72 Impasse (1/2)

Li cut through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. He was taller than most, but his lanky build meant that people were not moving aside for him because he was some intimidating ball of mass.

No, it was because when he set his eyes on the square, directly at Old Thane, and focused, all the regular humans around him felt chills run through their spines, spreading all throughout their bodies, drawing out gooseflesh and shivers that made them, at a primordial, instinctive level, evade Li as much as possible without even knowing why.

Sylvie moved much more discretely. She had to face the crowd directly, but she weaved through it with expert ease. It almost seemed as if she were a shadow, something immaterial, flitting across people with such agility it almost felt like she was phasing through them. The ordinary

While Li went directly to the square, Sylvie went around it, attempting to sneak towards the back. When he came right up the front of the square, he found himself facing an upraised platform of wood perched atop smoothened stone etched with names heralding those who had fallen in the demon wars of 1000.

Though there were stairs leading up to the square at its back, there was no such convenience at its front, so Li had to jump up and reach his hand up, grasping the top of the square, the tips of his fingers digging into sanded and varnished wood, and hoisted himself up in one single and fluid push.

By now, the crowd had begun to disperse, no doubt finding themselves spooked for no good reason, and filed out the square and back to their homes and workplaces with quiet murmurs between them. Li looked as they left with a nod. The less commotion there was, the more comfortable it would be for Old Thane. He appraised the square, seeing if there were any threats.

The square itself was simple in design, created more to be decorated than to look inherently appealing. The floor of the platform was simple wood and there were four poles rising from its corners where bards could string up advertising flags and decorations.

At the back, Li could spot stairs leading down to a cobblestone path that fed into a sizable wooden building marked all around with colorful flags which he recognized to be the actor's guild, which made sense as they routinely rented out the square for large-scale performances.

But as for threats, there were none. The duchess's band had all filed back into the actor's guild, leaving the square largely empty.

Li homed in on Old Thane who stood by one of the decorative poles. Beside him stood Sunstar, his cape fluttering even though there was not a single breeze to be found.

”Woah now,” said Sunstar as he saw Li approaching. He pointed his gloved hands to the countless magically conjured petals scattered across the wooden floor of the square. ”The square is off-limits until the cleaners finish their job. Their work is honest, and it would not do good for us to interfere.”

Li ignored Sunstar and kept walking forwards.

”You wish an audience with me?” said Sunstar as he shrugged, his rounded shoulder muscles straining against his golden bodysuit. ”I am afraid my time is limited, but I can make an exception for a foreign guest such as you.”

Li did not spare a glance to the hero as he walked straight past Sunstar and put a comforting arm around Old Thane's shoulder. ”Let's get outta here, old man.”

Sunstar extended a friendly hand towards Li. ”Will the elderly model citizen require assistance? I can quite easily fly him down the square. I am afraid the back stairs are closed off to the public for now.”

Li led Old Thane to the edge of the square. ”Alright old man, here's the jump. Show me what you got.”

Old Thane smiled. ”Aye, lad.” He cocked his head towards the ground, making sure there were no errant footsteps that would indicate potential people to collide with. He then pushed off, dropping several meters, and landed solidly on the stony ground, his knees bent to absorb the impact.

Li also jumped off and patted the old man on the back. ”You know, there's plenty of old folk out there whose knees would have just busted with that big of a jump.”

”But they are not the Bloodfist, eh?” said Old Thane as he clenched his fist, veins visible across his forearm as the muscles tensed.

”Yeah, yeah,” said Li with a smile. He had learned by now to let Old Thane manage himself, and seeing the old man quite literally flex his glory days let Li know he was happy.

As Li left the square with the old man, he noted that Sunstar did not say anything or move at all. Li not only felt like snubbing the hero, but he also wanted to see what it took to provoke the man, just to get a read on his personality. From what Li could garner, though, the man was unnaturally composed, and it was difficult to tell whether that was due to an act or genuine distance from his emotions.

They did not go home.

Instead, Li took Old Thane on a roundabout route to the back entrance of the actor's guild where he figured Sylvie had gone as that was where the duchess and Jeanne had gone into after the ceremony. While they made the walk, he told the old man what Sylvie had said, that there was something wrong with Jeanne, and the old man had agreed to investigate the matter with Li.