The tavern was unusually full when Lucas entered it and looking at the excited innkeeper, he guessed it wasn’t anything business related. He scanned the crowd, looking for Leon and finding her sitting at one of the table with some of the people Lucas recognized as members of the Adventurer’s guild. He made her way to her table, greeting everybody sitting at it before speaking directly to Rose.

“Have you settled in nicely?”

“Yes, thank you. It is very lively this evening” Leon said in response

“I’m glad and I hope we will not take too long. I’m starting tomorrow” Lucas said, his eyes drawn to the man that sat at the table alone, recognizing him as Deer, head of operation of his spy network. He excused himself from Rose and went to the man, offering his hand which man gladly took and shook it before sitting down.

“I heard you met the boss. She speaks highly of you” Deer said, opening the conversation. Lucas only nodded, prompting the Deer to continue “and I’m instructed to give you some guidelines for your investigation”

“So, what do we know?” Lucas asked

“Well, the assassin you caught before he could murder Leon, he proved a source of some information, but there is one that is particularly interesting. You know that Leon is a caster?” Deer asked and Lucas called some of the reports he read when all of this business had started which stated that Leon was indeed a caster, something related with controlling the pressure around her. He once again nodded and Deer continue to speak.

“Well, it turns up Rosenborg purchased some special needles from one of his colleagues that would increase the pressure in one’s body, getting similar results as Leon when she launch her skills” Deer said.

“So, this is fairly simple then, right? Find the body and see if there is a stab wound and then find the daggers Rosenborg used” Lucas spoke.

“Well, according to the report from our agent, the head of the victim completely popped after Rosenborg stabbing so I think our chances of finding a stab wound are slim. But the one who made the needles, that is someone we could interrogate” Deer explained.

“We know where he is?” Lucas asked and Deer explained where to find the seller. Deer didn’t expect much trouble, but he also didn’t expect for the man to go quietly. Lucas would be the one who will go see him and convince him, peacefully or violently, to go to extraction point where a team of operatives will wait to escort him to the place where he will be interrogated. First steps of his task set, Lucas said his goodbyes.

The morning found Lucas on the central plaza, fully equipped and waiting for the rest of his party to arrive. As the morning chatter started getting louder and more and more bodies filled the streets, starting their day, his party members started to arrive.

“Would it kill us for once to do something later in the day, or in the evening?” Ted spoke as he arrived with Maggie, his usual morning grumpiness shinning through. Chen and Lucas chuckled, just as Margaret arrived.

“What’s so funny?” Margaret asked, not getting an answer as they slowly started moving out. Predictably, she continued pestering everyone around her before annoying Ted to once again lash out, once again making everyone else chuckle. With a reasonable pace, they found themselves at Crafters row and took one of the smaller alleys that littered this particular street. The smell from one of the leatherworker’s workshops filled their nostrils, the alley they needed to go being behind it. They paced the entire length of the alley, finding themselves in front of the door. Seeing them open, they were instantly put on high alert, readying their weapons as they slowly entered the room behind the door. From their vantage point, they spotted people shouting at one another. From what they were able to gather, they were not the only one who wanted to find the man in question and now there was pressure for the illegal weapon seller to come peacefully. The man, however, was hiding behind his two bodyguards. Lucas guessed it was the time for the party to reveal themselves and add itself into the mix.

“People, there is no need for further arguments” Lucas said as he stepped in front of the room and looking at the both group. His questions about who the attacking group is were answered as he recognized one of the Rosenborg’s thugs that followed him when he came to confront Lucas in the tavern.

“The reason for my previous claim is that I will take our seller here, under the authority of Camp Hearth” Lucas continued.

“In here, we don’t recognize the authority you speak about” one of the Rosenborg’s men spoke up, a leader of the three men that were present.

“Is that so? I’m afraid your opinion is irrelevant” Lucas said, before turning to the illegal weapon seller “Do you also reject the authority of the settlement? Or are you coming with me?” he asked the man

Seller, a small man that seemed to want to shrink even more at this moment, took a long moment to think about Lucas’s word. The turning of gears in his head was almost audible as he went through his options. Finally, his shoulder slumped as he accepted the Lucas’s offer and took a step forward to let himself be escorted out.

“You are not living this place alive” the leader of Rosenborg’s men said and started channeling something. Exactly what he was channeling will forever stay a mystery as the two arrows pierced the back of his head, courtesy of Maggie. With the other two men distracted, Lucas pounced on them, activating “Guiding strike”, his hand automatically going for the throat of one of the enemies, slashing it. The man fell, his blood freely flowing from his throat and forming a pool around him as he took his final breaths. The remaining opponent tried to run, only to be intercepted by a club who was wielded by Ted, knocking him down. Another quick swing opened his skull, brain matter oozing all over the floor.

“Now that this matter is settled, we can be on our way. And just to give you some heads up, we want to talk to you about your business with the man he just ordered you killed” Lucas spoke to the man. The weapon seller put his eyes down, watching the floor as he waited for Lucas to tell him what he should do next. With a quick explanation, they were on their way. They reached extraction point without much difficulty and found a pair of cloaked figures waiting for him.

“Tell Deer that we found Rosenborg’s man attacking our mark” Lucas told to the pair as they were handling the small man. They nodded and soon vanished, leaving only a note that said the information will be dropped at Bruce’s office. Lucas gave the note to the rest of his party to read and they all agreed to go together and wait.

Only an hour had passed before the report came, the weapon seller seemingly cooperative after Rosenborg decided to have him killed.

“And you are certain he doesn’t lie to us?” Lucas asked Goldilocks who was the bearer of the news.

“Yea, he recreated the whole process in front of us. I don’t understand how exactly those needles of his function, but they do leave a trace on the body” the head of spies confirmed, returning to the plan Lucas suggested to Deer when they meet this morning.

“Do we know where the body is being held?” Lucas asked.

“Not yet, Rosenborg is tight lipped even to his most trusted underlings about it. And he started to suspect he is being spied upon, so he is even more careful” Goldilocks said, frustration clear in her voice.

“And what about the rest of the guild? I guess he is spreading the narrative that suits his goal” Bruce interjected with his question.

“The undecided ones still lean towards Leon, but barely. They are keenly watching the development. Your woman is hard at work, however, broadcasting to everyone where is she and having talks and meetings all day long” the spy answered. Bruce looked displeased about this bit of information, but Lucas understood why Rose did that. She had to squash the rumors she is in hiding and with this move she also threw some shade at Rosenborg, insinuating he is sending assassins her way.

“That means the race is going to be tight. We need to clear the name of Leon as soon as possible” Bruce said.

“Is there any way to set Rosenborg up?” Ted asked from behind Lucas, surprising him. His party had been quiet during this exchange.

“What are you talking about?” Bruce asked, but Lucas noticed the spy’s behavior, as she went silent and in deep thought

“We are certain he is looking for a chance to have another swing at Leon, right?” Ted asked “so, why don’t we feed him some false information about potential openings” he finished his thought.

“I like the way you think, big guy. I am already working on something similar” Goldilocks said.

“But we still need to prove the woman innocent. Even if managed to expose Rosenborg, they will just vote for someone else if there is still doubt she committed murder of her opposition” Bruce said, his voice serious.

“That is our job” Lucas said, nodding at the rest of his party “and we shall see it done” he finished confidently.