Chapter 13 - Mountain Brew

Three days ago, afternoon on the outskirts of Zanilan.

"'The delivery guy became interested in our conversation because we were talking about the abducted elderly folks. What else would it be?' Lynn asked.

"'Isn't that too much of an assumption?' Ianme replied.

"'It's not! Would you stop what you're doing to eavesdrop on a conversation about female face powder?' Lynn asked.

"'What? Of course not!' Ianme exclaimed.

"'Exactly my point. If you were at a place to do something very specific and you overheard a group of people talking about something that doesn't interest you in the slightest, then you'd simply ignore that conversation and not use your skills of stealth to get closer to hear more about it,' Lynn explained in an excited tone of voice.

"'Ok, ok. I get your point. So, he could just be a concerned citizen. It was an abduction that we were talking about. Any concerned citizen would be interested to hear more about that,' Khyn replied.

"'If it was a concerned citizen and it was the first time that he heard about it, then he would butt in and ask us or ask the bartender regarding that story—either to confirm it or to get more information. However, if he was a concerned citizen and he heard five strangers talking about something that he knew was happening locally already then he'd want to listen for more details and not bother the bartender about it since the bartender likely knew about that local incident as well already!' Lynn replied hurriedly in the same excited tone.

"'So, what are you suggesting? That he knows something about the abductions or that he was somehow involved?' Ianme asked surprised. A look of disbelief filled his face.

"'No! What I am saying is that the abductions could be happening in a lot of other places in the kingdom and not only in the capital. That is why the delivery guy seemed to have heard about it before! And yet, when we were sent to work on this case, we were led to believe that it was happening only at the capital,' Lynn explained. 'But the big question is this, was it intentional or not?' she added with a wink.

"'You do understand that an abduction operation across the entire kingdom would require a large amount of manpower and an equally large amount of resources to maintain that large manpower,' Khyn said. He was surprised by what Lyn suggested, not because it sounded impossible but because they were supposed to go after the group behind the abductions. And if this group had the resources to pull-off abductions across the entire kingdom, then they would need more than the other half of their group to even survive.

"'I know how Lynn's idea sounds like, but we do not need to go too far to test her theory,' I replied to calm Khyn and Ianme. Mingmei was calm and quiet as usual. She silently watched the three have their little discussion as we walked. She whispered into my mind that we were approaching Zanilan, the nearest village to Yeongsong, and likely a supporter of steam technology just like her neighbor. We may be able to talk constantly using our minds, but Mingmei's thoughts are as guarded as when we were kids. Only Lynn can get a glimpse of it. I wonder if her twin Mingmai knew about her thoughts. Mingmai talked more openly with us. Whenever Mingmai has started talking, we would ask Mingmei to pitch in and she would always say that the two of them have the same thoughts and that Mingmai spoke for both of them.

"'What do you mean?' Ianme asked as he turned to me.

"'Let's stop briefly at Zanilan and investigate if they have the same problem regarding the abducted elderly. We can use a drink and it's almost evening, anyway. Let's sleep somewhere comfortable for tonight while we still can,' I suggested with a smile. Ianme liked the idea judging by his facial reaction. Although whether he liked the idea of testing Lynn's theory better than the idea of stopping for drinks is beyond me.

"Khyn walked to the front of the group and Ianme covered the rear as we entered Zanilan. We need to look like traveling merchants with two bodyguards covering our front and rear.

"The town looked like a smaller twin of Yeongsong, down to the decentralized market and the stores that were built into the lower floors of the residential buildings. The structures even had the familiar stone and metal construction, but I wasn't sure if Zanilan was big or progressive enough to have and maintain their own centralized cooling or heating like Yeongsong did.

"Ianme asked directions to the nearest inn from a young boy and we were pointed towards the western side of the village; where the yellow-orange rays of the setting twin suns have started to carve shadow sculptures out of the buildings and the villagers on the sandy road as they walked about on the streets; likely hurrying to finish that last errand before the twin suns finally rest for the day. A few minutes of walking and we reached the front double doors of a brightly colored building with large windows in front. The sound of a couple of stringed instruments being tuned and tested can be heard coming from inside. Khyn opened the door slowly and entered the inn and the rest of the group followed him.

