Cold Mist Wine

A few minutes later, bright lamplight filled the inn. Several cavalrymen bound the man with thick rope; the wound on his shoulder received only a rough bandage to stop the bleeding. Quite a few people had gathered inside to watch, peering over with curious questions and murmurs. In the room, Captain Frien, the innkeeper, and the merchant Fandexi had all gathered, while Xilutaiya and Taliel sat by the bed. "As soon as that dark shape bumped into me and woke me up, I shouted for help right away. He panicked completely and tried to escape through the window, but Tiya stopped him in a flash…" Taliel recounted excitedly what had just happened. "So he's a thief." Frien rubbed his eyebrows. He still hadn't fully shaken off sleep. "Innkeeper, do you know that man?" He turned to look at the innkeeper, who stood nearby fidgeting. "Him—I have some impression of him. He's a man from the town, usually idle, takes the odd bit of work here and there. I never guessed he was a thief." The innkeeper explained, nervously clasping his hands in front of him. It had little to do with him, but it was hard to say he wasn't a suspect either; if this cavalry captain decided to pursue the matter and haul him away, the outcome would not be pleasant. "Take your time. Is there anyone in town who knows more about him?" Frien thought of the local sheriff. "That… I don't know much more." The innkeeper truly could not remember much; after all, he had only seen the man a few times before and heard others talk about him. "All right, wait here for now. I'll send someone to fetch the sheriff." He waved his hand. Riverstone Town was Viscount Xuefeng's domain and did not belong to Baron Holin. With a public-order incident happening here, there was no way around consulting the local sheriff. "Mr. Frien, would you come with me to see where that man is being held?" Xilutaiya stood up. By now she had put her red-brown cloak back on, with only a little silver hair showing at her neck. Frien thought it odd that she would make such a request, but he nodded in agreement anyway. Soon the two of them and a few cavalrymen arrived at the place of confinement—the inn's cellar, which the cavalry had just cleared out to hold the prisoner. "Captain!" A young cavalryman straightened and saluted. "Yes." Frien glanced around; it seemed acceptable. Then he had several men stand guard by the door and went in with Xilutaiya. The man who had slipped into the inn to steal was now bound layer upon layer with rope, lying on the cold ground, and dark red blood had soaked into his clothes. "Did you discover something, Miss Tiya?" Frien asked, glancing at the thief on the floor. "Yes. He isn't weak. He must know the Breathing Method, and also some ability to hide his form." Xilutaiya's eyes blinked slightly, and the man's information surfaced in her mind again. —— Name: Unknown Race: Human (mortal body) Status: Injured (bleeding stopped) Talents: Low-Light Vision [Good Grade]: Even in dimly lit places, you can make out a little more. Don't rely on it too much—if it's too dark, you still won't see clearly. Destiny Card: [Nimble Hands and Feet] (Attribute Rank: None) Within a gray-dark frame, a figure walks on tiptoe; there is nothing else around. Ability Cards: [Breathing Method lv.1] (Blood Law): Regulates the flow rate of blood through breathing, driving and enhancing the strength and reaction speed of the whole body. This ability places a strain on the heart and body and cannot be used for long periods (recommended no more than 1 minute per day). [Concealment Method lv.0] (Mist Shadow): In dim environments, blurs your form so that others find it hard to see you clearly or strike you. (If there is a candle, this ability has no effect.) —— "You're saying this fellow knows the Breathing Method?" Frien said, looking somewhat surprised after hearing Xilutaiya out. The Breathing Method was not a rare ability, but anyone who knew it could usually find some post—at worst, patrol duty in a village, which was far easier than other work. "Yes. He should also know some ability to hide his form, but it isn't strong—it only has a slight effect." The girl added. "If he really does, then I have to wonder whether he's one of the Thieves' Guild." Frien rubbed the beard on his chin. A moment later, he shook his head. "No, he shouldn't be with the Thieves' Guild." "The Thieves' Guild isn't any great organization, but a character like this would still be beneath their name. He must have picked up a few things on the sly through some channel." "Leave the questioning to me, Miss Tiya. You have to set out tomorrow, so you may as well turn in early." He had certain methods that were not fit to show a young girl. "I understand. You should rest early too." Xilutaiya nodded, glanced at the man curled on the ground, and left the cellar. …… Back in the room, a candle had been lit. Taliel was eating the food the innkeeper had sent up as an apology, looking quite pleased. "Tiya, look, I saved you half a roast chicken. It's really good~" On the wooden platter lay half a roast chicken, still giving off steam and fragrance; the innkeeper must have had the cook make it on the spot. Xilutaiya was hungry too, so she did not refuse. She sat down and carefully picked up a drumstick with her fingers and ate. It had to be said, this was the best food she'd had in ten days—no wonder Taliel was so excited. After enjoying this rare fine meal, Xilutaiya asked curiously, "How much does a roast chicken like this usually cost?" "A chicken costs about 8 to 12 copper coins. If it's made into a roast chicken, the price goes up another 2 to 5 copper coins." Taliel recalled. 