Ewan had listened carefully to Carciem's explanations, and during all this time, he had not really thought about Wynblow. He was too focused on the mission he had to participate in, and on the information his friend was giving him.
It seemed that mages were using the underground auction house to buy illegal goods, and more specifically, mediums to build spells, or even cast curses.
Carciem had been rather surprised that the young hunter knew about this last point; and Ewan had mentally admitted that, without Wynblow's explanations, he would surely have had trouble following the conversation. He had never been very well versed in all things magical, especially with the little affinity he had for mana. He had therefore focused on the arts of combat and hunting, directing his career choice to the ranks of the Knights of Ahn'Or - which reported directly to the capital - or the military barracks - which were present in every major city in the empire.
However, Ewan had chosen a third path: that of the monster hunters. Independent mercenaries who were hired when the need arose, and who roamed the continent according to the contracts they received.
Thanks to this, the young man always managed to get information about the different parts of the human empire, and its neighbors, with whom some tensions were inevitable.
Therefore, he knew what had happened in the North, with a 'Kingdom' suddenly created and claimed by mages; and the fact that the Salamander wanted to go there was all the more strange in his eyes.
Dragon flesh, after all, was a very powerful medium for making magic.
Ah. Still, his thoughts had gone in the direction of his new traveling companion, which made him mentally wince.
He had almost lost track of the conversation.
"Say, are you still listening to me?" Carciem became impatient.
"Sorry... You were saying?" Ewan apologized.
Carciem frowned a little, before resuming his explanation.
"It's crucial that we stop these Circle guys, because they're gathering mediums in bulk so they can cast curses," he said with a sigh.
"So, living sacrifices?" Asked the young hunter.
"Clandestine auction houses are constantly dabbling in illegality, especially with the slave trade, so for them, that's their main source of material, along with kidnappings." Carciem clarified.
"And the Emperor doesn't send the Knights of Ahn'Or to stop them?" Ewan wondered.
Carciem shook his head, his blond hair waving with the movement.
"The problem with the Circle is that they're all over the place, so we can't really stop them all at once," he replied, "but the operation we're running should allow us to catch several of them at the same time. As for the Knights.... "
Ewan then noticed that his friend seemed rather concerned, which contrasted with his casual and confident attitude of the last few days.
"What about the Knights?" Insisted the young hunter.
Carciem then threw nervous glances in all directions, as if to make sure that no one was discreetly listening to them nearby, then leaned towards Ewan; a sign that the conversation was taking a sensitive turn.
"I'm telling you this because you're my friend, but it must never leave this place, got it?" He assured himself in a hasty whisper.
Ewan frowned in turn. He still didn't know if being 'friends' with this individual was more fortune or bad luck.
"By order of the Emperor, the Knights have been deployed throughout the territory to fetch doctors," Carciem explained in a lowered whisper.
"Doctors?" Ewan whispered in turn.
"The Empress has fallen seriously ill," Carciem told him.
The young hunter now understood the gravity of the situation. If one of the two figures of power were to weaken, enemies from outside and inside the empire would emerge to take advantage of the situation.
"For now, the Emperor has pretexted that these are expeditions to subdue the increasing monsters in the forests, but it is really a transparent lie..." Carciem sighed silently. "Because with the tensions in the North..."
The tensions with the brand new kingdom created by mages...
Because of their takeover of mana stone-rich lands in the empire, the supply of the commonly used medium had drastically dwindled.
This meant that a war between the two factions was inevitable and very soon. It was only a matter of time before an accident occurred near the new border, and the armed forces of both sides clashed; like a powder keg where the slightest flame would cause a phenomenal explosion.
This meant that all the military barracks would be mobilized.
But in this case... What would happen regarding the huge creature that had appeared near Bohr?
"So for now, the whole operation relies solely on our forces," Carciem concluded. "And knowing that we have to deal with mages, your help is more than necessary... Especially with these guys..."
Since earlier, the blond man had told him about the mages and their involvement in the auction houses, but he hadn't really touched on a certain topic, which made Ewan doubt.
"Carciem... The Circle you speak of, what exactly is it?" He asked warily.
"We don't really know if they have a purpose, though I suppose people get together because they share a common goal..." Said Carciem thoughtfully. "All we know is that they are linked to human sacrifice, and that the symbol of a circle keeps coming up, whether it's through witnesses, our intelligence services, or evidence found at crime scenes..."
Ewan didn't like that. There was a big unknown in this equation; something that could cause an operation to go suddenly and unpredictably awry.
Still, if Carciem didn't know any better despite his high ranking position, then no one else here could know. Which left...
"Well, why don't you tell me what your plan of action is?" He finally said.
Carciem then smiled with all his teeth, his confidence restored.
"That depends... What size shoe do you wear?"