Rune passed the stalls of various vendors as he headed towards the port of the city. The smell of fish grew stronger the closer he was to the docks. He passed a stall selling oranges, a delicacy from Nythos' neighbouring nation, Alathan, retracing his steps back to the citrus fruit to buy for Elsie.
A woman sat on a chair behind the crates of oranges, eyeing him with suspicion as he picked out the best oranges.
He felt her eyes track his hand movements as they stared intently at him without blinking.
Relax, I'm not here to steal. Regardless, losing a couple of oranges to a thief is not a loss on your end.
"How much does it cost per orange?"
The woman looked down at him in disdain.
"5 coppers each for the citrus fruit."
She li—
Rune had enough of the merchants. His unkempt appearance always had them treat him as if he were a thieving kid from Driftwood's streets.
Not caring about the consequences of his next move, Rune tucked three oranges in his satchel while the woman watched him.
"Guards! There is a thi—"
"Here, six coppers worth of coin." He placed it on the counter. Stopping her yell.
The woman looked towards the money, then back at Rune, surprised at the coins lying at her stand.
"What? Is it so shocking that the street urchin paid in full?" Rune asked as he indifferently brought his gaze to her face.
She narrowed her eyes. "How was I to know you weren't like every other thieving bastard out there?"
Rune narrowed his own in return.
"Well, for starters, if you'd given me the exact price, which is two coppers per orange the last time I asked a vendor, I would have respected the business protocol and given you the coppers I owed before taking the fruits."
"Instead, you decided to raise the price, thinking I was a clueless fool, and called the guards so they could pay off the so-called damage a thief would have caused by taking three of your oranges."
"You know of nothing, boy."
"Oh, but I do know lying about prices could have you banned from ever trading in Alta."
"You little—"
Giving a slight tip of his head, Rune feigned respect, his curly hair covering his eyes. "Pleasure doing business with you, ma'am. I'd love to continue talking about your other violations, but unfortunately, I have places to be."
He pointed at his wrist, hinting at the clock ticking. "I can't be late now else, where would I earn the coins I give to you?" Giving her an innocent shrug, he turned on his heel, walking away from the croon.
Now, how much would Ajax pay me if I told him about her?
The woman's face turned red, likely from being upset that a mere ten-year-old had bested her in understanding merchant rules.
And this was why the Madam had me memorize the prices of every product the merchants sold in Alta City.
Rune quickened his pace, his brief encounter lengthening the time it would take for him to arrive at the Reaper's base.
A couple of kids working under Tor waved to him as he passed by, Rune nodding his head in greeting.
As he came up to a tall building with the words 'Fisher' painted in faded blue, Rune entered through the front door.
A bell rang as he entered. A bald man, seated and playing cards with a group, looked up, his eyes instantly scanning Rune for weapons.
Rune clutched his satchel strap tightly, seeing that all the men at the table carried long knives in easily accessible places.
Some held long pipes in their hands, the smell of smoked Rye hitting Rune's face as he noted the closed windows.
Despite Rune's efforts to learn the official and unwritten laws of Driftwood and Alta City, his 12-year-old heart still faltered in the presence of Reapers or other important individuals. Even with their code of conduct, he could not trust they wouldn't wrongfully accuse him or whimsically strike him.
If one of them attacked him, he couldn't defend himself, having never used a knife nor had the build to withstand a direct attack.
"You don't look like one of ours, boy. What's your name?"
Rune gulped. "Rune. I have something of Silus's."
Recognition lit up the bald man's face as he cracked a grin.
"Ah, your Silus's boy."
"I don't work with him. I deal with him."
He bit his tongue.
Why are you talking back, you idiot?!
Rune knew why he made the distinction. He didn't want the wrong rumors circulating about his affiliations, as people could use them to attack him and Elsie without warning.
The man waved his hands. "It means the same in these parts."
Not in front of the guards, it doesn't.
"Silus went out a while ago. Not sure when he is returning."
"Tor is in the back if you want to speak to him."
