Lorian decided to hit the office to check the progress of the ongoing relief operation.
Unlike last time, there was an organized queue of people lining up, checking their documents, talking to each other in the queue, and socializing.
Noticing Lorian approach, they all looked at him and bowed.
Lorian's face was not well known to people.
However, there was only one noble who would walk with a scary Blackpanther Beastman in the streets of Veridia—the Prince of Thorne, Lorian.
Lorian nodded to all with regal grace, waving his hand gently as acknowledgement of their salutations.
Although the entrance was crowded, everyone, without being asked, made way for the royal entourage so that they would not offend the royalty by touching him by mistake.
Inside, everyone was doing their job meticulously.
Rylan was too buried in his task to notice Lorian's entrance. However, as the citizen he was attending to got up from his seat, Rylan also noticed abruptly and bowed.
Lorian asked everyone to take a short break as he had some discussion with Zara.
Zara informed Lorian that 6 persons had approached her with information that seemed crucial.
Although she paid accordingly to all, she had a hunch 2 of them were just faking it.
According to all the information gathered, the bar "Sea Shanties" in the dock was being frequented by a lot of shady people frequently, who were even suspicious for naturally unruly savage sailors who frequented the joint.
Also, according to two fishermen, they had seen a light in the deserted cove on the northern side of the port.
One had mentioned an abandoned warehouse in the heart of the city. She had seen lights flickering in it at dead of night at times from her room.
She had vouched there must be something going on there.
Lorian found the last information very intriguing and decided to work upon it.
Lorian had thought of asking Zara to join the search, but looking at her condition, as she was still limping a bit, he dropped the idea and decided to check the warehouse by himself.
He uttered a few words of encouragement to everyone working there and left the office.
Their destination was the warehouse first.
However, Kaelen suggested they should first check the house the informant lady had claimed to reside in.
It was important to check whether her claim was true or not.
The house was standing half burnt, like many other buildings around, bearing the mark of that tragic night.
Kaelen still did not go directly to the home; rather, he made a detour and decided to inquire about the lady around.
Lorian was heavily impressed and realized Kaelen was far more intelligent than he had given him credit for till now. Lorian had always underestimated Kaelen, mistaking his adherence to a strict code of honor as idiotic. He begged forgiveness from Kaelen in his mind.
Kaelen returned to Lorian and shared his findings; the lady seemed to be a genuine one, and one beggar also said that the abandoned warehouse was haunted! Sometimes, in the middle of the night, light would emerge from inside the warehouse—for a short while. Strange noises could be heard from it at night.
Lorian realized that the abandoned warehouse had some mystery going on with it.
They decided to check on it, but Kaelen again stopped Lorian in his tracks.
Before Lorian could ask, Kaelen put a finger on his lips to ask him to be silent and then pointed toward the direction where an alley was opening to the space in front of the warehouse.
From that shadowy alley emerged a shadowy figure.
Lorian felt he had seen him somewhere but could not recognize his identity.
The man appeared in front of the warehouse and seemed to suddenly vanish.
The three tiptoed to the warehouse, which was empty at this point. No one was there apart from a few empty crates.
On the door there was a big lock hanging. Lorian was no detective, but from all the detective movies and series he had seen and stories he had read, he could tell the lock had not been touched for years. A thick layer of dust and cobwebs was around it. There had to be something, a liver or something. But there were none.
Kaelean touched the wall and had a thick layer of dust on his fingers and his fingerprint on the spot where he had touched.
The person could not just vanish; there had to be some entry point, which they could not find.
Jax sniffed the air around and ascertained that the person was really here and his smell trail was still lingering where they were standing.
Lorian felt at a loss on what to do, as he needed just one clue, one hint, to guess where he could go.
Suddenly he recalled he already had a way to find the clue.
It was his reward he obtained from the 'Slot Machine'—'HiddenDetails.'
As the description said, "….It is about spotting things that are literally hidden in plain sight, usually minor, overlooked items or clues in his immediate surroundings.
The power manifests thrice after consumption of the scroll and remains for the next 24 hours.
When you are lost, at your wit's end, or miss something obvious, this power will manifest automatically!"
But before using that, another thought crossed his mind.
He did not know what was awaiting him there. He had no idea who or what was on the other side of the door.
They could end up in a trap, or there could be a squad of guards awaiting them at the entrance.
It was literally a gamble, which was too risky and could be the last mistake of the three.
It was even possible that the person who just entered had noticed them and was waiting for them, being fully armed.
And suddenly it hit his mind: who was that person anyway?
He was sure he had seen this person before.
Lorian asked Kaelen if he had seen this person before.
Kaelen nodded. "Yes, my lord, he is Arthaz, brother of Alkaz."