"How long is this tunnel? Why even is it here in the first place?" Larry asked from up ahead, his voice echoing in the gloom.

"It goes right up to the wall but needs a stone manipulator to open that entrance. There is a regular door leading out into a basement halfway down. As for why it is here, my best guess is it has something to do with this town originally being a military outpost. I only discovered it because the bookshelf was wooden and I wanted to redecorate it."

"Which exit are we taking?"

"The door. I would rather not cause a scene and we don't need to go that far. It will land us in the southern end of the West Quarter."

"So in the opposite direction of where you wanted us to go."

"No harm in a little lonesome stroll through the night to tempt predators on the way. This also acts as a precaution in case they have anyone watching me, as I'm sure they will want to keep an eye on me. We cannot rule out accomplices for either possibility."

"A human working with a spirit?"

"Maybe not knowingly, but money can be a powerful and persuasive tool. Ah, we are here." Andre exclaimed before the light of the lantern even illuminated the door, which was hard to even see well from the back in the claustrophobic tunnel. "Scoot over."

Rather than stopping, Larry and Lucie walked a few more steps to let me pass by the heavy wooden door and allow Andre to step up to it. He produced a key from his robes and slotted it into the lock, turning it until a loud click sounded before pushing it open. With our marching order reversed, I followed Andre up a couple of steps into a dark basement, not much better than the tunnel but still liberating in not being closed in on all sides anymore. It did not take long for Larry to step in and cast a light upon our surroundings. It turned out we were in a well-stocked wine cellar, accompanied by a shelf of various sealed cylindrical containers.

"My humble collection. Make sure not to tell anyone. Some of this stuff is worth a lot more than it may seem. Come along."

"Is this your home? The secret tunnel from the church just happened to lead to where you live?" Larry inquired, suspicious, as we followed Andre up a set of stairs and into what looked to be a kitchen before stepping out into a hallway and finally to a foyer.

"You have it reversed. I bought this place after finding the tunnel and built that door myself. A stone manipulator, which I am presuming the one who constructed it was considering the nature of the original exit, would not have a need for a regular door, as I am sure you are aware, Larry. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go and change into something less conspicuous than these robes." With that Andre disappeared back down the hallway and up a flight of stairs.

"I still don't get why someone like him is here in Arenol. Aren't inquisitors valuable? That collection and this house, yet he barely has anything to do here. "

"Just be glad he is here to help right now. Doesn't matter why." Lucie then turned to me. "I'll follow you from the rooftops wherever you go, and Larry will then follow me. Thanks for doing this, truly."

"You shouldn't thank me," I admitted, feeling a slight tinge of guilt. "I'm doing this for myself."

"As I said earlier, it doesn't matter why, as long as you are helping," Lucie reassured me with a smile.

I could not help but smile back, at which point footsteps came from the stairway and Andre had returned, now dressed a lot more casually and inconspicuously than the blue robes. He stepped out to me and held out his hand to give me something, which turned out to be a handful of copper coins, that I pocketed.

"Expenses are on me. I'll head out first. Follow me at a distance. I'll take you to an inn, so grab some drinks or food, doesn't matter, but sit at the bar alone if you can. I'll go in first and talk to whoever is running the place, so wait for me to come back out before entering, but once you do make sure to show the palm of your hand to whoever looks to be in charge, and only them. I'll give you a signal when you have waited enough and we will move on to the next. We should be able to get through all of the inns and taverns in the North Quadrant within two, maybe three hours. After that, it will probably be too late in the night for them to stay open, so if nothing happens, we'll do one more loop and return here. Sounds like you two have the rear sorted. Any questions or concerns?"

"No. I'm good to go." I exclaimed without hesitation.

"Perfect. Oh, Larry, please do lock up behind you." Andre said after unlocking the front door, handing an embarrassed-looking Larry the key before stepping out into the street.

It was slightly nerve-wracking trying to lure out a killer but compared to my time all alone with the werewolf, this was much better as I had others to look out for me, a clear objective, and something to look forward to at the end of the road. If anything, an opportunity to perhaps drink some more blood in secret would make me feel safest as I go out there, but the sword I had stashed in my bag was a comforting alternative. Qubit was with me as always and still had a few more rocks it can drop, giving me a sense of being well-armed and prepared for the worst. I watched Andre walk away through one of the windows and, after he looked far away enough, stepped up to the front door myself.

"Let's catch that bastard!" I exclaimed with a reassuring grin at my two bodyguards and stepped out into the chilly night.

