Tye arrived at the North-eastern region of Misk.
On a messenger's horse, he was led to the home of the Duke of the North-eastern region.
Tye got down and brought down his hood to have a better view of the place.
"You must be Tye?" Asked a knight.
"Yes sir. The Duke sends for me."
The knight nodded and ushered him into the Duke's home.
Before Tye was a middle aged man that looked greatly disturbed and just paced around at the dinning table.
Before Tye could say his greetings, the Duke interrupted him.
"You are the one that the Duke of the South-eastern region told me of?"
"Yes I am. My speciality is in finding lost things and people."
The Duke glared his eyes over him.
"Why should I hire you? I've sent knights and adventurers whom all failed.
What makes you different?"
The Duke asked in stern.
"Unlike most knights and adventurers, I'm not a random person.
If I were to take a guess, of all the people you've hired, which of them came to you cause a duke referred them to you?"
The Duke was about opening his mouth but Tye interrupted
"Right. You spent most of your time having other people look for people to look for this missing person.
While I, on the other hand, is here cause the Duke of the South-eastern region trusts in my capabilities."
The Duke thought deeply for a while.
For Tye was right.
All this while he had his knights look for other jobless and inexperienced knights help find the person.
Or he had his guards look for a young, desperate and jobless adventurer do the searching.
Only for the knight to report they starved to death.
Or the adventurers they hired gave up and told the duke the search was impossible.
"Alright. I shall now tell you who it is that's missing."
Tye leaned closer to him.
"My daughter is missing."
He said with sadness and continued.
"It's been two months she's missing and it happened to be a week before her marriage that this happened."
Tye's eyebrows furrowed at him.
"Two months... Before marriage..."
Tye was murmuring the Duke's words to himself, now oblivious of anyone around him.
"Where is her fiancé?" He asked.
"He went out to search for her but nothing. His father is a noble in this region.
Despite the wealth neither his family nor ours can do anything about it so far."
"Where have you people searched?"
"We've put signs saying she's missing and even attaching rewards to the post.
That the anyone that finds her be rewarded."
While he was talking, a woman came in clad in a gown of fine linen.
She was the Duchess of the North-eastern region.
Tye looked at her and said
"Greetings, Duchess! The Duke here was just bringing me up to speed about your daughter."
The Duchess turned to her husband and then to Tye and said
"Correct. In all honesty, I don't think you can find—"
"Fair noble, I won't be here if I didn't come to return her soon."
But his words only angered her.
"How?! How can you do that?! You're just a commoner! Do you even know how our daughter looks?!"
The Duke sighed and patted the shoulder of his distressed wife.
"Do not be offended, young man. I am getting old and out daughter was to become Duchess. While her husband becomes Duke."
He said while the wife was wiping off tears.
The Duke sighed again and said to Tye
"Do you really have a way of proving you can find our daughter?"
Tye grinned at the Duke and said
"I have read that it is Miskan tradition that no one knows the names of the Duke and Duchess's children until it is time for succession, correct?"
The Duke was confused but nodded in affirmation to the fact.
This made Tye's smile more malevolent.
"Your daughter, Tilna, is safe."
The rulers' hearts sank at his words. Then the Duchess spoke up and said
"Wizard! How do you, a normal man, know the name of our daughter when she is not even Duchess?!"
Tye shrugged.
"I told you people. This is my speciality. So will you let me do it or what?"
The Duke's eyes shone with hope.
"Yes! Please! What's your price?"
Tye became grave.
He had to find a person no one had seen in months—on his own.
And he still had to locate the missing treasure of the South-eastern Duke.
With all this in mind, the corners of his mouth went up and said
"For this type of service" the Duke and Duchess leaned closer
"I usually charge 4,000 gold coins."
The Duchess signaled a servant to bring a bag of coins and handed him the fee.
Tye took it and thanked them.
While leaving through the door, he turned and said
"Fair rulers, please try and rest better this night. For most people think that what they lost is gone, when it never really was."
As he departed, the Duke and Duchess stared at eachother in confusion.
"How did he possibly know what no Miskan citizen knows?" The Duchess asked.
"I'm not sure." The Duke responded gravely.
"But whoever that man is, he's more than he says."
"As in, hiding something?" Inquired the Duchess.
"Yes. Probably information that could shake all of Misk."
***
Before Roy could react, Dil dashed towards him and slammed his back on a tree.
"Aahh!!" Roy screamed falling unconscious.
"If it were this easy," Dil said looking at Roy with joy
"I should have done this sooner."
Lina and Yiss were backing away from him out of fear.
"D-Dil what h-happened?" Like asked worried in a shaking voice.
"This tree! It's fruit are so delicious and nutritional—"
Dil began to feel a splitting headache.
"Aahh!" He screamed going on one knee.
Lina tried running with the opportunity, but Yiss grabbed her hand and said
"We can't just stop here. This tree. These strange cases. They could help us one way or the other."
While still speaking, Dil got up to his feet and plucked berries from the tree.
"Here. Try it." He said.
To Lina and Yiss's surprise, they found themselves actually wanting to taste the fruit.
About to grab it, Lina stopped herself and Yiss.
"That's what this tree does."
She said with stern covering her nose.
"It makes you want to have a taste of it."
Dil was disappointed.
"Fine, if you won't take it or drink of its juice, then the tree will drink your blood."
Lina and Yiss tried running away.
But Dil wasn't chasing them.
When they turned back they noticed Dil was fighting and dodging something.
But nothing was there.
Lina and Yiss stopped and observed Dil repeating the same movements back and forth.
But Lina and Yiss were confused.
And in a second's notice, Dil started running towards them.
And his speed only increased instead of slowing down.
Catching up to them as they ran, he overtook them and slammed his hands towards them.
Falling to the ground, they hit their heads and backs hard unto the ground.
"I said before" Dil said enraged.
"You must water that tree with your blood!"