The Alleged Leather Factory

Kieran was sitting on the floor leaning against the bed in the room that Eric had provided him and Sophia. He was alone with his sword in lap, polishing it with a piece of cloth and some oil. The bed behind him was unused. Someone knocked on the door. Kieran got up and opened the door. Eric was standing in front of it.

“Good morning,” he said and looked past Kieran into the room, “You’re alone?”

“I am…” Kieran answered.

“My servants told me Miss Silvia left the house last night and hasn’t returned… Do you know where she went?”

“No Idea.”

“Do you know where she is now?”

“Probably waking up with a headache somewhere.”

“You seem awfully calm about this.”

“Because I am.”

Eric furrowed his brow, looking worried.

“What kind of bodyguard are you, who let the one he’s supposed to protect roam the streets drunk through the night?” Eric exclaimed.

“A calm one I guess…” Kieran replied with a shrug.

“A bad one it seems! Something could have happened to her! Worst case she could be dead!”

“She’s alive…”

“How do you know!?”

“Because I do… She’s a big girl, she should be able to take care of herself. And we’re in the safety of a town, so there should not be that many threats…”

“Enough for a young woman, especially a drunk one! Lately there have been some incidents with missing people, mostly young women! She could have been kidnapped and brought somewhere nasty… maybe even out of town!”

“She’s still in this town…”

“How do you know?”

“Because I do… Don’t worry so much…”

Eric’s eyes widened in anger.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re just sitting on your arse here in the room and tell me not to worry about a poor young woman being potentially kidnapped and or worse?!” Eric spouted agitated and pointed at Kieran, “Well If you won’t get your arse moving, I will! I have some connection in the Guard, I’ll get them scouring the town for her!”

“Don’t do that…” Kieran replied calmly, “Look, she’ll be fine and probably come back soon complaining about a headache…”

“What… And you expect me to just sit and wait, like you, you lazy bum of a bodyguard?”

“That would be best.”

“Well, I can’t! I may be just a merchant but, unlike you, Sir Bodyguard, it seems I have a sense of honor and duty! I won’t sit and rest idly until I know that Miss Silvia is okay!”

Kieran watched the now distressed and panicked looking merchant pacing up and down in front of the door.

“Why do you care so much about her?” he asked suddenly, “She’s a complete stranger you only met yesterday…”

Eric stopped pacing and stared at Kieran.

“I… well I… uhm…” he mumbled and scratched his stubble of a beard, “It’s just common sense to want to help someone! Besides she saved me and two of my employees from certain death yesterday! So, it’s just the… natural thing to do, isn’t it!”

Kieran noticed that Eric was turning slightly red.

“I see…” he mumbled, “The natural thing…”

Kieran went to grab his sword and came back to the door.

“She’ll be fine. Give me until tonight before you get the guard involved and Miss… Silvia will be back.” He said and went past the fidgeting merchant.

“But what if you’re too late and she’s… dead or something…” Eric muttered, “We should do all we can to search for her as fast as possible!”

Kieran placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You got your heart in the right place, Eric Ehrlich. Don’t worry, she won’t be dead. I promise you that.” He said calmly, and then his expression turned slightly melancholic, ”Her time hasn’t yet come.”

Strangely enough Eric seemed to calm down and just nodded. Kieran went past him, his sword in its sheath slung across his shoulder, and made his way to the exit of the house. He went down the same direction that Sophia chose last night and after a few turns arrived in an alley. Kieran looked closely at the ground and sighed. There were tracks of multiple people in the slightly muddy path and someone got dragged for a short time, before being picked up completely.

“What have you gotten yourself into, girl…” Kieran mumbled and went further down the alley.

He knew where Sophia was, or rather he felt it. The connection between them, shown by the mark on their bodies, made it possible for him to pinpoint the rough direction his bound person was, so he followed it. Kieran reached the other side of town some time later and found himself on a small street next to the main road.

“There you are…” he muttered and looked towards a big gate in the middle of the street.

