Chapter 255:
Let’s Talk
“I truly am sorry for the way I behaved,” Captain Tableau said, getting up from his seat and bowing deeply to me.
“It’s okay now, sir.”
“But I was so rude to you. I really am sorry.”
Captain Tableau was firmly committed to helping us with the red magic stones. Rose had sealed the deal by giving him Flame’s newest regenerated stone. She made us some more tea, and we sipped it for a while. That was when Captain Tableau suddenly stood up and apologized.
“Captain Tableau, apology accepted. Thank you very much.”
He looked a little taken aback by my reaction, but he finally settled back into his seat.
“So, um…may I ask you something?” I would be opening a can of worms, but I just had to know the answer.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Why did you act like you were suspicious of us today?”
He’d acted normally the first time we met, but today he was on guard from the moment he saw us. That must have meant we’d done something during the past few days that made him suspect us. But what? I needed to know so I could avoid doing it again.
“Rumor has it that the merchant guild master has been dabbling in illegal activity. Only a few other people know about it besides me.”
“Oh, really?” Rose looked just as surprised as I was.
“Um…are you sure you’re okay with telling us? You barely know us.” It bothered me that he would just blab something like that so easily.
“Ivy, pot calling the kettle black much?” Rose sounded tired.
“Huh?”
Why? Oh, is she talking about Sora? But Captain Tableau’s secret is more important, isn’t it?
“That question alone tells me I can trust you, Ivy. Besides, if someone with unlimited access to high-level magic stones like this were a bad person, we’d be hopeless against them anyway. You could do so much with just this one stone, yet you don’t.”
Come on, it’s not like Flame can just pop them out whenever. And even though we’re going to give them to other people, we’ll still get compensated. Besides, what does he mean that I could do so much with just one stone? Nothing’s really coming to mind…
“Back to your question, Ivy, one of my fellow watchmen overheard the guild master talking with his friends. He said, ‘There’s a traitor among us selling minerals without permission. Find them.’”
Ah, so it’s the typical backstabbing you’d find in any criminal gang. Wait a minute, why do I have to get caught up with criminals again? I was being extra careful, too.
“I did some digging and found out that some valuable minerals had been sold anonymously at the merchant guild, so I launched an investigation. And that’s where your names popped up, Druid.”
“So it was the minerals that made us look suspicious,” I said.
“That makes sense.”
As we talked and sipped our tea, Captain Tableau looked at me with mysterious eyes. “Um, is that all you have to say about it?”
“What do you mean?” Druid was just as confused as I was.
“I investigated you without your consent.”
“But you were just doing your job as captain of the watch, right?” I said. “Of course you wouldn’t ask us first if you were going to check up on us.”
Druid nodded.
“Well, you’re right, but…” Captain Tableau let out a sigh. “It was so foolish of me to investigate you both.”
“Ha ha ha! Yeah, that was a waste of time. By the way, Tableau, are ya sure the minerals the guild master was talkin’ about were the same ones they sold?”
“At the time, I thought so. Priya and I made that judgment call.”
Priya?
“Priya is the master of the adventurer guild, and an old friend of Tableau’s, too.”
An old friend… I wonder if they have the same kind of relationship as Druid and his old mentor in Oll? Oh, but wait, I get the sense that Rose doesn’t exactly like this guild master.
“Now I think our original ideas were wrong,” Tableau said. “I know this is going to sound like an excuse, but things have been so hectic with planning for the harsh winter that I haven’t been sleeping well for weeks. I’m sure the facts I needed were there, but somehow I overlooked the most important information.”
Lack of sleep really does lead to bad judgment. I remember a time when the rain was so relentless that I couldn’t find a safe place to sleep and I walked around the forest for two days straight. And I definitely did get a little paranoid and lose my sense of judgment for a while there… Like, I’d burst into areas without checking for monsters first. Those were really a dangerous few days.
“By the way, Ivy, what kind of minerals did you sell, exactly?” Rose asked.
Druid and I fell silent. She meant those minerals, didn’t she? I glanced at Druid, wondering whether it was okay to tell her. He gave me his usual gentle smile and nodded.
“Ciel found them in a cave on the sacred ground of the guardian deity of the forest.”
Huh? Why do Rose and her son look like statues?
“Um, are you both okay?”
“So it was you two who sold those minerals…”
Apparently, he knew about the minerals. Well, I shouldn’t be surprised, since they did come from their guardian deity’s sacred ground. They must have been very significant to the people of Hatow.
“I heard those minerals were being traded for the first time in years… To think it was you two all along. I’m shocked.”
Rose took a sip of her most likely cold tea and exhaled loudly. It looked like those minerals really were incredibly special. Maybe we shouldn’t have sold them? Well, too late for that now.
“Who handled the sale for ya, hon?” Rose asked as she brewed a new pot of tea. Wow, she and Tableau sure have been drinking a lot of tea.
“Agilk and the appraiser Drough helped us,” Druid said.
Captain Tableau was surprised to hear that. Wait, is there a problem with either of them?
“Both of them are on my team.”
So they’re on our side. We sure made some unlikely connections to Captain Tableau without knowing it.
“But didn’t they tell ya Ivy’s name when ya were lookin’ into who sold the minerals?” Rose asked.
“They didn’t. Oh! Now that you mention it, there was this one time when I got called to the office for an important secret meeting. But just when we were about to get down to business, that damn guild master barged in and made me leave before they could tell me anything.”
“Maybe the meeting was about Ivy and Druid, hon.”
“You’re probably right. Then the corrupt guild master’s cronies started sniffing around me, and I didn’t have a chance to talk to my friends. Then I got loaded down with a hectic work schedule and…”
It sounded like one thing had led to another, which eventually led to him suspecting us. I supposed it was a case of bad timing.
“Still, was that really any reason to think Druid and Ivy were crooks?” Rose asked.
“The name Ivy did stick out a little.”
Me?!
“Priya and I both remembered the name from reading crime reports.”
Oh…I think I know what he’s talking about.
“It was an unusual name, so it stuck in our minds. The only problem was, Ivy was still quite little. So I came here today planning to check up on you. But on my way, that damn guild master told me an adventurer threatened him into giving up his red magic stones and it ticked me off… I’m sorry for venting. I know this has nothing to do with you.”
I thought I had grown up, but he called me little. It made me wonder how old I looked.
“But now I see,” Captain Tableau said. “So you suspected me because of my poor judgment.
“Remember how a bunch of people got caught up with those criminals a little while ago? Well, I was one of the many people who didn’t notice it, and I figured somebody out there was trying to swindle my mom. I wanted to, you know…get her away from problematic people as quickly as possible. My dad told me that Mom was unusually taken with the both of you, so…”
“I get it. You were just worried about your mother,” Druid said.
Tableau’s face turned bright red. I glanced at Rose and saw that she was faintly pink. The sight embarrassed me a little, so I gulped down my tea to calm my nerves.
“Ahem! But still, that was no excuse to assume Ivy was one of the criminals.”
“The criminals? Oh, no, that’s not what I thought. I thought she was one of the persons of merit.”
“Persons of merit?” Rose looked surprised.
“Yes, well…”
Somebody suddenly flew into the shop. “Tableau, you were right all along! Ivy’s name was on the list of persons of merit!”
“Persons of merit…” Judging by what he said earlier…was this Priya?
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