Marin's Investigator

Early that morning, Jess packed up the herbs and other ingredients he'd left out to dry and carried them into the alchemy room. After cleaning the study, he made tea for his boss as instructed. Then he sat beside the bookshelves and waited for Marin to arrive.

As soon as his shift ended and the boss left, he could start making his Shadow Protection Potion.

To pass the time, he picked up a pirate novel called The Golden Shark. Most of the story took place in the waters around Booty Bay.

Just as he was getting into it, Marin suddenly opened the door. Jess looked up and instinctively shoved the book into the shelf beside him.

They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. Only then did Jess remember that he'd already graduated from high school in his previous life. There was no reason to hide a book just because a teacher had walked in.

"Sorry, Mr. Seso. I should have knocked first," Marin said with a smile. "I'll remember next time."

"It's all right, Master." Jess slowly pulled the book back out and laid it on his knees.

Marin sat at his desk and poured himself some tea. He glanced curiously at the book in Jess's hands. "The Golden Shark isn't some forbidden text. If I've put it on the shelf, you're free to read it. Why so nervous?"

"Ah... well..." Jess remembered that he hadn't had much formal schooling in this life. His mother had mainly taught him to read. Giving some long explanation based on his school days in his previous life would sound completely out of place.

"You remind me of when I studied at Northshire Abbey as a boy," Marin said. "The monks wouldn't let us children read books that weren't part of our lessons. If they caught us, they'd smack our palms. Heartless old men, every one of them. But after I grew up and had a daughter of my own, I wanted so badly for her to do well that I'd get angry whenever I saw her reading novels and other things that had nothing to do with her studies. Little by little, I began to understand those old monks. I wonder, would Amy have done better in her studies if I hadn't been so strict with her?"

"Well..." Jess felt that answering that question was way beyond him.

"Ha!" Marin sighed. "Am I talking too much? Anyway, there's something we discussed last time. I mean why the red dragons would serve the orcs. I had the feeling you were holding something back. Do you have time to talk about it? Reading novels and chatting are both ways to pass the time, after all."

"Of course," Jess answered casually, while his mind raced for a safe answer.

Between Westfall, Duskwood, gathering herbs, selling them, learning to fight, and brewing potions, he'd barely thought about how to explain his views on red dragons to the old mage.

When Jess didn't volunteer anything, Marin went on. "Let's start here. Why do you think red dragons didn't attack humans or other mortal races before the Dark Portal opened? As magical creatures native to Azeroth, they shouldn't have had any connection to the orcs on the other side. So why did the orcs form an alliance with a race of dragons that had always kept to themselves almost as soon as they arrived?"

Looking at Marin's expression, Jess couldn't shake the feeling that the mage already knew about the Demon Soul and was trying to lead him to the answer.

"Maybe the orcs found something they could use against the red dragons," Jess said. "But that's just a guess."

"As a matter of fact, Dalaran thinks the same thing," Marin said at once, as if Jess had finally given him the answer he wanted. "And they've already identified who might have helped the orcs."

"The black dragons," Jess said.

Marin slowly nodded. "Remarkable, Mr. Seso."

Jess gave an awkward smile. He certainly didn't deserve the praise.

If a seventeen-year-old born in this world had pieced that together from scattered reports, it really would have been remarkable. But Jess was just someone who'd come here from another world and already knew the setting. It felt like taking credit for someone else's writing.

Marin continued. "Master Krasus has been searching for the missing red dragon queen, Alexstrasza. He believes the black dragons are involved. He's one of the Council of Six, as you know. Not long ago, Horde forces made a surprise attack on Alterac. They were led by a death knight, and the dragons they rode were black dragons, not red ones. That's more evidence for his theory. The black dragons, not the red dragons, are the ones truly helping the orcs. The red dragon queen may have been captured by black dragons. The problem is that we have no idea where she is."

Krasus was a real red dragon. He had taken the form of an elf and joined the Council of Six in Dalaran. He hid his identity so he could communicate with mortals more easily and help them prepare for disasters, including terrifying crises like the opening of the Dark Portal.

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More importantly, he was Alexstrasza's most beloved mate. Of course he'd do everything in his power to find her.

He simply didn't know yet that the red dragon queen was imprisoned at Grim Batol, the ancient former capital of the Wildhammer dwarves. Once he found out, he'd surely rush around gathering people to tear the place apart. That would lead to the desperate mission undertaken by the young mage Rhonin, the elven ranger Vereesa Windrunner, and the Wildhammer leader Falstad: rescuing the red dragon queen.

During that mission, Rhonin, who might as well have had a hero's special protection, not only survived an encounter with Deathwing instead of dying on the spot, he met a beautiful white-haired elven girl named Vereesa and even married her. The ridiculously lucky bastard was practically cheating.

Just thinking about it made Jess angry. He gripped the book tightly.

