Chapter 18: A New Investigation

The two rangers didn't hesitate to open the door, entering the room as fast as possible. Kelrian's eyes widened as he realized what was going on there. The waitress huddled up in a corner while the owner was standing not far away from her, his facial expression reflected anger. It was unmistakable that the waitress was scared. Her face was white as chalk, her nose bloody. The blood on the knuckles of the inn owner's left fist made Kelrian suspect that he had punched her.

Sylvanas cleared her throat, causing the man to turn to her. His eyes widened but his anger didn't fade. His eyes narrowed then, his look became really dangerous and fearsome but neither Sylvanas nor Kelrian were intimidated by him. They had faced dangerous beasts in the past so a very angry high elf didn't scare them in the slightest.

"What is going on here?" asked Kelrian, trying to calm the owner down somehow. It didn't work at all.

"That's none of your business" the man responded in a low but dangerous sounding voice.

"You are hurting a citizen of Quel'Thalas, so it's our business. Not to mention that she is defenceless and a woman as well. Explain yourself or things won't end well for you" spoke Sylvanas, her voice was strict, the same counted for her facial expression.

"She deserves it" shouted the owner.

"She may have been very disrespectful to me but that doesn't justify that you can hit her. First of all, she is your employee and she is a defenceless woman. You have no right to hit her, no matter what she has done"

"I told you that this is none of your business. She is MY employee, not yours. I can do whatever I want with her" he shouted.

Sylvanas crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't think so"

"Leave my inn NOW"

"We will stay" spoke Kelrian, holding his gaze on the man whose facial expression had changed. His eyes narrowed to thin lines, a frown appeared on his forehead and he started to bite his bottom lip very hard. He gave Kelrian and Sylvanas the impression that he was about to lose control and do something stupid as he clenched his fists.

"I'm calling the guards if you don't leave now" he shouted louder than before.

Laughter escaped Sylvanas' lips.

"What is so funny?" his voice sounded very hysterically.

"To who you think the guards are subordinated to? You can call for as many guards as you want but none of them will do anything unless I tell them to" explained Sylvanas. She didn't smirk nor did she give him a provocative look. She just looked at him with a neutral expression on her face, hoping that he will calm down eventually. Unfortunately, he didn't.

Sylvanas didn't know what was going on in the man's mind. She had never seen a man before who was so angry at her, at least not a man of her people. No sane high elf would behave like this in front of the Ranger-General. The inn's owner and the waitress had behaved very weirdly. Something was wrong with them. Sylvanas had an assumption but she didn't want to leap to hasty conclusions without clues which could prove her looked at Kelrian, quietly asking him if he was ready to intervene if needed. He gave her a quick nod, then he focused on the inn owner who was still standing on the same spot.

"Calm down" spoke Sylvanas with a soothing voice.

The man didn't respond to her, he only looked at her with the same dangerous expression on his face. "Something is wrong with this guy. He acts very strangely" Sylvanas whispered to Kelrian.

"What shall we do?" Kelrian kept his voice quiet enough so that only Sylvanas could hear him.

"We can only be patient and try to reach him"

Kelrian nodded to her but didn't say anything in response. He looked back at the man, scrutinizing him. The man was muttering something as he stared at the floor. It was too quiet so neither Sylvanas nor Kelrian could understand it. From their perspective, it seemed that he was talking to himself.

The man looked up suddenly, his gaze fell on the waitress. It seemed that he was having an outburst of anger as he rushed to the waitress, pulling her up in the air. He pushed her hard against the wall, ignoring the loud pained cry which escaped her lips. He pressed her against the wall but he couldn't inflict more pain to her because Kelrian reached him within a few seconds and pulled him away. The man managed to prevent that Kelrian could turn him around and press him against the wall. He turned around and tried to hit Kelrian with a swinging blow but the ranger foresaw his attack and dodged it easily.

The man attacked him again but Sylvanas prevented that. She rammed him, sending him on the floor. She sat on his back before he even realized what had happened. She pressed her knee in his back, pinning him on the floor. She turned her head, giving Kelrian a signal. He nodded in return, rushing to the scared waitress. He kneeled next to her, speaking to her with a soothing voice. He assured her that everything was fine and that the man wouldn't hurt her again. She didn't believe him at first but the longer he talked to her, the more convinced she got.

She gave him her hand, allowing him to help her up. He wrapped his arm around her waist, making sure that she stood steady on her feet. He pulled a handkerchief out of his belt pocket, giving it to her. She thanked him quietly, pressing the handkerchief on her broken nose.

