73 The Mysterious Culprit

The room we rented wasn't that lavish for the price. A simple bed, table, chair and a basin. 'At least I'll be able to wash myself properly, and the bed seems comfortable too', I figured and said "We'll rest for today. Tomorrow we'll have some errands to run and then we can be on our way". Shelly didn't really care about the place we stayed at, so long there was food and time to laze about, anything was fine with Shelly.

During the late afternoon, we went downstairs to grab our meal. The dishes were great but only provided for people. Shelly received some veggies and fruits while the bartended commented how cute it was. "Mah... mah, mah mah...", Shelly complained about the meat-less dinner. "Don't worry, I'll give you 'normal food' when we get back upstairs. For now, act like a good turtle", I reassured it with a whisper. Shelly could eat veggies and fruits, and we did during our travels of course, but that turtle was more carnivorous than most of the drunken guests inside the tavern.

Though our food disappeared quickly, we stayed downstairs for a very specific reason. Taverns were usually the place to hear some gossip or information. People liked to talk, especially once they got drunk. This time wasn't an exception, and the information came at a great interest to me.

"Hey Rick, you run errands for the guards, do you know anything about that Sleepstorm Village?", a middle-aged man a few tables away asked his friend. "Do you think they tell me everything? I only run errands for them", the guy replied a bit displeased. "Come on, we know you heard something. We're friends, right? Share with us, we are curious as well", another guy chipped in. "Heh, if you guys are that interested, you wouldn't mind buying me a round or two, right?", the guy called Rick replied.

"That's cheap, but... Alright, I'll buy you a round", one of the men said. Rick looked at the other friend as if asking whether he would also buy him a round. "Fine, fine! You'll get your round, I'm too curious right now", he finally gave in. Rick and his other two friends quieted down at that stage. He spoke so that only his friends could listen in, but this wasn't a problem for me.

"Apparently, some sort of illegal activities were taking place over there. I don't know who or what sort of illegal stuff they meant, but someone destroyed a whole village. Moreover, they apparently used poison to achieve that". The two friends gasped in shock, but then Rick continued "The village is done for, no one survived, or at least that's what guards are saying. They also found a huge amount of poison, outside the village. Right now, they are frantically searching for that culprit or culprits, but don't tell this to anyone".

"What if they target another village? Or even worse our town?", one of Rick's friends asked. "I think the chances are low. Think about it, a town has better fortification. There are guards patrolling day and night, so suspicious people will get easily caught. I think we are safe here, but other villages... If I were you, I wouldn't travel to other villages for now", Rick replied.

"That's easy for you to say, you aren't a merchant... Damn, I'm glad to know this, but at the same time...", Rick's friend replied displeased. "Just take a break for a while. Don't tell me you can't afford that", the other friend chimed in. "I'd like to see how you'd feel in my shoes". At that point, Rick stopped the argument with a loud "Now, now. No need to worry with those drinks on our table. Cheers!" and downed his liquor of choice. With no reaction from his friend, he added "Fine, since both of you own me a round, I'll buy one round too!" and urged his friends to drink.

'I wouldn't be so sure about your safety though'. Whoever attacked that village, wouldn't attack the town as well. The herbs required to make such poison couldn't be common, therefore availability alone would dictate that as a rare event. My thought referred to the potency, and the method with which that poison was spread. Even though a town was much more secure than a village, such poisonous rain would still bring about a disaster.

'I'm not sure why that particular village though. Why use such a potent poison on a village? What does that accomplish?', but my thoughts stopped at that point. I wasn't exactly innocent when it came to 'razing a village to the ground'. Though the chances of another person with such extensive knowledge of poison to simply enact revenge on a village, seemed a bit slim to me. 'The most bizarre aspect is the poisonous marsh that formed further away from the village...', I thought.

During my travel from that marsh to the village, no other signs of poisonous rain were present. That could only mean the marsh was there to begin with, or it was done twice. The former was possible, but in my belief not what occurred. Otherwise people would be aware of that marsh, especially those who lived inside the Sleepstorm Village. Judging by how fast the information travelled, the poisonous marsh wouldn't be a secret. Which suggested a test run of the poison.

'They either weren't sure how strong it was and tried to test it, or tried to demonstrate it's strength to someone else. There shouldn't be any other options, if that's the case', I figured. Though that didn't concern me, such knowledge would be really useful to me. On the other hand, if these people did that for someone else, they wouldn't share such secrets with just anyone. Then there was a problem of finding whoever had that knowledge. For an adventurer without any connections, that was simply impossible.

I decided not to delve into that anymore. With no culprits or hints, it was simply better for me to move on. We stayed on the ground floor for a while longer, but no other useful conversations took place. "Here, here, I know you've waited for this moment. I just wanted to listen to something for a bit", I said while feeding Shelly some meet back in our room.

The next morning, we focused on my task of getting some tools and consumables for future travels. Though there were plenty of shops and merchants around, their prices were also a bit steep for even the mundane objects. Nonetheless, I managed to buy all the tools necessary for our future shelters, as well as some nails and even resin to plug up the holes in the joints. "With this, we should be ready for winter. How about we stay one more night here, then be on our way?". Shelly nodded in agreement, though didn't look forward to the dinner of fruit and veggies.

That following morning, we prepared to leave the town and head further north. What welcomed us outside was a heightened activity of guards, as if they were getting ready for something. Towards the gate, I saw some nice horses and a few carriages. 'Maybe someone important came for a visit... Anyway, not really my issue', I thought and passed the gate.

The carriages inside would be a strange sight on normal day, but what greeted us outside was a bit more unusual. At least twenty people donned in steel plated armour, tending to their horses and whatnot. There was even one guy who looked to be their leader, at least that's what his armour suggested. It was fancier and sort of more important looking than the others. 'I'm pretty sure why they are here', I thought but didn't try to get anything out of these people. Ultimately, it wasn't our problem. We simply got further and further away from the town, until we entered the forest.