Chapter 45 It must be a coincidence

"Hey Erden, have you heard the news?" 

Erden, who was sitting outside his forge enjoying the morning light before he started work, looked towards the voice who called out to him and found it to be one of his neighbors.

"What news would that be?" Erden asked. "If you're talking about the city lockdown I think everyone heard that last night."

"No not that, I'm talking about the murder." His neighbor replied.

"What murder?" Erden asked.

"The murder of Tai Paom that happened last night."

"WHAT!" Erden replied in shock as he sat up straighter in his chair to ask, "Tai Paom is dead?"

"Indeed," The neighbor replied before explaining. "It seems some young man killed her in the middle of her own club last night before managing to get away."

"Do they know who did it?" Erden asked.

(It can't be that young man, there's no way, it must be a coincidence.)

"No, the guards only got a vague description." The neighbor answered. "However what's more is that according to the guards both Kir-kin Suthuld and Yua Huang were also murdered last night."

Erden's mouth gaped open in surprise at the news as it took him several moments to gather himself before he asked, "Do they think the murders are connected?"

"They must be considering it's the leaders of three of the different criminal organizations." The neighbor answered. "However it can't possibly be the same individual who murdered all three."

"Why not?" Erden asked.

"Think about it, how could one person possibly three major figures in the city in one night, especially when they would have guards nearby."

"Magic." Erden suggested.

"His neighbor looked at him with concern before asking, "Are you feeling ok Erden? You of all people should know that most nobles have spells placed on their houses that detect if anyone is trying to sneak or break in using magic." 

"That's true." Erden nodded.

(It must be a coincidence.)

***

Several hours later Tommy was looking up at a four story building in the western district, Whitflare's Medicinal Goods were written above the door.

Tommy had got a few hours sleep back at the Forest Rest before he was awoken by Jue and Tue entering his room without knocking.

He admonished them for not knocking however they didn't seem to pay any attention as they were more concerned about his well being and if he was injured.

After convincing them that he was fine they started to ask about what he had gotten up to since they separated. Tommy liked talking to the twins and enjoyed their company so he ended up filling them in on what happened as he ate some breakfast Merno had insisted on making him.

Before he left he checked on the elf to find her still unconscious. Merno said that she would go ask her friend about the dosage amount later.

(Uhh, I can already smell the stench of weed from here.)

((Can't we just blow the place up?))

(Even though I am very much tempted to agree, we both know we can't as that would put innocents at risk.)

((Fuck.))

Tommy entered the building through the main entrance and saw that he had entered a small shop front.

The walls were lined with shelves that contained boxes, bottles and other storage devices that were all labeled with a different medicine or medical herb.

As Tommy looked around he noticed a door with the words 'Employees Only' written above it and a guard stationed in front of it.

What was interesting about this door though was that it wasn't just the staff who were working on the shop floor and behind the counters that approached and passed through it. Occasionally someone would enter the building from outside wearing normal civilian clothing before heading straight for this door, after speaking with the guard for a few seconds they were allowed to pass before reappearing a few minutes later where they left the building.

((There definitely the drug dealers, it's so obvious its laughable.))

(I guess they don't care since they know the city guards are not going to be raiding the building.)

Tommy started to approach the door and as soon as he got close the guard said, "Employees Only."

Tommy pulled out a few gold coins before showing them to the guard and saying, "I'm here to resupply."

The guard frowned at him before saying, "Never seen you before."

"It's my first day, I'm working under Nao Hei today and she ordered me to come collect more product."

((Let's just hope that he body hasn't been found or identified yet.))

The guard raised an eyebrow before asking, "Nao was working next to that slave market last night right? How did she run out already, they're normally too busy to buy anything?"

"Nao was surprised to, however after asking one of the staff there they claimed that it was a slow night because of the lockdown, then after all the slaves escaped and the staff couldn't catch them they had nothing to do since all there merchandise ran away and they came and bought all our product before heading home." Tommy explained.

The guard nodded before saying, "Yeah the lockdown has lessened the customer flow here in the shop also, how come Nao sent you alone and didn't come with you?"

"Something about me needing to learn the ropes," Tommy replied with a shrug before saying grumpily. "Though if you ask me she is probably off getting laid somewhere, she spent most of last night flirting with any attractive guys that came to buy before disappearing for a short while with them."

The guard chuckled before stepping aside as he said, "Yeah sounds like Nao, she is one horny bitch, if you get the chance you should let her ride you though, trust me its worth it."

"Thanks, I will keep that in mind." Tommy said as he passed the guard and went through the door.

As Tommy passed through the door he found himself in a short passageway that was only a few feet long before ending in another sturdier metal door that could be locked, a set of stairs leading down was on his left, while a set leading up was to his right.

(Bror Whitflare is most likely on the upper floors, however that metal door is suspicious so let's take a quick look,)

The metal door was not locked and as opened in and stepped through he found himself in a small room, It appeared to be some sort of collection or pick-up point, there was a small desk that was not currently staffed and instead had a sign that read 'In a meeting, come back later', the desk had a large box at one end that contained a huge amount of small bags containing cannabis leaves, while the other end contained a smaller sealed metal box that Tommy guessed was for storing money.

Behind this desk and on the opposite wall was a second metal door that had its thick sturdy bolt lock in place to prevent it from accidentally opening on its own. Tommy unbolted the door before opening it and as soon as he did he was hit by the humid air and smell that came from the room beyond.

(Ahhh fuck I'm gonna hurl.)

((Oh my god that stinks, look how big this growing lab is though.))

Tommy stared in shock, the growing lab was huge, apart from the small shop at the front of the building and pickup point he was currently in, it looked like the entire ground floor of the building was a lab for growing cannabis trees.

The room had strange orbs of light hovering in the air near the sealing that cast a bright glow over the whole room, Tommy however failed to find anything that could explain where the humidity was coming from or any form of ventilation system you normally found in grow labs.

Tommy quickly closed the door after taking a quick look around before gasping for breath.

(How the hell are they making that room so humid?)

((Magic? I mean there was nothing in there we could see to explain the humidity or how the circulated fresh air into there, I guess we could of missed something considering much of the room is hidden by trees.))

(If we go by Isekai logic I guess air magic could be used to cycle fresh air while fire magic could be used to make it so humid.)

((Why not use the gas mask to investigate further?))

(Nice, why didn't I think of that.)

((Kekeke, we did think of it.))

(...)

Tommy pulled out a gas mask that covered his entire face from his item box before putting it on.

After giving it a quick test to make sure he was still able to breath properly he pulled open the large metal door and was happy to realize the gas mask was working fine because he could no longer smell the cannabis.

Tommy slowly walked through the room while carefully looking around to see if he could spot anyone in here, he relied even more on his hearing than normal since the gas mask affected his field of vision.

After looking around for several minutes Tommy determined that the grow room was currently empty and so he decided to inspect the place even more.