There was a sign above it, reading “Leather Manufactory Teufel”. Behind the wall multiple big buildings were visible connected via a shared front yard. A group of six men were standing and sitting in front of the gate. Kieran turned into a small side alley. He looked around, making sure nobody saw him, and hid his sword between some crates and barrels. Kieran then got back out on the street and went up to the gate. The six men all sprang to the feet as he got closer.

“What do you want?” one of them grunted more than he spoke.

Kieran noticed that all of were armed with swords and daggers, ready at their hips.

“Hello there, good Sir. I just wanted to see what kind of leathers you produce here and if I could buy some,” Kieran lied, “I’m a traveling merchant.”

“We don’t sell leathers here,” another one replied.

“Oh, really? That’s a shame… What goods do you sell here then? I’m always up for a good deal!”

Kieran looked past the men into the front yard. With a quick glance he could see ten more men gathered in front of one of the buildings. Those were armed as well. One of the six men took a step forward and blocked Kieran’s view inside.

“We don’t sell any goods here.” He said intently.

“Oh, so you’re in the service business then?” Kieran asked innocently.

“No… and you better fuck off now, lad!”

“Why so unfriendly good Sir? I was just curious.”

The men placed their hands on top of their weapon hilts and one of them stepped directly in front of Kieran.

“We don’t like curious people here and this is us asking friendly… You don’t want to see us getting unfriendly” he said, towering over Kieran.

“But good S—” Kieran wanted to say but got shoved backwards forcefully.

It would have been easy for Kieran to push against or get out of the way completely, but he let himself get propelled backwards and even tripped, landing directly in a muddy puddle.

“Fuck off you curious bastard and never show your face here again! If you do, dirty clothes will be the least of your problems!” the one who pushed him snarled.

“I… understand… sorry to bother you…” Kieran said submissive.

He even slipped while trying to get back up and fell face-first into the dirt again. The six men began to laugh. Kieran finally managed to pick himself up and scurried away. He turned into the side alley where he went before and got his sword back, while wiping the dirt off his face. Kieran then gave the front gate a wide arc and found his way to the small street behind the supposed leather manufactory. There was no back or side entrance. Kieran saw a beggar sitting across the street and went up to him.

“You live here?” he asked the beggar.

“I would not call it living… more like surviving…” the beggar answered.

Kieran opened a small pouch, he had swiped from the man that pushed him, and got a coin out.

Clink

“Can you tell me something about that leather manufactory over there?” he asked and tossed the coin to the beggar.

“That’s no leather manufactory… at least not anymore… and if I were you I would make a wide arc around it.” The beggar replied.

“And why is that?”

“It’s been the hide-out of the Gaun Gang for some while now… awful bunch… better not get involved with them, Sir.”

Clink

“Is that so…”, Kieran tossed another coin, ”Why are they so awful?”

“Well, they are the biggest criminal gang in town… extorting businesses, drug distribution, kidnapping people for ransom and what not…”

“Does the guard not do anything about them? If they’re that big and even have their hide-out so openly, they must be known about?”

“No Sir, they do not… rumors have it that they powerful backing…”

“Who?”

“I could not say Sir…”

Clink

“Rumor has it that it’s the Oash Family backing them… they supposedly even started kidnapping because of them… but you did not hear that from me!” the beggar said quickly.

“Right… tell me about those kidnappings… who are they targeting?” Kieran asked and tossed another coin.

Clink

“Mostly young women… I saw them yesterday dragging one in there myself, while I hid between some crates…”

“Was it a girl with green eyes and dark hair?”

“No, Sir. I could not see her eyes, but her hair was definitely blonde.”

“Huh interesting…”

Kieran closed the pouch back up and tossed the whole thing towards the beggar.

Thud

“Thank you for the information… buy yourself something to eat and don’t spend it all on alcohol,” he said.

“Thank you so much, Sir!” the beggar exclaimed happily and bowed.

Kieran finished his circle around the building complex and found no other entrance. He stood in the alley where he had hidden his sword and looked towards the front gate.

“What should I do now… go through the front gate and just hack my way through?” Kieran mumbled, “Nah… There’s still half a day left…”