It wasn't surprising that the men Jonas had been following led him to a mansion, or maybe it was merely considered a home by whichever member of the local nobility. Or maybe even a wealthy merchant.
All that mattered to Jonas was that he wasn't able to continue following them anymore. At least for the time being. However, he didn't consider this a total loss. He at least found a possible headquarters to investigate.
Yet, as he started to head back to the inn, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. Like he should have been able to accomplish more. Why he felt that way, he couldn't be sure, but he suspected that he'd wanted to be able to get more information about that emblem.
So lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't see the lamp lights ahead of him. He quickly hid around a building when he did, peeking around the corner to see what was going on.
At first he'd thought it was something shady or that it might be troublesome for him. Yet, as he watched what was happening, he saw the city watch loading several young men into a wagon, all of which were chained. Although, that fact didn't seem to have dulled their spirits any. All of them seemed to be quite vocal about something, and all he could catch from the distance was their protests of innocence.
Jonas didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't interested in getting involved. For one thing, he couldn't see what the benefit of doing so might be. It wasn't like he knew any of these young men, nor did he have reason to believe that there would be any actual benefit.
However, that thought changed when he saw one of the young men with the emblem of the eagle embroidered on the collar of his shirt. Whether he was someone important in the mansion the men he'd been following had entered or it was someone who knew something about it, Jonas didn't care. It was at least a possible lead that he didn't have a minute ago.
The only problem was with how to extract that young man without the city watch taking note of that. Especially since the young men were clearly wounded and being closely watched.
Jonas started counting those who were clearly arresting the young men and counted about ten. Four were with the wagon, two were moving the young men into the wagon before securing it shut, and four were clearly two different patrol groups.
The lamplight was from the wagon and Jonas suspected that his best chances would be after the wagon started going to wherever these young men were being taken. Although, he didn't like the fact that the wagon had the lamps lit. It would ensure that he couldn't approach while in the shadows. Nor could he help rescue the young men that way.
While Jonas was sure he could subdue the guards, he didn't expect that he'd be able to take them all out before any of them could call for backup. Not only that but he was pretty sure he'd have to fight them like he wanted to kill them rather than being able to just knock them out.
So, Jonas followed the wagon, doing his best to avoid being seen by any of the watch, not wanting to deal with any potential hassle. Especially since he couldn't deny that he probably looked suspicious, with his clothing as well as how he was avoiding the light right now.
Maybe it wouldn't single him out, but he didn't want to take that risk at the moment. Maybe he would have if he hadn't seen the emblem, but he especially didn't want to be seen in the area.
As once he at least rescued the young man, he wouldn't be surprised if the city watch sent out descriptions of everyone they saw in the area. Which if he was seen, would lead them to him.
While he was confident he'd be able to lie his way through any questions they asked him, he really didn't want to deal with a hassle like that. It felt like it would be more trouble than it'd be worth, even if he got everything he could possibly want from the young man in relation to the emblem on his collar.
As such, he made sure to wait for the watch patrols to leave before starting to follow the wagon. He wasn't too worried about losing it, given that the people driving it didn't seem to be in a rush to get anywhere and the wagon was lit up, so even with a delay, as long as he was quick enough, he was sure that he'd be able to catch up with it.
Despite his confidence, he almost missed the wagon. He'd only caught up to it when he saw the last of the young men being escorted out of the wagon into what he assumed had been the destination all along.
It looked like a jail of some kind that stood about three stories tall, but he couldn't say for sure. All he knew was that he needed to find a way to get the young men out of there. If he only got that one young man, then it would draw too much attention to him, but if he got all of them out, then it would likely be ignored in the rush of everything.
So, as he avoided the front of the building, which had a lamp burning out front of it, he began examining the walls. He was looking for any potential egress points that were either already existed or could be made into an egress point.
