Mon'Ter

Chapter 11: The Breles city investigation

Crowds of people could be seen on the street, walking around the markets, stalls, and many more. It was still broad daylight, with the sun at its zenith. 

A cloudless sky reigned upwards while winds blew gently, this was the season of summer, it gave high temperatures to most places which made heavy labor work and especially farming rather difficult under the rays of the sun. 

Inside of a certain shop, a middle aged man grunted angrily while he stared at a particular few customers. Two young girls and a weird looking young man in tow. The three of them had been disturbing him ever since they had walked into his shop with their endless questions.  

"Like I said, a lot of children have been missing but that is a usual thing in the slums! Who cares about those stinking, poor rats? I have no one nor anything to feel suspicions of!" bellowed the middle aged man in an annoyed tone. 

"Come on, old Bobby. You are always the one who is interested in gossips like this the most. My friends here need to know about the disappearance of the children." said the young girl with light leather armor in a pleading voice.  

"Shana, my girl. How am I suddenly supposed to tell you something I don't know about?" replied old Bobby helplessly while he shook his head.  

Sighing as she saw that the middle aged man really didn't know, Elyenora placed her right hand on Shana's left shoulder while she spoke, "It's okay, Shana. Let's try to search for information in other areas."  

Shana smiled bitterly, then gave a quick farewell to the middle aged man named Bobby, and the group proceeded to walk out of the shop.  

Moving her gaze at Elyenora and Mon’Ter, Shana spoke with a dejected tone, "Sorry guys. It's been a while since we started searching but it looks like the citizens of the city keep a tight lip on this matter."  

Waving her hand at Shana, Elyenora replied. “It’s alright, don’t beat yourself up over it.”  

She then contemplated for a moment while she organized what she had found so far in her mind. 'Looks like the city has been terrorized for too long. The people are afraid, and I don't need to take a second guess of who or what they are afraid of.'  

The people they had met so far were known for being the local information brokers, yet they tried to pretend like they didn’t know anything instead of saying something they should not and revealing the secrets they hid. 

'I had been wondering if Jalid had hired the thugs in the slums to steal kids or directly done it in publicly. Where did he hide them? Using the warehouses of any local outlaw organizations or perhaps right under his own mansion? There's so much I need to know.' Elyenora thought to herself as the trio walked on the street. 

Despite knowing who was behind the scheme and what it was for, the group still didn’t know the location at which it was being done, nor did they have sufficient proof to take him down with after freeing the hopefully still surviving children. 

“Ely... What should we do... Now?” Mon’Ter whispered in question, wondering what the next plan of action might be. 

“To be honest I’m not too sure... If we can’t find any information through the brokers then we’d have to do our own investigation on the matter, however that will take a while...” Elyenora replied, still contemplating on all the troubles. 

“There are a few other... Shadier people we could ask...” Shana pitched in, “Although they’re not likely to say anything without sufficient coin on the table... So, I didn’t bring them up.” 

“Coin? You think they’d speak up for coin, Shana?” Elyenora asked, grinning. “Because I’ve got quite a bit now, after taking that man’s bag of coins from before.” 

“You stole his money...?” Shana asked in surprise. 

“Yes... He bad bad...” Mon’Ter replied. 

“Still...” Shana spoke up again, seemingly against the idea of taking the enemy’s coin bag. 

“When you’ve done something bad you end up having to pay a price for it, he got stuck in the wilderness with no possessions, I’d say it's fair.” Elyenora commented. 

‘He lost teeth too...’ Mon’Ter thought to himself, still wondering on how they could find more information. 

“Anyway,” Elyenora spoke up again, “Let’s go see those last information brokers of yours, I got us a gold coin from the guy so it should be enough.” 

“Ely...” Mon’Ter spoke up, stopping in his tracks. 

“Hm?” Elyenora stopped a few feet away, turning back to Mon’Ter. “What is it Mon’Ter? Did you think of something?” She asked. 

