Rui returned from the sanctuary estate, imrsed deep in thought as his hazy eyes wandered about. The darkness of the night sky drowned the port city they were in as the cool winds of the night swept across the city.
He could sll the odor of salty humidity that was common to regions bordering an ocean, tickling his nose, making him sweat more than he normally would. The noise of crowds had died down since the pri of the day, but there was still plenty of a crowd that hung about in the lit streets of the port city as many stores and shops were open to cater to them.
And yet, his attention was focused inwards as he found himself revisiting their conversation. He found the rationales she provided to be convincing, unable to detect any direct deceit in anything she uttered.
However, even if her sincerity was perfect, it didn’t an that she was necessarily correct. It only ant that she truly believed what she said, which still left it possible that she was incorrect about the truth.
Of course, he highly doubted that an intelligence broker as high as her would be completely wrong, which led him to believe that she was likely correct about most details. But that wasn’t enough for him to simply accept the details of her mission.
"I don’t know if I can trust other intelligence brokers in the city," Rui mused knowingly.
He recalled how terrified of the Whisperer the woman he had approached in the alley was. Of course, he could negate that by revealing his own identity, which would undoubtedly get them to tell him the truth.
But revealing his own identity would draw too much attention, more than he was comfortable with.
Just his identity as a Martial Artist from the Panama Continent had drawn him a lot of attention. How would people react if he were the second most powerful man in the Panama Continent and one of the most powerful warriors in the entire world?
He appreciated the regular civilian life in the Hlakaschken Trade Empire too much to leverage his identity like that. Going on a date with Amare through the markets of the port city was too much fun to forsake just to flex his identity.
Thankfully, there was a simpler solution.
"I just need to speak with the Empress myself."
There was no better way to get an impression of soone than by interacting with them personally. He needed to make sure that he could speak with the Empress in a sincere conversation.
"It’s getting late, though," he murmured, glancing at the dark night sky. "Amare will not want gone for too long."
He also didn’t want to be away from her at night, given how... lively she had beco ever since he got back from East Genora.
"Will have to save this for tomorrow." An expectant smile erged on his face.
When he returned to the inn that they had booked a room in, however, he found a displeased Amare waiting for him with folded arms. She had donned a thin linen robe that followed the contours and curves of her body, leaving little to the imagination, while her brown hair seed to glisten, having been extensively cared for after a week at sea.
"You sll like a woman." Her amber eyes, normally bright and cheery, were sharpened with suspicion as she sniffed the air around him.
Martial Artists possessed heightened senses, and Amare had so of the most powerful senses out of any Martial Artist out there. She gazed at him with narrowed eyes as her gaze ran up and down his body.
"A non-human woman, at that." Her expression darkened. "Care to explain who you went to et so late at night and why her odor sticks to you like she’s rubbed her body against you?"
Rui cursed inwardly as he recalled her underground headquarters. Were the chemicals she used to control her animals related to so kind of pheromone that therianthrope won produced or sothing? He knew he hadn’t even touched her, so why the hell did he allegedly sll like a woman?
"Listen, I can explain." He raised his hands. "I just needed so information, so I followed an information broker’s animals back to her base—"
"So you stalked her?"
"No, I an, I guess? But she’s a notorious information broker who just killed another information broker with crows and rats, so she doesn’t deserve your sympathy."
"She’s definitely not getting any sympathy from . Why did you go speak to her?"
"Like I said, I needed information."
"If you just needed information, then why do you sll like her?"
"I dunno, she has fur across her body—" Rui stopped himself.
But it was too late.
"How would you know she has fur across her body?" Amare glowered.
"..." Rui simply stared at her.
"...Hmph, go sleep sowhere else tonight."
BANG
She shut the door on him.
"..."
Rui heaved a resigned sigh, scratching his head.
"Oh well, I guess I can go speak to the Empress, after all."
Though there was also the possibility that Amare would pick up on that and grow even more suspicious.
It was better than doing nothing, of course.
WHOOSH
He leaped away, heading towards the epicenter of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire as he activated his stealth and misdirection. Speaking to the Empress unofficially in this manner was not the best way of going about it, but it was the easiest way, given that he didn’t want to use his identity and create a big fuss.
His goals were to speak to the Empress and confirm or deny the information that the Whisperer had given her. If the information proved to be entirely accurate, then he would simply kill her in a way that could easily be mistaken for natural death, such as a heart attack.
However, the more complicated situation was if the information that the Whisperer provided him was incomplete or wrong in so way. He would need to figure out what to do on the fly.
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