Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]
Chapter 35: Whispering Merchant

Chapter 35: Whispering Merchant

They all left before the city officials could notice the absolute havoc that had been wrecked. The place was all bloodied and stained.

"Get the Artifacts!" Elias ordered the remaining of the guild party, the healer and the shield woman.

"Ah man... I can’t believe all this ruckus happened under the space of an hour."

"No way..." the shield woman muttered, still staring at the scorched floor where the chimera had gone down. "One of ours is dead...you would think it took hours for this fight to end"

Kai said nothing, she was right, time was an abstract concept during the raid. He kept his hood low and helped gather the sealed cases that still held the strange purple energy.

Dexter moved ahead without being asked, checking the street outside. Elias hauled Gorran up by the collar. The dagger was still buried in the merchant’s foot, forcing every step to drag a pained sound out of him.

"Shut up, or i dagger your lips together" Elias warned and he instantly obeyed reducing his wails to mere whimpers

"We would be reporting to the guild at once to report the mission status" the shield woman said bowing slightly.

"Sure!" Elias said, not paying attention to them. Kai rolled his eyes at the brutes displacement and shakes the shield woman and healer

"Thank you the both of you for joining us in this mission" he said and soon they waved them bye, separating, going different ways.

The guild team the other way with the artifacts and the others including the whimpering merchant the other way towards hiding.

They did not speak much on the way. The streets were quiet at this hour. When they reached the windowless room above an abandoned shop, Elias shoved Gorran into a wooden chair and tied his wrists to the arms with cord.

Kai stood near the wall.

"We ask questions. That’s all."

Elias glanced over while rolling up one sleeve.

"We ask until he tells the truth. There is a difference."

Dexter leaned against the wall...arms folded, watching the merchant with interest.

"He already tried to run by attacking us...Soft questions will not fix that."

Kai’s jaw tightened.

"This is still an interrogation, not a beating."

Elias smiled without warmth.

"Then look away if it bothers you."

He started moderate.

"Who was the buyer tonight?"

Gorran shook his head, sweat already forming at his temples.

"I do not know names. They never give names. That is how it works."

Elias crouched in front of him, voice almost gentle.

"Try again."

"I swear I do not know!"

Elias’s hand closed around the hilt of the dagger still pinned through Gorran’s foot and twisted it a bit. The merchant’s scream bounced off the stone walls. Kai flinched hard. Dexter did not.

"Elias."

"He can still talk." Elias did not look back.

The questions continued. Every vague answer or outright refusal earned another small, precise movement of the blade or a sharp press against a nerve that left Gorran’s arms shaking. Elias never raised his voice. He simply made the silence between questions feel heavier than the pain. He reminded the merchant how quickly the guards had died, how no one was coming, how the beasts in the cages had been ready to tear him apart if the deal soured.

Kai paced once, then forced himself to stop.

"This is enough. He is going to die if you continue like that."

Dexter finally spoke, eyes still on Gorran.

"Not yet. He is still choosing what to hold back. You can see it in the way he breathes."

Kai turned toward him for the first time since the warehouse. Their eyes met for half a second. Memory of the previous night rose sharp and unwanted: heat, hands, the way Dexter had fucked him. Kai looked away first, jaw set, and moved to the far side of the room as if the walls there needed inspecting.

Dexter’s ears flicked. He swallowed and moved towards him.

"Kai."

[Warning! Confrontation incoming]

The system chimed, Kai knew what the "confrontation" was so he stepped back, in turn of every step Dexter took to come close to him.

Bitch leave me alone!

"Look Kai--"

"Not now."

"I only wanted to—"

"I said not now."

The avoidance was obvious. Kai kept his gaze on anything else: the wall, the floor, the trembling merchant. When Dexter shifted closer, Kai stepped out of range without making it look deliberate. The air between them stayed thick with everything unsaid.

Elias noticed. Of course he noticed. His mouth curved in something that was most certainly a smile, but he did not comment. He simply returned his attention to Gorran and applied more pressure.

By the time the merchant finally broke, his voice was hoarse and wet from piss and sweat.

"Are you ready talk?"

Elias asked a helpless Gorran who was at the verge of completely loosing it.

"There is a handler. Someone above the buyers. They call him the Curator. He decides what moves through Voltra and what gets tested. The artifacts are not only for sale. Some of them are being seeded. Planted in places where the energy can spread."

Kai stepped closer despite himself.

"Seeded where?"

"I do not know all the locations. Only the next major drop. The warehouse row was small. The real one is under the old transit hub in the southern quarter. Three nights from now. Private auction. Invitation only."

Elias tilted his head.

"And the disappearances?"

Gorran’s face crumpled.

"Some of the people who get too close to the seeded pieces vanish. The energy takes them, or the Curator’s people do. That is all I know. Please."

Elias studied him for a long moment, then stood.

"He is telling the truth this time!"

Kai exhaled through his nose, still angry about the methods but unable to deny the results. He glanced at Dexter again by accident. Dexter was already watching him. The fox opened his mouth as if to speak. Kai turned away first and addressed the room instead.

"We take this to Seris. Confirm the transit hub. Three nights gives us time to prepare."

Dexter’s voice came from behind him suddenly.. He had sneaked up on Kai when he wasn’t looking.

"You planning to keep avoiding me the whole time?"

Kai’s shoulders tensed.

"I am planning to do the job."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the only one you are getting right now."

Elias chuckled under his breath, the sound darkly amused. He pulled the dagger free from Gorran’s foot in one clean motion. The merchant sobbed. Elias wiped the blade on the man’s sleeve and looked between Kai and Dexter with open interest.

"This is going to be entertaining."

Kai ignored him. He ignored the way Dexter’s gaze stayed on his back. He ignored the lingering memory of the night before that still sat under his skin like a bruise.

He focused on the new lead instead.

Southern transit hub. Three nights. The Curator.

The investigation had a direction again.

Everything else would have to wait. Yes Everything would have to wait.....