“Me... Isn’t doing anything right now... So, let me go look... Around the city for clues...” He muttered in response. “We meet up later at night if me finds something...” 

“Oh? Well that does sound like a better option than what we’re doing now...” Elyenora contemplated with a hand on her chin, “Alrighty then! Me and Shana will go meet the last information brokers while you do some digging on your own. Sounds like a good plan! If you hear anything about Jalid Talherd, children being abducted or elixirs then do keep an ear up.”  

“Yes... Me knows...” Mon’Ter muttered and turned to a different direction, “See you later... Ely...”  

Without much sound or disruption of the public, Mon’Ter simply walked away and vanished into the crowds. 

“He’s a strange one...” Shana commented, “Can’t talk too well and yet he’s so powerful with just his bare hands...” 

“Mon’Ter is a rather special case,” Elyenora replied, “And that's why I trust him to do well on this, he’s good at what he does after all.” 

“Hmm... Let’s hope he’s luckier than we’ve been so far then...” Shana said as the two walked through the market place, “Let’s head towards the place with the last informants, they’re a little ways away from here.” 

“Yup, can’t be dillydallying over here, so let’s hurry!” Elyenora said and continued on with Shana at a quicker pace.  

… 

A few hours passed since Mon’Ter had separated himself from the two girls, he had blended in well with the crowd at first but soon realized that these places wouldn’t be good for finding the information he needed. 

‘A quieter place... Should be more likely to have people talking about shadier things...’ He thought as he went on top of the rooftops. 

Dashing across building from building, he listened in on anything that could be related to what he needed to know. 

With his senses of hearing it was easy to pick up lots of banter between people whom you’d usually be incapable of noticing. 

Muggings, robberies, brawls and the like that happened across streets and alleyways were things Mon’Ter easily noticed, however they weren’t what he needed so he simply ignored them. 

The city was quite large, so finding people talking about one specific thing wasn’t as easy as you might think. 

‘Do people... Really talk about this stuff out in the open?’ Mon’Ter couldn’t help but think, having traversed so much of the town already with no progress. 

Night time soon fell, it was a bit past midnight already which meant that the time for criminal activity was ripe, Mon’Ter knew that because this was the perfect time to hunt out in the wilderness too. 

Stealthily moving through the alleys, Mon’Ter finally after a long while stumbled upon something rather interesting. 

Two men were standing in the middle of a dark alleyway so they could have a chat while drinking. Their topic was what had intrigued Mon’Ter, so he quickly jumped up on the rooftops again and listened in from right above the two. 

“Hey, did you hear about that family that got killed in the slums?” A man spoke while leaning against the wall with a bottle of wine in hand, his companion sitting on the floor beside him while drinking booze from a bottle of his own. 

“I thought it was suicide? Husband and Wife killed themselves while leaving a six year old girl behind.” The other man replied, drinking a sip as he did so. 

“No, sadly not. I was there when it happened you know? Jalid Talherd’s men again...” The first man explained. 

“Talherd? May the goddess of love smite that cretin... I heard the child was taken into the orphanage afterwards, only to disappear as soon as it got there. Bastard must have taken her as well, poor girl.” The second commented, putting his bottle down on the ground due to feeling a bit of pity for the child. 

“You got that right,” The first replied, “I think Old man Willson was the one to both grab her and take er’ away as well as do in her parents. That guy will do any nasty work for money I swear...” 

“Bah!” The second scoffed, “Old man Willson is a piece of human cr*p that needs to be served a beating if you ask me, bastard gave me a black eye one time for bumping into him at a tavern! Stole all my money and left me in an alley way sleeping in the trash! I was drunk damn it and he bumped into me on purpose! Did it just to make a fool out of me... I swear I’ll tear his ears off one day...”  

“Pff, hahaha!” The first laughed, “Then why don’t you go knock on his door right now? I’m sure he’d be mostly pleased by a nightly visit!” 