I did not look back after leaving the house behind, following the path Andre took to a street corner where he disappeared as soon as I stepped out. I was tempted to hurry and not lose him but trusted that he knew what he was doing. I could not help but throw cautious glances down any street I passed, looking for movement, but despite everything, this gave me a good opportunity to explore the town, even though I had no idea where I was at the moment.

It turned out that the streets were not as deserted as they originally seemed, as every so often people, always in groups, could be seen down one street or another. Sometimes they were drunks, others they were hauling stuff in carts. Generally, the paths Andre took were those that did not cross other groups, but we often got close. At one point, one of them hollered down the street when they saw me on my own.

"Oi, you better run. The spirit's gonna get ya!" The shout echoed down the street, followed by laughter.

Luckily they quickly went out of sight rather than deciding to follow me. This seemed to be the common reaction by any that strayed too close, most likely from being afraid of becoming collateral.

No vigilantes or knight in shining armor in this magical, fantasy world.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I had to retract it as I remembered Lucie's desire to help.

On our way, we did pass a handful of taverns, each a hotspot of activity but we did not stop or linger until we arrived at one much later that was rather close to the town's wall. There was a gate leading out nearby, and orientating myself with the church peeking up through the streets and over the rooftops, we seemed to be at the road that leads straight to the church's entrance. We ended up having circumvented half the town, as near the start of the trek I spotted that we had started just about behind the church.

As I had rounded the corner, I had looked around to find where Andre had gone only to see him standing by the door of an inn, disappearing inside it only after making sure I had seen him. There was no one else outside so I simply waited at a distance for him to remerge, making sure to not look around too much. Eventually, Andre came out, but not the same way he entered. There seemed to have been a backdoor as he appeared from behind the building, and as he rounded the corner he scanned the surroundings before pointing at the entrance, motioning for me to go in.

I briskly approached and getting closer, I could hear chatter coming from inside. I placed my hand on the handle and pushed it open, upon which I was greeted with a barroom filled up a decent portion with burly men who were filling up the room with the stench of sweat. They seemed to all be one large group however as they had the tables moved closer together and were crowding around what looked to be a dice game that was going on.

I noticed that a couple of gazes from that group fell on me, and the chatter lessened but the reaction was split. Some did not care at all or were too absorbed in their drinks or game, others only gave me curious glances and only a few were really focused on me. It made me somewhat self-conscious, especially of my new, lack of hair color.

The barkeep, a more elderly fellow that gave me the impression of a retired sailor with sun-bleached skin, waved me over and I took that as my cue to step up to the bar, taking a seat at one of the stools. Remembering Andre's instructions, I raised the palm of my hand up to show to him, which he glanced at before giving a clear nod.

"So what'll it be, missus? Not the safest time to be wandering about on your own. Well, not that it ever is, but even more so."

"A drink to warm me up. Whatever you have on tap is fine."

"Not picky, are ya?" he inquired while already pouring a mug from a keg. "The boys there brought in some fine rum from across the sea. Although the mead they busted into is plenty fine itself. Local brewed. I guarantee ya'll like it."

"Thanks. How much?" I asked, nervous at paying with foreign currency for the first time.

"A single crow," he said, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Courtesy of your fine friend."

"What about my discount? We brought your goods and this is how you treat us?" Despite the accusation, the tone of the sailor who came over was friendly as he presented three of the same copper coins I was given along with his mug. "I'll take three more drinks."

I recognized his face as one of the ones having stared at me from when I entered. He had a friendly and somewhat fatherly face but was lean and muscular with tanned skin while wearing a beige doublet overlaid with a brown jerkin. It looked like he may have been smacked in the side of his nose recently as it was red and raw.

"I paid you for your delivery, so that's settled. And that," the barkeep said as he scooped up the coins and began refilling the sailor's mug. "is six short for your order."

"Why do I feel like we are the ones getting ripped off?"

"What did ya say?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Just a jest." the sailor said as he quickly retreated with his drink in hand.

"You seemed to get along. Regulars?" I asked while handing over a single copper coin as he asked.

"As regular as they can be. Always drop by when they are in port, a tradition of sorts now. Used to be my crew but most have retired by now, for one reason or another. You could say they are the new generation of the Ocean's Mercy, but I've not sailed with any of them. So where do ya come from, missus? If ya don't mind me askin'."

"From somewhere very far away, unfortunately," I replied as a somewhat sad smile played upon my lips.

"Mighta heard of it"

"I highly doubt it." Just then, an idea sprang to mind and I decided to seize the opportunity "You've been around, right? Can I ask you some things?"