100 worn copper coins = 1 silver leaf coin (people usually want 110 of them before they'll trade). An ordinary villager earns 2-3 silver coins a month, and a roast chicken is about a day and a half's wages. If you wanted meat every day, it really was a luxury, Tiya thought. Just then she felt a little nostalgic for the prices of her past life. After the late-night snack, the two went back to bed. This time they did not blow out the candle, but fell asleep with its light still burning. …… The next morning, still a little sleepy, Xilutaiya and Taliel came downstairs. The inn's main hall already had quite a few people eating. People were discussing the previous night's events, and a few members of the town watch were sitting there as well. They asked the innkeeper for the complimentary breakfast and sat at a corner table, eating quietly, until a cavalryman came over and asked Xilutaiya to come with him. "The captain is asking for you. The sheriff is there too," he explained. Xilutaiya rose and followed. Soon she came to a room in the inn's back courtyard. Besides Frien, there was a short, pot-bellied man in a chainmail shirt—no doubt the local sheriff. "So this is Miss Tiya, is it?" As soon as the girl entered, he fixed his eyes on her face. The sheriff looked rather surprised at Xilutaiya's appearance, and his originally lazy, casual manner became a little more formal. "Yes. And you are?" Xilutaiya raised her pale blue eyes to look at him. "Ahem. I am the local sheriff. I've been told what happened last night." If she were a commoner, he would have dismissed her with a word and would not have stayed here to explain at all. Though he did not know which family Xilutaiya belonged to, he could tell the girl came from a distinguished background, so he was somewhat more courteous. "I'm very sorry to have disturbed Miss Tiya's rest. I'll take that thief back and question him properly, so he learns the consequences of offending you." "This…" The girl's voice was hesitant, and she looked toward Frien. After several days together, Frien could guess what the girl meant—she probably hoped things would not be too harsh. "Lord Mote, I think it's necessary for me to take this thief back to Three Towers Town for confinement." "Oh? Why is that?" Sheriff Mote frowned slightly. A single thief was a small matter, but he was Viscount Xuefeng's subordinate. If he let Baron Holin's cavalry captain simply take the man away, wouldn't that cost the viscount face? Whether a job was done well or poorly, there were always various excuses, but losing face was the sort of thing that, if poorly explained, could earn a reprimand from the viscount—or even cost him his post. "The target, Miss Tiya, is Lord Holin's honored guest. With such a serious incident last night, if I don't bring the man back to report, I'm afraid I won't be able to answer to Lord Holin." There was some sense in what Frien said, and Mote, as a fellow officer, could understand it well enough—but in the end this was Frien's business, not his. Shaking his head, Mote said he was in a difficult position too and could not simply release the man. For a moment the room fell silent, and neither man spoke. "Lord Mote." Xilutaiya spoke up then. "What is it, Miss Tiya?" Mote turned toward her. "I hope you will agree to Mr. Frien's request." She came straight out with it. "This…" Mote did not know why the girl would say such a thing. "I'm about to set out for Burnt Stone City, and Mr. Frien is escorting me on this journey. If I see Lord Xuefeng in Burnt Stone City, I will praise your excellent work and conduct in front of him." Xilutaiya's words dissolved the misgivings that had been weighing on Mote. "In that case." His expression showed hesitation; he put on a little reserve for a moment, then nodded his permission. "Then I'll grant Frien's request. But you'll still have to give me a detailed report afterward, so that if Lord Xuefeng really does ask, I'll be able to give him a proper account." "Thank you, Lord Mote." Frien knew that having Xilutaiya fetched just now had been absolutely the right choice. After that the transfer went smoothly. Frien had the man from last night tied up and put in the carriage, then went with Xilutaiya to a separate room to talk in detail. "The details you noticed yesterday—my questioning did yield quite a lot." This was why he had wanted to take the man away. "Here is some money found at his home." He set a coin purse on the table. "Of course, that's incidental. The important things are a thief's diary and a bottle of 'Cold Mist Wine.'" From a cabinet beside him he took out a battered diary and a dark glass bottle, inside which was a liquid like gray mist. [Thief's Diary]: Records the life and notes of a thief. Allows one to learn simple lock-picking techniques, as well as the secret method for