Two of the Void Defense Society mbers cut through the morning crowd with obvious haste, their white uniforms and stern expressions causing everyone to step aside. An agitated-looking Wing & Talon representative followed in their wake. His formal attire was slightly disheveled from the morning’s chaos, but the orphans were less worried about him.
"You there. What business do you have in this area?"
"Easy, they were just asking so questions about yesterday."
The old man called out to ’help’, though the woman who spoke was having none of it.
"And why exactly would they be questioning rchants... while we are conducting investigations?"
She carried herself with the authority of soone used to being obeyed - or at least soone who was ready and had a response for being refused. Her companion’s spirit pressed against the two teens with subtle intimidation while scanning the area for others who might be involved. Of course, that pressure was a tickle compared to facing their master.
Nohre’s fingers and shoulder twitched to move toward where the letter was hidden in her satchel, but she caught herself before she could move. Her green eyes darted to Fusand as if seeking support on how to handle this situation. He also seed to think it might be too soon to rely on it.
"We were just... curious about what happened."
The sandy-haired teen’s attempt at explaining it as casual interest ca out slightly strained. The Void Defense pair exchanged a look at his awkward response. They were used to dealing with nosy cultivators trying to insert themselves where they didn’t belong. Most were bored vigilantes, so were those with a stake in the matter.
To them, it felt like the latter... and it beca important to know whose side they were on.
"Curious enough to rush over to snoop on the situation yourself. You’re aware how this looks, right? Like you are involved with the matter more than you let on."
The male cultivator’s tone held an edge of warning. He’d dealt with people convincing the young to do their dirty work before. It was what he expected was happening now. The man from the Enclave bristled visibly as his words sunk in.
"These birds were both valuable specins and important publicity. If you were part of their theft-"
"What? No! We would never steal."
Fusand’s protest ca quickly, but it only seed to draw sharper attention from the three. The female staff mber’s hand moved to rest aningfully on her sword hilt. Nohre felt her stomach knot even as her body took a step closer to her companion.
’She’s a lot stronger than us both, why is it spiraling this way?’
"Then you won’t mind accompanying us to the main pavilion to explain your interests properly."
The old man selling baubles watched quietly at that threat, despite voicing his earlier call out. Sales were already likely to be abysmal today - he didn’t need to be stuck waiting to be questioned away from his stall *only* because he was being a good person!
’Can we really not do this without relying on her?’
The two disciples had ’permission’ to be here, but using it ant drawing attention to their master’s involvent and interest. It was less of a doubt that the heiress could handle it all skillfully in her mind and more of a stubborn resolve to not be a burden. To give ti to try and work another way out, she opened her mouth to speak.
"That really won’t be necessary. We can explain right here-"
"This is not a request. Either co willingly or we will escort you with appropriate restraints."
The teen’s shoulders slumped slightly as she let out a breath. Her hand moved slowly toward her bag while trying to show she wasn’t doing anything dangerous. Luckily either that care - or the fact that they were supposedly outclassed - kept the older cultivators from overreacting to any ’secret weapon’.
"I have proof here that Elua er Goltbred wouldn’t appreciate that happening."
The careful way she withdrew the sealed letter and the frustrated look on her face made it clear she had been hoping to avoid using it. The female official’s eyes narrowed at the ntion of the family na - inter-Guild politics were already frustrating enough! - while her partner stepped forward to examine the docunt with clear skepticism.
"Hand it over, then."
He examined the seal pressed at the base of the letter thoroughly while his partner maintained her combat ready stance. His eyebrows rose as he confird its authenticity and began to skim the actual content. A very nicely worded explanation that nonetheless threatened the full force of every avenue of legal retribution should two particularly nad individuals be accosted beyond reason.
"This is that dical Fairy’s personal mark. I’ve seen it on so docunts."
The Wing & Talon representative attached to their group straightened his waistcoat and leaned forward. His earlier agitation shifted to a more neutral expression. He didn’t really understand who the two were yet, but the heiress was a source of popularity around the venue that the Guild master had wanted to exploit.
