Chapter 284 - Threads and Puzzles

A/N: ANNOUNCEMENT:
Hello everyone! I know it has been a while, and a lot has happened. So, I would like to give you a proper update about what’s going on, together with a new chapter!

For the last few weeks I have been working on figuring out a mental health issue (related to my later and later release times, poor sleep schedule, etc). It is not quite resolved, and I still have a few more appointments before getting a diagnosis and, hopefully, a treatment plan.

To not go into too many personal details, in the last few months of summer, my mental health has kinda crashed while I was editing book 2 and writing. I’ve always strived to keep a consistent writing schedule, but I was forced to admit I couldn’t solve those issues while also publishing.

It had reached the point where I considered going on a hiatus or switching jobs because it wasn’t sustainable.  

Calm down! I’ve no intention of doing either. A large part of why I took time off was to recover from almost getting burnout, and to sort this out. It has dragged out for far longer than I hoped, but now the end is in sight!

My plan for the coming weeks is to post two chapters per week (Monday and Friday). That is what I believe I can handle until I finish sorting out my health. Once everything is handled in a few weeks, hopefully, I’ll be able to go back to the regular posting schedule.

I’ll also be offering refunds for anyone who wants until matters are resolved. You can just send me a dm on Patreon, and I’ll get to you as soon as I can. 

As always, I appreciate your patience and support <3

P.S. Btw, this chapter is 2.9+k. I’ve also added a few extra details to remind people of who minor characters and events.

https://www.patreon.com/file?h=112255844&i=20612323

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“Do you have any questions?” Kai finished explaining what they had discovered at Herry’s house, and cobbled it together with the information Kea had shared with him. 

The group gathered in the living room filled every seat available, and watched him in stunned silence. Several layers of wards wrapped the house like soap bubbles, ensuring their discussion would remain private.

Well, no one is screaming anymore… So that's something. 

Kea leaned against the kitchen table, her face making thunderclouds seem light. After vouching for what happened, she had let him do the talking, just cutting in on a few details.

On the battered sofa, Mari mumbled to herself, her words too quiet to make out. Niel opened his mouth, but no words came out. Caeli contracted her hands in her lap as if strangling an invisible enemy. 

Given their recent acquaintance, Kai was surprised no one had accused him of lying. 

They must trust Kea's judgment a lot…

Flynn slumped in a creaking chair and massaged his temples with a resigned look. “Are you sure it’s the same people that attacked our ship?”

“There are too many similarities to be a coincidence. The praetor title, the Darkness runes, the secrecy.” Kai sighed, mirroring the older boy’s gloom. “It’s possible they’re not the exact same raiders, but there is some link.”

To run into the same group at sea and hundreds of miles inland was enough to curse his Luck, though perhaps he should thank it. If they had to face a bloody cult, better it be the one they had already encountered.

At least we have an idea of the threat… just how big are they?

Rain studied the messy decor of the room with unfazed tranquility, balancing three pencils on his index finger. Hearing about the conspiracy, his eyes lit like when he visited a human market for the first time. Spirits willing, there was more than blind confidence guiding the siren.

Some kind of criminal organization had been kidnapping people all over Limgrell, possibly for years, likely bribing the Hall of Seekers and the local Republic officials to keep silent. It wasn’t a job a group of newly minted adventurers should be dealing with, but asking for help would only risk getting them killed. 

Herry had admitted to setting up Kea’s team with the cloud fairies before blowing up his own house. Then the gruff thug they overheard said he would deal with them like some washed-up villain, only the threat was real.

They won’t act in the open.

Kai held onto that hope. If the culprits put so much effort into masking the disappearances, they must not have complete control of this town. They wouldn’t act in the open to get rid of a bunch of rookies that knew little to nothing.

Being underestimated is our best asset. They have no way to know we were aboard the Intrepid.

When the muttering quietened, Kai stood straighter with a confidence he didn’t entirely feel. “Kea and I want to figure out what happened to your teammate, and the other missing people. Then we can warn the authorities in another town away from here. If anyone wants to leave Limgrell, it’s better if you wait a few days to not attract attention.” 