practicing the 'Concealment Method.' [Cold Mist Wine] (first-order – Mist Shadow): A special liquor containing the 'Mist Shadow' attribute. Can be used to practice abilities of the 'Mist Shadow' attribute, or for other purposes. Less than a quarter of the liquid remained in the bottle; it had clearly been used. "He must have learned the concealment ability by following the methods in the diary together with this bottle of Cold Mist Wine," Frien explained. "Apart from attributes inherited through the bloodline, if you want to gain other 'attribute powers,' you need the help of external things to serve as the seed for practicing that ability." "Every one of us has a faint, hidden 'Blood Law' attribute within. Learning the Breathing Method simply means nurturing and strengthening that faint Blood Law attribute power. But other attributes aren't like that, so you need certain methods—for example, this bottle of Cold Mist Wine can open the way to practicing 'Mist Shadow' attribute power." "Every Deep Mist Season, on nights when the moonlight is hazy and faint, some grasses in the forest take on a faint 'Mist Shadow' attribute power. If you gather them before daybreak and give them to someone skilled in a special secret art, they can be refined into Cold Mist Wine." "I heard this from Scholar Feigen. He's the baron's advisor. Years ago, when I was still a common soldier, I went into the forest looking for that kind of grass, but the harvest was poor." Frien picked up the bottle and gave it a gentle shake; the liquid inside curled and rolled like mist—quite strange. "From the look of it, this was refined in the last Deep Mist Season. That's at least twenty years ago now, and most of the 'Mist Shadow' attribute has dissipated." "The man's talent is only average. He used more than half the bottle and still didn't finish practicing the 'Concealment Method.' It's also possible that too much of the attribute power in this Cold Mist Wine had dissipated." He was analyzing it aloud. "Tiya, you probably can't use this, and I wouldn't recommend you learn it either. I'll take the Cold Mist Wine and the diary back and hand them to the baron and Scholar Feigen." "Even if they're not very useful, Scholar Feigen is very interested in things like this, and he should give a reward." As he spoke he took out about twenty silver coins and put them in the purse on the table. "Take these for travel expenses. I'm sure your background is not humble, but searching for your family won't be easy, and money always makes things more convenient." Taking the purse, Xilutaiya bowed in thanks, then straightened. "Where did that man get these things?" "I asked about that. He found them in a hidden cave by the river. It must once have been a place where some thieves hid their loot, but later there was an accident—several members died inside and the goods were never taken away, so that fellow got lucky." "Anything valuable inside has been secretly sold off by him by now, and a lot of the rest has rotted away and is of no use. If you're interested, I can have someone take you to look." "No, that's all right." Xilutaiya shook her head. A place like that was probably awful—no telling how much mud and stench—and she had no wish to go. "Heh heh heh." Frien laughed at that too. "All right, get ready in a bit. Time we set out." After losing the morning, the party set out only after lunch. Not long after leaving Riverstone Town, they parted ways at a crossroads. "I'm fairly well acquainted with Blacksmith Muyan in Burnt Stone City. Once you're there, give him my name and he won't cheat you. If you need your sword and blades maintained, you can go to him." After last night's fight, the short sword Xilutaiya had only recently received had gained several small notches; if she wanted to keep using it, she would have to have a blacksmith maintain and repair it. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Frien." Xilutaiya bade farewell to the departing cavalry unit, then returned to the carriage and set off again. Thinking back on the events of last night and today, Xilutaiya rubbed her brow lightly and found it somewhat unbelievable. Perhaps such experiences were simply too different and too thrilling compared with the plain life she had known before? Leaning back in her seat, Xilutaiya sorted through her thoughts, and then her mind turned back to the [Thief's Diary]. Before leaving, she had borrowed the diary from Frien, read it through completely on the road, noted down the important parts, and then returned it to him, gaining a fair understanding of the 'Concealment Method' and the 'Mist Shadow' attribute. To think the 'Mist Shadow' attribute would be connected to the 'Radiant Moon.' She opened her pale blue eyes and looked at the forest scenery outside the window. As one of the three moon attributes split from the 'Phantom Moon' in ancient times, 'Mist Shadow' inherited the Phantom Moon's traits of haziness, illusion, concealment, shadow, obscuring, and bewilderment, while the 'Radiant Moon' inherited the clarity that remained when the haziness was stripped away from the Phantom Moon—that is, pure moonlight. ———— Attribute [Mist Shadow]: (The absence of radiance, blurred forms, and shadow without light.)