“Stop messing around, let’s hurry up and finish.”

“It hurts though, I don’t like it when it gets in my eyes.”

“Neither do I, that's why it's best to keep your eyes closed.”

“But then it gets stuck in my eyes!”

“Then keep your head down, it’ll be over before you know it.”

“I hate this…” She pouted. 

“Yeah, I know. But since you refused to let the innkeeper’s assistant give you a shower, at the very least let us wash your hair, it's a mess.

“But I hate showers!”

“Yeah, yeah, you keep saying. Just bear with it, once we’re done washing out your hair, we’ll go out, maybe even get some chowarma, okay?”

“Okay…” The little girl obediently replied.

“Good.” I stated, scrubbing her hair a little more aggressively. 

“That hurts!” she yelped.

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

“Are we almost done?”

“Almost.”

Despite my answer I found the water washing out from here to still be dirty, I continued to rinse her hair, attempting to make her somewhat presentable only to hear her complain for the duration of the shower. Having done the best I could in cleaning her up, I began drying her off with a rag, patting down her head and combing through her hair to release any remaining debris, I found her hair to be quite healthy. Perhaps a result from soaking in the water, the light reflecting off her hair gave it a certain shine. 

“Alright, we’re all done. Wasn’t too bad, right?”

“It hurts, you were being really mean to my head!”

“My bad, I’ll try to go easier on you next time. Though I gotta admit, I think you look better this way.”

“It hurts, but maybe if you promise to be nicer, I don’t mind doing it again.” She muttered.

“Hah, alright I promise. Now finish drying yourself up so we can get out of here.”

There were a few things that needed to be done before we could continue to roam about town, thoughts weighed heavy on my mind as to whether or not we could be recognized by the chassis soldiers due to yesterday's incident. I didn’t want to take the chance to leave the inn looking the way we did yesterday. I decided to ask the innkeeper if she happened to have any clothes she could spare us, though she wasn’t around, only the helper who had been more than willing to kick us out the other night. She was initially wary of our needs, though she easily changed her tune once the coin was set on the counter. And after offering her more silver, she more than happily pointed us toward a tavern where I might be able to find the information I'm looking for. However our trip to the tavern would have to wait till later, I would first need to pay respects to an acquaintance.

=====================================================================

Taken from his belongings, the journeyman’s permit recorded all his personal information. I would be visiting the residence of Talal and likely meet his now widowed wife. I'm sure his family would like to have his journeyman's permit in their possession. After looking around for a place of residence that matched the description from the permit we came upon what appeared to be his home. Knocking on the door, we anxiously awaited for somebody to respond.

“Whoever’s out there, if you’re here for Talal, he isn’t here. Damn fool has yet to come back.”

“We know, that’s why we would like to speak to his wife, if possible.” 

“You’re not here to meet with him? You’re not here to cause trouble, are you?”

“No ma’am, we’ve come to relay a message.”

“I see. Hold on a moment while I unlock the door.” 

Stomping about and the clinking of multiple chain locks were heard being moved about on the other side. The door opened a smidge with a rather pretty young woman peering toward us.

“What do you want?”

“You must be the lovely woman I’ve heard so much about. Do you mind if we come in? You might want to take a seat to hear what I have next.”

“No, I’m fine where I am. So go, say it.”

“Oh, well alright. I’m sorry to say, but Talal has passed away.”

“You mean… he’s dead? Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“No ma’am, I’m afraid he has passed on from this life. You have my condolences.”

“I see…”

“We were hoping to return this permit to his wife, as well as some of his stuff...”

“I’m good, I don’t want his junk. That leech had it coming.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were on bad terms with your husband.”

“No, you have it all wrong, he wasn’t my husband. He was just some man who happened to be renting a room I had available here. Having him stay here was the worst decision of my life.”

Who I assumed was his wife was instead the landlord who owned the property. She explained that although she would share food with him, she did so out of kindness. However, she soon realized what a crude man he was, becoming increasingly more pervasive into her household life, bringing over unsavory characters to discuss certain matters in private. She was disgusted by him, as he would always be looking at her with lustful eyes as though she was nothing but an object.

“That filthy bastard, flirting with other women and feeling them up with his disgusting hands. To think there might be a poor old girl out there who may very well be carrying his child. To think, he was supposed to be back yesterday, leaving days on end, sometimes even weeks leaving the place unattended. That bastard was always late on rent. Now I’ll probably never get paid.” She ranted. It was at that moment a loud sound came from inside which alerted her.

“Hold on a moment.” She stated, closing the door on us.

Standing there confused by the information I had learned, I was beginning to grow more curious about the life of Talal. And why exactly was it that Julian hired me to dispose of him.

