One of the Inquisitor's messengers brought me two letters. The first one was very properly written and it seems like it had taken some time to pen. The second one was written very hastily and had me quite worried.
Big Vlad's letter posted:
Dear Doctor. The Apiary is open. I beg your pardon for concealing the real reasons for the blockade. I am guilty, terribly guilty. But trust me, everything that I did was done because it was the only way.
Vlad Olgimskiy.
Eve Yahn's farewell letter posted:
My time has come. I need to clear the traces of yesterday's sacrilege. I want a miracle to happen. I wish to prepare a place for the new guest.
Farewell, my Daniel. Be happy. All to the best, Eve.
She was fine when I left the house this morning, right? Come to think of it, I didn't see her at all today. I better check back right away. She's been acting very strange lately.
Aijan: At last you are here, Oinon! There was a misfortune, you know? My master ordered me to ask for your aid.
Bachelor: Where is Eve?
Aijan: You are alone? The woman is not here?
Bachelor: As you can see, she isn't here.
Aijan: Then go to Andrei quickly. He needs your help to return her, to take her away from the Worms. She has gone to them voluntarily, but Andrei said it was because she has gone mad.
Bachelor: Does he know where Eve is? Tell me exactly what he told you!
Aijan: Do not get angry at me, Oinon. Andrei told me to fly to you, and see if his woman is here. He said that if she is there with you, he'll come right away to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. If she is gone, I should tell you to come to his aid, because there will be a fight.
Bachelor: I don't understand what you are talking about.
Aijan: I don't understand either. Andrei understood it all. Help him now or they will kill him... He has no weapons. He has given his weapon to the Devotress. And he told me to fly here quickly-quickly! I ran to you as fast as a leaf flies in the wind.
Bachelor: It's just one thing after another... I will go find Andrei.
Andrei is probably at the pub. He'll probably do something rash if I don't stop him, so I better head over there. But it's all the way across town. I should keep an eye out for those agents on my way there. Aglaja suggested some places to check, and I've marked them on my way.
I wonder how you'd disguise yourself if you were a govenment agent...
Wait, who's that over there?
So that's how they could keep track of me all this time! Using those strange bird masks, it was impossible for me to know who I was actually talking to.
First Agent: Bachelor? I was just, ehm...
Bachelor: I need your materials.
First Agent: So you found out? Well, it doesn't matter any more. I won't be staying for long.
Bachelor: You won't be running off anywhere, if I have a say in the matter.
Ah, another agent is hiding behind the Theater. It seems he is investigating the old well.
Second Agent: What do you want?
Bachelor: I need your materials.
Second Agent: Did you come here by order of the inquisitor?
Bachelor: What? No, I'm on my own.
Second Agent: Heh, what good will they do you? Just take them. Heavens be praised, I do not need them anymore. I'll be gone by this evening anyway. Did one of the other agents crack and told you about us? Well, as long as the Inquisitor doesn't know then it won't matter.
Bachelor: Why do you fear her so much?
Second Agent: She is a terrible witch. Besides, she is also a sentenced witch. This mission is her last holiday before the scaffold. She will not miss any opportunity to pay back the representatives of the Authorities that doesn't want her any more.
Bachelor: Interesting...
Wait a minute, the last agent was seen around here, but the district has been blocked off due to the plague. Maybe since it's the last day, they are desperate to finish up as much as they can before they have to leave. But it's still a surprisingly big risk.
In a backyard I found the last agent. It seems his mask protects against the plague pretty well.
Third Agent: Do you have some business with me?
Bachelor: I need your materials.
Third Agent: All right, take them. Perhaps they will be more helpful to you than to us. In the evening, we will leave this damned place. Until then, I ask you not to tell the Inquisitor about us. She has nothing to lose. She knows that we have rats among us.
Bachelor: She does not make the impression of being a cruel person.
Time to get out of here. The pub is just to the northwest of here.
Hey, Andrei isn't here anymore. There are some nervous-looking men standing near his usual table.
Young Man: I am scared by the stories of madness. Stamatin went for her, but I think it will be in vain.
Bachelor: Where is Andrei now?
Young Man: Andrei went to the bogs, to kill those that tricked and kidnapped Eve. He was in such a hurry that he did not wait for me.
Bachelor: Maybe he did the right thing, then. It seems to me you're just a coward.
Young Man: What?
Bachelor: What, am I not right?
Young Man: You have no reason to insult me. I went to get a rifle for Andrei. He gave his weapon to that silly woman, the telepath. Take this and give it to him when you meet him.
If you pick your answers wisely here (ie, you make sure you are a jerk to the poor guy) you get a free rifle in perfect condition, as well as 10 rounds! Foreshadowing, perhaps?
Summary: Eve has done something really stupid and is lost somewhere in the marches. It seems like the steppe people kidnapped her or tricked her or something. Andrei went to their huts to fight them alone, but he didn't have a real weapon. Now we'll probably have to fight our way there and rescue both of them.
We got the reports from all three agents on the way, but nothing seems to be obviously wrong with either of them from what we can see so far. We'll have to talk to Aglaja again.
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