Chapter 103: Yip Yap

Payment received from Imperial contact, 15th of Winter. Amount suggests major operation upcoming.

New courier route established through mountain pass. Avoiding standard checkpoints.

"This is... comprehensive."

"Marcus was thorough. It’s what got him killed in the end. He saw too much, understood too much, and couldn’t pretend otherwise."

"Did he know about the Convergence?"

Greta’s face went still. "That word. Where did you hear it?"

"From someone who spent six months in a Consortium facility. They kept asking her questions about it."

"Marcus mentioned it once. Near the end. Said it was big. Bigger than anything the Consortium had attempted before. Something that would change the balance of power between the planes." She paused, her eyes distant. "He was scared. I’d never seen him scared before, not even when they threatened to burn down the bathhouse with us inside. But when he talked about the Convergence, he was terrified."

"Did he say anything specific? Anything about what it actually involved?"

"Only that it had something to do with the barriers between worlds. Something about making them thin enough to pass through without the Pillars." She shook her head. "I didn’t understand it then. Still don’t, if I’m being honest."

Nacho filed this away, adding it to the growing picture in his mind. The Consortium wasn’t just trafficking people. They were planning something on a scale that dwarfed anything he’d encountered since arriving in this world.

And they only had two months to stop it.

"The meeting you mentioned. The one happening soon. Is there anything in this journal about the location? Security arrangements?"

"Nothing specific. But there’s a pattern." Greta leaned over his shoulder, pointing to a series of entries spanning several months. "Every time they had something important to discuss, they’d use one of three locations. An abandoned manor about two days west of here. A mining complex in the mountains to the north. Or a merchant house in the next town over."

"Which one is most likely for this meeting?"

"The mining complex. It’s the most secure, and the hardest to reach without being noticed." Her finger traced a route on an old map pinned to the wall. "But getting there without being detected... that’s another matter entirely."

Nacho studied the map, letting his Combat Precognition run scenarios. The terrain was rough, full of chokepoints and natural ambush sites. Any approach would have to account for patrols, surveillance, and the possibility of magical detection.

"We’ll need to move fast and stay flexible. Adapt to whatever we find on the ground."

"You’re really going through with this? Attacking a Consortium meeting with only three people?"

"We’re not attacking. We’re gathering intelligence. Big difference."

"The Consortium doesn’t usually appreciate that distinction."

"Then we’ll just have to make sure they don’t catch us appreciating it."

Greta stared at him for a long moment, something complicated moving behind her eyes.

"You’re either very brave or very stupid."

"Little of both, probably. But mostly I’m someone who’s realized that running away isn’t really an option anymore." He tucked the journal into his inventory, where it disappeared into the infinite space between thoughts. "Whatever the Consortium is planning, it’s going to affect everyone. Including the people in this village. Including you."

"I know. That’s why I’m helping." She turned away, picking up her brush and returning to her cleaning. "Just don’t get yourself killed. I’ve invested too much information in you to watch it go to waste."

"I’ll do my best."

He left the bathhouse with more questions than answers, but also with something that felt like hope. The journal was a goldmine. Greta’s knowledge of the region was invaluable. And somewhere in the mountains ahead, a meeting was happening that might hold the key to everything.

Two months until the Convergence.

Sixty days to figure out how to stop a conspiracy that had been building for years.

Not great odds. But he’d faced worse.

Actually, no. I haven’t faced worse. This is definitely the worst.

He grinned despite himself and headed back to the tavern, ready to plan the next step in whatever this journey was becoming.

***

The tavern’s common room was nearly empty when Nacho returned, just a pair of old men nursing drinks in the corner and a serving girl wiping down tables with the enthusiasm of someone counting the minutes until her shift ended. He climbed the stairs two at a time, his mind still churning through everything Greta had told him.

The door to their room was slightly ajar.

His tentacles coiled beneath his clothes, ready to strike. His Mind Fortress expanded outward, probing for hostile thoughts, for the cold calculation of an ambush. Instead, he found warmth. Comfort. Something that felt almost like peace.

He pushed the door open and stopped.

Sera and Vael were curled together on one of the beds, Vael’s head resting on Sera’s shoulder, their fingers intertwined. They weren’t asleep, just lying there in the afternoon light that filtered through the window, existing in each other’s presence after six months of separation.

Vael looked up when he entered. Her eyes were clearer now, some of the haunted quality fading around the edges. She was still too thin, still carried the marks of her captivity in the hollows of her cheeks and the bruises that hadn’t quite faded. But she was here. She was alive. And that counted for something.

"You look like you’ve seen a ghost," she said.

"Just wasn’t expecting..." He gestured vaguely at the two of them. "This."

Sera shifted, sitting up slightly but keeping hold of Vael’s hand. "What did Greta have to say?"

Nacho pulled the journal from his inventory and tossed it onto the table. "Her husband kept records. Dates, shipments, routes. The Consortium’s been operating through this region for at least a decade, and he documented most of it."

"That’s incredibly useful." Sera reached for the journal, flipping it open with her free hand. "And incredibly dangerous. If they knew he had this..."

"They didn’t. Or if they did, they assumed it died with him." Nacho dropped into the chair by the window, letting his body finally acknowledge the exhaustion he’d been ignoring. "There’s also a pattern to their meetings. Three locations they rotate through, depending on how sensitive the discussion is. For something as big as what we’re talking about, Greta thinks they’ll use a mining complex in the mountains to the north."

"How far?"

"Two days, maybe three depending on the weather. The approach is rough, full of chokepoints and natural ambush sites."

Vael pushed herself up into a sitting position, wincing slightly at the movement. "I know that complex. They talked about it sometimes, the guards at the Hollows. Called it the Roost."

"The Roost?"