Chapter Ninteen

“Excuse me, sir, do you know where the thieves guild is?” Eden asks an old fisherman.

“Get out of my face, kid!”

Eden rushes over to an elderly woman walking with a cane. “Ma’am, you haven’t seen any thieves as of late have you?”

“What? Yer gonna need to speak louder, sonny.”

“I was wondering if you’ve seen any thieves!”

“Do I have bees?”

“No, have you seen thieves!”

“Tea leaves? No, sonny, I don’t have tea leaves, now scat.”

Next, Eden walks into a shop that sells general goods and asks the clerk at the counter, “Hello, thieves. Do you know where I can find their hideout by any chance?”

“Aye.”

“Really?”

The clerk nudges his head toward the exit. “Out the door ye came from.”

And out Eden went. He crosses his arms and pinches his expression. Nobody knows where they are? With no luck in getting any info, he regroups with Eleanor, who is sighing heavily.

“Nothin'?”

Eleanor shakes her head. “It looks like the townsfolk here are almost unaware or don’t care at all.”

“Yeah, it seems that way.”

Eden hangs his head as his bottom hits the stone bench and sighs. He has spent hours asking around town and has made no progress on any clues. Catching bad guys is a lot harder than fighting; he did not account for this to be a part of being a Legion. Eden has only imagined the glorifying battles that Legions have and not what it takes for those battles to happen. He scratches his head furiously as he’s trying to think of a way to get answers.

“Coin? Oh ya don’t have coin. No one has coin.” An old lady in tattered clothes waves up a tankard to a few passing strangers who ignore her.

Eden wonders if maybe she has seen anything. He approaches her and tosses a few coins into her cup.

“Oh, oh, coin!”

“I have a question, ma’am. I can buy you dinner if you can tell me about the thieves guild around here.”

The old lady flits around and back at the coins in her cup like she’s making sure no one saw Eden give her coins. “Everyone scared. Everyone see. Kill. Kill. No talking. Killed. Killed.”

“Are the people of Antallasso being threatened?”

The old lady’s gaze darts everywhere as she scratches her face and limbs. “Coin. Coin. Clink. Clink. Blood. Blood.”

“Where are they?”

The old lady’s voice trembles as she starts to rock back and forth, her teeth chattering. “Oh, oh, they are everywhere. They are streets. They are walls. They are roofs. They are… shadows.”

Eden drops more coins. “Please miss, I really nee-”

The woman jumps to her feet and shrieks in incoherent words, then runs off, rattling the tankard-filled coins down an alley.

“I think I just got robbed…” However, Eden did get some information out of that ordeal, even if the info is little. Turning to the sky, the sun has begun to set; Eden pats his stomach and turns to Eleanor. “Let’s go get something to eat at the tavern.”

“Right,” Eleanor nods.

The tavern is filled with patrons; the air is steamy and smells of soup and bread up to Eden’s nostrils, making his stomach growl with excitement. A basket of freshly baked slices of bread with cheese and two bowls of chicken vegetable soup are placed in front of him and Eleanor.

The bread softens and melts the cheese as it’s dipped into the soup; Eden stuffs it into his mouth as he glances around the tavern. Customers drink mead, eat hot meals, smile, and laugh. It’s like Antallasso is not being threatened by the thieves’ guild at all. Maybe the old lady was just crazy? “Looks like a bust today,” Eden sighs.

“Agreed. Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow?” says Eleanor.

Eden leans his head on his fist over the table as he dips another slice of bread into the bowl of soup. “Maybe we should ask the guards next?”

“Yes, they are the most likely to run into them more than the townsfolk.”

“The one’s guarding the manor, I wonder if they can share some info about the one that got away?”

“It’s worth a shot. We could also visit the thief that you captured, too.”

“Yeah, maybe we could get some information out of him.” Eden gulps down his bowl of soup, then jumps out of his seat.” Alright, This time, for sure, we’ll get something and catch the thieves guild before it’s too late!”

“Right!”

“Huh?” Eden turns to glance over his shoulder; the warm feeling of someone watching him burns at the back of his head. He looks around the bustling tavern with his chest tightening. A figure slips out of the tavern with an eerie calmness. Eden rushes, jumping over tables and startled patrons, bursting through the doors. But the figure is nowhere to be seen; the cobblestone roads lay empty without a single soul in the darkness with dimly lit lamps along the sides. He looks around and above the roofs of buildings. Nothing. Eden has hoped to even pick up the sounds of footsteps, but the flickering of flames and flapping of flags seem too loud.

“Eden, what’s wrong?” Eleanor catches up behind Eden with a concerned look on her face.

“Be cautious here, Eleanor. I think what that old lady said wasn’t as crazy as we thought.”

“Let’s turn over for the night,” she nods.

* * *

Hammers bang against wood as a new frame is being built for the duke’s manor. Eden exchanges a glance at Eleanor as they ask questions to the guards about the night of the robbery. Most of them explain the artes the thieves used; the one who can go through walls and attacks is the one Eden had caught.

“The other thief had the ability to extend and expand his Armament to great lengths. It looks like a mere dagger, but it can turn into a sword or become as big as a greatsword,” says a guard.

“Really? That sounds cool!” Eden says, already imagining the kind of battle with this thief with the new information. His imagination breaks as the guard raises an eyebrow at him and to Eleanor. “Sorry, what else happened here?”

“Just before blowing up the entrance, the thieves betrayed each other.”

Betrayal? Within the thieves guild? Eden ponders the thought. Maybe this other thief wanted to keep the Whale Stone all to themselves and used his partner as a scapegoat?

“The one that got captured was stabbed by his companion; he shouted a name, Marek.”

Marek, betrayal, and a stab wound. This is a lot more information gathered than asking the townsfolk. But it doesn’t help Eden find out where Marek is with the Whale Stone. Maybe this information can be used?

“Thanks for the information, sir. Where can we find the captured thief? We would like to ask some questions of him,” asks Eleanor.

“Yes, Miss Five Star, we’re keeping the thief locked up at the dungeon next to the knights’ barracks.”

“Alright! Let’s go interrogate him!” says Eden, buzzing with excitement as he rushes out of the manor and down the path to the barracks with Eleanor behind him.

The knight at the entrance salutes Eleanor and steps aside, allowing them through. As Eden passes, he narrows his eyes at the guard, but he doesn’t meet his gaze.

Another knight gives Eleanor a salute again, and Eden doesn’t bother to wait to get his greeting from him. The knight guides them down a flight of stairs to a wooden double door that creaks loudly as it opens. Rows upon rows of steel-barred rooms with criminals in tan trousers scowl from their dark corners; the prisoners begin barking threats with very descriptive ways to kill them. Eden’s stomach becomes uneasy from under the snarls of criminals around him; he clenches his fist with a desire to shut all of them up.

“Here we are,” says the guard. “See if you guys can get him to talk.”

Eden peers into the dark chamber, inside is the thief he had caught, sitting in the corner. His dark violet eyes glare up from the darkness with a sharp gleam that seems to cut through anything he sets his eyes on, and they’re burning deep at Eden. Feeling challenged, Eden exchanges with the thief a steely look not to taunt but expresses the thief to bring it on whenever.

“Legions, this is Cyrus Orman.”