36 Independent investigation

Finn thanked the guard politely before leaving. He was still a little sad about Mortimer. That old man was like a friendly grandpa, but he was set up and framed.

Finn went back to the guild for some dinner and to work on his plan of action. He had to admit this wasn't his strongest suit.

While enjoying his soup and bread, Finn saw Jess return from whatever errands she had been busy with. He waved at her and she joined him after talking to Pete at the reception.

'So how was your day?' Finn asked as she sat down with her bowl of soup.

'Good so far, I managed to get a lot done.' Jess answered, in between mouthfuls of soup. She seemed hungry, so Finn let her eat while he talked.

'I went and visited Mortimer in jail today.' Finn started to narrate the whole visit in detail. It was occasionally too many details, but Jess was busy eating and didn't bother telling him to get to the point.

When he finished Jess took a break and asked him what he thought.

'Well, I was hoping to come up with some ideas of how to help, for justice to prevail or something.' Finn said, his hands rubbing his chin in thought. 'He's a good guy, it's not fair for him to be forced to work in the mines.'

'Well, is there any evidence he is innocent?' Jess asked, ripping off a piece of bread and wiping her bowl clean with it. 'You mentioned some group, and a report. It doesn't really seem like enough to change anything though...'

'That's it!' Finn said, 'I need to get the report. It's the only proof of what that company is doing. I need to get back to the warehouse.'

Jess smiled, 'well, it sounds like you know what to do next. Don't get caught, that group sounds dangerous. We need more information on them if you actually want to do anything.'

'Thanks for the help,' Finn said. Thinking about something else he changed the topic. 'What task should we take on tomorrow? If you have time, let's check out the request wall now.'

'Sure, that'll give me some time to prepare a couple spells that might come in handy.' Jess agreed.

Walking over to the wall they agreed that tasks involving fighting would be best. After all, this was the mercenaries guild.

Looking at their options, Finn sighed. It was mostly random errands for the guild blacksmith, or other shopping tasks.

Seeing their dejection, Pete walked over. Smiling, he asked, 'what? Tasks not what you were looking for?'

The two nodded, waiting for the elf to get to the point.

'Don't worry,' Pete said with a cheery voice, 'your buddy Pete here has a few that might interest you. I'm assuming you want ones that involve a little action?'

The two nodded again, this elf was an annoying, yet necessary part of the guild. Why would he have tasks?

'Come over to my desk and I'll show you a few.' Pete spun around and went back to his normal seat at the receptionist desk.

Finn and Jess followed him and waited at the desk for a minutes before the elf explained himself.

'You see, not all request get posted on the wall. Some of the more dangerous ones require more than one person. Some of the more sensitive ones are better kept private. Some guild members might also not be suited to some tasks.'

Pete paused for dramatic effect before pulling out a folder.

'Therefore, I have the honor of distributing these special tasks to those I see fit.'

'What? Isn't that like the job for someone with a higher rank?' Finn asked suspiciously.

'Mürstein hates paperwork and dumped the job on me.' Pete said quickly and then changed the topic. 'Here look at these tasks. I picked out ones I felt suited the strengths you two have and kept them in this folder.'

The elf showed them the folder and the three tasks inside it. Finn caught a glimpse of what Pete had written on the folder.

'The newbie team

Jess - sword girl

Finn - roof runner

Rank - E'

Finn looked at the elf and asked, 'roof runner? Why am I the roof runner? Shouldn't it be something more impressive sounding like Sniper King, Shadow Daggers or The Exterminator?'

'What do you expect when the only thing you do is run over everyone's roof everyday.' Pete said annoyed. 'Besides, it took me a long time and lots of research to come up with that nickname.'

'Research? Wait! You've been stalking me?' Finn was starting to dislike this elf.

'Not really, just happened to be out for a evening stroll when who do I see jumping roof to roof above me but our newest guild member. I got curious, and it turns out most of the roofs in the neighborhood have traces of your rooftop racing.'

'Enough squabbling,' Jess interrupted, 'Finn look at this task, I think it'll be fun.'

Finn read the task description and nodded. 'OK, looks good to me.'

Jess grabbed the paper back and passed it to Pete. 'We choose this task, so do what you need to do.'

The elf nodded and obediently filled out the necessary paperwork. 'Alright then, it's all set, good luck on your task.'

Jess said she had to go prepare some spells for the next day's task and left Finn in the lobby.

Finn went and fetched his crossbow and bolts as well as his cloak. He had to move the quiver to his side so the cloak wouldn't get in the way when he was reloading.

Fully equipped and armored, Finn went out into the cool evening air.

The sun had just set, and darkness was coming. Finn thought it was perfect for the job at hand.

Going into a dark alleyway, Finn climbed up onto a roof silently. He sighed when he got to the top. Maybe Pete was right in choosing that nickname, it had already become a habit. Walking through alleys could get one into trouble. Finn thought it was better to avoid that if possible.

Running in the direction of the harbor warehouses, Finn enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his face. Every leap felt like he was flying, and although he knew that was just an illusion, he still savored those moments. That elf could take his opinions elsewhere, this was what living felt like.

Finn saw his target up ahead. The warehouse were he completed his first guild task. Stopping a building away, Finn checked for guards or thugs.

One, two, three... five! Finn counted five of the city guard in the area. 'They must be there to stop anyone from accessing the warehouse,' He thought to himself.

Moving around stealthily, Finn managed to get onto the roof of the shed near the warehouse unseen. He crouched down low and looked into the office through the hole in the wall. It seemed Mortimer had yet to fix the damage caused by the rat king.

There were no lights on in the warehouse, so Finn guessed that there weren't any guards to worry about inside.

After a quick check to make sure the guards hadn't moved from their posts, Finn stayed low and scurried over the shed's roof. When he got to the alley, he leaped over it and through the massive hole. He landed gracefully, using a hand and crouching to soften his landing.

Standing up, the first thing he did was to peek through the open office door to make sure he was alone.

Looking down at the stairs he was shocked to see how destroyed they were. That giant rat was really destructive, the guards probably wouldn't have risked using the staircase in its current condition.

'Perfect! There's a chance nobody has been in the office after the rat incident.' Finn thought to himself and started searching through the papers on the floor.

There it was, on the floor in the corner of the office. Finn picked it up carefully and checked to make sure it was the right one. Yes, it was.

Finn did a victorious fist pump in excitement before realizing something.

'I've got the report, but now what?' Finn paused, 'never mind, got to get out of here before I'm noticed.'

Turning around to leave, Finn was shocked to see someone looking at him from the roof of the shed. From the look in that person's eyes, they were just as shocked to see Finn.

It only took a second of eye contact for them to figure out the other's reason for being there. They had come for the same thing.