Release that Witch

Chapter 145 Searching for traces, finding the cause (Part 1)

When Theo entered the tavern, his nose was immediately assaulted by a sultry and moist odor mixed together with the smell of the alcohol.

Under the dim light, he could see a group of men with their sweaty and bare upper bodies left exposed. They sat around the table at the center, pouring one cup after another of the cheap beer into their mouths, all the while loudly laughing and talking with one another. Then there was maid dressed in revealing clothes brought them all a new round of beer.

After looking around the place for a while, he finally found the goal of his coming to this place. A young man was sitting in the corner, which also happened to be the most hidden place in the whole tavern. The only noticeable part of him was the withered wild rose which he had put on the table in front of him.

After discovering the man, Theo went to bar, first getting a cup of beer for himself. While slowly tasting the bitter flavor of the beer, he discreetly screened the room to see whether there were any other eyes that showed any interest to the little man. The result was very satisfactory, although there would occasionally be some people that would look at the corner, most of them were unintentional movements. Only one man, sitting at the central table, was constantly keeping watch over the corner trying to mask it by drinking his beer.

One person as a contractor, one person as a lookout, the typical method used by shady street rats, this was also identical of Theo’s knowledge.

“Once more cup,” he shouted to the bartender, “with ice.”

“Sir, for a beer on the rocks you have to pay double,” the bartender reminded him.

Hearing this, Theo threw a silver royal in his direction, “The more ice, the better.”

Holding his cup with the white mist coming out of it, he went across to the little man, placed his beer on the table so that it swept over the wild rose. The cold beer flowed along the petals, seeing this happen the little man raised his head and looked impatiently at Theo. “Good beer is meant for drinking, not for the table, what madness has befallen you?”

“An offer to the wild rose,” Theo teasingly spoke as he took a seat across from the little men. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time now.”

“That only proves that you haven’t been looking in the right places,” he replied in a raspy voice. “That being the case, as a client… tell me now, what do you want from me? Are you asking for clues, scrounging, redeem lost goods, or do you want to get rid of some stolen good?”

“No, I hope you can help me with spreading a rumor.”

“That doesn’t fall into the business area of the Wild Rose’s.” He shook his head.

“No, don’t be so fast to jump to conclusions. As long you get paid with gold royals, you will be surely interested in this,” Theo shook his finger, “I am not one of those laymen youngsters. Occasionally, so to ensure that the prey takes the bait, you first have to lay out the bait, and rumors are the best way to achieve this. There won’t be any evidence left and with this there will be no way to catch you. This is much safer than stealing.”

“That sounds reasonable,” acknowledged the little man, showing a smile, “Have you commissioned anyone else besides the Wild Rose?”

“I completely trust that you can achieve it alone, after all, this is only a small place. Their name also doesn’t sound as elegant, and they also don’t seem to be as capable.”

“The business area here is just too small, so it’s hard to find the right business, the competition within Silver City is vicious.” He picked up the rose, shook it, and when it was dry he put it into his pocket, “Tell me, what rumor do you want us to spread for you?’

“Some news about the witches,” Theo laughed, “An organization with the name of Witch Cooperation Association has found the Holy Mountain, they were also able to get rid of the pain during the demon’s bite, gaining eternal peace.”