A Benevolent Evil Dragon

Thankfully for Roland, his senior sorcerers were right in their deduction. The witch went north, deeper into the kingdom rather than trying to run away from it and go back to the Empire. It took a while to find her trail, but once they did it became clear that she was not exactly subtle. The carriage, the outfit, her name, her tale, she didn't even change any of it, as if expecting the Baron to not come after her… or maybe not caring? Either way, the main problem they hit was the inability to really catch up to her, or get any additional information.

It was always the same thing. The fiery "sorceress" would stop at the edge of a town, ask about directions and any big troubles around, then leave. The only time anything remotely interesting happened was at her last stop before Zielenec. A large witchbeast was terrorizing anything that went more than a few steps into the woods, which meant it was in need of culling. Edith took the job, then asked for help with butchering and skinning the creature. The interesting bit was that apparently all she used to kill it was a single stone which mangled its brain into a paste, killing it in moments and without any damage to its materials.

She didn't even ask for much, instead paying a fair price for some random assortment of materials and foodstuffs that she claimed she would deliver to the city. Frustratingly, the more they heard, the more the group realized that people seemed to like the girl, and even became a bit unhelpful when told that she was wanted by multiple nobles.

Finally, Zielenec came into view and Roland hoped they might find her at one of the inns. She was constantly on the move, but cities were slow to do business in, and if she was as ignorant as she seemed, they might catch her here…

But that was the plan, and so far no plans survived encountering the young woman. It took a long time to get into the city, and even with the letter from the Count it did not seem like anyone much cared for urgency…

"What is the meaning of this?!" It was Kasia that ended up voicing their collective frustrations, mainly because all her belongings were being investigated by hand.

"Lord's orders. We're not letting something like this happen again… The commander would have our necks if we did…" The soldier's frightened answer left them with more questions than answers, which was frustrating to say the least.

Thankfully, before things could escalate they were finally let through. Once inside it became clear why exactly things were that bad. Men hanged from pillars of wood, already starting to dry from the sun, some even showing signs of rot. It was not unusual for a city to have one or two public executions… but this was far from a handful. Wherever they went either they saw a humiliated corpse or simply the results of there being so many.

There was no merriment. There were some corners where people were clearly drinking just to not think too much about this, but everything was just… How could there be so many criminals deserving of death all at once? Did some group make a mistake and end up falling in the hands of the guard? Even that should at least make people happy not….

Roland's eyes widened. They were deeper into the city, wanting to first check all the inns for Edith before even making contact with the local authorities, but in the middle of a main plaza, in a district clearly meant more for rich merchants and poor nobles, a group of men and even women stood in chains with ropes tied around their necks, a masked executioner stood to the side, holding a lever. In front of the group was a veteran, wearing his battle tested armor as he spoke loud enough to echo through the crowded place. He was towards the end of his speech it seemed.

"...For the crimes of dealing in illegal slaves, smuggling of highly regulated substances, violent crimes against children, multiple accounts of murder and many other crimes unbecoming of your stations, you are all sentenced to immediate execution without possibility of pardon. May the Harvester claim you swiftly and judge you fairly." It was immediate. One moment he spoke, the next they all fell under their weight, ropes tugging and crushing their necks.

He felt like puking. His cousin, bless her heart, did. It was hard, but they managed to escape the crowd, catching their breaths in a back alley. The Count's men didn't seem too frazzled, though they were whispering to themselves about how peculiar it was for so many people, even if of lower ranks, to be executed even for unspeakable crimes. The only one that truly didn't seem affected was Fredrik Glozko, his brow furrowed, but not in concern.

"What the fuck is happening..?" Spoke out Kasia, clutching her stomach.

"Smuggling ring got busted… they got everyone from the lowest thugs to the nobles and merchants that paid in gold to get their… ugh…" Jakub was as disgusted as everyone else, but he at least put his hearing to good use.

"How are you… holding up?" Roland asked Fredrik, a bit unsettled at how calm he was.

"I don't get why you're so affected? They were tainting nobility. Good riddance is all I can say." The man, usually refined and quiet, took the chance to spit on the ground, clearing out the bad taste left by the execution. "I only wish it didn't take such a toll on the city's people…"

"Lord Roland…" It was a knight that spoke out, though clearly prodded by the sorcerers. "... we do still have a duty. We're wasting time out here. The witch is likely to escape after this whole debacle… unless she already has."

