137 Victims (2/2)

Meld was the first to notice Li. She broke off from talking with Sylvie with a polite nod before waving her hand in a greeting.

”Excellent work, you two. Truly, I knew I could place my trust within your capabilities.” Meld looked around the room, and Li could not tell whether she could see through her blindfold or whether she did this to make it seem like she was physically looking. ”Hm, but I see you have also run into a matter of where to put these victims.”

As the door closed behind them, Thunderstrike hovered in front of Li, looking down at his seated form with a scarred leer. ”Odd. We found that foul black magics had taken ahold of the victims, making moving them difficult. Yet you have managed to seemingly command these monsters and knaves, bringing them here as if you had mastery over the very dark arts that compel them.”

”Yeah, I might know one or two things above elementary magic,” said Li. ”What about it?”

”Dabbling in the dark arts is a criminal offense of the highest caliber,” said Thunderstrike.

”And one that does not apply here,” chimed in Meld. ”He is a foreigner, and what he has learned in his land cannot be judged under the laws of this land. Show some understanding, Thunderstrike.”

Thunderstrike changed the direction of his leer to Meld. ”Perhaps your time mingling in the north has made you soft.”

”And your time fighting in it has made you hard headed.” Meld held up an authoratitative hand. ”Regardless, I am the one with the authority over this case. You would not want me to report that you were being difficult, would you? Your recent spate of failures will not mix well with that.”

”Hmph. Do as you wish. I for one will not sully myself working with foul magic.” Thunderstrike promptly floated away, retreating to the corner of the inn, pushing away several beastwomen roughly as he made his way there.

”My apologies for my fellow hero,” said Meld.

”Working with difficult stupidity isn't new to me,” said Li. ”So, what's it going to be? Are you going to drop me from this case?”

Meld shook her head. ”No, rather, it will be quite fortunate to have someone that knows how these mind-altering curses work. Not even Jeanne, an accomplished priest, could cleanse them, indicating they hail from an evil far greater than we once thought. I will have to update the threat level of this case by several levels.”

Li had communicated with Ven'thur telepathically on the way here, and he knew from the lich that all three of his phylacteries were still intact and still where they were – hidden quite well in both locations that Meld and the knights of Lys raided. Which meant that they had not found the phylacteries, explaining why they could not dispel the mind control by breaking the cores.

”So what are you planning on asking me?” said Li, not beating around the bush.

”It would greatly aid this investigation were you to use your knowledge to move the victims like you have here,” said Meld. ”Elsewise we will have to manually move all the victims. That alone is not the most pressing issue. It is that without dispelling the curse, there is no way to question these victims.”

”There is also the issue of housing them,” cut in Sylvie as she drew nearer to the table. She looked to Meld and then to Li and Azhar. ”I was discussing this with you. If you have the power to empty the Golden Flagon like this, then all the beastwomen can be housed here for a day or two or however long it will take for Li to cure them. The adventurers can weather the inconvenience, especially if the duchess compensates them for staying at other inns. No adventurer will turn their back on gold.”

”You certainly have valid points, but the concerns to security are far too much.” Meld shook her head. ”They must be held at the dungeons. They will not be treated like prisoners, I assure you, and I do not mean to condemn them behind bars. But behind bars is the safest place there is in this whole city. If there are those that wished to close their mouths by killing them, then what more secure place would there be than the dungeons?”

”No,” said Azhar defiantly. ”You ain't lockin' em' up. Human witnesses ain't locked up, why should they be? They've suffered enough.”

Li understood why Sylvie had looked to him and Azhar. She had wanted Azhar to bring this point up, knowing that the hinterlander had a soft spot for the beastwomen. Then she wanted Li to oppose Meld, and as he thought about it, he did have valid reasons to.

”He's right,” said Li. ”They aren't prisoners. They're victims, just like you said. If you want me to help, then you're going to guarantee that they're going to stay where we-,” Li motioned to Azhar, Sylvie, and Jeanne. ”Want them to stay.”

”And safety is of no concern,” said Sylvie. ”Adventurers will still come here for meetings and to see the signboard for quests that the guild misses out on. I daresay that the Flagon will be better guarded than the dungeons with how many of us there are.”

Thunderstrike began to hover forwards again, but Meld held up her hand, standing him down. ”That is reasonable. Then, will you excuse us? I must head the efforts to bring the victims here. Certainly, though, you are free to join us if you wish. Especially you, Easterner. It will be useful to have your ability to mend the curse to have them follow us.”

”Go on ahead,” said Li. ”I need to get a few things ready first.”

”Very well.” Meld bowed her head. ”I must say it is an absolute pleasure to have worked with all of you.”