Rune shook his head slightly. "It's alright. I'll return in a couple of hours."
The bald man shrugged, going back to his game.
Rune hadn't noticed he had been holding his breath until he exhaled. As he was about to leave, the door opened, and in walked Silus, his hair drenched in sweat, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and the stench of fish filling the room with his entry.
The bald man who had spoken to Rune spat on the floor, looking at Silus in revulsion.
"What stench did you bring with you?" He gagged.
Silus looked displeased at his state. At his side, his hand loosely clutched a net of fish, some alive and moving about having left the sea.
"Oh please, it's not like you haven't ever smelt fish on your way out."
Silas ran his right hand through his hair. "A merchant asked me to fish with him if I wanted information. So, this happened."
The bald man burst out cackling, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. "Why? Couldn't kill the poor lad and take the information now?"
Silas frowned, seemingly upset he couldn't achieve such a feat. "Don't remind me. The man was tight-lipped. It seemed he already knew how I worked. He was prepared, not giving even the slightest hint I could use after killing him. Makes me wonder who ratted."
"Have you ever stopped to think perhaps it's your reputation, the rumors women at the brothels whisper in the merchant's ears about your Prowse."
"What rumours?"
Rune looked at Silus in surprise, wondering how the Reaper's informant knew the things he knew but didn't know what others said about him.
How could you not know about your rumours?
The bald man shook his head, not bothering to clarify Silas's confusion. "I'm sorry to say, but murder is not always the way."
Silus snarled at the man. "And what would you know, Bert? The last time a payment wasn't on time, who was it again who snapped and stabbed our client?"
"Tor wanted the man dead."
"He said that after you, ever the charlatan, decided to stick a knife in a man's chest. Only once Tor realized his death would make things easier did he even speak of it."
"Point taken, Silus."
Silus seemed to want to argue with Bert but noticed Rune standing at the side.
"You're early, Rune."
"You said by the 6th hour." Rune pointed at the clock by the stairs. "It's now the 7th."
Silus turned to the clock, seeing that Rune was correct. Not uttering another word, he motioned Rune to follow and headed up the steps to the second floor.
"Good luck with the fish you got there!"
"Shut it, Bert!"
Rune never saw the informant behave in such a way since the first day he met the guy. His view of the young man shifted to something more positive than his initial opinion.
They approached a room, Silus unlocking it swiftly as he dropped the fish by the door, water flicking Rune.
Silius drops on a wooden chair by the window and gestures to Rune to sit.
He remains standing, rummaging through his satchel as he pulls out his most recent sketch Silus asked of him.
Silus lifts his left brow as he takes the sketch from Rune's hand.
"Have you completed it already?"
Rune shrugged. "I could draw the iron clock in my sleep."
Silus had commissioned Rune for the sketch three days prior, telling him it was urgent. He knew the informant didn't think he could complete the drawing since most of their arrangements lasted a week or two.
Silus opened the scroll, where Rune's drawing emerged. Satisfaction glinted in Silus's eyes as he examined the sketch.
"As expected, the details never fail to impress."
"You do know they'll pay you much more in Alta's upper side?"
Rune had thought about it many times, but after seeing how the wealthy lived during his two trips there while working for the Madam, he began to doubt whether his skills could compare to the artists they employed.
"I don't trust them."
"They're not all bad folks, you know?"
"I don't want to take the risk."
Silus chuckled.
"Sometimes all it takes is a single risk to strike gold." He said, tracing the clock's arms.
"Or to lose what you already have," Rune interjected.
Silus grunted in agreement. "But again, you are only 12. What you've come to achieve at your age is nothing short of success."
Rune stood straighter at the compliment, pleased someone had noticed the amount of time and effort he spent maintaining their home and keeping them fed.
Silus looked up from the sketch. "I presume you've met Bane."
From the mention of the boy's name, Rune understood that Silus intentions were for Bane to show Rune Ajax's crystals.
"How are the commander's crystals."
"They're all fake. All two sacks worth."
A thoughtful look crossed the informant's face. "Then it isn't only us who is having their Rye swapped. What do you make of this, Rune?"
