlier or, perhaps, chatting with an Adventurer. Instead, Leo looked to be deep in conversation with an older man wearing a robe of white, blue, and yellow—Blazer colors. The man looked about the age of Glenn’s father, Hal.

The newcomer had piercing blue eyes and the tan, weathered skin of an Adventurer who’d spent years braving the sun and elements. His hair was entirely gray and cut short against his scalp. A golden Blazer Pin gleamed on the collar of his robes, visible even from this distance.

Glenn paused at the edge of the square and considered his new problem. Whoever this new Blazer was, he was not Jenny Ambersun. He might not even know who Glenn was. If this newcomer tried to take Anna into custody ... would he even listen to anything Glenn had to say?

“The old guy’s got my bounty?” Sarah asked.

“The younger one,” Glenn said. “The blond. I’ll introduce you.” Yet before he could carry Jahid into the square, the man slumped over his shoulder stirred and moaned.

“Hold on,” Glenn told Sarah. “Our fugitive seems to be waking up. I want to talk to him before I had him over to the Blazers.”

“Whatever,” Sarah said. “So long as I get paid.”

Glenn eased Jahid off his shoulder and set the man on his feet. Then, just to be sure the man was fully recovered, he used a [-Flash Heal-] to ensure no lingering damage remained from being knocked out. The spell seemed to invigorate Jahid. His eyes widened before narrowing at Glenn.

“I dropped those Demon crystals on accident,” Jahid said. “So glad you Town Guards were there to save me from my clumsiness.”

“Save it for your trial,” Glenn said.

“To make up for the trouble, I don’t suppose you’ll accept a donation for your help?”

Glenn supposed that when one was already going to jail for dropping Demons on Town Guards, trying to bribe one wasn’t that many additional years. “You could try to bribe the Blazers, if you like.”

Jahid grinned. “Blazers are even worse than you guys.”

“Thank you,” Glenn said. “Anything to offer in your defense before we say hello?”

While there was every chance Jahid wouldn’t have any useful information to offer, it never hurt to check. One of the first things Glenn had learned from Joanne is that when one captured a lawbreaker who was desperate enough, they’d often implicate their conspirators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence. People who were willing to break the law were also often willing to turn on their allies.

Jahid glanced toward the square, then looked again at Glenn. “Actually, yes.”

Glenn hadn’t actually expected this to work. Jahid’s resignation had all but vanished. He actually looked pleased with himself now, which was not the mood Glenn had been expecting.

“Cut me a deal on my sentence for that accident at the gate,” Jahid said. “Do that, and I can offer you the biggest arrest you’ve ever seen in this small town.”

“Hold on,” Sarah said, still listening beside them. “Does that mean I don’t get my bounty?”

Glenn resisted the urge to glance her way. The woman really was eager for her crescents. Instead, he searched Jahid’s now confident gaze for deception.

The man was still worried and a bit desperate, but also ... hopeful? Jahid really did think he had something to offer, and given Glenn’s plan to talk privately with Jenny Ambersun seemed less and less likely to work, he owed it to both Zack and Anna to exhaust every possible option. At worst, hearing out Jahid would only delay him a moment before he got Leo’s take on Jahid’s crimes.

“But we better move off and talk before he sees me,” Jahid said. “Your call, Town Guard.”

He? The new Blazer? What did Jahid know about him? This might be just one more desperate gambit to Glenn alone, to use some mental Skill ... yet the [Lawgiver Cuffs] Jahid wore would prevent any Skill use. All Jahid had was words, though Mindbenders were said to be very good with those.

Glenn glanced at Sarah. “You’ll get your bounty. One moon, as promised. For now, you can relax at The Mead Beast or return to the barracks after you finish Adventuring today. If I don’t find you before the day is out, you need simply ask for Town Guard Redwood at the barracks. You have my word.”

“Fine, just fine,” Sarah said, and waved him off. “Though I have to say, you Wolfpine guards have a strange way of doing thing. Since when do you make deals with lawbreakers?”

“No one said we’re making a deal.” Glenn turned his full-face helmet on Jahid. “Right now, we’re just making conversation.”

“Whatever,” Sarah said. “Just get me my moon, okay? In the meantime ... I’m getting drunk.”

Once Glenn was confident Sarah Feathergrip had left to quench her parched throat, Glenn marched Jahid out of the square and around the corner of the nearest house. Fortunately, the gray-haired Blazer had continued speaking with Leo the whole time. What were they discussing?