Kelrian brought her to the nearest chair, helping her to sit down then he shifted his gaze to Sylvanas who had tied the man's hands and legs together. He wouldn't be able to stand up and ran away so Sylvanas could allow herself to get up and step away from him. She turned her head, giving Kelrian a small smile.

"You have done pretty well, Kel"

"Thank you, Ranger-General. What are we doing with him?"

"We will arrest him at first, then we will see what we will do with him. He behaved strangely, very strangely. Something must be wrong with him and we have to find out what" explained Sylvanas, making a thoughtful face.

"What do you have in mind?" Kelrian asked curiously.

"Liadrin should check him, maybe we bring him to the doctors"

Kelrian frowned. "How can the doctors help us?"

"I've heard of special poisons, herbs or substances which can cause a person to freak out completely. Maybe it explains why he was so aggressive"

"You think he is high? Do you think he has consumed drugs?"

"Maybe not drugs. Maybe he just put the wrong herb in his tea, who knows. We have to find out what happened to him. There must be a logical explanation for his behaviour" she said, pointing at the man. Kelrian turned his head, regarding him. He may not be able to shout because Sylvanas had put a gag in his mouth but he was still able to wriggle. He tried to get free but the ties were too tight. He will never be able to wriggle out of them because it had been Sylvanas who had tied his limbs together.

Sylvanas told Kelrian to stay here before she walked out of the room. She was not absent for too long, returning half a minute later with her sister and Liadrin. They regarded the scene for a few moments, then they acted without needing to receive orders. Liadrin went to the waitress, touching the broken nose with the tips of her fingers. A quiet whimper escaped the waitress' lips but other than that she didn't say a word or make any sound. Liadrin closed her eyes, starting to heal the nose with the help of the light.

In the meantime, Kelrian and Vereesa had pulled the man up. Sylvanas had removed the ties which had bound his legs together so the man could walk. He didn't do it voluntarily at the start but after a few harsh words and one or another threat he had decided to do as Sylvanas demanded. Kelrian and Vereesa brought him out of the room while Sylvanas and Liadrin remained in the room which seemed to be an anteroom of the kitchen.

Liadrin looked at Sylvanas, raising an eyebrow. "What is going on?"

Sylvanas explained quickly what happened. Liadrin frowned as she regarded the waitress. "I don't think we will get any useful information out of her. At least not now. She is too shocked. We need to try it later but first, she needs some rest.

"We will give her the rest she needs, then we will find out what is going on here" told Sylvanas.

"I have an assumption" mentioned Liadrin. "I don't know if the theory with the substance is right but if it's right, I think Janelliena is also affected by it. I've never seen her behave so disrespectful to an authority figure. She was not herself, you have to believe me"

"I do believe you. We will find out what is fishy in this case"

Liadrin gave her a thankful nod.

"Let's go to the others" said Sylvanas as she walked over to Janelliena and helped her to get up. Together with Liadrin she supported the smaller woman and left the kitchen with her.

----

Sylvanas walked through the room, stopping next to the person who leaned against a wall and stared at the opposite wall. She looked around, making sure no one else was in the room before she put her hand under the man's chin. "Is something wrong, Kel?" she asked as she turned her lover's chin so that he had no other choice but to look at her.

A loud sigh escaped Kelrian's lips. "We are investigating this new case for three days but we didn't get any results yet. All clues have led us to a dead end"

She caressed his left cheek, telling him to not lose hope. "I understand that it's frustrating to work hard and harder without achieving results. But you have to hang on there if you want to find out what happened to the waitress and the inn's owner"

"Silvermoon's best alchemists have examined the pills we have found in the waitress' house. We have found the same pills in the pockets of the inn owner's trousers"

Sylvanas gave him a curious look "What do the alchemists say?"

"It seems to be a mix of very addictive substances"

"Like some sort of a drug?"

"Probably"

Sylvanas sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she shook her head. "This is not good"

Kelrian put his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it softly. His gaze found hers, his lips formed a small smile. "We will find a way to get rid of this problem"

"We have to. I don't want to imagine what would happen if more citizens would get addicted to these substances"

"Imagine if everyone would react like the inn owner, it's only a question of time until a mass brawl will happen somewhere. We have to find out where they got the pills and who sold them. We have to solve this case as fast as possible because there are still other things we have to worry about"

Kelrian raised an eyebrow. "Other things?"

Sylvanas nodded. "Our scouts have reported that the Forest and Amani trolls have acted strangely in the recent weeks. I have a bad feeling that they are up to something"

Kelrian made a thoughtful face. "This is not good"

Sylvanas didn't say something in return, she just looked at him.