Direct and concise. All the cards were on the table. The trio on the sofa began to argue among themselves, the words too fast and soft to make out.

“This will be fun.” Flynn groaned in his seat. He had seemed the least surprised by the revelations and had mostly thrown exasperated looks. 

“I know this wasn’t what we planned.” Kai met his gaze with honesty. “You can go meet with Valela and I’ll catch up once this is solved.” 

It wasn’t fair to drag him into his deadly problems. 

“And how do you plan to survive in a town without me?” Flynn scoffed with a friendly slap to his shoulder. “You know I’m not leaving you, or Kea. She’s my friend too. And someone must make sure you two don’t burn down Limgrell. We just have to deal with a cabal of murderous madmen and avoid this green praetor. How hard can it be?” 

“Right… Just another Tuesday…” Kai muttered under his breath. Before he could make sense of the guilt and relief swirling in his gut, Kea stepped to give an awkward nod to Flynn. “I appreciate your help.” 

She wasn’t nearly that nice to me. 

Kea and Flynn hadn’t been particularly close when he left but a lot could happen in two years. The sister he remembered would have claimed she could do just fine on her own. 

We’ve all changed. 

Compared to the crackling fire Kai remembered, her dark green eyes had grown colder and calmer. The fiery temper was still there—contained beneath an icy coating. 

Guess I would also be stressed out if I had spent a month in this town, and one of my friends got abducted. Spirits, grant us a breather. 

Rain observed the room with an indecipherable look. “I’m staying too.” He offered a serene smile. “I’ve already said I wanted to come with you and help your— Keandra.” 

“Thank you,” Kai wasn’t sure the siren understood the dangers, but he also couldn’t afford to refuse his help. No one would suspect to find his race so far from the sea, and they needed every advantage to survive this.

“None of us is running either!” Caeli jumped to her feet, voice rising over her companions. “I don’t care if there is a green grade involved. I’m not leaving till we find out what happened to Caeden.” 

Her eyes burned with rage and what might have been a hint of fear. Whether for herself or this Caeden, it was impossible to tell.

Maybe he was her boyfriend? He must have been a pretty interesting guy to inspire such loyalty. 

“I’m not going to leave without you,” Niel said, his tanned face a shade paler. “We all knew the dangers. And now we have some idea of what we’re up against.” 

Mari nodded her support, leafing through her journal. She chewed on an enchanted pen of black enamel. “Can you identify the man Herry met? Any detail could help.”

“We were hidden behind a bookcase.” Kea shook her head with pursed lips. “I couldn’t even see his shadow.”

“I might recognize his voice if I meet him.” Kai tried to fix the gruff and drawling voice in his mind. At the time, he had been too busy staying still without breathing to consider peeking. 

“Are you sure no one saw you enter or run from the burning building?” Flynn shifted his gaze between them. “If they know what you saw, we are as good as dead.” 

“We were careful all the way,” Kai reassured him. He had kept his cloak of Shadow at all times and melted the ice shards before running. Once the Fate wards woven into the house burned, Hallowed Intuition would have warned him if someone was tailing them. 

“We should go through everything from the beginning.” Mari scribbled on her leather journal. “There might be some details you missed, or you thought unimportant.” 

Kai considered telling them about his skill to save time—enough people knew already. “Alright. What do you want to know?” 

They went through what happened from the moment he and Kea stepped outside this morning to when they reached this house. Belicia’s tip about Herry’s location, the path they had taken, anyone they met, any strange smell or sound. Mari noted down everything in scrupulous detail. 

Everyone visibly relaxed in their seats after confirming they hadn’t left a trail back to this house. They were safe, at least for now.

From the heat of the explosion, Kai would be surprised if Herry was more than a pile of charred ash. No skill below Green would be able to identify his body. With some luck, the gruff thug would suspect the informant had cut and run. The conversation they had overheard hadn’t been very amicable. 

Hopefully, it will make them lay low for a while. 