"'Bar. Left side,' Khyn whispered to me as I followed him inside. I then signaled Mingmei who entered the inn closely behind me without looking. The delivery guy was at the bar and was talking to the bartender. 'Let's make this visit interesting,' Khyn said with a mischievous smile as he led the group to a table that was close to the bar and close to the side where the bartender and the delivery person talked. There were only two other people inside the bar aside from the servers who were all busy tidying up the place before people started to enter and the two ladies on the opposite corner who looked like they were tuning their instruments to get ready for an evening's performance.

"'A pleasant afternoon to you master bartender!' Khyn greeted as he approached. 'We're travelers from Yeongsong and would like to stop for a few drinks and food if your bar is already open to patrons at this early hour?' he continued with a polite smile. Khyn came from the Mukade Clan whose primary duty was to train the clanless citizens of the kingdom in the ways of martial arts with the objective of calling on them for militia service if the need arises. And because they were primarily involved in educating the kashin population of the kingdom, the members of his clan are normally very good with anything related to communications with the common kashin folks. Lynn's clan is also good at communications, but their skill is more focused on the upper class and the members of the government. Their clan's communication techniques are mainly used for seduction and extraction of information.

"The bartender quickly smiled back at Khyn and nodded. 'Of course, of course! Sit wherever you like, and I will have someone over at your table!' the bartender replied cheerfully. He was a tall dark-skinned man in his early or mid-fifties. His physique made him look like he used to work at the mines or as a lumberjack because his upper body is well developed and muscular even at his age.

"'Many thanks to you, kind master,' Khyn replied with a bow. 'I am Karnak, bodyguard to the three lady merchants from Heung,' he added and then made another courteous bow.

"'Well met, Master Karnak!' the bartender replied. 'I am known as Leemar, of the Broken Mountain in these parts,' the bartender replied with a bow and a wide smile on his face. He sounded proud of his name as he introduced himself to Khyn. I suddenly felt curious to know more about Leemar's life story. It is rare that a mere bartender would introduce himself proudly even to a bodyguard. Either he has seen more battle than the bodyguard before him or he knew that he could hold his own against the bodyguard in a battle. Both possibilities were intriguing and made me want to know more about Leemar the bartender. Unfortunately, I had to hold myself back because we have a more pressing matter that we need to focus on. I made a mental note of the name of the bar—The Mountain Brew—and Leemar's name, of course.

"'I believe we have met as well but have failed to introduce ourselves to each other!' Khyn said in a jolly tone as he turned to the delivery man who was having a conversation with Leemar when we arrived. 'You must forgive me for such neglect,' he added. 'For people like us who frequently travel the roads of the kingdom, we find that the company of good people that we meet on nice villages like this is far better—and welcome—than the armed strangers that we meet on some roads,' he said with a chuckle. Leemar laughed heartily at Khyn's clever remark.

"'The fault is not yours, traveler. I was just in a hurry at that time,' the delivery man replied to Khyn in a calm voice. 'I am called Bastien,' he said calmly.

"'Master Bastien, of the Red Hops!' Leemar said proudly and then stomped the wooden countertop of the bar with his fist.

"'Red hops?' Khyn asked in a surprised manner. 'I must sadly confess that I have never heard of red hops before,' he added with an embarrassed smile.

"'This must be your first time in these parts!' Leemar concluded.

"'It is indeed our first time traveling the Steam Road. And I now regret that our mistresses had not decided to travel here sooner!' Khyn replied with a gentle tap on the bar. Leemar laughed loudly at his remark as he signaled one serving girl to approach our table and get our orders. The girl hurried to the side of the bar to grab several slabs of wood where the menu was written using chalk. The place was primarily a bar with a few rooms for rent on the second floor. Thus, not surprisingly, their menu is filled with food that is great to have with the alcoholic beverages that they sell.

"'But I am not kidding, Master Karnak. Bastien is the only red hops farmer in these parts and he has clients all the way to Haan-Dar!' Leemar boasted.

"'And are red hops better than normal hops at making beverages?' Khyn asked with genuine curiosity painted across his face.

