David walked toward the town hall, giving Niala a piggy-back ride as she tried to catch her breath.

  “You lasted a whole 6 minutes this time. It's an improvement!” He said.

  “I... one day... I'll... be... the one... left... standing...” Niala replied, panting, ears collapsed, tail dangling.

  “Hmm. Good spirit but so far poor execution.”

  She didn't reply for a while, just laying against his back and resting. Eventually she quietly spoke. “I'm ok now. Let me down so I can walk the rest of the way and keep the little dignity I still have.”

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw that she was still half-collapsed against his back, so he kept going.

  “You know this is somewhat your fault right? If you weren't so obviously curious about that letter... Remember that saying? Curiosity shamed the cat?”

  To his surprise, she didn't even attempt slapping him, instead he felt her burrow her face into his back a little bit more.

  “I know, I'm sorry. It's just... my life has been so much more interesting since I met you. I just kind of want to get involved...”

  No easy reply came to him.

  She continued. “I shouldn't butt into your job, I'm sorry, I'm being a bother.” He felt her grip his shirt a little before releasing her hold. “Just let me down here, I'll let you do your things in peace and I'll go back to take care of my new home, like I should be doing.” She finished quietly.

  He groaned. "There's a limit to how adorably meek you're allowed to be, you know? Do you seriously think I would let you get involved if I didn't enjoy it at least little bit? Because I do, you know? I've had fun. You're fun.” He gently scolded.

  He'd felt her tense up a little but she didn't say anything, so he kept walking.

  “Let me down.” Niala suddenly commanded. He obliged her.

  She kept her head low and power walked ahead of him, rigidly marching ahead.

  “Are you ok? You seem upset.” He asked with concern.

  “I'm not upset.” She flatly replied.

  “The last time I asked if you were upset and you replied like that, you were actually upset.” He pointed out.

  She spun around. “I'm not upset!” She exclaimed, her face hot-pepper red. She glared at him for a second before turning back around and towards the town hall.

  He blinked and followed her, unsure how to deal with the tension now hovering between them.

  “I'm not sure what I did but I'm sorry. I'm happy you're interested in my work. I'm not bothered at all, it's just that my work can get dangerous and I'd rather you didn't get hurt.” He softly said.

  Ahead of him Niala stopped. Her ears twitching and her tail rigid, before she crouched down and pulled at her hair, groaning.

  “Founding gods you're an idiot!” She shouted to the sky, staying crouched for a few seconds before getting back up and resuming her walk towards the town hall, a bit less mechanically, her tail swaying timidly, never looking at him all the while.

  David, for his part, was mentally congratulating himself for having guessed a correct answer. A Niala insulting or physically attacking him was a happy Niala.

  Which was a little weird, if he had to admit.

  By the time they got to the town hall Niala was mostly back to her usual self, if a little subdued.

  David presented himself at the reception desk and was directed to one of the meeting hall, being told the mayor and guard captain would be with them shortly.

  He thanked the desk attendant and made his way to the hall, motioning for Niala to follow him.

  Once there, they sat in silence for a short while, until the door opened and the dogkin mayor Caleb stepped in, followed by a Tridget in guard officer uniform.

  David observed the Tridget. They were one of the more peculiar high race of the realms, and relatively rare in civilized and urban areas. He himself had only interacted with a few other Tridgets before.

  They were one of the very few plant high races that could hold a conversation and integrate into civilized society. Every Tridgets were in fact three individuals whose bodies interlocked with each other to form one bigger, taller individual.

  Stolen story; please report.

  When seen in civilized spaces they usually wore clothes and walked on two legs, giving the appearance of a normal, if woodsy, humanoid. In the wilds they were much more likely to be naked and run on 4 limbs or swing from tree branch to tree branch like some sort of double-ended trapeze artist.

  He glanced at Nalia, who seemed to mostly be curious about the summon and showed no particular reaction to the Tridget, which he guessed made sense as Majestic, her town of birth, was a massive city with resident and visitors from all over the realms. She must have had plenty of interactions with other Tridgets before.

  The tall and deliberate mayor Caleb approached the two of them.

  “Free Courier Wayman, thank you for coming to see us. This is guard captain Ma-Ke-Lo. I don't believe you have had the chance to meet?” He said, introducing the Tridget who greeted David with a bow of their head.

  David shook his head. “I have not.” He turned to Ma-Ke-Lo. “Your paths be one, seedlings.” He said to them, slightly bowing.

  Ma-Ke-Lo bowed their head a little bit lower this time. “And your paths be many, fleshling.” They greeted back, before softly smiling. “The traditional greetings of our people is not well known outside of our villages. Have you travelled to one before?”

  David smiled in return. That had been a trick question. Tridgets didn't have villages. “My path has indeed twinned through one of your groves before. The trinity which taught me the proper greetings asked me to not speak of them, however.”

  Ma-Ke-Lo's three individuals chuckled at the same time, before extending a hand. “You have indeed been to one of our grove. We are surprised.” They said, as David shook their offered hand.

  Niala's eyes were filled with glee as she relished the tiny secrets on open display, while Caleb had raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

  “I heard you had a private posting for me? The letter didn't say much.” David asked.

