250 The Lavish Lute (1/2)
The aroma of lavender and aged wine filled Rydel's nostrils. Multiple musicians flooded the place with their melodies, overlapping one another and harmonizing for the enjoyment of the patrons. Fine metals and precious jewels covered the walls, doors, and even the clientele.
Scoffing under his breath, Rydel hurriedly yet carefully crept through the main hall. That led him to a great room with many solid gold instruments atop the mantle of a massive fireplace, the largest of which was hanging from the ceiling with jeweled letters etched into it, reading ”The Lavish Lute.”
Tables and futons were scattered across the vast room with over a dozen men enjoying themselves to the company of many beautiful women. Laughter and whispers came from each futon, most of which carried a tone of belittlement.
Rydel scanned the room but still found no sight of his target. Next, he looked to the staircase at the back of the room, and then the balcony that wrapped around and gave onlookers a great view of the action downstairs.
He didn't bother paying any of those pompous pigs any attention, nor did he watch their perverted actions, some being done openly for all to see. Rydel's eyes were fixed on that certain someone who was calmly walking along the balcony toward a group of men on the second floor.
Before Rydel's target reached his acquaintances, Rydel was a couple of meters away, ready to listen in and learn everything.
Assistant Loire showed a toothy grin as he approached his friends with open arms. ”Boys, I'm back. Did you miss me?”
”Of course not!” laughed a lanky, bald man in a black vest. ”With you gone, I was able to spend more time with my beloved. What was her name again..?”
”Enough of that, there are more than enough women for us all,” a stalky, bearded man with a top hat joked. ”Besides, we've all seen you two share before.”
The bald man kept laughing but resumed to watch the perverse show below. ”True! The more the merrier, right?”
”Anyways, I'm glad to be back, but I don't have much time at the moment,” added Loire. ”I've got something for you, Trank. It comes personally from General Toms.”
”Oh?” The bald man turned back toward Loire with a smile only a stalker would appreciate. ”And what is it that he wishes me to do? Or shall I say who?”
”Read it for yourself. I'm sure you'll be more than satisfied with the contents.”
As Loire passed a large envelope to Trank, Rydel repositioned himself to the wall behind the tall man.
”Well, no use in reveling in the suspense. Open it already!” stated the man in the top hat, patting Trank on the back.
As Rydel caught glimpse of the envelopes contents, he started choking on air. His heart sped up with each passing second, especially after seeing the man's sadistic grin from.
”So, these are the suspects you've searching for, I presume?” asked Trank.
Loire nodded. ”Precisely. But you must be careful with this batch. We're not certain of their abilities. All we know is that the same unusual white flame we witnessed burning down our camp was sighted and reported within the city just days before.”
”It took some time for us to recover the little information we do have. After a couple of days, we finally discovered the owner of the property where the flames were spotted, a good-for-nothing innkeeper who didn't know how to speak. So, we had to teach him the hard way,” Loire explained with jovial laughter. ”In the end, we were forced to extract his memories, and that's how we uncovered their identities.”
”Well, I wouldn't call this pitiful amount of information their identities,” laughed Trank. ”All you've given me are their faces and a couple of generic names which are most likely false. I'll have to try extra hard in order to find them with such poor information.”
”Consider this the advance.” With the flick of the wrist, Loire tossed up a storage ring. ”Will that cover the issue?”
”Oh yes, it will. I can see that the general must really have his hands full.” In the blink of an eye, the ring vanished into Trank's own storage ring. ”If that cheapskate is willing to cough up this much, then these folks must have given you hell.”
”Well, you wouldn't be wrong about that.”
”I even heard that you were sorely beaten, so badly in fact that you couldn't manage to recognize your opponent, let alone touch him,” the man in the top hat added, verbally jabbing Loire in the gut.
”Well now, I'm not sure--”
”And not only were all of your tents and stations burned to ash, but your entire camp was robbed blind in the midst of it all,” Trank laughed along with his friend. ”Talk about kicking you while you're down.”
Loire took a deep breath before grinning and bearing with the jokes. ”Enough of that. I've delivered the message and the payment, so I should be off.”
”Oh, so soon? Don't you want to stay and enjoy yourself at least a little?” questioned Trank. ”Since you've brought me such a nice present, this one will be one me.”
”Really? Since when did you become such a nice guy? I'll have to take you up on that. But I'm not sharing this time, I want my own room,” stated Loire.