A month after Edwin went missing...
"Stop him!"
"Someone! A thief!" A woman's scream shattered through the buzzing noise inside the trading post.
Buyers and sellers were busy conducting trade. A farmer was selling fresh vegetables—tomatoes, carrots, lettuce. At one stall, steak of boar was being chopped into pieces; at another, wooden kitchen utensils were sold. People negotiated prices.
"Stop him!" The woman's scream echoed once again.
"Who?" One seller glanced around.
"That man stole ten pieces of Nash Silver! A thief!" Everyone's heads turned, their five senses paying attention.
"Wait... Nash as in Nash Silver?" A man in ragged clothes stopped counting the fish he had just purchased. He glanced around.
He saw a man in torn, blood-stained cloths running past him as a few boys chased him. He surged, joining the chase. The man left his fish.
A single piece of Nash Silver was worth a hundred pieces of Molaic Silver. Many could spend the entire year to earn close to ten Nash Silver. Fish was nothing compared to that.
A crowd of people threw past them.
"They're chasing a thief," the girl said, her hand moving, tapping the boy's shoulder. "Mateo! Let's find your brother first."
"Huh, sorry I got…" Isabella stopped him.
"Is that Granny Mo?" she pointed. An old lady fell to the floor; she fainted.
"Oh! Granny Mo!" Mateo and Isabella rushed.
Granny Mo was the matriarch of the Collins family, one of the wealthiest in Amala.
"Water! Hurry, bring me water!" A woman knelt beside her. Mateo recognized her as a Collins family business attendant. It was clear Granny Mo was here for a big business deal.
In a few breaths of time, people had crowded around offering help. Two men with a jar of water each were in conflict, exchanging hushed words over who was the first to arrive. Both wanted to be the only one providing water.
"Damn these bitches, all want to get favor from a rich family," Mateo muttered. Isabella gave him a red-eyed look, but he didn't notice.
"These fuckers will do anything for Nash Sil…" Isabella had her palm on his cheek.
"Hey, Isabella, what are you doing?"
"I don't want to hear those words come out of your mouth again." Her face was serious. "Don't try to imitate that stupid Edwin again." Within four days spent with current Edwin, Mateo had already developed a bad habit of cursing. Both he, Isabella, Barlelina, and Molai had visited the shrine several times after his incident with William. They were disgusted by the guy.
"It's like after he collapsed that day, he has become someone else," Isabella said.
"Let's not say that. He is missing. My brother says he might already be dead." Isabella stared at him. "Don't look at me like that. How many friends have we lost due to attacks from those abominations?"
"But Edwin isn't just a random friend to us." Isabella sighed. Mateo's hand was on his cheek.
"You know you can't hide that from me?" Isabella grabbed Mateo's hand, dragging him forward toward the circular reception desk at the center of the trading post.
"Are you using your ability on me? Damn, I…" Isabella had lifted her palm up. "I… I mean I don't like it."
"Saying Edwin might be dead to mask your fear—ha! It's not embarrassing. We're all scared that might be true." Isabella's awakened ability was fear discerner. People of this path could tell what others feared or doubted during interactions.
"We have to visit Barlelina tomorrow," she said.
"They got the thief!"
The duo turned their heads, looking back.
"They got the thief!" The joyous cry rang through the trading post.
Amala Trading Post was located at the marketplace. Its timber walls looked practical, not decorative—one wide front entrance opened into a long hall with smaller side doors. Stalls lined the sides, leaving walkways between them.
Two muscular men, dressed in black ponchos and leather trousers, entered the trading post, dragging a short man.
The man had both hands tied behind his back. His clothes were blood-stained and torn. His face was swollen with bruises.
"Isn't that Merchant Griford?" Mateo recognized the man.
"It's him," Isabella was as surprised as Mateo.
The muscular men dragging Merchant Griford moved past the couple.
"Merchant Griford?" Murmurs could be heard; many were surprised.
"Wait!" A woman screamed. "This is surely a misunderstanding." She couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing.
Merchant Griford was well known for his humble business. He and his wife moved in a caravan from village to village. They sold cheap goods from other villages to the village. Many poor families were surviving because of them.
"Please! Have mercy, it's my family!" Merchant Griford cried.
"I will give the money back, let me go!" The two men didn't flinch; they kept dragging him toward Granny Mo.
Turns out the Nash was stolen from her.
Granny Mo had woken up, her eyelids heavy. "Is that young one Griford?" she asked.
"Granny," the attendant helped her sit down.
As the two men kept dragging Griford, he begged. He looked at one of the men. "You know me, I've helped you once," but the man pretended to hear nothing.
"Bandits! My family!" Griford kept crying.
The other man's right hand flashed; a slap landed on Griford. His lower lip split, a salty red liquid trickled down. He ceased his cry.
The two men dragged him to Granny Mo's feet.
"Let's go," Isabella pulled Mateo toward the entrance.
"Hey, Bella, what happened to finding my brother? We're almost at the reception." Mateo asked. The receptionist coiled a base staircase leading to the upper floor where staff offices were.
"I just don't want to watch a good man being treated like this." Isabella kept pulling him.
As the couple was about to exit the trading post, they heard someone calling.
"Mateo!" A young tall man in his late twenties waved at them as he followed behind. They stopped. The man was neither muscular nor slim.
"Mateo, Rafael's little brother, correct?" The young man asked as he approached. He dressed in a simple white poncho with black woven patterns of various wild animals.
"And who might you be?" Isabella asked.
"Bella," Mateo cut her off. "Haha, yes you're correct, I'm Mateo." He pulled a warm smile. "May I know why you're stopping me?"
"Haha, a smart lass indeed." The young man laughed. "Good, good."
Isabella gave the young man a wild stare.
"You do know Ricardo, correct?" The young man asked.
The couple nodded in unison.
"Well, I'm his uncle," the young man calmly introduced himself.
"Elder Routh!" The couple jumped in surprise.
"Forgive our…" Elder Routh stopped Mateo.
"No need, haha, your brother talks a lot about you," Routh said. "Smart indeed." Routh was impressed by Mateo's minor performance just now.
"Follow me. I have an assignment for you two." Elder Routh, the founding head of Amala Trading Post, turned, facing the direction of the crowd inside the post.