"TELL US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!" Ana shouted, slamming her fist on the table.
The stone table proved unable to withstand the force. From the place her fist impacted cracks spread to the rest of table's surface, causing it to shatter and drop to the floor in noisy pieces.
Behind her, she heard a surprised squeak. It was from Krystelle, the elf never reacted to sudden actions well. To be fair though, even Yaven seated beside her was taken aback by her act. Sadly, the person seated on the opposite end, the one her actions were intended for, was unfazed.
Facing her calmly was an elf with silver hair, golden skin, crimson lips, azure eyes and a body ideal for leading men astray. The woman was practically flaunting her figure in a thin armless dress which left nothing to the imagination.
Only someone like this would be shameless enough to run a brothel.
Out of the corner of eye Ana caught Yaven's eyes shift between the temptress' face and exposed cleavage. The sight of it made her eye twitch in annoyance. She toiled not to let her feelings show on the rest of her features. They would be having a talk after the interrogation. To be distracted by such trivialities was unbecoming of a Paladin.
But would be later. Now, she had to finish the questioning.
"What was that creature doing at your… establishment?" she asked sharply. "Why did it visit you?"
Her blood threatened to boil as she asked the question.
The Church, even if it had only been a branch, had been attacked. Someone had brazenly appeared above Tiih and destroyed the city's chapel, killing over a dozen faithful in the process. That alone was enough to make her want to rip the culprit limb from limb. Infuriatingly, this person did more than that. They killed one of the most revered priestesses in the Church of Life; her recovered body had been in such a terrible state that [Resurrection] proved useless.
The higher-ups at the headquarters were displeased, which was why she, Yaven, Krystelle and Greta had been sent to chase down the culprit.
Most of the witnesses claimed not to have seen the culprit clearly as they had been too busy fleeing for their lives. The exception was a senior sorceress associated with one of the local factions of the city. The damnable witch had watched the scene with [Far Sight] as the head priestess of their city was assaulted! The account had been pretty upsetting to hear.
After being convinced by Yaven not to act on her instincts, they managed to get a description of the culprit, which surprising coincided with that of a woman wanted locally for the murder of a duke's son. Unfortunately that was all they could get out of the sorceress.
Of course their group did some investigating of their own. However, a comb through the abandoned battleground outside Tiih- with magic and other means- turned up nothing.
Finding the identity of the other fighter had not been difficult. The man was no stranger to Ana. After all, she and he had been inducted into the Paladins at the same time. It was too bad that he was impulsive and inflexible, leaving the Great Paladins no choice but to let him go from The Order. Although Isaac's stint at as a Paladin had not worked out, she could not deny she had respect for the man. Even after being ostracised he remained resolute in his actions. There were few people in the world who could remain true to their convictions, especially when doing so would cost them.
Unfortunately, although traces of the former Paladin were all over the place, even skilled magicians like Greta and Krystelle were unable to learn what had happened to him afterwards. As for the one he had fought, this Sage Maverick; they had been unable to get anything about them from the beginning. The result was suspiciously similar to what they had encountered a while back.
It was only after a local priest and his mage comrade came forward that they learned the nature of their quarry, confirming their suspicions.
Back in Nervahn, when the old priestess told them to stay behind she had offered her suspicions about why they were unable to find traces of a second party in the empty village. Saana had even described the latest phantom she had encountered, which surprising matched that given by the priest and his companion.
Another lead came from an aggrieved half-dwarf woman who made contact with them and gave them directions to a cave network the creature had apparently driven her gang out of. Sadly, they found it deserted; though in one of the caves they saw a ritual circle none in their group was able to make heads and tails of. The eeriness of that circle brought chills down her spine, made her worry for Isaac's fate. Greta chose to remain behind and study it.
Without any other leads to the phantom, they could only turn to the person already hunting their target; who then directed them to this person.
The proprietor of the most famous brothel in North-Western Rekke was indifferent in the face of Ana's glare. Even with the table in pieces between them, she remained calm with her hands neatly folded in her lap.
"I am willing to tell you what I know," the woman said in a soft husky voice as she twirled a silver lock around her finger. "But, as you probably know, I am a broker. My information is not free?"
"Are you suggesting what I think you are!" she asked forcefully while forcing herself to stay in her seat.
The nerve of this woman! The sheer audacity of her to demand payment for information that can lead to them tracking down a dangerous creature and preventing future tragedies!
"Do you have any idea the kind of company you've been keeping?" Yaven asked. His gaze was now firmly fixed on the woman's face. "Association with our target is enough to get you into serious trouble. Why don't you make things easy for yourself by telling us what you know?"
Whenever agents of the church interrogated someone, the interrogated would usually be so scared they would spill everything they knew, including details not asked for. However, this woman's response to what was essentially a threat, was a smile.
"I think you're misunderstanding something," she began, her eyes darting to Yaven and then above Ana's head, presumably to Krystelle, before returning to Ana. "This is not the Imperium. The Church is not the law here. Additionally, I am not a worshipper of your goddess. Still, the fact that I came here when you called is a show of respect from me to you." Her smile disappeared and her eyes hardened when she uttered the next sentence. "I suggest you not push it."
The floosy was being defiant. Ana was not having it.
"Listen here you wh-"
"How much would this information be worth?" Yaven interrupted.
"Such information would usually be worth at least fifty gold," the audacious hussy replied. Ana took a deep breath and heard an even deeper intake behind her. Before any of them could respond to the insane amount given though, the woman continued. "But since you are members of the Church of Life and- even though you've been so rude to me- I like you. That's why I'm reducing my price by fifty percent and only asking for twenty-five gold."
