A silent place

While Haribelle and Brynna picked up the thrown to the side tent and luggage, Marley rushed back to the garrison to pick up Sabina, the fourth slave that would travel with them, and say goodbye to the by then acquainted soldiers.

Jay by then had already waved them all good bye and marched over to the northern Gate.

It would be quite a while until he saw any of the women again, at least if everything went well.

And even though they were his slaves, the three women had looked pretty down and even gotten a bit emotional. Only his promise to reward them all once they met again had lifted their mood a bit.

Passing the cities gates, Jay summoned his mount and rode down the road to the north. Once he was out of sight and no people close by, he dismissed the horse again. He was going to return to Gold Creek fast with a portal, but first he wanted to try something else.

Concentrating on the place close to the road where he once camped with the Saldemas after they rescued Kylie, Jay used one of his latest spells.

(Teleport LVL1) felt strange upon use.

While Jay got an idea where he would travel along and how far it was, the over twenty miles towards the spot under the big tree passed in a flash.

It had taken a good chunk of his mana and he knew a normal mage of his level would be close to drained from just that. But for him, he could go on with this type of travel for a while, if he didn't consider his stomach that was.

The feeling of getting weightless, then stretched, accelerated hard and halting abruptly int the next moment, all the while seeing the scenery pass by in a blur, was hard to take in. Or to keep in the last meal for Jay at least.

A bit pale and knowing he wasn't that accustomed to a place within thirty miles enough to teleport there, Jay finally went with the portal.

In comparison that spell took a lot more mana and way longer to cast, additionally to having a set target location.

A few seconds later he stepped out of the portal on the road in Gold Creek. Breathing in deeply, he felt like coming home.

Directly jogging over to the Inn, Jay got a surprise as he only met Marcus inside.

He was tending to the bar just then, even though he normally was mostly working in the kitchen. But the moment he saw Jay, he put down his towel and swiftly walked over.

After a hearty welcome, Jay learned that Mia had left the town with his daughter. The two went to Arathor together as Ellie would receive her second Blessing in a few days.

They all hadn't expected him to return this fast and the young waitress had wanted to surprise him with her newly acquired job once done.

Marcus went on that the two women only left in the recent days and would return in at least a week from then. Jay got a bit down to this, but then inquired further about this Blessing Marcus had mentioned.

He then learned it was some kind of ceremony held by different churches to enable participants a new Job. All Church and holy-attribute Jobs required the second blessing that would be given once old enough, normally at the age of twelve.

Surprised by those news, Jay was really happy to hear Ellie would start out with a new Job and hopefully study at the capital. None the less he couldn't help but feel even more down after that.

The reason though was different to the two not being at home.

He had really been hoping to spend a night with Mia after such a long while, but what got him downhearted was he himself. Jay had just gotten out of bed with some women and his only though was to get in with the next one.

Thinking about that, he felt like he was turning into some kind of deviate.

But Jay swiftly got rid of those thoughts and asked Marcus if he needed some help and if he should stay there for a while. The chef only laughed to that and explained that though Jay was really capable, he should stick to his work for the Adventurers Guild and the Kingdom.

Marcus had already gotten all the help he needed by a woman from town.

Jay heard something in those lines and couldn't help but grin. He really was glad Marcus finally had met someone else, and latter knew the youth had understood it.

As there really was nothing he could help Ellie's father with, Jay left the Inn again and walked over to the garrison. He hat thought about teleporting there for a moment, but remembering the last time he startled all the men there with flying over it, Jay went there by foot.

Like always, he didn't need to show his ID as he knew one of the two guards from before. Not a minute later he was entering the main building and got greeted by Haggard right behind the door.

The two of them together walked up to his personal office and took a seat at the table.

While the Commander fetched two mugs from the shelve behind him and poured something from a bottle in, Jay began to tell about what happened in Westfield. He didn't let out much, only the personal things one mustn't tell, and so it took him a while until he was done.

In the mean time, Haggard had filled their mugs with some ale once again.

Finally done with his recounting, Commander Haggard explained he had already gotten word of his accomplishments and what happened in Millshire. They both agreed that there was someone influential instilling the Kingdoms ruin, but they had to be careful.

When Jay commented that Mia will be heartbroken once she learns the fires of Arathor had been laid by some of the own citizens, the atmosphere turned a bit gloomy.

But after some sips from their mugs, the two of them had shaken off their thoughts and turned back to the matters they had to attend to.

Jay first asked if he should leave the totems he once again found with the garrison. To that Haggard waved his hands and said he should keep them safe and deliver them to Arathor directly. The chances to find out more and finally catch whoever spreads them was bigger there anyways.

Jay would travel there next anyways like he stated. Once the captives arrive, he wanted to interrogate them for further information. As one of them was going to AI:7, Jay was sure he would get a chance to do so, possibly even with both.

He even hinted Haggard that he still had some papers he hadn't reported about and wasn't entirely sure if he should. Only those from the tower he would give to the agents.

But the reason for that was more that he couldn't read them anyways, and if there was something relevant written inside, Jay somehow had the feeling he would be told at least that.

Nearly done with their talk, Jay had only one thing he still wanted to know:

It was about the small abode north from the Garrison, close to the lake there; The one he flew over and still thought he had seen the female Goblin called Sira there.

Haggard immediately knew which one he meant and stated that Tharynn had previously told him about Jay inquiring. They even had sent a small unit there to check it, but found nothing but an abandoned house.

If Jay wanted to know more or make sure they hadn't missed anything, he should have a look himself. With his skills he might notice more than the soldiers that went there.

Jay was irritated by Haggard's words first, but the Commander stated he thought of it as suspicious as well.

He trusted Jay and his intuition. If latter thought there was more to that, he should go and see for himself.

