Chapter 13-Incident in Amorium
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We entered the town of Amorium around noon. Despite being closer to the Iasor heartlands than Jericho, Amorium is quite a bit smaller and less developed. 

The guards eyed us warily as we went through the gate. As we walked through the town, I noticed the same stifling feeling in the air.  

“Hey Sekh, should we look for an inn now?” I asked.

“Let’s head to the marketplace first,” Sekh. “I should be able to ask some people about why the town seems so different from normal.”

The marketplace was located by the city square. It was a somewhat chaotic spread of various stalls along with some proper buildings for larger businesses. 

Sekh seemed fairly intimate with a number of shopkeepers who filled her in on the situation. Apparently the city of Amorium had a series of murders with five recorded victims so far. The only unifying thing about the victims was that they were killed sometime at night in the streets. Worse, most of the inns were filled to the brim by now. 

“Good grief,” I sighed. “You know anywhere we can stay?”

“Yeah. Follow me,” Sekh replied as she paced towards the east of the town.

We arrived at a fairly large medicinal shop. I wonder what Sekh's plan is. 

As we entered the building, the middle aged lady at the counter nearly shouted. “Is that really you, Sekh?”

“It’s so good to see you Mrs. Sophie,” Sekh said as she ran to hug the woman. 

After the two of them were finished with their little reunion, I decided to introduce myself. “Nice to meet you, I’m Sekh’s travelling companion Iblis.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sophie said as she shook my hand. 

“So you two know each other?” I asked.

“My family met Sekh during the time she ran errands for the merchant that got arrested. I’m really glad that Sekh was innocent, though I wish I could have done more for her before.” 

“She was actually the one that reported the situation to the Doux in Jericho,” I replied.

Sophie’s eyes went wide. “So that’s where she went. She really is incredible.”

“I agree,” I responded with a smile. 

“That’s actually where I met Iblis,” Sekh said to Sophie. “He was the one who helped me get to Jericho. He also led the investigations that cracked down on the Myalo trade in Jericho.”

A perfectly executed boasting strategy. Never say it yourself, but have another speak for you. 

I noticed that Sophie seemed a little nervous after hearing what Sekh said about me. “There’s no need to treat me like a noble. Just think of me as a regular adventurer.”

The noise we were making downstairs seemed to have attracted visitors. From the second floor, a middle aged man descended along with a boy and girl both around the age of 10. 

Both the children ran towards Sekh and hugged her.  

“What brings you here Sekh?” the man asked.

“We wanted to ask if you know anywhere we could stay,” Sekh replied. “The issue is that we have a lot of valuables, so we need a place with good security.”

The couple looked at each other for a while until Sophie spoke up. “We wouldn’t mind you two staying with us for a while. Marcus and I could always use a hand around the shop.” 

“What do you think Sekh?” I asked. Personally, I’m a little apprehensive about interfering with an ordinary family’s life. 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Sekh replied. “But we should chip in for food and find a place for our horses.” 

From what I saw, Amorium doesn’t have any good public spots for our horses. The medicine shop also lacks anything resembling a stable, so our best option is for me to abuse my authority with the local government. 

“Sekh, we should help out the town’s authorities with the murders” I suggested  after we settled in. “If we solve the issue we won’t have to bother this family for too long. Plus the authorities will at least let us use their stables if we help.”

“Good idea, but where do we start?” Sekh asked. 

“Let’s go talk to the Katepan,” I replied as I began to walk out the room. 

Shortly after, we arrived at the Katepan’s office, the process being streamlined by me waving my military medal around. Compared to a Doux who administrates an entire region, a Katepan serves under a Doux and is generally responsible for just a town or collection of villages. 

“Hi, we’d like to help with the murder investigation,” I announced to the woman in charge. 

The woman looked at me with wide eyes. “Aren’t you the hero who led the Myalo investigation in Jericho?”

“Yeah,” I replied slightly surprised. “You know me?”

“Azel…” Sekh said disappointedly. “That woman was part of Zeno’s administrative staff before she replaced the previous Katepan.”