The man in question reluctantly nodded, helping his cousins up and leading the way. There were only a handful of taverns to check, and while they were forced to see a few more executions, either in progress or their result, they managed to check every place meant to temporary house people of any import… And none talked about the girl. One woman seemed to recognize the name for a moment, but a moment later she simply shook her head and denied ever hearing about her…

It was all a waste of time, so finally they arranged a meeting with the local lord… only to be refused and sent to the guard captain. Apparently the death of at least two dozen lesser nobles meant the lord, a count like Roland's employer, was busy stopping a war between the lower houses from sparking up. Personally, the young sorcerer didn't blame him.

However, inside the meeting, things took a turn for the worst.

"A witch… that uses fire and chaos…" The guard captain was younger than Glozko's right hand, but no less imposing, that was certain.

"Yes. And who knows how many accomplices. So far we are certain of one that uses earth to great proficiency, one that uses sound and at least one barbarian that is likely to fly." Roland was tense, not sure why the man seemed so hostile from a simple question.

"Hmm… Edith… Edith…" The captain went through list after list, until finally he found what he needed. It was right there, plain as day. "Edith Feur… Showed up a few days before the massacre, left the day of, joining a merchant convoy, but not officially… Sold decent quality materials, foodstuffs, even some books… Then bought grain, textiles, wine... Hmm… She left three days ago." At that the man closed his lists and turned a scrutinizing look at them. It was clear just from his expression that he was done.

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"That… Yes, that is what she does. She acts all innocent and lawful, but then things 'happen' at the same time. She is a criminal that robbed us and even Baron Glozko. The earth mage is capable of making entire tunnel networks alone and casting magic from out of sight. They have a beastman that can fly over the walls under the cover of night and…" He was abruptly stopped by the man with a single gesture.

"We can't help you. I won't help you." Roland almost responded with outrage, but then the man continued in a rather blunt tone. "She is the one that discovered the entire smuggling ring." That took the wind out of everyone's sails, and the captain was far from done.

"The only reason we were able to handle this so cleanly and swiftly was because we found their base of operation within the city completely ravaged. Fire swallowed half of the men, visceral death awaited the rest. They died to fire and earth, lightning and chaos. We found feathers from a winged barbarian of sorts, so your entire story checks out but that group quite literally served us everything on a silver platter. The prisoners even had the exact locations of the main base, the one out in the wilderness. They also had the name of every single person that made deals with this group. We thought it weird, but with all these things put together, this Edith's group came in, slaughtered them and… our rotten knight, then not only protected these people but also got every bit of information they could… We even found the ringleader of the whole operation dead in the woods after he escaped our attack."

Roland was almost as small as a mouse as the man's voice grew in intensity with every word he spoke about the woman. Then, a thing sparked in his mind and he voiced it out, though clearly suffering under the strain of both the man's presence and his mana. "It might seem like that, but it is all for money! Her group also saved some people kidnapped by monsters, but then robbed the Baron's safe until nothing was left, even stole from his room and his library!"

"Yes, yes, all for money, and yet we found a whole barrel of silver in the same place where the fight took place. Additionally, people that were rescued from a brothel that burnt down, a brothel that worked with the smugglers, mind you, were found in a local rundown church, offering so much coin to the priest that they're rebuilding the church as an asylum for the needy just to house all the people that don't have a place to go back to! The only money missing is the money that the ringleader escaped with, and if they're the ones that caught him and his best men, then they more than deserve that bounty since we couldn't even pay them for their contribution."

Roland wanted to not exist. Life was not that kind. Thankfully, the man was at least a bit kinder than life. "Look, kid, I don't know the exact circumstances of how things happened with you, but I cannot ask my men to saddle up and search for our benefactor while the city is one more bad day from collapsing. I will not hinder you, since you claim she even robbed Lord Jan, but I will not help you beyond telling you that she left through the northern gate. Please leave, I have more important business to attend to now."