Once he and Jahid were most alone, Glenn halted them once more. “All right. You want to make a deal? Show me you have information that’s worth my time.”

“I need your word first,” Jahid said calmly. “Town Guards can’t go back on their words, right?”

“Actually, we can lie all we want so long as you’re not the mayor.” Glenn assumed Jahid was opening negotiations by testing his honesty. “But you can trust my word. If you’re willing to volunteer information about your co-conspirators, I swear upon Kya I will include that you cooperated with my investigation in my report. I’ll testify to your cooperation at trial if need be.”

Jahid looked him over and frowned. “From someone else, I’d never accept such a flimsy offer, but the Gods really do pick only the most self-righteous sticks in the mud to be their guards, don’t they? So when you say you’ll keep your word, you actually mean it.”

Glenn said nothing.

“All right,” Jahid said. “If I’m unfairly blamed for the accident at the town gate, you’ll report I cooperated in helping you arrest someone far more dangerous than me.”

“Don’t forget your part in releasing Demons across Grassea,” Glenn added.

Jahid simply smiled. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“You deny the other crystals in your pouch contain Demons?”

“All I’m saying is you don’t have proof I released any Demons save those at the gate.”

The man was right, of course. Glenn had hoped Jahid would be slightly less savvy regarding criminal law, but a man this skilled at mental manipulation likely also had a mind as sharp as they came. Jahid would admit to nothing he couldn’t deny.

“Fine,” Glenn said. “Now out with it, or I march you to the Blazers and make you their problem.”

“The blond kid might be a Blazer, but the man with him most certainly isn’t. He’s an imposter, so maybe you should start by arresting him, instead. If you can manage that.”

That was not the claim Glenn expected. “You’re claiming the man in the town square is impersonating a Blazer? And you have proof?”

“He’s actually the guy who hired me to help him rescue Anna Bronzelight. A fact to which I’ll testify in court, so long as it means I spend less time in jail.”

“Just because he hired you doesn’t mean he’s not a Blazer.” Glenn suspected even Blazers could hire those less than reputable to accomplish a greater good.

“Right, but I’ve known him for years. His real name is Victor, though I don’t know his last. We’ve done more than a few tasks of questionable legality in all that time, and all the while that pompous ass acted like he was better than me. Like his hands weren’t as dirty as mine.”

“What’s his Class?”

“He never said, and I don’t know. I just know he’s no Blazer. So if he’s wearing one of their pins, he stole it off a real one.”

Could Jenny have been waylaid on her way to Wolfpine? That seemed unlikely. Yet Glenn couldn’t simply ignore Jahid’s very dangerous claim.

The crime of impersonating a Blazer was, indeed, a crime meriting serious punishment ... provided he could prove it. He couldn’t even think about accusing a Blazer of being an imposter until he had proof. After all, it was possible Jahid was simply having one last laugh at Glenn’s expense.

Still ... if Jahid was telling the truth, and the man speaking with Leo was impersonating a Blazer, that would be the perfect way to spirit Anna Bronzelight away to her brother without anyone the wiser. Glenn needed more information before he could act, but he couldn’t simply leave Jahid waiting in the shadows while he looked into this. Fortunately, there was more than one way into the barracks.

Glenn marched Jahid off. “Here’s the deal,” he said as they walked. “You go in a cell until I verify your claims. If they’re true, our deal holds. If they’re not, we tack on the crime of lying to a town guard.”

“I’m not lying,” Jahid said. “But sure, we’ll do it your way.”

Glenn led Jahid, still cuffed, around the square to the far side of the barracks. While the main door was on the side facing the square, there was a smaller door on the other side known only to the Town Guards. Glenn used that to enter the barracks and walked inside with Jahid in tow. He found Chelsea sitting at a desk with Joanne looking over her shoulder.

“New prisoner,” Glenn said as he walked inside. “Smashed some Demon crystals at the gate.”

“Accidentally,” Jahid added, before he whistled appreciatively. “Shame one of you didn’t arrest me. I might not have run.”

Though she had her helmet off, Chelsea didn’t look up. “Logain’s all right?” She looked intent on her paperwork.

“He’s fine,” Glenn said, and slowed as he recognized all the parchments rolled out on the table. “What’s happening?” That was a lot of paperwork.

“Fugitive transfer,” Chelsea said, still scribing with an expert hand. “Someone found Anna Bronzelight, and then Zack got himself arrested for aiding her. They’re both headed to Lakebrooke as soon as I finish all this cursed paperwork.”