“Nah man... The guy’s served in the army, he’s a strong oldie... I wouldn’t stand a chance even given his old age. But hey, a man can at least dream of vengeance, can’t he? Hahaha!” The second laughed, grabbing his drink again and chugging a mouthful. 

Mon’Ter having overheard their conversation from up atop the building realized two things. 

One, this old man named Willson had taken in a child. Making it vanish from the so called orphanage. Meaning it was a child kidnapping like what they were investigating. 

Two, these two men knew where this man lived, and they could take Mon’Ter there. 

‘Me smells... An interesting hunt...’ With that thought, Mon’Ter smirked and jumped down in between the two men. 

“Hello... There...” He muttered, surprising the two quite a bit with his timely appearance, “Where does this... Old man Willson live?” He asked quietly. 

“W-Who the hell are you?” The first man asked, standing to the right of Mon’Ter. 

“Mon’Ter is Mon’Ter.” replied Mon’Ter, shifting his gaze towards the man, “Now where is old man Willson?” 

The second man slowly got up whilst holding the wall in a tipsy state, “What’s it to you, big guy?” He looked up at Mon’Ter’s tall frame. 

“Me must... Speak to him, so tell me where he lives...” Mon’Ter replied, now turning to the second person. 

They were both kind of drunk, so this situation didn’t bother them all too much despite the absurdity of a nearly two meter tall cloaked man jumping down from a building in between them. 

“Well...” The second man looked at Mon’Ter, figuring him for a strong giant. “Will you rough him up for me?” He asked with a grin. 

“Dude, seriously? You’re asking a random guy to beat up the old man?” The first asked. 

“Sure! Why not! It’s an opportunity! Gahahaha!” The second laughed. 

“Me will... If he doesn’t tell me what me wants...” Mon’Ter replied, “Now where is he?” 

“Hehehe, knowing that guy he’ll have a tight lip... Come with me... Mon’Ter? Right? Yeah, come on I’ll take ya to his place!” The second waved his hand around to signal Mon’Ter to follow as he walked towards the exit of the alley. 

Mon’Ter of course followed, the other man shortly came after them as well while grumbling. “You’ll get us both in trouble... Stupid idiot with that vengeful mindset...” 

About thirty minutes later, the three men found themselves in front of a small house that wasn’t too far away from the slums. You could even say it was on the outskirts. 

It was mostly made out of wood and definitely wasn’t one where a wealthy person lived, but he seemed to get by fine. 

“This is Old man Willson’s home... Now go get em, I fully expect to see the man with a bloodied face on the morn! Ya got it big guy?” The man said as he glared at Mon’Ter and pressed on his chest with a finger. 

“Maybe...” Mon’Ter murmured, prompting a tongue click from the man before him. 

“Tsk, come on... I’m even willing to help ya-” Before he could finish his sentence, his friend put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Man, just drop it already... You’ve already got us into some kind of trouble here so let’s leave before something else happens.” The guy spoke. 

“... Fine... No use arguing, I guess...” The man replied and agreed to leave. 

“Thank you... For guidance...” Mon’Ter looked to them and spoke. 

“Huh? No problem big man...” The man waved and the two’s figures soon faded into the background. 

Mon’Ter turned his attention back to the house, walking closer and up to the door. 

‘There’s one man inside... Must be Willson...” Mon’Ter thought to himself and grabbed the doorknob. 

It was locked. 

Sadly for Willson, a mere wooden door wasn’t going to do much in this case as Mon’Ter simply pushed it slightly and broke the lock. 

He opened the door and walked inside, it was a rather big living room with a few doors, one of which led to the old man’s bedroom. 

Walking to the bedroom, Mon’Ter opened the door and went inside where the old man was sleeping softly while tucked underneath his bedsheets. 

He had a balding hairline and a short brown colored beard that was showing signs of graying out. 

“Wake up.” Mon’Ter spoke up. 

“W-What... Who’s there...?” Old man Willson asked groggily. 

