Hearsay part 2

Rem and Oswald looked at each other and thanked the shop owner before they left the merchant's place. They were glad that they had learned some new information.

While Oswald and Rem were headed to the tavern the shop owner was talking about, Clive and Leon also made progress. When they went to the fabrics section of the guild, they were guided by another person who was wearing the same clothes as Reese.

"Welcome to the guild's fabric section! This is the place where merchants who wants to trade fabrics and textiles go to." He greeted them. "Here you will be guided by yours truly, Amir, in setting up all the things you need before you can trade."

Leon sighed as he heard what Amir had said. He knew they needed somethings before they can truly trade in town but he did not expect that there were a lot to be done. He sure salutes merchants now. "Okay, please do help us." He heard Clive said to Amir as they were led to a room.

While they walked in the direction of the room where Amir worked, Leon took the opportunity to obtain some information regarding the disappearances in town. "By the way, when we were walking around the guild earlier we cannot help but hear some merchants talking about some incidents that keeps happening in town. Do you know anything about it?"

This question made Amir stopped and looked nervously. When Amir did not speak and just continued to walk, Leon spoke again, "We really would like to know about it, after all which merchant would not want to keep themselves and their goods safe, don't you think?"

Amir sighed in defeat and answered Leon as soon as they reached his room. He closed the door before he answered in a hush tone, "Yes, there are rumors going around town but they are not rumors."

"Not rumors?" Leon asked as Clive listened while he stood next to Leon.

Amir walked to his desk and sat down behind it while he gestured for the two to sit on the chairs in front of his desk. "Yes, they are not rumors because I know someone who got entangled in it."

The two quietly seated on the chairs and listened carefully to Amir. "One of my acquaintances disappeared one night some days ago. Some thought he just went out on a little trip on the nearby village but the knights guarding the gate did not see him passed by. His sister thought otherwise, she claimed he would not leave without saying goodbye and I believed her but the mayor and his knights did not. Not until a night ago when he returned looking lost and unfocused. It was like he did not know what has happened to him."

"Do continue, the whole incident seems interesting." Leon said as he urged Amir to continue. Amir looked at the door and hoped no one was eavesdropping before he continued. "My friend was looking lost and unfocused when the knights found him near the gates of the town. His clothes were unruly and dirty as he aimlessly walked. The knights brought him in and when asked where he had been, he just looked at the one who questioned him then screamed like a madman."

Leon and Clive looked at each other, "That is truly interesting. How is he now?"

Amir leaned on his chair as he reached for a glass of water before he spoke again, "He is doing a little better than when he came back. He is now able to go back to his daily activities like helping his sister in their shop, going to the market, frequenting the tavern but when his sister still asked him what had happened, he would just trembled in fear and worse he would screamed scaring his sister so she decided that it would be best for his brother to not be questioned about what had happened."

Leon nodded at what Amir had said. It was only logical for the sister to think like that but they really needed answers and Amir's friend was their only lead. Good thing Amir gave a crucial piece of information, the tavern.

Before Leon and Clive could ask more, Amir stood up and made his way to a row of cabinets and opened one of the drawers and took out two scrolls. The scrolls were agreements for the stall that Leon will be occupying. It was clear that Amir did not want to talk about the incident anymore thus they did not asked any further.

Amir sat behind the desk and gave the scroll to Leon, "This is an agreement for the stall that will be put up on a place inside the market. This will be the proof that you are occupying that stall for a certain period of time." He explained to them as he showed them one of the scrolls, especially to Leon who was clearly the merchant.

Leon nodded and took the scrolls, he read it carefully. Even though trading was just a front for their investigation, it did not meant that he wouldn't check everything that they needed to sign and do for it.

After he read the agreement thoroughly, Leon signed it and handed it back to Amir. Amir took it and congratulated them.

"Now that is settled, we will go to the workshop." Amir led a room called the workshop. "This is the place where all the merchants' requirements of their stall are all met by the guild's own builders. If you have things you wanted to see inside your stall, you can ask the builder in charge of your stall to add it." Amir said as they walked inside.

Leon and Clive looked around as Amir led them to one of the builders named Rust. Rust was a tall, well-built sturdy man. He gave off an indifferent feeling. "Hello there, sir Rust. I have a stall for you and these are the merchants who will occupy it starting tomorrow." Amir greeted the man as he introduced Leon and Clive to him.

Rust only looked at Amir then at Leon and Clive before he went back to his work. Amir sighed and turned to Leon and Clive, "Tell everything you will be needing inside the stall to sir Rust here. He maybe aloof but he sure is great at his job. Now, I leave you to him. Once you are done talking to him you can expect everything that you had asked inside the stall." Amir told them as he walked towards the door but before he could walked far he turned to them, "Oh, I forgot to give this to you."

Leon took the scroll handed to him and looked at Amir as he opened it. "It's the map where your stall is located inside the market. That part of the market isn't always crowded but people always pass by it." Amir walked out of the workshop after he gave the scroll and explained it to Leon and Clive.

After their guide left, Leon and Clive turned to Rust who was busy building a stand. When he felt that someone was looking at him, he turned around to them, "Just tell me the details of the things you wanted to add to your stall and it will be done by tomorrow morning." He said to them as he continued his work.

"We are going to trade fabrics so we are in need of some stands for our fabrics and a cabinet too with a lot of shelves." Clive was the one who spoke. Rust nodded to them while he continued to work. When he noticed that the two weren't leaving, he looked at them and asked, "Anything else you need?"

"We were just wondering if you were aware of the rumors running around town." Leon was the one who spoke and inquired. He hoped that they could get more information about the disappearances. Rust may look indifferent from the world but Leon felt like he too, was a keen person.

"If you wanted to know anything about the disappearances, just go to the tavern and look for Old Yershie. He may look a madman but he sure knows a lot going on in this town." Rust said before he returned back to his what he was doing.

Clive and Leon decided to leave, since they have already obtained a great deal of information. All they needed to do was go to the tavern and talk to Amir's friend and this Old Yershie.