After he located a few different such points, he then began focusing on locating where the young men were. He found them when he looked through a small window about maybe a foot off the ground that was just big enough Jonas was sure a grown man could crawl through, except for some iron bars. The room inside that the young men were in could only be called a basement, or maybe a cellar, but expressions they all had made it look like they'd been abandoned by the world. Despite how wealthy they appeared from their clothing alone.
Unfortunately, Jonas could tell how close they were to one of the egress points he'd identified from his earlier examination and the sky was clearly starting to lighten. He wasn't sure what the layout inside the building was, nor how many guards they had at any of the doors, including just outside the room, or maybe cell, that the young men were being held in.
Jonas then looked at the window itself that he could see the young men through and more specifically, at the mortar around the stone blocks that held the iron bars. With his dagger, he was able to easily remove the mortar, and within minutes he had a few blocks coming off, which he set down quietly against the building.
It was slow work, but he was sure that he'd finish with enough time to get them out of there before whatever was going to happen to the young men happened. Yet, he couldn't be absolutely sure of that, so he was careful to not waste a second of his time. He'd been enough tight pinches where seconds was all that separated success and discovery.
As he worked, he was fully aware that the young men had become aware of his presence and were muttering between themselves about what he was doing. Jonas wished he could ask them for help because then it could go that much quicker, but he didn't want to alert any potential guards on the other side of the door to that cell to what he was doing.
When the last block came down and he could lift the bars out of the window, he carefully let himself into the cell and began to pick the locks of the chains holding the young men together. None of them made a sound, their expressions showing clear relief, though Jonas suspected that it wasn't because they were possibly facing criminal charges.
If what he suspected was true, then these young men were from wealthy families and maybe even of the local nobility. As such, if what they had been doing the night before wasn't what their parents would be happy with, then it was entirely possible that they could lose their allowance or maybe even get roped into an arranged marriage. Not something Jonas was sure these young men would be happy about having happen.
When he'd removed the chains off of the last of the young men, Jonas didn't do anything, other than to return to the window, where he deftly climbed out. Then once he was out, he turned and began assisting the other young men to get out of the cell.
When any of them looked at Jonas it was with clear appreciation. However, when the last was pulled out, Jonas was quick to keep them from dispersing. Which seemed to make them confused.
"Look, they know who you are," Jonas explained. "They'll go to where they know you're supposed to be. When they find you there, they'll check for the wounds that I can even see. I doubt your families will accept any explanation as to how you got hurt."'
"Then what do you suggest?" the young man with a lion embroidered on his shirt asked, clear annoyance on his face.
"Come with me," Jonas said. "I'll take you to someone I know who can make those wounds disappear like they never happened. Then you can pretend you were there all night."
"What about our weapons?" another young man demanded. "Those cost me twelve gold coins!"
Jonas smiled sadly. "If they mean that much to you, you can go inside to reclaim them, but you'll have to face whatever was coming your way if I didn't come along," Jonas answered. "If you need to provide an answer, just say that you lost them gambling. That you didn't suspect they were going into the hands of someone who could do whatever it is that all of you are being suspected of doing."
Jonas didn't really care what it was. He just wanted them to feel indebted to him, and getting them completely out of trouble like this was the best method he could think of.
"Come on, it may have cost twelve gold, but think of you much you'll lose if your dad learns you were arrested again!" another of the young men tell the one who was concerned about his weapons.
"We don't have much time," Jonas said, glancing back at the room, partly because he himself was nervous that a guard would open it and find all of them just standing outside the window. "You can choose now. Follow me or let whatever happen when they catch up with you." Jonas paused, mostly for dramatic effect, but also to let his words sink into their young minds. "If you follow me, I guarantee that not only will we make it to the inn I'm staying at, but that whatever happened won't need to become common knowledge. That whoever had been arrested merely looked like all of you and were the ones you all lost your weapons to through gambling."
"My mother won't be happy with that," another of the young men mused, "but she'll be more unhappy with me being arrested again."
Jonas nodded to himself in satisfaction. As the young men talked among themselves, it seemed like they were convincing each other to trust Jonas. Not like they had any other choice as far as they were concerned.