"The only culprits that I could think of were the merchants."
"Explain."
Rune took a seat, placing his satchel on the floor as he faced Silus's prying face, laying out his thought process.
"Think about it. If word came out that Tor and Ajax were selling tainted crystals, the guards would think the Reapers were behind the incident, while the Reapers would think the enforcers were trying to set them up."
"I considered other nations that could benefit from such events in Alta. It cannot be Fellora, as they technically already control Nythos."
Rune continued. "That leaves the merchants. They'd be the only neutral group unharmed from the conflict since they probably have small quantities of Rye in their possession."
Silas's eyes lit up in delight. "Your mind was always sharp. Your conclusions are sound, but you've missed one fact: Alta is not the only place to have the crystals swapped."
Rune processed the information, contemplating. "That would imply the Fellorians, given their unique capacity to finance such a plan. However, they already have Nythos within their grasp, and this doesn't clarify the Western guards' involvement in the deception."
He shook his head. "From what you told me, I still think it's the merchants."
Silus walked to a bookshelf filled with books, brought one back to Rune, and opened it to a page, pointing at multiple drawings of dead bodies as he spoke.
"Following the Madam's leave, a couple of our dealers went out on patrol. They were to deliver some Rye crystals to a man in upper Alta." Silus paused, filling a glass with water.
"It was supposed to be a quick delivery, but two days went by without seeing their return."
He scooped up Rye powder from a cup and began dumping it into the glass of water he had poured.
"Tor had me follow their trail. I took the path they would normally take and asked around. The answers I received led me to an alley not far from here, where I found their bodies."
Silus brought the glass to his lips.
"I assumed it was an act of revenge. However, a month later, more bodies appeared, some in the upper district and others here in Driftwood."
He took a long sip.
"I went to each murder scene, finding something odd in the way their lives came to an end. There were no wounds on their bodies. We had a coroner examine the bodies and discovered them to have drowned."
How is that possible?
"But they were so far from port. If they had drowned, why did the killer decide to leave their bodies in such places?"
Silus nodded his head in agreement. "The same thoughts crossed my mind."
"I asked some trusted merchants if such a feat was possible. Most said it wasn't, but one said it to be the work of a Water Weaver."
"A Water Weaver?"
"You know, it's fascinating how East Nythians live by their own rules and ways at the expense of having most knowledge about other nations removed from our libraries by our so-called Western rulers."
Silus tossed the rest of the water in his mouth, scrunching his face as the liquid went down his throat.
"Water Weavers, people who could manipulate water at will."
Silus registered the shock on Rune's face.
"I initially dismissed it as a merchant's jest, but failing to come to other conclusions brought me back to the Water Weaver."
"I told Tor my discoveries, and he deemed the situation too complex and declared we hid it from the enforcers to prevent the enemy from going into hiding."
"Over the years, bodies continued to appear in larger quantities. We attempted to bury them quickly before the guards noticed, but we could only do so much before a corpse fell into the commander's hands."
Rune voiced his disagreement. "You could have prevented people's death by telling Ajax. He has more guards to dispense."
"That is if we knew the killer was not among his men."
Silus had a point. The situation was quite complex.
"So an unknown figure has been going around in Alta killing people for the last four years."
"Yes."
"And you decided to share this just now?"
"Since the cases could be linked."
"But why share it with me? I'm not part of the Reapers? I'm only 12."
"Because, Rune, I've come to dead ends in my search, and I need a fresh perspective to look at the case. Age is only a number when it comes to a brilliant mind."
Silus gestured to the book.
"Take it with you."
"Don't you need it?"
"Everything in it I've already committed to memory. Maybe you'll see something that I failed to see."
Rune took the brown leather notebook in his hands.
"And Rune, not a word about this to anyone."
Rune nodded in understanding before grabbing his satchel and walking out of Silus's room.
His mind was racing.
The voice inside him had stayed silent for the entire length of their exchange, meaning that everything Silus had said was true.
What the hell is going on?