Chapter 19: Isekai Life & Double Dipping

“Oh, gods! Theodore, are you alright!?”

Katriana came racing over to me, sheathing her sword as she went. She stopped to feel my chest and look me over, and after confirming my state of good health pulled me into a tight hug.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see that crossbowman until it was almost too late! You’re okay, right? Please say you’re okay!?”

I stroked her back a little while I was hugged, though it was a little hard to breathe. “I’m all right, Katriana, I’m just fine. Ashryn killed the crossbow guy before he could shoot me.”

Ashryn approached, grinning massively. Katriana released me, only to turn and pull Ashryn in for a warm hug. “Oh, thank you so much... Theodore means the world to me, and you kept him safe. Thank you.”

Ashryn beams at Katriana, and replied with, “I know how important he is to you, don’t worry, he’s important to me, too.”

When Voss coughed, we all turned to face him. In front of him was a somewhat short (not enough for a dwarf, but well short of an average human), compactly built woman with pale skin, dark eyes, and her hair done in a dark blue, faded mohawk. She was dressed in a simple jerkin and breeches, and had her hands bound behind her back.

“Well, pardon for interruptin’,” she said, motioning behind her with her head, “But I’m Smokey Enna, an’ this fella back ‘ere says you’ve been lookin’ for me?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” I replied, and there was nothing to do but explain the situation while Voss and Katriana went and searched the bodies.

“Ah, so you’re on the lookout for the one who done burnt that temple down, I see,” Smokey Enna said somberly, “Well, you done found ‘er, and just in time, too. Rats and ashes, I was hopin’ to be on the first riverboat outta ‘ere afore that grump’s goons got ahold of me.”

“Well, sorry...?” I ventured, not sure what to say about that.

Meanwhile, over to the side, Voss held up a two foot long crowbill and a foot and a half shortsword to Ashryn and asked, “Which one?”

“Oh! The one on the left.”

Voss grimaced, nodded and tosses away the shortsword.

“Well, I guess I owe ye my thanks. Those gents were plannin’ to do something very untoward with me before they gave me the slitty, ye know?”

“Uh....”

“Well, yer friend found that they ‘ad bent me over me own kitchen table, and it wasn’t to feed me no pancakes, sir. That’s why the nerd was guardin’ the door, ‘e was the only one who could resist the temptation to ‘elp themselves to my feminine wiles.”

“Right... Hey, you’re not angry that we’re taking you in to be arrested?”

“Well, it weren’t my first choice, but I’ve done a spin in the clink afore. I could probably break outta there half drunk and with six broken fingers. You figure that th’ guildmaster’s probably got the docks on watch by now, and has folks ready to hunt me overland if I go the mountain route, probably good for me to enjoy the protection of the city watch for a month or two while this whole mess blows over.”

“So, you’ll come quietly, then.”

“Well now, don’t tell me yer such a fool as to take my word for it? But aye, I’ll go peaceable like as long as you don’t insult me by taking your eyes off, yeah?”

Voss came back with a little sack that jingled. “We’re ready to go here, boss.”

“One second,” I said, motioning for Voss to stop, and looked back at Smokey Enna. “So what’s all this about, anyway?”

Enna sighed. “Ye ‘ave about as much clue as I. Word came down the grapevine about his job the old boss said was proscribed, and I assumed it ‘ad to do with some fool notion of ‘onour that ‘e ‘ad. So I talked to the gent, and figured that large payout ‘ad to do with the timeliness of it all. Pick up this package at precisely this time and deliver it by this time, do not look in it and don’t shake it around. Shows what I know, now I’m an accomplice in the murder of some decent folks. Now I’ll rob a guy, and if ye come at me I’ll stick you right back, but killin’ some innocent folks an’ burning’ down their temple is beyond what I’d call a good job.”

“So who was it that hired you, then?” Voss asked.

Enna shrugged. “Some ordinary lookin’ dwarf. Probably too ordinary, to be ‘onest, but I figure if you want some magical getup when you go to do some clandestine business, you’re probably smarter than most folks.”

I sighed. “Dead end, again.”

Voss shrugged, “Well, hopefully Mariska is satisfied.”

“Right, well, let’s get out of here. That sleeping guy should be coming around soon.”

“So what would be ye plan for gettin’ me- oh!”

Voss tossed one of my spare robes over Enna, cinching the belt. It wasn’t pretty, but it would at least conceal her identity.

“Come on, the dockside guardhouse isn’t far.”

Getting Enna out of Shafttown was pretty easy, with nobody willing to molest three armed adventurers and their pair(?) of wizards. After that, it was just a stroll to where we were to meet Captain Hawkins, who was fairly glad to see us.. and Enna, oddly enough.

“Ah, well, if it isn’t my favourite Mul,” he said upon seeing her, “I thought you might have ended up wrapped in all of this.”

“Aye, couldn’t deprive th’ city guard of their favourite prisoner for long now, could I?” she replied with a grin, “Thanks for sendin’ these fine folk to go an’ save little ol’ me.”

As Hawkins helped Enna into a cell and then cut the ropes binding her, he explained, “You lot managed to help me connect some dots in my investigation. I knew from some of my sources that both the master of the Docks Guild and the master of the Shafttown Guild turned down the job to burn down the temple, but I didn’t realize that the Shafters had brought in... what were they, fire snakes he said? ...To do it with. Some of the other guards had been keeping an eye on you for me, and when they said you had been in the Temple District then the very next day you visited the docks then were headed to the heart of Shafttown, I figured you had some proof of their involvement that I didn’t.”

“Okay, well, what was that thing with the pawnbroker about?” I asked.

“Who, Bandek? He runs the Shafters’ pickpocketing ring, and beats the orphans he recruits when they don’t get enough take. The man’s a weasel, but the Commander of the Watch says that as long as he’s a useful informant I can’t arrest him for anything. So, having an excuse to rough him up a little was icing for me.”

He counted out the coins we were due as a reward- and we stuck waiting around long enough in the guardhouse to see the posters confirming the amount- and with that, we were done.

“By the way... keep in mind that you just came on the radar of a powerful Guildmaster,” Captain Hawkins said as we were getting ready to leave, “Step carefully the next few days, alright?”

“Aye!” Enna shouted from the cell at the back of the room, “The ol’ man won’t be best pleased you went and offed one of ‘is lieutenants and ‘is third-best sparky!”

“Sparky?” Ashryn asked.

“She means wizard,” Hawkins explained, to which Ashryn responded with a giggle and an exclamation of “Oh, I get it!”

I guess I could look forward to getting called sparky in the future.

“So, back to the inn to find Abbess Mariska?” I suggested.

“Nope,” Voss said lifting the bag of loot he had acquired earlier, “We got gems. Let’s go see that jeweller.”

So, with that, we headed over to the jeweller, to sell our gems. He was pretty excited to see us, too, grinning as soon as we came into the store and letting an assistant take care of the customer he was serving while he waved us over to a separate part of the counter.

“More goodies for me, I hope?” he said, rubbing his hands together, “Well, let’s see what we can see.”