A chance meeting

Jay had woken up not even three hours later when had heard something and noticed someone had come to the camp. To his surprise it wasn't even their footsteps but the loud yelling he heard first.

Raising from his position he passed his still sleeping slaves and went to the south-western entrance from where the noise came.

He wasn't in a hurry and even refrained from putting on his armor. Funny enough he met the patrol of three men at the location where Sasha's corpse lay. Their eyes nearly popped out as they spotted it and the condition it was in.

It didn't get any better though as out of nowhere one of them fell down with his head facing the wrong direction and Jay appeared in his place.

Without giving the other two bandits a chance to retaliate, Jay shot an arcane missile to the ones head and kicked the other on so hard between his legs after he rushed in, the man lifted off the ground.

As he was not dead yet, Jay grabbed one of his legs while the bandit was still airborne and smashed him onto the ground.

The impact took his last health points, though it wasn't on the ground but on the female corpse lying there in the middle.

With a loud cracking sound Sasha was at least no longer directly visible as the bandit covered her pretty much completely.

Back to the fireplace, Jay woke up the two women and gave them a small explanation of what they would do in the following days.

Hari and Brynna would travel towards Sentinel and hide there in wait for his return. It wasn't even necessary to threaten or order them as Brynna directly jumped to the conclusion he wouldn't present them openly as his slaves.

He only asked them to keep a low profile, not tell they are slaves and don't talk about what happened there up in the mountains.

As eager as Haribelle was and even the Half-Dwarf seemed to have come to quite like him, Jay somehow believed them they wouldn't tell anything about him.

A certain notification of them getting affected from someones blessing took a big part in that belief.

He still ordered them for cautions sake, telling them it was only for the sake if they get caught, though he sure didn't hope for that. Thanks to his excuse they both had no problem with the order he gave them.

After their talk, the women rummaged through the camp and fetched their belongings, mainly weapons and finally some clothes, then met up with Jay at the north-eastern entrance.

While the two were running through the camp, Jay had climbed on the watchtower at the north of the camp, better said its leftovers, and sat down there waiting. The view he got was simply fantastic.

To the north he got a full view over Westfield with its hills, fields and meadows up to the horizon. He would have been able to see Sentinel if it hadn't been too far even for [Far Sight].

Looking on the camp where some tents were still smoldering in the sparse morning light, Jay got a better impression of just how big it really had been.

Through the gap between two mountains in the south he saw vast plains with sparse hills in the distance.

What he saw there was the region close to the border he already heard from, the land the bordering kingdom was fighting to get.

As the sun began to rise they all met up and began to descent the mountain together. On their way Jay learned that Brynna had gotten raised in Arathor's orphanage decades ago and only got in contact with the bandits through her instructing Mastersmith where she was training.

Thanks to her profession she never had to do something illegal and even though she worked with them kept her normal Job.

The trip down took longer than his climb, but it didn't matter much to him. At the foot of the mountain, after they passed the small cleft, Jay gave the two women some supplies and even some coins. It was only a small amount of what he had found in the camp.

He had looked around a bit before he climbed the watchtower in the camp and found some things of worth in the big tent Hari left as he first saw her.

Saying their goodbyes and waving him off as Jay rode on his horse down the same road they where on, he saw his new slaves off.

This time Jay took the path left and along the windmills, but it was completely uneventful and Jay was somehow glad he didn't encounter any more bandits.

Some of the mills though looked like they were either still or again already running. The workers he saw there were real as far as Jay could analyze them without halting his travel.

As he took the shorter route, Jay was soon back to Millshire and entered the town again without getting checked.

After walking along the main road he entered the Lamplighter Inn and was about to ascend the stairs up to his room when he spotted Agent Kearnen in the dining room.

She was sitting at a table opposite to the door, slightly hidden behind a wooden pillar. It was the perfect place to watch the door and the whole room while probably no one would see her without searching.

She looked like she was waiting for him as directly reacted with waving him over.

Without hesitation Jay walked over through the dining room and sat down next to her. A slightly disapproving look showed on her still beautiful asian looking Face.

"Took you quite long to find a small camp, especially after boasting you'd take care of it…" K.

"Well… Hello to you as well. And the camp is anything but small, but well hidden in the mountains." J.

"Y-you've been in the mountains? Then sorry. It's no wonder it took you so long… How big is it then?" K.

"Yeah, no problem. I'd say it's been over thirty tents and at least fifty bandits. The camp is located in the east, close to the end of the mountain range. There's no chance to see it from below." J.

"We have to alarm Stoutmantle of it if the camp is that large!" K.

"Of what?" J.

"Huh? Of the camp of course!" K.

"I took care of it…" J.

"You informed him already?" K.

"No? I took care of the camp…" J.

"Wha?…." K.

It took her some time to collect her thoughts and after a long sigh she looked back at Jay. Ignoring his last statement completely as if he didn't tell it at all, she reported about her feats.

The small Agent had taken care of the mills while Jay was gone.

Though most of them had bandits stationed there to watch over the millers and workers they threatened to work for them, it wasn't like they all had been that occupied by bandits like the first mill. It seemed to her that a lot of millers really had fled, but gladly at least not all.

She had told them to keep low for the next weeks until she or someone from the royal army comes back and tells otherwise.

Jay complimented her for being that thoughtful, trying to get back on her good side, but it had the opposite effect. She only asked if wanted to go on mocking her to what he got speechless and got an evil grin a few seconds later.