“I’m hungry.” Shaia cried out.

“I know, we’ll get something to eat right after this. But you think you can do something for me?”

Regarding what I’ve learned, I might be able to use that information to my advantage here. Glancing over to Shaia who seemed unhappy to have to endure this situation, I took her to the side and told her to play along with what I had planned as to not upset her in regards to who her actual father was. Before long, the landlady returned.

“Was everything alright?”

“Yeah, sorry about that, I had to put my cat back in her cage, she was knocking stuff around. Anyhow, was there anything else you needed, otherwise I’d like to start selling or tossing out that bastards junk. Going to need to find a new tenant, hopefully someone a little less slimy.”

“Well here's the thing, he had a daughter, this little girl here. A result from him fooling around, leaving the girl behind she didn’t know what to do and left the child abandoned. I took it upon myself to look after her while seeking out her father only to learn of his death. Having obtained his permit from an individual who found  here and assumed he had family, though I was terribly mistaken. As such we were hoping to come and collect his belongings. If that isn’t a problem.”

“This is his daughter? The poor thing, I’ve been terribly rude, forgive me. What I said about that man, please forget about it. Seems his mannerisms had rubbed off on me, regardless, you’re telling me that she is his daughter, correct?”

“Well, she is, I just happen to be her caretaker is all.”

“Hmm, I see. So you’re his daughter.” The Landlady glared at the little girl. Keeping quiet as though deep in thought.

“So, would you mind letting us in?”

“Well that depends, I’d like payment first.”

“Um, what? Not sure I understand.”

“She’s his daughter right? Regardless as to whether he’s dead, he still owed me rent, but now I suppose that debt has now been passed to you. Being her caretaker and all, you’ve saved me the trouble of having to hire a collector to hunt you down.”

“You’re kidding me. She’s just a child, what her father did has nothing to do with her, besides she doesn’t have the ability to cover his debt.”

“Yes but you’re taking responsibility over her, are you not? That makes you accountable and eligible, it means taking responsibility over his debt, so you either pay or you’re not coming in. I’m quite good at cleaning you know. Thoroughly disposing of unneeded items and selling the rest to merchants so that nothing remains.”

To think there were women worse than that damn assistant innkeeper in this town.

“You… That won’t be necessary. I’ll pay his rent.” I sighed.

“Oh? It would seem you’ve come to your senses. I’m glad we could come to an agreement. Please, come inside.” 

    Having paid a hefty sum of silver to the landlady, I found my purchasing power had been severely crippled. A majority of the household was kept rather tidy and clean, a pleasant aroma filling her home. However upon coming to his room, the scene was drastically different compared to the rest of the household. 

    “Mmph, this place smells funny.” Shaia whined. “I don’t wanna be here! I’m hungry.”

    “I know, I’m sorry.”

“If it’s food you need, I have plenty in the kitchen pantry. I had planned to make lunch before you two had arrived, I don’t mind sharing.” She smirked.

    “You do?! Is it okay?”

“Of course, I’m not heartless enough to let a child go hungry. Come, follow me to the kitchen, I’ll let you eat your heart out.”

“Go ahead, go eat, Shaia. I’ll be here awhile, so enjoy yourself.”

She nodded and happily went along with the landlady, free from the musty air and smell of this stuffy dark room. With Shaia occupying the landlady, I had the opportunity to search the area for anything that might help enlighten the situation I found myself in. The room was rather filthy, the bedsheets unwashed, clothes piled upon the floor on tattered rugs. There wasn’t much to look at, however upon closer inspection of the room I discovered a rather small chest covered in sheets hidden beneath the bed. Locked, without a key it wouldn’t be easy to open, however it wouldn’t stand much of a chance against my dagger. Stripping the lock, prying the box open I came upon vials all too familiar to me at this point, after all they were the same as the one I doused onto him and found among his belongings. Any normal person wouldn’t bat an eye at the vial’s clear contents, likely assuming it was water, however I knew better. After all Julian had briefed me on the subject as to what exactly the contents of the vial did. 

Julian explained that many worms excrete a soil-rich dark humus post digestion. Among these worms are a breed that live in the desert that grow to quite unusually large sizes known as the Olgoi-khorkhoi. Though typically docile and passive around humans, they pose no real threat, however they lose all sense of reason when exposed to a certain odor. Having been informed of numerous deaths caused by the worms in recent times, of which the majority were travellers looking to visit the territories of Goltib, Julian took it upon himself to investigate the source of what was causing the worms to go berserk. It was brought to his attention that a certain product was being sold amongst the underground markets outside of local commerce such as the bazaars. 

