After hearing Nightingale's request, Smiles had a very serious look in his eyes. "Hmph. You're going to have to give me a little more detail than that Warlock. There's a number of vicious organizations going around these days. I won't lie, I did know that there was something going on in the Maze but I don't know who the actual culprits are. There were sightings of a known mercenary group who were frequenting different areas of Gamula at random times. It seems they would appear and then disappear just as fast. It's not uncommon for different groups to pass through here, but for them to be coming through here at least 5 times over the year I had a hunch something was going on. That mercenary group has been known to be involved with various different criminal organizations. So unless you have something else for me to go off of I really can't tell you anything else." Smiles said as he looked me right in the eyes. At this point I was sure I had made a fool of myself in front of these two, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from tracking Parro. With Oli and Sid somewhere out there in the world, there was no way I could let a man like that keep living. "…The man's name. The one in charge of it all… His name was Parro Ash. Have you heard of him?" I questioned while maintaining my eye contact with Smiles. I wasn't going to make the same mistake I did before. When I uttered his name, Smiles' eyes grew wide for a moment and then he took another drag of his cigar. "Ahhhh, so you were there huh? Damn. That wasn't a name I was expecting to hear. Fooo. Well, you guys are out of luck. That's not someone I'm getting involved with. My backer has warned me to steer clear of that man." Smiles said with a concerning look in his eyes. Nightingale responded before I could say anything. "Look, we're not asking you to do anything. All we need is the information. Taking the gravity of this situation, on top of the herbs and the artifact… I'll also throw in a straw doll made by one of my apprentices. I'm sure you have heard of it. It has various different uses, but most of all it can be used to enact a harmful curse on someone without any traces. For your line of work, I'm sure this will be useful. So if you're willing to provide the information, we can make a deal." Smiles made another devilish grin and began laughing. "HAHAHA, interesting Warlock… So this really is important huh? Very well then. You have a deal. I'll take the risk. So… Where do I begin? The man named Parro Ash is someone who has only recently begun showing himself to the world. Not much is known about his origins, but what is known is that he came from a small island located just off of the coast of the holy kingdom. At least, there used to be an island there. For some reason the entire island seemed to vanish overnight some years ago. I cannot provide any information regarding that so don't even ask. I don't involve myself with anything that has to do with the holy kingdom. Anyways, this guy randomly showed up a few years ago and seemed to have strong connections to multiple serious organizations. The few I am willing to mention include the Masked Syndicate, the Red Order, and the organization he seemingly created… the Absent Eye. Quite a humorous name considering he's known to be blind, though the organization itself is nothing to laugh at… Regarding their whereabouts or base of operations, I know absolutely nothing and neither does anyone else. That isn't for a lack of trying though, it's simply that whoever tries to investigate them completely vanishes without a trace. Once again, my backer warned me to steer clear of them entirely." Smiles finished with his crocodilian hands clasped together. Both Nightingale and I simultaneously seemed to pick up that he was holding something else back. We both looked at each other and then Nightingale responded first, "If you have anything else, please do tell us. We need to be thorough with this." Smiles let out a deep sigh and had a perturbed look on his beastly face. "I do have one more piece of information, but you're gonna need to trade me information of equal value if you want me to let it slip. This info isn't something I can mess around with. If it makes its way back to me I'll meet a fate worse than death. So unless you have something I can bring to my backer, then our conversation will have to end here." He said in a serious tone. Now it was my turn, "I think I have something for you that you would be interested in." I responded. Smiles gave me a skeptical look and scoffed. "Hmph, alright then pipsqueak. Let's see if you hold any value." His remarks obviously pissed me off, but we needed this information. "I don't know who the god is that has blessed him, but I've seen first hand what his ability can do." I said matter of factly. Smiles eyes lit up and seemed very interested. "HAHA, good. That will do. There was absolutely nothing known about whether he had some kind of ability, but it was speculated. At least that was until now heh heh. If you've got intel on his ability…. Then we may be able to figure out which bastard of a god is pulling his strings. That will surely make my backer happy. So go on then." Smiles said as he delightedly smoked his cigar. I looked back towards Nightingale to try and gauge what his thoughts were. He seemed surprised that I had more information, and nodded for me to go ahead. "Well from what I saw, he seemed to be able to control people's actions and even see through their eyes, as if he was placing his own mind in theirs. It seemed like he always knew what was going on, like we were all just playing into the palms of his hands the entire time. There were moments when some of the kids in the prison seemed to change. Their eyes went hazy and they began doing things that made no sense. All the while Parro would just laugh like he knew something I didn't. However, I don't know if his ability is as simple as being able to control people. If it was that easy for him then he could have just used this on all of us. But that wasn't the case, instead he made us train to get stronger every day. Then if you weren't able to keep up with the others, you were seen as a weak link and were to be sacrificed into the giant pit that was in the center of the prison. He made the kids there sacrifice each other, he didn't even lift a finger. I don't know what exactly the purpose of the pit was, but it was not some ordinary pit. It was like a bottomless abyss. There was something else too… When many of the kids came under his control, they began chanting the words, the Meek." I finished with a grim look on my face. Just recounting my experience was enough to incite a fiery rage inside of me. I almost felt myself losing control until Nightingale put his hand on my shoulder and said, "It's okay Ivan, that's all done now. However, your words are definitely intriguing even for me." He said as he placed a finger on his temple and seemed to drift into a deep thought. This was the first time that Smiles had put down his cigar. It was as if the entire mood had shifted. "Kid, are you absolutely sure about that? There are definitely abilities that can affect people's minds, but in many kingdoms if you are someone blessed with any kind of ability like that… Usually they are killed very early in life or persecuted relentlessly. Those abilities are seen as the ultimate threat and are very much despised by people all around the world. Of course it's for obvious reasons, there are legends of many villains of the past that coveted skills involving mind control. It was said there is even a lost kingdom that was utterly destroyed from the inside out due to a blessing of that nature." Smiles responded with a cautious tone. When I really began to think about it, Parro wasn't even the only person I knew of that had an ability relating to the mind… The man Silas I had met was also able to render people unconscious. I don't know if the two of them are related to the same god, but they definitely did not have the same goal. Silas was clearly in it for money, and even gave me advice on how to escape. I'll never know what his true intentions were, but I cannot forgive him regardless. He was the reason I ended up in that situation to begin with. Parro's ability on the other hand was much more ominous, to be able to manipulate someone enough to kill themselves was just… Insanity.
