What Lurks Under VIII

"Y-you really are a m-monster," the thief said while trying to catch her breath. "How are you not tired after fighting for that long? Are you even human?"

No, but that wasn't something that he could tell her. Anyhow, the fight was over, and hopefully, now he could get some information out from the thieves. "Tell me what I want to know and I will leave quietly without any problems," Kies said to her in the most neutral tone he could manage. He didn't want much. It was more than a fair enough trade for sparing their lives.

"If we answer, will you let us live?"

"Yes."

"I don't exactly have any other choice, do I? Ask away then." She was willing to cooperate with him, but she still kept her grip on her dagger tight just in case. The other thieves around them were all watching and although Kies was wide-open, none of them dared to make a move.

"Tell me what you know about the king." This was the first thing that Kies asked and immediately after he finished saying it, he instantly regretted asking this first. He basically just announced to her that he wasn't from here. If he was a citizen then he would at the very least know about what was going on in Silverfield.

"Huh? The king? That's an unusual question. Don't you serve him?"

"No."

"You don't? Are you not a knight?"

Kies shook his head. Upon hearing this, the thieves all relaxed a little but they were still a little tense. If he wasn't a knight then just who was he? Kies was pretty sure that was the question that was going through their minds right now.

"Actually, I could see that. Knights always carry around a sword and yet you have no weapon at all. Who are you then?"

"I'm the one asking the questions," Kies shot a wind blade at the house to the left of him, reminding her who was the one in charge.

The thief didn't pursue any further in asking about his identity and answered his question. "I believe his name is Lentis and he took the throne from his father. It hasn't even been a month since that happened. As for the reasons why, I'm not too sure. And that's really all I know about him."

"What about his personality? His aides?"

"Don't know. You think we give a hoot about politics. All we know is that they are more corrupt than us."

It didn't look like the thief was lying. That was really all she knew about the king. Nothing more than just his name. It looks like that was all he was going to get about the king. "What about the nobles?" he asked next.

"They all got killed or imprisoned. The ones that escaped were eventually caught. There's still a few in hiding, and if you want to find one of them, good luck."

"Do you know where one might be?"

The thief raised her arms and shook her head. "Like I said, good luck."

This wasn't going anywhere. Kies crossed his arms and stared at the thief, trying to think what to ask next. They didn't seem to know anything about what was going on in the kingdom at all.

"Is there anything else you're gonna ask or can we leave now?" The thieves were uneasy about his presence and wanted him to leave already.

"One last thing. Do you know anyone who has gray eyes?" Kies asked. If he wasn't going to get anything related to his mission out of the thieves, he might as well ask his personal questions to figure out who he was when he was here.

"Like yours?" The thief looked Kies in the eyes, noticing that his eyes were gray.

"Yes."

"Stormy gray huh? No one that I know of. Well, other than you of course."

"I see." That was a shame. But then again, his eyes were probably not inherent, and nor did he have parents here since he wasn't human. Plus, eye colors usually matched one's magic if they used it. He used wind magic and his eyes matched that. That was a pointless question to ask as it wasn't going to help him figure out anything.

"Okay mister mage, you're done now right?" The thief was really keen on getting rid of him. She held her dagger tightened and the rest of the thieves all tensed up as well. They were getting ready to fight in case Kies changed his mind about sparing them.

Kies sighed. He didn't want to have to do this but this might be the only way he was going to learn anything. It was risky, but he was willing to take the gamble. Kies reached for the cloth wrapped around his face and pulled it off. "Have you seen someone with this face before?"

The thieves all looked at him confused. "Are you searching for your twin or something?" the female thief asked.

"Sort of."

"I haven't seen anyone else with your face before. What about you guys?" the thief looked around at her underlings. At least, Kies assumed that this was a case since she looked like she was the one in charge here. They all took a look at Kies' face and shook their heads.

Well, that was that. Kies was about to rewrap the cloth around his face and leave when one of the thieves suddenly shouted out, "Ah!" Everyone turned to him. The thief looked around nervously for a second before saying, "I remember seeing your face somewhere. I was trying to remember where I saw it and just got it right now."

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