The product in question is a vial containing pheromones of Rinsaadi salamanders, whose rocky outer shell is similar in both appearance and composition to sandstone found in the region. As such, they are a favorite prey of the Olgoi-Khorkhoi. Attracted to the scent, the worm would be lured and come to feed. However upon consumption there was one other factor mixed into the vial, a potent purgative that would cause the worm to reject the meal through its bowels and retreat. However by that point, the victim would have either succumbed to asphyxiation or its digestive fluids had there been a delay in the vials effects. As such, individuals prominent in the human trafficking and organ dealing markets had taken advantage of the vials for their own benefit. 

    Not wishing to get their hands dirty, they would hire individuals down on their luck and promise them great wealth should they agree to aid them in finding suitable donors for profit. Among those who had been hired, individuals who touted themselves as organ harvesters, was one of Julians very own men, Talal. To think I’d end up doing the dirty work, these things should be left to the likes of the hashashin.

Something curious was situated beneath the vials, taking it out it appeared to be a journal of sorts. Upon reading its contents i discovered that it was far more involved, it was a ledger containing detailed notes and reports on a very concerning matter. This was it, the piece that seemed to explain why I was given the task by Julian. Knowing that, I came to realize possessing this journal alone could warrant the attention of very powerful people. The information in the journal would prove to be detrimental to not only my life, but Shaia’s as well. I certainly don’t want her getting involved in all this. It was best I pocket this for now and take a look at it some other time. I would likely come back here later, however I would still need to follow through with the whole daughter act. I placed the vials back into the small chest and tossed it into a rugged bag that had been laying around. I began to collect some useless items laying about to take with me, tossing into the bag as well. Not wanting to spend all day here, it was best we left. I ventured into the kitchen where Shaia was happily chatting with the landlady.

“Done already?” The landlady called out to me.

“Ah, yeah. I wasn’t able to carry everything so I might have to return for another trip, if that's alright with you.”

“No worries, I understand.”

“Great, sorry for intruding and taking up your time. We’ll be on our way now.”

    “Before you go, I believe you still owe me some silver.”

    “Huh, what do you mean, I paid off his debt.”

“That wasn’t what I was referring to, after all, you lied to me. This little one isn’t very good at acting and was very easily convinced at the notion of some food.”

    “Shaia!”

    “Ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I wasn’t thinking...”

    “Damn it, ah, look there was a misunderstanding. I didn’t mean to-”

    “Stop. No need for words, just pay me the silver and we can forget this all happened.”

    This isn’t looking good, to think this little detour was supposed to be easy. If this woman was to call the guards, that would be a problem, I didn’t need another target on my back. Perhaps I could at least find some way to recover from this situation, I gotta convince her somehow to at least let me come back.

    “Okay look, if I pay you, you’ll forgive us this one time?”

“Of course, I never go back on my word.”

“Alright, but would it still be possible for me to come back here?” 

    “Fine, but it’s gonna cost you extra.”

    “You’re kidding, that’s not fair to us.”

“Such is life, besides knowing you two are not at all related to him, I believe that's cause for me to defend what is now technically my property. I’ve been swindled before, I’m not foolish enough to let the money get away.”

“Damn it, I don’t have the coin for this.”

“I see, well how about you offer up something for collateral. That artifact on your back seems to be worth something.” She gestured toward my artifact.

“Yeah, not gonna happen. This isn’t something I’d like to lose.”

“Look, I just need something to hold you accountable. How’s this, should you raise the money to pay me back for letting you return here, I’ll return your… thing. Deal?” She explained.

I needed to investigate the room further, but giving up my weapon isn't exactly ideal as it would leave me at a disadvantage. Then again, it’s not like she would know how to use it. The thing hasn’t been responding to me since I last used it either. Might be worthless at this point. Damn it all. Things just aren’t going my way in this town.

“Alright, but only under the condition that I may use the room for my personal use as well. After all this artifact should be worth enough to let me stay for a couple of weeks if not months.”

“Well now, you sure know how to haggle. Alright, it’s a deal.” 

“Yeah, okay. And look, I promise to come back with the silver, so please, don't sell it.”

“You can relax, unlike our dead friend, I’ll be keeping my word in regards to our deal. So, I’ll be seeing you.” She remarked with a smug look.

With nothing but her words to rely on, I left the residence annoyed and dissatisfied with the result, I could only hope she kept her word. Heading off to our next destination, the tavern where I could only hope to acquire the information I’ve been seeking this whole time. My time had been split from dealing with Julian, taking care of Shaia and fighting some chassis soldiers. Though, I suppose on the bright side I can use Talal’s room as temporary storage. But man, so far this morning has been nothing but a headache. To think, there was still a whole day ahead of us.