And so the group ended up spending the night to recover, then left first thing in the morning. The more they went, the harder it was to find allies… and yet Roland couldn't help but eye suspiciously how little Fredrik was affected by this turn of events…

"I won't take less than ten coppers, girl." The burly man crossed his arms, looking down at the dark haired woman with a sneer.

"..." Emerald eyes peered deeply into the man's, showing no signs of fear.

"It's a hand carved wooden spoon. It takes a long time to make, so it's expensive. Now either pay up or leave my stall, you're scaring my customers!" He tried his best to intimidate her again…

"..." She looked at it again, then up at the man and snapped it like a twig between her fingers. The inside of the spoon looked downright rotten, which startled the man. What's worse, that simple action seemed to have turned others around against him, nobody even eyeing his merchandise anymore. He tried to chase her away, but was met with the spoon's halves hitting him in the face and the masked woman waddling away.

Meredith smiled under her mask, rather happy to put him in his place. She still needed to get a few things, but the exchange lifted her spirits a bit. Autumn was just around the corner and now she wasn't able to rely on neighbors to get some winter supplies. Plus, she needed to stay on the move and had two more mouths to feed now… She sighed, wondering why she even took on that duty… but then she remembered Edith, that fiery girl so keen on making it home, talking only of all the love that awaited her there despite being abandoned to her death…

And, in a weird way, Meredith was yearning for even a fragment of affection, which she was receiving, despite the fact that the woman was far more unstable than herself… She turned to look at a woman that sold yarn, even now so late in the year. She smiled and got two spindles, hoping to make something for that baby… The cold was harsh on the youth, after all.

With that done, she needed just some plants for tonight's meal… but she got a whole lot more. Going towards the center of the empire had its benefits, so long as one didn't get too close to the capital, at least. One of said benefits was hearing rumors much sooner. Everything that happened in the empire inevitably reached the royal territories, so the closer one was to the capital, the sooner they'd hear… though this time it wasn't a rumor from the other counties and duchies, but rather word from the capital itself.

"You heard about that dragon? Apparently they captured a live one!" Said a rather lively man standing outside an inn. Meredith couldn't help but lean against a tree, counting coins in her pouch while listening in.

"Oh yeah, me cousin was in that battle! Well, less in the battle, more in the he ran off and hid in the woods until everything was done, fucking coward. Ah, yeah, he said the Duke fucked up or something? Lost like all the dragons aside from one, so he had to pay off the crown to not chop his head by giving em the one dragon he did catch!"

"Bah, it's rough even for a monster like that, eh? You beat an old dragon and it's still your head on the line…" The lively man clicked his tongue, then drunk one more.

"Pfft, he lost so many men and monsters and didn't even kill Tranquil Waters, just made her fly off. Imagine losing your arm scaring away a fox, would the townsfolk call you great or a gods damned moron?"

"Can't argue with that… But still, that dragon was here since my grandma's grandma was a girl. I feel he should get some credit…"

"Forget the Duke, what did you want with the dragon?"

"Oh yeah! Heard the Prince is going to parade it come winter. Walk it around in the capital like a dog!"

"Wait, he's what? A dragon? Like a dog? Boy's tempting the gods, I swear it…"

"Boy's older than you, idiot…"

"And still lacks a good beard! He can very well be 70, he looks like a kid!"

Meredith didn't care for more than that. They got one? And they were going to parade it around? She knew it wasn't going to be Hearteater, but even if it was a sibling of his… They were bloodthirsty monsters that looked at everyone like food… or at least they were until Hearteater changed them. She saw them act like children, playing around with Edith and Alek… She already decided her only chance at normalcy was by following that dragon and was ready to give him whatever riches she managed to steal from her victims, but if she also saved his sibling? Maybe, just maybe the smart monster would try and find a way to save her life…

She shook her head, not too keen on entertaining false hope, then made her way to their current, very temporary home. She stepped in, only to be met by a warm embrace she didn't expect. "I am so glad you're back… Have you heard anything? Did anyone talk about my girl?" The woman was looking rough, rougher even than when Meredith found her, bloody and bruised, walking barefoot through the forest as she escaped the soldiers. Bright, fiery eyes met her, but she could only shake her head.

"Sorry, nothing about Edith…" Her voice was garbled, hoarse, hissing, but if one actually tried, they could hear her. "But I heard something that might help us find her sooner."