"Either we keep investigating this case or you order others to solve this case, so we could investigate what the trolls might be up to" he said.

"I've already ordered Alleria and her group to find out what the trolls are planning. We will solve this case no matter how much time it will take. I can't allow that drugs are affecting our people and lead them to do crazy things" told Sylvanas.

"I've never heard of a drug problem in Quel'Thalas before. I've heard about gangs which are selling drugs in smaller human cities or remoted areas but I have never believed that our people will be affected as well"

"I wouldn't have believed it either. Normally, our guards have always detected those who had tried to smuggle such pills and other illegal products in our lands. But it seems that the dealers have found a way to smuggle them in. We have to get to the bottom of the matter and find out who is smuggling these substances in our land"

"You are absolutely right" he said, turning his head as he noticed the sudden arrival of another person. It was no other than Zetai who walked directly to Sylvanas, lowering his head in respect. "Ranger-General"

"Ranger Zetai. How can I help you?" she asked as she shook his hand.

"I just wanted to let you know that the waitress is no longer suffering from the aftereffects of drugs. You can interrogate her if you want"

She gave him a nod. "I will, thank you"

He lowered his head in respect. "You are welcome, Ranger-General" he left the room as fast as possible after Sylvanas had told him that he was dismissed. Sylvanas turned her head, looking at her lover. "Are you ready?"

He nodded "Yes, I am"

"Good. Follow me then"

Kelrian did as he was told, following her out of the lunchroom through the bordering long corridor to the interrogation room. The guards in front of the door lowered their heads as the greeted them. They didn't hesitate to open the door, allowing Sylvanas and Kelrian to get in.

The room was not very large but it was not too small either. There was a table in the middle of the room around which four chairs were standing. The floor was covered by a soft blue carpet, on the walls hung a few paintings. This was not a normal interrogating room. Sylvanas didn't want to scare the woman so she had chosen this room instead of the other rooms which weren't decorated.

Sylvanas leaned against the wall, pointing at one of the chairs on the left side of the table. Kelrian nodded, taking a seat. He looked at Sylvanas, wondering why she didn't take a seat. He shifted his gaze from Sylvanas' gorgeous face to the two persons who had just entered the room. Janelliena and her friend Liadrin stood in the door, taking a closer look at what was inside the room before they walked over to the table, taking seats opposite to Kelrian.

Sylvanas didn't hesitate for too long. She closed the door and walked to Kelrian, sitting down on the chair next to him. She wrapped one leg over the other, putting her arms on the table as she looked forward.

"How are you feeling, Janelliena?" asked Sylvanas, looking directly at the brunette woman. Liadrin, whose brunette hair had a much lighter colour and was not as long as hers, put one of her hands on her friend's upper arm, giving her a comforting smile. The waitress returned Liadrin's smile for a few moments, then she turned her head to look at the Ranger-General. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking" she said shyly.

"We are grateful that you have agreed to answer a few of our questions. I'm pretty sure you know that the pills we have found in your house are addictive drugs which affect your body in a negative way"

"I have found that out the hard way, Ranger-General" responded Janelliena, giving Sylvanas a shy look. It was unmistakable that the effects of the drugs had vanished because Janelliena was behaving like a completely different person. A few days ago, she had been very disrespectful and rude even to Sylvanas. Now she was nothing more than a shy person who was afraid what the Ranger-General would do if she would upset drugs had led her to behave like a spoiled brat. But now that she wasn't affected anymore, she could be herself again.

"So, you didn't know that these substances would have such an effect on you?" asked Sylvanas, staring into the woman's eyes. She didn't need a spell to find out if someone was lying or not. She was an expert at figuring out if someone was lying or telling the truth. She was not the best ranger without a reason.

Janelliena continued to look into Sylvanas' eyes as she responded. "No, I didn't"

Sylvanas was silent for a few moments. "I believe you"

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Liadrin put her hands on the hands of her friend, pressing them together. "Come, tell the Ranger-General what you have told me" Liadrin said quietly. It didn't take long for her to convince Janelliena to start explaining.

"Everything began a week ago. I was done with my shift so I packed my things and headed home. It was already dark outside so I wanted to get home as fast as possible. I didn't follow the village's main street, instead, I took a short cut through the narrow alleys. I met a person in one of the alleys. The person told me that he had something for me which could help me to release some stress. Of course, I refused to take what he was offering me. I didn't know that person nor did I know what exactly he wanted to give me. I ran away as fast as I could and got to my house eventually.

