By the time Wilson heard Adele's name again, he was the owner of the Black Reef Tavern.
The shops his parents had left him were doing poorly, so Wilson sold them all and bought a tavern. Running it himself was one way to fulfill his dream of being a bard.
The tavern did not make much money, but it rarely lost any, either. Together with his savings, it was enough to see him comfortably through life.
Most days, Wilson sat behind the counter listening to bards' stories and travelers boasting about their adventures. When no bard was around, he took the role himself, retelling stories he had heard to new customers.
He lived like that for three years. Then one day, as he sat behind the counter listening to a bard as usual, two customers began talking about an uprising at a mine. They mentioned a name.
"Adele."
Wilson's eyes grew hazy with memory. "Do you know what I thought when I heard that name?"
"Joy?" Annan asked.
"Confusion, actually... I thought I'd never hear that name again in my life."
It was like packing to move and finding, tucked away in a corner, a favorite childhood toy he had searched for in vain.
Memories flooded Wilson's mind. He sat in a daze behind the counter all day, and his soul did not return to his body until the last customer had left.
The two customers were long gone by then, and Wilson had not thought to ask where the mine was.
For a moment, panic seized him. What if the lead he had found was only an illusion? Then he pulled himself together and remembered that he knew quite a few professionals, some of them well informed.
Through them, Wilson learned where the uprising had taken place. He also