  Caleb cleared his throat. “Yes...” He glanced at Niala. “We would indeed like to employ your services for a rather sensitive task." He explained.

  "A task we would like to limit the number of people involved with.” He added, distinctly looking at Niala.

  “Me and my assistant would be interested in hearing of the posting.” David said. Niala's tail picked up speed at the word assistant.

  Caleb's eyebrow rose once more and shared a look with Ma-Ke-Lo, who shrugged.

  “Very well. The posting would be to have your help in elucidating the mystery which you dropped on my lap the other day, with the confirmed 21 skeletons you brought back. We are offering three princes for the task.”

  David rubbed his chin, while Niala's eyes shot wide as Caleb announced the sum.

  “Do you only want my help to advance the case to a clear path to resolution, or do you want my services until the very end?” He asked.

  “Until the very end.” Caleb confirmed.

  “In that case, I will ask for 6 princes, with grounds for 2 additional princes should the resolution prove potentially lethal to me or mine.” He relaxed his features somewhat. “Bringing a case to its complete end is never as simple as people assume.” He explained. Niala's eyes had shot almost out of their orbit at the asked-for sum.

  Caleb grunted but nodded. “It is acceptable. I will have the reward amended. Are you willing to start right away or do you need a signed contract?”

  David shook his head. “I will trust you. You can present me the revised contract later. I'm interested in knowing the details now.”

  Caleb motioned for Ma-Ke-Lo to take center stage. The Tridgets slightly bowed and stepped forward as they began speaking.

  “Following the recovery of those skeletons, and knowing that at least one of them was a confirmed citizen of Riverwall, we tasked our records keeper to pore over the entry and exit logs for the north gate, to try and find if anyone else had left without coming back for an extended period of time.”

  They clasped their hands as they continued. “What we found was slightly concerning. Going almost as far back as the town logs go, almost 200 years ago, there has always been at least one citizen a year, on the same date, who left through the north gate in the dead of night and who never returned ."

  David frowned and Niala gasped. Caleb solemnly nodded for Ma-Ke-Lo to continue.

  “We also noted a glut of such disappearances in the past 40 years, with 35 citizens leaving through the north gate at around the same bell. However, these departures were on different dates that have been, as far as we can tell, random.”

  Ma-Ke-Lo produced a rolled up scroll from their pouch and offered it to David.

  “This is a list of all the names, dates and any living relatives within the town of those disappeared. Over the span of the last 197 years, this amounts to 232 disappearances.”

  “One final point of interest is the recurring date, which is the 37th of winter. Today being the 52nd of spring, that was 105 days ago. If you look at the list you will see that there was one citizen, a catkin woman named Aznara, who passed the north gate and never returned exactly 105 days ago, on the 37th of winter.”

  David listened as he intently looked at the list of names.

  “What about the adventurers and seekers that trickle through the town all the time? A lot of them don't return.” He asked.

  Ma-Ke-Lo slightly bowed. “We did compile a list of all who passed the north gate and did not return, but none have been at a consistent time like the names on that list, which is what lead us to discover the other 35 citizen which left at nearly the same time but on different dates. We believe something happens in the dead of night to cause these people to leave.”

  Caleb nodded and took a step forward. “And this is what the posting is about. We would like you to investigate these disappearances. Figure out why they are happening, and put a stop to them. Quietly.” He specified.

  “We do not want to alarm the citizens. If they believe they to be the next one bewitched and marched through the north gate to their deaths, there is bound to be unrest and panic.” The mayor added.

  Ma-Ke-Lo gave the mayor a side-eye, before turning their gaze to David. “We would indeed prefer you investigate quietly, but needs must. We would rather you cause a bit of uproar and solve the issue quickly than let it linger long enough that someone else is lost.”

  Caleb slightly grimaced but said nothing as Ma-Ke-Lo continued. “Our guards will be available to you should you need assistance.”

  David looked at Niala, who seemed to be vibrating in place, before he turned his gaze to Caleb and Ma-Ke-Lo. “Understood. We will start working on the case right away. We will keep you informed as we progress.” He nodded toward both of them and started for the hall's door, Niala snapping out of her shock and following after him.

  David headed west after exiting the town hall, followed by Niala. They silently walked for a few minutes as David thought about the case he had just been handed. He glanced back to Niala, surprised she hadn't said anything yet.

  She looked like she was about to burst, forcing her lips shut, her ears vertical and her tail tip swishing furiously, intently staring at him, visibly distraught at not being able to talk.

  “You look like you have quest-”

  “So many! Do postings always pay this well? Do you often deal with murder mysteries? What happened 200 years ago that the logs stop then? The town is older than that! Why d-” David quickly put up a finger in front of her, stemming the flow of rapid-fire questions coming out her mouth. She looked at the finger in surprise, then to him, tilting her head.

  “We'll talk once we get home. The mayor did ask us to keep quiet, and there's also something wrong with the whole story.” He said, slowly shaking his head. “Let's go. Faster we get home, faster you get to ask your questions.” He gently smiled as he beckoned her to follow.

  She mirrored his smile and with a spring in her step she followed suit.