Chapter 499: A Little Trouble on the Way Out

The creaking wooden stairs gave a faint, rhythmic groan under their boots as Flio, Marielle, and Elios descended back into the warm, smoky haze of the tavern floor. The heavy velvet curtain fell shut behind them, cutting off the quiet upper rooms of the information guild where parchment had been exchanged for heavy purses of coin.

Flio adjusted his hood, pulling it lower over his eyes until little of his face could be seen. They wove through the scattered tables, dodging tired mercenaries, local couriers, and hooded brokers hunched over tankards of dark ale.

"Wow," Elios murmured in a low, hushed voice, stepping closer to Flio’s side as they neared the entrance. "You gave him a lot more coin than usual."

Flio didn’t slow his pace. "Because I need him working faster," he replied softly under his breath, keeping his eyes moving across the tavern floor. "We’re departing for the South soon. I want every name, deed, and any other informations on my desk before our carriages cross the border."

Marielle let out a quiet, dramatic huff from beneath her dark hood, crossing her arms over her chest as they pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped back into the freezing night air.

"It’s been a while since I’ve been to a place like this," Marielle said, shaking her head with a faintly disappointed smirk as the cold wind caught her hem. "To be honest, I thought we would have to knock a few heads together before anyone was willing to speak. That was half the reason I came along. And yet, we merely sat in that dreary room, exchanged a few words, and somehow came away with what we needed."

Flio looked over his shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow in the dim lantern light hanging above the doorway. "Yes, well, if everything were done in your way, which usually involves throwing fists first and throwing peace out the window, it would be very entertaining for you, but a considerable burden for the rest of us. Some of us prefer to handle business in the most civilized way possible without leaving a trail of blood."

Marielle rolled her eyes under her hood, but before she could deliver a sharp comeback, a tall, heavy-set man in a tattered wool coat came barging out of the narrow side alley.

He didn’t even bother looking where he was walking. His thick, broad shoulder collided hard against Marielle’s back, sending her stumbling forward half a step onto the slick cobblestones.

"Mind where you are going!" Marielle snapped, one hand immediately settling at her hip as she regained her footing on the stones. She twisted around to glare after the stranger, her annoyance deepening when he did not even bother to turn his head or acknowledge that he had nearly sent her sprawling into the street.

The man didn’t stop. He didn’t even turn his head, simply continuing his hurried, unbothered march down the dark lane as if she weren’t even there.

Before the stranger could take three paces, Elios moved with incredible speed. His hand reached out through the dark, catching the man’s heavy coat sleeve in an unyielding, iron grip that brought the larger man to an abrupt halt. "Hey. Shouldn’t you at least apologize?"

The stranger spun around with an irritated groan, his face obscured by a greasy woolen scarf. Without saying a word, he violently jerked his arm back, tearing his sleeve free from Elios’s grip. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a single, grimy copper coin, slapped it directly into Elios’s open palm, and shoved his way past them into the shadows without a second glance.

Elios stood frozen on the cobblestones, staring down at the solitary copper coin sitting in his palm. He let out a dry, disbelieving chuckle, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. They really don’t possess a single basic manner down here, do they?"

Flio shook his head, gesturing for them to keep moving before a crowd formed. "What did you expect from a place like this? Just look around. Common courtesy doesn’t buy bread in the lower district."

"How about we quickly get out of here before another idiot bumps into us?" Marielle muttered, adjusting her hood with a sharp, annoyed snap. "Because if one more person hits my shoulder, I won’t be able to hold back the urge to teach them how to walk properly, or how to apologize properly."

Flio chuckled softly, turning back toward the main thoroughfare. "Agreed. Let’s move while we still have all our fingers."

They took a few steps forward down the narrow alleyway, but the sound of Elios’s boots suddenly stopped behind them.

Marielle and Flio paused, turning back to look at him. Elios was crouching down near the damp curb where the stranger had brushed past them, his gloved fingers reaching into a shallow puddle near the cobblestones. He picked up a small, heavy metallic object that glinted faintly under the dim streetlamp.

He wiped the murky water and slush off the metal with his thumb, turning it over carefully in his hand.

"What is that?" Marielle asked, moving closer as she looked over his shoulder. Her gaze settled upon the small piece of metal resting in his gloved hand, and one corner of her mouth lifted. "Did our gracious stranger lose the rest of his coin after all?"

Elios didn’t answer right away. His brow furrowed deeply as his thumb traced the intricate, sharp crest carved into the dark metal, a crest depicting a sun crowned in thorned vine patterns. His breath hitched in his throat, his eyes widening in genuine, stunned shock as he stared at the object.

"Huh..." Elios whispered into the cold night air, his voice tight and absolute disbelief flooding his face. "...isn’t this Solaric?"

All three leaned closer, their eyes fixed upon the small piece of metal resting in Elios’s gloved palm. The crest was old, but there was no mistaking it. The crowned sun and thorned vines belonged to Solaric.

Flio’s expression gradually hardened as he studied the emblem. Marielle’s earlier irritation disappeared completely, her gaze narrowing beneath the shadow of her hood.

Then she looked from the coin to the dark alley where the stranger had vanished.

"Solaric?" she repeated, her voice suddenly much quieter. Her fingers curled slowly at her side. "What in the world is Solaric doing down here?"