Desmond and Jade toured the city visiting many different bars and businesses to see if anyone had seen or heard of a female wolf-beastman in the area. They had been at it for almost two days at this point.
Lucius wanted to move on from Varris, but was convinced by the guard captain that without a hint of what direction they went, then the likelihood of finding her would be impossible.
After the incident at the inn with Lucius's explosive episode of anger and the torture of one of their carriage drivers, the city guard decided to work closely with him. They wanted to prevent future incidents with similar outcos. As Desmond suspected though, their efforts were in vain.
One of the co-conspirators who was in contact with their carriage driver was found a few blocks away from the inn. She had been trying to keep an eye on the situation after Kalliope's kidnapping. Lucius was able to locate her quickly and chased her halfway across Varris.
Almost imdiately after promising to help the man, the guard captain was chasing him through the city streets and trying to keep civilians out of the path of danger. The elf woman was extrely agile but was ultimately no match for her pursuer's exceptional speed when enhanced by mana.
The aftermath with the elf was not pretty. Sohow, it was worse than the carriage driver's incident. Though Desmond and Jade did not witness the second 'interview,' the looks on the faces of the guards told them everything they needed to know.
He discovered that the group that kidnapped her intended to sell Kalliope to a slaver group heading to Seteste, outside the Aedridan capital.
They could go straight to Seteste, but without being invited in, there was no way for them to infiltrate it. Being one of the largest slave trade locations in existence ant that a lot of powerful individuals made their ho there. Of course, many of these individuals were of the Master Rank and were beyond Lucius's reach at the mont.
The best course of action would be to find soone who could permit them entry into Seteste. They would also have to figure out a rough ti of arrival for Kalliope as well. It was likely she could be sold off to soone else before they arrived. However, since she was a beastman, it was more likely that she would be recruited to fight in the arena.
Desmond and Jade searched bars and businesses on the nicer sides of town to look for a more reputable individual to escort them. Though trusting anyone involved in that line of work was a stupid thing to do, if they had a public persona, then they would be less likely to betray them due to the risk to their reputations.
At the sa ti, Lucius was reaching out to contacts his organization had in Aedrider for another solution. He was required to simultaneously assist Therentil in investigating the connections these slavers and kidnappers had to the isolationist faction and Princess Ayalla din Aedrider.
"Brother," Jade asked, "Do you think she will be okay?"
Desmond smiled at the waitress who brought them food at the bar they stopped at for lunch. They had visited it before, but it slled like it had good food when they investigated earlier. The woman flashed a coy smile back at him and left a small note underneath the plate she set in front of him.
"I don't really know… What I do know is they better hope we find her unhard." Desmond's face was grim and matched his sister's expression.
"Brother… I am concerned about his behavior. He is rather violent at tis, and I…"
"I think he has earned it, don't you?" Desmond pointed out. "You know what you have experienced. Though your life was far from perfect, you had to protect you. Who did Lucius have?"
"That's a fair point…"
"On top of that, they took soone that he has known for many years and, we presu, to be very important to him. Honestly, I applaud him for holding back as much as he has. I can't imagine the state I would be in if soone were to kidnap you."
"You make a fair point I suppose…" Then she smiled. "What are you going to do with that note?"
"Nothing. We have sothing else on our minds at the mont."
"So pure, brother."
Desmond eyed his sister, who was giving him a mischievous look. He thought for a mont and then returned her smile. "You know I could say the sa to you… He was getting ready for a date, and I saw you looking at him. Have sothing to share?"
"I'm allowed to appreciate a nice body…"
Desmond started to say sothing, but then he saw Jade's eyes lock onto soone behind him. He slowly turned around and saw a man in a plain black mask.
"We're leaving." That was all that he said before leaving the bar.
"Right…"
Desmond left a small pile of coins on the table to pay for the uneaten al and left a nice tip for the waitress. Jade quickly followed them with a look of sha on her face. It seed she felt guilty being positive while their cohort was missing. Discover stories with empire
Lucius was not in a good mood, so she felt like it was a form of betrayal to be happy at a ti like this. Desmond was able to understand what she was thinking because he felt the sa. A part of him felt ashad to have been acting so frivolously at a ti like this.
"Lucius, I…" Desmond began.
"Don't worry about it. I can hardly bla you for taking a mont to yourselves. I have been pushing you rather hard…" Lucius sighed and turned around to face them. "Thank you for helping ."
The man turned around again and continued to the location of the inn they had been staying at since their arrival. It had beco their base of operations. Apparently, Lucius had also purchased the building from the owner as compensation. He also funded the rebuilding, which would begin after they left Varris.
"Have you found any leads?" Jade asked. "We have had no luck in finding anyone willing to support us. Those that we suspect as having ties to Seteste wouldn't budge on admitting their connections."
"Yes, but they are not in this city… It seems we will need to keep helping Therentil for the ti being. Our best contact is apparently in Aedrider's capital city and the only way to et them is by also eting with Princess Letheya din Aedrider."
The twins glanced at each other. They could tell that there was a little bit of pain in Lucius's voice. He was nervous. The longer this took, the more likely that Kalliope would be in danger. They knew he had every ounce of confidence in her abilities, but they also knew that he was simply worried for her.
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