He could understand the mistrustful and skittish passersby on the streets better now. Rumors spread faster than a sea breeze small towns. People must have guessed there was something wrong going on, if not exactly what. 

“You could have waited for us to tell Mat,” Caeli grumbled at Kea, her eyes on the documents spread on the table. Copying papers from the archives of the town hall would land them in a military prison if discovered.

Niel lay a hand on Caeli’s shoulder and slightly shook his head. “What’s done is done.”

From the looks between them, the discussion was far from over, just delayed till they were alone. Niel’s gaze hardened toward Kai and his friends. “You must swear not to mention any of this outside a warded room before discussing it with us. No more exceptions. We’re all on the same boat.” 

“You have my word,” Flynn vowed with unusual solemnity, a hand over his heart. Kai repeated the oath followed by Rain. The siren got a few looks when he passed three fingers over his face and muttered about the Deep, though no one commented. 

“Good.” Niel walked to the papers on the table. “We must decide the next steps. There are more people involved than we thought. Until we know for sure, we must—”

“I’ll go check on Herry’s house,” Caeli spat the name like an insult. “If that slimy prick chose the victims, the kidnappers will check he hasn’t left any clues behind.” She grabbed a brown leather jacket and was halfway to the door when Niel barred her path. 

“No one is rushing out of here till we have a plan.”

“Move,” she hissed. “No one will see me.” 

“Yeah, you are always so unassuming… Tell me you won’t chase after the first suspicious guy you see.” They stared each other down untill Niel took a step back, still blocking the door. “Caeli, please,” his tone softened. “I know you’re angry, but we can’t afford mistakes.”

“Subtlety was never your strong suit,” Mari quipped in, still intent on her journal. 

Caeli growled like a drake. “We can’t waste this opportunity. It’s the first actual lead we have.” 

“They’re right, Caeli. We aren’t even supposed to know that it was Herry’s house,” Kea said, silencing everyone else with a look. “We can’t draw a connection between us and the fire. I’ll go.”

What? No!

“That’s not what I was saying!” Niel clenched his jaw. 

“I’ll just give a quick look and be back,” Kea shrugged as if the conversation was over. “It’s worth a try. We've combed this town for over a month. It would be weird if none of us checked on the fire. You know I can blend in and keep my cool.” 

Kai observed from the sidelines to not act overbearing toward his sister. He expected to hear more protests, but her group accepted the words with a little reluctance. 

She can’t go alone. 

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.” Kea raised a hand to anticipate his protests. “You’re too eye-catching with your grade and skills. If anyone senses your mana skill, they will look into you.”

“Hmm… I’ll go with her.” Flynn stretched his legs and hopped to his feet to offer Kea his arm, his gestures lacked his usual theatrical flair. “Just two old friends catching up, who got curious about the commotion. I’m good at judging people and overhearing rumors.” 

Kea eyed his arm for a second before taking it stiffly. “Thanks.” 

“We’ll pass unobserved and be back in an hour.” Flynn gave Kai a reassuring smile over his shoulder and grabbed their coats. The door clicked close behind them. 

Dammit. 

With danger abound, his chest clenched at the idea of losing sight of his sister again. Her talent to find trouble was too close to his own, he didn’t want to go through that again, he couldn’t. Kai took a few shallow breaths to relax his tension. 

She’ll be safe. I can’t always watch over her. 

He never thought he’d become the overprotective brother, but the idea of losing her scared him like little else despite their rocky relationship. They had just started to heal that wound and she ran into danger. 

The clam calls the oyster stubborn.

Still, it was her life. He had to accept her choice and do his best to support her.

The house turned silent enough to hear the scratching of Mari scribbling. Rain studied the faded embroidery of a dog on a pillow, also indifferent to the atmosphere. 

A handful of minutes later, Niel gestured to the documents on the kitchen table. “Well, we better figure out this mess. A new set of eyes could catch something we missed.” 

“More dusty papers. Just what I needed.” Caeli scowled but followed his lead. “Where are the ones you took from that traitorous weasel?”