Two days later, I met another person, but this time before the sunset. It was a woman and she offered me the same. The day has been pretty stressful so I have accepted the woman's offering. She gave me a small pouch with some of these pills for free" the waitress stopped speaking, taking a deep breath. "I assume that these first few pills made me addicted. I don't remember much what happened after I had consumed the first on the same day"

Sylvanas gave her a thankful nod. She looked over to Kelrian who made a thoughtful face, then she looked back at Janelliena. The woman was still looking at her, shyness and nervousness were still written all over her face.

"Can you tell me something about the woman and the man?"

"I haven't seen the man's face because it has been too dark but I am pretty sure he was an elf. The woman, on the other hand, was a human with short blonde hair. She wore black clothes, her vest and her trousers were made out of black dyed leather. I can't remember much of her face. I only remember the thick and ugly-looking scar with ran from her left cheek to her chin"

Sylvanas put a hand under her chin, rubbing it softly as she made a thoughtful face. "It's better than nothing" she said eventually, "But it's not enough. We need more information"

"Did the woman tell you anything about herself? I assume that you have met her again, so can you tell us where did you meet her for the second time?" asked Kelrian.

Janelliena turned her head, looking at the ranger. "She didn't tell me anything about herself, not even her name or who she was working for. She just told me to meet her in the middle of the nearest forest during midnight if I wanted to have more pills. We met there three times in total. She gave me more pills in exchange for money and objectives of value. I remember buying and consuming these pills but I don't remember more. I'm sorry. Most of my memories... are still blurred..."

"Your boss has taken the same pills. Do you think he got them from the same persons? Have you seen him with them?"

Janelliena shook her head. "I have no clue, sorry"

"Can you show us where exactly you met the woman?" asked Sylvanas.

"I could but I don't believe they will return. I'm pretty sure they have already found out that you have arrested me, so they will be careful. They might think twice about returning to this village"

"That could be possible but it could also be possible that they would wait for a few days and then return. We have to consider that as well and we will stay in this village as long as those drug dealers aren't captivated" announced Sylvanas.

Curiosity appeared on the brunette's face. "How will you capture them?"

"Let me worry about that, I will find a way. We will eliminate this threat and prevent that more citizens will consume these drugs"

"I hope so"

Sylvanas patted her shoulder softly, giving her a small smile. "Do you have any questions?"

"I have one" replied Janelliena.

"Go ahead"

"Will I be punished for possessing and consuming these drugs?" she asked, regarding Sylvanas with pleading eyes.

"I will think about that. You didn't know that these pills would make you addicted when you accepted them. On the other hand, you should never take something from a stranger, especially not when you meet them at night or in the late evening. Never trust someone who is dressed like them. I'm pretty sure they belong to some sort of a gang. If your information turns out to be useful, I may consider giving you only a warning for this time"

"Thank you, Ranger-General" said Janelliena as she lowered her head in respect.

"We are done here for today. Feel free to come to us whenever you remember anything which could help us"

"Don't worry, Ranger-General. I will help you wherever I can"

Sylvanas stood up, walking to the door. She opened it, signalizing Janelliena that she was allowed to go. The waitress stood up immediately, bowing to Sylvanas before she left the room as fast as possible. Liadrin followed her so only Sylvanas and Kelrian were left in the room.

"You are planning something, aren't you?" he asked as he walked to her.

"I do. I think we should wait a few days until the dealers return. Maybe we can lure them in a trap by using Janelliena as a bait. She could pretend that she wants to buy more of these drugs, then we will captivate them and squeeze out the information we first, we will meet with Vereesa and listen to what she has found out"

"She interrogates the inn's owner at this moment, doesn't she?"

"Captain Velon is in charge of the interrogation but my sister supports him. Like you, she never attended an interrogation before so this is new territory for her too. You will find out that interrogations in times of war will be necessary to gain an advantage over your enemy. The sooner you learn how things work, the better you become over time. That was the peaceful version of an interrogation because Janelliena wanted to talk to us. There will be creatures who don't want to tell you anything. You often have to threaten them or find another way to make them times of war, almost every method is acceptable. Even torture is allowed to be used but only if you could save lots of lives with the information you need. We are not orcs, trolls or other cruel creatures who torture their prisoners for their own amusement. We only do what is necessary to protect those we love"

"I get your point" responded Kelrian, giving her a small smile.

"Good. Come, let's go to my sister" she said, closing the door behind her as she left the room together with her lover.