Krasus might not be on the same level as those ultimate monsters whose power approached that of gods, but he was still one of Azeroth's strongest arcane spellcasters.

He'd lived for thousands of years, giving him plenty of time to learn countless strange spells. And Jess knew he'd use every means available to find his queen.

That was exactly why Jess couldn't reveal too much of what he knew ahead of time. If Krasus learned that a nobody doing odd jobs in Stormwind somehow knew the exact place where the Dragonmaw orc clan had imprisoned the red dragon queen, Jess might die without ever knowing how it happened.

No matter how kind or friendly Krasus was, he was still a male red dragon who had lived for thousands of years.

Marin took a sip of tea and swished it around in his throat, perhaps because all that talking had left his throat sore.

After swallowing, he continued. "A guard reported that sentries at Stonewatch Keep saw signs of a dragon north of Redridge. One of them was certain it was a young black dragon. That's why I traveled to Redridge, but unfortunately I found nothing. Perhaps it was a lone wild black dragon. Or perhaps the sentries were mistaken and saw a huge bird of prey. It wouldn't be the first time."

Jess hadn't expected a mage from the Wizard's Sanctum to know so much about affairs in Dalaran. On second thought, though, it made sense. The black dragons' next target was Blackrock Mountain, or rather the whole Redridge mountain region. The Wizard's Sanctum was the nearest human magical institution.

If Dalaran wanted news of dragon sightings in the area, it would naturally work closely with the Wizard's Sanctum and Stormwind's royal family.

"Mr. Jess Seso." Marin set down his cup. "I'll get straight to the point. Would you be willing to help me handle matters involving the orcs, dragons, and Dalaran? To be honest, this was part of my reason for hiring an assistant in the first place. There's simply too much for me to do alone. But helping with such work requires knowledge, courage, and a sense of responsibility. Most importantly, I believe you're a kind person, Mr. Seso. I think I can trust you."

Jess paused. "But you know..."

"I understand," Marin said. "It could mean going to very dangerous places, or traveling for long periods. Your life might change quite a bit. If you refuse, I'll understand, and I won't fire you for it. Don't worry. You've already been an excellent assistant."

"No, no, Master. I mean..." Jess put down The Golden Shark. "I'd need a raise."

"I'm getting six silver a month right now. If I'm doing all those extra things for you, that's really not enough. I'd also like my travel expenses covered. If you send me to Dalaran someday, I shouldn't have to pay for the boat ticket myself, right?"

Marin nodded. "How does ten silver sound? And if I send you to Dalaran, it'll certainly be on Wizard's Sanctum business. Someone will cover your travel costs, though that someone may not be me."

Jess was thrilled, though not because ten silver coins were so tempting. His appetite had grown lately.

What excited him was the trip. Boat fares from Stormwind Harbor to Southshore changed often, and even at their cheapest they could cost more than ten silver. Paying that himself would take a huge bite out of his savings.

But he hadn't been home in over two years. He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss it.

As someone from another world, he might feel a little differently about the parents who had raised him in this life than a person born here would. But they were still the people closest to him, the ones who'd fed him, cleaned him, and cared for him for more than ten years.

"As for traveling elsewhere..." Marin stroked his beard. "Can you ride a horse?"

"Yes."

This time Jess wasn't bluffing. His father was a city guard and his mother was a farmer's daughter. He'd had far more chances to be around horses than most people.

As a child, he'd decided that if he'd already ended up in another world, he shouldn't waste his time. So he'd learned all kinds of things, including basic herbal knowledge and horseback riding.

His riding lessons hadn't been formal, of course. He'd sneak rides while fooling around with a bunch of troublemaking city kids who liked to borrow other people's horses without asking. Some grown-ups even secretly taught them things. Eventually their parents would catch them and give them a beating. But over time, Jess had learned a little.

Back then, his skill amounted to riding fast without falling off. Calling it good horsemanship would have been a stretch.

Even so, he was one of the better riders among kids his age in Lordaeron's capital. Some of the other city kids who joined him in sneaking rides had initially believed knights were attached to their horses, like some kind of centaur. They'd been shocked to see a horse without anyone sitting on it.

But keeping a horse in this world cost a fortune, much like on Earth. Jess had never seriously thought about buying one.

"The Wizard's Sanctum stables are just outside the western wall," Marin said. "Go through the small gate and you'll see them in a few minutes. If I need you to travel to Redridge or somewhere a little farther away, you can rent a horse for free with a note from me. But if you're away for several days, you'll need to take good care of it."

"I'll go have a look later," Jess said.

"Oh, one more thing. I heard you told Amy you didn't want to move into the Mage Quarter. Why? Wouldn't that save you a long walk every morning?"

Jess was stumped. Who would turn down a nice place to live just to stay in a tiny rented room elsewhere?

"I'm not used to living in the Mage Quarter yet," Jess said. "Once I'm settled into the job, I'll think about moving in."

Marin slowly nodded. "I'm sure you have your reasons."