That was still a lot of money, much more than a commoner's decade worth savings.
"How about you tell us what you know first before deciding on the amount?" Ana retorted, trying to calm herself down.
She was aware that she was not in her right state of mind.
The death of Saana had caught her off guard. A kind woman who had spent most of her life travelling the continent teaching the ignorant and helping the sick- all in the name of the radiant Goddess- had fallen to a vile menace, a pestilence known as the undead. Among the people Ana admired, it was only the Grand Paladin and Saint Leah that she revered more than the old priestess. Her intolerance and impatience were an indication of how badly she wanted to catch the damn undead responsible for her idol's death. She wanted blood, even if she had to wring it out of a dried-up corpse.
"Only if you swear on your goddess," the tart was being difficult. "I know how much you revere her and I will not talk until you promise on Her name that you will give me the money after I talk."
"Very well," Yaven said before she could speak reply. "I promise on the divine name of the Goddess Shea that I will make sure you are compensated, should you provide satisfactory information."
"That is good enough," the infuriating woman said.
She leaned back in her seat and brought her hand- forefinger, middle finger and thumb pressed together- to her lips; only for her to snap out of as if realising something and put it down. For a brief moment Ana caught a flash of irritation in the elf's eyes; however, a moment later it was whisked aside in favour of her usual calm expression.
"Sage has been to the Enchanted Flowers a few times," she began. "The first time she-"
"It!" Ana interrupted strongly. "That thing is an undead, an it!"
"Okay," the brothel proprietor responded, shooting her a look, before continuing. "It came looking for clues to an Elixir of Rejuvenation. Don't ask me why, but I'm guessing something is wrong with its face. That's probably why it always had its face covered; or maybe it was simply hiding its identity."
Ana listened tentatively with her chin resting on her hands. She did not like this woman, with her sultry looks and revealing clothes. Usually, everything the hussy said would to be taken with a grain of salt; this was not one of those times. Ana recalled the descriptions given by the deceased priestess and the priest in Tiih. According to them the phantom had stitches so eye-catching it could never live up to its name if it went around with its face uncovered.
"Continue," she urged.
"The second time it visited was to ask for information on Scions."
"Did it say what it wanted with the information?" Yaven asked, sounding concerned.
Ana could understand why.
After the Hassun mission, when the two of them returned to headquarters, they had searched for information on phantoms. There was not much knowledge on them in The Order's archives. Much of what they had been able to learn was the numerous names of leaders who were slaughtered during the Days of Gloom or the pile of bodies left by a phantom in rare sightings after the Gloom.
No amount of magic could locate or bind a matured phantom. This was the scariest thing about them; that they could come and go as they pleased. Fortunately, Church grounds were consecrated with divine enchantments. Even if a phantom could enter undetected, it would not remain so for long as its weakness to Light Magic would make it reveal itself.
Saana had said the phantom they were hunting was a fledgling, so it was not at the level where all it could completely evade magic. For example, at close range [Mystic Eyes] was capable of identifying it. However, its actions in Ysh had proven that it was reaching maturation.
Was its reason for asking about Scions to sneak up on them and dispose of them? Although Scions were powerful, especially Demigods, there were records of phantoms catching them unawares. Ana, and Yaven likely, could not help feeling worried that the undead had demanded such a thing; and this harlot had given the information to her!
"She- it, did not reveal its motives," the scantily dressed hussy replied.
"What of the third time?" Ana inquired.
"It only came pick up information I'd gathered on the Scions," she said. "It was nothing not known to the general public, a little digging and everyone could uncover the information I gave."
The latter words seemed directed at the Ana, who eyes were straining hard from glaring at her. She really wanted to reach across the broken table and hit her. The infuriating tramp had done business with an undead!
"Was there any other time you met with the creature?" she reigned in her fury and asked.
The temptress shook her head and replied in a calm voice. "No."
It caused Ana to frown. "The information you gave us is nowhere near the value of the amount you desire."
To this, the woman shot her smile. "That is because I am not done yet."
"What else do you have to say?" Ana grunted.
"I don't have information that can lead you to the one you're chasing, but I can point you to the next best thing." The temptress closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it before opening them. She gave Ana a pointed stare and continued. "If you are adamant in catching the undead, you might want to check in with the Ysran family. The half-elf mentioned in the wanted poster is part of their family."
Without waiting for a response from them, the elven woman initiated a spell. Ana was half way out of her chair and reaching for the woman's neck, but stopped herself when she felt the woman complete her casting. The spell cast had been [Mirror Image], yet the image that appeared was a black-haired half-elf in body-tight dark leather clothes.
"This is what she looks like."
The brothel proprietor's ability to manipulate [Mirror Image] to display another person showed a frightening mastery of Illusion Magic. Ana would take that into account if they ever had to question her again.
"Thank you for your time," she said grumpily, then she turned to her Yaven. "Please escort her out and see that she gets the amount agreed upon."
The dwarf nodded with a grunt, stood up and gestured the woman to follow him out of the room.
After the two left Ana turned to her companion who had been silent the whole time.
"The half-elf she showed us looked familiar, didn't she? I don't remember where I've seen her though."
"The Church," Krystelle's silent voice came. "Nervahn."
"Ah!" Ana exclaimed in realisation.
A memory surfaced in her mind of a mercenary next to a sleeping old man.
The picture of what happened in Hassun was suddenly clearer.