’I should avoid offending them until I know more.’
"Young Lady Goltbred has taken an interest in this matter?"
The change in all three of them was so quick and so effective that it was almost numbing. The dark haired girl kept her response steady despite her growing discomfort of having ’failed’.
"Yes, the matter currently rumored upset her. She just asked us to gather information while she attends to her duties at the dical station. We were trying to be... discreet."
"Yes. Obviously."
The female Void Defense official’s dry response made both teens flush. Nohre in particular resolved to ask Zyris what she might have done better later, as she’d grown a certain rapport with the woman since the Talcres began to ntor them.
anwhile, the woman studied them with fresh consideration - especially the strange muddy color of the boy - before gesturing for her partner to return the docunt to them. She didn’t need to read it to get the gist of the situation.
’It turned out they were involved, but were still basically vigilantes. What a headache.’
"Next ti, lead a conversation with the authorizations you have. It would save everyone ti and prevent... avoidable misunderstandings. As it is, I’m now more suspicious why you were hiding this."
Fusand’s eyes widened like sothing just clicked and he nodded at her.
"We didn’t want to cause trouble, is all. We should have listened to our friend’s advice more when she handed it to us."
Her head tilted a little before her head bobbed. The woman turned around and started to walk away. The Enclave man seed about to protest leaving it all at that, but sothing in her stance made him reconsider. Instead, he smoothed down his clothes with obvious agitation... having realized he looked like a right ss.
"Co along, we have people to question."
"Is that... it?"
Nohre looked a little stunned as the two walked back to the group. The remaining male official looked at the innocent face of soone that had just been baptized into a greater political maneuvering. For a mont, he felt a bit of pity before explaining.
"The heiress has contributed significantly to venue security. The hole in our net that was likely used had been pointed out by her for over a week. If she’s investigating independently, even through using you, we should coordinate rather than interfere."
The words carried the weight of an adult who had dealt with Guilds and important families before. In this instance, he had no particular connection to the region. The Void Defense Society was a large organization and a lot of the staff for the event were not mbers from the three regions involved.
Shuffling their duties around like that forced them to learn the landscape but also prevented them from having bias... ostensibly. It was still common to lower one’s head if reasonable to keep operations going smoothly.
"Don’t do anything dangerous now."
"O-okay? Thank you."
He walked away with that advice that almost mimicked their master. As the group of officials all began to disperse toward different tasks, Fusand noticed so movent between the rchant stalls. Soone had been watching their conversation while hidden from that position... but they were already gone to avoid being questioned.
"Strange..."
"Let’s go. We should tell her what we found."
Ensuring the item with Elua’s seal on it was safely tucked away, Nohre started to walk back toward the dical station for the main event area. Her steps held purpose but not urgency - trying to maintain the appearance that nothing significant had occurred.
"We should also tell her about having to use it. And about the watchers. Especially that third one who was actually buying things."
Fusand added as he fell into step behind her. His sandy hair fell into his eyes as he glanced back toward the officials still discussing matters among themselves, taking care not to stare in the direction he thought he saw soone. As they navigated between rows of stalls, Nohre’s wary senses prickled with awareness.
"Speaking of watching..."
She kept her voice low, resisting the urge to look behind them. Fusand’s shoulders tensed slightly as he caught her aning. He knew it must have been the sa person from before.
"Is soone following us?"
"I’m not sure. But it feels like it."
A group of cultivators passed between them and whatever presence she had sensed. When they cleared, that feeling of being watched was gone... only to resurface monts later from a different angle. When he saw the girl’s head jerk forward toward the direct route back to their ntor, the boy grabbed her hand and started forward.
"They’re trying to get ahead of us for so reason..."
Each ti they tried to correct the course to avoid running into them, the feeling would disappear then co back further on their new path. It constantly felt like they were waiting in the area likely to be least crowded. As if trying to get the drop on them, or-
"I just want to talk, okay?"
The voice from behind them cautioned. But who would calmly listen to that in such a situation?
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