"'Not better if you're thinking of using it to replace your regular hops to make the same traditional beverages,' Leemar said while moving his forefinger back and forth in front of Khyn. 'Instead, think of it as the only ingredient that can give you a range of different beverages that cannot be done with regular hops!' he added with a laugh. And so that is the primary value of red hops in the Steam Road. It created a market for a range of alcoholic products that can only be produced by brewers that have access to the red hops. And Bastien is the only one who can supply it to them. Quite a monopoly, but it doesn't make sense to connect Bastien with the missing elders, abducted people normally equates to fewer clients who would buy the products made from red hops. The abductions are bad for Bastien even from a business perspective alone. Moreover, if he is the only supplier of red hops, he has a monopoly to take care of. He doesn't need to worry himself with abductions that are likely happening across the entire kingdom.

"'I am sure my mistresses would like that kind of business talk!' Khyn said with a hearty laugh. 'I would like to introduce you to them, Master Bastien, if it so pleases you,' he then said as he turned to Bastien with a friendly smile.

"'I am not sure if I have anything worth talking about,' Bastien replied as he shook his head and extended his hands forward, politely refusing Khyn's invitation. 'I am just a hops farmer.'

"'Think of the possibilities, Master Bastien! My mistresses can help expand your farm! All you would have to do would be to oversee the plantation and delivery. You barely would have a need to leave the house at all!' Khyn said. Bastien's expression noticeably changed when Khyn mentioned the possibility of no longer leaving the house, and his face lightened up. A farmer who doesn't like leaving the house. It struck me as a curious detail.

"'Alright, I'll hear what they have to say,' Bastien replied. 'It'll be just a moment,' he then said to Leemar.

"'Go on, go on. I'd be here all night!' Leemar replied to Bastien with a grin.

"Khyn and Bastien walked to our table as the serving girl finished taking note of our orders. Bastien sat at the vacant seat between Khyn and Ianme. We all introduced ourselves as traveling merchants and used fake names. Lynn and Mingmei quickly questioned Bastien with financial questions without even going into much detail about the red hops farming. Their questions made Bastien feel comfortable because they did not sound like they wanted to learn about the details of the farming itself and leech the information out of him. Instead, they merely asked about things that related to the size of the farm, expenses, and the income of the farm. They didn't even ask about the location of the farm; just the details about how much it took to keep it at its maximum production.

"Surprisingly, the more they spoke with Bastien, the less he seemed like a farmer. He was well versed in financial ideas and how to perfectly balance his expenses and gross income. If he wasn't dressed like a farmer, I wouldn't think that he was a farmer the way he answered Lynn's and Mingmei's questions.

"'By the way, Master Bastien,' Lynn said after she took a sip at her tea. 'We have heard talk about abductions in these parts. Is this a localized incident? Or is this going to be a problem when we start bringing helpers from different villages?' she added.

"'To tell you the truth, I personally believe that this is a case of serial abductions, but the members of the Keruberosau Police are downplaying it. They are saying that it cannot yet be confirmed if the missing people were truly abducted or simply traveled to another village to the house of a relative because they all lived alone,' he replied.

"'So, this is not a one-time incident?' Khyn asked. He genuinely looked surprised to hear what Bastien said.

"'No. If I am not mistaken, at least fifteen have been missing in each of the villages in the area and more from the city of Haan-Dar,' Bastien explained.

"'You mean that these abductions go as far west as Haan-Dar?' Lynn asked in surprise. 'And that many people have been taken already? At least fifteen from each village?' she added.

"'Yes. I have been trying to figure out why they're taking only the elderly. There is nothing to gain from these poor people who have already given everything they could give to the kingdom in their youth,' Bastien replied calmly, and yet there was a wave of noticeable simmering anger underneath his calm and casual manner. 'I wish the Keruberosau were not too blind to the facts and investigate this before more elderly people disappear!' he added with a sigh.

"'They're in Crater Hill! I tell you, that's where everyone is being taken!' Leemar said when he overheard us talking about the abduction. He then continued cleaning the bar countertop and walked away from us as if he suddenly forgot we were even there.

"'We share your sentiments, Master Bastien,' Lynn replied with a nod. 'But let us not get ourselves depressed with this topic. The evening is still young to waste on depressing topics,' she added.

