The cheering of children as they sang amidst themselves in the sidewalks. The dealings from the multiple adults regarding their situation in the forest-like region of their home. The soldiers with silver armor that serve as law enforcement to protect those around. Fishermen and Farmers both setting up shops to sell as sustenance. These were the people that were currently walking in the kingdom of Oaking. Zazel would interrogate them one by one, hearing each one's explanations to what happened that night. The children were not aware of the situation as a whole. The Adults, upon noticing the Demon, would try to abash him, remembering his appearance based on the time where he was causing trouble with other locals, having Zazel to run in quick pursuit out of the area. Fishermen and Farmers provided no answers, and neither were the Guards. The demon was at a loss, and yet all the while was hearing the rumors regarding the likes of what happened last night, when Harvard was up against The Marrow.
"Have you heard the news? Some kid went into the woods and burned it to cinders. It was something in regards to...'The Marrow'"
"The Marrow? The freak with Wood Magic?"
"That's the one!"
"Haven't expected anyone to actually beat that thing. Especially with how dense that forest was, and it was ALREADY a walking branch beforehand!" The two men guffawed at the joke. A woman around 30 would chime in to the conversation.
"The poor thing must've been hurt badly, Facing off against a beast on his own. I couldn't imagine what pain the child when-"
"Don't count him innocent yet. The boy somehow retaliated with a whole deforestation to kill it! That's at least what word of mouth is going by." The rumors were spreading quickly, though they don't seem to be in fear or in anger. Rather, they were in shock, possibly even impressed with the child's antics, yet having a strong paranoia nonetheless. Zazel knew why such was so, but focused on the task at hand, trying to ask them a question. The Demon tugged at the man's legs, having his jacket cover his face to avoid causing a scene, causing the man to look down and see what's going on. "Hmm? You lost there, sonny?" The man asked, to which the boy raised the paper regarding the mission, as well as another message written on the side of it: "What happened here?"
"Isn't that where the Nobles once lived?" The Woman asked, paying attention to the conversation.
"Yeah, but why would you wanna focus on something as ghastly as that? Shouldn't you be playing with the other kids here?" The man replied, his attention shifting towards the demon. The demon, acting fast, wrote down another answer to explain himself, wording it in a way where it would give the most amount of answers: "Research." The Man raised an eyebrow strongly when seeing the reasoning, rubbing his chin to think if sharing such knowledge was a good idea. Assuming they weren't doing anything too drastic, he'd eventually comply. "D'oh alright, I guess I'll give you a story or two, but don't tell anyone that I told you this, a'ight? Wouldn't want no parents to harpoon me with their problems at teaching the youth, yah hear?"
The demon, still hiding his face away, nodded in compliance.
"Perfect! I'll make sure to keep it short 'n sweet. That place you're pointin' at belonged to a noble family known as the Galigan's. They're actually the ones whomst'd brought this very kingdom into existence, growin' the wood, choppin' 'em, and served our lil' foundation. It was thanks to a few individuals that handled the most of the work: Galvan Gortello, and Jackal Strum. One night however, while the houses made on that lil' spot there, the Nobles were all wiped out, and the house's plans were buried deep in its creek. No one has ever heard, nor seen 'em, ever since.." He emphasizes such a story by having his finger point towards the location, the Mangrove Graves, as the last place he's heard. To the Demon, it was a solid lead for him. He'd write down another message to ask in regards to the two individuals mentioned, yet the man shook his head. "Sorry lil' fella. Got places to be after all, though if you just head a bit up north...you can find yo' answers youself.." With that, the man left, with the two following suit, somewhat pestering him with further questions regarding the incident he unveiled.
Zazel simply kept moving, following the directions of that man, reaching himself to a rather large building. It was a building with vines and moss that grew itself around, mainly in a specific pattern for decor, and the building's top being mostly covered in thick vines. The entrance was adorned with vines as well, but not a door to provide as security. The Demon simply let himself in, admiring the work around the inside. Such a building was, in fact, a Library. A Library with hundreds of books, most likely sold from abroad, due to the conditions of said books vastly ranging from being perfectly preserved to almost tattered and easily damaging if one went a bit hard on it. In addition, some of such books were almost in different languages, some of which he recognized as the same language Harvard spoke through his chanting. The library itself was vast, taking the boy up around a few hours to properly find what he was looking for: A Book which has the very Noble's name on it.
Taking the book in arms, he'd read its pages and tried to focus his attention to uncover its mystery. Unfortunately, such a book was not only large, but also with so many complicated words, Zazel would instinctively sleep without a second sooner. He'd try again the next day, yet would fail as a result. He'd try to have someone else read it to him, fell asleep once more before the first set of pages were done. He even attempted to eat as many candies available as energy boosters, but all that it amounted to was a painful stomach ache and some needed rest. A Quest that should've taken around a few days at least, spanned itself into a full week. The voices of the people outside kept spreading more and more rumors regarding Harvard. The Demon...was running out of time.