The rain had not stopped for days. It was late into fall, close to winter, so it wasn't a surprise. Above Velgrada, the clouds were a constant source of cold and steady rainfall, becoming a dark veil hanging over the city like a thick blanket. The streets were less cramped, and they shimmered black under the downpour, the gutters and canals swollen, significantly impacting how the city worked, causing people only to go out if they really had to.
In the eastern quarter, past the smoke-belching furnaces of the nearby blacksmiths, an old tannery sat quietly, looking abandoned. Its windows were boarded, and its doors were visibly reinforced—not to keep thieves out, halting them from ransacking an unused shop. If any of them were stupid enough to try, they would live long enough to leave the inside of the shop. It wasn't there to keep others out... but to keep them in. It may have been once used for leatherwork, but its current owner, Cedric Malvern, repurposed it. For the past three years, it had been his own personal prison, his playground, where those who were insignificant, someone who wouldn't be looked for, was dragged away and interrogated. Or where the Ledger's enemies went to be disposed of or made sure their minds were changed... for the better.
Right then, he stood alone in the central room, the faint stink of old blood and chemicals coming from beneath his boots. As for how fresh it was, it was hard to tell, but the smell was something that became permanent inside of the shop. Rain pattered on the roof just like Cedric's restless fingers did on his table, humming along while making his preparations. A single lantern swung from a hook next to it, and its light caught the glint of the metallic tools he was washing off with pure alcohol. They were a set of instruments that he valued greatly, shown how he laid them out on a clean cloth arranged with the care of a collector.
"Everything is prepared." He chuckled happily yet grimly. "It's time to bring in the little one and start asking some important questions..."
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Mira had been taken quietly and without witnesses earlier that day.
Unbeknownst to her, Puck had been the original target, but because he had fallen sick in the rain, he was kept back home, lying in bed with a fever. Young, eager to prove herself, always on time, always helpful, and enjoying her new life, she threw herself forward, telling Auriel he would take Puck's place and do the morning orders despite the rain. She had already finished... ready to head home when she had gone missing. By the time Auriel and Lira realized something was off, she had vanished without a scream, without so much as a scuff mark on the wet stones, no matter how many times they retraced her steps.
The city and the damned rain swept her away.
Cedric did not enjoy this work. At least, that was what he always told others with a calm voice, hands dripping from blood. Yet his eyes said otherwise. Even if he touted enjoyment as a luxury, a weakness, everyone experienced enough looking at him was enough to know he was simply lying.
Yes, his precision and nonexistent morality mattered to the Crimson Ledger. As for what he believed or lied about, believing was of no concern. What Garrick liked about him was that he produced results.
But... Something strange happened this time around. The girl... This Miri had been silent for hours. He expected her to break, as all kids should, just by the fact his men grabbed her, hauling her tiny body to a cell underground.
Yet nothing. Well, he had to give her some points for that, as many adults failed to keep such composure, breaking before he had a chance to play with them. So, he brought her into the 'playing room.' At first, he allowed her to discover the purpose of this place, waiting in the shadows like a monster. Then, realizing how her breathing calmed down... he decided that alone was not enough.
"Brave. But stupid," Cedric said as he stepped into the lantern light and looked at the girl, who was probably no more than ten. She looked like a doll left out in the rain, soaked and pale, her hands still bound neatly with the rope his men used. It was also the first time he gave her the chance to see his face, keeping it straight, his eyes cold, using it to his best abilities to scare her.
Yet, just as before, she had not cried—not once, not then, not now. She had only watched him, eyes dark and defiant, her breath already steady again despite the tremor in her fingers. Incredible, he thought... So, he crouched to meet her eyes.
"You understand why you're here, don't you?" No answer. Not even a blink. "I don't want to hurt you," he lied. The words came out naturally; his voice became even a bit more friendly than before. It was essential to give the prey hope. If it is taken away from them too soon, they may break and give up before giving up the information they want. "I want to know who are you working for. Really. Not the bakery, but the one for whom you collect information." He paused, watching, but the girl's face didn't even flinch.
Still, nothing. But that was more than nothing, a fact that the girl didn't realize. If she were scared, and if she would start to ramble... he would even begin to believe she was honest: that she was just working for a bakery. But, the fact she acted like this... It was already enough evidence she was not just a little courier of bread. She was simply making it more painful for herself...
"You are only ruining your chances, girl." He said as he rose, brushing his coat with a sad sigh. Then... a slap.
Mira's lip was split in an instant, and her eyes were swelling from where his hand landed. Yet... there was only a painful yelp, her squinting, but she remained silent after.