"'We'd like you to have this, Master Bastien,' Mingmei said as he handed Bastien a stack of merchant notes. 'You mentioned that you have more land to cultivate, use that money to cultivate more of your land. The data that you will get from that extension of cultivation would be useful to us when we finally decide to begin investing in red hops,' she added. 'We'd know roughly how many people are needed per specific area of land,' she concluded.

"'This is too much money,' Bastien said calmly. I was surprised by his reaction. A normal farmer would exclaim in surprise at the amount of money that Mingmei gave him. It was enough to buy his farm, his house, and his uncultivated land three times over. And yet his reaction was too calm, more like too professional. He held in his hand more money than any normal farmer will ever see in his life and yet he stared at the money like it was cold tea.

"'We still need to get to Haan-Dar to meet a client and we are unsure when we can leave Haan-Dar. It is better to give you more than enough until we get back here than give you less than what you need until our return. A disruption in funds would affect the data that we will be collecting, Master Bastien,' Lynn explained with a smile. She then raised her teacup to the air in a silent toast to Bastien.

"'I understand. I better get back home then, before it gets dark. And plan how to best expand the production,' he then said apologetically. 'What if your investment in my farm doesn't work or pay off? I will not be able to pay back this much money,' he asked calmly.

"'Investments are always a gamble, Master Bastien,' I said with a smile. 'If an investment doesn't pay off, we think about it as the same as losing in gambling. You do not need to worry about paying it back.'

"'Okay. I understand.'

"'We will be here until morning. If you have the time, you can come back here and have breakfast with us and we can talk more,' I suggested as Bastien stood up from the table.

"'I might be able to join you. I have an early delivery tomorrow,' Bastien replied before saying farewell to our group. He went to Leemar to say farewell and then left the bar.

"We continued eating and went about normally as Mingmei sat silently still the entire time. 'No, he is not involved,' Mingmei whispered suddenly. She started to breathe heavily as if she held her breath the entire time.

"'You used the merchant notes to plant an eizou on him?' I asked with a grin. 'Very clever, as usual,' I added as I raised my teacup to Mingmei to complement her idea.

"'Why does it have to be that much money?' Ianme asked.

"'We want to make sure that the enchanted merchant note will not be spent until we knew all that we needed to know about him,' Lynn replied. 'However, based on the initial information that Mingmei has gathered, he seemed to be the nicest guy on the Steam Road, and it would be best that we do not spy on him further,' she said with a shrug.

"'Really?' Khyn asked surprised.

"'Yes. Extremely nice in a strange and slightly scary way,' Mingmei said.

"'Strange and scary? Why?' Ianme asked with a look of concern.

"Lynn and Mingmei stared at each other and then turned to me. I can speak directly to their minds if they are both looking at me. It was a spell that the four of us always used since we were kids. We would have included Anika, but she is protected by too much of her clan's enchantments that it is hard to break through to include her. After Mingmai's death, it was only the three of us—Mingmei, Lynn, and me. I nodded back at them after the three of us conversed in our minds. It was not wise not to share this information with Ianme and Khyn, but we had to make sure that we're only sharing what they needed to know.

"'Two blocks down the main road after he left, Bastien saw an old man being harassed by the village bullies. He didn't think twice and helped,' Lynn started to say. Ianme and Khyn moved slightly forward to listen to what Lynn was saying. 'And he defeated the bullies in less than a minute using his wooden rod,' she said, finishing the story prematurely. She then stared at Mingmei and me with an expressionless look. I nodded at Lynn and Mingmei nodded at her too.

"'What? That's not strange. He's young plus he cultivates his own land and delivers his own goods on foot. It's not a surprise that he is stronger than most of the people in this village of our age,' Khyn explained.

"'Yeah, I agree,' Ianme said and then bit into a honeyed beef that was too spicy for me. I'm sure they made it extra spicy to match the alcoholic drinks. 'Nothing unusual with that at all.'

"'There were ten bullies picking on the old man,' Lynn said then paused when she saw Ianme and Khyn stare at her with disbelief. She then took a slice of roasted pineapple and raised it close to her lips. 'And they were all armed with steam-forged tsurugi,' she added and then bit into the pineapple, then smiled her usual mischievous grin.