When I got back to the cavern I explained what happened to Greg and Hannah. Greg looked confused and didn't seem to understand what that meant as in his mind "we could just go find him."

Sadly that wasn't really the case this time. Hannah hugged Greg from the side as I stood there watching. The Icus cult was rounding up the Firren cult left behind and left us alone. I guided Greg and in turn Hannah to a room with a couple beds and laid down to sleep. Not that I really could of course but it was better than worrying about things I could only start tomorrow. 

I saw that the quest reward with the super rare recipe and skill hint was available but now wasn't the right time for that. Some of my skills leveled up too with all the excitement. I waved the screen away and thought about Denny. I remember him smiling as he sat across a table from me, cheating at poker with 3 others. He loved to gamble but hasn't had much of a chance to do anything more than small time card games with single digits of gold.

It was a measly sum thinking back, only 3 gold but when he won the round it looked like he could swallow a whole apple with that smile. Betting lunch against Greg wasn't as much fun for him since Greg wasn't strategic or in any way good at gambling on anything more than a simple arm wrestle. Hannah didn't take much interest in those games preferring books with fairytales and I needed a lot of time dedicated to my cooking skills. I don't even know if his friend Kent played with him at all because of all the professionalism from the thieves guild but I hope he did sometimes during the stakeouts. 

Even when he told me about losing he always spoke with a spirit like he never lost a coin. One day we were supposed to travel to the coast and find the Grand Crab Casino in Wavesword and see how far he could go with 500 gold while the rest of us cheered him on and had amazing seafood delicacies the casino was famous for. 

What a time that would have been.

I smiled and drifted to sleep on that thought, imagining him winning it big in blackjack with a smile of gold filled teeth.

____________________________________________________________________________________

"So you are saying you lost contact with the rest of your caravan members that you left behind and that you left half of them on a hunch by one of the normal members?" a teenage catkin asked the caravan guard leader Fred.

"Yes, it's been a couple days and they should have come back by now, with or without the hunch being right," Fred answered, he was quite nervous in front of this teen.

"Ok, sounds like they might have gotten killed by those criminals, you have seen their wanted posters right? I mean they went up pretty quickly after the explosion of the store here" the teen asked, she was attentive and was taking notes on something on a little pad she held. Her attire was pretty standard for an adventurer of one the melee rogue classes. 

"I did when I got to town but I trusted Teddy to be able to handle the rock man who appeared to be the biggest threat," Fred replied, "Is there anything else you need to know miss Poppy?" He hadn't been expecting the 4 adventurers to be criminals before but at this point their fate was sealed. Miss Poppy was the most talented player her age and was already about to reach level 40 from what the rumors said. She had once even taken down the renowned criminal Red Eye who had taken control of a village to the northeast in the Red empire, resisting all attempts at rescue made by the empire. He was known to be right above the line dividing the D+s from the C-s but was nonetheless talented in his fencing skills at the age of 24. His left eye would turn red before he moved suddenly and with more power than normal for his level.

It was said he was taken down without any help from the rest of the party Poppy brought along and all this happened weeks ago. 

"No, that will be all, thank you Fred and I hope to be able to find them if they are still alive, but I do warn you that it is unlikely. I am sorry for your loss should circumstances be at their worst" she said, folding her notepad and lowering her head in an humble manner. "On a more positive note, given the circumstances your caravan is in, HQ is sending you to deliver what you have collected immediately before a month long vacation."

"Thank you, that is much appreciated. Just let me know if there is anything else you need help with but otherwise I need to let the rest of the caravan know what likely happened" Fred stood and proceeded to walk out of the door. After he closed it he frowned more than before and stood there for a second. I owe this to the rest of them Fred thought before walking out of the temporary warehouse's office space.

Back in the room Poppy had her notepad back out and was doodling like she had been. Should I have offered him a hug? I do give good hugs, even Emily says so, she thought. At least this Lee person might be interesting, I haven't heard of any other cooks doing what I can do. If possible, I hope I can join them for a bit before killing them for master. Even better I could convince Lee to become another apprentice under master and get him to kill the rest of them. It would be great to have someone my age who understands me and the craft.

Poppy put her hand under her chin, but he probably wouldn't want to do that. OOOOH, what if I got one of those love treats master sometimes uses, then I could get him to love me like in one of the fairytales my mom used to read to me. It would work just like in the story and he would kill his evil friends for killing Clair. Then I can get master to help me convince him to become an apprentice and I can get him to be my friend before the effect wears off. She sighed before thinking about her current lack of friends. It would have to be at least succubus grade with how close he seems to be with them but if I cozy up to him a bit too it should work with a harpy grade. Can't be wasting precious demon ingredients like master always says. She doodled a bit longer, making a little portrait of Lee, her master, and her in baking attire. It wasn't great and looked only slightly better than stick figures, but she seemed satisfied. I hope he looks as handsome as his wanted poster because too many people these days can get one. Red Eye actually had two red eyes, not the one in the poster they used.

I guess I should get going if I want to be able to find them in the first place, I'll be able to come up with a plan later with Un.

She grabbed her purse from her chair with her tail and took a nice blue bow from inside and put it on the left side of her hair. She exited the room and tossed the purse into the air which was then grabbed by a human shaped figure with no feet and only a mouth on its face that had dropped from the ceiling. "Teleport me to the stables near Hak's exit Un" she said before disappearing along with the creature.