Jay only had the problem that time was pressing, as he didn't want to miss the chance to question the captives from Millshire.

But to that the Commander explained him that he didn't need to hurry as the transfer would at least take a week if they didn't use portal magic. Even if they did, he doubted it would be sooner than a few days after they got notified and decided to do it that way.

Relieved that he at least didn't need to hurry, Jay decided to check on the small abode in the north. His map had already updated, so it was no trouble to find the right way.

After thanking Haggard for the drink and latter did so for the report, the two of them said their farewells before Jay left the garrison. He went out of the gate and then for the first time through the small roads along the adjoining houses to the Garrison.

This was the shortest way to the northern border of Gold Creek and once there, Jay summoned his horse and rode into the forest. The trip took him nearly an hour on horseback, but for about the last mile Jay decided to walk on foot.

As he closed in on the abandoned looking building he activated (Hide) and carefully closed in. Though it was the middle of the day, the illumination under the thick trees was sparse.

About a hundred yards from the abode, Jay spotted the first nearly invisible thread set up between the trees thanks to his [Trap LVL 1]. He carefully stepped over it and then followed the thread towards the house.

It was no wonder the soldiers didn't find anything if the inhabitants set up a system like this.

The small house was more of a cottage with a small veranda facing the Mirror Lake, just like Jay had seen from above a while ago. He ignored the small bells carefully placed around the building and connected with the threads to alarm of the direction from where possible intruders would come.

After sneaking onto the veranda, Jay peeked through a window there.

At first he saw nothing but a cozy, all the while a bit aged interior. But then he heard steps inside and ducked down when someone had walked towards the window he was peeking through. Once he was sure that person had left again, he took another peek.

What he spotted inside then was a female bandit that just then checked on the other windows, but no goblin girl anywhere. Deciding to check on the women inside, Jay first used his [Analyze] skill on her to learn about his opponent.

__________

Morgaine the Sly (Smuggler LVL7)

Base LVL19

*Arathi*

HP 769/769 * Mana 296/296

[Haggling LVL 2]

[Hide LVL 2]

[Dagger LVL 2]

[Trap LVL 1]

[Item box]

__________

From her skills it looked she was more versed fighting with her mouth than actual combat. But as he couldn't be sure, Jay decided to take her by surprise. Crouching down, he then touched one of the threads leading to the bell warning of the direction he came from, and then he hurried towards the door.

Contrary to his expectation that Morgaine would look through the window or rush out, he only heard rummaging inside. Quick witted as he was, Jay kicked the front door in, only to find the woman bending forward directly behind the entrance and presenting him her bubbly butt.

She was trying to lift a hatch that seemed to have been hidden under a carpet. This probably was how she had hidden from the soldiers.

Jay though didn't wait until she looked back and took a step forward, only to kick out the next second.

The female bandit flew forwards to that and landed on her face as her hand had still been holding a ring on the hatch. Glad he had held back as he saw her health bar drop a good bit, Jay walked over to her.

Kneeling down on her arms he had put on her back before, Jay fetched a rope and bound her up. He then lifted the woman onto a nearby chair and looked around.

She seemingly hadn't managed to hide her traces, with some papers lying out and even some food. Other than that the house looked abandoned.

Taking off the bandana she wore, hers was a black one, Jay looked into a surprisingly sexy face. The woman was not young anymore, somewhere between thirty and forty years of age. Her figure though was a bombshell one from what Jay saw: A slender waist in combination with a nice and, like he learned when he kicked her, surprisingly butt.

With her raven black hair, slightly tanned skin and a chest threatening her simple leather armor to rip, Jay was sure she had been quite the looker in her prime.

And at least for her body, the smuggling work had paid off extremely well.

But all that was of no interest for Jay at the moment. While Morgaine hadn't posed any fight at all, she was bound to know something about that Hobgoblin he was trying to find, or maybe even played a role in the slave-scroll smuggling.

First of all though, he went to the table where he had spotted some papers and looked at them.

Morgaine kept watching him in silence as she knew she could have shouted all she wanted, but no one would hear her. She had chosen this place for the same reason, namely to not get heard or found.

It was mostly encrypted registers with most certainly smuggled goods and their recipients, as well as her profit. That was nothing Jay had much use for, so put them to the side. She seemingly had been working on them when Jay got there as the last line wasn't finished and both, feather and ink still lay on the table.

He had been hoping to find some letters in between giving him some hints on her connections. But looking through the not that big room, he spotted ashes in the fireplace. Adding one and one, he was certain she hadn't used it for heating in the summer, but for getting rid of evidences.

What a careful woman.

But she hadn't been careful enough as it seemed.

Jay next found a cheap parchment in between the proper and on good quality paper written registers. Looking at the badly drawn image of Morgaine on it and reading the sum of five gold coins under it, Jay couldn't help but grin.

It really was a bounty poster.

Written on the sheet was in thick red letters: "Wanted: Morgaine the Sly, dead or alive. Reward 5 Gold."

Holding it up and turning towards the mature hottie, Jay waved it around and couldn't help but comment:

"So you still hadn't been cautious enough, huh? But then again, five gold is pretty poor for a life, ain't it?" J.

"Well, It states dead or alive. Though I suppose getting killed is better than rotting in the Kingdoms dungeons for the rest of ones life…" M.

"I take it that this isn't just for a bit of smuggling, right?" J.

"…" M.

"Fine then, how about you tell me some things I want to know and I let you choose?" J.

"Choose what?" M.

"How this situation will come to an end." J.

"~Oho~ ...then tell me what you want to know, Sweetie!" M.

"First one: you wouldn't happen to know the whereabouts of a certain female Hobgoblin that you are acquainted with?…" J.