Chapter Four Hundred and Sixty-One - Motivating Factors
Chapter Four Hundred and Sixty-One - Motivating Factors
The news that Rainnewt was involved hit me like a hammer to the solar plexus, and yet... I probably should have expected it. Kidnapping nice people was exactly the sort of not-nice stuff I'd expect out of a person like Rainnewt.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much more Desiree could tell us.
Rainewt hadn't shown up at the cave or camp while she was there. Not that she knew, in any case.
She'd overheard them talking about him a little, but most of what she discovered was that Rainnewt paid very well and that the bandits were kind of greedy and also kind of lazy.
"If we can secure them in time, we'll be able to ask some probing questions," Mathilde said. "But I wouldn't rely on them."
"The bandits?" I asked. "Or the questions."
"Both. Rainnewt doesn't strike me as a fool. He will likely have some degree of compartmentalization in his operation. It would be idiotic of him not to. The bandits likely reported to someone, who reported to him. Or there might even be more links to the chain."
"Then why use his real name?" Booksie asked.
That was a great question. "By shapeshifting, he could have passed himself off as anyone. I don't think the average bandit has heard all about Rainnewt and his reputation."
Mathilde frowned. "True. We can only speculate, but I imagine that reputation might play a large part in his schemes." At my confused look, she went on. "Captain Bunch, you and your friends have developed something of a reputation yourselves. If you were to show up at the capital on a mission from the guild, they'd certainly offer you more respect now than they would have months prior. The same might be true of Rainnewt. He's establishing himself as a contender on the national stage."
"But as a bad guy," I said.
"As a person with few scruples and some amount of personal and financial power," Mathilde said, her tone suggesting it was a correction. "Certain people will flock to that kind of power. Unfortunately."
"Oh," I said. That was... really unfortunate. I could recall a few people that had been swayed to Rainnewt's cause. If I could call his goals a cause. They weren't the nicest sorts of people.
"He's truly a cunning and conniving foe," Desiree said with a serious nod. "Even I would be tempted by the prospects of working with someone who has proven quite prodigious and powerful. When a three-tailed fox speaks, one does well to listen."
I supposed that there was some credibility that came with being a world-renowned bad guy, but still. Why couldn't people just... not follow the obvious criminal?
There was a knock at the door, and after Mathilde told the knock-er to enter, the secretary from the front came in with a bundle of clothes.
Booksie took them gratefully, and I resisted the urge to Clean them right away. The only shoes were some sandals, but that was better than being barefoot, and there were socks too.
I nodded along. "I'll help you clean. Promise!"
With that, the three of us ambled our way across Port Royal. Desiree's head was on a swivel, taking it all in while her tails wagged to and fro behind her. She was enjoying the walk, at least. Booksie was walking... well, she was putting one foot in front of the other, and when I wrapped an arm around her shoulder to give her some support, she was quick to lean into my side.
We did make it to her place soon enough, and without being accosted, kidnapped, attacked, or otherwise bothered. I noticed a larger gathering of Cholondee's ruffians than before on one street corner, some guards on the other, and an assortment of adventurer-looking people casually spread out across the otherwise quiet street.
None of them bothered us as Booksie slipped into the alley towards the back of her place. "I, ah, didn't take my keys with me," she explained. We came onto the backdoor, and Booksie sighed. "This is a mess," she said.
"Hey, it's not that bad," I said as I rubbed circles on her back. "A carpenter can fix all of this in no time."
"I've seen greater damage from enthusiastic sparring. Fear not, long-eared friend, I'm certain that with some small effort your palatial home will be returned to its former splendour!"
Booksie smiled. "Thank you," she said.
We moved in, then I started picking things up right away. It looked as though a few more curious people had wandered in and poked around, but things didn't seem that much more out of place than they had been that morning.
Booksie glared at the room, then she stomped over to her bedroom and shut the door. A couple of minutes later, while I was still sorting through things, she emerged in her own pants and blouse and with proper shoes on. "Sleep can wait," she said.
I smiled. Yes, this would make her more tired later, but I figured that taking action would be much better for her mental health than just wallowing and being sad.
Some twenty minutes into our cleaning, Booksie straightened, and her ears flicked upwards. "Oh," she said.
"Oh?" I asked.
Then the whole building shook.
"Rhawr is here," she said.
The next thing I knew, Booksie had bolted out the back door.
When I followed after her, Desiree just behind me, I discovered Booksie with her front pressed up against a familiar dragon's face. Her arms couldn't even reach all the way around his neck, but she was hugging him anyway, and Rhawr was returning the favour, pressing a single digit into Booksie's back.
I smiled. This was, without a doubt, worth all the trouble.
***