“Timothy is performing witch hunts in the city, and they are the unfortunates who get caught,” Margaret sighed, “but that is not accurate, of some of the witches the nobility just got bored, they just took advantage of this opportunity. It’s hard to say what is better, continuing to be imprisoned in a dark room without light, or being freed from the pain as soon as possible… No matter what, I wish for them that they can rest in peace.”
During the last half year at Border Town, Theo had realized that witches were not as unforgivable as the Church had preached and that except for their strange abilities, there was no difference between them and ordinary people. Looking at the bodies of the women hanging on the gallows he could determine that the smallest had only been around fourteen to fifteen-years-old. When he realised this, it suddenly felt like as if his heart was being pressed together, immediately returning the suffocating feeling.
Apart from the refugees outside of King’s City, little else had changed within half a year. Beside the main road which led to the city gate, that was paved with blue stones, all the other side roads and alleys were made out of mud. Now, under the hot summer sun the ground was covered with cracks, and whenever a carriage passed by a burst of yellow dust would rise up from it. It was hard to imagine that the capital city of the kingdom unexpectedly was outdone by the municipal constructions of a desolated small town just outside of the western border.
After crossing two streets, in one line the caravan entered the market area. Instead of following, Theo waved goodbye to Margaret and turned walking on his own into an alley.
Arriving at the familiar entrance of the “Covert Trumpeter” tavern, he immediately pushed the door open and went inside.
“Hey! The tavern will only open at night!” Someone shouted.
Theo ignored them and directly went to the bar, facing the strong man who busied himself with earnestly wiping a wine glass: “Still remember me?”
“From under which stone did you jump up grasshopper, didn’t you hear that the pub only opens at night?” He impatiently put down the glass, raised his gloomy face, while two waiters also came over to encircle him, stopping their table and chair arranging, “Now I will count till three — Th-Sir Theo?
“It’s me,” Theo spat to the side. “I have a good business deal I want to offer you.”
Theo was brought to the second floor of the small house; the brawny man had told the waiters to continue cleaning then shut the door.
These rooms were usually used to entertain those customers with special needs, but for only twenty-five copper royals a night, the environment wasn’t very elegant. Within the room, there was an unpleasant moldy smelling and a narrow bed, with a bedding on top which was so crumpled as if it hadn’t been washed or taken out to the sun to dry for a very long time. The cracked table was missing a corner and the cracks were filled with a black floccule, giving it a dirty and greasy appearance. But Theo was too lazy to care about all of this, he sat on the bedside, quietly waiting for the opposite party to start to talk.
“You have disappeared for quite a while,” the brawny man said with a grin. “Since Sir Naji has taken your seat, why didn’t you have come to the tavern? Even if you are no longer in charge of this matter, you could still have come to drink a cup of wine with us, right?”
His nickname was Black Hammer; he was the watchman for the “Covert Trumpeter”, and one of skeleton fingers’ member. His name sounded quite scary, but he was only one of King’s City many street rats. To help each other, the rats had formed groups, divided the territory under their control, and according to their business operation they were either a huge and firm group or a loose organization. These underground organizations had more or less all had a noble or wealthy merchant as mastermind behind them and the skeleton fingers was no exception. But unlike a domestic dog, most rats didn’t choose to be loyal to only one person, as long as they became interested, they would work for everyone.
“Nonsense,” Theo said bluntly. “This night, you will call Hillwei, Swineherd, Silver Ring, and Pott into the tavern. I have something I need to get done.”
“These few are only the people of the Covert Trumpeter,” Black Hammer shouted out shocked, “Will they be enough?
“I said, this is an excellent business opportunity.” He shrugged, “I have come looking for you since you have done a lot of things for me already.”
According to the usual procedure when dealing with street rats, the first step was to find the connector, and then it was the other party who determined whether they take up the task or not. When the two came to an agreement, the connector would delegate the task to the right person, and at the same time be in charge of the money.