“Mon’Ter.” The intruder replied. 

“Mon’Ter who?” The old man asked as he sat up, rubbing his eyes a bit. 

“Mon’Ter... Mon’Ter...?” Mon’Ter replied in relevant confusion. 

“Mon’Ter Mon’Ter?? What kind of weirdo name is that, son?” The old man asked once more as he stood up from his bed and looked towards the man who had broken into his home. “The heck’s a lad like you doing in mi house? Get the hell outa here before I beat yo scrawny looking tall ass back to the damn caves they found you in ya bozo!” Willson bellowed angrily. 

It hadn’t been the first time someone had broken into his home, perhaps trying to rob him or the like. 

Each time he’d caught the criminals he’d beat them black and blue, nearly killing them in the process. 

Not this time however... 

“Tell me where... kidnapped children are being taken...” Mon’Ter spoke, seemingly ignoring the previous comment of the old man. 

“Did you not hear what I said? Get the f*ck out of my property!” Willson bellowed once more. 

“Me said... Where are the kidnapped children taken?” Mon’Ter asked again, extending his hand towards Willson and grabbing his shoulder tightly. 

“Huh... That’s a strong grip...” Willson murmured, a bit of worry floating around him. 

“Answer.” Mon’Ter spoke, tightening his grip and breaking the old man’s shoulder. 

“AAGH!” Willson grunted, pulling himself back, “The heck is wrong with ya mate? I ain’t telling you squat!”  

“Tell me.” Mon’Ter replied, stepping forward in a threatening manner. “Now.” 

Realizing that further denial would not be worth it, Willson replied, “Ugh... Fine, no use in hiding it at the cost of mi own life... Yer a strong lad, I’ll give you that.” He spoke, holding his shoulder all the while. “I’ll tell you where it is, so leave my damn house and lemme sleep, you muffin head!” 

“No... You’re coming with me...” Mon’Ter replied, grabbing the man’s hand which’s shoulder he had broken and pulling him out on the street. 

“Ouch! Wait! Stop it you- Aargh! Stop it you, numbskull! That crap hurts!” Willson protested to no avail as Mon’Ter continually pulled him outside and away from his home. 

Without much of a choice in the matter, Willson got dragged and used as a guide towards the destination which Mon’Ter had wanted to find. 

They soon arrived at the base of a tall tower that connected the city walls, it was used as a watch tower. 

At its base, there were quite a bit of greeneries and trees that served as a part of a public park, perfect for hiding a hidden entrance within the wall. 

Willson showed Mon’Ter that there was a hidden brick which once pushed opened up a secret staircase that led down beneath the city, much like in Cloran but on a larger scale. 

“Hoooh... This is interesting...” Mon’Ter commented, looking at the man named Willson and giving him a thumbs up with his bandaged hand. “Good job.”  

“Tsk... Can I go home now?” Willson asked in a begrudged tone. 

“No, you’ll tell someone...” Mon’Ter said and bonked the man lightly on the head, knocking him out instantly and possibly giving him a concussion. “It’s better like this...” 

Having done that, Mon’Ter placed the man down inside of a bush and walked back to the hidden entrance. 

‘This should be the place... And also, evidence for Ely...’ Mon’Ter thought, ‘Me should go tell her...’ 

With that thought in mind, Mon’Ter activated his senses that sharpened his slit like eye. 

His hairs all stood on end, be it his white mane or his actual long dark hair underneath his hood. It was a side effect of his extreme senses being unleashed. 

He had to look through the presences all over the city so he could feel out Elyenora’s whereabouts. 

His thought process was that she’d most likely be inside of a hotel room and either waiting for him to come by or perhaps sleeping by now as it was quite late.  

Another option was that she would be at Shana’s own home, together the girl herself. 

However, despite those assumptions a surprised expression filled Mon’Ter facial features as he located his companion. 

“Why is Ely...” He muttered, gazing at the staircase.

“Down there?” 

...