"Do you know how many people in this city speak under pressure?" Cedric murmured to no one, walking towards his tools and examining them in a way that she would clearly see. "Almost all of them. But sometimes," he continued, his voice soft, "you find one of the others. One who doesn't break. One who believes something more than they fear death. I don't like those people. They are stupid. Why not just tell it and be free? You get to walk, and others get what they must get. Easy, no? Not that they are anything more than your owners. Be honest to yourself first." He looked at Mira again. "What do you believe in, girl?"
For a brief pause, Mira shuddered, trying to move, to wipe the blood from her lips, but she couldn't do it. Then... She looked up at him, and for the first time, she spoke. Her voice was hoarse but defiant.
"Not in you, you sick bastard."
Cedric's lips tightened. She may be a little girl, but she did survive until now on the streets of Velgrada. Well... Then, he had to get serious.
"Well..." he looked at her with an actual, genuine smile. "Too bad. Maybe by the end... you will."
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No screams echoed in the room for the upcoming, long, long hours. Mira never gave him that satisfaction. But her breathing grew ragged. Once, it even stopped entirely. Cedric thought she was gone—already lost to shock—but then she gasped life back into herself, a terrible sound of defiance pulled from a body at its absolute edge.
But it just made Cedric continue trying other methods: a kind voice, promises of safety, whispers of a great future. Then, there were lies that she wasn't the first and that the others had already betrayed her, that she had been forgotten and discarded.
But she knew better.
Mostly because Auriel had taught them not just to listen and deliver but to trust one another, to watch each other's backs, to protect names, faces, routes, and codes because it would defend their new life; she was doing it for herself... and for the others. Living alone on the streets was not a life she wanted to go back to... and she didn't want the others to fall back down either. She wouldn't...
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When Cedric left the tannery, the rain eased to a drizzle, but it didn't stop. Dawn was crawling up behind the city walls, only slightly easing on the darkness but being unable to break through the clouds. His coat dripped as he stepped into the carriage waiting for him outside.
Climbing on, the driver said nothing, and neither did he. Inside, he sat in silence for a long moment before finally removing his discolored gloves. His hands were clean as he examined it, a half-smile hanging on his face that very quickly disappeared.
This one... was not as enjoyable as the previous occasions. He had no answers... something that only happened once before. And that was a long time ago when he was barely starting, only being a bronze-ranked adventurer.
"So?" asked a voice beside him, finally acknowledging that he wasn't sitting there alone.
"She gave us nothing," Cedric said slowly, looking at Garrick, who was sitting there waiting for his full explanation. "It's worse than we thought," he exhaled. "They're disciplined, trained, and organized. It was a genius move to indoctrinate them. Kids are easily malleable, and this one was surprisingly loyal. I am... amazed."
"They're children." Garrick snorted, "How hard could it be to break them?!"
"I don't know," Cedric shrugged, "But she did give away something with her stubbornness. You were right; that bakery is just a front. The problem is that we have nothing to prove it. We can't move openly, or the City Lord will strike at us if we do."
"The girl," Garrick asked, "Will there be consequences?"
"Not really," Cedric replied. "She was a nobody. Not even the City Lord will move a finger because of an urchin. A life that was already abandoned early."
"Did you dispose of her body? I don't need traces back to us."
At first, Cedric didn't answer; he just looked out the rain-glossed window of the carriage. Mira's silence still echoed louder in his ears now than any confession he had ever heard.
"She was brave," he said finally. "Too brave..." It wasn't an answer, but Garrick didn't push it. He knew Cedric... and he had never failed him since poaching him from the Adventurers Guild.
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Back in the bakery, the atmosphere was grim. It had already been long enough to warrant a search for her.
It was Lira who noticed first. Without hesitation, she informed Auriel, who then called a headcount and stopped the others from going on new runs, even if it impacted the bakery's reputation or income. Hearing Mira was gone, the rest were eager to go back out and start looking for her. Even Puck came down, and despite his barely subsiding fever, nobody could stop him from going back out and starting to search.
It was he who found her. For some reason, he had a feeling of heading to the part of the city where the now swelling canals would dip a little and head out of the city, carrying anything thrown into them down and away.
His hunch paid off as he noticed her body bobbing up and down, heading straight to the dip to be swept down into a vortex and funneled to the outside. There was no hesitation in Puck's movements. He tied a rope around himself, jumped in before the water would pick up speed, and hauled her unconscious body out.
He thought she was dead, but... no. Despite how broken her face was... she was still breathing. Faintly... but she was. She still fought... and he wouldn't let her die just like that, hurrying with her in his arms directly back towards the bakery.