Kai leafed through the piles of documents to find the lists of names. “Here.” Joined by Rain and Mari, they delved back into the pages to untangle the conspiracy. The dry shuffle of paper and muttered theories accompanied them.

They cross-referenced the dates and names to identify the locations of the abductions, the number of people missing was far higher than what was officially reported. But names and places couldn’t tell them why or where they were being taken. 

Kea and Flynn returned about an hour later. The guards had cordoned off the site of the fire, stopping anyone from coming near. If that wasn’t strange enough, an old lady swore she had seen a hooded figure rummage through the charred rubble.

“So the guards are traitorous bastards too. How surprising." Caeli scoffed, her hands crumpling the paper she was reading. “They should all get executed.” 

“We don’t know how many are involved.” Niel tried to pacify her while grimacing himself. “They might have just been bribed to let someone slip through.” 

“They’re either corrupted or incompetent. I don’t see much difference.” 

“Let’s focus on what we can do,” Kea said, her tone no less icy. “If we can pinpoint their next targets, we have a lead.”

The discussion, the theories and the shuffle of paper continued well into the night. It was like trying to complete a blank puzzle with two-thirds of the pieces missing. Grasping at straws for a plan that wouldn’t get them killed, they took turns sleeping on the old sofa and the bedrooms till the sun rose again. 

The rush only stopped around mid-morning when Flynn drew back a window, letting in a blinding ray of light. “C’mon, we’ve already gone through everything thrice, a fourth time won’t help. And it’s starting to smell of dead bodies in here.” He scrunched his nose. “Someone will get suspicious if we hide any longer. It’s too late to feign we’re not working together, but we shouldn’t make it obvious. I don’t about know you, but I could use a bite. I’m starving. I also need to pick up some things I left at the inn.” 

“I’ll come with you.” Rain yawned, somehow looking fresh despite not having slept a wink. “I also left a few things at the inn.”

“Good, we should always move in pairs,” Niel chipped in. “Keep to the main streets and don’t mention this case even if you think no one is listening.” He liked to organize people, though Kea and Caeli never failed to remind him he wasn’t in charge.

The two women paired together to stretch their legs and buy groceries. Hopefully, they would keep each other in check. 

Leaving only three of them inside, they wrapped the sensitive documents in a hidden compartment of one of the bedrooms. Kai was tempted to offer his spatial ring again; it would be far more effective than the jumbled arrays they used for a safe. They seemed nice enough, but he didn’t quite know them yet.

Mari had already pulled out a tattered black tome in place of her notebooks, the golden filigree of the title too worn to make out the words. She raised her eyes from the page to look at them. “I’m happy to stay here. Someone must keep an eye on things, or leave a dead body if they break in. I’ll try to write some clues with my blood.” 

She spoke with such a flat tone, Kai couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious. “Uh… I wanted to visit the Hall.” 

“I’ll accompany you,” Niel said with an awkward chuckle. “Are you sure you’re fine being alone, Mari?” 

Instead of answering, she raised her book to cover her face. 

“Okay… Stay here till someone comes back.” Niel offered him an apologetic look and strode to the door holding it open for him. 

“Thanks.” Kai was relieved when the chill hair washed over his body. He squinted at the light and drew his coat tighter. The sky was a piercing blue with only a thin veil of mist over the houses closer to the lake. 

They had crossed two semi-deserted streets before Neil asked the obvious question. “Why do you want to go to the Hall?”

“I want to check the contract. Maybe they have finally updated it.”

Of course, that was only part of the reason. Amidst all the unknowns, there was one piece they hadn’t probed: Belice, the friendly clerk of the Hall, who somehow got her hands on the location of Herry’s house. Kea had insisted Belice had always been good at gathering rumors—coincidences did happen, especially when Favor was involved, but Kai had the inkling there was more to it. 

Hallowed Intuition hummed in the back of his mind. The sound was soft, a thread of fate pulling him toward a potential lead.

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A/N: Next chapter will be on Friday