I feel bad, but I genuinely don’t recognize this lady. Then again, I’m not that good with faces. 

I just stood there awkwardly while Sekh and the woman began to recount their short time with one another. 

“So...can we help out with the murder situation?” I spoke up.

“Oh, of course,” the Katepan replied. “I’ll hand you the copies of the data we acquired.”

Most of the data was the personal information of the victims, though none of us could find a pattern. However, unbeknownst to the public the victims were killed almost ceremonially. All the corpses appeared to have strange looking cuts made on their bodies. 

“Looks like there’s more to these cases than expected. In that case can we get a map of the town and the locations where the victims were discovered?” I asked.

“Oh we already have that,” the Katepan told me as she brought out a large roll of paper. “The locations seem to form a pentagon, but we’re not sure what it’s supposed to represent.” 

“Definitely looks strange,” Sekh remarked upon looking at the sloppy looking polygon.

“Do you know the order of the murders?” I asked.

The Katepan pointed at another document. “It’s right here.”

After comparing the order of murders with the locations of the victims, I realised the pentagon was drawn clockwise beginning from the tip in the north. However, I still couldn’t tell whether the murders had to occur at a certain date or not.

“I think I recognize the symbol,” I began to speak. “A pentagon inside a square is one of the symbols of Ahriman.”

“But I thought Ahriman’s symbol is a circle sucking in flame?” the Katepan replied in confusion. 

“That’s the primary symbol,” I pointed out. “The pentagon inside a square is more of a secondary or tertiary symbol. Like using a middle name to identify someone.”

“Based on that,” I continued. “The next murders should create a square around the pentagon. That square should be drawn from southwest counterclockwise. I haven’t found a way to determine when the murders will occur, but you should station more guards in the southeast area of the town.”

“That’s incredible,” the Katepan told me with admiration. “When we catch the murderer we’ll be sure to compensate you.”

I'm also quite surprised that I remember this information, but I guess two years of attempting to deport a god does a lot to the brain.

“Thank you,” I replied. “If it’s alright with you, can we get a copy of the dates? I want to see if there’s a connection that can be used to predict the next incident. Oh, I’d also like to use your stables as well.”

As we walked back to the medicine shop, Sekh began to hug me from the side. 

“You’re really great,” she told me excitedly. “Hopefully there won’t be any more unnecessary deaths.”

“Let’s not celebrate yet,” I sighed. “We still have plenty of work to do until this case is solved.”

When we entered the shop, Sophie greeted us. “So how did things go?”

“The two of us will be investigating the murder case for a while,” I told her. “Actually, I think we can stay at the Katepan’s place since we’re working for her right now.”

“Come on," Sophie chided. "It wouldn’t hurt to stay here. My family would really enjoy having you two stay here.”

Sekh began to nod in agreement. Compared to the cramped administrative office where the Katepan works and lives, living with an actual family would be much more comfortable. More importantly, they actually seem to want to offer their hospitality. 

“I guess it’s settled,” I surrendered. “I’ll be doing some research for a while, but let me help out with dinner.”

When I entered my room, I began arranging the various occult books on the floor. Thank goodness these books have a glossary. I spent a while setting up bookmarks on important pages. When I finished, I started comparing both dates of the murders to the previous records of sacrifices made for Ahriman. Although one of the murders aligned exactly with an incident seven years ago, I still couldn’t find anything conclusive. Just a few coincidences from the looks of it.

“Here, I brought drinks and snacks,” Sekh announced as she entered the room after some time. 

“Thanks,” I replied curtly. “You doing fine?”

“I’m good,” she replied. “Sorry about not being able to help you out.”

“Don’t worry about that," I said while waving my hand. "It’s good that you’re helping out the family.” 

“I don’t mind," Sekh said as she tried to push a cookie into my mouth. "I’m used to cleaning and I actually really enjoy taking care of the kids.” 

The first day yielded no results. Interestingly, the family let me and Sekh share the spare room. I thought I would have to sleep downstairs in the shop area, but I was now on a makeshift mattress with Sekh. 

