The Stranger

After having told their respective tales, each more horrible than the last much to Cyrus' dismay, he dismissed the three men. After the first man had boldly spoken his tale, the next two had gained confidence and followed suit… providing more details and telling them as intricately as they could. Looking at him, however, was the liaison that Cyrus had recruited temporarily. He knew little about the old man, who did not even give his real name yet, but he had learned of his reputation and was willing to take his time.

Noticing his questioning look, he asked

"Do you wonder why I asked for this type of information?"

The old man smiled sheepishly at having been easily seen through and responded in kind,

"Do I wonder? Yes sir I do, as the sets of information you requested are complete opposites. First you wanted us to find people who had experienced the worst of the nobility, then you turn around and ask for those who had experience the best of the nobility. If you wanted to gather people who could help or harm the prestige of a certain noble, I understand the request. But yours is entirely random, so no specific individual can be targeted."

Cyrus looked at the man, maintaining a neutral expression and said

"The reason is not a complicated one, just one word. Curiosity. I learned of the War of Nobilis not too long ago and was interested in the reasons behind it. I can guess how it might have gone down from a purely retrospective political deduction, but not from the perspective of who experienced it firsthand. Starting with the commoners, I wish to know of every strength and flaw of the nobility."

Confused as to why Cyrus would expend so much money just to satisfy his curiosity, as it was not cheap to send out people to scour the entire massive city, the old man asked,

"Curiosity, sir?"

With a dry laugh Cyrus responded,

"Indeed, just curiosity" For now… added he inwardly.

Having his questions answered the old man bowed and left, leaving Cyrus and Fauve alone once more.

"I suppose you have nothing to add" said Cyrus, in more of a statement than a question.

"Correct you are. All of us who followed Cato are of the same mind as me, we will not tell you anything about the war as you are now" said Fauve with a smug smile.

A flash of annoyance went by on Cyrus' face, but he quickly shrugged it off.

"If only he would let loose something more. Although he normally seems rather frivolous and carefree, when it comes to the important things he changes completely. Having direct access to a key member of the war would simplify things by quite a significant amount…" sighed Cyrus within.

Setting aside his thoughts, he began to leave the establishment with Fauve shadowing him from behind. The duo left through a secondary exit and ended up on the streets with little time wasted, right in the fringes of the population district. Walking with light steps, Cyrus began to head back towards his lodge once again while inevitable dissecting what he had learned today with his prior knowledge.

"The noble houses, an old system of governance where individuals would be granted the right to go out and carve new land for themselves. Based in a time where venturing out of a large well defended city would put one at a tremendous risk of Brutum assaults, it allowed for the Empires lands to steadily increase. Seeing as the end result of this system was the War of Nobilis, essentially a civil war, there were flaws aplenty" thought Cyrus as he navigated the streets of Meridianam.

Passing by a restaurant he thought,

"Today was a tale of three different settlements in the western family all owned by a single family, where the commoners were all treated horribly to put it lightly. While the overall standing of living was still much higher than in the wasteland and the survival rate is no doubt higher than there as well, even with the random killings, even one unjust death is too many. This information also led to new lines of questioning, such as why this behavior was allowed in the first place by the Empire at large?"

As he was thinking, he stopped in his tracks. The very hairs on his skin were standing straight up with a cold chill making its way up his back, giving him the feeling of being observed by a beast of prey. Long before he had noticed, Fauve had long seen and even located the origin of Cyrus' feeling. Following Fauve's line of sight, he saw an inconspicuous man enjoying a cup of piping hot tea in a secluded corner at the nearby restaurant. He looked like a middle-aged man you could find anywhere in the Empire, what with his worn tunic, muted features, and tied back fading brown hair. The man looked over at Cyrus and Fauve, and with a friendly smile he beckoned them over while pointing at the two empty seats in front of him.

Unsure of how to proceed, Cyrus looked towards Fauve who was wearing his rare serious visage. With a nod towards Cyrus, he headed towards the seat to meet this mysterious stranger. Curious, but also cautious, Cyrus decided to follow Fauve and sat down next to him.

Together, they looked at the seemingly normal middle aged man who was finishing his tea as if nothing was out of the ordinary. The duo knew, however, that the man was anything but ordinary. The sharp feeling the two were undergoing spoke volumes on its own however, although one of the two was undoubtedly suffering far more than the other.