act10mini

A-Are you alright?

Quercus... Green Spark is gone... All gone.

I know... *sigh*...

I was just about to ask you.

I haven't heard anything on my end, but do you have any ideas? Made any enemies?

Me? Enemies? No chance here. And Susie definitely wouldn't.

There's been a lot going on in the city lately. The timing is uncanny. I couldn't help but wonder how everything's connected.

A couple days ago, someone tried to kidnap a city councilor in the Infected community.

Who could be so bold?

Luckily, Skyfire was there, so things didn't take a turn for the worse.

Now the Guards are all clamoring that there are criminals here in the community, though they haven't done any additional investigations either.

I saw on my way here. They posted notices and wanted posters everywhere. They're even giving out rewards for tips.

Bounties for suspicious people in the Infected community too... You have to hand it to them.

So you owned the shop... that they burned down...

Miss Haze!

Oh, she's awake.

Where am I...? Am I alive? Or is this what the afterlife looks like?

Yeah, you're alive.

This is a Rhodes Island office... They're the ones who saved you.

Rhodes Island... I didn't expect they'd actually help the Infected...

You said 'they' burned down the shop... What do you mean?

I was being hunted by two thugs that night, and hid inside a place called the Green Spark. Didn't expect them to toss in a firebomb though.

A firebomb?

Someone was hunting you down? Why?!

No clue. Maybe because I overheard them talking about kidnapping some 'old councilor fart' and something about bombs? They probably wanted to silence me.

Wait! Back up!

They were going to kidnap a councilor? When was this?

And what's this about bombs?

How... How many days was I out?

Today's November 28th, Miss Haze.

So it was five nights ago... on the night of the 23rd.

The day before they took those people to the factory...

If you don't mind, could you tell me where you ran into those two thugs?

Some ten minutes later.

This location on the map... Here, right?

That's right.

The buildings here have been left empty because of how close they are to the abandoned district.

Sounds like the perfect place to hatch a scheme.

Two Siracusans... Must be immigrants from there.

And I doubt they're Infected if they didn't think twice before setting fire to a building in the community.

Most likely mercenaries, or thugs working for the mafia.

If we know where they are, shouldn't we go pay them a visit?

I'd recommend against that.

This is well beyond Rhodes Island's usual scope of business. We aren't here to keep the peace.

That's true...

But now that the Guards have a bounty out on them, we might just get a reward for turning over this information.

It's not much, but it'll help pay for Miss Susie's losses.

Right!

Huh? Is that okay, really? Shouldn't Miss Haze get the reward?

Let's just call it my way of paying you back... for saving my life.

I was the whole reason your shop got burned down in the first place...

Oh... It's not your fault. If you'd hid anywhere else, they would've burned down someone else's house instead.

Besides, the one who saved you was an Infected worker named Red.

I don't think it's such a bad idea. Helping those two bastards get caught will blow off some steam, at least.

Thanks, Miss Haze... Quercus...

Huh? Don't rub my ears...

Why are you being so polite with me now?

It's settled, then. I'll help you put a report together, Miss Susie. You just need to take it down to the Guard station.

Right.

What are you looking at?

There's a kitten across the street, sunbathing against the wall.

Are you jealous?

Of course.

Oh... they broke a flower pot... ran away, too.

I'm wondering. When will you chase me out of here?

Once Rhodes Island accepts an patient who's having an acute Oripathy attack, we won't let them leave until their condition stabilizes.

I can't pay for treatment, you know?

No need to worry.

Of course, there are options available if you want to continue your treatment afterwards. I'll fill you in on the details once you get better.

By the way...

If there's anything you want to discuss, you're free to talk to me about it.

My little 'Big Hat of the Witch Forest.'

You...

I never expected to meet a survivor of the Witch Forest.

The Witch Forest? You mean the organization that took in Infected Casters?

That's them.

If I remember correctly, five years ago, they refused to cooperate with the Duke, and so the Victorian Army...

Can we... talk about something else?

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...

No need to apologize~

I made my peace with that a long time ago. I was even prepared to, well, bite the dust in this city.

Though, sometimes, I still do want to put up a fight. See more kittens.

Now that I think about it, if I didn't hide inside Susie's shop that night, those Siracusans wouldn't have burned her shop down.

Quercus? Are you back?

Good morning. What's wrong? You look exhausted.

From the looks of it, the investigation was a success?

Those Guards are absolutely hopeless cases! How could they wash their hands of it after putting up all those wanted posters?! Are they just waiting for the suspects to turn themselves in?!

And where did Grani go? I was hoping to ask her to look into the factory...

You'd better not count on Grani too much. Her status as a collaborating operator of Rhodes Island puts her in quite a tricky position.

Strange...

What's the matter?

I didn't notice until just now, but the building where Miss Haze ran into those Siracusan thugs... is right next to the factory.

Huh? You're right!

Miss Haze, you said they used military-grade incendiaries to burn down Susie's shop, right?

That's right!

Is something wrong?

If I remember correctly, the factory is owned by Councilor Bishmer. They make military-grade weapons there, and it was shut down a month and a half ago for 'equipment maintenance'.

But the factory was completely empty when I got kidnapped by those fake Infected! Did someone steal their equipment?

The papers certainly haven't reported on anything like that.

Are you telling me... the thugs are working with Councilor Bishmer?