Chapter 219: Highly Informative (2/2)
Emmanuel gave a sympathetic smile. ”If it makes you feel any better, I can't think of any other person who is more qualified for this mission. You already have experience rescuing royalty from ships. After doing it in the air, how hard could one on the ocean be?”
”Yeah, yeah. I get it.” He waved off his teacher's attempt at a joke. ”Anyway, I need to be heading out. I've got an appointment with a pottery merchant that I don't want to be late for.”
[I would probably be forced to buy more of his cheap crap, just to make up for it.]
”A pottery...No, I don't want to know. Once again, I'm leaving the details of the mission up to you.” He handed over a capped tube. ”Here's a scroll of the Invisibility spell. Its Arcane, but you should still be able to make use of it. I recommend activating it before you take off. It should last about ten minutes, so don't dawdle.”
”Will do.” Mike replied with a half-hearted salute before turning to leave the office.
”Good luck,” His teacher offered as the door closed, Mike completely missing the look of sorrow and guilt on the old man's face.
-------------------------------------------------------
A few short leaps later, Mike was standing in front of Seth, the information dealer, once more. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for some disturbing news to pop up.
”They weren't able to get anything solid at all?” He asked, feeling slightly exasperated.
[Maybe I should just blast in there myself. It would probably save a lot of time and effort.]
”Like I said. The Tenundians are keeping things locked tight. My agents can hear all sorts of rumors, but nothing confirmed. We're working on getting a few infiltrators into their inner circle, but that kind of thing doesn't happen overnight. It will probably be a few days before we see any results.” Seth said with a shrug. ”It happens all the time in this business.”
”Is there anything useful you can tell me at all? Anything that might give us some indication of what's coming?”
The merchant hesitated, glancing around at the mostly abandoned market before answering, ”Tell you what, since you seem like a nice fellow who appreciates fine pottery, I'll tell you this bit for free. A few of my guys have seen a person of interest going into and out of a big tent in the center of the camp. That's the part of camp the Duke has locked down. Only his personal troops are allowed in and out.”
”Who is it?”
”We aren't too sure. He's always completely wrapped in grey robes, so much so no one has seen his face. That said, one of my agents overheard a few guards talking about him briefly. Apparently, his name is Grim, and he is in charge of some secret weapon the Duke intends to use against us.”
Mike frowned, eyes still focused on the large vase he was pretending to consider. ”Any idea what kind of weapon it is?”
”They haven't heard. In fact, it seems like that is a closely guarded secret.” Seth paused, looking a little disturbed. ”Although there is one piece of information I haven't told you yet.”
”Oh?”
”My agents saw large groups of captives being brought in from the surrounding countryside, villagers and travelers who had the misfortune of being caught out in the open when the army rolled through. All of them were taken to the large tent in the center of camp.”
”So, its some kind of prison?”
”If only. None of my agents ever saw any of them leaving, but one of them overheard two soldiers discussing the disposal of the captives' clothes.”
Mike recalled stories he'd read about the atrocities committed during World War II, and suddenly he felt tired.
[Are they testing it? Or is it something that requires live sacrifices to operate? This is giving me the same sort of feeling I got during the attack on Wyrport. I wonder if the Cabal is involved somehow.]
”I see. Thank you for telling me.”
Seth shrugged. ”No worries. All part of the job. Anyway, I won't make you buy anything this time around, but give me a few days, and I'll see about getting you some information worth your money.”
”How much for the vase?”
This earned him a heartfelt smile. ”Ah, I see you are indeed a man of refined taste. Since you are a connoisseur, I will give you the special price of eight silver for this work of art. Quite the steal, you know.”
Mike resisted rolling his eyes as he passed the money over. ”Alright, I'll be back in a few days.