“Sekh, you think they’re treating us like a couple?” I asked absentmindedly. 

“Pretty much,” Sekh laughed. “I mean we do look the part.”

“That’s true,” I admitted. “How do you feel about it though?”

Sekh went silent for a little bit before replying. “I don’t mind. Honestly I think we’re in a limbo between lovers and friends.” 

“So friends with benefits?” I joked.

Sekh turned around and poked my cheek in annoyance. “You talk a lot of shit for a single person. Anyways, I wanted to get to know you more before I make a solid decision.” 

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well fair enough. I actually like you quite a bit if you didn’t notice.”

“Really?" Sekh snickered. "You seem like the type of guy to do a one-eighty when you meet a girl you like, or have you not entered that phase yet?”

“It breaks my heart that you believe that,” I teased. “I happen to be quite strategic when it comes to how I treat people. Though I have distaste for putting someone on a pedestal."

"Because the pedestal is for you, right?" Sekh gently mocked.

"That's a baseless accusation," I quipped. "But I am trying to improve if you haven't noticed."

“I know,” Sekh replied warmly. “Let’s go to sleep.”

The following day, I continued with my fruitless search. My eyes are tingling with warmth and my brain feels like slush. Even after manipulating the dates with the few arithmetic functions I knew nothing turned up.

"I need help," I desperately thought.

When I gave up, I decided to ask Marcus for some advice on the matter. After some discussion, Marcus began taking a few small books out from his desk.

“I think you’re going in the right direction,” he said as he scanned through the books. “But I think you should try approaching the situation from a perspective of local Stygian traditions.” 

Makes sense, maybe the dates have some significance in the Stygian interpretations of the divine. 

“Thank you very much,” I said as I picked up the books he had selected.

“There’s no need for that,” Marcus replied happily. “You’re doing a great service for our town.”

I continued working for another hour before evening. Although I haven’t discovered anything conclusive, I had realized that none of the murders occurred under a full moon. Apparently, rituals concerning malevolent spirits in Stygia have a connection with the moon. But now my mind has been thoroughly fried, so I think I should just fry some food instead.

As I began chopping vegetables, Sophie began to make small talk. “I’m really happy that Sekh found someone like you.”

Almost feels like I recently got introduced to her parents. It’s entirely possible that she’ll make me promise to make Sekh happy. 

“You’re a lot more gentle than I expected,” Sophie continued.  

“Oh that,” I replied almost in despair. “Isn’t that just because I look scary?”

“You must get that a lot,” Sophie responded with a little pity. “But I was really surprised about how you met Sekh.”

“She told you about that?” I asked.

“That’s right, we were talking about that this afternoon,” Sophie said with a giggle. “She seemed really happy talking about it.”

“I feel the same,” I remarked.

“I’ll tell her that,” Sophie teased.

“I don’t mind,” I replied with a smile. “Pretty sure she already knows.”

After eating, I began cataloging the relation between the moon and Stygian occult rituals. Flipping back and forth between pages then jotting down notes on a separate document is a truly horrifying task. I'm starting to believe that scribes might be underpaid.

By the time my head had become numb, I decided to call it quits and go to sleep. However, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night. The reason for the interruption of my slumber was stupid to say the least. I was horny.

After Sekh joined, I had quit my previous nightly pursuits. My only partner had been my hand, whom I would rendezvous with when Sekh was sleeping or not around.

I nimbly slid off the mattress and snuck into the hallway. However I felt bad when I thought about making a mess in the family’s bathroom, so I decided to use a private bathhouse reserved for the guards. I can only hope that I don’t become an exhibitionist. 

The bathhouse is located in the northwest of the town. Not only does it have hot baths, but also well maintained restrooms that use an actual sewage line to remove waste. This might be the sole reason that joining the town watch is so popular in Amorium. 

“Feels great,” I said to myself after exiting the bathhouse. In this enlightened state, I’m sure I can solve the murders. 

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