Chapter 86: But my guy actually wants the person behind it found.

It was late afternoon when Felix finally returned home. His whole body was sore from having spent an entire day walking back and forth and he just wanted to fall straight onto his bed and rest. But his stomach would have none of it and kept on growling.

Felix looked around the kitchen and found out that there wasn’t much food in there: a couple of potatoes, three slices of half-frozen meat and an already getting old loaf of bread. He put it all together in a pot and poured all of the spices he could find into it. Soon he had himself a stew.

"I really am broke right now."

Felix leaned against the wall as it was cooking and watched the heat stone turning red. For quite some time he just stood there motionless. There were no muscles in his neck and no thoughts racing in his head, only the soft sound of burning and smell of a meal prepared after such a long absence of food.

Just alone.

After finishing cooking Felix served his stew and took some bread to the dining table where he sat on a chair with a weary sigh. He cut a piece of it and dipped it into the stew. And with his first bite he got the feeling which he had not experienced for quite some time.

Now I can think clearly.

Hakimi mentioned someone who has been walking around under his name, causing a ruckus in every corner of the city. Appearing in places where he wouldn’t go himself, whorehouses, two times a week, beating up the thugs that hung around the market area. The big problem here, the rumor of this false Hakimi having been sleeping with several women can’t be dismissed, after all, this is a man who has the face and reputation for it. However, other men’s wives? It’s another kind of problem altogether for a man working directly for the Duke’s daughter. No wonder Diana gets pulled straight into the situation alongside him. Confining Hakimi by order of the Duke and keeping Diana secluded as well sounds logical as far as relationships goes.

But my guy actually wants the person behind it found.

He looked down at the last potato that was left swimming in his soup bowl and blew out a breath. He didn’t even give me a hint as to what I’m looking for. No dates of when this started, no places, not a single name for me to chase.

Guess I’ll have to settle for doing this without breaking any more of my own bones this time. And avoid Numen tracking if I can help it entirely. Last time nearly cost me control of myself completely. Not doing that again.

He drank the rest of the broth directly from the bowl and leaned back in his chair, letting out a deep breath.

"This is going to be a hell of a lot of trouble."

Felix got up from the chair and carried the bowl to the kitchen, setting it aside to clean later. He drank a full cup of water, then grabbed his coat off the hook by the door. The sooner this job gets done, the better.

His first stop was the guild house. The moment he stepped through the door, Tobin, mid conversation with a pair of adventurers near the counter, spotted him and froze.

"You’re alive." Tobin’s voice carried louder than he probably meant it to, and heads turned from every corner of the hall to look.

"Sure am." Felix ignored the stares and walked straight up to the counter. "My payment. And where’s Orin?"

"Orin left town the moment you headed out for the job." Tobin pulled open the drawer beneath the counter and counted out four gold coins.

"Figured as much." Felix took three of the four, leaving one behind on the counter. "Put drinks on my tab. Send them over wherever I sit."

"Right away." Tobin scooped the last coin back into the drawer, watching as Felix turned and scanned the room.

Felix wove through the crowd near the entrance and made his way to a round table where three men sat arguing loudly over a spilled drink. He grabbed a spare chair and dragged it up beside them without asking.

Dorin noticed him first and grinned. "Felix. Long time. Heard you took on some nasty job a few days back."

"Yeah. It was real nasty." Felix leaned back in the chair. "Got lucky. Made it out alive." He glanced up as a woman set a fresh mug down in front of him.

Corbin and Sorin, seated on either side, had already reached for their own drinks without waiting to be asked. Dorin shot them a mildly annoyed look before scooting his chair closer to Felix. "So what was the job actually like? What’d you end up fighting?"

"A Numenroot." Felix said it plain, taking a slow sip from his mug.

"A Numenroot?" Dorin’s face scrunched up. "That’s it? I could cut through a dozen of those in one swing."

"This one was ten meters tall. And it regenerated from just about anything you threw at it."

"Ten what—" Corbin choked mid-drink, coughing hard and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "How the hell does a Numenroot get to ten meters? And it regenerates too?"

"No idea." Felix shrugged, unbothered. "Honestly, finding one inside a cave in the first place was strange enough on its own."

"Yeah, yeah." Dorin nodded along, then leaned in closer, dropping his voice. "I also heard half the mountain out there collapsed. That true? People are saying it looks like someone cut it clean in half. Don’t tell me that was you." He let out a short laugh. "Guess it had to be, if that thing was really ten meters."

"Yeah. It was." Felix’s jaw tightened slightly at the memory, but he kept his voice even. "Anyway, enough about me. I’ve got some questions."

"Sure, sure." Dorin poured himself another drink, waving a hand. "Who cares what actually happened out there anyway? You made it back alive. That’s all that matters."

Felix let out a faint smile and leaned forward, elbows on the table. "You heard any strange rumors going around lately? About some guy. Mostly out of the North Ward."