33 Tailing the trouble

Finn didn't get many useful answers out of the downed assailant, so he knocked him out. The only thing he learned was that these thugs were connected to the same gang as the ones he encountered previously.

Jess walked over and asked if Finn's shoulder was alright. It looked pretty bad during the fight and she suggested washing it and applying some healing potion to it.

Finn said it was fine, he'd heal up before tomorrow. To prove it, he undid a couple buttons and slid the shirt off his shoulder. There was a patch of dried blood where the wound was. After rinsing away the scab with water from his waterskin, the wound looked a lot better, just a narrow slit filled with coagulated blood.

Seeing the wound healing naturally Jess was surprised, she expected it to still be bleeding. One of the dangers of a deep wound was that an artery being hit. That could result in continuous blood loss and eventually death. She felt relieved when she saw the bleeding had stopped.

After fixing his shirt, Finn checked the bodies for anything valuable. He found that most of the thugs only had some copper coins and their weapon. The saber wielding thug had a single silver coin.

Finn felt a little sorry for them, life was hard in the city, and they probably struggled to make ends meet. Still, that was no excuse for the lifestyle choices they made. If all else failed they could always leave the city and work on a farm. They always needed more laborers there, and although it would still be a hard life, the city would organize the carriage to get there and provide food and lodging.

Pocketing the coppers, Finn tossed the silver to Jess. He thought she should get the bigger share this time.

Jess caught the coin and slipped it into her coin pouch. 'Thanks' she said. She also picked up the fallen saber. She wouldn't use it personally, but it could be sold for a little. There was no sense in leaving any more weapons to the thugs that would eventually clean up the scene.

Finn took the assassin's dagger, it was actually decent quality and could replace the one with a broken tip. The other two knives were not much better than scrap, he doubted they would even be worth trying to sell.

Finn and Jess left quickly, to avoid any more trouble. Finding a suitable building Finn climbed up onto its roof. Jess followed, but was curious as to why he would do that.

'The air up here feels fresher to me,' Finn said, as they moved over the rooftops. 'I get a sense of freedom being up here, so I come up here whenever I need to escape the chaos and crowds below.'

'I didn't think it was allowed.' Said Jess, 'but I get what you are saying, the view is nice up here.'

'The city guard would probably not like that I do this regularly, but I doubt anyone will notice us now that it is dark.'

Suddenly Finn signaled to stop. He crouched down and peeked over the edge. Jess joined him, trying to find what he was looking at.

Down below, was another dark alley. Three more thugs were whispering to each other while waiting for something.

'More of them!' Finn whispered, his eyes turning cold.

'The city guard aren't doing a very good job around here it seems.' Jess commented. 'Back home, most bandit groups or gangs are suppressed and hunted down.'

Finn thought that sounded like a good place to grow up.

'Do they issue bounties here?' Jess asked, having thought of a possibility, 'If so, at the rate we are bumping into thugs here, we could get rich!.'

'I don't know,' admitted Finn, 'but that does sound good. Let's ask at the guild when we get back. Now, however, I'm more interested in finding out where these thugs are coming from.'

The two waited in silence for a while before anything happened. Another thug arrived and started gesturing and whispering to the others.

'They probably found where we fought.' Jess made a guess.

She was right, the four left quickly and headed to where the bodies were.

'Want to continue our investigation?' Finn asked hopefully.

'Sure,' Jess said, 'if we find the source we can come back later, fully armed, and put a stop this dangerous group once and for all.'

As they followed the thugs from above, Jess explained that with her father being a paladin, she had been constantly told that it was the duty of the strong to protect the weak and destroy evil. She never planned to follow in his footsteps, being a paladin had so many rules and regulation. She preferred the freedom of making her own decisions that being a mercenary provided. That was one of the reasons she came to Megalopolis.

The thugs did go to the scene of battle. After checking it out, and searching for loose change, they rushed off in a different direction.

Finn and Jess followed the group quietly from above. The thugs occasionally would stop and look around to make sure no one else was there, but they didn't think of looking up.

The thugs unknowingly lead their two pursuers all the way to the edge of the harbor district. A low wall separated the harbor district from the neighboring factory district.

Now the city was so large, that people might spend their whole lives in one district. Each district was large enough to be a city on its own, and included everything one would need. Megalopolis was in fact made up of nine such districts, grouped into three tiers.

The harbor, factory, and mining districts were considered the lower tier. Law enforcement here was laid back, and the criminal activities always present beneath the surface. This was where the poorer and more numerous part of the population lived and worked. The mining district was unusual in that it was almost entirely underground. The mines where run by dwarves, but miners of all races lived and worked down in the tunnel systems.

The middle tier was made up of the crafting, trading, and military districts. It was here all the most skilled laborers and successful merchants lived and worked. All the major crafting guilds where in this area. The city guard had their headquarters in the military district, and there was even a military academy.

The upper tier was viewed as mysterious to the average commoner. Although smaller in population and size, it was the wealthiest by far. It too was made up of three districts.

The first was the noble gardens, where the wealthiest families owned villas and small palaces and the elven forest was located.

The second was the university of magic, whose campus dominated an entire district. It was there that the secrets of magic were unfurled, rare herbs were grown, and wizards creates their spells in tall slender towers.

The final district was the temple district. Unlike the others, this one was open to visitors from the middle tier as well as the upper tier. All the major religious groups had their own temples, monasteries and abbeys. It was a place of splendor, peace and holiness. A special order of trained paladins guarded each temple, while monks tended the gardens and guided the visitors in performing rituals.

At the center of these three upper districts was a magnificent building, it was were the city council met, where laws were created, and where the high court delivered justice.

Finn saw the thugs pass through the gate between districts by bribing the guards, they seemed to recognize each other.

The wall wasn't built as a defensive fortification, it was mainly to regulate the flow of people and goods between the districts. The city guard could use the walls as an elevated highway and had guard houses spread along every wall that accommodated a small group.

Finn and Jess were determined to follow the thugs, but who knew if the guards doubled as lookouts for the gang.

Guards would occasionally patrol the wall, but right now the coast was clear, so yhey leaped onto the wall from a nearby roof, to avoid the city guard seeing them. Finn spotted a house on the other side within reach and the two entered the district from above.

They decided to stay on the rooftops to avoid trouble, and it didn't take long to pick up the trail of the thugs below.