In between the two of them got a small breakfast served from the Innkeepers wife. It was fresh baked bread with two different jams, an apple, some cheese and milk; A simple nutritious meal that the both of them took in while keeping up their chatting in low voice.

And suddenly a certain someone whom Jay knew entered the Inn.

It was no one else but Marley who was abiding her orders. She had seen Jay enter the city and, like she had been ordered, came to the inn in search for him.

Jay had spotted her from his place and Kearnen threw him a questioning gaze as he kept looking over to the entrance where Marley kept standing. She was hesitating on what to do and that was visible on her half hidden face for Jay.

He simply signaled her to go towards the meeting point she had mentioned. With a small nod she responded to him and turned to the left and went through a door.

Jay immediately turned to Kearnen and told her he had to urgently follow a lead. The chance had just presented itself while they had been chatting and he would explain anything else later.

Standing up, he leisurely went from the table to the door where Marley had vanished through.

The Innkeeper upon seeing him got close and told him to not go after that person.

He tried to explain that his basement got occupied by shady people and he advised him not to mess with them. Ignoring his warning but still thanking him, Jay went towards the door.

After looking inconspicuous over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't watched other then by the Agent, Jay went through it as well.

The moment the door closed behind him, Jay activated hide at the top of the adjoining stairs.

What he saw when he reached a pedestal at the half of the stairs from where they took a turn down to a dimly lit basement, was how Marley gave the letter to a similar clothed man with short blonde hair. He didn't even open the letter and put it into his vest as Marley turned on her heels and rushed back to the stairs. Jay did the same and without wait went back up again.

He only deactivated hide directly in front of the door and as he exited trough it, he walked back to the Innkeeper who stood still where he had tried to warn Jay.

As he passed him the man only pressed out that he had no choice what Jay honestly believed.

Marley rushed after him as she left through the door as well but only managed to arrive by his side at the table Kearnen was sitting at.

"I'll have to go out for a short while, at most an hour I guess. You'll hear everything once I'm back…

Marley, you stay here with Agent Kearnen!" J.

"And who is she?" K.

"Someone I picked up on the way.

Leave her be for now, just watch she doesn't try to run…" J.

"Take care, I'm getting impatient as to what you're scheming…" K.

Just as they finished their short conversation, the man Jay had seen in the basement came walking through the door leading to the basement.

Without wait, Jay strolled towards the exit where his target had just went.

From then on Jay tailed him in a bit of a distance.

On the big plaza it was no problem as Jay simply walked to the other side without getting out of sight, but at the road next to the big Mansion, Jay had to activate hide not to get spotted.

Without much issue, Jay followed him through a small side passage behind some storehouses and ended in front of another storehouse.

It was the one next to the mines, from what Jay's orientation told him, where the courier knocked on the door in a set rhythm.

As the door opened and his target entered, Jay couldn't do anything as the building had no windows and was guarded by two men at least from what he saw.

About to turn around and leave, Jay had to halt as a new notification appeared.

***

Quest:

'The Bandits 7' cleared!

3200XP

***

***

Quest:

The Bandits 8

Object:

find out more about the warehouse.

***

As if to tell him not to give up that fast, his system gave him another quest to check on the warehouse, or at least Jay understood it that way.

Walking back through the alley he came from, Jay found a small passage between two adjoining storehouses that led to the street in front of them. From there he could walk towards the mines building and the warehouse next to it.

Like his orientation had told him, it was the building the courier had entered from the other side.

Unfortunately there were no windows on this side as well and two guards had been stationed at the warehuses big gate to the small plaza in front of the mines.

That building was even bigger than he had anticipated from further away and heavily guarded as well.

Deciding to take another approach he turned around and got on his way back to the inn. At least he knew the location he had to strike next and the letter got delivered as well.

Jay only was a bit irritated that this cities guards kept watching the mines and the warehouse as at least one seemed occupied by Defiers.

Back in the inn and at the table where Kearnen was waiting for him with a visibly downcast and silent Marley, he got asked to go to her room for further talks.

Without wait they went up and entered the Agents room. It was a little bit more spacious than Jay's but not by much.

After closing the windows, Kearnen sat on her bed and asked what was so urgent to leave his little slave in her care, signaling him that Marley couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Crossing his arms and grinning a bit, Jay leaned back onto a wardrobe while Marley stood in the corner of the room with her head held low.

"I followed her contact man to a warehouse next to the mines. It was guarded by this towns guards…

Do you know something about it?" J.

"Not really, but if you play it right you might find out at your audience later." K.

"What about you, Marley?" J.

"I told you all I know. But if he went there it must mean their boss at least comes there regularly." M.

"Then does anyone of you know about a slave trader here in town? I have hints someone must be regulating the slave trafficking and it's most certain here in the city…" J.

"Don't ask me, you're the one with a slave…" K.

"Oh come on, I simply used a scroll I found in a camp on her. There, you got me…" J.

"Nice job then. Not that I would mind and moreover it seems she did get us some new hints.

I'll see what I can find out about the warehouse and that Slaver…" K.

What followed was a short conversation about what whom was going to do in the afternoon and their next steps.

Kearnen would try to learn about why the guards were stationed there and whom that warehouse belongs to while Marley would do the same in the slums.

As Jay had an appointment he couldn't miss, they left the room together and Kearnen directly went down the stairs and left the inn.