Sir Rayne

After they finished their meal, the one who came over to collect payment was Young John, the missing tavern owner's son.

Young John was only thirteen, and he looked somewhat haggard. His father's disappearance seemed to have dealt him a heavy blow.

"Sir, the total comes to 176 Copper Pennies."

Copper Pennies weren't issued by the Northern Wizard Alliance. They were currency used within the Blizzard Kingdom, a smaller denomination than the Kingdom Silver Coin. One Kingdom Silver Coin could be exchanged for roughly 100 Copper Pennies.

Link gave him two Kingdom Silver Coins. "Keep the rest as a tip."

After bowing, John said respectfully, "Thank you, sir."

Link took out a Badge. It was an Investigator's identification badge. Then he said, "I'm the Investigator handling your father's disappearance. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

John paused, then became even more respectful. "Please, go ahead."

"Your father seems to have owed a lot of money lately. Do you know what he did before he disappeared that caused him to owe so much?" Link asked.

"I don't know about that either. But for a while before my father disappeared, he seemed anxious. He only said that business at the tavern had been bad lately. The East Street Tavern opened and took a lot of business away from our place. If the creditors hadn't come looking for him, I wouldn't have known that Father owed so much money."

John looked around anxiously.

"Several of the people sitting here are actually my father's creditors. They said they'd only give us a month's grace. If we can't pay what Father owes by then, they'll take this tavern to settle the debt..."

What he left unsaid was that even the tavern might not be enough to cover his father's debts.

Link rubbed his chin. "John, what about your mother? I remember she used to help out at the tavern a few years ago."

John said dejectedly, "My mother divorced my father three years ago. Last year, she married Sir Rayne and became his wife."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. Sir Rayne was also one of John's father's creditors. The story seemed to be taking a strange turn.

"Oh? Did you know that Sir Rayne was one of your father's creditors?"

John's expression changed. He shook his head. "I didn't know. After Father disappeared, I went to see my mother, but she didn't mention it."

Anna asked, "Did your father and Sir Rayne have any conflicts?"

John's expression darkened. "When my mother and Sir Rayne held their wedding, my father caused a scene. I haven't heard of them having any contact since then."

Link had an idea. He nodded and said, "If you remember anything else that might be relevant, contact the Security Station. We'll be going now."

After the three of them left the tavern, Matthew asked, "Should we investigate Sir Rayne first?"

Link nodded. "Actually, Sir Rayne invested in that new tavern on East Street."

Anna said, "Then Sir Rayne does have a strong motive. Maybe he set Old John up to incur a huge debt so he could take over his tavern."

Sir Rayne lived in a residence on East Street. He wasn't a wizard, so he hadn't inherited much of his father's property.

Sir Rayne's father was Old White, the Baron who had given Whitestone Manor to Lady Alsha. After his father died, the barony passed to his older brother, Jack White, who was a wizard.

Matthew and the others met Sir Rayne and John's mother at Sir Rayne's residence.

After exchanging greetings, Link got straight to the point. "Sir Rayne, I heard you lent Old John a large sum of money before he disappeared."

Sir Rayne had a rather rare head of purple hair. It was said that one of their ancestors, a wizard, had tried to alter the family's bloodline through experiments combining the bloodlines of Magic Creatures, hoping to give all his descendants wizard qualifications. But House Whyte still had descendants like Rayne, who lacked wizard qualifications. The experiment had only succeeded in permanently changing the hair color of his descendants.

Sir Rayne said expressionlessly, "Yes. He borrowed some money from me, then disappeared."

As Sir Rayne spoke, Lady Rayne glanced at him guiltily.

Lady Rayne looked to be only in her twenties. She had a lovely face and didn't look at all like the mother of a teenage boy. She had reportedly once been a maid at the West Street Tavern, and she was more than twenty years younger than Old John.

Link continued, "Do you know what he did with the money?"

"Probably used it to pay off his debts." Sir Rayne's face filled with contempt. "I heard he got addicted to gambling."

Link's expression shifted. "Do you know those people? The ones who got Old John hooked on gambling? They often show up at the East Street Tavern."

"Are you suspecting me?" Sir Rayne pursed his lips, displeased.

"I didn't do it!

"They just like drinking at the East Street Tavern. They're all members of the Mining Brotherhood.

"Old John told me all this when he borrowed money from me.

"Old John is a complete good-for-nothing!

"He used to get drunk every day and then beat his wife and kid. Trina finally decided to divorce him after he broke her hand while drunk.

"Now he's taken up gambling too. If I didn't feel sorry for Young John, I wouldn't have lent him a single penny!"

Fortunately, this was a world with magic, and there were far more ways to treat injuries than there had been in the Middle Ages. Sir Rayne had once been a regular at the West Street Tavern. After Trina divorced Old John, he began courting her, but Trina had grown afraid of marriage. It took two years for his sincerity to win her over.

"The Mining Brotherhood?" Link fell into thought. The Mining Brotherhood was a cross-regional underground gang with a presence in areas where there were mines.

They couldn't get anything more out of him, so Matthew and the others said their goodbyes and left.

Matthew asked, "Sir Rayne's story might not be true. Shouldn't we bring him back to the Security Station and 'confirm' it?"

Link understood what Matthew meant. He said:

"Sir Rayne isn't a wizard, but he holds the title of knight and is a noble.

"The Wizard Regulations forbid detaining nobles without evidence.

"These non-wizard nobles are all descendants of wizard nobles from within the past one or two generations."

Link decided to look for members of the Mining Brotherhood first.

Late that night, at Sir Rayne's residence.

The window of the Third Floor Master Bedroom suddenly opened, and a gust of cold air blew in from outside.

An invisible barrier enveloped the room.

Sir Rayne was sleeping soundly when a chill roused him. In a daze, he saw that the window in the room seemed to be open.

Still half-asleep, Sir Rayne glanced at his wife beside him and pulled the blanket higher over her.

He got up to close the window, muttering, "Why's the wind so strong tonight?"

"Ah!" Trina had woken at some point and let out a terrified scream.

Sir Rayne shuddered and whipped around. Seeing the shadow that had suddenly appeared behind him, he cried out in terror,

"Who!?"

"Good evening, Sir Rayne," Matthew said gently. "Don't be afraid. I'm just here to confirm something."

"Your Excellency Investigator!" Sir Rayne recognized him and exclaimed, "I answered all your questions truthfully at noon!"

Matthew pressed his wand against Sir Rayne's forehead.

Legilimency!